Herberger on Arbogast, Praxedes, and Mary Magdalene

Feasts on July 21.

ARBOGAST, Bishop of Strasbourg, in his childish humility, requested in his will that, since Christ had lain not far from Golgotha, his body should be buried under the gallows. This is like the actions of Celestine V., the Roman pope, who insisted on riding on a donkey in keeping with Christ's example; or else like Wulfstan, who only wore a robe of lambskin, declaring, "In the Church we always sing Agnus Dei, 'Lamb of God'." Richard, duke of Normandy, wished simply to be buried before the Church door, that he might be trampled upon by all men and drenched by the dripping from the roof.

PRAXEDES, a God-fearing Roman virgin, daughter of St. Pudens, joined her sister Pudentiana in distributing all their wealth to the poor. When the persecution of Christians increased, she besought God to deliver her from misery by a blessed death, and was taken to everlasting blessedness.

The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (July 22).
Poenitentium lacrymae; Dei et angelorum deliciae resipiscentium lacrymae reputantur pro baptismate.
The tears of penitent hearts are surely able to still the wrath of God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Consolation and Joy of all repentant hearts, who not only received mournful Mary Magdalene to grace, but will also have mercy on us, should we but seek it in due humility; who for which humility is most blessed and adored together with the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit, one God in eternity. Amen.

Devout hearts: we turn our attention to the comforting Gospel of penitent Mary Magdalene. Now therefore, in order that we may with all our heart oppose the sin which afflicted Mary Magdalene, and, where we have erred, yet not despair, but repent with her and, having received the forgiveness of sins, endeavor the more fervently and deeply to love the Lord Jesus, let us pray sincerely: Save me, O God, in Thy name; O God, give ear unto my prayer, hearken to the utterance of my mouth (Ps. 54:3-4).

Attend to the comforting Gospel, which Luke describes in the 7th chapter, verses 36–50. "One of the Pharisees invited the Lord Jesus… Go in peace."

Devout hearts: the ancient doctors of the Church are mostly of the opinion that Mary Magdalene was the same sinful woman of whom Luke writes in this passage. Scholars may read what Dr. Major relates in Farragine annexa vitis Patrum. Gerard of Nazareth, Bishop of Laodicea, wrote a whole book, Contra Salam Presbyterum, in which he attempts to show that this Mary Magdalene was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. We will not turn our hair gray over this dispute, but rather go straight to what was just read, which is a choice, delectable, and comforting text for all poor, afflicted sinners. For in it is displayed for God's children the highest art whereby they may be united with God and be absolved of their sins. Qui peccare desinit, iram Dei facit mortalem, says Lactantius. He that ceases to sin makes the wrath of God to have an end. Per miserere mei tollitur ira Dei, said our forefathers: Through my repentance, God's wrath is allayed. Isaiah gives this clearly in chapter 1, verses 16–18: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away your wickedness from My sight, cease from evil; learn to do good. Though your sin be as red as blood, yet it shall become as white as snow; and though it be as the color of a rose, yet it shall become as wool."

In this text we have clear proof that God was true when He said (Ezek. 33:11–12), "As truly as I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but that he turn and live" Here we have a manifest example of the words of St. Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15): "This is most certainly true, and a precious, worthy saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

This account is also necessary for us pastors to know, that we may not deny any truly repentant heart Absolution, nor succeed in making the grace of God too cheap, as the devil reproached St. Martin. (Read Gloria Lutheri, or Luther's Crown of Glory, which may be found under the title Martin in the appendix to my Epistolary Heart-Postils, p. 233.) Why would we ministers delay and indulge ourselves when our Lord Himself, who obtained the Absolution with His blood, was so kind and gracious?

Yet no one is to abuse this blessed consolation. Non est exemplum imitationis, sed consolationis; It is not an example that we should follow but one from which we should derive comfort. One should learn from Mary Magdalene not to sin but to part from sin by true repentance. Whoever impudently sins against God's grace should look to it, that he is not repaid with eternal disgrace. Today, if ye hear God's voice, harden not your hearts (Ps. 95:8). Multum diligere Jesum, to love the Lord Jesus much, will be our last lesson today.

Let us train our thoughts upon the kernel of the account and examine three points:

1. What kind of sin Mary was in.
2. How she rightly repented the sins that she had done.
3. How her repentance was heartily pleasing to the Lord Jesus.

