“We have no wish either to see or hear Moses.”
Back in 2004, I put together a paper called Luther’s View of the Canon of Scripture. It's located on Eric Svendsen's Ntrmin website. In that paper, I went through the popular charges against Luther on the canon of Scripture typically put forth by Roman Catholics. Part of the inspiration in putting that paper together was the excessive amount of Luther quotes Catholics were using to argue against Luther. Often, the quotes being used were taken from Tan's reprint of Father Patrick O'Hare's Facts About Luther. I included this section specific to O'Hare's quotes- Appendix A: Patrick O’Hare’s Spurious "Facts" About Luther’s Canon.
Back in 2004, all I had to work with was Luther's Works, and any book I could get my hands on. I had been collecting old Catholic books on Luther, and also utilizing quite a few different college libraries. Now, we have the miracle of Google Books, and I'm delighted to not be spending so much money on old books, as well having such a large amount of searchable texts. Recently, I've been plugging some of those old Luther quotes into Google books, and I've had some interesting finds. Often, my suspicions have been verified about a particular quote , or in this instance, some further clarification.
Father O'Hare states, "But even for the books [Luther] chose to retain, he showed little or no respect. Here are some examples of his judgments on them. Of the Pentateuch he says: 'We have no wish either to see or hear Moses.' " In my paper I stated the following about this quote:
This quote probably comes from Luther’s treatise Against The Heavenly Prophets In The Matter Of Images And Sacraments. It is a writing against Luther’s former colleague Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt who joined with radical factions of the Anabaptists. When Luther did not support Karlstadt’s violent expunging of all images, Karlstadt accused Luther of disobeying God’s law given through Moses: “You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness …” Luther responded by pointing out that Karlstadt misunderstood his position, as well as misinterpreted Moses. Luther, well heated up says:
“Now then, let us get to the bottom of it all and say that these teachers of sin and Mosaic prophets are not to confuse us with Moses. We don’t want to see or hear Moses. How do you like that, my dear rebels? We say further, that all such Mosaic teachers deny the gospel, banish Christ, and annul the whole New Testament. I now speak as a Christian for Christians. For Moses is given to the Jewish people alone, and does not concern us Gentiles and Christians. We have our gospel and New Testament. If they can prove from them that images must be put away, we will gladly follow them. If they, however, through Moses would make us Jews, we will not endure it.”[LW 40:92]
The “teachers of sin and Mosaic prophets” are Karlstadt and the Anabaptists. Luther viewed these people as denying the gospel and imposing law on people. The editors of Luther’s Works have included an excellent overview of Luther’s opinion on Moses:
“Anyone who, like the enthusiasts, erects Mosaic law as a biblical-divine requirement does injury to the preaching of Christ. Just as the Judaizers of old, who would have required circumcision as an initial requirement, so also the enthusiasts and radicals of this later era do not see that Christ is the end of the Mosaic law. For all the stipulations of that law, insofar as they go beyond the natural law, have been abolished by Christ. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all men only so far as they are implanted in everyone by nature. In this sense Luther declares that “Moses is dead.”[LW 35:158.]
Via Google Books, I found an old source confirming my findings as to the source and context, the Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature:
So, in his writings against the Zwickau enthusiasts, [Luther] was hasty enough to say,'' These teachers of sin annoy us with Moses; we do not wish to see or hear Moses; for Moses was given to the Jews, not to us Gentiles and Christians; we have our Gospel and New Testament; they wish to make Jews of us through Moses; but they shall not" (Werke, xx, 203).
