The Seamless Coat of Christ

“There was a great deal of ado in Luther’s time about the seamless coat of Christ . . . When Luther labored to bring reformation to the rule, they bade him take heed that he did not rend the seamless coat of Christ . . . And what a stir has there been, an outcry, against men who would not yield to everything that was enjoined! Oh, they rent the seamless coat of Christ . . . I remember Musculus, in his tract, De Schismate, had a witty and pious note upon this. The soldiers, he said, would not divide the seamless coat of Christ, but what made them be so care of it? Was it out of respect to Christ, that they were so unwilling it should be divided? No, but out of respect to their own advantage, everyone hoping it might fall to his share . . . So men would not have Christ’s coat divided; they would have no division in the Church. What do they aim at? Their own advantage, that they might enjoy quietly their own ease, honor, and means; that they might have none to contradict them, but that the stream may run smoothly and wholly with them” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 7).