Table Talk

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Colloquia or Table Talks

Dr. Martin Luther's

Complete Writings,

published by

Dr. Joh. Georg Walch.

Twenty-second volume.

Colloquia or Table Talk.

New revised stereotype edition.

St. Louis, Mo.

Concordia Lutheran Publishing House (M. C. Barthel, Agent).

** Dr. Martin Luther's**

Colloquia or Table Talk.

For the first time

corrected and renewed

by translating the two main sources of the Table Talks from the Latin originals, namely the diary of Dr. Conrad Cordatus about Dr. M. Luther in 1537 and the diary of M. Anton Lauterbach from the year 1538.

Published anew on behalf of the Ministry of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod

of Missouri, Ohio and other states.

St. Louis, Mo.

Concordia Lutheran Publishing House (M. C. Barthel, Agent).

1887

Foreword.

The present 22nd volume of our revised edition of Luther's works according to J. G. Walch has been edited by Professor Hoppe, who has been appointed since last fall to edit this edition of our Luther edition. He has made special studies on Luther's table talks for a number of years and has published the results in this volume. What distinguishes this latest edition of Luther's Table Talks from all the earlier ones, he himself has stated in the introduction. We have no doubt that with this thorough and careful work he will earn the gratitude not only of all Luther readers, but also of Luther scholars.

Luther's Table Talks have never had the same prestige in the Lutheran Church as

Luther's other writings, precisely because they were not written by him, but by his table companions. However, the fact that it cannot be determined exactly how Luther spoke in detail does not negate the value of these records. After all, Luther's Hauspostille is the most widespread of his books, although even there Luther's words are conveyed to us through the pen of his household friends. Thus, Luther's Table Talks, as they are presented here, well examined and reviewed, are warmly recommended to the Lutheran Christian people! Whoever reads and contemplates them carefully will find in them a short, pithy summary of Luther's teachings and will be encouraged in the recognition of the salutary truth.

St. Louis, John 1887.

G. St.

** Introduction**.

Luther once expresses the wish,*) that he could have been present only one time at the most lovely company of the Lord JEsu with his disciples, in order to enjoy it. A similar wish is close to every Evangelical-Lutheran Christian: If only I could have spent one evening with our dear father D**.** Martin Luther, the greatest man and hero of faith after the time of the apostles! This wish, my dear reader, can and will be abundantly fulfilled, yes, for days and weeks, by what is offered in this volume. It brings you for the first time Luther's Table Talks translated from the originals. Our edition is the best and most complete of all editions published so far. The most complete, because we have recently brought to light the main sources of the Table Talks, the diaries of Lauterbach about the year 1538 and of Cordatus from the year 1537, trusted friends and table companions of Luther, in a completely unabridged German translation; the best, because we have eliminated from the Table Talks much that does not belong to them, partly duplicates, partly borrowed from other writings of Luther, partly not originating from Luther, but have renewed a large part of the Table Talks from these two main sources. Both men have copied what Luther said from his own mouth, at his table and elsewhere.

The importance and value of the discovery of these two diaries cannot be overestimated. For in the case of the table talks he

1. Lauterbach's diary, pag. 180, Tischreden Cap. 7, § 44, in our edition Cap. 24, 8 75, at the end.

The result is not merely a correction of individual readings or improvement of details, but really a complete transformation and renewal of the previous table talks. The editions of the Table Talks are, without exception, corrupted to a degree never imagined, so that it was almost impossible for us to retain and improve the old translation, even for the least corrupted pieces, but it had to be thrown aside and replaced by a new one. In the case of a few pieces, we tried to limit ourselves to an improvement at the beginning of our work, but what was improved in this way provided an almost inextricable print template. It will be easy to believe that it was not without significant reason that we decided to retranslate 1411 numbers of the Tischreden, namely 1031 from Cordatus and 356 even more extensive ones from Lauterbach, and 24 from Kummer.

This new translation has been done not only because of the unbelievable prolixity, bad condition and inaccuracy of Aurifaber's translation, but mainly because many pieces have not been understood by him at all; in a whole number of them the exact opposite of what is written in the sources is given, many things are translated quite wrongly, many wrong readings, many things are inserted, many things are omitted, sections are torn apart and mixed up, introductions and conclusions are formed and the like, yes, sometimes complete nonsense.

Not one of all the editors of the German Tischreden had a clue

2 Introduction.

of the horribly corrupted state of the same; therefore, all have confined themselves to reproducing Aurifaber's text, and have been the more highly praised the more accurately they have done so. 1)

Our edition is the first in which the text of the Table Talks is truly renewed by a faithful translation from the Latin originals, and it supplements the Table Talks by including in the Appendices what could not be accommodated in the Table Talks.

There has been only one German translation of the Tischreden, originally written in Latin, namely that of Aurifaber, which has been reprinted from all previous editions. Stangwald has only changed the order of the pieces and some of the text. The Selnecker edition is identical to the Stangwald edition. Walch brings a reprint of Aurifaber's edition of 1568, which is almost the same as the first. The Stuttgart-Lipzig edition is an imprint of Walch, somewhat modernized in language. The Förstemann-Bindseil edition contains a reprint of the first Aurifaber edition of 1566. The Erlangen edition is a reprint of the Förstemann-Bindseil edition. Therefore, it is only necessary to provide proof for our assertions with regard to Aurifaber. This covers all other editions.

Before we describe the nature of the Table Talks in more detail, however, it is necessary that we first report on the various editions of the Table Talks that have appeared up to now, but above all on the sources from which those editions have flowed.

Sources of the table talks.

1. the diary of cordatus.

One of the main sources for the table talks known until now is the "Tagebuch über D. Martin Luther geführt von D. Conrad Cordatus. 1537. For the first time

1. Cf. Guericke's Kirchengeschichte, 7th edition, vol. 3, 29 in the fourth paragraph of the first note.

The first part of the book was published by D. H. Wrampelmeyer, senior teacher at the Royal Grammar School in Clausthal. Halle. Max Niemeyer. 1885." 521 pages plus 48 pages of preface. Large octavo.

The manuscript from which this is printed is in the Calvör church library in Zellerfeld, where it came through Caspar Calvör, born Nov. 6, 1650 in Hildesheim, 1672 Diaconus in Zellerfeld, 1708 appointed by Duke Ulrich as Consistorial- and Kirchenrath. In 1720 he went to Clausthal as General Superintendent of the Principality of Grubenhagen, where he died in 1725 and was buried in the Zellerfeld church. The manuscript probably came into his important and valuable library from Helmstädt through Friedrich Ulrich Calixt, with whom Calvör was very friendly. The manuscript, in a handsome quarto volume, has an inscription pressed into the parchment cover, of which the following is still legible: "C-D-US" (probably Cordatus) and "1537." It comprises 730 pages, of which 653 form this diary or Apophthegmata Lutheri, which alone concerns us here. The text is Latin, but with much interspersed German, 2) with very numerous typographical errors due to the carelessness of the scribe and not infrequent omissions of individual words, but only a few serious corruptions of the text.

The collector and recorder of these Apophthegmata is D. Conrad Cordatus, as can be seen from No. 56 and 133 3) of the diary, because from these numbers we see that he made his notes in Luther's house and at Luther's table. He began with it first and about Veit Dietrich and Joh. Schlaginhaufen he reports: that they imitated him in it, and that he hoped to unite their records with his.

The individual passages are not accompanied by a date, so we have to rely on the content of the conversations to draw a conclusion about the time in which they took place. From No. 56 we see with certainty that Luther's words were already addressed to Cordatus in 1524 to 1525. This is the earliest

2. Perhaps the sixth part may be German.
3. Cf. Appendix No. II.

Introduction. 3

Time, which confronts us in the diary. From the signature under the last number of the manuscript we see that the diary was completed in 1537, so no piece is to be placed after this year. The great mass of the speeches distinguished in it is to be placed in the years 1531-1533. On the whole, Luther's conversations are written down in the order in which they took place.

The Zellerfeld manuscript is, as the comparison with his letters has shown, not written by Cordatus himself, but he probably compiled and arranged the notes in his notebooks 1) and copied them in all haste, 2) and then had them magnificently bound in the same year 1537. 3)

It is very conspicuous that neither in the German nor in the Latin Table Talks Cordatus, as a recorder and collector of Luther's speeches, is remembered even with a single word, although not much less has passed from his records into the Table Talks than from those of Lauterbach, who is expressly mentioned. As far as we can make an estimate, 428 columns of Walch's edition from Lauterbach are included in the Tischreden, but about 360 columns from Cordatus: Only once do we encounter a trace of Cordatus being a collector of Luther's speeches, in the Nuremberg manuscript of the Collectaneen of Veit Dietrich, who made the marginal note on p. 69 with respect to No. 22 of the diary: "Cordatus exscripsit/."

Cordatus is also rarely mentioned as a conversational companion in the Table Talks, namely Cap. 7, § 171: "Conrad Cordatus, who is angry by nature." Cap. 12, § 60:

1. Tabulae, see No. 133.
2. Cf. no. 1843.
3. From a note by Wrampelmeyer, no. 706, note 3, we see that there is still a collection of table speeches by Cordatus in the royal library in Berlin, written by Sebastian Redlich in 1566 and 1567. This manuscript offers axopktkeKmatn I^utksri on fol. 8-133 and seems to contain excerpts from the Zellerfeld manuscript. The sample given there already shows several changes and deviations from the text used by us.

"Grace belongs for the wretched 2c., as Hausmann, Cordatus, Philip and I are. 4) Cap. 22, § 15: "My forester says he is moved by only three, by me, by Cordatus, and by M. Rörer." 5) Cap. 26, § 30: "Therefore it is nothing that we go either to Philip or to Cordatus, .... Christ ... Is a thousand times better than I, or Philip, or Cordatus." 6) Cap. 37, § 16: "Which parish (at Niemeck) now has Conrad Cordatus." Cap. 55, § 6: "D. M. L. said in his garden in presence U. Hausmann, Cordati and Schlaginhaufen" 2c. These six passages are all that the German Tischreden offer about Cordatus. In the Hall manuscript (Bindseil) II, 210 Cordatus is also still mentioned, but in the corresponding place Rebenstock II, 197 a has "Cruciger" and Aurifaber Cap. I, § 74 "of one." Furthermore, Cordatus is mentioned as present only once more in the Latin table speeches Bindseil I, 50; Rebenstock I, 286. 7)

The Collectanea M. Hieronymi Besolds are mentioned in the Tischreden Cap. 5, § 5; 24, § 131; 27, § 154; those of the 14th Veit Dietrich Cap. 24, § 132; the record of M. Joh. Spangenberg is commemorated Cap. 12, § 86 to the end; Förster and Schlaginhaufen are named Cap. 37, §76; Mathesius is repeatedly mentioned Cap. 22, § 34; 27, § 114; 37, § 83; 44, § 24; 49, § 4. Rebenstock II, 9 states that one piece is taken from the handwritten collections of M. Georg Rörer. Mathesius in his twelfth sermon also names Doctor Weller, M. Caspar Heydereich, M. Plato and Ferdinand a Mangis as recorders, Aurifaber in his preface also names M. Johann Stolsius and M. Jakob Weber, priest at Ordorf, and himself. However, the fact that of all the summarizers and editors of the Tischreden, Cordatus was not credited for even one piece of his more than a thousand numbers that were included in the Tischreden, is a mystery that we are not able to solve satisfactorily.

4. From Cordatus No. 1406.
5. From Cordatus No. 1710.
6. From Cordatus No. 378.
7. Cordatus No. 8.

4 Introduction.

may be. The assumption raised by D. Wrampelmeyer probably gives information about why Cordatus himself did not come to the public with his diary, but also does not give a solution to this question. Wrampelmeyer says: 1) Neither Cordatus nor his heirs have given the Zellerfeld manuscript to others for use out of reverence for Luther 2) and as a result of Luther's Latin preface to the con- eiunculae amico cuidam praescriptae published in 1537, which is found in Luther's original before Cordatus' diary in the Zellerfeld manuscript. In this preface, which Stangwald and "Förstemann und Bindseil" also had preprinted in their edition of Luther's table speeches, Luther complains bitterly that his Wittenberg friends, during his illness in Schmalkalden, had published those sermons that he had not intended to print, but had only poured out during the midday and evening meals. Unwillingly, he protested against this procedure and exclaimed: 3) "I ask my pious thieves for the sake of Christ that they not be quick to publish anything, neither during my lifetime nor after my death: I beg my thieves, for the sake of Christ, not to be quick to publish anything, either during my lifetime or after my death, which they may have stolen from my thoughts while I was alive, or which they may have after my death from what they have already received before," and concludes: "Again, I beg that no friend publish anything that is mine without me-this requires both love and justice." Cordatus himself will have been that certain friend to whom the little sermons were communicated for instruction under the noon and evening meal. By this serious admonition of Luther he will also have been prevented from publishing the collected speeches of Luther himself, and from giving them to others for their use. But from the records of other table companions of Luther, namely Veit Dietrich and Schlaginhaufen, who heard and distinguished many things from Luther's mouth at the same time as Cordatus, then a

1. The following is only an excerpt.
2. Cf. no. 133 of the Cordatus.
3. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XII, 1859, ß 2.

The majority of them have been incorporated into the Latin and German table speeches with considerable alterations. Among them there must have been someone who also made notes at the same time as Cordatus, although probably less frequently, which Kummer later included in his collection without changing much. Thus, Cordatus in his original version can very well be regarded as the indirect main source for the older parts of the later Latin and German table speeches.

The most important of Cordatus' life fates, according to D. Wrampelmeyer the following: I). Conrad Cordatus was born in 1476 in Weißenkirchen in Austria of peasant parents who did not belong to the Hussite sect. He studied theology in Vienna between 1501 and 1508, where Conrad Celtis was his teacher. Soon after, he went to Ferrara, where he studied Thomas Aquinas and Gerson diligently and also received his doctorate. Then we find him in Rome, perhaps 1508-1509, to which No. 250 and No. 1536 of his diary refer. In 1510, he received a lucrative office in Ofen, the income from which he himself states to be 200 gulden. However, when he joined the Reformation movement after 1517, he was deposed, drafted and imprisoned for a long time, but finally released.

Fugitive and penniless, he came to Wittenberg in 1524 to study Protestant theology, and became particularly attached to Luther, whose energetic nature appealed to him. In 1525 he dared to return to his homeland. No sooner had he begun to preach the gospel than he was again thrown into prison and his property confiscated. In a dark tower, darkness and snakes tormented and frightened him, but before his trial was over, a compassionate guard helped him to freedom after a confinement of 38 weeks.

On July 1, 1526, he was back in Wittenberg. Very soon he received a call from Duke Frederick II of Liegnitz and Brieg to teach at his newly founded academy. However, this did not last and Cordatus left Silesia in April 1527. For the second time, Cordatus dared to

Introduction. 5

In 1528, Cordatus returned to Wittenberg, where he had the prospect of being employed by Queen Mary of Hungary, the sister of Carl V. However, this 'chance' came to nothing and we find Cordatus in Wittenberg again in 1528. Here he stayed, especially invited by Luther, for a longer time. In 1529, through Luther's mediation, he received the position of a second preacher at St. Mary's Church in Zwickau, which he held under difficult circumstances until 1531. The mayor Hermann Mühlpfort and the city syndic Stephan Roth together with the city council allowed themselves repeated encroachments on the rights of the clergy, and Cordatus therefore left the city of Zwickau with the first pastor Nicolaus Hausmann at Luther's urging.

