PRO T EST ANT REF 0 R M E D THE 0 LOG I CAL

Transcription

1 m l PRO T EST ANT RE 0 R M E D THE 0 LOG CAL J 0 URN A L f1pl "" m" P'"" Th8 Joupnal 8 publshed and dstbuted n lmted quanttes, at no chage, by the TheologcaZ SchooZ of the Potestant Refopmed Chupches. nteested pesons desng to have the names on the mazng Zst shouzd addess the Edto, Pof. H. Hanko, at the addess of the 8chooZ, ll45 ankln Stpeet S.E., Gand Rapds, Mchgan pm f1'\'l THEOLOGCAL SCHOOL of the PROTESTANT REORMED CHURCHES Gand Rapds, Mchgan Decembe, 1973 Volume V, Numbe 1

2 ' L Edtoal Notes v Pof. H. Hanko The Old And New Man n Scptue l Pof. H. Hanko Oecolampadus, Refome of Basel Mak H. Hoeksema TABLE O CONTENTS l l l ' l - -

3 ( m 1 l ( EDTORAL NOTES --Pof. H. Hanko-- You wll fnd the fnal atcle n ths ssue of a sees enttled "The Old And New Man n Scptue. j; We have also ncluded a specal atcle on the efome Oecolampadus. Ths pape was ognally wtten as a tem pape fo a couse n Moden Chuch Hstoy. The edtos consdeed t wothy of wde dstbuton. t was w:tten by Mak Hoeksema, who has snce gaduated fom ou Semnay and s, at pesent, labong n mssonay wok on the sland of Jamaca. Ou eades wll, we ae sue, shae wth us the joy we have that the Lod has povded anothe pofesso fo ou Semnay. Pof. Robet Decke has aleady begun hs labos n the school on a pat-tme bass, and hopes, the Lod wllng, to begn full-tme labos wth the second semeste. Pof. Decke was fomely the pasto of a Potestant Refomed congegaton n South Holland, llnos. Ou eades can expect to see contbutons fom hs pen n futue ssues of the Jounal. n jonng the faculty he has also joned n the goup of edtos upon whom the man esponsblty fo the contents of ths Jounal falls. May God bless Pof. Decke's labos n ou Theologcal School. l v

4 THE OLD AND NEW MAN N SCRPTURE () -- Pof. H. Hanko -- pm'1 fl'" 1 pm n the Januay, 1973 ssue of the Refomed Jounal thee appeas a shot atcle by Lews B. Smedes. He ecalls eadng of the explots of Don Quxote n hs fome days, and ecalls an ncdent n the lfe of ths fctonal chaacte whch seves as a jumpng-off pont fo a dsseton on "abhong ouselves." Don Quxote met a woman who was known n the vllage as a posttute. The queston was howeve, whethe people teated he as such because she was a posttute, o whethe she tuned to ths knd of lfe because people teated he that way. Don Quxote saw n he howeve, a noble lady. She ecognzed ths and began to lve lke one. Smedes apples ths lttle stoy n ths way: s thee a peson anywhee who does not need hs own Don Quxote? Eveyone needs to be told that he s woth somethng, that thee s somethng n hm that s woth beng. o we often cannot convnce ouselves. We need to hea t fom othes.. ask myself whethe ths s what my chlden ead n my eyes... was told when they wee baptzed that must teach them to "abho themselves." That wll do, gven an undestandng of what the wtes of that ancent ltugy eally meant. But n the only way that moden chlden would compehend the phase, hope have neve gven my chlden eason to ladho themselves. hope, nstead, that they ead "noble lady" n my eyes. Not long ago spent an evenng wth a small goup of ntellgent people who gew up n the Refomed communty. All of them emembeed one sad efan fom the upbngng. t was a efan that could be ttled Abho Youself. They emembeed t as the majo theme of the sptual - 1 -

5 t \ \ l l (, l eang. And all of them had decded -- wth a cetan vengeance that they would sng t no moe, no would they sng t to the chlden, no dd they want to hea t sung to them. They wee though wth t. How many of those who have left the Refomed communty dd so because the communty sad to them, wth ts eyes, you ae unwothy, you ae bad, you uneleved depavty? We cannot know fo sue) of couse. But know thee ae some who have left because they dscoveed anothe communty that... told them... that they wee woth somethng. And because they wee told that, they felt and acted as though they eally wee... We need hot woy about knowledge of sn; nobody can undestand hs sn anyway unless he fst undestands hs woth.... begn ths atcle wth ths athe lengthy quotaton because t pecsely leads us to the heat of the subject we ae dscussng n ths sees of atcles. Ths athe cass and blatantly un-scptual asseton s pecsely the dea we wee agung aganst n the two atcles whch pevously appeaed n ou Jounal. A bef statement of evew s pobably woth the tme and effot to efesh the mnds of ou eades. (o the atcles themselves, cf. Vol. V, No.1 and Vol. V, No.1 of the Jounal). The man subject of ou dscusson s the teachng of Scptue concenng the "old man" and the.new manu. And, moe patculaly, we wee facng the queston whethe Scptue gves us any gounds fo assetng that the egeneated and sanctfed Chstan no longe possesses an "old man" -- as some have alleged. The agument of those who take ths poston s based, n the fnal analyss, on the use of the aost tense n the passages of Scptue whee the expess ons old man" and U new man" ae found. But we notced too, that thee wee seous doctnal mplcatons n ths queston. We dscussed how the eos of antnomansm and Amnansm wee elated to ths queston, and how - 2 -

6 (, ) l t ) the whole queston of pefectonsm entes nto the agument. ths connecton the passage n Romans 7: s a key passage. n the fnal analyss, we notced that the debate centes n the wok of sanctfcaton. What s the natue of that wok n the heats and lves of the people of God? Ganted that ths wok, soveegnly pefomed by God, esults n the ceaton of the T new mant, does ths gve us waant fo denyng the exstence of the 'lold manu n the sanctfed beleve? n answeng ths queston" by a dscusson of the petnent Scptual passages, we dscussed Romans 6: 4-6 and dscoveed that ths passage, taken n ts context, teaches that, whle the wok of sanctfcaton s a once-fo-all wok of God n the heats and lves of God's people whch esults n the ceaton of the lnew man", nevetheless, t s also a lfe-long pocess as well. And t s such because the lold man" s stll also pesent n the chld of God and ths old man must daly be ked. Whle t s tue that the 'old man s pncpally klled, t nevetheless must also daly be klled. And so we ended ou last atcle wth the statement: We have not yet dealt wth the queston of what pecsely s meant by the Encple kllng of the old man n dstncton fom ths wok of sanctfcaton as t contnues n the lfe of the chld of God. Ths s an mpotant queston, but t shall have to wat, along wth ou teatment of the othe texts, untl the next ssue of the Jounal, D.V. *':f:*** Let us then e-ntoduce ou dscusson wth a few comments on the atcle of Lews Smedes whch s patally quoted at the begnnng of ths essay. Lews Smedes says we must be done fo all tme wth 'abhong ouselves. 11 Ths thust of hs agument s that thee s no eason why we should abho ouselves. le ae not what ou fathes have always sad we ae. That s, we ae not the knd of snnes whch ou Refomed ceeds have nssted we ae. We ae not as bad as ou ltugcal foms clam. 7e ae eally lvey And, by abhong ouselves, we do gave njustce to ou good." selves. n - 3 -

