| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: inconsistency into which Gorgias appears to have fallen, and which he is
inclined to think may arise out of a misapprehension of his own. The
rhetorician has been declared by Gorgias to be more persuasive to the
ignorant than the physician, or any other expert. And he is said to be
ignorant, and this ignorance of his is regarded by Gorgias as a happy
condition, for he has escaped the trouble of learning. But is he as
ignorant of just and unjust as he is of medicine or building? Gorgias is
compelled to admit that if he did not know them previously he must learn
them from his teacher as a part of the art of rhetoric. But he who has
learned carpentry is a carpenter, and he who has learned music is a
musician, and he who has learned justice is just. The rhetorician then
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: papacy appearance counts for everything. Indeed, the whole papacy amounts to
nothing more than a mere kowtowing of persons and outward mummery. But God
alone is to be feared and honored.
I would honor the Pope, I would love his person, if he would leave my
conscience alone, and not compel me to sin against God. But the Pope wants to
be adored himself, and that cannot be done without offending God. Since we
must choose between one or the other, let us choose God. The truth is we are
commissioned by God to resist the Pope, for it is written, "We ought to obey
God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
We have seen how Paul refutes the argument of the false apostles concerning
the authority of the apostles. In order that the truth of the Gospel may
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