daily invent? In fact,
everything each individual monk might dream of had to be a special
form of worship, and no one inquired whether or not it was at all
authorized by God's Word. When we had done all, we were uncertain
that we had pleased God. What was this sort of worship but a worship
of dumb idols in the place of the living God--idols which could not
talk with us and could not give any definite information or comfort,
but left the people fettered and ruined with eternal doubts?

FAITH IN THE ONE CHRIST PRODUCTIVE OF UNITY.

15. But Christians, as Paul says, have not a dead and dumb god, for
which the Lord be praised! Nor will we countenance such idols. We
have a living, speaking God, who gives us his infallible Word. We
know how he is disposed toward us and what we may expect from him;
namely: through faith in Christ we have forgiveness of sins and are
his beloved children; and as evidence of acceptance with God, we have
baptism and the Holy Supper, the office and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
by which he works in our hearts. We know that in the faith of Christ
our works and lives are pleasing to God, and that he will hear and
help when in our distress and weakness we cry unto him.

16. Where this confidence obtains, where hearts enjoy such faith,
there will be unity in the Church; for verily no one then will allow
himself to be led into the manifold doctrines of insensible idols.
But dissensions, sects and divisions are sure signs that the true
doctrine is either ignored or misunderstood, men thus being left in a
condition to be "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine," as Paul says (Eph 4, 14); which is indisputably the
case with these same schismatics who condemn the Church and her
doctrines because of some discordant ones.

The schismatics show by their very instability that they do not
embrace the true, uniform and established doctrine, nor can exhibit
any substitute for it. They refuse to see that in cases where the
Christian doctrine does not obtain, there is only blindness,
distraction and confusion, and warring factions and sects, none
agreeing with another, each claiming to be better than the other.
Numerous have been the sects of monks, and of saints of the Pope and
his god the devil, no two of which agreed. Each class regarded its
own whims and speculations, and claimed to be holier than the others.
The Pope, however, gave validity to them all, granting great
indulgence to