Late Luther On The Ministry (1535, 1542) [1]
Some Luther scholars claim that Luther’s early statements on Ministry were made in the confusion of starting up and that after mature reflection he developed a “higher” view of Ministry. Not true.
Sept 12, 1535. A letter by Luther to Dorothea Joerger
“On the other matter, do not be led astray by whether preachers have been anointed or tonsured by an ordained bishop; for these priests have not been ordained to the office of preaching, but to Winkelmesse (performing private Masses for their own devotional lives and for the dead), and are the priests of Baal and Jereboam, etc. Whoever is called is ordained, and shall preach to those who call him. That is our Lord God’s ordaining and real anointing (chrism), etc.” ) (Nr 2242)
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April 11, 1542. A conversation between Luther and Melanchthon
Then Philip (Melanchthon) said: A man came from Hungary from Ferdinand’s circle, who was to be ordained at Breslau. Then the Breslauer sent him here.
Luther said: Why did the Breslauer not ordain him?
Philip: Ferdinand forbade them.
Luther said: Do they hold ordination to be something great?
Philip: Yes, Herr Doctor, they hold it to be a great, glorious thing, even greater than when one is baptized.
Luther said: It is true. In the papacy no one can celebrate the sacrament unless he has been ordained. But ordination is not such a great thing; baptism is much greater than ordination, etc. Baptism forgives sins; ordination does not justify, does not forgive sins. I have baptized, administered sacraments, preached the forgiveness of sins. These are the glorious offices of the church. O, baptism is a glorious, great thing. (WA TR 5: 5428)
[1] Jaroslav Pelikan, in his study of Ministry in Luther, Spirit vs Structure: Luther and the Institutions of the Church [1968], concludes one can find three kinds of polity in Luther’s writing: congregational, presbyteral, and episcopal. Cp. Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation 1521-1532, [1990] 69, 72.