The Lord Jesus herewith fruitfully stir our hearts by His Spirit. Amen…

[For further excerpts from this sermon, see Treasury of Daily Prayer (St. Louis, 2008), pp. 548–549]


Translation © 2012 Matthew Carver, from Valerius Herberger, Herzpostille II, pp. 242–244.

Johann Gerhard on John the Baptist

In honor of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, here's a selection from the latest volume of Johann Gerhard's classic work of theology, Theological Commonplaces: On the Ministry, Part One (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011). Gerhard has an interesting section about how the Jews at the time of Jesus believed in the transmigration of souls. This explains a number of NT passages, and it is plausible that the Jews came to this wrong understanding by misunderstanding verses like Mal. 4:5.

§ 20. In this place the question arises: (I) In what sense and respect is John the Baptist called “more than a prophet” (Matt. 11:9; Luke 7:26)? We respond. The reason is given in the same places: because “he went before the face of the Lord, preparing the way before Him” [Matt. 11:10; Luke 7:27]. That is, the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about the Messiah, who would finally come after many centuries. For instance, Balaam says, “I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not near” (Num. 24:17). Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, prophesied 466 years before Christ was born. But John pointed his finger at Christ, who was present; he began the ministry of the New Testament; by divine authority he instituted the new sacrament of Baptism. This did not happen to any prophet of the Old Testament. Irenaeus, bk. 3, ch. 11, p. 185: “All the other prophets announced the coming of the Father’s Light. But they deeply wished to be worthy to see Him whom they were preaching. John, however, prophesied similarly to others but saw His coming, showed Him, and persuaded many to believe in Him, such that he himself held the position of both prophet and apostle.”

(II) [The question arises:] In what sense does this same [John the] Baptist deny that he is a prophet (John 1:21), even though he was considered as and honored with the title “prophet,” not only by his father Zechariah (Luke 1:76) but also by all the people of Israel (Matt. 14:5; Mark 11:32)? We respond. Some people take the question of the messengers from Jerusalem as referring to the outstanding prophet promised in Deut. 18:18. However, because they had already asked John if he was the Christ, the question of whether he was that great prophet would have been repeated uselessly. You see, it could be said only about the Messiah that He was that outstanding prophet who had been promised through Moses, unless we wanted to say that those messengers and the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem had completely erred from the true meaning of this prophecy, something that anyone who notices their stupidity and blindness would easily believe. Some respond by saying that John denied that he was a prophet because Christ said he was greater and more excellent than the prophets. Some claim that when John denies that he is a prophet, he was regarding the fact that he is not one of prophets of the Old Testament, about whom it was said in Matt. 11:13: “For all the prophets prophesied until John.” Some claim that the messengers asked and John replied about Elisha, who himself had ordered Naaman to be dipped in the waters. Some think that John denied that he was a prophet because of his humility, even though he truly was a prophet. Some people suspect that John refused to accept the honor of prophet because he was not undertaking a duty of the political office, which the prophets in the Old Testament used.

But it is more simple to respond that John adjusted his response to the question of the messengers. They were asking him if he was a prophet, that is, if he was one of those ancient prophets, long dead already, who had been recalled to life through a Pythagorean transmigration of souls. You see, Elias Levita testifies in Thisbi that the Jewish leaders at that time had embraced the idea of the transmigration of souls, something we also conclude from the words of Herod (Matt. 14:1; Mark 6:14), where he makes this judgment about Christ: “John the Baptist has risen from the dead. That is why these powers are at work in Him.” However, the sense of the question is revealed especially from what comes before it. They are asking whether he is a prophet in the same sense as they ask whether he is Elijah. But they are asking if he is Elijah in this sense: Is he that Elijah, the Tishbite, who was carried into heaven by a fiery chariot and whose return in his own person they were awaiting, according to the misunderstood prophecy in Mal. 4:5? Therefore they are also asking him if he is a prophet in this sense: Is he one of the ancient prophets recalled to life by a divine miracle? This we conclude very clearly from the words of Luke 9:7–8: “Now Herod the tetrarch heard all that Christ was doing, and he was perplexed because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by the others that one of the ancient prophets had risen.” Therefore John had first denied that he was Elijah in that sense in which the messengers had asked if he was Elijah in his own person, even though the angel (Luke 1:17) and Christ Himself (Matt. 11:14) call him “Elijah” in a different sense: because he went ahead of the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah. In the same way, he denies that he is a prophet in that sense in which the messengers had asked him if he was a prophet, that is, one of the ancient prophets brought back to life, even though in a different sense he truly was a prophet: a herald of repentance and righteousness, the forerunner of the Messiah, a minister of the New Testament, etc.

