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Chapter VIII. Part III · Commentary on Genesis, Sin, and the Flood

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Section twenty seven off Commentary on Genesis, Volume two Luther On Sin and the
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Flood by Martin Luther, translated by John Nicholas Linker, Conrad Brunod Godis,
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and others. This libri vox recording is in the public domain. Read by
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Jillian Henry. Chapter eight, Part three, Man's natural depravity and his natural
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powers Verse twenty one d for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from
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his youth fifty six. This is a powerful passage relating to original sin.
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Whoever weakens its force goes straying, like the blind man in the sunlight,
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failing to see his own acts and experiences. Look at the days of our
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swaddling clothes. In how many ways sin manifests itself in our earlier years.
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What an amount of switching it requires? Until we are taught order, as
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it were, and attention to duty fifty seven, then youth succeed. There
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a stronger rebellion becomes noticeable, and in addition that untamable evil, the rage
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of lust and desire. If one take a wife, the result is weariness
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of his own and a passion for others. If the government of a state
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is entrusted to him, an exceptionally fruitful harvest of vice will follow as jealousy,
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rivalry, haughtiness, hope of gain, avarice, wrath, anger,
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and other evils. Fifty eight. It is true, as the German proverb
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has it, that sins grow with the years ye lenge ye erga ye elder
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ye kargar, worsh with time, stinger with age. All such vices are
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so blatant and gross as to become objects of observation and intelligence. What then,
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shall we say of the inward vices when unbelief, presumption, neglect of
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the word, and wicked views grow up? Fifty nine. There are those
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who are and desire to be considered powerful theologians, though they extenuate original sin
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by sophistry. But vices so numerous and great cannot be extenuated. Original sin
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is not a slight disorder or infirmity, but complete lawlessness, the like of
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which is not found in other creatures except in evil spirits. Sixty But do
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those extenuators have any scriptural proof to rest upon. Let us see what Moses
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says. As I pointed out in explaining the sixth chapter, he does not
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call such things evil as lust, tyranny, and other sins, but the
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imagination of the human heart, that is, human energy, wisdom, and
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reason, with all the faculties the mind employs even in our best works.
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Although we do not condemn acts which belong to the social or civil sphere,
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yet the human heart vitiates these works in themselves proper by doing them for glory,
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for profit, or for oppression, either from opposition to the neighbor or
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to God sixty one. Nor can we escape the force of this passage by
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saying that those are meant who perished by the flood. God uses a generic
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term which denotes that the heart of man as such is meant. At the
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time this was spoken, there were no other people than those saved in the
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ark. And yet the declaration is the imagination of man's heart is evil sixty
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two. Therefore not even the sense are accepted in hand the third son,
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this imagination of the heart betrayed its nature, and the other brothers were no
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better by nature. There was only this difference that they, believing in the
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promised seade, retained the hope of forgiveness of sin, and did not give
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way to the evil imagination of their hearts, rather resisting it through the Holy
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Spirit, who was given for the very purpose of contending against and overcoming the
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malignity of man's nature. Because gives way to his nature, he is wholly
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evil and totally perishes. Shem and Japhith, who contend against it in their
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spirit, though being evil, are not altogether. So they have the Holy
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Spirit, through whom they contend against the evil, and hence our holy sixty
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three. It would seem here that God might be accused of fickleness. Before,
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when he was about to punish man, he assigned as a reason for
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his purpose the fact that the imagination of man's heart is evil. Here,
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when he is about to give unto man the greatest promise that he will not
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thereafter show such anger, he puts forward the same reason to human wisdom.
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This appears foolish and inconsistent with divine wisdom sixty four. But I gladly pass
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by such sublime themes and leave them to minds possessed of leisure. For me,
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it is enough that these works are spoken to suit our spiritual condition.
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Inasmuch as God points out that he is now a and no longer angry.
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So parents, having chastised their disobedient children as they deserve when again their affections
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by kindness. This change of mood is not deserving of criticism, but rather
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of commendation. It profits the children. Otherwise, they, while fearing the
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rod, might also begin to hate their parents. This explanation is good enough
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for me, for it appeals to our faith. Others may explain differently.