While doing some further research on this quote, I thought perhaps I made an error. Perhaps Father O'Hare did not get this quote from the source I cited. In the excellent old volume Luther Vindicated by Charles Hastings Collette, he puts forth an extended snippet of the same quote, which is quite different than the context I cited. He states:
There is a passage quoted by Dr. McCave, as reported in his Lecture in The Midland Counties Express, as follows :—"It was Luther who said of the Pentateuch 'We neither wish to see nor hear this Moses; he is master of all hangmen, and no one can surpass him when there is a question of terrifying, torturing, or tyrannizing.' " I have utterly failed to trace this passage. I have in Part 1 examined Mr. Baring-Gould's attempts to throw discredit on Luther on this subject, nor need I repeat here the clear distinction Luther made between the Law and its requirements, and the Gospel scheme of salvation through Christ. Luther's last great work was his Commentary on the Book of Genesis, which was concluded about three months before his death, November, 1545. The Lectures out of which these Commentaries are made up conclude with these touching words :— " This is the dear Book of Genesis. Our Lord God grant that others after me may handle it better. I can do no more; I am weak; pray to God for me, that he may give me a good, happy, last hour." These are not the words of one who could pen such a passage as the one attributed to him by his slanderers. [source]
Collette is of course correct about Luther's respect for Moses and the Pentateuch. What I found interesting though was the extended version of the quote: "We neither wish to see nor hear this Moses; he is master of all hangmen, and no one can surpass him when there is a question of terrifying, torturing, or tyrannizing." There is a very good reason why Collette could not find this quote. It isn't "one" quote, but rather a hodgepodge of Luther statements connected together. I searched for this extended version of the quote, and found it in a source that O'Hare may have utilized, the works of Roman Catholic Johannes Baptist Alzog (brief bio). Alzog gives an even longer citation:
We have no wish either to see or hear Moses. Let us leave Moses to the Jews, to whom he was given to serve as a Mirror of Saxony; he has nothing in common with Pagans and Christians, and we should take no notice of him. Just as France esteems the Mirror of Saxony only in so far as it is the expression of natural law, so also the Mosaic legislation, though admirably suited to the Jews, has no binding force whatever as regards ourselves. Moses is the prince and exemplar of all executioners; in striking terror into the hearts of men, in inflicting torture, and in tyrannizing, he is without a rival." [source] See also The American Catholic Quarterly Review .
Unfortunately, Alzog doesn't give a reference, but this book does:
Whereas Moses was the first that ever wrote any part of the scripture, and he who wrote the law of God, the ten commandments; yet Luther thus rejects both him and his ten commandments : (d) " We will neither hear nor see Moses, for he was given only to the Jews ; neither does he belong in any thing to Us." " I," says he, " will not receive (e) Moses with his law ; for he is the enemy of Christ." (f) " Moses is the master of all hangmen." (g) " The ten commandments belong not to Christians." " Let the ten commandments be altogether rejected, and all heresy will presently cease ; for the ten commandments are, as it were, the fountain from whence all heresies spring (h).
Back in 2004, I put together a paper called Luther’s View of the Canon of Scripture. It's located on Eric Svendsen's Ntrmin website. In that paper, I went through the popular charges against Luther on the canon of Scripture typically put forth by Roman Catholics. Part of the inspiration in putting that paper together was the excessive amount of Luther quotes Catholics were using to argue against Luther. Often, the quotes being used were taken from Tan's reprint of Father Patrick O'Hare's Facts About Luther. I included this section specific to O'Hare's quotes- Appendix A: Patrick O’Hare’s Spurious "Facts" About Luther’s Canon.
Back in 2004, all I had to work with was Luther's Works, and any book I could get my hands on. I had been collecting old Catholic books on Luther, and also utilizing quite a few different college libraries. Now, we have the miracle of Google Books, and I'm delighted to not be spending so much money on old books, as well having such a large amount of searchable texts. Recently, I've been plugging some of those old Luther quotes into Google books, and I've had some interesting finds. Often, my suspicions have been verified about a particular quote , or in this instance, some further clarification.
Father O'Hare states, "But even for the books [Luther] chose to retain, he showed little or no respect. Here are some examples of his judgments on them. Of the Pentateuch he says: 'We have no wish either to see or hear Moses.' " In my paper I stated the following about this quote:
This quote probably comes from Luther’s treatise Against The Heavenly Prophets In The Matter Of Images And Sacraments. It is a writing against Luther’s former colleague Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt who joined with radical factions of the Anabaptists. When Luther did not support Karlstadt’s violent expunging of all images, Karlstadt accused Luther of disobeying God’s law given through Moses: “You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness …” Luther responded by pointing out that Karlstadt misunderstood his position, as well as misinterpreted Moses. Luther, well heated up says:
“Now then, let us get to the bottom of it all and say that these teachers of sin and Mosaic prophets are not to confuse us with Moses. We don’t want to see or hear Moses. How do you like that, my dear rebels? We say further, that all such Mosaic teachers deny the gospel, banish Christ, and annul the whole New Testament. I now speak as a Christian for Christians. For Moses is given to the Jewish people alone, and does not concern us Gentiles and Christians. We have our gospel and New Testament. If they can prove from them that images must be put away, we will gladly follow them. If they, however, through Moses would make us Jews, we will not endure it.”[LW 40:92]
The “teachers of sin and Mosaic prophets” are Karlstadt and the Anabaptists. Luther viewed these people as denying the gospel and imposing law on people. The editors of Luther’s Works have included an excellent overview of Luther’s opinion on Moses:
“Anyone who, like the enthusiasts, erects Mosaic law as a biblical-divine requirement does injury to the preaching of Christ. Just as the Judaizers of old, who would have required circumcision as an initial requirement, so also the enthusiasts and radicals of this later era do not see that Christ is the end of the Mosaic law. For all the stipulations of that law, insofar as they go beyond the natural law, have been abolished by Christ. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all men only so far as they are implanted in everyone by nature. In this sense Luther declares that “Moses is dead.”[LW 35:158.]
