|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather
in the heart, which stands gaping at something else, and seeks help and
consolation from creatures saints, or devils, and neither cares for
God, nor looks to Him for so much good as to believe that He is willing
to help, neither believes that whatever good it experiences comes from
God.
Besides, there is also a false worship and extreme idolatry, which we
have hitherto practiced, and is still prevalent in the world, upon
which also all ecclesiastical orders are founded, and which concerns
the conscience alone that seeks in its own works help, consolation, and
salvation, presumes to wrest heaven from God, and reckons how many
|