Valerius Herberger on St. Vitus, Martyr (June 15)

Devout hearts! Just as our Savior Jesus was already a wondrous mirror of unprecedented wisdom at twelve years of age (Luke 2:42), so the godly boy Vitus was a wondrous mirror of Christian constancy at twelve years of age. Therefore it is well worth the labor for our dear young men and women to be told of him so that they may devote their tender hearts to the Lord Jesus while they are still in their early years, in keeping with that saying of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:1 which Discipulus treats on the feast of St. Vitus: “Remember your Maker in your youth, before the evil days come, and before the years approach when you will say, They please me not.” Those young persons are worthy of praise who have the mind, manner, and character of pious, old, wayworn men. “For surely age is not that which lives long or has many years. Wisdom among men is the true gray hair, and an unspotted life true old age,” as it says in Wisdom 4:8–9.

St. Christina too, when she was only twelve years old, gave glory to Christ with her death. Flocellus, in the days of Caesar Anthony, was only ten years old. Mammes of Caesarea was only seven. Agrippitus, in the days of Alexander of Mammea, was fifteen, as also was Agapetus (in Marullus, bk. 5, ch. 5). In Nicephorus, a little boy climbs up to his mother at the stake and yields himself to burning. Another mother of Edessa took her boy with her to church that he might be a little martyr at her side. (See the appendix to the Vitae Patrum Majores.)

The faithful schoolmaster Modestus carefully instructed Vitus in the catechism, which angered his pagan father. Therefore he struck the dear child. At last the matter came before Diocletian, who had Vitus, his tutor, and his mother [nurse] Crescentia put in jail, and afterwards boiled into bubbling pitch and molten lead, and (since God performed miracles as He did with John), thrown before wild beasts. At last, however, he was mercilessly matyred on the gallows. But when the innocent boy prayed with a loud voice: Domine, libera me! “O Lord, deliver me!” a great storm arose and the earth shook, so that Diocletian was compelled to leave the martyrs and escape. Meanwhile, the child was released by an angel and, being taken from this life by a blessed death, was transported to a better one.

What a veritable Vitus! Jesus meae vitae ipsius scopus, “Jesus has been the aim of my life,” as Emperor Jovinian's motto runs. Vitus was a friend of the Lord Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and died to His glory, refusing to be stained by idolatry. Vitavit vitia idolatrica, et spe vitae aeternae superavit omnes dolores in hac vita. He shunned idolatry, and by hope of eternal life he endured all the sorrows of this life in Christian patience. Neither did the span of his life depend on the will of his enemies, but it rested in the hands of the Lord Jesus. For him, too, Christ was his Life, as St. Paul says in Philippians 1:21.

In former times the Gospel for this day was Matthew 10:16[–22]: “Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves,” etc. But since I treated this in Funeral-Bands, part 2, let us on this occasion look at the meaning of the name Vitus and examine the noble saying of the Lord Jesus, Ego vivo, et vos vivetis, “I live, and ye too shall live” [John 14:19]. But that it may be done prosperously, pray with me: God be gracious unto me, deliver me feet from slipping, that I may walk before Thee in the light of the living. Amen.

(Translated from Valerius Herberger, Hertz-Postilla… [ed. Leipzig, 1721], vol. 2, p. 190. Text: © 2012 Matthew Carver.)

Baptism and Emergency Situations (Johann Gerhard)

Lutherans now and in the age of Lutheran Orthodoxy held that any Christian may perform a Baptism in a case of emergency, whether he is a pastor or not. But does this mean that there is no need for the office of the ministry? And how should the institution of Baptism in Matt. 28:16-20 be understood? Johann Gerhard comments on this issue in Theological Commonplaces: On the Ministry, Part One (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011), § 74, pp. 97-98.