Via Google Books, I found an old source confirming my findings as to the source and context, the Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature:
So, in his writings against the Zwickau enthusiasts, [Luther] was hasty enough to say,'' These teachers of sin annoy us with Moses; we do not wish to see or hear Moses; for Moses was given to the Jews, not to us Gentiles and Christians; we have our Gospel and New Testament; they wish to make Jews of us through Moses; but they shall not" (Werke, xx, 203).
While doing some further research on this quote, I thought perhaps I made an error. Perhaps Father O'Hare did not get this quote from the source I cited. In the excellent old volume Luther Vindicated by Charles Hastings Collette, he puts forth an extended snippet of the same quote, which is quite different than the context I cited. He states:
There is a passage quoted by Dr. McCave, as reported in his Lecture in The Midland Counties Express, as follows :—"It was Luther who said of the Pentateuch 'We neither wish to see nor hear this Moses; he is master of all hangmen, and no one can surpass him when there is a question of terrifying, torturing, or tyrannizing.' " I have utterly failed to trace this passage. I have in Part 1 examined Mr. Baring-Gould's attempts to throw discredit on Luther on this subject, nor need I repeat here the clear distinction Luther made between the Law and its requirements, and the Gospel scheme of salvation through Christ. Luther's last great work was his Commentary on the Book of Genesis, which was concluded about three months before his death, November, 1545. The Lectures out of which these Commentaries are made up conclude with these touching words :— " This is the dear Book of Genesis. Our Lord God grant that others after me may handle it better. I can do no more; I am weak; pray to God for me, that he may give me a good, happy, last hour." These are not the words of one who could pen such a passage as the one attributed to him by his slanderers. [source]
Collette is of course correct about Luther's respect for Moses and the Pentateuch. What I found interesting though was the extended version of the quote: "We neither wish to see nor hear this Moses; he is master of all hangmen, and no one can surpass him when there is a question of terrifying, torturing, or tyrannizing." There is a very good reason why Collette could not find this quote. It isn't "one" quote, but rather a hodgepodge of Luther statements connected together. I searched for this extended version of the quote, and found it in a source that O'Hare may have utilized, the works of Roman Catholic Johannes Baptist Alzog (brief bio). Alzog gives an even longer citation:
We have no wish either to see or hear Moses. Let us leave Moses to the Jews, to whom he was given to serve as a Mirror of Saxony; he has nothing in common with Pagans and Christians, and we should take no notice of him. Just as France esteems the Mirror of Saxony only in so far as it is the expression of natural law, so also the Mosaic legislation, though admirably suited to the Jews, has no binding force whatever as regards ourselves. Moses is the prince and exemplar of all executioners; in striking terror into the hearts of men, in inflicting torture, and in tyrannizing, he is without a rival." [source] See also The American Catholic Quarterly Review .
Unfortunately, Alzog doesn't give a reference, but this book does:
Whereas Moses was the first that ever wrote any part of the scripture, and he who wrote the law of God, the ten commandments; yet Luther thus rejects both him and his ten commandments : (d) " We will neither hear nor see Moses, for he was given only to the Jews ; neither does he belong in any thing to Us." " I," says he, " will not receive (e) Moses with his law ; for he is the enemy of Christ." (f) " Moses is the master of all hangmen." (g) " The ten commandments belong not to Christians." " Let the ten commandments be altogether rejected, and all heresy will presently cease ; for the ten commandments are, as it were, the fountain from whence all heresies spring (h).
d. Tom. 3, Germ., fol. 40, 41, and in Colloq. Mensal., Ger., fol. 152, 153.
e. In Coloe. Mensal., c. de Legeet Evan.
f. Ibid., fol. 118.
g. Serm. de Mose.
e. In Coloe. Mensal., c. de Legeet Evan.
f. Ibid., fol. 118.
g. Serm. de Mose.
h. In Convival. Colloq., cited by Aurifaber, cap. de Lege
You can see from the footnotes many different sources. I suspect the extended quote cited by Alzog is probably from a few different sources as well- in fact, if you read it over, it does seem like it's saying the same thing over and over again. I suspect Alzog's quote is set up the same way, so that's why Collette probably couldn't locate it. He assumed those citing it as an extended quote were being honest with the citation. They probably were not.