7 ( pm (%"l t J Smedes s, of couse, flyng n the face of all ou ceeds and ltugy. One can almost quote at andom. lae we then so coupt that we ae wholly ncapable of dong any good, and nclned to all wckedness? ndeed we ae except we ae egeneated by the Spt of God. j (Hedelbeg Catechsm, Q. & A. 8). 'Vlhat belevest thou concenng 'the fogveness of sns?' That God, fo the sake of Chst's satsfacton, wll no moe emembe my sns, nethe my coupt natue, aganst whch have to stuggle all my lfe long; but wll gacously mpute to me the ghteousness of Chst, that may neve be condemned befoe the tbunal of God." (Hedelbeg Catechsm, Q. & A. 56). lhoeove, though we do good woks, we do not found ou salvaton upon them; fo we do no wok but what s polluted by ou flesh, and also punshable; and although we could pefom such woks, stll the emembance of one sn s suffcent to make God eject them. (Belgc Confesson, At. XXV). 'Hence spng daly sns of nfmty, and hence spots adhee to the best woks of the sants; whch funsh them wth constant matte fo humlaton befoe God, and flyng fo efuge to Chst cucfed; fo motfyng the flesh moe and moe by the spt of paye, and by hbly execses of pety; and fo pessng fowad to the goal of pefecton, tll beng at length delveed fom ths body of death, they ae bought to egn wth the Lamb of God n heaven. (Canons V, At. 2). t'je ae admonshed to loathe, ana humble ouselves befoe God, and seek fo ou pufcaton and salvaton wthout ouselves." (Baptsm fom). fthat eveyone consde by hmself, hs sns and the cuse due to hm fo them, to the end that he may abho and humble hmself befoe God: consdeng that the wath of God aganst sn s so geat, that (athe than t should go unpunshed) he hath punshed the same n hs beloved Son Jesus Chst, wth the btte and shameful death of the coss. ' (om fo the Admnstaton of the Lod's Suppe). And all ths s an echo n the Chuch's confesson of what Scptue tself says. Davd ced n angush "t\thhold not thou thy tende meces fom me, 0 Lod: let thy lovngkndness and thy tuth contnually peseve me. o nnumeable evls have - 4 -

8 \. n compassed me about: mne nqutes have taken hold upon me, so that am not able to look up; they ae moe than the has of mne head: theefoe my heat faleth me." Psalm 40: 11, 12. Hnqutes peval aganst me: as fo ou tansgessons, thou shalt puge them away. Psalm 65: 2. Afte God fnshed speakng wth Job, hs esponse was: have head of thee by the heang of the ea: but now mne eye seeth thee. Wheefoe abho myself, and epent n dust and ashes. Job 42: 5,6. Paul also speaks of hmself as a wetched man and as the chef of snnes. Anyone wth but a passng acquantance wth the Scptues, knows that ths s the theme whch uns thoughout the whole of the Wod of God. Smedes pesents what comes pelously close to the aogant paye of the Phasee: " thank thee Lod that 11 men ae. am not as othe To take less than ths vewpont of the egeneated and sanctfed chld of God s to efuse to take the Scptues seously. As tue as t s that God makes Hs people, though the macle of sanctfcaton, new ceatues, they eman snnes who ndeed must and do fabho themselves. 1\ And ths s tue because they ae also old snnes: they have a new man, but also an old man. c t j t (. m ) Let us contnue wth ou examnaton of the petnent passages of Scptue. The second passage whee these concepts ae mentoned s found n Ephesans 4: 22-24: That ye put off concenng the fome convesaton the old man, whch s coupt accodng to the decetful lusts; And be enewed n the spt of you mnd; And that ye put on the new man, whch afte God s ceated n ghteousness and tue holness. We need not say too much about ths passage snce we have aleady dscussed t n some detal n connecton wff ou study of the Aost tense n the Geek. (Cf. Jounal, V, 1, pp )

9 '. pm l We need only obseve that Paul s not speakng hee of somethng whch has happened n the past but whch need not and cannot happen agan n the lfe of the Chstan. Afte descbng the fome walk of the Ephesan Chstans when they wee stll lke the "othe Gentles, f he emnds th)6m that they have not so leaned Chst. They have athe head Chst and been taught by Chst that t s the callng to put off concenng the fome convesaton the old man and put on the new man, whch afte God s ceated n ghteousness and tue holness. But t stands to eason that f ths s what they leaned of Chst, and f ths s then the callng, they, whle n ths pesent lfe, stll possess the old man aganst whch they must stuggle. The sants ae ndeed "new men'l; but ths does not alte the fact that they ae "old men 1 as Hell. And the wok of sanctfcaton goes on n the lfe con tnuously. ;'c***;'c The thd passage n whch the tems "old man l and "new manu ae found s Col. 3: 9, 10. We quote the passage n ts context. f ye then be sen wth Chst, seek those thngs whch ae above, whee Chst stteth on the ght hand of God. Set you affecton on thngs above, not on thngs on the eath. o ye ae dead, and you lfe s hd wth Chst n God. When Chst, who s ou lfe, shall appea, then shall ye also appea wth hm n gloy. Motfy theefoe you membes whch ae upon the eath; foncaton, uncleanness, nodnate affecton, evl concupscence, and covetousness, whch s dolaty: o whch thngs' sake the wath of God cometh on the chlden of dsobedence: n the whch ye also walked some tme, when ye lved n them. But now ye also put off all these; ange, wath, malce, blasphemy, flthy communcaton out of you mouth. Le not one to anothe, seeng that ye have put off the old man wth hs deeds; and have put on the new man, whch s enewed n knowledge afte the mage - 6 -

