THAT THESE WORDS OF CHRIST, “THIS IS MY BODY,” ETC., STILL STAND FIRM AGAINST THE FANATICS 1527

Oh, how the devil’s pants stink here! How keenly he senses that he is under this obligation, and how reluctant he is to carry it out! For we demand both of these things,  (Luther demands corroboration from the Scriptures in general and specifically with reference to the Lord’s Supper.) and we challenge him in both. For this reason, too, the fanatics shrink from this obligation more than any devil has ever shrunk from the cross. (It was an age-old idea that devils could be put to flight by the sign of the cross; cf. Large Catechism, Second Commandment, 74. T. G. Tappert et al. (eds.), Book of Concord (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1959), p. 374.) Moreover, it is too much to hope that they will stand still and look you in the eye or hear what they are asked. All they do is take to their heels and rush past. No one will attack this subject. -Martin Luther