Chemnitz for Today

"Doubtless the designation canonical is taken from Paul, who says, Gal. 6:16: "Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this canon, or rule"; and in Phil. 3:16: "Walk by the same canon, or rule." In 2 Cor. 10:13, he calls the apostolic doctrine a "canon," concerning which God had measured out to Paul how far he should get with its propagation. But this designation is taken from Ps. 19:4: "Their 'rule' has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." The words or doctrine of the apostles he calls [can], which means "canon," or "rule," consisting of a line, or rope, which held to a building or any other work in order that it may not err from the true plan or from the order which it ought to follow but may be completed and finished according to a certain order and necessary plan. This is a most pleasing metaphor which is applied to the doctrine of the apostles. For the church is the house of the living God, the building of which is from God, and the builders are the ministers of the Word. In order that through the ministry of the Word, or the preaching of the doctrine, the building may be correctly begun and be completed and finished in the right order and proper manner, a certain canon, or rule, is necessary, according to which the builders perform their work, in order that the building may not depart from the right order and proper plan. This rule is the doctrine of the apostles, Ps. 19 (Martin Chemnitz, Examen, page 169)