10 ( ' l " of hm that ceated hm: Whee thee s nethe Geek no Jew, ccumcson no unccumcson, Babaan, Scythan, bond no fee: but Chst s all, and n all. We may pobably best get at the poblem of ths text by quotng at some length fom Rev. H. Hoeksema's commentay on Colossans. (Publshed by the Theologcal School and avalable fom the bookstoe. t appeas n mmeogaphed fom.) Afte havng dscussed the meanng and mpotance of the admonton: "Le not one to anothe," Rev. Hoeksema goes on: The apostle contnues: aex6uo&vevol TOV uaaalov &VpWKOV ouv Tat upaealv autou, puttng off the old man and ts pactces, ts deeds. The queston ases, fst of all, what s the elaton between the patcple, anex6ucavevol, and the followng v6ua&evol and the pecedng admontons. Do they denote the gound fo the exhotatons, o do they belong to those, expessng the mode n whch the vces that ae mentoned must be combatted and motfed? The Vulgate tanslates: expolates, nduentes, pesent patcples, ndcatng theefoe that t consdes the patcples as belongng to the admontons. The Geman tanslaton vey defntely endes the text as conveyng ths same dea as the Vulgate: zehet den alten Henschen mt senen Weken aus; Und sehet den neuen an. On the othe hand, howeve, the ench tanslaton endes wth equal defnteness: Apes avo depoulle e vel homme ave ses oeuves, et evetu e nouvel homme, -- "afte havng put off the old man wth ts woks and put on the new man. tl The same s tue of the Englsh and Dutch tanslatons. The queston cannot be decded z smple appeal to the aost, seeng that ths tense hadly expesses tme, but athe emphaszes the acton as such (We undescoe ths sentence because t substantates what we sad about the aost n a pevous atcle. H.H.) Howeve, we ae n favo of the - 7 -

11 ' (, " t j t " Englsh and ench and Dutch endeng, on the followng gounds: 1) f the apostle had ntended to contnue the admonton, he could and no doubt would have expessed ths by usng a flnte fom of the vebs, such as &n 66aaa and Ev6uaaa. Thus t would be clealy ndcated that he contnued the exhotaton, begnnng n &n6 a and n u6 a. 2) f by the patcples the apostle ntended to denote the mode of the &n6 aa, whch s had to conceve, he most pobably would have expessed the contnued acton ths would mply by the pesent athe than by the aost patcples. 3) The aost, consdeed by tself, may not be appealed to as opposed to the Vulgate endeng. (The undescong s ous.)' But as t follows the pesent u6 a, t agues nevetheless n favo of the ntepetaton that conceves of ths pat of the text as a gound fo the admonton. 4) t s hadly possble that the apostle would fst menton vaous detaled sns of the old man, and then contnue wthout even a wod lke ac o OUTWS, o a smla tem, by mentonng the puttng off of the vey souce and mplcaton of all these sns, the old man and hs deeds. We pefe, theefoe to consde the patcples as expessng the gound fo the admonton. Once, that s, at the tme of the egeneaton and callng, they pncpally had put off the old man wth hs deeds. Hence, they ae called and put n a poston to put off the vces of that old man contnuously. The beleves, theefoe, ae sad to have put off the old man wth hs deeds. And, accodng to vese 10, they have put.on the new man, al vouaa vo,, \.,, TOV VEOV TOV avahavouevov. The geneal meanng of ths s evdent. The new man s pncpally the egeneated, enewed, and - 8 -

12 l, l ( 1 called beleve) o Chstan. He s new n a sptual, ethcal sense of the wod. That the apostle uses the adjectve v os athe than xalves may pobably suggest that wth the Colossans ths enewal was stll of ecent date. Howeve, the patcple, &vaxalvou VOV, emphaszes the enewal as a qualtatve change. Ths new man s dffeent fom the old man n a twofold espect. He s holy and ghteous, and he s bon fom above, and theefoe, heavenly n pncple. The old man s the natual man, bon fom below, eathly. And, besdes, the old man s dead n tespasses and sns. He can'not seve and glofy God. He cannot do any good. The apostle speaks of the old man ouv Tats Upd OLV aotod, wth hs pactces) o, wth hs deeds. The deeds of the old man ae deeds of the flesh) and come foth fom a common pncple, enmty aganst God. Hence, they ae evl Upd L, a wod that emphaszes that these deeds ae constantly, unfomly, evl. They ae evl pactces, lvng and actng fom the nne pncple of enmty aganst God, the old, natual man pactces evl, end s ncapable of dong anythng else than evl. The new man, howeve, s,, 'J, avaxalvouevov LS LyvwaLv The autho then goes on to explan the est of vese 10. would seem fom the above that Rev. Hoeksema suppots the posthat ton the egeneated chld of God has put off the old man once fo all. But such s not the case; The autho goes on to say: Howeve, the queston stll emans: what concetely s meant by the old man and hs woks, and what s meant by the new man n the Chstan? How can t be sad of beleves that they have put on the new man, and have put off the old man and t

13 ' t hs woks, whle at the same tme they ae admonshed to motfy the membes whch ae upon the eath? Cf. vs. 5. Ths shows that even afte the new man was pncpally put on, and the old man was pncpally put off, they ae both stll pesent n a vey eal sense of the wod n the Chstan as he concetely exsts n ths wold. Hust we then come to the concluson that the Chstan s eally a dual pesonalty? s he two pesons n one,--the old and the new man,--that ae fghtng each othe, and n such a way that the one s not esponsble fo the deeds of the othe? n ode to answe ths queston, we must note the followng: 1) The tems old man and man ae, of couse, not physcal, nethe psychologcal, but sptual, ethcal tems and concepts. And the puttng off of the old man and the puttng,on of the new man denotes a sptual, ethcal act and a sptual, ethcal tansfomaton. om a physcal, psychologcal vewpont, the Chstan s the same befoe and afte the change. He s one peson n one natue, one mnd, one wll. And that one peson s esponsble fo all hs deeds. 2) When man s egeneated, t s hs heat that s enewed. And the heat s the sptual, ethcal cehte of all hs lfe. om hs heat, accod to Scptue, ae the ssues of lfe. He safted nto Chst. Chst dwells n hm by Hs Spt. He s, theefoe, pncpally and sptually vey eally an entely new man, standng n.a new elaton to God n Chst,--the elaton of knowledge, the tue knowledge of God, ghteousness, and holness. And when ths new pncple of lfe heas and heeds and obeys the callng by the Holy Spt though the Wod of

