“Therefore it is dangerous and suspicious for them boastfully to appropriate the name of the Christian Church, as if this required great skill and everyone before them were ignorant. You must tell them: “If you want to be the church and bear its name, you must prove your title. You must teach correctly, as the holy Christian Church teaches. You must have your life conform to its life. You must manifest your faith and the fruits of faith. Give evidence that you are the Christian Church.” But since they do not administer the episcopal office as it should be administered but persecute whom they will and yet insist on being regarded as pious princes and the Christian Church, we are obliged to say that they are the devil’s church; for the Christian Church does not treat doctrine so wantonly. The heretics frighten and delude many people with their claim to the name “church.” That is what the people in the Gospel did when they said that Christ must come from Bethlehem and when they spurned Him because He had come from Galilee.

Our adversaries talk similarly of us today. They deny our claim to be the Christian Church because we come from Galilee or from Wittenberg, and because we will not await their decision. We will tell them: ‘Lo, there are Christians also from Galilee and from Nazareth. Just because they believe and proclaim what is displeasing to you, you do not consider them Christians.’ We will not wait for their decision, nor will we preach to their liking. Let us preach about the Man who will give us abundance also after this life. If we had preached to suit their taste, we would have become great lords long ago. But—so it is said—there is no gain in that.

The people were divided over Christ’s preaching, in this way that some said He was the Christ, others declared He was a prophet, and still others flatly disavowed both contentions and said that no prophet comes from Galilee. This argument among the people was not settled, and there is not much to be said about this matter”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 289).

“Therefore since this argument is waxing warm in our day, you must be prepared to give this account and reply: the term “Christian Church” has a double meaning, as other words do too. For there is a true and there is a false church. Now show me the true church. The pope claims to be the true church, but how is he going to prove it? He has the Gospel and Baptism; so do we. The issue is: Who has the true Gospel and Baptism, and who the false? The one Christ is the true one, but all heretics fashion a new Christ. Words have double meanings. Every heretic assigns a special meaning to a word, and he also employs the terms used in the divine Word. The term “god,” for example, is given the most manifold meanings. I suppose there are a thousand different gods.

Mammon is a god. So are the Order of St. Francis and the Carthusian Order. Everybody has his own peculiar god. Therefore you must be wary. Just as the word ‘god’ really pertains only to the one God but is perverted and applied so variously, thus “Christian Church” is also misused and loosely used. You must pay no attention to them when they say: “Here is the church.” Your answer must be: ‘I am well aware that there is one Christian Church, and I know the term ‘Christian Church’ very well. But it is news to me that you are that church. You may indeed vaunt that you are the Christian Church, but that beautiful name by itself will not mislead me. I know that the heretics are to deck themselves with the fine name of God, of Christ, and of the Christian Church, and thus deceive the world’”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 288).

“But when they counter: “Your stand is not correct,” the controversy is under way. To settle this requires a spiritual council, which will proclaim the same faith that my brother and I share with all Christians, wherever they may be. They are all of one mind. The Christian Church is the church which believes in Christ and desires to be saved by Him, not by works or merits. Whatever the Holy Spirit says to us He says to all Christians everywhere. That is the Bethlehem and the tribe of Judah from which Christ comes. Thus it is also true that there is neither prophet nor Christian nor teacher nor preacher outside the church; for it is one body and soul, bound together and related as the members are to the body, for they are members of the body. An amputated fist is dead, lifeless, no longer attached to the body. Similarly, a heretic is detached from the Christian Church by false doctrine and unbelief, and is dead; for those outside the Christian Church are dead.

The Christian Church is not the same as a collection of bishops’ or cardinals’ hats. That may be termed a council, or it may develop into a council, but not into the Christian Church. For the church cannot be convoked into one assembly but is dispersed over all the earth. The church believes as I believe, and I believe as the church believes. There is no difference or disparity in our belief. We all believe one Christian Church. Outside this church there is nothing. This is my faith, and this gives rise to altercation”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 287-288).

“People say that they will wait until. the Christian Church has decided the issue. Let the devil wait for that; I will not. For the Christian Church has already determined everything. The members of the body are united and need not wait until the body’s filth says or decrees whether or not the body is sound. This can be ascertained from the body’s members, but not from its urine, excrement, or filth. Thus we, too, do not want to wait until pope and bishops sit in council and decide that this or that is true. They are not part of the body; they are not good and sound members. They are Junker Filth, the snot on the sleeve and dung itself; for they persecute the true Gospel, which they know to be God’s Word. It is evident from this that they are filth, stench, and the devil’s own members.