Now he returned to Wittenberg between July 10 and August 18, 1531, and this time seems to have spent 10-12 months as a guest in Luther's house. In 1532, Luther provided him with a pastorate in Niemeck near Wittenberg, where Georg Witzel had been forced to resign because of apostasy. Here he worked until 1537, but here too, as in all his positions, he had to struggle with hardship and all kinds of difficulties. Thus he complains in No. 1462 of his diary and is comforted by Luther. From there, he often visited Wittenberg and attended the lectures, and often stayed as a guest in Luther's house. In 1536 he began the violent theological dispute with Melanchthon over the doctrine of divine grace, to which No. 174 and No. 221 of his diary refer. 1) In May 1537 Cordatus received a call to Eisleben. Even before his resettlement there, he seems to have hastily compiled his notes on Luther. On July 9, 1537, he took up his new post to replace Johannes Agricola and to preach against Witzel, who had found a position in Eisleben (next to the preacher Caspar Güttel) through the line of the* Counts of Mansfeld, who had remained Catholic. Here, too, conditions were difficult and laborious. A ray of hope falls in this time

1. On the cause and termination of this dispute, see the remarks in Appendix No. II. to the numbers cited.

of his stay in Eisleben by the reconciliation with the badly offended Melanchthon. His doctorate in Protestant theology must also have taken place at this time. In 1540 he was appointed as Superintendent over all clergy and as Vicedechant of the Domstist at Stendal by the Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, with the assurance of a salary of 200 gulden along with free housing and some other emoluments. This was his last position and at the same time the most difficult of all. Here he took strict action against the immoral life of the still papist clergy, but experienced such hostility for it that he almost despaired after his letters to Luther and other friends in Wittenberg. Luther tried to comfort him with the words of the 110th Psalm: "Rule in the midst of your enemies", but his complaints always resounded again. Until February 1546 Cordatus administered his office in Stendal under heavy worries and troubles. Then an honorable call went out to him from his sovereign, that he should complete a doctorate in Frankfurt on the Oder. But on the journey, as Melanchthon says in the preface to the Cordatus Postille, he "fell ill, as an old man of great kelt and afterwards in Christian consolation departed from this mortal world to the eternal churches in heaven" in the spring of 1546, soon after Luther's death. He is said to be buried in the cathedral at Stendal.

That Cordatus stood in a close personal relationship to Luther, yes, that he was one of Luther's most trusted and loyal friends, is indicated to us by various circumstances. He made his notes in Luther's house and at Luther's table, as we can see from No. 133 and 133 a of his diary, and 21 letters, which Luther addressed to Cordatus from the year 1526 to 1545, are still preserved. 2) Many of the communicated conversations are especially with Cordatus, e.g. No. 33. 56. 57. 111. lila. 111b. 74. 75/115. 116. 1)61. 162. 253. 259. 637. 843. 1240. 1462, 3) and

2. Cf. De Wette, Luthers Briefe, vol. VI, p. 486 f.
3. See AppendixNo.il.

6 Introduction.

Melanchthon also says in the aforementioned preface to the postilion of Cordatus that the latter "often and Diel talked with him (Luther himself) about all articles of Christian doctrine. Therefore, his extensive and valuable notes are of particular importance.

In his notes, Cordatus introduces Luther speaking in the first person, while he speaks of himself in the third person.

Each new number of the cordatus is designated by us by a new paragraph.

The edition of the diary of Cordatus by D. Wrampelmeyer is extremely proficient and careful, but one notices more often that he is not a theologian. Therefore, he has also missed the point at times.

Wrampelmeyer did not quite understand the following numbers1): Cordatus No. 1071. 1088. 1116. 1273. 1293. 1349. 1358. 1405. 1426. 1431. 1461. 1474. 1515. 1528. 1589. 1658. 1714. 1830. 1834. 1836 u^a. M.

Several times, where Wrampelmeyer wanted to help the right understanding by translating particulars, wrong translations are found, e.g. Cap. 5, tz 13, Cord. No. 1431: justiciarius judge, instead of: who deals with his own justice.

Cap. 12, § 84, Cord. 1328: statum according to the meaning in the usage, instead of: "according to the circumstances". For according to the usage, not only the rhetor, but everyone must speak.

1. The numbers of the Cordatus can be easily found in our edition by Appendix No. II.

Cap. 13, tz 55, Cord. No. 1369: cum papa cepit jurista the pope and the jurists have taken away our spirit, instead of: together with the pope the jurists have deceived us.

Cap. 19, tz 4, Cord. No. 1350: se negaturos which they will not admit, instead of: that they want to deny.

Cap. 24, tz 12, Cord. No. 1377: msvit provoked to anger, instead of: "moved. That translation is too narrow, as can be seen from the following number 1378.

Cap. 28, tz 5, Cord. No. 898: filius seculi a son of his time, instead of: a world child.

Cap. 30, § 32, Cord. No. 1567: suspensi the dying facing an uncertain fate, instead of: those who were hanged.

Cap. 37, § 117, Cord. No., 1635: nisi ut statuit decretum if they are not within the scope of the decree, instead of: even if the decree had not already made this provision.

Cap. 59, § 6, Cord. No. 1342: ut pur 6886t an image that is like us, instead of: as befits us.

Appendix No. II, Cord. No. 1604 favorem negabam ad balneas, that it is not allowed to go to the bath, instead of: I would have no desire (Sundays) to bathe.

Several times, D. Wrampelmeyer has made emendations where none were necessary, e.g., Cap. 43, § 75, Cord. No. 38; Cap. 27, § 2, Cord. No. 40; Cap. 12, § 23, Cord. No. 75; Cap. 26, § 12, Cord. No. 283; Appendix II, Cord. No. 1358, line 2.

We have considered the following emendations to the diary of Cordatus necessary:

Table speeches Cordatus > > Cap. 1, 8 48No . 17 line 8 read: kerri 6t voeuri instead of: lerre et > voeurs. > > AppendixNo.il. " 26 " 2 " ssAroturn takes place: Coeratsw. > > Cap. 7, 8 98 " 48 " 2 " et before quoä is to be deleted. > > Appendch No.il. " 55 " 7 " uä instead of , ut. > > """"57" 3 " U88iä6ntidu8 instead of: sssistsntivus. > > """"60 "I " portaturi instead of: portum exiturl. > > """"61" 5 " reuscliLeari instead of: reaecllüeure. > > Cap. 32, 811 " 69 " 2 " ne^usni instead of: ne^ue. > > " 1, 89 " 111 " 7 " uluntur instead of: sbnuntur. > > " 2, 8149 " 145 " 5 " Ludere instead of: üngere. > > " 27, 868 " 146 " 7 " that instead of: the. > > Appendix No. II. " 175 " 2 " reetores instead of: rti6tor68. > > "" "" 175" 3 " one instead of: mer. > > Cap. 2, 8150 " 258 " 2 "ureu instead of: ureu. > > " 2, 829 " 293 " 2 " unAelum instead: ^eliana. > > Appendix No. II. " 334 " 3 " iiomini instead of: neiuini. > > ,,,, ", , 363"5 ,, vi instead of: v.

Introduction. 7

Table speeches Cordatus

Appendix No. II. No. 371 line 5 read: lratsr ssu8 dux srit instead of: lratsr sst äux sst.

""""380" 16 " your instead of: den.

""""392 "2 "Elb instead: World.

" ,, "" 392 " 3 " vh instead of: ob.

""""428" 1 " our instead of: our. ,

Cap. 24, 844 " 521 " 1 " Satan iaeillus non ^nain eontslnnsntto vineitur, quoä etc..

instead: Satan laeilius non eontsinnsnäo vincitur, quarn quoä sts.

Cap. 6 § 8" 598 " I " Zloriations instead of: xloriüeations.

Appendix No. II. " 679 " 4 missing8ati8 . K

Cap. 44, §§3 " 734 " 2 read: Stork instead: Stork.

" 27, 8115 " 768 " 6 M liadeditis instead of: ttadsdits.

" 2, 88 " 820 " 27, eonnvuni instead: sonnnunia.

Appendix No. II. " 856 " 3 "udi stalt: vsl.

""""888" 4 " illi instead of: ills.

Cap. 5, § 19, " 947 " 3 " two instead of: three.

ApPendix No.II. "950 " I " nniveasalia instead of: verdalia.

""""979" 3 " words instead of: true.

""""1071" 2.Place a dot after nnpia.

Cap. 43, § 2 "1162 " 2 read: qna instead of: qns".

" 25,§ 2 " 1276 " 3.The comma before Satanas is to be deleted.

" 59, § 6 " 1281 " 4shall be followed by a comma after ISMM, andhshall be omitted .

" 6, § 2 "*1289 " 6lies : tolsrans instead of: tolerainus.

" 6, § 2 " 1289 " 7 " üuxu^> instead of: of the second svlsnäor.

" 59, § 6 " 1293 " 2.The words: "kriini autern Lsaras are beautiful "are to be placedin brackets.

" 20, § 2 "1415 " I read : pruclentis instead of: prnclsns.

Appendix No. II. " 1435 " I is contra to be inserted after äicit.

Cap. 2-, § 9 " 1475 " 3^uiis to be deleted, a comma is to be inserted after inortno, and the comma after

ejus to be erased.

Appendix No. II. " 1515 " Ilies : lalsuin instead of üäelsrn.

""""1558" 2 " veri instead of: viri.

""""1566" 2 " Zrana instead of: srs.

Cap. 13, § 24 " 1589 " 5. The comma is to be deleted after atriuin and placed after extsrnis.

" 5, 17 " 1590 " 6lies , had instead of: had.

" 5, § 17 " 1590 " 7 " voinini instead of: patris. '

Appendix No. II. " 1592 " I " oreatura instead of: creator.

Cap. 22, § 6 " 1663 " 2 "äesi., b. o." is to be resolved:ässiäerat , donurn opns.

" 13, § 84 " 1694 "3 read: iniruin instead of: insurn.

ApPendix No.II,, 1760 " 3 " sapientia instead: Sara.

Cap. 1, § 59 " 1788 " 1 ingsn: niut" is to be resolved: ingsntes inutationss. Cf. no. 4.

Appendix No. II. " 1830 " 3lies : nurn instead of: nt.

Appendix No. II. No. 1830 " 7 ,, Rsnt ,,: 8i.

Appendix No. II. No. 1830 " 7 ? is to be resolved by cauiuin .

Appendix No. II. No. 1834 " 2was incorrectly changed by Wrampelmeyer . There must be only a comma after insrs-

rentnr be set. In "ineritaanto vita" are rnsrita vita as > > /lativi adsoluti and ante as an adverb. > > Appendix No.il. "1835 "' 2 and 3 is wrongly changed and resolved. > Sodoma--Sodom stands for Sodomiterei, and intoxieca" is to be > dissolved by intoxicatio, i. e. poisoning.

The emendations, which Wrampelmeyer has already made correctly, have not been included by us here.

2. the Lauterbach diary.

The second main source of Luther's Tischreden is M. Anton Lauterbach, Diaconi zu Wittenberg, Tagebuch auf das Jahr 1538. Ans der Handschrift herausgegeben von Ine. tkeol. Johann Carl Seidemann, Pfarrer zu Eschdorf. Dresden. 187S. Published by Justus Naumann's bookstore." 221 pages and XIV pages of preface.' Gr. Octav.

This manuscript was newly found by the library secretary D. Franz Schnorr von Carolsfeld in the year 1870 in the Royal Public Library in Dresden, its value was recognized and it was displayed and bibliographically discussed in the "Serapeum" 1870, p. 168 to 174. In 1727, the Rector of the Annenschule in Dresden, M. Christian August Freiberg, published a school program of 2 quarto sheets, in which he described the external and internal education of the students.

8 Introduction.

The manuscript's title is discussed by the author, but the importance of the manuscript has not become clear to him. The manuscript itself, written on individual paper layers of 8 octavo leaves each, then first bound and on the spine of the pigskin binding above as ^popb ,

• thus in later time, because not Apoteg- mata (they!), what Kmnmer has- in writing designates, is made by foreign hand, in the time of 1546 to 1548 and compiled from individual notes of Lauterbach, perhaps by his Famulus Balthasar Tham. 1)

L a u terba ch, born in Stolpen Thursday, January 13, 1502, was the elder son of not impecunious parents,' probably of Matthäus Lauterbach, mayor of Stolpen and the wife of the same, Katharina. The family had its name from the Amtsdoxfe Lauterbach near Stolpen. About his father the event is told, which is reported to us in the table speeches in the last paragraph of Cap. 27, § 72. In the summer of 1517, Anton Lauterbach was immatriculated in Leipzig. Only in 1529, Wednesday, April 21, he is inscribed in Wittenberg under the rectorate of U. Johann Stoeb Ginckelyn as "Anthonius Lauterbach de Stolpen". 2) He also received his master's degree in Wittenberg, was Luther's housemate and table companion as early as 1531, and served at the baptismal banquet for Luther's son Paul on January 28, 1533. He was a man of long stature. As successor of the wasteful Valentin Pacäus Härtung he came to Leisnig as Diaconus in 1533. Here he soon got into disagreements with his pastor M. Wolfgang Fuß, which is why Luther arrested him for the second Diaconate in Wittenberg in 1537. He probably married the nun Agnes in Wittenberg as early as 1533, because the Bishop of Meissen, Johann VII von Schleinitz, took offense at his marriage when he was to become deacon in Leisnig. 3) His grief-stricken father-in-law is remembered Tischr. Cap. 3,

1. Cf. Tischreden Cap. 67, § 7.

L) The information, which was found in the German Tischreden Cap. 55, § 2, that he came to Wittenberg on Sept. 27, 1521, is missing in Bindseil Vol. I, 438 and also in Cordatus No. 1721, and will be wrong.

3. Cf. Tischreden Cap. 43, § 22, Cordatus No. 127V.

§He had several children in his marriage, namely a daughter Elisabeth, to whom Luther and his niece Lene Kaufmann seem to have been godparents, and a son.

Wednesday, July 23, 1539, Lauterbach moved to Pirna as superintendent. During his stay in Wittenberg, Lauterbach copied Luther's sermons as early as 1531. From Pirna he seems to have traveled to Wittenberg once every year; /we know this from the years 1542-1545 inol. Lauterbach preached his inaugural sermon in Pirna on the 8th Sunday after Trinity, July 27, 1539, and died there on Monday, July 18, 1569. His bust can be found above the door to the sacristy of the town church twice. He founded the church library in Pirna. One of his favorite sayings seems to have been: Qui cupit esse beatus, discat contemnere et contemni (If you want to be happy, learn to despise and endure contempt).

The Royal Public Library in Dresden possesses the same diary in a second, somewhat later copy in a quarto volume, which is immediately followed by a second part of Luther's table speeches 1), which only rarely provide an indication of day and year, but deviate in the most varied way from that given in Bindseil's Latin imprint, entirely with regard to the position of the individual pieces. The first half, the diary, was copied in 1554 by the pastor Caspar Kummer of Ortrand on the first pages by another, perhaps his son Caspar or Abraham, but then also wrote much himself, while the second half is entirely by his hand. The copy of the first part was completed on the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross (Sept. 14), which was the 17th Sunday after Trinity, in 1554, that of the second part on Nov. 22, 1554. Kummer was registered on Tuesday, May 11, 1529, under the rectorate of Caspar von Teutleben in the Wittenberg university register as "Caspar khumer ex langfelt patavien. dioc.