One of the sources above, "Serm. de Mose" is probably Luther's sermon, "How Christians Should Regard Moses" (1525), found in LW 35 (pp. 153-173). The introductory note is most helpful as to Luther's statements about the law and Moses:
INTRODUCTION
The year of this sermon, 1525, was fraught with high tension and tragic turmoil. For Luther it had begun with the publication of Against the Heavenly Prophets, his sharp attack against his former colleague, Andreas Karlstadt, and the Sacramentarians. Between January and August the explosive peasant uprising took place, and Luther’s succession of well-intended but ill-timed and infelicitous pamphlets alienated many. On May 27, Thomas Münzer, the religious radical and fomenter of peasant unrest, was put to death.
Luther’s opposition to both Karlstadt and Münzer derived from his theological convictions—stated in this treatise—concerning the relationship between law and gospel and the related problem of the relationship between the Old Testament and the New. Law and gospel are chosen ways through which God addresses his word to men. In the law God says No to man, the sinner; in the gospel he says Yes to man, the righteous—that man who has repented and believes his promise in Jesus Christ. Law and gospel are both present in both of the Testaments. They must always be distinguished but never identified or confused.
For several years too the problem of usury and unfair interest rates had also occupied Luther’s attention, particularly since certain earnest evangelical Christians like Pastor Jacob Strauss at Eisenach and the court preacher Wolfgang Stein at Weimar had brought their considerable influence to bear on the Saxon princes in favor of substituting the more humane laws of the Old Testament for the then current imperial and canon laws. Luther opposed the notion that the Scriptures would be properly exalted if Mosaic precepts were suddenly, as law, to replace laws of the German state and church. He warned that while seemingly honoring the Scriptures, one can actually distort the meaning and intention of the Word of God. This entire discussion too stands in the background of this 1525 discourse on Moses.
In the course of his career as an expositor of the Scriptures, Luther had developed a distinctive understanding of the Word of God. It is the Word of God, our Lord. We can receive it only by submitting to him. Such submission includes the recognition that he is the Lord who does and bestows all and whose lordship consists in his saving activity. But, contends Luther, if I now imagined that God’s lordship expresses itself in certain legal statements or precepts which I had the possibility of ascertaining and expounding, then I should precisely not have understood what God’s lordship really is. Instead I should then—despite all my own outward protest against Roman papism—have substituted a biblicistic for a papal police. Therefore I am not to make the Word of God function simply as a part of human law. “Moses” is not the Word of God in the sense that “Moses” could be substituted for a piece of human legislation.
How, then, is “Moses” Word of God, and how is “Moses” law? How do Word of God and law relate to each other?
Here Luther makes sometimes the most contrary statements. On the one hand “Moses” is completely abolished: “Moses does not pertain to us.” On the other hand we hear Luther expressing the wish “that [today’s] lords ruled according to the example of Moses.”
Anyone who, like the enthusiasts, erects Mosaic law as a biblical-divine requirement does injury to the preaching of Christ. Just as the Judaizers of old, who would have required circumcision as an initial requirement, so also the enthusiasts and radicals of this later era do not see that Christ is the end of the Mosaic law. For all the stipulations of that law, insofar as they go beyond the natural law, have been abolished by Christ. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all men only so far as they are implanted in everyone by nature. In this sense Luther declares that “Moses is dead.”
Besides, the Jewish assembly of Sinai and of the decalogue has been replaced by the Christian congregation of Pentecost and of the new covenant. The era of Mosaic law extends from Sinai to Pentecost. In this era the Jewish people served its particular purpose, for this people, alone among all the peoples, was during that time span both state and church. It was just one national ethnic group among others on earth, but at the same time it was a peculiar people set apart for God as an instrument of his plan for all peoples.
So far as “Moses” is simply the Sachsenspiegel or law code of the Jewish people as a national ethnic group, it can be listed as just one code of laws among many, features of which may or may not be considered desirable in another age or nation. But so far as the Mosaic law is the law of the Old Testament congregation of God, it has a prophetic and promissory significance comparable to nothing in the laws of other peoples; and it has a continuing relevance not to any people simply as people but only to the post-Pentecost church of God spread among all peoples.