Consequently, we must declare: The Christian Church has already decided the issue, for this is the universal doctrine, believed by all baptized Christians. Such a decision does not emanate from an external assembly. It springs from a spiritual council and does not require a convention. It is permissible to convoke a council to regulate fasting and prayer, vestments, the confirmation and confession of the true articles of the Creed, or other issues, as was done at the Council of Nicea. But no council can decide the truth of Christian doctrine. No, there I simply say: ‘This is my stand on Baptism. I believe that the Gospel is true and holy. This is my stand on the Lord’s Supper’”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 287).

“You must distinguish between the genuine Christian Church, the true church, and the church which presumes to be the church but is not. The false church has only the appearance, although it also possesses the Christian offices. Even a knave is able to baptize, read the Gospel, go to the Sacrament, and recite the Ten Commandments. All this is and remains proper, but he remains a vile knave and is not to be called a Christian or the Christian Church. No, we say that he is found in the Christian Church just as mouse droppings are found among the pepper or cockleburs among the grain. They merely help to fill the bushel. A body may possess fine, sound, and useful members which man can employ for his various needs; but that same body may also contain perspiration, secretion from the eyes, nasal mucus, scabs, abscesses, and other filth.

All the latter are found on the human body together with ears, stomach, heart, fingers, and eyes. But filth is still part of the body, even though it stinks. Thus the heretics, the false teachers, or the ungodly in the church are not its natural and genuine members but the filth which the body exudes. Consequently, it is true that no one will ever preach the truth unless he is in the Christian Church. To be sure, he can preach; but that is not enough. He must also have the Holy Spirit, preach the truth, and lead a decent life. And this he cannot do unless he is a true member of the Christian Church”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 286-287).

“This is the issue. They imitate the Pharisees and the Jews here and persist in their delusion that we are heretics. They exclaim that they are good Christians, but that we are heretics. This accusation we cannot and will not tolerate. We will not answer with physical force, but we will not pass over it in silence. Good and well, the pope declares that he is the Christian Church. We deny this, although we admit that in the papacy there are some people who are members of the Christian Church, just as there are many such among the Turks, in France, or in England. They are baptized, they have the Gospel, they use the Sacraments properly, and they are true Christians. But we object to their condemnation of us, to their assertion that our doctrine is false. We object to this, that meanwhile they whitewash and justify themselves with their laws, their inventions, their monastic orders, and their good works, and with their claim that he who observes these is a true Christian and that this is the true Christian Church.

We are ready to concede that they are in the Christian Church, but not that they are the true members of the church. To be sure, they have the pulpit, Baptism, the ministry, the Sacrament, and they are in the church; but they are not genuine members. Similarly, among us there are many who are baptized and partake of the Lord’s Supper, who pose as Christians, but who are still knaves through and through. They are not sincere. Therefore we say that they are numbered among the Christians, and that they bear the name and have the outward appearance and semblance of the church and of Christians. But for all that they are not the church and are not Christians”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 285-286).

“You have often heard it said that when God formed man from a clod of earth, the devil also took earth and fashioned a toad or a monk from it. And this saying is also current, that where God builds a church, the devil places a chapel next door. The Christian Church is of two kinds. The word “church” is often a misnomer: people call that the Christian Church which is not the Christian Church, and that which is the Christian Church is often not acknowledged as such. It is not a question whether one must believe the church, or whether there is a church; but the issue is: Which is the true church? For we are agreed with the pope that there is a church. We believe that there assuredly is a Christian Church. The pope concurs in this. We are as firmly and strongly convinced as they that there must be a Christian Church on earth. But this is the question at issue and the bone of contention: Which is the Christian Church? For the devil and the pope dismember, pervert, and falsify all names.

The Anabaptists claim that they have Baptism, and that there is no salvation without it. No, we do not ask, or argue about, whether there is a saving Baptism. The same thing holds true of the Sacramentarians. We concede that they have the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  We agree on this. But the question in dispute is: Who has the true Sacrament? It is, of course, also incumbent on the Christian Church to preach the Gospel. But this suggests the question: Which is the true Gospel, and who possesses it in its purity? Similarly, we are now debating the question with the pope whether the papists or we are the true Christian Church, whether they have and administer Baptism, the Gospel, and the Lord’s Supper correctly. They claim to have these unalloyed. So do we”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 285).