14 l l God, the beleve vey eally and once fo all puts off the old man wth hs deeds, and puts on the new man. Pncpally he s an entely new man. He s not old and new, but only new. He s entely and pncpally unchangeably ghteous n Chst, and assumed pncpally an entely new atttude towad sn and ghteousness. He condemns hs own sn. He hates t, and epents, and by fath washes hs gaments n the blood of the Lamb. He s a new ceatue, accodng to Co. 5: 17. Old thngs have passed away; behold all thngs have become new. So that the beleve n Chst Jesus s vey eally pncpally a new man, not an old man. 3) Howeve, ths does not mean that the Chstan s aleady completely delveed fom hs old natue. On the contay, that old natue, that s, hs body and hs soul, hs mnd and hs wll and all hs emotons, s stll nclned to sn. The uts of sn ae n that old natue. And that old natue neve leaves hm, but emans wth hm untl the end of hs days. Not untl death, and fnally untl the esuecton, wll that old natue be destoyed, and the new man shne foth n all ts gloy and powe. The motons of sn, the old uts of sn do not depat fom the natue of the Chstan; but they ae n hs mnd and wll, n hs body and soul. Now as the peson of the beleve expesses hmself, s conscous of and esponsble fo the deeds of the old natue, he s stll the old man. But as ths same peson,--not anothe one--lves fom hs egeneated heat by fath, out of Chst, hates the woks of dakness, and has delght n God and n all ghteousness and holness, he s the new man. Hence, thee s a constant stuggle to put off the old man wth hs deeds, and to put on the new man, whch s ceated afte God n tue knowledge,

15 l l l. l ghteousness; and holness. Thus ths text as well as the othes teach exactly the opposte fom the opnon that we have hee poof fo the fact that the old man no longe exsts n the C:hstan. t s just because thee s pesent ths old man that the Scptues so often pesent the lfe of the Ch1ld of God as a stuggle. Ths s, e.g., the teachng of Paul n Gal. 5: 16-26: Ths say then, walk n the Spt, and ye shall not fulfl the lust of the flesh. o the flesh lusteth aganst the Spt, and the Spt aganst the flesh: and these ae contay the one to the othe: so that ye cannot do the thngs that ye would. But f ye be led of the Spt, ye ae not unde the law. Now the woks of the flesh ae manfest, whch ae these; Adultey, foncaton, uncleanness, lascvousness, dolaty, wtchcaft, hated, vaance, emulatons, wath, stfe, sedtons, heeses, envyngs, mudes, dunkenness, evellngs, and such lke: of the whch tell you befoe, as have also told you n tme past, that they whch do such thngs shall not nhet the kngdom of God. But the fut of the Spt s love, joy, peace, longsuffeng, gentleness, goodness, fath, Meekness, tempeance: aganst such thee s no law. And they that ae Chst's have cucfed the flesh wth the affectons and lusts. f we lve n the Spt, let us also walk n the Spt. Let us not be desous of van gloy, po VOkng one anothe, envyng one anothe. t s also ths conflct then of whch the apostle speaks n the last veses of Romans 7 whch pompts hm to cy out: no wetched man that am who shall delve me fom the body of ths death? 11 But even then thee s vctoy: ' thank God though Jesus Chst ou Lod. t All of ths bngs us to the heat of the ssue of sanctfcaton

16 pm l As we notced n an eale pat of ths essay, thee ae eos to be avoded. Thee s, on the one hand, the eo of antnomansm whch smply excuses sn as pat of the old man fo whch the snne hmself takes no esponsblty. Thee s, on the othe hand, the eo of pefectonsm. Ths s the eo nto whch Amnansm usually falls. t s not dffcult to see why ths should be so. Amnansm, wth ts emphass on the fee wll of man, smply efuses to take sn seously. t fals to ecognze the fact that sn s, afte all, ooted n a totally depaved and coupt natue. t speaks of sn almost exclusvely as beng n the deeds of a man. The same thng s tue of pefectonsm.. t does not take the ealty of sn, especally fom the vewpont of the depavty of the natue, n all the seousness wth whch t ought to be taken. And t s pecsely n ths matte of the natue that the concepts of old and new man become so mpotant. vfuat does Scptue mean when t speaks of these tems? Wthout gong nto detal concenng ths queston, we must emembe that Scptue speaks of man n a vey complex way. Whle t s cetanly tue that man s a unty who cannot be chopped nto peces, nevetheless Scptue speaks of man as possessng body, soul and spt as well as peson and heat. O, fom a dffeent pont of vew, Scptue speaks of the natue of man by whch s evdently meant hs ente beng ncludng body, soul, mnd, wll, affectons, etc. Scptue makes t qute clea that when the wok of egeneaton and sanctfcaton s pefomed by God n Hs people, ths wok takes place n the heat. f we emembe that the heat" s not a physcal, much less a psychologcal concept, but a sptual and ethcal concept, then t becomes plan that the egeneaton of the heat s a pncple and fundamental change whch God woks n the deepest ethcal pat of man's beng so that hs ente lfe s bascally and fundamentally alteed. Whle do not thnk that Scptue gves us any waant fo sayng that the mnd and the wll, the affectons and the body, ae egeneated, nevetheless, the powe of the new lfe of Chst woked n egeneaton affect powefully the whole natue of the

17 ( [ n m' chld of God. Ou Canons of Dodt, e.g., speak of a poweful llumnaton of the mnd by the Holy Spt so that the chld of God may ghtly undestand and dscen the thngs of the Spt of God; an openng of the closed; a softenng of the hadened heat, an nfuson of new qualtes nto the wll whch though once dead s quckened. Canons G V:, ll, And t can only be because the poweful nfluences of the egeneated heat affect also the body that Paul can admonsh the people of God not to yeld the membes nstuments of unghteousness unto sn. Cf. Rom. 6: 13. Ths then s what cptue calls the new man. t s the enewal of the heat by the poweful and quckenng wok of the Holy Spt n the elect chld of God) and t ncludes the poweful nfluences of that new pncple of lfe upon the whole of the chld of God's natue. t s the ceaton of the new man whch s holy and fee fom gult, washed n the blood of Chst, unde the domnon of gace, set n the decton of thngs heavenly fom whch spngs all the sanctfed walk of the chld of God. But the chld of God hmself s that new man, fo ths whole wok of gace cannot be sepaated fom ou pesons. We ae ndeed new ceatues n Chst Jesus. Nevetheless, ths s a pncple wok whch s not fully accomplshed n ths pesent wold. We ae not feed fom sn untl we de and go to gloy, and the fnal egeneaton of ou bodes does not take place untl the fnal esuecton. Hence Scptue speaks also of the old man n the beleve. t s nteestng to note that the tem Hold mant s always appled n Scptue only to the egeneated and sanctfed beleve. n othe wods, only the egeneated chld of God can popely be sad to possess an old man. Ths cannot be sad of the unbeleve. Though he be totally depaved, coupt n all hs natue, dead n tespasses and sns, he s not popely descbed as possessng an old man. The tem "old man always stands n contast wth the "new man' and theefoe belongs to the egeneated Chstan only. What s ths "old man n the beleve of lhch Scptue speaks? (

