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From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

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"My dear sirs," Lu<strong>the</strong>r continued, "behold <strong>the</strong><br />

words <strong>of</strong> our Lord Jesus Christ, 'This is my body.'<br />

That truth I cannot abandon. I must confess and<br />

believe that <strong>the</strong> body <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ is <strong>the</strong>re." "Ah,<br />

well, my dear doc<strong>to</strong>r," replied Zwingli, "you put<br />

<strong>the</strong> body <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ locally in <strong>the</strong> Lord's<br />

Supper, for you say, 'It behooves <strong>the</strong> body <strong>of</strong> Jesus<br />

Christ <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong>re.' There is an adverb <strong>of</strong> place."<br />

"I repeat simply <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ,"<br />

said Lu<strong>the</strong>r. "But since you are captious, I must<br />

again say that I will have nothing <strong>to</strong> do with<br />

ma<strong>the</strong>matical reasons. I throw away <strong>the</strong> adverb<br />

<strong>the</strong>re, for Christ says, 'This [not <strong>the</strong>re] is my body.'<br />

Whe<strong>the</strong>r that body is confined <strong>to</strong> a place, or<br />

whe<strong>the</strong>r it fills all space, I prefer <strong>to</strong> be ignorant<br />

ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>to</strong> know, since God has not been<br />

pleased <strong>to</strong> reveal it, and no man in <strong>the</strong> world is able<br />

<strong>to</strong> decide <strong>the</strong> point."<br />

"But Christ's body is finite, and bounded by<br />

place," urged Zwingli. "No," responded Lu<strong>the</strong>r,<br />

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