“Such are the offenses and objections directed against the Gospel. Similarly, we hear it said in the papacy today that a theologian can emerge from no other place than from Christendom and the church. This position they maintain, and on it they rely as a ram does on his horns. It is true that there is no preacher outside the Christian Church; that is impossible. It is ordained that God will make no Christians except by Baptism and the call of the Gospel. God wants all who are called Christians to be set apart from the world by means of Baptism and the Gospel. Thus there is no true preacher or prophet outside the pale of the church. Scripture states this, and no one can deny it. Just so the Jews say here: ‘No prophet is to rise from Galilee.’

This is a strong argument that agitates many who are convinced of the correctness of our doctrine. Although they are unable to advance anything to refute our doctrine, they are like an intractable horse. All they say is that the Holy Christian Church has not yet determined and approved the doctrine. …  They say: ‘The Christian Church has not yet taken action. This does not emanate from Christendom’  They are waiting for councils and diets, for a meeting of scholars to adopt resolutions. Until such a time they retain their old position. Thus both the fools and the wise declare today that they will wait until the Christian Church comes to a decision, since at present the one espouses this, the other that view.  They assert that the Christian Church has not yet taken up the question. Until the church decides what is right, they propose to hold to the faith of their fathers. Thus they delude the simple-minded….  By the same token it is true that anyone who is not in the Christian Church and whose doctrine has not been accepted by it is a false and heretical preacher”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 284-285).

John 7:41, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?” “This, they think, is preposterous. Nothing more ridiculous and nonsensical, they suppose, has ever been said. … They say that it is impossible for the Christ to come from Galilee. If He did, He would be but a poor Christ. But that is the work of the devil. In Matt. 11:6 Christ declares: ‘Blessed is he who takes no offense at Me.’ This doctrine gives and ever will give offense if one presumes to fathom and comprehend it with his reason, if one approaches it with his head and five senses. We refer to the doctrine that Christ is the Light of the world, able to help everybody—though He walked this earth as a poor carpenter who often lacked bread; though He could not call one foot of ground His own, neither He nor His father Joseph; though finally He was nailed to the cross like the worst criminal. The thought that He was a poor carpenter’s apprentice is too offensive and cannot be brought into harmony with the words: ‘He who believes in Me, etc.’

Thus the Word of God everywhere suffers offense, defection, and obstruction. Those who would approach it are offended, as is the case here. Men offer a specious argument, still adduced by all the worldly-wise, and they repel many when they say: ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee?’ Admittedly, Holy Writ does declare that He is to come from Bethlehem. This is stated by Micah, who adds the lineage of Christ to the place of His birth. Scripture is explicit on both. Micah says (5:2): ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, etc.’ And David is told that a child of his lineage, flesh, and blood will be the Christ (2 Sam. 7:12). The Jews knew that the Christ was to come from the lineage and family of David and from the small town of Bethlehem. These facts had been drilled into them….”  (Luther’s Works, v. 23, p. 282-283).

“However, they do not want to be reformed (as they say) by this former mendicant monk. Yet this same mendicant monk (I must brag a little, but secretly, so that they do not hear about it) has reformed them considerably. I have, God be praised, reformed more with my gospel than they perhaps might have done with five councils. So far they have done nothing more in the councils than play around with unprofitable matters that do not concern the Christian church. However, now our gospel comes along, takes away indulgences, abolishes pilgrimages, puts a stop to bulls, checks covetousness, and achieves marvelous results, which they themselves accept and utilize and would not have attained by any councils. I am not even mentioning the chief articles of the faith. However, they indeed perceive that the Reformation is about to become too powerful now that the chief article and the true cornerstone of the papal church, the holy mass, is also being attacked. This is going to be too much for them. At this point—and it is time—they really have to shout, lie, murder and resort to all kinds of insults and abuses in order that their one rock of consolation and chief fortress might not fall. However, it must fall, nothing can be done about that; for Daniel has appeared on the scene and will do what the angel Gabriel has shown him” (Luther’s Works, v.38 p.231-232).