Ordinarily the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments according to divine institution belong to the ministers of the church, who have been legitimately called to that office, as we have shown [§§ 51–63]. Against this divinely established order one cannot and should not set forth extraordinary examples of extreme necessity, which are indeed exempted from the common law but which do not at all overturn the general rule. Thus in the case of extreme necessity when either a man must die without Baptism or a private person must confer Baptism, it is better for a private person to administer Baptism than that the man die without being baptized. Nonetheless the administration of Baptism ordinarily belongs to the ministers of the church, as is gathered from Matt. 28:19 and Mark 16:15, where the duty both of preaching and of baptizing is committed to the apostles.

The Holy Spirit, Author of the Holy Ministry (Johann Gerhard)

From Johann Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces: On the Ministry, Part One (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011), § 50, p. 70.

In time past the Holy Spirit spoke through prophets, who were divinely stirred up and sent as teachers to the church. 2 Sam. 23:2: “The Spirit of the Lord has spoken through me.” Acts 28:25: “The Holy Spirit spoke well to our fathers through the prophet Isaiah.” 1 Pet. 1:11: “The Spirit of Christ in the prophets predicted the sufferings.” 2 Pet. 1:21: “No prophecy ever was given by human will, but holy men of God spoke, φερόμενοι” (“moved and driven”) “by the Holy Spirit.” It is the Holy Spirit who anointed Christ according to the flesh “above His fellows” and “sent Him to preach” (Ps. 45:7; Isa. 42:1; 61:1; Luke 4:18). It is the Holy Spirit who was visibly poured out upon the apostles so that, “clothed with power from on high,” they would preach the Gospel to all nations (Acts 2:1[–4]; Luke 24:49). It is the Holy Spirit who, as the apostles were serving the Lord and fasting, orders them to “set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He called them” (Acts 13:2). For this reason they are said to have been “sent by the Holy Spirit” (v. 4); and this is also affirmed regarding the bishops of the church at Ephesus. Acts 20:28: “The Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to rule the church of God, which He obtained by His own blood.” It is also He who equips ministers of the Word with the gifts necessary to carry out their ministry correctly and salutarily. 1 Cor. 12:4–9: “Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit; there are diversities of servings but the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings, but it is the same God who works all in all. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for usefulness. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the gift of healings in the one Spirit,” etc. Verse 11: “All these are worked by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one as He wills.” From this, the ministry of the Gospel is also called “the ministry of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:6), not only because the Holy Spirit is given through the word of the Gospel (Gal. 3:2) but also because the Holy Spirit is the Author and Preserver of the ministry and equips ministers with the necessary gifts. Thus when Christ wished to commit the ministry to His apostles, He first gave them the Holy Spirit by means of breathing on them (John 20:22). The result is that all that ministers of the church do correctly and salutarily in their office is correctly attributed to the Holy Spirit, who acts effectually in them and through them. Matt. 10:20: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Valerius Herberger on St. George the Knight (April 23)

TODAY WE commemorate St. George, whom our forefathers called one of the chiefest of the saints because he did not go on foot like the others but rode a horse. Tres equites esse in coelo. “There are three who ride in heaven: Christ, Martin, and George.” Ambrose and Jacob de Voragine say a great deal about him, but already at the Council of Nicaea the holy fathers doubted whether the story were true. So because we do not like to build on shaky ground, let me merely draw from it what may redound to the glory of our paschal King, Jesus Christ… Formerly it was said that St. George was a noble knight and warrior in the time of Emperor Diocletian, and that he delivered the citizens of Silena from the hideous, venomous dragon, to whom they were daily compelled at first to give two lambs, and later, a lamb and a man—which misfortune at last fell upon the king’s daughter herself. All well-educated scholars count this a fabrication of a creative man who wished by such a parable to draw a picture of a faithful ruler, or perhaps of the Lord Jesus Himself. For a faithful ruler must be a valiant George, that is, a “builder up of land, city, and honor.” He must have the mind of a builder, as Moses says in Deuteronomy 1:13. (Those interested may read the sermon in Part 9 of Magnalia Dei, Medit. 5, on Deut. 1, p. 672.). And he must risk his own life and limb for his subjects, as King Alfonso reminds himself in his seal, where next to a pelican he has the words: Pro lege et pro grege. “For the law and the people.” 

