hus we should understand that it is a great blessing of God that He has given to His church a certain Book, and He preserves it for us and gathers His church around it. Finally, the church is the people who embrace this Book, hear, learn, and retain as their own its teachings in their worship life and in the governing of their morals. Therefore where this Book is rejected, the church of God is not present, as is the case among the Mohammedans; or where its teachings have been suppressed or false interpretations set forth, as has happened among heretics. Therefore we must read and meditate upon this Book so that its teachings may be retained, as we are often commanded regarding the study of it, e.g., 1 Tim. 4:13, “Devote yourself to reading”; Col. 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The Holy Spirit testifies that it is His will that the doctrine and the divine testimonies be put in writing, e.g., Ps. 102:18, “This shall be written for the generations to come, and the people who shall be created shall praise the Lord.” Therefore we should love and cultivate the studies of this divinely given Book.
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Quote from Philip Melanchthon taken from, Chemnitz, M., & Preus, J. A. O. (1999). Loci theologici. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
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