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Sixty five. We should give diligent attention to this passage because it plainly shows
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that man's nature is corrupt, a truth above all others to be apprehended,
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because without it God's mercy and grace cannot be rightly understood. Hence, the
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quibblers previously mentioned are to be despised, and we have good reason to take
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to task the translator who gave occasion for this error by rendering the words so
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as to say not that the imagination of a man's heart is evil, but
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that it is inclined to evil. Upon this authority, the quibblers distort,
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or set aside, those passages of Paul where he says that all are children
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of wrath Ephesians, chapter two, verse three, let all have sinned Roman's
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chapter five, verse twelve, and are under sin Roman's chapter three, first
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nine. They argue from our passage. As follows, Moses does not say
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that human nature is evil, but that it is prone to evil. This
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condition, call it inclination or proclivity, is under the control of free will.
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Nor does it force man toward the evil, or, to use their
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own words, it imposes no constraint upon man sixty six. Then they proceed
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to find a reason for this statement, and declare that even after the fall
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of man, there remains in him a good will and a right understanding.
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For the natural powers, say they are unimpaired, not only in man,
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but even in the devil. And finally, they so twist Aristotles teachings as
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to make him say that reason tends toward that which is best. Some traces
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of these views are found also in the writings of the Church Fathers, using
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Psalm four, verse six as a basis, where the prophet says, quote,
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Jehovah, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us quote.
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They distinguish between a higher part of reason, which inquires concerning God, and
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a lower part employed in temporal and civil affairs. Even Augustine is pleased with
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this distinction, as we stated above, when discussing the fall of Man sixty
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seven. But if only a spark of the knowledge of God had remained unimpaired
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in man, we should be different beings by far from what we now are.
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Hence, those quibblers who pick flaws in the plain statements of Paul are
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infinitely blind. If they would carefully and devoutly consider that very passage as they
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read it in their Latin Bible, they would certainly cease to father so bad
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a cause. Or it is not an insignificant truth which Mossy's uttered when he
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says the senses and the thoughts of the heart of man are prone to evil
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from his youth. This is the case, especially in the sixth chapter,
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verse five, where he says that the whole thought of his heart was bent
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on evil continually, meaning thereby that he purposes what is evil, and that
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in inclination, purpose and effort he inclines to evil. For example, an
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adulterer whose desires are inflamed. We lack the opportunity, the place, the
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person, the time, and nevertheless be stirred by the fire of last,
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unable to dwell upon anything else. In this manner, says Mosy's, does
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human nature always inclined toward evil? Can then the natural powers of man be
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said to have remained unimpaired, saying that man's thoughts are always set upon evil
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things. Sixty eight. If the minds of the Sophists were as open toward
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the holy doctrine contained in the prophetical and apostolic writings as toward their own teachers,
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who teach the freedom of the will and the merit of works, they
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surely would not have permitted themselves by so small an indjustment as one little word,
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to be led away from the truth, so as to teach, contrary
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to scripture, that man's natural powers are uninjured, and that man my nature
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is not under wrath or condemnation. Notwithstanding, it appears that they turn against
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their own absurdity. Although the natural powers of man are uninjured, yet they
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maintain that to become acceptable, grace is required. In other words, they
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teach that God is not satisfied with man's natural goodness unless it be improved by
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love. Sixty nine. But what is the need to argue longer against the
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madness of the Sophists, since we know the true meaning of the Hebrew text
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to be not that man's mind and thoughts are inclined to evil, but that
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the imagination of the human heart is evil from youth seventy By imagination, as
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I stated several times before, Chapter six, section one hundred and forty eight,
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he means reason itself, together with the will and the understanding, Even
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when it dwells upon God or occupies itself with most honorable pursuits, be they
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those of state or home, it is always contrary to God's law, always
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in sin, always under contrat and it cannot be freed from this evil state
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by its own strength, as witness Christ's words. Quote if therefore the sun
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shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed mind quote John chapter eight,
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verse thirty six, seventy one. If you wish a definition of the
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word man, take it from this text, teaching that he is a rational
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being with a heart given to imagination. But what does he imagine? Was
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He's answers evil, that is evil against God or God's law, and against
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his fellow man. Thus, holy scriptures ascribe to man a reason that is
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not idle, but always imagine something. This imagination. It calls evil,
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wicked, sacrilegious, while the philosophers call it good and the quibblers say that
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the natural gifts are unimpaired seventy two. Therefore this text should be carefully noted
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and urged against the caveling quibblers. Mossier declares the imagination of the human heart
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to be evil, and if it be evil, the conclusion is natural that
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the natural gifts are not unimpaired, but corrupted, inasmuch as God did not
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create man evil, but perfect, sound, holy, knowing God, his
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reason right, and his will toward God good seventy three. Seeing we have
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clear testimony to the fact that man is evil and turned away from God,
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who would be mad enough to say that the natural gifts in man remain unimpaired.