4. With respect to these, Seidemann states that they also originate from Lauterbach's dep notes. From the selection given by Seidemann, we see that a large number of deftelben are also found in Cordatus.

Introduction. 9

41 Because he was persecuted in his fatherland because of "the" religion, he had to flee in female clothing, whereupon he turned to Wittenberg, where Luther is said to have appointed him to the pastorate in Ortrand. The time in which he took up his office as pastor there falls in the years between 1541 and 1545. He is also otherwise referred to as Lengenfeldianus Austri acus, from Lanfeld (also Lengefeld) from Eastern Austria. At the second church visitation held on May 30, Thursday 1555, he is given the censure: "Is found correct and good life." How long Kummer was in office in Ortrand cannot be determined. His successor Johannes Rühl is only mentioned in 1575 as pastor in Ortrand on the occasion of a church visitation. Kummer and Lauterbach were fellow students in Wittenberg.

Of all the table-top speech collectors, Wrampelmeyer notes, Cordatus and

Grief closest. Not infrequently, Kummer comes very close in version and form. However, there are also many deviations, some of which Kummer does not offer completely, and the interspersed German already shows far more recent forms, since Kummer's table speeches were compiled much later.

These main sources of the Table Talks, the diary of D. Conrad Cordatus from 1537 and the diary of M. Anton Lauterbach about the year 1538, bear the stamp of authenticity and immediacy. We have endeavored to reproduce the meaning exactly everywhere, and have retained as faithfully as possible the passages given in German in the originals, which offer Luther's short, concise, sometimes proverbial speech.

The emendations we found necessary in Lauterbach's diary are as follows:

Lauterbach. Table speeches. > > pass. 4 Cap. 62, 81 read: reißern instead of: eißern. > > " 12" 27, 8'101" 10 held: ^poe.9., > > " 13 " 76, 86 " Nutinas held: Mitonas. > > " 15 Appendix I., No. 30 reads osulati instead of: osulatus. - > > " 23 Cap. 74, § 5 after Moi'si insert: IsZsni. > > " 38 " 74, 86lies : illam instead of: iUurn. > > " 40 " 27, 8103 " tuZiunt takes place: LnZunt. > > ,, 44 Appendix I., No. 98 read: "s eonüäsrs instead of: si eonüdsns. > > " 53 Cap. 33, § 3 read: posteris instead of: pastors". > > " 58 Appendix I., No, 131 read: alsntsm instead of: oisntsin. > > " 81 Cap. 27, 8138 read: quasreront instead of: quasrsrst.

86 " 74, § 7 after kakuit insert: in tewxio.

" 105 " 45, 8 4 to delete the word "old" rst. > > " 121 " 45, § 34missinaiias . > > . " 123 " 57, 87lies : lived instead of: taught. > > " 138 " 30, 816 " Hervord held: Erfurt. > > " 140 " 4, § 96 after psounias put a punctum. > > " 147 " 28, 816lies : ounrn start: Huarn. > > " 150 " 27, 826 " 666 instead of: 660. > > " 162 " 43, 834 " ksxturn instead of: ssxurn. > > " 174 " 40, 81 " ampkiKolli" instead of: anlpkiboloAii". > > "175 Appendix I., No. 420 reads: Princip " > > " 190 Cap. 37, 87 read: impuAuanäss instead of: IlnpuZnanda.

3. A. Johann Mathesius.

Although it is not known that, directly from Mathesius, records have passed into the collections of table speeches, we cannot ignore him as a recorder and collector of Luther's speeches. A whole number of table speeches can be found in his sermons 1).

1. D. Martin Luther's life, described by M. Johann Mathesius, former Lutheran pastor at Joachimsthal in Bohemia. St. Louis, Mo. Printing House of the Lutheran Concordia - NerlnaS 1

and often in them reference is made to incidents which are also mentioned in the table speeches. Everywhere, however, there is only sameness and similarity of thought, never of form, except for a similar version of some cited verses, e.g. Mathesius p. 224 and Tischr. Cap. 78, § 3. The manuscript ,,Apophthegmatai Lutheri", which Christian August Freyberg in the school programs mentioned earlier, is assigned to the Mathesius, is not a copy.

10 Introduction.

The book of table speeches by Mathesius, which has just been discussed, is the book by M. A. Laute r b a ch from the year 1538.

handed down by Mathesius and also found in the table speeches, usually have a much more extensive version in these. Such pieces are, for example, the following:

+---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | * | | Table | B | | | | * | | speeches | inding | | | | M | | | rope | | | | a | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | h | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | i | | | | | | | u | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | , | | | | | | | S | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | L | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | A | | | | | | | n | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | g | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | | | | | | | P | | | | | | | a | | | | | | | g | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | 4 | | | | | | | f | | | | | | | . | | | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | | s Cap. 47, 815. l | III, | | | | | | " 47, 828. | 169. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 196 | " 19, 842. | II, | | | | | | | 63. | | | | | | | Laut | | | | | | | erbach | | | | | | | pas. | | | | | | | 114. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 201 | " 37, 835. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 202 | " 37, 852. | II, | | | | | | | 69. | | | | | | | " | | | | | | | "143. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 203 | " 22, 8183. | "" | | | | | | | 13. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 212 | " 7, 812,para.6. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 212 | " 49, 89, paras. | I, | | | | | f. | 1-4. | 112. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 215 | cf. cap. 22, § | Co | | | | | | 25. | rdatus | | | | | | | No. | | | | | | | 1504. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 216 | Cap. 22, 896. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 216 | " 1, 8 45, para. | | | | | | | 2. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 216 | " 22, 884. | I, 305 | | | | | | | f. | | | | | | | Co | | | | | | | rdatus | | | | | | | No. | | | | | | | 763. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 218 | " 45, 888. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 219 | " 43, 867. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 221 | l " 1, 81. | I, 49. | | | | | | | | | | | | | t " 1, 843. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 222 | " 24, § 101, cl. | | | | | | | 5. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 224 | " 78, 83. | | W | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | i | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | n | | | | | | | o | | | | | | | u | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | f | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | o | | | | | | | m | | | | | | | L | | | | | | | u | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | h | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ' | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | P | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | ä | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | l | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | m | | | | | | | . | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 224 | " 18, 84. | I, 70. | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 226 | " 19, 86. Cf. | Ill, | C | | | | | | 25. | f | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | C | | | | | | | o | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | d | | | | | | | a | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | u | | | | | | | s | | | | | | | N | | | | | | | o | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | . | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+ | | 227 | l " 13, 862. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cf. cap. 12, § | | | | | | | 38. | | | | +---+-----+-------------------+--------+---+-------------------------+

and many others.

Important and interesting are some sayings of Mathesius about the table speeches of Luther.

At the beginning of the 12th sermon, Mathesius tells us that he came to Luther's table in 1540 through the promotion of D. Justus Jonas and M. Georg Rörer. Justus Jonas' and M. Georg Rörer's promotion. He says: "What I heard and saw there, I noted with diligence; so God gave me, through the help of industrious people, many good colloquia and conversations, which before N. Veit Dietrich of Nuremberg, Doctor Well er of Freyburg, Mr. Antonius Lauterbach of Pirna and afterwards M. Caspar Heyderich, Superintendent at Torgau, N. Hieronymus Besold of Nuremberg and others of the doctor's boarders had advertised. Ferdinand ä Mangis from Eastern Austria also recorded many interpretations of some sayings in his Bible, as M. Georg Rörer Diel very diligently brought together delicious things of writings and advice and especially what was spoken in the interpretation of the Bible."

In t^r same sermon (p. 212) Ma- talks.

1. Cattle rope. Vol. IV. P. XVI.

thesius about how the conversations at the table came about: "Although our doctor often took heavy and deep thoughts with him to the table, and sometimes kept his old monastic silence during the whole meal, so that not a word was spoken at the table, he let himself be heard very amusingly at the appropriate time; as we used to call his speeches condimenta mensae, which were dearer to us than all spices and delicious food.

When he wanted to extract speech from us, he used to make an accusation: "What's new? The first admonition we let pass; when he stopped again: When he stopped again, "You prelates, what's new in the country?" the old people at the table began to talk. Doctor Wolf Severus, who had been the preceptor of the Roman Royal Majesty, sat at the top, he brought something on the track, if no stranger was present, as a wandering courtier."

"When the discussion started, 2) but with due discipline and reverence, others sometimes added their part to it, too, until maw

2. Conversation.

Introduction. 11

Often good questions were put in from the Scriptures, which he solved finely, roundly and briefly; and if one once held a part, he could also suffer it and refute it with a skillful answer. Often, honest people from the university, even from foreign places, came to the table, where very beautiful speeches and histories fell. I want to remember some of them here recently, maybe they would like to get together once, as it would be a very nice and useful work to write 1) Noctes et dies Albiacae ober Miscellanea D. Lutheri".

Once again in the same sermon (p. 225) Mathesius expresses the wish that Luther's speeches be collected: "God will one day raise up one who will read together this great man's sayings, similes, proverbs, rhymes, histories, and other coincidences and good reports, as it would be a very beautiful book for the Germans if wise and sensible sayings were added, especially of our emperors, kings, princes, and lords.

4. m. Johann Aurifaber.

For a small part of the German table speeches, M. Johann Aurifaber, or Goldschmidt, who was around Luther in the years 1545 and 1546, and also accompanied him on his last journey to Eisleben, is to be listed as the first recorder. All pieces originating from him are contained only in the German editions, which also confirms that the Latin table speeches do not go back to the German ones as their original.

The table speeches, written down by Aurifaber as an eye and ear witness, are as follows: Cap. 1, § 10, para. 1 and § 22. the addition to § 22; § 26; § 45, para. 2; 2) § 56, paras. 1 and 2; § 95, paras. 2 and 3; § 96. - Cap. 3, § 6; § 48; - Cap. 4, § 40; 3) § 82, para.) 2. 3. -Cap.9,tz54,para. 2. -Cap. 22, § 49; - Cap. 24, § 22, para. 1; § 43. 4) -.

1. An extremely justified judgment, which certainly every friend and lover of Luther will agree with, and which would never have been contradicted if Aurifaber had proceeded with insightful judgment in the selection of the speeches.
2. Cf. cap. 4,§ 55.
3. Quite similar in content to the preceding § 39.
4. Cf. Cordatus No. 1125.

Cap. 27, §93, para.1.-Cap. 43, §165; §166; §167. -Cap. 44, §20, para. 1); §21. - Cap. 46,.§1; §3. -Cap. 48, §29. -Cap. 66, §60. -Cap. 78, §7.

The content of the pieces listed above is mostly quite insignificant. Apart from these, there are a small number of pieces by Aurifaber, introduced: "D. M. Luther sagete zu Eisleben über Tisch", which are partly demonstrably spurious, partly very suspicious. These are the following:

Cap. 1, § 95, para. 1, taken from Luther's writing against the assassin at Dresden. 5) This narrative is in another relation Cap. 27, § 54 in the last paragraph. Cf. Bindseil I, 142.

Cap. 3, § 49 is contained in the report of D. Justus Jonas and LI. Mich. Cölius about Luther's death. 6)

Cap. 7, § 149, the last paragraph is contained in Cap. 43, § 33, para. 2. Cf. Bindseil II, 356 and I, 218.

Cap. 24, § 21, the last paragraph is not Luther's speech, but narration by another person.

Cap. 66, § 61 is only another relation of Cordatus No. 602. Cf. Bindseil III, 1. Rebenstock II, 179 k.

B. The Latin editions.

1. Heinrich Peter Rebenstock.

In 1571, Heinrich Peter Rebenstock, pastor in Eschersheim near Frankfurt am Main, published a Latin edition in which all passages left in German in the originals were translated into Latin, except for a few words, such as "Ah" or "Oh", and only very rarely is there a German fragment interspersed. The title of this edition is: "Colloquia, Meditationes, Consolationes, Consilia, Judicia, Sententiae, Narrationes, Responsa, Facetiae, D. Mart. Luth. piae et sanctae inemoriae, in mensa prandii et coenae, et in peregrinationibus, observata et fideliter transscripta. - Tomus Pri-

5. Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2069, § 16.
6. Walch, old edition, Vol. XXI, 283*, § 10. By the way, Aurifaber wrote this report as a witness. However, it does not belong in the table speeches.

12 Introduction.

mus. - Ne erres Lector, scias haec, non ex D. Aurifabri, sed ex alterius'collectione, ante annos 10. ad aeditionem parata, sed hactenus propter certas causas suppressa, ad nos pervenisse. - Francofurti ad Moenum." - Without year. Above the place of printing is a vignette with the bust of Luther, which contains the year 1558. From this year, one has wrongly wanted to draw the conclusion that this first part was already published in 1558. However, an old vignette was used for this title without any thought of removing the year. The preface of Rebenstock to the first part shows at the end the time: in die Laurentii, 1) ^.nno 1571. The first part belongs to this year as well as the second. 2) The second part has the same title as the first, only with a small change of the words: Consolationes, Responsa, Judicia, Sententiae, Narrationes, Facetiae etc.. But the remark added to the first title: ,,Ne erres " etc. is not repeated on the title of the second volume, and under the place of printing is written "N. D. I^XXI." On the last leaf of the first part and on the last page of the second part, the printer is named: Francofurti ad Moenum per Nicolaum Bassum et Hieronymum Feyer- abent."

The format of the book is small octavo. The leaves are paginated only on one side. The first volume has 238 paginated leaves, the second 253. In addition, there is a preface of 9 leaves at the beginning of the first volume, and 2 leaves containing a poem by a Frankfurt patrician, Conrad Weis, and distichs by Johann Stolsius on Luther's life. At the end of the first volume is an alphabetical index of 12A leaves and at the end of the second a similar Inäex of 14 leaves. The printing is very tight, so that one page of the small booklet contains as much as in one column of the old Walchian edition, Rebenstock thus comprises about 1000 columns of Walch. The most diverse things are without a paragraph, without a period, without a large initial letter,

1. August 10.
2. This has already been correctly noted by Seidemann in his preface to Lauterback's Taaebucke vss. I V.

are attached to each other. The section: "De ten- tationibus", Rebenstock Vol. II, 2206-233 a, which we will examine in more detail below for the sake of comparison, has only 20 paragraphs in Rebenstock, while the same speeches in the German Tischreden comprise 55 paragraphs with over 80 paragraphs.

The Rebenstock edition is teeming with errors. However, Rebenstock does not seem to be responsible for many of them, since he, living in a village, probably could not have done the proofreading himself, but had to leave it entirely to the printer. Only since we have become acquainted with Rebenstock's edition has it become clear to us how great, important and well-founded a complaint it is that we so often find in Luther's work, that the printers, through their carelessness (especially in the reprints), completely spoil his copies. To excuse the printers, it can only be said that Rebenstock used many compendia 3) in his writing. Quite a number of them are still in print.