But above all, the Lord Jesus is very admirably depicted to us in this parable. The oppressed citizenry of Silena is mankind. We ought to have been eternally silenced and speechless before God because of our sin. We were brought into such great misery by the hellish dragon, who disguised himself as a venomous serpent in the Garden of Eden, and with his deceitful breath tricked Adam and Eve. Still today he seeks our doom and downfall. He is ever on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Yet in our sorry plight we are rescued by Jesus Christ, the noble Lord (Luke 19:12), the doughty Champion (Is. 9:6), the Giant of twofold substance (Gigas geminae substantiae), the true valiant George and “builder of the land” of His Church, with the true quick-witted mind of a builder. After all, He was the Craftsman present when God created heaven and earth (Prov. 8:22). He leapt down to us from heaven on the steed of His tender humanity, like a true leaper, in collibus saliens, leaping on the hills (Song of Songs 2:8). Therefore the Church sings on Ascension: Saltum de coelo dedit in virginalem ventrem, et inde pelagus seculi. “He leaped down from heaven into the womb of the Virgin, and thence to the sea of mortality.” “His right hand had to help Him” (Is. 6:53). He armed Himself with the javelin of His holy cross, and so overcame the hellish dragon. He trampled underfoot the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15) and destroyed the works of the evil one (1 John 3:8) and bound the adversary of our soul with eternal bonds like a chained dog so that he can have no power over us. Now in what manner we ought to be grateful is shown to us by the rescued maiden and little lamb. We are to gain a clean heart, and a humble, timid, yielding, gentle mind, and to love Jesus with a virgin’s love (Rev. 14:4; Matt. 25:1). We are to follow Him as little lambs do their shepherd, and willingly to surrender ourselves to be slain for His glory. (As said above on Misericordia Sunday in Hertzpostille Part 1, p. 340.)

The Gospel that we read is therefore expounded today because the name George is clearly evident in this text: “My Father is a vinedresser,” or field-worker. In the Greek it says, “My Father is a Georgos,” or George, a builder of the land and worker of the soil…

(Translation © Matthew Carver, 2012, from Hertzpostille II, 148ff.)

Johann Gerhard, On the Ministry, Part One

The latest volume of Johann Gerhard's Theological Commonplaces is On the Ministry, Part One. The table of contents gives a great overview of what the volume is about.

CONTENTS
Editor’s Preface
Comparison of Editions of Gerhard’s Loci

Commonplace XXVI/1: On the Ecclesiastical Ministry, Part One
The preface shows the connection of this commonplace with the preceding commonplace, § 1, and explains the three estates in the church, § 2, as well as the necessity of the ecclesiastical ministry, § 3, and its usefulness and dignity, § 4.

Chapter I: The nomenclature for the ecclesiastical ministry.
(I) As for the ministry, in Holy Scripture it is called: “The ecclesiastical order,” § 5. “Ministry” (διακονία), § 6. “Public service” (λειτουργία), § 8. “Watch,” “Service,” “Inspection,” and “Stewardship,” § 11. In writers of the church it is called: “Holy work, priestly service” (ἱερουργία) and “hierarchy” (ἱεραρχία), § 12. (II) As for the ministers, in Holy Scripture there are various titles, § 13. In the Old Testament, the proper titles are: “Priests,” § 14. “Patriarchs,” § 17. “Prophets,” § 18. “Seers,” § 21. “Men of God,” § 22. “Angels,” § 23. “Anointed ones,” § 24. The metaphoric titles are: “Watchmen,” § 25. “Builders,” “shepherds,” “fathers,” § 26. In the New Testament, the proper titles are: “Bishops,” § 27. “Presbyters,” § 28. “Deacons,” § 30. “Teachers,” § 31. “Presidents, rulers,” § 32. “Leaders,” § 33. “Scribes,” § 34. The metaphoric titles are: “Salt of the earth,” “light of the world,” “laborers in the vineyard,” “servants who invite people to the wedding,” “to a banquet,” “fishermen,” “laborers in the harvest,” “fellow workers in agriculture,” “stewards,” “physicians,” “ambassadors of God,” “witnesses,” “preachers,” “trumpeters,” “winds,” § 35. In ecclesiastical writers they are called: “leaders,” “parsons,” “priests,” § 36. The Papists call our ministers “preachers” as a term of contempt, and call their own ministers “clerics,” § 37.

