Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Send them to a mental hospital

Calvin's Institutes (1559)
Book 4 of 4 - External Means by which God Invites Us into the Society of Christ and Holds Us Therein

Chapter 19 - Rome's five other "sacraments"
34-37 - Marriage is no sacrament
34. It wasn't treated as such until the time of Gregory (400s). It is a sign of union between Christ and His church. But if we make every sign a sacrament, everything will be a sacrament, even theft - 1 Thess 5:2. The one who calls them all sacraments "ought to be sent to a mental hospital."

35. The mystery (sacramentum) of Ephesians 5:32 is the spiritual union of Christ and the church, not earthly marriage.

36. Rome insists on the latin word sacramentum there in Eph 5:32, but not in 1 Tim 3:9; Eph 1:9; 3:3, 9. They call marriage a sacrament, but also polluted by lustful copulation. They say the Spirit is conferred in sacraments, but "deny that the Holy Spirit is ever present in copulation."

37. They multiply regulations about marriage, taking it from the civil sphere, going "against the laws of all nations and also against the ordinance of Moses." Too much to go into, but at least "I have partly pulled the lion's skin from these asses."

No comments:

Post a Comment