There is only a short passage in Rebenstock's preface that is of interest to the readers of our Table Talks; we will therefore put it here in German translation: "Luthers Tischreden und Rathschläge sind deutsch durch den Druck veröffentlicht. However, in order that Martin Luther's godly and salutary Table Talks might be known to all, not only to Germans, but also to Italians, French, other nations and foreigners who do not understand the German language, a certain pious man, a lover of evangelical truth, has written Martin Luther's Table Talks in Latin for the praise of God and the benefit of the Church, but has interspersed them with many German sayings. But because the printers, on the advice of learned, pious men, have undertaken to publish Martin Luther's Table Talks in Latin, pious, even faithful men have asked me to translate those German sayings and words into Latin. And although I considered myself unworthy of this task, I have nevertheless become the

3. d. i. Abbreviations.

Introduction. 13

For the benefit of the Church, and so that God's Word would be known to all, and God would be praised in all languages, I took upon myself this very heavy burden and, according to my few gifts, alone with God's assistance, I translated the German sayings into Latin with great care, for the sake of those who do not understand the German language. However, I have by no means wanted to take on this work for the sake of tainting the godly sayings of Martin Luther with other ungodly and useless sayings, and to interfere with new things or to seek my own honor and benefit (as the sacramentarians and enthusiasts presume to do today), but so that I might give our Lord his due praise, and for this reason, supported by the counsel of learned men, I have undertaken this work. Therefore, I urge all lovers of the gospel, that if they find errors in my work, they may attribute them to my inability, not to my courage or audacity."

According to the above, it seems to be Rebenstock's opinion that the Table Talks were originally written in German and only translated into Latin for the sake of making them known to other nations. This work, however, was not completely executed by the "pious man", but left much German, which Rebenstock now had to translate into Latin. Thus, he probably considered Aurifaber's edition to be the original, but - as one can conclude from his note on the title, taken together with the preface - contaminated with other additions. It has been unknown to him, however, that the table speeches were written down by the first recorders immediately in this mengsp räche of Latin and German. 1)

Some of the translations of the German passages in Rebenstock's edition are, however, out of ignorance, downright senseless.

1. Seidemann in the preface p. XIII says about it: "As far as the confusion of Latin and German is concerned, it is known that Melanchthon used such a mixture in his lectures.

Z. E. g. Vol. II, 230b, where Lauterbach pag. 50 offers: Desertus Joannis baptistae erat habitabilis. Like thieves sDüben], Jessen", Rebenftock has: "Desertum Joannis baptistae erat habitabile, nos fures, hospites". He has thus taken the proper names for nowius appellatives,. - Bindseil l, 256: "This will also happen to the boys" in Rebenftock I, I36b: "continget et hoc meo filio immori- gero", 2) thus makes a "boy" into a "son of Luther". - Bindseil I, 426: sDie Sau fragt^s "Waren auch Kleien da?" in Rebenftock I, 228 b: "^.äersnt, esset kur kures?" The same translation is found twice more on the same page. The compendium for "etiam" was read by the typesetter in esset, and he did not know "furfures".

In other places fit the Mitgetheilte ganz' widersinnig by inverted punctuation, e.g. Rebenftock II, 96b; ,,Ach punction, a- $3- 9tebenftocf II, 96bj "21φ quam odit Satan conjunctionem masculi et foeminae quae non licet. Ingrati nitimur in vetitum" etc. instead: (Lauterbach psZ. 150): Ach quantum Satan odit illam conjunctionem masculi et foeminae. Quod licet, ingratum. Nitimur.in vetitum. - Slebenftod I, 226b ,,Simpliciter dicat. Non noli jurare, et dicere, Vevum est, ver Vere^, flati: Simpliciter dicat: Non, Noli jurare et dicere: Verum est, vel Vere.

In order to give the reader an idea of the "immense" corruption of the text, we want to share only a few of the thousands of false readings that can be found in Rebenftock, which have just come to our attention.

Rebenftock

1, 112 uiutus instead of: runtatus.

1, 114 eolumeüsus instead of: "orrimsQdaus.

I, 227 d nassitur instead of: nsseitur.

1, 2286 elsto instead of: elata.

"prseäiears instead of: xrasäieators. 1, 228 expsruit instead of: sxxuit.

" uua ill vass eerevislae vilis8iraas äurablli instead of: ulluva vas > eerevisiae vilisslruae 6urabilius.

" ex pu6N8 instead of: sxxuit.

1, 229 sulllis instead of: suraus.

" psrllioiosissilllUlll instead of: scheblich.b)

II, 91b Zlaäiuill instead of: gauälurri.

II, 224 b xlaälo " xauäio.

2. Rebenstock seems to read, as Aurifaber, Cap. 3, § 71 to have read "the jack".

S) Harmful for shebbish d. i. displaceable.

14 Introduction.

Vine

1, 20 b äsäuoens instead of: äueens.

1, 148 V oonnlvinl" instead of: eronvivium.

" ^20068 instead: KalM0N68.

1, 148a st 0.6arIo^itEin held: Lt 0. Oruci^erum IVorlodtrium.

II, 64 b menaeium liberis instead: InunäationerL 11deris.

I, 201a terris instead of: stuäük.

I, 224 b auriZatur instead of: auriZarura.

" ratis pouas held: Ratisbonas.

I, 223 b lumiorsrn " Lr-miorsM.

I, 225 b redäos instead of: reääenäos.

1, 226 0a68ari8 instead of: 6a68ari.

" Lpi8ooL>ati8 held: Lpisoopis.

1, 132 ainasiis instead of: amatis.

" imiuituntur instead of: innituntur.

" inorerneütnni instead: exoreinenturn.

1, 132 b 1530 instead of: 1538.

1, 133 b äoetores 6886t instead of: äoatiortzg 6886Qt.

1, 135 exoeUentia instead of: exoellentior.

1, 135 b baereäitarim instead of: basreäitarli.

"<^ua6r6 instead of: yuaerere.

1, 136 Aratisgimurn held: Kravisgi room.

1, 136 b mutavit instead of: mutnavit.

1, 137 in sperato instead of: insperato.

1, 139 b we find 'the form: subtollsrs.

II, 160 b äatain instead of: äotatarn.

II, 5 a calamitatm instead of: trigtitias.

II, 17 b viat is lavia: instead: Vratislavia.

Il, 28 b inoäo instead of: noäo.

II, 18bc1no8 " 6nro8.

II, 224 a virtns " vietus.

11, 227 ?Ii26uin held: Lvangelistarn.

Furthermore, the pagination is often wrong. In the second volume from fol. 200 to the end by 100 too small. Furthermore

I, 63 instead of: 73. 1, 205 instead of: 196. II, 167 instead of: 166.

I, 99 " 96. 1, 291 " 191. 11, 171 " 161.

1, 132 " 182. II, 49 " 94. 11, 179 " 159.

1, 179 " 180. II, 66 " 86. II, 7 " 5.

1, 203 " 193.

There are also a large number of incorrect headings, e.g. I, 149-172 De principe ftatt: De principibus. II, 96 De universitatibus ftatt: de adulteriis. II, 196 de bellis ftatt: de bibliis. II, 221 de bellis ftatt: de tentationibus. II, 104 de universitatibus ftatt: äs spo8tolis and various others.

As a reason why Rebenstock's collection, which was ready for printing in 1561, was held back for another ten years, Seidemann assumes (preface p. IV) that Lauterbach and Agricola were still alive. The former died in 1569, the latter on September 22, 1566.

From a note in Seidemann's preface, p. IV, we see that a manuscript very similar to the Hallische is in the Dresden Bibliotbek.

Of the latter, Seidemann p. V says: "Rebenstock and the Dresden manuscript are closest to each other. ... - Yes, the Dresden manuscript is perhaps taken from the one that Rebenstock used for his editing, according to Fr. Jacobs and F. A. Ukert, Beiträge zur älteren Litteratur oder Merkwürdigkeiten der herzoglichen öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Gotha Bd.il! Heft 2. Leipzig 1843. p. 309: ,, ,,Colloquia serotina D.M.L. 1536 et sqq. 22. Octobr. descripta ex áõôü- γράφω Antonii Lauterbachii primi Superint. Pirn. in Misn. anno 1553 manu Pauli Judicis al. Richteri prim. Pastoris Neap. s. Neustad. prope Pirnam. Ch. B. no. 169. 144 581." " to which there is noted that this collection is contained in the vine, cf. p. 306."

Walch's judgment on the Rebenstock edition, preface p. 20, is completely correct. He says: "In this Latin edition, one and the other occurs, which is not in the Aurifaber work, but it also appears, if one holds both books against each other, such a similarity that one can see that, if not everything, nevertheless most 1) and at least very much is to be found in the Aurifaber collection, which the Rebenstock edition contains.

Elias Frick in his German translation of V. L. von Seckendorf's "Ausführlicher Historie des Lutherthums" p. 2734 makes a similar judgment and also correctly gives the year 1571 for both volumes of Rebenstock. The judgment of Joh. Ernst Eberhardt in his Schediasma § 8 is wrong: "a Germanica plane diversa", unless one interprets these words only to the order of the pieces, but not also to the content.

In order that the reader may judge for himself, we include a comparison of a passage from Rebenstock with the Höllische Handschrift, the German Tischreden and the sources. We choose the section "De tentationibus, Rebenstock Vol. II, 220 b to 233". The same is complete in the Latin and the German Tischreden. The superscription is erroneously retained by Rebenstock for several more pages.

I) We would say "almost everything".

Introduction. 1Z

+--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | V | Binding | German Table | Source". | | ine. | rope. | Speech". | | | | | | Cordatus No. 577. | | Vol. | 11. 287. | sCap . 1, 85, last par.) | | | II, | i | | "" 1525. | | 220 b. | | Dupl. " 7, § 113, last | | | | > II, | Ab . l ^Dupl. " 7, § | "" 654. | | | > 288. | 173, sub. 6. ) | | | | > 11, | | " 545. | | | > 288. | " 26, 8 25. | | | | > | | | | | > II, | " 24, § 117.1 | | | | > 288. | | | | | | Dupl. " 26, 8 27./ . | | | | | | | | | | " 26,? 26. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 221a. | 11, 289. | " 26, 8 28.1 | "" 716. | | | s | | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 221b. | 11, 289. | Dupl. " 13, 8 61./ " | " 717. | | | 1 | 26, 8 29. | | | | | | "" I6r>9. | | | II, 290. | | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 222a. | 11, 290. | " 26, 8 30.) | "" 378. | | | | | | | | 11, 292. | Dupl. " 61, 8 7./ | " 379. | | | | | | | | II, 291. | " 26, 8 32. | "" 414. | | | | | | | | | " 26, 8 31. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 222 d. | 11,292. | s " 13, 815a.) | "" 415. | | | | | | | | 11, 292. | Dupl. " 7, 8159./ | "" 475. | | | | | | | | II, 293. | " 26, 8 33. ) | | | | | | | | | | Dupl. " 26, 819a, | | | | | lastpara./. | | | | | | | | | | " 24, § 121, Ms. 2, | | | | | middle. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 223a. | 11, 293. | 26, 8 34. ) | "" 494. | | | | | | | | 11, 294. | Dupl. " 24, 8 121, | "" 495. 496. | | | i | para. 3 E.u. para. 4./ | | | | | | | | | | " 26, 8 34.) | | | | | | | | | | Dupl. " 24, 8121./ | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 223 b. | 11, 294. | '" 26, 85.) | "" 563. 564.565. | | | < | | 566. | | | | Dupl. " 26, 8 85. | | | | 11, 295. | | | | | ) | Dupl. " 26, 8 35.) | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 224a. | /II, 2W. | " 26, 8 35.) .dupl. " | "" 567. 467. | | | l | 26, 8 5./ | | | | | | | | | Cf.Ill, | | | | | 305. 1 | | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 224b. | 11, 297. | " 58, 8 9.) | "" 571. 572. 573. | | | l | | | | | | Dupl. " 13, 8 70./ | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 225a. | 11, 298. | " 7, 8113.) | ,,,, 574. | | | / | | | | | | Dupl. " 7, 8160./ | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 225 b. | II, 298. | Cf. " 26, 8 73. | "" 1651. 1)652. | | | | | | | | II, 299. | " 26, 8 37. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 226 a. | II, 300. | " 26, 837 . | "" 1653. | | | | | | | | II, 300. | " 26, 816 . | "" 813. 814. 815. | | | | | | | | | Cf. " 12, 862 . | Cf. Lauterbach, c | | | | | 141. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 226b. | II, 301. | > " 7, 8111. " 7, § | Cordatus No. 816. | | | | > 100. " 26, § 20.) | | | | II, 301. | | " ,, 817. | | | | Dupl. " 26, 8 33./ " | | | | 11, 301. | 26, 8 12. | "" 475. | | | | | | | | II, 302. | | ,, " 283. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 227a. | II, 302. | > " 26, 8 36. Missing. | "" 284. | | | | | | | | II, 303. | | Walch, old edition, | | | | | vol. XXI, 1315. | | | | | | | | | | De Wette, V, 440. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 228a. | II, 306. | " 47, 8 18. | Cordatus No. 271 | | | | | and 1814. 272. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 228 | sII , | " 24, 8 12. | "" 1377. 1378. | | b.. | 307. | | | | | | | | | | (Dupl. 1, | | | | | 218. | | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 229 a. | 11, 308. | " 26, 8 39.) | Lauterbach, pag. 4. | | | | | | | | II, 309. | Dupl. " 2, 8 66./ | | | | | | | | | | " 26, 8 23. | | | | | | | | | | " 24, 8 44. | | | | | | | | | | " 24, 8 14. i | | | | | | | | | | Dupl. " 26, 8 41. | | | | | | | | | | Dupl. " 24, 8 28. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 229 b. | II, 310. | " 24, § M. | Lauterbach, pag. | | | | | 26. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 230a. | II, 311. | 26, 8 42. | "" 34. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 230b. | II, 311. | " 26, 8 43. | "" 49. | | | | | | | | II, 312. | " 46, 8 43. | " ,, 50. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 231a. | II, 313. | " 26, 8 45. | "" 56. | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 231b. | II, 316. | " 26, 8 47. | ,, " lOo, | | | | | | | | II, 317. | " 26, 8 48. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 232 a. | II, 314. | " 26, 8 46. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 232 b. | II, 315. | ,, 26, 8 46. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+ | 233a. | II, 318. | " 26, 8 50. | " 125. | | | | | | | | II, 317. | " 26, § 49. | | +--------+-----------+--------------------------+---------------------+

16 Introduction.

In Bindseil, this section includes De Ten- tationibus p: 287 to 320 of the second volume. The following pieces of this section, which are in the Hall manuscript, but are found in

Rebenstock are missing, all, with the exception of the last one, which is not by Luther, but a view of Melanchthon, are found in the German Tischreden. -

------------------- -------------- ------------------------------------ Binding rope. Table Sources. s Talks.

II, 305. Cap. 7, §62. Cordatus No. 413.

II, 307.1 " 26, §68. "" 1705.

Dupl. Ill, 217. /

11, 308.1 " 26, §66. "" 1706.

Dupl. Ill, 218. /

II, 308.1 " 26, §68. " . " 1707.

Dupl. Ill, 218. /

II, 313. " 26, §44. Lauterbach xaZ. 73.

II, 314. " 26, §45. "" 90.