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That would be practically saying that man's nature is unimpaired and good even now,
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whereas we have overwhelming evidence in our knowledge and experience that it is debased
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to the utmost seventy four. From that wicked theory there have sprung many dangerous
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and some palpably wicked utterances, for instance, that when man does the best
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in his power, God will unfailingly give his grace. By such teaching,
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they have driven man as by a trumpet, to prayer, fasting, self
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torture, pilgrimages, and similar performances. Thus the world was taught to believe
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that if mended the best that nature permitted, they would earn grace, if
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not the grace de marito, at least, the de congrue a merritom congruy
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titled to reward based on equity. They attribute to a work which has been
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performed not against but in accordance to the divine law. Inasmuch as an evil
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work is subject not to a reward but a penalty, the merritime condigni a
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title to reward based upon desert. They attribute not to the work itself,
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but to its quality as being performed in a state of grace seventy five.
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Another saying of this kind is the declaration of Scotus that man, by mere
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natural powers may love God above all things. This declaration is based upon the
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principle that the natural powers are unimpaired. He argues us follows. A man
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loves a woman who is a creature, and he loves her so immoderately that
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he will imperil his very life for her sake. Similarly, a merchant loves
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his wares and so eagerly that he will risk death a thousand times if only
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he can gain something. If therefore the law of created things is so great,
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though the rank far below God, how much more will a man love
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God, who is the highest good? Hence, God can be loved with
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the natural powers alone. Seventy six. A fine argument, and indeed and
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worthy of a Franciscan monk, for he shows that though he is a great
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teacher, he does not know what it means to love God. Nature is
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so corrupt that it can no longer know God unless it be enlightened by the
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word and spirit of God. How then can it love God without the Holy
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Spirit? For it is true that we have no desire for what we do
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not know. Therefore, nature cannot love God, whom it does not know,
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but it loves an idol and a dream of its own heart. Furthermore,
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it is so entirely fettered by the love of created things that, even
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after it has learned to know God from his word, it disregards him and
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despises his word. Of this, the people of our own times are an
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example seventy seven. Such foolish and blasphemous deliverances are certain proof that scholastic theology
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has degenerated into a species of philosophy. That has no knowledge of God and
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walks in darkness because it disregards his word. Also, Aristotle and Cicero,
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who have the greatest influence with this tribe, give broad instructions concerning moral excellencies.
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They magnify these exceedingly as social forces, since they recognize them as useful
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for private and public ends. In no eyes, however, do they teach
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that God's will and command is to be regarded far more than private or public
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advantage. And those who do not possess the Word are ignorant of the will
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of God. Quite plainly, the Scholastics have fallen victims to philosophical fancies to
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such an extent as to retain true knowledge, neither of themselves nor of God.
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This is the cause of their lapse into such disastrous errors seventy eight.
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And indeed, it is easy to fall after you have departed from the Word,
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for the glitter of civil virtues is wonderfully enticing to the mind. Erasmus
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makes of Socrates almost a perfect Christian, and Augustine has unbounded praise or Marcus
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Attilius Regulus because he kept faith with his enemy. Truthfulness, indeed, is
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the most beautiful of all virtues. And in this case another high commendation is
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added, in that there was combined with it love of country, which in
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itself is a peculiar and most praiseworthy virtue. Seventy nine. You may find
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men of renown not famous for truthfulness. The Mystocles, for instance, did
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not have this virtue, though he was a heroic man and in his country
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great service. That is the reason why Augustine admires Attilius, finding his reason
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and will to be utterly righteous. That is, as far as it is
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possible for human nature to be. Where then is vice, in this case,
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where is wickedness. The hero's work surely cannot be censured. Eighty First,
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Regulus knew not God, and although his conduct was right, it is
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still to be seen whether a theologian should not censure his motive for his zeal
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in behalf of his country. Is added the thirst for glory. He evinces
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contempt for his life so as to achieve immortal glory among those to live after
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him, contemplating therefore merely his life stream, as it were, and the
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outward mask. It is a most beautiful deed, but before God it is
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shameful. Idolatry, because he claims for himself the glory of his deed,
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and who would doubt that he had other feelings besides this thirst for glory.