You can see from the footnotes many different sources. I suspect the extended quote cited by Alzog is probably from a few different sources as well- in fact, if you read it over, it does seem like it's saying the same thing over and over again. I suspect Alzog's quote is set up the same way, so that's why Collette probably couldn't locate it. He assumed those citing it as an extended quote were being honest with the citation. They probably were not.
One of the sources above, "Serm. de Mose" is probably Luther's sermon, "How Christians Should Regard Moses" (1525), found in LW 35 (pp. 153-173). The introductory note is most helpful as to Luther's statements about the law and Moses:
INTRODUCTION
The year of this sermon, 1525, was fraught with high tension and tragic turmoil. For Luther it had begun with the publication of Against the Heavenly Prophets, his sharp attack against his former colleague, Andreas Karlstadt, and the Sacramentarians. Between January and August the explosive peasant uprising took place, and Luther’s succession of well-intended but ill-timed and infelicitous pamphlets alienated many. On May 27, Thomas Münzer, the religious radical and fomenter of peasant unrest, was put to death.
Luther’s opposition to both Karlstadt and Münzer derived from his theological convictions—stated in this treatise—concerning the relationship between law and gospel and the related problem of the relationship between the Old Testament and the New. Law and gospel are chosen ways through which God addresses his word to men. In the law God says No to man, the sinner; in the gospel he says Yes to man, the righteous—that man who has repented and believes his promise in Jesus Christ. Law and gospel are both present in both of the Testaments. They must always be distinguished but never identified or confused.
For several years too the problem of usury and unfair interest rates had also occupied Luther’s attention, particularly since certain earnest evangelical Christians like Pastor Jacob Strauss at Eisenach and the court preacher Wolfgang Stein at Weimar had brought their considerable influence to bear on the Saxon princes in favor of substituting the more humane laws of the Old Testament for the then current imperial and canon laws. Luther opposed the notion that the Scriptures would be properly exalted if Mosaic precepts were suddenly, as law, to replace laws of the German state and church. He warned that while seemingly honoring the Scriptures, one can actually distort the meaning and intention of the Word of God. This entire discussion too stands in the background of this 1525 discourse on Moses.
In the course of his career as an expositor of the Scriptures, Luther had developed a distinctive understanding of the Word of God. It is the Word of God, our Lord. We can receive it only by submitting to him. Such submission includes the recognition that he is the Lord who does and bestows all and whose lordship consists in his saving activity. But, contends Luther, if I now imagined that God’s lordship expresses itself in certain legal statements or precepts which I had the possibility of ascertaining and expounding, then I should precisely not have understood what God’s lordship really is. Instead I should then—despite all my own outward protest against Roman papism—have substituted a biblicistic for a papal police. Therefore I am not to make the Word of God function simply as a part of human law. “Moses” is not the Word of God in the sense that “Moses” could be substituted for a piece of human legislation.
How, then, is “Moses” Word of God, and how is “Moses” law? How do Word of God and law relate to each other?
Here Luther makes sometimes the most contrary statements. On the one hand “Moses” is completely abolished: “Moses does not pertain to us.” On the other hand we hear Luther expressing the wish “that [today’s] lords ruled according to the example of Moses.”
Anyone who, like the enthusiasts, erects Mosaic law as a biblical-divine requirement does injury to the preaching of Christ. Just as the Judaizers of old, who would have required circumcision as an initial requirement, so also the enthusiasts and radicals of this later era do not see that Christ is the end of the Mosaic law. For all the stipulations of that law, insofar as they go beyond the natural law, have been abolished by Christ. The Ten Commandments are binding upon all men only so far as they are implanted in everyone by nature. In this sense Luther declares that “Moses is dead.”
Besides, the Jewish assembly of Sinai and of the decalogue has been replaced by the Christian congregation of Pentecost and of the new covenant. The era of Mosaic law extends from Sinai to Pentecost. In this era the Jewish people served its particular purpose, for this people, alone among all the peoples, was during that time span both state and church. It was just one national ethnic group among others on earth, but at the same time it was a peculiar people set apart for God as an instrument of his plan for all peoples.
So far as “Moses” is simply the Sachsenspiegel or law code of the Jewish people as a national ethnic group, it can be listed as just one code of laws among many, features of which may or may not be considered desirable in another age or nation. But so far as the Mosaic law is the law of the Old Testament congregation of God, it has a prophetic and promissory significance comparable to nothing in the laws of other peoples; and it has a continuing relevance not to any people simply as people but only to the post-Pentecost church of God spread among all peoples.
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