II, 318-320. Missing. Meeuken Phil. Melanchthon of tribulation. ------------------- -------------- ------------------------------------

In the preceding sections, the Latin and German editions coincide completely, and most of it is also proven in the sources and brought into our edition from them. This also applies to the pieces of this section, which are found only in the Hall manuscript, but not in Rebenstock. The same is true for most of the sections; however, the situation is quite different for a few. From these, we see that almost everything found in

of the Rebenstockfchen edition is also found in the Hall manuscript, but also quite a number of pieces are missing in the German Tischreden. In order to prove this, we place a comparative table here over the section that bears the superscription 1): De D. M. Luth, ejus doctrina, vita, morbis et periculis. Rebenstock, Lom. II, 12a-24a.

1. Again, wrong heading on the first six leaves of this section, namely vs oonsolstions.

+----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | * | "in | German Table | Sources. | | Vine. | dseil. | Talks.* | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | Vol. II, | | | | | 12s. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 154. | | | | | Cap. 22, | | | | | § 9. | | | | | cordatus | | | | | no. 344. | | | | | | | | | | > There | | | | | > are 5 | | | | | > lines | | | | | > | | | | | missing. | | | | | > | | | | | > 111, | | | | | > 154. | | | | | > Cap. | | | | | > 7,§ | | | | | > 72. | | | | | > "" | | | | | > 478. | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 12 b. | Ill, | > Missing. | " 892. | | | 174. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | Ill, | | | | | 187. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 13 a. | Ill, | | | | | 182. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, | | | | | 183. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 13b. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 169. | | | | | | | | | | > Ill, | | | | | > 182. | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 14a. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 175. | | | | | sCap. | | | | | 58, § 3. | | | | | La | | | | | uterbach | | | | | xaZ. 18. | | | | | | | | | | > I | | | | | > Dupl. | | | | | > " 22, | | | | | > §115. | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 14b. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 185. " | | | | | 77, §1 . | | | | | | | | | | > 111, | | | | | > 169. | | | | | > " 77, | | | | | > § 2. | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 15 a. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 172. " | | | | | 27, | | | | | §121. | | | | | | | | | | > Ill, | | | | | > 170. | | | | | > | | | | | Missing. | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 15b. | Ill, | > ,, | | | | 173. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 16 a. | | | | | 111, | | | | | 178. " | | | | | La | | | | | uterbach | | | | | 108. | | | | | | | | | | > IHM | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | I6b. 10 | | | | | lines | | | | | are | | | | | missing. | | | | | " | | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | | Ill, | Cap. 27, § 93. | Cordatus No. 441. | | | 157. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 17 a. | Ill, | > Missing. | Kurümer bei Lauterbach | | | 171. | | xag. 203. cordatus no. | | | | | 631,632. . | | | 111, | | | | | 155. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 17 b. | Ill, | > ,, | "" 629. | | | 155. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 18 a.' | Ill, | | "" 1602. | | | 157. | | | | | | | Lauterbach paA. 63. | | | Ill, | | | | | 177. | | Cordatus No. 633. | | | | | | | | Ill, | | | | | 186. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, | | | | | 199. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+ | 18b. | Ill, | > ,/ | "" 1057.1203. | | | 200. | | | | | | | "" 1128. | | | Ill, IM. | | | | | | | "" 720. | | | Ill, | | | | | 158. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, | | | | | 166. | | | +----------+----------+--------------------+--------------------------+

Introduction. -17

+-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | Reve | Biudsett. | German Table | Sources. | | nstock. | | Talks. | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | Vol. II, | 111, 156. | Cap. 43, § | Cordatus No. 1079. | | 186. | | 137. | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 19 a. | Ill, 156. | " 43,? 127. | "" 1080. | | | | | | | | Ill, 177. | " 1,? 17. | Lauterbach xaK. | | | | | 62. | | | Ill, 159. | " 22,? 113. | | | | | | Cordatus No. 904. | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 196. | 111, 176. | Missing. | Lauterbach xa§. | | | | | 54. | | | Ill, 174. | | | | | | | Cordatus No. 1235. | | | Ill, 163. | | | | | | | "" 1236. | | | Ill, 163. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 20 a. | III, 167. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, 181. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 206. | Ill, 188. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 21 a. | Ill, 167. | Cap. 14,'? | "" 249. | | | | 27. missing. | | | | Ill, 158. | | "" 444. | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 216. | There are 11 | | "" 1248. | | | lines missing. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, 164. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 22 a. | Ill, 165. | Cap. 48,'? | "" 1262. | | | | 38. missing. | | | | Ill, 165. | | ,, " 1263. | | | | | | | | Ill, 165. | | "" 1282. | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 226. | Ill, 166. | Cap. 47, § 9. | ,, " 1301. 1)302. | | | | | | | | Ill, 168. | Cap. 48,'? | t | | | | 27. | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 23 a. | Ill, 181. | | | | | | | | | | Ill, 185. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+ | 236. | Ill, 189 f. | Missing. | Lauterbach xa§. | | | | | 165. | | | Ill, 179. | | | +-----------+------------------+----------------+--------------------+

From this table, one can see that in this section of Rebenstock, which comprises 24 pages, only 3 pieces are missing in Bindseil, but that of the 40 pieces that were missing from this section in the German Tischreden, 19 could be inserted into our edition according to the originals. Given the poor textual quality of both Rebenstock and the Hall manuscript, nothing from these could be included in our edition.

2. H. E. Bindseil's edition of Haltt's manuscript.

There is in the public library of the orphanage in Halle a Latin manuscript of Luther's table speeches, consisting of 654 folio leaves, with the date: "transscripta anno 1560", which has been edited by Bindseil under the following title: D. Martini Lutheri colloquia, meditationes, consolationes, judicia, sententiae, narrationes, responsa, facetiae e codice MS. bibliothecae orphanotrophei Halensis cum perpetua collatione editionis Rebenstockianae edita et pro- legomenis indicibusque instructa ab Henrico Er- nesto Bindseil, Philos. Doctore, Professore etc. - Lemgoviae et Detmoldiae typis sumtibusque Meyeriani bibliopolei aulici" Large Octav, lkom. I. 1863. 465 pages and 6XXIII pages of preface. ll?ow. II. 1864. 388 pages and

X pages of preface. Tom. III. 1866. 331 pages. From pp. 332-516 various indexes. XII ropes preface.

Bindseil considers the Hall manuscript published by him to be a Latin translation of the German table speeches 1) as does Rebenstock his collection. He was therefore also unaware that the original records were mainly made in Latin with individual words and phrases left in German. He disregarded, or perhaps did not believe, what Aurifaber says in his second preface of July 1, 1568: "that the Tischreden were brought by him from Latin into German sayings," which, as we now know, is true.

Wrampelmeyer remarks in his preface p. 29: "Rebenstock offers almost nothing that could not be found in Bindseil, while the Hall manuscript - and this seems to us to be far from appreciated enough - has handed down a large amount of conversations, of which no trace is to be found in Rebenstock. This remark has prompted us to make at least a partial comparison. With respect to the first volume

1. Cf. Förstemann-Bindseil's edition of the German Tischreden, vol. IV, preface Ä. XblX.

18 Introduction.

Bindseil, we have come to the following conclusion: In the first volume of Bindseil's edition there are 120 pieces which we have not been able to find either in the German Tischreden or in the sources. Of these, 41 are introductions to the larger sections, e.g. Deus, Trinitas 2c., most of which are also found in Rebenstock, obviously not written by Luther, but by the collector on whom both the Rebenstock and Bindseil editions are based.

These introductions are found in Bindseil Vol. I. S. 1. 7. 10. 13. 22. 25. 34. 54. 68. 74. 82. 84. 95. 98. 110. 118. 185. 191. 195. 196. 197. 198. 199. 210. 211. 235.

Six pieces do not belong in the

Collection of Table Talks. Vol. I, p. 280 is an excerpt from a book; p. 303 a letter to Joh. Scultetus; p. 349 a prognosticon of Martin Luther; p. 367 a concern of Melanchthon; p. 443 a concern of Luther to Hess; p. 445 a concern of Luther to A. Lauterbach.

The other pieces missing in the German Tischreden are in Bindseil Vol. I. at the following places: P. 9 f. 21. 94. 96. 97. 100, 152, 175, 192, 200, 201, 205, 208.

220. 416. 417: 423. 427. 428. 429. 430. 431. 432. 433. 434. 435. 436. 437. 442. 456. 463. - From the section De principibus alone are 28 of these pieces. Incidentally, several more of these pieces may be found in the sources.

Bindseil's comparative register between the Hall manuscript and the German Tischreden is very incomplete. We can prove many pieces in the German Tischreden which Bindseil described as being only in the Latin ones.

The fact that it was possible for Bindseil to indicate the deviations of Rebenftock's edition in notes from beginning to end proves that the similarity of both editions must be very great. Since Bindseil lists all of Rebenstock's translations, this already results in a very large number of notes. Another reason for comments are the numerous printing errors in Rebenstock.

In order to enable the reader to compare the Hall manuscript and the German Tischreden with his own eyes, we have included a table on a section from the third volume, which comprises 24 pages. From this section, "Concionatores". Concionatores", Bindseil III, 108-131, which is completely missing in Rebenstock, only one paragraph and four lines are missing in our St. Louis edition of the Tischreden. The section marked as missing on p. 123 is found in Lauterbach and is included by us in Appendix No. I.

------------ ---------- -------- -------------- ---------------------------------- Binding Table Sources. rope. Talks.

Vol. Ill, Cap. 22, Cordatus No. 108. § 1^7. 1245.

                      **11, 8                 **" 484.**                           9.**                    

           **--**    **22, §                 **" 534.**                           130.**                  

109. 1, 8 cf. cap. 22, 14. 811 the last para. and Cap. 22, § 55.

1 l Dupl. 11, 8 " 9.

                      **22?8   **Cordatus No.                            9.**     1462. 1463.                                        1464. 1465.**  

110. 22, 8 " 1479. 10.

                      **22, 8                 **" 750.751.752.**                           11.**                   

111. 22, 8 " 798. 12.

Dupl. Ill, Dupl. 22, 8 128. " 64.

                      **22, 8                 **" 1108.**                           13.**                   

112. 22, 8 " 500. 14.

                      **22, 8                 **" 1710. 1711.**                           15.**                   

                      **22, 8  **,,**         **" 1572.**                           95.**                   

113. 22, § 1170. 156.

                      **22, 8                 **" 583.**                           16.**                   

                      **22, 8                 **" 546.**                           17.**                   

                      **22, 8                 **,, 518.**                           19.**                   

114. 22, 8 ,, " 722. 22. ------------ ---------- -------- -------------- ----------------------------------

Introduction. 19

+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | Bind | Table Talk". | Source". | | rope. | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | Vol. Ill, | Cap. 22, 8 20. | Cordatus No. 721. | | 114. | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | | " 22, 8 23. | " X 723. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 24. | "><479. | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 115. | " 22, 8 25. | -,, 1^04^-765. | | | | | | . Dupl. | ,, 22, 8 27. | "" 766. | | Ill, 130. | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 116. | " 22, 8 28. | ., " 966. 967. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 29. | " ,, 1646. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 30. | "" 286. 287. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 31. | "" 1331. | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 117. | " 22, 8 32. | " ,, 596. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 33. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 36. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 118. | " 22, 8 37. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 38. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 119. | " 22, 8 39. | Cordatus No. 1656. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 40. | Lauterbach xaA 21. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 41. | | | | | | | | " 15, 8 19. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 120. | " 22, 8 42. | "" -33. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 44. | "" 58. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 45. | "" 68. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 47. | "" M. | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 121. | " 22, 8 48. | "" 97. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 50. | "" 115. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 51. | "" 127. (The last sentence .) | | | | | | | ,, 22, 8 52. | "" 127. | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 122. | " 22, 8 53. | "" 128. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 54. | ,,,, 135. | | | | | | | " 22, § 56. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | s123 . | " 22, 8 55. | | | | | | | I Cf. Ill, | | | | 109. | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | | Missing a | "" 2. | | | paragraph, sCap . | | | | 37, 8141 . | "" 14. | | | | | | | iDupl. " 22, | "" 141. | | | 857. | | | | | "" 147. Cf. cap. 22, 8135 . | | | " 22, 858. | | | | | | | | " 7, 845 . | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 124. | " 22, 8-59. | "" 163, | | | | | | | " 22, 8 60. | "" 169. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 62. | "" 179. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 63. | "" 183. | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 125.) | " 22, 8 12. | Cordatus No., 798. | | | .dupl. " 22, 8 | | | Dupl. Ill, | 64. | Kummer bei Lauterbach, xaZ. 203. | | 111. 1 | | | | | " 22, 8 65. ' | | | 126.^ | " 22, 8 66. | | | | | | | | . Dupl. " 22, 8 | | | | 143. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | | " 22, 8 67. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | | " 22, 8 68. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 69. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 70. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 71. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 72. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 127. | It is missing em | | | | paragraph about | | | | the departure of | | | | Lauterbach to | | | | Pirna. | | | | | | | | Cap. 22, § 73. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 74. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 128. | " 22, 8 75. | Lauterbach pax. 160. | | | | | | | " 22, 8 76. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 77. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 129. | " 22, 8 78. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 79. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 80. | | | | | | | | " 22, 8 81. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | 130. | There are 4 lines | | | | missing. | | | | | | | | Cap. 22, § 82. | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+ | Dupl. Ill, | " 22, 8 25. | Cordatus No. 1504. | | 115. | | | | | " 22, 8 83. | | | 131. | | | +-------------+-------------------+------------------------------------+

20 Introduction.

Bindseil's assumption, 1) that Lauterbach was the collector of the Hall manuscript, has been completely destroyed by the discovery of Lauterbach's diary. One only needs to compare one or several pieces with each other to convince oneself of this. In the table just presented, we see that both in the Hall manuscript and in the German Tischreden, the number of pages according to Lauterbach is almost regularly greater than the number of pages in the German manuscript.

is. From this it is clear that both Aurifaber and the collector of the Hall manuscript had Lauterbach's diary in front of him in the same order as we do. Not so with the records of Cordatus.

The Hall manuscript contains a significant number of incorrect readings, some of which have been increased by Bindseil's unfortunate improvements.

Binding rope

II, 137 Huistsm instead of: souitsm. Cf. Cordatus No. 1247.

I, 289 verdis instead of: juridus. Likewise Rebenstock 1, 140. ) Cf. Cordatus No. 929.

I, 289 äate nodis impsria instead of: äats impsria. Likewise Rebenstock I, IM. s

I, 383 "Where there is evil food, there they fatten themselves like > pigs," instead of: "Where there is evil food, there are witty > people, because they have to search. (Cordatus No. 1111.) From "must > seek" seems to have arisen "fatten pigs." > > II, 43 Philippus Melanchthon is transformed into the apostle Philip. > Likewise with Rebenstock II, 40 d. Cf. Cordatus No. 366.

I, 289 uxorsm rnsam instead: a wife. Likewise Rebenstock I, IM. Cf. Cordatus No. 929.

II, 107 sausiala instead of: sauet". Cf. Cordatus No. 1194.

I, 220 shooting strokes held: Umbrella strokes. Cf. Cordatus No. 1642.

Ill, 106 leariuiu instead of: datiuiu. Cf. Cordatus 1473.