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Attilius cannot claim the great virtues of truthfulness and love of country without tending violently
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and insanely toward wickedness. For it is wicked for him to rob God of
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the glory and to claim it for himself. But human reason cannot recognize this
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spoliation of the deity. Eighty one. A distinction must be made between the
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virtues of the heathen and the virtues of Christians. It is true that in
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both instances arts are divinely prompted, but in the former and love of glory
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afterward defile the divine impulse. Eighty two. If now an orator should come
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forth, who would dilate upon the efficient cause but disguise the ultimate and vicious
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one, would it not be apparent to every one that with the two most
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potent causes, the formal that which gives moral value to enact, and the
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ultimate one disguised, an eloquent man could extall such a wretched shadow of a
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virtue. But a man apt in logic will readily discover the deception. He
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will observe the absence of the formal cause, namely the right principle, there
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being no true knowledge of God nor of the proper attitude toward him. He
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sees furthermore that the final cause is vicious, because the true end and aim,
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obedience to God and love of Naghbor, is not taken into consideration.
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But what kind of virtue is that where nearly every cause is lacking except the
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natural cause, which is a passion, an impetus, or impulse by which
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the soul is moved to show loyalty to an enemy. These impulses, as
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I said, are found also in the ungodly. If exercised for the good
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of the country, they become virtues, if for its injury they become vices.
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This Aristotle sets forth very skillfully eighty three. I refer to these things
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that students of sacred literature may take special note of this passage, which advisedly
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declares human nature to be corrupt, for those make believe virtues found among the
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Heathen seem to prove the contrary that some part of nature has remained as it
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was originally. Hence there is need of careful judgment in order to distinguish in
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this matter eighty four Mozy's ads from his youth. Because this evil is concealed
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during the first period of life and sleeps, as it were our early childhood.
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So passes that reason and will are our dormant, and we are carried
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along by animal impulses, which pass away like a dream. Hardly have we
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passed our fifth year when we affect idleness, play, unchastity, and evil
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lust, but we try to escape discipline. We endeavor to get away from
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obedience and hate all virtues, especially of a higher order as truth and justice.
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Then reason awakes out of a deep sleep, as it were, and
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sees certain kinds of pleasure, but not yet the true ones, and certain
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kinds of evils, but not yet the most powerful ones by which it is
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held captive eighty five. Where then the understanding has attained to maturity. Not
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only the other vices are found to have grown strong, but there are joined
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to them now sexual desire and unclean passion, gluttony, gambling, strife,
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rape, murder, theft, and what not. And as the parents had
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to apply the rod, so now the government must needs use prison and chains
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in order to restrain man's evil nature eighty six, And who does not know
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the vices of a more advanced age They march along in unbroken file, love
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of money, ambition, pride, perfidy, envy, and others. These
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vices are so much the more harmful, as at this age we are more
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crafty in concealing and masking them. Hence the sword of government is not sufficient
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in this respect. There is need of hell fire for the punishment of crimes
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so manifold and great. Justly then did Mosies say above chapter six that the
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human heart or the imagination of the art is only evil each day or at
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all times, And here again that it is evil from youth eighty seven.
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The Latin version it is true, makes use of a weaker term, yet
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it says enough by stating that it is inclined toward evil, just as the
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comic dramatist says that the minds of all men are inclined to turn from labor
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to lust Terence Andrew one, one fifty one. But those who try to
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misuse this expression for the purpose of making light of original sin are shown to
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be in the wrong by the common experience of mankind. Chiefly, however,
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that of the heathen or ungodly men. For if spiritual men, who surely
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enjoy divine help from heaven can hardly hold their ground against vices and be kept
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within the bounds of discipline, what can any man do without this help?
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If divine aid contends against the captivity of the law of the flesh only with
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fierce struggles. Romans, Chapter seven, Verses twenty two and twenty three ow
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insane is it to dream that without this divine help human nature can withstand corruption?
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Eighty eight. Hence, reason of itself does not decide upon the right,
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nor does the will of itself strive after the same as a blind philosophy
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declares, which does not know whence these fearful impulses to sin arise in children,
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youths, and old men. Therefore it defends them, calls them emotions
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or passions only, and does not call them natural corruption eighty nine. Furthermore,
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in noble men who check and control these impulses, it calls them virtues.