Chapter II: Whether there is an ecclesiastical ministry.
(I) The existence of the ministry is proved: (1) By their titles. (2) By the continuous line of teachers from the beginning of the world to our times, in the Old Testament: Patriarchs, § 39. Priests and prophets, § 40. And in the New Testament: John the Baptist, the apostles, and bishops, § 41. The fathers and scholastic doctors, § 42. (3) By the divine promises concerning the preservation of the church and, consequently, of the ecclesiastical ministry until the end of the world, § 43. (4) By the distinction of this order from the other estates and orders, § 45. (II) Gerhard responds to arguments against the necessity of the ministry: That believers of the New Testament no longer need to be taught, § 46. That they have their anointing from God, § 47. That God can illuminue us without the work of the ministry, § 48.

Chapter III: The efficient cause of the ecclesiastical ministry.
The principal efficient cause of the ministry is the Holy Trinity, § 49. The distinction and order of Persons in this work is explained, § 50.

Section I: Whether a particular call is required to take on the ecclesiastical ministry.
What the call is, § 51. Whether it is distinguished from “choosing,” § 53. Its necessity is affirmed, § 54. Gerhard responds to the objections of the Anabaptists and Photinians, § 65.

Section II: How many kinds of call to the ministry there are.
Among various divisions of the call, § 75, the chief distinction is between the mediate and immediate call, § 76.

Section III: The immediate call specifically.
The questions arise: (1) In how many ways the immediate call occurs, § 79. (2) Whether the power to perform miracles is always connected with it, § 80. (3) How one should discern between it and the deceit of fanatics, § 81. (4) Whether it should be expected still today? § 82.

Section IV: The mediate call.
The mediate call is no less divine than the immediate, § 83. By what means it is accomplished, § 85. Each estate of the church participates in the calling of ministers, § 86. But the Papists argue that the laity and the Christian magistrate should be excluded from the call, § 99.

Section V: Episcopal right and the right of patronage, § 108.

Section VI: Things that must be avoided in the calling and selection of ministers, § 115.

Section VII: Controversies and some doubtful questions and cases that often occur in dealing with the call, § 117.

Section VIII: The call of blessed Luther.
The controversy concerning Luther’s call is reviewed, § 118. Luther’s call was mediate, § 120, was confirmed three times, § 121, and Luther often appeals to this mediate, solemn call, § 122. Yet something extraordinary was also present in Luther’s call, § 123. The Papists’ arguments against Luther’s call are refuted, § 124.

Section IX: The calling of ministers in the churches that they call “Evangelical,” § 127.

Section X: The calling of bishops in the Papist church, § 130.

Section XI: The degree of doctorate: Whether it is a call to the ministry, § 136.

Section XII: Ordination.
(1) Whether ordination is absolutely necessary for the ministry, § 139. (2) Whether ordination is a sacrament, § 141. (3) Who the legitimate minister of ordination is, § 152. (4) Whether those whom heretics have ordained should be ordained again, § 155. (5) Whether one who has not been called to a certain place should be ordained, § 158. (6) The ceremonies of ordination: The imposition of hands, § 159. Anointing, § 160. Tonsure, § 163. (7) What the effect and fruit of ordination are, §165.

Section XIII: The examination preceeding ordination, § 166.

Section XIV: The investiture of ministers, § 170.

Section XV: The transfer of ministers, § 171.

Section XVI: The removal of ministers, § 174.

Chapter IV: The material cause of the ministry, 178.

Section I: The matter in which of the ministry.
(1) The matter in which, or subject, of the ministry is human beings. God ordinarily uses their work for the wisest of reasons, both with respect to God, § 179, and with respect to human beings, § 180. (2) What sort of persons are to be selected for the ministry is taught from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, § 181. (3) The questions arise: (a) Whether the ministry is bound to a certain family, § 184. (b) Whether those who are to be called must have a certain number of years, § 185. (c) Whether women, too, should be used for the ecclesiastical ministry, § 186. (d) Whether the ministry should be entrusted to those afflicted with a bodily defect, 187. (e) Whether bastards may be promoted to the ministry, § 188.

Section II: The matter concerning which of the ministry.
The matter concerning which, or object, of the ministry is the Lord’s flock, committed to the care and protection of shepherds, § 189.