1, 115 fails instead of: despairs. Cf. Cordatus No. 811.

1, 186 schemender Werkheikger instead of: scheinender Weltheiliger. Cf. Cordatus No. 1590.

I, 261 eouäeinuatur instead of: eouteruuitur. Cf. Cord. No. 1615.

I, 36 äeäueeus instead of: äueeus. Likewise Rebenstock I, 20d. Cf. Cordatus No. 1032.

1, 126 ^.tiautes instead: XtNIstas. Cf. Lauterbach pag. 9.

II, 295 know instead of: tear. Cf. Cordatus No. 564.

II, 295 ersaluraru instead of: uaturam. Cf. Cordatus No. 565.

Ill, 100 Magister Rode held: M. Roth. Cf. Cordatus No. 736.

II, 302 MiLaeuiu instead: LvanKsIistam. Rebenstock II, 227 klissum. Cf. Cordatus No. 283.

Ill, 100 what I will do to it instead of: what God will do to it. Cf. Cordatus No. 736.

Ill, 139 8p68 vitas instead of: spssiss vitas.

Ill, 200 fools instead: Poor. Likewise Rebenstock II, 18d stultorum. Cf. Cordatus No. 1203.

I, 52 thuen instead: Thurm. Cf. Cordatus No. 1571.

Ill, 125 Munster instead of: fatten.

II, 108 worsf statt: Morff sSchweini. Lauterbach pas. 58.

Ill, 202 my instead of: means.

Ill, 66 the manuscript had correctly: abxy, i.e. Aphki ^-Aphkijah, > pronounced according to Jtacism. This: has Bindseil erroneously > changed to d. i. pride. Wrampelmeher brings several examples of > similar unjustified corrections.

Among the casibus politicis, vol. m, 8, several events are recounted that occurred after Luther's death, in 1550 and 1551. Likewise, I, 214 from Christmas 1546 and III, 310, a statement by a bishop after Luther's death.

6. the german translation of the table speeches

in its various editions.

a. The Aurifaber edition.

The first German and at the same time the oldest edition of the Table Talks is organized by

1. Preface, p. XI.VII.

Johannes Aurifaber or Goldschmidt. He was Luther's table companion in 1545 and 1546 and around him, also at the end of his life in Eisleben. As court preacher in Weimar, 1551-1562, he was removed from office for attempting to insert into the Jena edition of Luther's works other than Luther's own authentic writings. 2) He then went to Eisleben in Mansfeld, where he received maintenance and salary from Vollrath, Count of Mansfeld, and his brother, in order to publish the writings of Luther.

2. Cf. Walch, old edition, Banb XXIV, Cap. 4, s 22 f., § 29 ff.

Introduction. , 21.

In 1564 and 1565, he also published the second volume of his letters to Luther, the first of which had already gone out of print in 1556. They appeared in 1564 and 1565. The second volume of his letters of Luther also came out in 1565; the first had already gone out in print in 1556. Then in 1566 he became pastor at the Preacher's Church and senior minister at Erfurt, where he died in 1576, aged 56. The title of the first edition of the Tischreden is: "Tischreden Oder Colloquia Doct. Mart. Luthers, So er in vielen Jaren, gegen gelarten Leute, auch frembden Gesten, vnd seinen Tischgesellen gefüret. According to the main pieces of our Christian lore, compiled. John 6, Cap. Samlet die vbrigen Brocken, Auff dass nichts vmbkome. Printed at Eisleben, by Vrban Gaubisch. 1566." Folio. The preface comprises 9 leaves and ¾ ropes. Then follow two pages of indexes of the main sections with incorrect numbering, 82 instead of 80. The table speeches take 625A leaves, including the addendum: "Andere Tischreden D. M. Luthers" 2c. Finally, an index of 16-1/2 leaves, arranged alphabetically.

The preface of Aurifaber is a letter: "To the noble, honorable, honorable and wise Ammeistern, Stadtpflegern, Aelteren, Geheimbden, Bürgermeister und Rath der Kayserlichen Reichsstädte Straßburg, Augspurg, Ulm, Nürnberg, Lübeck, Hamburg, Lüneburg, Braunschweig, Frankfurth am Mayn und Regenspurg 2c. My Grand Favorable Lords." With regard to this dedication, Seidemann makes a very significant remark in his preface to Lauterbach pag. V: "A letter from the Nuremberg City Council to Aurifaber of September 12, 1566, in which he thanks him for sending a copy of the Tischreden and its dedication to the city of Nuremberg, sending 20 gold gülden as a tribute to it, provides an attractive insight into Aurifaber's activity. Cf. Anzeiger für Kunde der deutschen Vorzeit. Vol. XVI. 1869. p. 336.

Most of Aurifaber's preface is of no particular interest for the history of the editions of the Table Talks, so we only reprint the end of it here: "And after I have so far read several tomos from behind the table".

I have had this Tomum Colloquiorum, or Table Talks, produced and printed here, which was initially compiled from the Collectaneis Colloquiorum written by the Venerable M. Antonii Lauterbach, and subsequently distributed by me in certain loci communes. Antonii Lauterbach's written Collectaneis Colloquiorum, which he himself excelled from the holy mouth of Luther, and subsequently distributed and written by me in certain locos communes, also from other godly and learned people's written books Colloquiorum, which Doctor Martin Luther's table companions were many years ago, as the M. Veit Dietrichs, M. Hieronymi Besoldi, also the priest at Cöthen, Magister Johann Schlaginhauffens and Magister Johannis Mathesii; item, from other more books, so with D. M. Luther always gone around, and daily around him been, as, Magister Georg Rörers, blessed, to more part increased and improved. After that I have also taken many good things from the Collectaneis Colloquiorum written by Magister Johann Stolsii, blessed, and Magister Jacobi Weber, pastor of Ordorf, and put them into this Tomum. And because I, Johannes Aurifaber, before the death of D. Martin Luther in 1545 and 1546, was also much around D. M. Luther, as I have much wonderful histories and history, also other necessary and useful things, so he talked about tables, diligently distinguished, which I have then also arranged and brought here" ,

--- Because I have had a large pile of written books Colloquiorum Lutheri with me for many years, I have with a good conscience this treasure of the table speeches of Lutheri can not be hidden longer, and such pounds remain buried and scorched, or let it perish and perish after my death, but now, through open printing, I want to share it with the Christian church, which can improve on such teachings and use them blessedly as small pieces of bread that have fallen from Luther's table, and satisfy and quench the spiritual hunger and thirst of souls with them. For one should not let such table speeches of Luther from high spiritual things perish, but hold them high and valuable.

22 . introduction.

than from this one may have all kinds of teaching and comfort."

"Given at Eisleben on the 7th day of July, .... Anno 1566."

"Your honor and wisdom willing servant > > Johannes Aurifaber."

As early as 1567, two editions appeared in Frankfurt am Main, one in folio, the other in two octavo volumes. The title of the folio edition is: Colloquia, Oder Tischreden Doctor Martini Lutheri, so er in vielen jaren die Zeyt seiner Lebens, gegen Gelehrten Leuthen, Auch hin vnd wider bei frembden' Gesten, vnd seinen Tischgeesehret geführtt, darinn von allen Articklen vnser Religion, Auch von hohen Fragen vnnd Richtigen Antworten, vnd sonst von allerley Lehr, Rath, Trost, Weissagung, Gründlichen vnderricht zu finden. By Johann Aurifaber. John 6. cap. Samlet die vbrigen Brocken, Auff dass nichts vmbkomme. (Below a woodcut, Luther with 6 others sitting at the table and 4 children standing in front of it, who perform their table prayers with folded hands). Printed at Frankfurt am Mayn, 2c. 1567." Also in this edition, as in the first edition, the section "Von etlicher Papisten schnellen und erschrecklichem Tode" is omitted in the register of the main sections, and therefore only 79 main pieces are counted, instead of 80. In the work, this section is not missing.

The octavo edition of 1567 is entitled: "Erster Theil (und: Ander Theil), der Tischreden D. Mart. Luthers, so er in vilen jaren gegen Gelehrten Leuthen, auch frömbden Gesten vnnd seinen Tischgesellen gefüret. Therefore, of all the articles of our religion, also of high pieces, questions and answers, item many remarkable historics, and otherwise of all kinds of emptiness, comfort, advice, prophecy, warning and rebuke. Report and instruction to be found. It has been compiled by M. Anthonio Lauterbach, published in certain local communes, and collected from many other scholars. By Mr. Johan Aurifaber. (Including Luther's picture.) Published at Frankfurt am Mayn, Anno M.D.LXVII." In this edition, by skipping numbers, the number of the main

The number of pieces has been brought to 83. The 26th main piece "Von Zauberey" is missing in the index, but not in the text.

Perhaps these two editions from 1567 are reprints, because no printer is named in them, and both have "By Johann Aurifaber" on the title, which Aurifaber himself would hardly have set that way. On the other hand, Aurifaber says in his preface to the edition of 1568: "As the same last German Tomus of Luther's Tischreden has been well out of print and very much available for sale, so that it has often had to be published and reprinted," by which these Frankfurt prints can well be meant. Several misprints from the folio edition of 1567 have been transferred to the edition of 1568, which Aurifaber acknowledges as his own by a new preface, from which it seems to follow that he also regarded the edition of 1567 as his own. 1) With respect to this, Walch says in his preface p. 8, note x: "Of these editions of Luther's Tischreden that have now been cited, I still note that they have not all been printed accurately and correctly, and sometimes important printing errors that were in one have been retained in the other. One will notice this clearly if one holds the two editions of 1567 and 1568 against each other. Among other things, in both p. 89 under the title: Nobody goes to heaven', these words: Christ has let his glory be seen through blasphemy and miracles', instead of 'through doctrine', as it has been improved in this present edition p. 485. So, too, in just these two editions p. Ill, under the inscription: the man

1. We do not consider it acceptable that printing errors should have been transferred from a reprint to the authentic edition. By comparing the folio edition of 1567 with the authentic one of 1568, a printing expert would like to determine from the type of printing the office in which the edition of 1567 was printed. We assume that it would turn out that the edition of 1567 was already printed by Simon Hüter, since Aurifaber says in the preface of 1568: "because my particularly dear gentleman and good friend Simon Hüter, bookseller at Frankfurt, wanted to publish and print this 'lomuna of the table speeches' again. If he wanted to print it again, he must have already printed it once.

Introduction. 23

before himself', thus: "the man who otherwise drowned in the divine being", instead of "in the ungodly being": 'in the ungodly being*, so one will find in this edition x. 603 will likewise be found changed."

In 1568, also at Frankfurt am Main, a new edition appeared in folio with a new preface by Aurifaber in which he complains about changes that had been made to his table speeches. Walch has taken his text from this edition. This preface is particularly interesting and important. We therefore place it here in its entirety from Walch's old edition. It is already written from Erfurt.

"Preface to the 1568 Edition."

"To the Christian Reader."

"After I, by God's help, had undertaken this Christian, useful and necessary work some years ago, what of the venerable and noble man of God, D. M. Luther's, holy memory, books, sermons and writings, which he read, preached and wrote in Wittenberg, and which have not come to light and day until now, to prepare them and to communicate them to the Christian Church for teaching and consolation through printing. As I have compiled and written the twelve tomos of the German and Latin books of Doctor Maxtini Luther, printed at Jena, when I was then Princely Saxon Court Preacher, in a proper order, and have included many good writings, advice and trades that had not been seen before. The godly man, M. Georg Rörer, was appointed corrector and supervisor by the noble princes and lords, the dukes of Saxony, brothers, my gracious princes and lords. And after that I surrendered to the county of Mansfeld, and had two German Tomos, also a Latin one of Epistles, and a German Tomum of the Table Talks printed at Eisleben. When the last German Tomus of Luther's Table Speeches had gone out of print and was very much for sale, so that it had to be reprinted many times, I now find that Master Klügling has come upon such my work and labor, and changed the title.

I have also moved a lot in the book, and at various times I have increased and improved my work with new table speeches, which have all been done without my knowledge and will, to whom I should otherwise give an answer and account for this work of the table speeches. This hurts me, and is not good, that one wants to sully, rummage through and destroy it according to everyone's liking, that which I have compiled with unspeakable effort, hard work and many great tastes, from books and collections written by many learned people who have gone around with Doctor Martin Luther, into an order and into certain locos communes. Such a thing is not to be suffered by me in any way. For this reason, I would like to ask and warn everyone who will reprint such a book of the Table Talks, because if there is someone who would know how to improve and increase these Table Talks, I could do it (without glory), since I still have several written books of Luther's Table Talks with me, from which one could almost read a new volume together, or improve the now much reported first printed part wonderfully and enormously. And because I have received such a tome from the next Frankfurt fair, with other table speeches and epistles renewed and improved, which appendix and addition I have read through and find that much of it was previously printed in the table speeches, and was brought from the Latin by me into the German language, so the letters are also found in part in the German Jenische: so I do not like to see that one should buy old for new, and the people are swept off their feet by the new titles and improvements. And remember well that Doctor Martin Luther, of blessed memory, complained many times that his books, which he had published in Wittenberg, were being reprinted elsewhere in Germany, and that words were often changed in them, and that the books were badly smeared, so that for this reason he issued a public admonition to the book printers in the 28th year. And because my special dear gentleman and good friend Simon Hüter, bookseller at Frankfurt, wanted to publish and print this Tomum of the Table Talks again, after the copy at Eisleben.

24 Introduction.

I have sent him my well-meaning warning against printing this book. Done on the first day of July, Anno 1568, Johannes Aurifaber, pastor of Predigern in Erfurt.

With regard to Aurifaber's above-mentioned complaint about changes to the Tischreden, Walch, Preface p. 8, remarks: "What Aurifaber actually meant by this for editions: if, where and under what title they were printed, I cannot say. Among those editions that I have at hand and that were printed before Aurifaber made the noted complaint, I find none that would have been changed to the extent he reported. It would have been good if he had given special notice of such altered editions." Bindseil remarks on this in the preface to the German edition Vol. IV, p. XXVII: "I also have the same opinion, after I compared both Frankfurt editions of 1567 with the one of 1566 in general; for with the exception of the slight alteration of the title and a part of the spelling, I have not perceived any significant deviation,"

In 1569, a new edition was published in folio in Frankfurt am Main, with the same preface that preceded the first edition of 1566. This year, however, is changed in this edition to the year 1569, as such a change in the year was also made in other later editions, according to the years in which they appeared. In this edition there is a special appendix with the inscription: "Colloguia or Table Talks of D. M. L., so the dear man of God has led against learned theologians and pastors shortly before his end and blessed departure from this world, satmt many comfort writings, missives, and histories, answers to manifold questions" 2c. It is accompanied by a letter to the council of the city of Rauschenburg, dated March 24, 1568, from Johann Finck, who reports in it that he has drawn these speeches of Luther from several written books and from the writings of the same. This appendix is followed by: "Prophecies of D. M. Luther, for the Remembrance and Incentive to Christian Penance, Neatly and Diligently Compiled".

carried by M. Georg Walther, preacher at Halle in Saxony". Walch notes in his preface p. 9, note g.: "Such an appendix of table speeches, which the aforementioned Johann Finck added, has been omitted from both other and subsequent editions, and rather that which is found at the end of the 1566 and 1567 editions has been retained; in the 1568 edition, however, it has been inserted, except for a few pieces, into the work itself at the appropriate place. The Propheceyungen Lutheri are found in the newest editions of the Tischreden Lutheri of 1700 and 1723, of which I will speak hereafter, but they are not found in the older editions.

