eath, I shall not refuse to die. For
the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. [Ps. 24:1] He is
blessed forever. Amen.

May He have you too forever in His keeping. Amen.

ANNO MDXVIII.

FOOTNOTES

[1] See Introduction, pp. 18, 21.

[2] i. e. The papal laws regulating the methods of collectors of
church-funds.

[3] The Ninety-five Theses.

[4] See Tetzel's _II. Disputation_, Theses 47, 48. Loescher, I, p.
522.

A TREATISE ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
1529

INTRODUCTION

This treatise is not a sermon in the ordinary acceptation of the
term. It was not preached, but, according to the Latin usage of
the word "sermo," was rather "a discourse," "a discussion," "a
disputation" concerning baptism. Even in popular usage, the term
"sermon" implies careful preparation and the orderly arrangement
of thought. Here, therefore, we have a carefully prepared
statement of Luther's opinion of the real significance of
baptism. Published in November, 1519, and shortly afterward in a
Latin translation,[1] it shows that the leading features of his
doctrine on this subject were already fixed. With it should be
read the chapter in the Large Catechism (1519), and the treatise
_Von der Wiedertaufe_ (1538).[2] The treatment is not polemical,
but objective and practical. The Anabaptist controversy was still
in the future. No objections against Infant Baptism or problems
that it suggested were pressing for attention. Nothing more is
attempted than to explain in a very plain and practical way how
every one who has been baptised should regard his baptism. It
commits to writing in an entirely impersonal way a problem of
Luther's own inner life, for the instruction of others similarly
perplexed.

He is confronted with a rite universally found in Christendom and
nowhere else, the one distinctive mark of a Christian, the seal
of a divine covenant. What it means is proclaimed by its very
external form. But it is more than a mere object-lesson
pictorially representing a great truth. With Luther, Word and
Spirit, sign and that which is signified, belong together.
Wherever the one is present, there also is the efficacy of the
other. The sign is not limited to the moment of administration,
and that which is signified is not projected far into the distant
future of adult years.

The emphatic preference here shown for immersion may surprise
those not familiar with Luther's writings. He prefers it as a
matter of choice between