18 . ) ('ml [ : ". 'm. 1.. t must not be constued smply as. ndwellng sn.,; Thee:: s much ndwellng sn n the lfe of the chld of God, of couse. But ths expesson s altogethe nadequate to explan the tem. ts chef weakness s that t fals to take account of the natue of the Chstan whch s stll coupt and depaved. No s t coect and adequate to speak of the 1 0 ld man ' as an old "lfestyle." Ths s a supefcal explanaton of the tem and wholly out of keepng wth the Scptues. But at the same tme we must not fall nto the eo of antnomansm and somehow constue the "old man ll to be somethng apat fom us pesonally. Thee s sometmes a tendency of some to do ths. They speak of the old man n them as f he s someone (o somethng) apat fom them. t s, as t wee, someone whom they hold at am's length and accuse seveely of snnng. These people wll usually speak of themselves as beng vey nea to pefecton--f not havng aleady attaned. They ae then efeng to themselves pesonally as they exst concetely n the wold. But the fold man" s someone foegn, no longe themselves, a wetch of a peson, esponsble fo all the sn whch s stll to be found n the lves. So complete do they make the sepaaton, and so fa do they pess the pont that the old man cannot be equated wth them pesonally, that they engage n all sots of sns whch ae quckly blamed upon the old man, whle they eman pesonally unesponsble fo them befoe the face of God. They wll quote as poof fo ths contenton the wod5 of the apostle Paul n Rom. 7: 20: 'Now f do that would not, t s no moe that do t, but sn that dwelleth n me. l They foget, athe convenently, that the same apostle speaks n ths passage of the fact that he does evl: lthe evl ",hch would not, that do. l (vs. 19). And they cannot appeal to Paul n suppot of the effots to excuse themselves fo the sns whch they stll commt. t s evdent that the chld of God s fa fom pefect--not only as fa as hs outwad conduct s concened, but also as fa as hs natue s concened. o one thng, the egeneated chld of God lves n the wold as yet. He s pat of ths ceaton n. \

19 1 l whch dwells the cuse. He s stll equed to lve hs lfe n the mdst of ungodly men and walk n hs plgmage n a foegn land whee thee s untold evl and coupton. t s no wonde then that he s nfluenced fom outsde hmself wth foces of evl whch mpnge upon hm constantly. He s evey moment bombaded wth the sns of the cooked and pevevse geneaton n whch he passes the yeas of hs sojoun. n the second place, he hmself has nbt yet been pefected. When he fell n Adam, hs whole natue, body and soul, became dead n tespasses and sns. Ths coupt natue has been caed by the human ace and tansmtted to each membe of t ove a peod of thousands of yeas. The uts and tendences of sn ae vey deep and vey stong. Even though he s egeneated, ths egeneaton does not embace the whole of hs natue so that the whole of hs natue has been enewed. Then the chld of God would be n heaven. Hs body even would be tansfomed nto the lkeness of the glofed body of Chst. But ths has not yet happened. Although, as we notced above, the nfluences of egeneaton ae vey stong thoughout hs ente natue, yet the nfluences of sn ae also pesent. Though hs mnd s enlghtened, thee s much of dakness n hs mnd as yet. And the esult s that ths pat of hs natue also s stll coupted. Thee s fetle gound n that mnd fo nnumeable evl thoughts, memoes, schemngs, plannng, easonngs. Hs wll s enewed so that he loves the good and seeks the thngs whch ae above. But t even emans a fact that, by the nfluences of a wll, long accustomed to sn and stll coupt n many espects, he chooses fo sn. And he does ths n the complete awaeness that he s snnng. He does not do so n gnoance. He does not set hs deses and affectons upon evl thngs mpelled aganst hs wll. Hs wll too, stll emans snful n lage measue. And so t s wth all hs nne lfe. No chld of God who undestands hmself wll eve clam that he has appoached pefecton n all the ch and vaed lfe whch s, so to speak) below the level of the outwad conduct by whch he s seen of men. Hs lfe too, s lke the cebeg, some 70% of whch s outsde of men's dscovey and whch s known only to hm l

20 '< ($', t p1\ 1 j' pm 1 and hs God. And hee luks untold evl and teble volence and flth. Hee s sn whch wll only be uncoveed n the day of judgment. And so also the body of the egeneated chld of God s stll n many ways an nstument of sn. Sevng hs mnd and wll, hs body stll speaks the evl at tmes and does not pefectly heed the commandment of hs God to speak the tuth n love. Hs hands become yet nstuments of unghteousness and evl. Hs body s stll put to the use of snful conduct. And so hs whole natue s stll vey much snful n all ts pats. We ae not speakng of the ungodly man; we ae speakng of the egeneated chld of God. Thee, n the Chstan, stll luk the devls of doubt and unbelef, of hated and envy, of lust and passon, of covetousness and dolaty. The Scptues themselves teach us that ths s so. The Scptues would not n a thousand ways and by nnumeable njunctons and admontons call the beleve fom these sns f they wee no longe pesent n us. But ths also s the teachng of ou Confessons whch have so beautfully caught the teachng of Scptue at ths pont. We have quoted many of these passages aleady. We efe only to a couple fom ou Hedelbeg Catechsm. "But can those who ae conveted to God pefectly keep these commandments? No: but even the holest men, whle n ths lfe, have only a small begnnng of ths obedence; yet so, that wth a sncee esoluton they begn to lve, not only accodng to some but all the commandments of God. Why wll God then have the ten commandments so stctly peached, snce no man n ths lfe can keep them? st, that all ou lfetme we may lean moe and moe to know ou snful natue; and thus become the moe eanest n seekng the emsson of sn, and ghteousness n Chst; lkewse, that we constantly endeavo and pay to God fo the gace of the Holy Spt, that we may become moe and moe confomable to the mage of God, tll we ave at the pefecton poposed to us, n a lfe to come. Lod's Day XLV, 114, 115. Ths s also the expeence of the chld of God. Whle t s tue that the expeence of the Chstan may neve fom the