In addition to these, two other editions of Luther's Tischreden are listed, which were published in Eisleben by Urban Gaubisch in 1569 and 1577 in folio, shown in des Fabricii centifolio Lutheran. p. 801. The first edition of 1569 mentioned above, published in Frankfurt, is probably a reprint, because in the same year the publisher of the first edition, Urban Gaubisch in Eisleben, also published the edition just mentioned, and no printer is named in the Frankfurt edition.

All these editions are only different imprints of Aurifaber's first edition of 1566.

d. Stangwald's edition.

According to the time, the closest to these Aurifaber editions is the one by Andreas Stangwald, Candidate of Theology from Prussia. Until now, the difference between this edition and Aurifaber's has been presented as greater than it really is. We have compared Stangwald's edition of 1700, in which, according to Walch's testimony1) "nothing has been left out, nothing has been added to it", with the first Aurifaber edition of 1566. The result of this comparison is the following: In Stangwald's edition, everything is found that is in Aurifaber's edition, with the exception of ea. 146 pieces, which

1) Preface vol. XXII, p. 12d. -

** **Introduction. 25

Stangwald has rightly omitted as duplicates, and the following 17 pieces, which are either completely or partially missing from Stangwald. Only the following 7 pieces are missing in their entirety: Cap. 7, §§ 36. 165. 182; Cap. 11, § 13; Cap. 14, § 4; Cap. 37, .§ 84 and Cap. 43, § 136. Of these, Cap. 11, § 13 does not belong in the Table Talks because it is a collection of Luther's sayings, probably drawn from his writings. Of the piece Cap. 14, § 4, we think that it must still be found somewhere in Luther's writings, perhaps also Cap. 7, § 36. 10 pieces are partially missing: Cap. 4, §46, Cord. No. 1274; the conclusion of Cap. 4, §65, Cord. No. 434; the first paragraph of Cap. 7, §47; the second half of Cap. 9, § 53; Cap. 13, § 12, paras. 1. 2. 6. 7; Cap. 13, § 66, para. 2; Cap. 14, § 14, the last paragraph; Cap. 22, § 132, the last paragraph; Cap. 74, § 23, para. 1; Cap. 75- the fifth paragraph from the end. 1)

Other pieces than these mentioned by name are not missing in Stangwald's edition. In the Förstemann-Bindseil and Erlangen editions, for many other pieces only the proof is not provided where they can be found in Stangwald.

The first edition of Stängwald's Redaction appeared in folio in Frankfurt in 1571 under the title: "Colloquia, Oder Tischreden Doctor Mart. Luthers, So er in vielen Jaren gegen Gelärten Leute, auch frembden Gesten, vnd seinen Tischgesellen geführtet, Nach den Hauptstücken unserer Christlichen Lehre zusammengetragen. And now, in a new way, brought into a correct order, and according to the written table speeches of Doct. Mari. Luch. Corrected. Johan. on the 6th Samlei the remaining chunks so that nothing is lost. (Below is a woodcut depicting Luther sitting with 6 table companions, and 4 boys standing in front of the table, saying grace). Printed at Frankfurt am Mayn, by Thomas Rebart's Blessed Heirs, Anno M. D. LXXI." Fol. 2-9" is Aurifaber's preface from 1566 with the signature: "Anno 1569." Fol. 10 is the register of the same 43

1. Stangwald probably omitted this last small piece of 2j lines because of the year 1553, for which reason he considered it not to be by Luther. We consider this to be a printing error instead of 1530.

The first chapter is in the same order as in the later edition of 1591 and in the Selnecker editions. Fol. 11 is a "Kurzes Register der fuernembsten Materien, nach Ordnung deß Alphabets" 2c. The same is also in the Selnecker editions. Fol. 12 is an "Index biblicus". The latter, as well as the preceding index, also correspond exactly with Selnecker's. The work itself comprises 44 folios. The work itself comprises 442 folio leaves. The appendix of 27 unfoliated leaves has the following title: "Appendix. Or appendix of the free matters, which were occasionally included among the table speeches, and yet do not really belong to the table speeches. In part also Doct. Mari. Luther's are not at all. According to the order of the chapters of the Table Talks. Printed at Frankfurt am Mayn, by Thomas Rebart's blessed heirs, Anno M. D. I^XXI." In this edition, the name of the publisher is not mentioned anywhere. 2) Only in the preface of the 1591 edition, twenty years after the first edition, does Stangwald sign himself at the end: "Andreas Stangwaldus, Borussus, S. Theologiae Candidatus."

This preface from 1591 is a letter: "to the mayors and councilmen of the Imperial Imperial City of Mulhouse in Thuringia. The part of the preface which, in our opinion, is of historical interest only, we share here:

"Because the first printing of Luther's Table Talks, which was published in Eisleben in 66, was not only deficient in its order in many ways, but also contained much extraneous material, which either did not correspond to Luther at all, or did not correspond to the title of this work, and was in part also incorrect and unfounded, the entire work was also falsified and distorted in many places due to the carelessness of the printers and others in the reprinting: Therefore, out of love for the precious treasure of Luther's writings, and at the well-meant request and desire of kind-hearted people, for the general benefit of all, I have even put the entire work into a new, correct order in the year 71.

L) This first edition does not have its own, but only Aurifaber's first preface.

26 Introduction.

The same copy was printed in Frankfurt am Main by Thomas Rebärt's blessed heirs, and was subsequently printed several times in Leipzig.

"But because the copies had all been distributed, so that none could be obtained, I have, at the suggestion of good friends and with the foreknowledge and permission of the venerable Consistorii at Weimar, taken the copy again under hand, with the written table speeches, which I had together in good number, diligently and faithfully conferiret, and after the same corrigiret and in such Correctur diligently before eyes had the Notationes of the venerable, hochgelahrten Herr Doctoris Joachimi Moerlini blessed, which he in his copy of the 1st print of the TischReden with his own. (as he belonged to Luther for several years, and as he was then deacon of the churches at Wittenberg, had been much around Luther), and of other Christian theologians, have also added to the work other such memorable speeches and colloquies of Luther, which Mathesius and other faithful disciples of Luther mentioned in their writings, and have also occasionally, for further instruction and explanation, taken from other proven writings of Luther. Luther's writings,' something little added, finally also prepared with industrious registers in such a way that my hope is that it can now be used by men only for benefit and fruit. In its time (God willing), in the other part, the Colloquia Lutheri, and other gentlemen who lived with and beside Luther, which are still in the background, are also to be given to the Christian reader in proper order, along with all kinds of Apophthegmata and memorable speeches of the Christian emperors, kings, princes and chieftains who lived in these last times, and finally also Apophthegmata Sanctorum Dei in veteri Ecclesia. 2) Since then also in a

ll This is what our 1700 edition says, while the 1591 edition is supposed to have: "reprinted". Cf. Förstemann-Binds. Ausg. Vorr. P. XXIX.

2. Such a second part of the Tischreden has never appeared.

special appendices all sorts of Microgtapha Lutheri, that is, short memorial writings, which D. Luther, either to himself or to others, as a memory in the books, on notes, on the walls 2c. listed.. Item, his Latin poemata. Item, his proverbs, his Onomastioon or Namen-Büchlein, his Fabulae Aesopi, and other joke writings, and what such, so actually does not belong in the Tomos of Luther's witty writings, should be communicated to the Christian reader, so that with knowledge also not the slightest of D. Luther's work, so as to serve edification, is left behind."

"Concerning the Historia of the Life and the Blessed Departure of Doctor Martin Luther, as a short excerpt of which was included in the Leipzig printing of the Tisch-Reden before this time, I have omitted it from this printing for considerable reasons; since in the Narrationibus de Vita Lutheri that have been published up to this time, I have found various inaccuracies and displeasures. But (God willing) a detailed Historia, not only of the life and departure, but also of the books and writings of D. Luther, and especially of the German Biblia, and the Church Postillen, so also Tomorum Lutheri, printed at Wittenberg, Jena, and Eisleben, shall be given to the Christian reader.

In the 1700 edition, Stangwald's appendix comprises pages 821-868, i.e. 48 folio pages. Everything in this appendix is also found in all of Aurifaber's editions, but scattered throughout the work, except for a small section on p. 822, which is another version of Appendix § 4, and a small section on p. 844, which offers in Latin what Cap. 37, § 127 in German translation. This appendix is also found in Selnecker's editions.

The whole difference between Stangwald's and Aurifaber's editions comes down to the following: 1. the order of Stangwald's edition is completely different from that of Aurifaber's edition. In order to make this clear to the reader, we will show, with reference to a part of a chapter, how far the order given in that chapter is different from that of the Aurifaber edition.

Introduction. v 27

The sections contained therein are scattered in Aurisaber's edition. 1) We choose Cap. 19: Of the Cross, Challenge, Persecution 2c. and compare Stangwald's

Edition of 1700 with the Erlangen edition, which, like Förstemann-Bindseil, brings a reprint of Aurifaber's first edition of 1566:

------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- Stangwald Erlangen edition

Page 327*. Duplicate p. 99. Vol. 61. p. 129. Duplicate Vol. 58. p. 81.

" 328. " 58, S. 411; 60, 99 ; 60, 109 ; 60, 111; 59, 139; 57, 211.

329.                      " 61, 130 f. 145.
     

" 330. duplicate p. 201 *, " 58, 146. 148.71. end of para.

" 330*. Duplicate p. 81. "59, 143. Dupl. 58, 113; 59, 139 ; 61, 139.

"331. Other redaction m of the same column. " 60, 95 ; 62, 37.

" 331*. Duplicate p. 137*. "60, 112. duplicate 57, 153.

" 331*. Dupl. in the same " 60, 112. duplicate 57, 154 ; 60, 102 column. ; 60, 114.

"332. duplicate p. 100. " 57, 166 , 59, 145.

"333. duplicate p. 59*. " 57, p. 167. duplicate 57, 131.

" 334. " 60, 122. 86. 96 ; 60, 106. Dupl. S. 99; 60, 174.

"335. duplicate p. 152*. "60, 107. Dupl. S. 61; 60, 123 ; 57, 328.

" 336. " 61, 119 ; 60, 98. 118. 102, 164 ; 59, 124.

"337. in other redaction p. " 60, 121. 104; 59, 143; 60, 113. 138*. ------------------------------ ----------------------------------------

As a proof for the complete change of the arrangement in Stangwald's edition, this will probably be sufficient. On these 10 pages of Stangwald, we encounter 8 duplicates, of which he has 6 in common with Aurifaber. The content of these 10 pages is widely scattered through 5 volumes in the Erlangen edition, and it is quite the same with any other section, from beginning to end.

2. stangwald has about 146 duplicates less than the aurifaber edition. He has the great mass of duplicates in common with Aurifaber. The following 6 duplicates are peculiar to him: p. 225* and 768; p. 228. 249 and 838*; p. 405 * and second appendix p. 6 in another translation; p. 100 and 332; p. 201* and 330; p. 388 and 826.

Stangwald first attempted to separate the extraneous items that do not actually belong to the Tischreden, and relegated them to an appendix of 48 pages. These include pieces borrowed or translated from other writings of Luther, sermons, prefaces, letters, concerns, inscriptions in books, verses, disputations, and other things that are not by Luther, and he has always provided proof of their origin, where he himself was aware of it.

1. It is therefore very difficult to find the pieces of Stangwald's edition in Aurisaber's, and vies vsrka.

In Stangwald's work, however, about 100 passages taken from elsewhere are interspersed here and there in the text, and for 81 of them the source from which they flowed is given. Most of them are from Luther's own writings, from the sermons of Joh. Mathesius, Justus Jonas, Georg Buchholzer 2c. We leave here the complete list of the pieces that are found in Stangwald's edition, but not in Aurisaber's edition:

From Mathesius' Sermons on Luther's Life 37 sections, in Stangwald: p. 62*. 114*. 144. 316*. 332. 2) 349. 383*. 411. 413. 413*. 418*. 430*. 436*. 469. 523. 591*. 600*. 608. 648. 663. 693. 693*. 712*. 729*. 766. 797*. 798. 813. 818*. 798* is excerpted in Aurrfaber's edition Cap. 48, § 28 and Cap. 47, § 15. from the latter's sermon in Lurepta 7 sections, pp. 110*. 225. 371*. 528*. 534*. 545*. 602*. From the sermon de profundis A section p. 318*.

From the sermons of Justus Jonas, 5 sections, namely from the sermon at Luther's funeral: p 96*. 370. 372*. 605*. From his sermon on Act. 1. S. 812.

From the Schmalkaldic Articles 2 sections: pp. 540. 608.

From other writings of Luther 19 sections: p. 2* (From the Preface to the Aus-.

2. Duplicate of page 100.

28 Introduction,

Exposition on the Psalms. Walch, old edition, vol. IV, 267 d; p. 71 (From the church postilion. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XI, 280 ff, §§ 118-121); p. 87 (From the exhortation to prayer against the Turk. Walch, old edition, vol. XX, 2770, §49); p. 102 (The three Symbola. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol.X, 1004 f., §§ 11. 12); p. 110 (Preface to Ambros. Moibani interpretation on Ps. 29. Walch, old edition, vol. XIV, 180 ^false pag. 176], §2); p. 154 (Church postilion. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XI, 1207 ff, §§ 31 to 34); p. 164 (Interpretation of the 14th chapter of Johannis. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 112, §§ 185-187); p. 190* (Interpretation of 1 Cap. Isaiah); p. 293 (Brief Confession of Luther of the Holy Sacrament. Walch, old edition, vol. XX, 2214 f., §§ 47. 48); p. 322*. (Wider den Meuchler zu Dresden. Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2085, § 51); p. 382* (Interpretation of the 101st Ps. Walch, old edition, vol. V, 1244, §§ 124. 125); p. 555 (Responsibility of the imposed sedition of Hz. Georg. Jen. Ausg. VI, 6d., 2. Ausg. VI, 9d. Walch, old ed. vol. XIX, 2290, § 21); p. 574 (The small answer to Herz. Georgs nähestes Buch. Walch, old edition, vol. XIX, 2305, §§ 22. 23. 24); p. 578 (Preface to the writing: Der Barfüßer Mönche Eulenspiege) and Alcoran. Walch, old edition, vol. XIX, 2443, § 3); p. 582 (Die kleine Antwort auf Herz. Georgs nähestes Buch. Walch, old edition, vol. XIX, 2333, § 67); p. 622* (Wider den Meuchler zu Dresden. Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2068, §§ 14-25.); p. 678* (Interpretation on the 15th Cap. St. Johannis. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 392, § 133); p. 716 (Preface to the Confession of D. Rob. Barns. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 189*, § 6); p. 816 (Ueber das 15. Cap. des 1. Corintherbriefs. Walch, old edition, vol. VHI, 1287, § 203).

From the Hortulo animae printed at

Wittenberg 1546 by Georg Rhaw, 2 sections p. 62. 110.

From Dom. IV declamationum Witteber- gensium p. 224.

From another manuscript printed at Wittenberg. S, 696.

From a letter from Dietrich to Melanchthon. S. 315*.

