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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: together, etc.
V. Of Baptism.
Baptism is nothing else than the Word of God in the water,
commanded by His institution, or, as Paul says, a washing in
the Word; as also Augustine says: Let the Word come to the
element, and it becomes a Sacrament. And for this reason we do
not hold with Thomas and the monastic preachers [or
Dominicans] who forget the Word (God's institution) and say
that God has imparted to the water a spiritual power, which
through the water washes away sin. Nor [do we agree] with
Scotus and the Barefooted monks [Minorites or Franciscan
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