21 \. " l standad of the tuth, no the bass fo ou conclusons on ponts of doctne, nevetheless t s also tue that the tuths of the Scptues ae, by the opeaton of the Spt, eflected n the conscousness of the belevng sant. And the esult s cetanly that the chld of God whose eyes have been opened by the nfluences of gace knows hmself as the wetched snne that he s. f theefoe one should come to hm and tell hm that he sns only occasonally, that he s bascally vey close to pefecton, that he need not f'labho hmself", that sn has been destoyed n hm, such a man not only confuses the chld of God but wll do one of two thngs. He wll ethe ceate n hm the self-ghteous spt of the Phasee and lead hm away fom humblng hmself daly befoe the fact of God; o he wll ob the chld of God of all hs assuance of fogveness and padon n the blood of Chst. He wll make such a chld of God wonde whethe ndeed he can be a Chstan snce hs own lfe s qute dffeent fom the false standad of holness and the false nom of the egeneated Chstan pesented to hm. He wll see that thee s much sn n hm yet, that hs natue ndeed s stll coupted and polluted; and ths wll have the effect of pesuadng hm that he s not even a egeneated chld of God. So do those who make lght of the ealty of sn n the Chstan ob the chld of God of hs assuance n Chst. All ths means that thee s conflct n the lfe of the Chstan: btte, unelentng wafae. Thee s a stuggle whch goes on contnuously, a fght whch, at tmes, all but teas the chld of God to peces. t s a wa wthout cessaton, wthout tuce, wthout peods of sucease fom the stuggle, wthout compomse. And t goes on exactly wthn the vey lfe of the Chstan hmself. Thee s the Chstan fom the vewpont of hs beng a new man n Chst who hates sn, flees fom t, despses all that s unholy: a new man washed clean n Chsts blood feed fom all spot and stan, wth heat and affectons centeed n God and Hs Wod. But thee s also the Chstan fom the vewpont of hs beng an told man \. who stll loves sn vey much,

22 \ pn pesses t to hs heat, seeks t out, pusues t wth sngle mnded fanatcsm and schemes and plots to commt evey manne of evl thee s. The Chstan s both of these--both of these the same tme and all the tme. The good that he would he does not, and the evl that he would not, that he does. Oh, wetched man that he s. t s even) n the fnal analyss, ths pecse conflct whch makes the chld of God long fo hs heavenly home. He gows weay of the stuggle and despeately ted of the unceasng battle. He knows that t shall contnue all hs lfe and he knows that thee s not peace complete and pefect to be found untl he S j body and soul, enewed n the house of hs athe. He becomes vey ted of snnng, confessng hs sn and commttng the same sns ove and ove agan. He becomes unspeakably weay of hs constant falue to do the wll of hs heavenly athe. And he longs fo the tme when he shall fnally be pesented wthout spot o wn)<le n the assembly of the elect n lfe etenal. ; But does all ths mean that the battle s uncetan as fa as ts outcome s concened? Have we sad enough when we descbe the Chstan n tems of ths stuggle? Does Scptue say no moe than that ths conflct goes on and on Hthout any decson untl death? Ths s fa fom tue. The Scptues always speak n tems of vctoy. Thee s a note of tumph unnng thoughout the Wod of God n all ths. That s, the Scptues do not leave the chld of God n hs despeate stuggle to awat vctoy when he goes to heaven only. The lfe of the chld of God s not compaable to a battle between opposng ames n whch the outcome always emans uncetan untl the vey last moment. n the mdst of the battle between the old and the new man, Scptue constantly emnds us that we ae vctoous. Not only when fnally we de; but evey moment. The new man always has the vctoy. Ths s tue evey moment of the stuggle. t may not seem that way oftentmes to the chld of God. He may see only dakness and defeat n hs lfe. He may see the supeoty of the powe and stength of the old man. He may come

23 p; 1 " to the concluson that almost always ths old man s domnant and that thee s vey lttle stength and powe n the new man. But any such conclusons on hs pat would be eoneous. The Scptues ae qute emphatc on ths pont. The beleve s afte all, tdead to sn. T (Rom. 6: 11). Sn has no moe domnon ove hm. (Rom. 6: 14). We ae no longe the sevants of sn, but ae feed fom sn and have become sevants of ghteousness. (Rom. 6: 17, 18). We ae moe than conqueos though Hm o loved us. (Rom. 8: 37). And these passages could be multpled. The pont s that even on the battlefeld thee s vctoy and tumph. And we must not lose sght of ths. The new man always has the vctoy. The new man always conques ove the old man. Ths s because the new man s the ceaton of God Almghty woked powefully though gace and by the Holy Spt. And that gace of God s geate than all ou sn. But the queston s: How can we explan that? The followng consdeatons wll make that clea. 1) By the wok of gace wheeby the new Juan s ceated, the powe and domnon of sn s boken so that we ae no longe the slaves of sn. Ths s fomely what we wee. We wee sn's slaves--completely. We wee so completely slaves of sn that evey actvty of ou natue was totally n the sevce of sn. Sn uled n us. Sn uled even ove ou wlls so that ou wlls wee SUbject to the slavey of sn and so that we wee ncapable of even wllng good. We, wllngly, eagely despeately, totally, sought the sevce of sn. Ths s all ended. Sn's domnon ove us s completely boken. We ae, n the wods of Scptue, dead to sn. We ae feed fom sn's tyanny. And ths s complete and fnal. We ae now the sevants of God and the powe of gace ules ln ou lves though the Holy Spt. 2) Ths comes to concete manfestaton 1n the lfe of the chld of God. He wlls the good. He deses eanestly and sometmes passonately to do the wll of God. He loves that whch s good and hates that whch s evl. He does ths even when he sns. He hates what he does and dsappoves of that whch stll he commts. Thee s conflct hee too, of couse; he stll loves also '

