"This doctrine of Christ and of the apostles, from which the true faith of the primitive church was received, the apostles at first delivered orally, without writing, but later, not by any human counsel but by the will of God, they handed it on in the Scriptures"
About this Quote
The subtext is Reformation-era triage. In the 1500s, Christianity isn’t debating abstractions; it’s fighting over who gets to define “true faith” when Rome claims continuity through institutional tradition and reformers insist the church can err. Chemnitz answers by constructing an early-church origin story that supports sola scriptura without pretending the apostles were born with bound codices in hand. Oral first, yes - but oral is presented as provisional, and Scripture as the providential stabilization of the message.
“Primitive church” is doing quiet work too: it’s an appeal to a purified beginning, a way to suggest that authenticity sits upstream of medieval accretions. Chemnitz isn’t nostalgic; he’s establishing a chain of custody. Scripture becomes the divinely authorized record precisely because human counsel is unreliable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Bible |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Chemnitz, Martin. (2026, January 18). This doctrine of Christ and of the apostles, from which the true faith of the primitive church was received, the apostles at first delivered orally, without writing, but later, not by any human counsel but by the will of God, they handed it on in the Scriptures. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-doctrine-of-christ-and-of-the-apostles-from-22729/
Chicago Style
Chemnitz, Martin. "This doctrine of Christ and of the apostles, from which the true faith of the primitive church was received, the apostles at first delivered orally, without writing, but later, not by any human counsel but by the will of God, they handed it on in the Scriptures." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-doctrine-of-christ-and-of-the-apostles-from-22729/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"This doctrine of Christ and of the apostles, from which the true faith of the primitive church was received, the apostles at first delivered orally, without writing, but later, not by any human counsel but by the will of God, they handed it on in the Scriptures." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/this-doctrine-of-christ-and-of-the-apostles-from-22729/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