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In others who give the reins to their desires, it calls them vices.
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This is nothing less than ignorance of the fact that human nature is evil.
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The scriptures, on the contrary, agree with our experience and declare that
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the human heart is evil from youth. For we learn by experience that even
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holy men can scarcely stand firm yea, that even they are often entangled by
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gross sins, being overwhelmed by such natural corruptions. Ninety The term nit urim
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denotes the age when man begins to use his reason. This usually occurs in
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the sixth year. Smilarly, the term n arim is used to denote boys
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and youths who need the guidance of parents and teachers up to the age of
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manhood. It will be profitable for each of us to glance backward to that
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period of life and consider how willingly we obeyed the commands of our parents and
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teachers, how diligent we were in studying, how persevering we were, how
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often our parents punished our sassiness. Who can say for himself that he was
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not much more pleased to go out for a walk, to play games,
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and to gossip than to go to church in obedience to his parents ninety one.
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Although these impulses can be corrected or bridled to a certain extent by discipline,
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they cannot be rooted out of the heart altogether. As the traces of
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these impulses show when we are grown. There is truth in that unpolished liete.
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The angelic youth becomes satanic in his older years and quote. God indeed
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causes some persons to experience emotions which are naturally good, but they are induced
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by supernatural power. Thus Cyrus was impelled to restore the worship of God and
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to preserve the Church. But such is not the tendency of human nature.
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Where God is present with his Holy Spirit, there only the imagination of the
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human heart gives place to the thoughts of God. God dwells there through the
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word and the spirit of such Mosis does not speak here, but only of
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those who are without the Holy Spirit. They are wicked, even when at
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their best verse twenty one E. Neither will I again smite any more everything
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living as I have done ninety two. Mosis clearly speaks of a general destruction,
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like that which was caused by the food. From this, it does
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not follow that God will also abstain from partial destruction, and that He will
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take no heed of anybody's sin. There will also be an exception in the
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case of the last day. Not only all living things will be smitten,
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but all creation will be destroyed by fire verse twenty two. While the earth
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reneth seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,
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and day and night shall not cease ninety three. Following this text,
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the Jews divide the year into six parts, each comprising two months, a
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fact which Lyur also records in this connection. But it seems to me that
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Moses simply speaks of the promise that we need not fear another general flood.
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During the time of the flood, such confusion reaned that there was no season,
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either of seed time or harvest. And by reason of the great darkness
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caused by the clouds and the rain, day could not readily be distinguished from
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night. We know how heavy clouds obscure the light. How much greater then
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was the darkness when the waters, lying under the clouds, like a mirror,
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reflected the darkness of the clouds into the faces and eyes of the beholders
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ninety four. The meaning, accordingly, is simply that God here promises Noah
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the imminent restoration of the earth, so that the fields might again be sold,
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that the desolation caused by the flood should be no more, that the
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seasons might drun their course in accordance with regular law. Harvest following seed time,
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winter following summer, cold following heat in due order ninety five. This
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text should be carefully remembered in view of the common notions concerning the signs before
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the last day. Then some declare there will be eclipses if I know not
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how many days duration. They say foolishly that for seven years not a single
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woman will bring forth a child, and the like. But this text declares
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that neither day nor night, neither summer nor winter shall cease. Therefore,
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these natural changes will go on, and there will never be an eclipse which
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will rob humanize of an entire day ninety six. Nor is it a phrase
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devoid of meaning when he says, while the earth remaineth, For he gives
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us to understand that the days of this earth shall sometime be numbered, and
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other days days of heaven shall follow as long. Therefore, as the days
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of the earth endure, so long shall the earth abide, and with it
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the rotation of seasons. But when these days of the earth shall pass,
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then all these things shall cease, and there shall follow days of heaven,
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that is, eternal days. There shall be one Sabbath after the other,
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when we shall not be engrossed with bodily labor for the purpose of gaining a
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livelihood, For we shall be as the angels of God Mark Chapter twelve,
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verse twenty five. Our life will be to no God, to delight in
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God's wisdom and to enjoy the presence of God. This life we attain through
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faith in Christ, in which the Eternal Father may mercifully keep us through the
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merit of His son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, by the ruling and
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guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen, end of section twenty seven.