24 m. pm l f"0\ l j a \ t ( evl and appoves of t. But fundamentally and pncpally he hates all thso So much does he hate the evl that he abhos and despses hmself fo commttng evl. He ces out: 110 wetched man that am. f Ths s the powe of gace and the domnaton of the Spt of Chst. Wthout the powe of that new man he would neve be able even to see that he s a snne; he would be blnd to hs own depavty; he would be totally oblvous to hs own utte wetchedness, fo pde blnds hs eyes and leads hm to false cohclusons about hmself. Apat fom gace he would love sn. But now he loves t no longe--even when he commts t. Not only that, but fa moe mpotant even, he confesses hs sn. Ths s a temendous vctoy of gace n hs lfe whch s too often taken fo ganted and shugged asde as unmpotant. But thee s pehaps no moe poweful manfestaton of the new man n hm than ths. The Scptues eteate epeatedly the mpotance of confesson of sn. So mpotant s ths consdeed to be that Scptue even makes t the one dstngushng mak of the Chstan. No one who s not soy fo sn can ente heaven. Only those who confess the sns and flee to the coss shall fnd fogveness and padon. But all those who come shall be saved. You can undestand why ths s so mpotant. The two hadest wods n the Englsh language to say ae: ttl f m soy. t Sn means exactly excusng sn, justfyng one's self, blamng othes fo sn. But the powe of gace s so geat that t changes all ths n the lves of the people of God. t ceates a hated aganst sn that ases out of the convcton that we have offended the most hgh God wth ou offenses. The new man s so hateful of sn and so dsgusted wth ts hoo that he confesses. He humbles lmself befoe God n dust and ashes. He comes wth a boken and a contte spt befoe the most Hgh solemnly to plead God's mecy. He sees wth stak claty hs own wothlessness and powelessness. He sees he s wholly a snne, wholly n need of gace and mecy, dependent uttely upon the God of hs salvaton. And n the agony of hs sn, he flees fo a efuge to the coss thee to fnd fogveness and padon and to dnk deeply of the cup of mecy

25 ( pmj vm. ' Ths s a complete and total vctoy ove sn. t s the temendous powe of the wok of gace whch ovecomes uttely the old man and cushes hm. t s so geat a vctoy that t bngs peace and joy, happness and thanksgvng n the mdst of suffeng and dstess. Let no one undeevaluate the temendous powe of ths vctoy of the new man n the lfe of the chld of God. 3) nally, t leads to gowth n sanctfcaton. The vctoy s so complete that the new man moe and moe domnates n the lfe of the chld of God. We must be caeful that we undestand ths coectly. ecall when was a young man that ou Young Men's Socety nsttuted a pogam n the chuch whee was a membe of bngng the ecoded semons to the shut-ns of the congegaton. Ths s a common pogam now n many chuches, but we wee walkng on new gound n the days when the only ecodes avalable wee we. Especally the olde people loved to have us stay wth them fo awhle to talk to them and keep them company n he lonlness. Many of them would vey soon tun the dscusson to sptual thngs. n my young eyes, these people wee as nea to santhood as t was possble to get. They seemed to have all but attaned pefecton as the whole lves wee testmones of the powe of gace. But when we would talk about these thngs they would solemnly assue me that the olde they became, the geate snnes they wee. was vey much taken aback by ths, and f t had not been the unanmous testmony (fo thee was no excepton), would have passed t off as beng a too-modest evaluaton of the sptual lfe. Howeve, the olde myself become, the moe can appecate the tuth of what these people sad. s t tue then that thee s no pogess n sanctfcaton? that, on the contay, one may only, as these people testfed, get wose? fuat s the soluton to ths poblem? To undestand ths, we must undestand the paadox of the Chstan's lfe. am afad that only a chld of God s able to undestand ths; t pobably seems nonsense to the unbeleve. Yet evey chld of God knows how tue t s

26 l l p l o one thng, of couse, the olde one becomes the moe of a lfetme of sn he has to look back on. He does not cay wth hm twenty o thty yeas of snnng, but seventy o eghty. And whle t s tue that when we confess ou sns, we fnd fogveness and padon, nevetheless, n a cetan sense we cay ou sns wth us all ou lfe long. Davd must have been a elatvely olde man aleady when he payed: "ogve the sns of my youth. They ae fogven, but they ae thee, fo they have had the effect upon ou lves whch nothng on ths sde of the gave can ease. And the olde we become, the moe of these sns have pled up and the geate the mountan of the gult. The accumulated effects of them ae vey geat. n the second place, the olde we become the wse we become n the ways of sn. A chld, though a snne, s openly and blatantly snful. Wth the passng of the yeas comes a cetan skll n sn, a cetan caefulness and slyness whch makes sn moe teble and moe hypoctcal. \4e lean to fake holness, to sn n undetected ways, to fool othes. And ths opens up moe possbltes fo sn not only, but also nceases the gavty. And we know ths. n the thd place, wth age comes geate oppotuntes fo sn. We lean to sn wth ou eathly possessons, somethng we dd not have as a chld. We sn n ou postons of esponsblty n the home, n the Chuch of Chst, n the places God puts us n elaton to othes n socety. But all these thngs make sn geate and moe henous. Along wth ths comes an nceasng knowledge of sn as sn. We do not sn n the gnoance of chldhood, but n the full awaeness of the tuth of the Scptues and the commands of God's law. Ths nceases ou esponsblty and the gavty of sn. n the fouth place, SUbjectvely, we lean all these thngs moe deeply and pofoundly. We lean how hoble sn eally s. We lean what a teble monste t s n ou lves. We lean how seous sn s because t s commtted aganst the most hgh majesty of God. We lean how evl we ae, the deep capacty fo sn we have, the possblty of commttng evey sn, no matte how vle

27 ' l ' We lean how poweful ou natues eally ae dead n sn and tespasses. And we come moe and moe to hate these sns. All these thngs leave the mpesson wth us as f, the olde we become the geate snnes we eally ae. And n a cetan sense ths s tue. But at the same tme, these vey thngs ae all the fut of gace. The Hedelbeg Catechsm says that the ten commandments must be peached to us because then we may lean moe and moe to know ou snful natue and thus become the moe eanest n seekng the emsson of sns and ghteousness n Chst. And so we have the paadox of the Chstan. The geate undestandng of ou snful natues leads us to an nceasng awaeness of ouselves as snnes. We undestand, the olde we become, that we ae uttely wetched. But ths s, at the same tme, the vctoy of gace and of the new man n Chst. We cannot see ou sns apat fom gace. We cannot undestand the powe n ou lves except we be egeneated. We cannot confess them and flee fo fogveness to ou Chst but by the powe of the new man. So that vey thng whch convnces us that we become nceasngly geate snnes s tself the gowth of sanctfcaton and pogess on the way to holness. And so, fnally, we moe and moe eanestly dese to lve, lnot accodng to only some, but all the commandments of God." And that eanest dese gows geate and geate. And as t gows, so by the powe of that same gace whch makes t gow, we put away, one by one the sns whch contnuously se up n ou lves. Gace conques sn. The new man s vctoous. Dh, ndeed, not hee n ths lfe. We pay fo the gace of the Holy Spt, "that we may become moe and moe confomable to the mage of God, tll we ave at the pefecton poposed to us, n a lfe to come." And ths s the note of tumph whch ngs thoughout the Scptues. t sounds as a vctoy shout on evey page. t ases n evey pat of God's Wod as the vctoy shout of the chld of God n the mdst of the wold because he s moe than a conqueo though Chst Who loved hm. The old man and the new man; yes, ndeed. Both ae thee. But vctoy s a pesent ealty and a cetan hope

28 , f NTRODUCTON OECOLAMPADUS, REORMER O BASEL Hs Lfe and Wok -- Mak Hoeksema -- Basel n the 16th centuy was the wealthest and most lteay cty n all of Swtzeland. t had been an epscopal see snce the 8th centuy, the meetng place of the efomatoy councl of , and the seat of a unvesty snce Located on the banks of the Rhne n exteme nothwest Swtzeland, t bodeed on both ance and Gemany, and consequently ts hstoy was nfluenced by that of both countes. t was the cente of the Swss book tade, and a meetng-place fo scholas fom allove the wold. Enched by tade and commece, the cty was a leadng nfluence among the thteen Swss cantons. The sptual clmate n the 1500's was one of unest, fo the wnds of change wee blowng stongly among the stold Swss. The fst gusts wee sent swlng nto the cty by the scholas Wyttenbach and Easmus, and soon the populace, unde the nfluence of the peaches Capto and Hedo, was demandng efom. l nto ths stuaton Oecolampadus, stepped. The Refome of Basel establshed the Refomaton fmly, consoldated t and futheed t. Called by some a seconday efome,2 he s such only n the sense that he belongs to the second geneaton of efomes. But n hs leanng, vews, and wok he was by no means seconday, but a sevant of God of the fst class and a geat efome of the chuch. How Oecolampadus came to be a efome, what he accomplshed n Basel, hs vews and teachngs, and hs lastng mak upon the hstoy of the chuch ae the subjects that occupy ou 1phlp Schaff, Hstoy of the Chstan Chuch (Gand Rapds, 1958), Vol. V, pp Godon Rupp, Patens of Refomaton (London, 1969), p. x

29 l l attenton n the pape. Though somewhat atfcal fo the sake of claty thee dstnctons should be made. We consde fst the lfe and chaacte of Oecolampadus; second, hs majo vews; and thd, hs place n the hstoy of the Refomaton. ************************

30 m' ( OECOLAMPADUS: HS LE AND CHARACTER Oecolampadus was bon Johann Hausschen n the small town of Wensbeg n WUttembug n the yea Hs mothe, a natve of Basel, and hs fathe, a mechant, educated the son fo the legal pofesson He seemed to have a penchant fo leanng, fo afte attendng the Latn school at Helbonn he enteed the Unvesty of Bologna, and then the Unvesty of Hedelbeg, whee he eaned hs B.A. n 1502 and hs M.A. n Havng decded he dd not lke juspudence, young Hausschen nstead chose theology, whch he studed at Hedelbeg. He eceved a tadtonal Roman Catholc educaton, studyng Aqunas) the mystcs, and the classcs. 5 Yet these wee tmes of tumol n educaton, fo tadtonal vews and values wee beng questoned. Thus Oecolampadus stood tempoally between the old humansts such as Wmpfelng and Reuchln and the van of the new ebellon, whch ncluded such fgues as Melanchthon, Benz, and Buce. 6 The tumol of the age was eflected n the lfe of the young Hausschen. He seemngly was unable to fnd hs callng n lfe, wandeng fom place to place and fndng vaous tempoay occupatons dung the next seveal yeas of hs lfe. n 1506 he became tuto to the son of the Electo Phlp of Hedelbeg, but t seemed that cout lfe dd not agee wth hm,7 and he soon etuned to Hedelbeg. n 1510 he was apponted town peache though a benefce of hs famly, At the same tme he began to use the Geczed fom of hs name, Oecolampadus, though Rupp nfoms us that hs enemes late called hm "Caeco-lampadus l ("dak-lamptl); the \ 3McClnton-Stong, Cyclopeda of Bblcal, Theologcal, and Ecclesastcal Lteatue, (New Yok, 1877), Vol. V, p Rupp, p Schaff-Hezog, Encyclopeda of Relgous Knowledge (London, 1910) p Rupp, p bd., p. 5. '"

31 pm j ) m f;1, [ m \ " nhabtants of Basel, hs late home, unable to ponounce such a monke, called hm "Claus Bade'; (Nck-out-of-the-bath").8 Hs peachng at ths tme was thooughly Roman Catholc and scholastcally medeval n chaacte;9 yet thee wee elements of mystcsm and stesses smla to those of Stauptz and Kalstadt. 10 Howeve, whethe t was due to a feelng of ncompetence, o whethe t was because he was convnced that the doctnes he peached wee only supestton, as Wyle holds, he soon esgned hs poston to esume hs studes. Pehaps thee s tuth n the asseton that Oecolampadus was dscontented wth Roman Catholc doctne and theefoe decded to study the Scptues n the ognal languages, although ths cannot be poved. At any ate, study the saced languages he dd at TUbngen. Hee he met Phlp Melanchthon, and though hm Melanchthon's geat-uncle, the famous lngust Reuchln. ll om Ruchln he leaned Geek and Hebew, as well as Latn. Such a wde knowledge of languages was ae n hs day and consequently hs leanng bought hm enown as a lngustc schola. Soon Oecolampadus put hs knowledge to pactcal use, etunng to Hedelbeg and teachng Geek wth a gamma whch he wote hmself. 12 t was at ths tme that he met Capto, who had an mmedate nfluence on hm. Capto had gone to Basel and secued fom Bshop Uttenhem of Basel an appontment fo Oecolampadus to peach n Basel, whch Oecolampadus accepted n n addton to peachng thee, he asssted Easmus n the pepaaton of the latte's Commentay of the New Testanent,14 a labo fo whch 8bd.., p. 7. 9McClntock-Stong, p llbd., p bd. 13J.A.t Jyle, The Hstoy of Potestantsm (London, n.d.), p McClntock-Stong, p J'