From Melanchthon's funeral oration at Luther's funeral. S. 316.

From Winsheim's funeral oration at Melanchthon's funeral. S. 319.

From the preface of Erasmus Alber to the Franciscan Eulenspiegel. S. 578.

From St. Svevu's Book of Spiritual Pilgrimage. S. 263*.

From Antonius Otto's preface to Luther's Prayer Book 65. p. 415.

Frogs! äs Osiauäro. S. 428*.

C. Cruciger, Enarrat. Ps. Anno 46.

S. 617.

in a preface. S. 632.

G. Buchholzer, Predigt über das Ey. von der Himmelfahrt Mariä. p. 668; on the Ev. of Martha and Mary Luc. 10. p. 748 *.

G. Sabinus in lid. 13. metamorph. Ovidii. S. 693*.

From "a writing of the^ .nno 47.

S.788-

A note by D. Joachim Mörlin's comment on Cap. 7, § 139. p. 30.

No indication of where the sections are taken from: S. 23. 38. 47. 52. 66. 132. 137 . 152. 221. 239. 256*. 327. 332. 349. 377. 410. 425. 623*. 743*. 759. 807. These unaccounted pieces are mostly small ünd insignificant.

4 Instead of Aurifaber's 80 chapters, Stangwald, and also Selnecker, have 43 chapters and in these exactly the same material, only the just listed 100 new sections from other writings are missing in Aurifaber.

On the whole, Stangwald and also Selnecker have adopted Aurifaber's translation. He has almost everywhere the same wrong readings as Aurifaber. Therefore, not much can be drawn from his edition with respect to essential textual correction. However, it must be acknowledged with gratitude that Stangwald has made many real improvements to the text, but they seem to us to have been introduced more by good sound judgment than from manuscript sources. We have also made use of some of them.

Stangwald has often softened the coarseness of Aurifaber's edition.

Introduction. 29

The manuscript sources that Stangwald had at his disposal do not seem to us to have been of particular concern, although he mentions them already on the title of the first edition in 1571 and refers to them again in his preface of 1591. His "written table speeches" must, as we have to conclude from the text, which differs little from Aurifaber's, have been just as corrupt as those that Aurifaber, Rebenstock and the collector of the Hall manuscript had at their disposal. The many good improvements in detail may well come mainly from the "Notationes des Ehrwürdigen, Hochgelahrten Herrn Doctoris Joa- chimi Morlini, seligen, welche er in seinem Exemplar des ersten Drucks der Tischreden mit eigener Hand verzeichnet". Apart from Mörlin's one note on page 30 of our Stangwald edition, we find nothing else indicated as originating from him.

All in all, we consider the Stangwald edition or, what is the same, the Selnecker edition, to be the best of all editions published so far. That we have nevertheless not based our treatment on this, but on the Aurifaber edition, is due to the fact that Walch, and after him the Stuttgart-Leipzig edition, also Förstemann-Bindseil and the Erlangen edition, which have the widest distribution, and after which the most citations are made, have followed the Aurifaber arrangement. 1)

In 1591 a new edition appeared. As we can see from the preface, Stangwald was responsible for this edition, which was published under the title: "Colloquia, Oder, Christliche, nützliche Tischreden Doctoris Martini Lutheri, von den Heuptartickeln Christlicher Lehre, vnd andere Christlichen vnd nützlichen Sachen, welche er in Collationen, am Tisch vnd sonst gegen Gelegen Leute, gegen seine getrewen Mitgehülffen, auch gegen seine Tischgenoffen, frembden Gesten, vnd andere bekümmerten vnd angefochtenen Personen geführtet. First, by M. Joannem Aurifabrum, Vinariensem, Anno

1. Since only the Aurifaber edition by Walch is provided with paragraph numbers, it alone can be cited exactly.

1566. put into print 2c. Now (as can be seen from the following preface) brought into proper order, according to the written table speeches, and according to the notationibus of several godly theologians, faithfully corrected, with

The following is a summary of the many memorable table speeches and sayings of Luther, so that all Christians can use them usefully and blessedly, and find in them all kinds of teaching, instruction, comfort, prophecy, revelation, and warning. Joan 6: Samlet the remaining fragments, so that nothing gets lost. Printed at Jhena, by Tobiam Steinmann, in the year M. D. Xcj." Folio. This is followed by Aurifaber's preface to the first edition of 1566, which we have partially translated into German in our discussion of Cordatus' diary, 2) and which here bears the title: "Protestatio R. Patris D. Martini Lutheri etc.". Martini Lutheri etc." Below this is a passage from a Latin letter of Luther, entitled: "Lutherus in Epistola quadam", in which he complains bitterly about the printing of two private letters. Then follow 2 pages in German: "Judicia und Testimonia etlicher Gottseliger Theologen von den Colloquiis und Tischreden D. Lutheri. 3) D. Vrbanus Rhegius, in a missive to a good friend, Anno 1530." After that, a 2 page long Latin poem: De viro Sancto Martino Luthero, etc.. Joannis Stigelii. On the following 4 pages the German translation of this poem by M. Johannem Stigelium. The following page is taken up by another Latin poem: "Cantio vera et pia, de Martino Luthero** etc.". ,,Urbano Rhegio autore" etc. On the two following pages is the "Synopsis et methodus totius operis colloquiorum Lutheri. Order of the Chapters of the Table Talks." 4) Then follow the Tischreden on 556-1/2 leaves. From 556 d on the already be-

2. It is complete in Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XI, p. 1859.
3. These judgments are about Luther's speeches, not about the "work of the table speeches". *
4. Everything mentioned so far is also found before the edition of 1700, except for the poem by Urbanus Rbssius and the register, which we mention here in order not to have to count it again in that edition.

30 Introduction.

The appendix. At the end the words: "Printed at Jehna, by Tobiam Steinmann. In the year. M. D. X. C j." The improvement of this edition will probably consist mainly in the use of the already mentioned annotations of D. Joachim Mörlin; the increase will have been made by the pieces of Mathesius, from Luther's writings 2c.

This edition of 1591 was printed several times later. Once at Jena in 1603 in folio, printed by Tobias Steinmann; another time at Leipzig in 1621, quite similar to the earlier edition, in the publishing house of Bartholomäus Voigt. In the latter edition, however, it says on the last leaf: "printed in Jena by Tobias Steinmann in 1603". Either a new title was printed for the old copies that were still available or, which seems more plausible, as Walch also assumes, this was inserted again by mistake by the printers when printing the earlier edition. 1)

All of Stangwald's editions mentioned so far, like Selnecker's editions, have the 43 chapters of the work under 9 main headings: Scriptura, Verbum Dei. Deus. Creatura. Homo et Hominis cum Deo êïéíùíßá*.* Ecclesia. Oeconomia. Schola. Politia. Consummatio seu novissima mundi dies. In the following editions, however, these main headings are omitted and the 43 title headings are no longer listed in a special index, but are only distributed throughout the sections of the work.

Another edition is the one from 1700 in folio, published by Andreas Zeidler in Leipzig, which we have used in our work. In front is an engraving by Daucher, on which Luther is depicted with Melanchthon, Cruciger, Jonas, Paul Eber, Veit Dietrich, Joh. Bugenhagen and Joh. Förster sitting at the table. On the next sheet, the main title is: "Colloquia or Table Talks and Other Christian Very Edifying Talks by the Highly Enlightened Man of God D. Martin Luther, Which He Gave at Collations, and Else

1. The Erlangen edition has vol. 87, p. XV, the news: ^Another edition of 1669, frkf. in fol. shows.

He has led his faithful companions, table companions, and other afflicted and challenged people. Previously, from godly and learned men, notes and collectaneis, in order of the most noble articles of faith faithfully compiled, before now, however, after diligent translation and counterpart of some of the best editions in this previously required and convenient form, which at the same time attached strange and remarkable prophecies Mr. D. M. Lutheri! from his other writings now and then previously extracted. With the Royal Majesty in Poland and the Electorate of Saxony. Durchl. zu Sachsen allergnädigsten Special Privilegio. Leipzig, Printed and published by Andreas Zeidlern, Anno MDCC."

The prefaces of this edition have already been reported in the edition of 1591. Then follow the table speeches together with an appendix of 868 two-column pages. This is followed by the prophecies of Mag. Georg Walther, preacher at Halle in Saxony, taken from the Frankfurt edition of 1569, which fill 23 pages. Finally, an alphabetical index of 11 leaves follows. With the exception of Stangwald's preface, the entire edition is printed in split columns. The page number is often wrong, namely from the 795th page by 100 too large! which Förstemann-Bindseil and the Erlangen edition have overlooked. Otherwise, the printing is very correct.

This edition is followed by the folio edition, which was published and edited in 1723 in Dresden and Leipzig by Johann Christoph Zimmermann and Johann Nicolaus Gerlach. Walch remarks in his preface about it: "the reason why I bring these two newest editions here is this, because in the reprinting of the same, one followed Stangwald's edition in everything: no change was made, nothing was omitted, nothing was added, except, as intended, the prophecies.

o. The Selnecker edition.

Three editions of the Table Talks bear the name of Nicolaus Selnecker, born Dec. 6, 1530, at Hersbruck in Franconia. He studied in Wittenberg. In 1557

Introduction. 31

He was court preacher in Dresden, professor of theology in Jena in 1565, professor of theology in Leipzig in 1568, court preacher and general superintendent in Wolfenbüttel in 1570. In 1574 he went back to Leipzig and again took over the theological professorship he had held before; in 1576 he also assumed the office of superintendent there. When in 1589, at the instigation of those secretly associated with Calvin, he was deprived of these offices, he initially went to Halle and later to Magdeburg, but the following year, in 1590, he came to Hildesheim as superintendent, and from there again to Leipzig in 1592, where he died soon after his arrival. 1)

This famous theologian published soon after Aurifaber's death (1576), in 1577 at Leipzig an edition of the Table Talks, in folio, which is only a reprint of the so-called first Stangwald's 2) edition published in 1571 at Frankfurt. Selnecker notes in his preface, Leipzig in February 1577, only this, that "now des Tewren Mans, Doctoris Mart. Lutheri Gottseligen, our German prophet's Tischreden, allhie zu Leipzig, nicht auf grosse vrsachen, fleißiger und förmlicher, denn anderswo zuvor geschehen, gedruckt worden, wie dieselbigen Er Johannes Aurifaber seliger, trewlich colligirt, vnd vns mitgetheilet hat". This preface is signed Nicolaus Selneccerus D., pastor of Leipzig. It is dedicated "to the Most Illustrious, Highborn Prince and Lord, Mr. Ludwigen Pfaltzgraffen bey Reyn, of the H. Roman Empire Ertz Truchses vnd Churfürsten, Hertzogen in Bayern 2c." Then follows Aurifaber's first preface of 1566, but in this edition, as in the Frankfurt edition of 1571, erroneously dated 1569. This is followed by: "Historica oratio Nicolai Sel-.

1. About Selnecker's life and writings cf. Georg Heinrich Götz: Oisssrtutiones äs Moolno 8s1n6666ro; Joh. Andr. Gleich unnÄl68 666l68ia8t. I, p. 89; Zedlers Universal-Lexicon vol. 36, p. 1715 ff. The latter deviates from Walch, Vorrede, p. 12, Note in that he places his birth in the year 1532, the professorship in Jena in the year 1561, the first return to Leipzig in the year 1577.
2. One remembers that this edition of 1571 does not mention the name of the editor, and that it is attached to Stangwald solely on what the latter says in his preface of 1591.

necceri vom Leben und Wandel des ehrwürdigen Herrn und theuren Mannes GOttes v. M. Luthers", which Stangwald mentions in his preface in 1591 in a disapproving manner. Selnecker had already had this description of his life specially printed in octavo in Leipzig in 1576. In his first edition of the Tischreden, it fills 26½ unfoliated leaves. Then follows a "register of the chapters as they follow one another". These are the same 43 chapters as in the Frankfurt edition of 1571, with the same 9 main Latin headings. This is followed by 3 pages of "Kurzes Register der fuernembsten Materien nach Ordnung des Alphabets", which is followed on 2 pages by a "Judex biblicus". Then follows the work itself on 505 foliated leaves. On sheet 505 b begins the "Appendix. Or Appendix of several matters, so D. M. Luther erkleret" 2c., which occupies 23½ not numbered leaves. This is followed by 5 leaves "Register der deutschen auslegung D. Lutheri, vber die Bücher der Bibel, Gerichtet auff die Wittenbergischen, Jenischen und Eißlebischen Tomos" with a prefatory note "Dem Christlichen Leser Nicolaus Selnecceruss". "Datum Leipzig 1577." On the last leaf, "Gedruckt zu Leipzig, durch Jacob Berwalds Erben, Anno M.D.LXXVII." The title of this edition is as follows: "Colloquia. Or Christliche Nützliche Tischreden Doctoris Martini Lutheri, so er in vielen Jaren, gegen Gelehrten Leute, und frembden Gesten und seinen Tischgenossen, nach den Hauptstücken unserer Christlichen Lehre, gehalten,: First by Mr. M. Johannem Aurisabrum blessed, diligently compiled, and put into print. Now they have been brought into a new order, and prepared in such a way that they are very necessary, useful, and comforting for all Christians to read, especially in these miserable last times. Together with a new preface, and a short description of the life and life of Doctor Luther, and a very useful register at the end of this book, all the books and chapters of the Divine, Holy Scripture, where, and when the same Doctor Lutherus has interpreted, and explained, and in which Tomis such interpretation can be found.

3. The title of the 1581 edition is quite similar to this one.

32 Introduction.

Quae semel edocuit divina mente Lutherus, Hacc retinet verae grex > pietatis amans. Nicolaus Selneccerus. D.

John 6: "Samlet the necessary fragments, so that nothing perishes. Leipzig M. D. LXXVII. 1. 2. 3. 6." 1)

New editions appeared in 1580 and 1581. The edition of 1577 was in the hands of the editor of the Erlangen edition, the one of 1580 was used by Walch, the one of 1581 by Förstemann and Bindseil. This last edition was unknown to Walch. According to the description of the 1581 edition by FörstemannBindseil, it is quite similar to the first one of 1577.

About the Selnecker edition Walch says, Preface p. 13: "In this edition itself, the same order has been retained that Stangwald used in his edition, and the latter has been reprinted almost in its entirety, except that here and there one or the other difference is apparent; However, since Stangwald's edition came to light before Selnecker's, and since in the latter a different arrangement was first made than one finds in Aurifaber's, then, if one wants to show the difference between such editions, If one wants to show the difference between such editions, one should not contrast both Selnecker's, as is generally done, and Stangwald's with Aurifaber's, whether the latter, or Selnecker's, can to a certain extent also be considered a special one, and where one does this, three different editions can be noted."

The editor of the Erlangen edition has had the oldest editions of Stangwald's and Selnecker's editions in his hands, and makes the following judgment about the mutual relationship of these two editions to each other.The editor of Erlangen has had his hands on the oldest editions of the Stangwald and Selnecker editions and makes the following judgment about the mutual relationship of these two editions to each other: 2) "About the relationship of the Selnecker edition to the Stangwald edition, which have a great similarity with each other, one was so far in uncertainty and even Bindseil was not able to solve the question of whether Selnecker followed Stangwald or Stangwald followed Selnecker in the arrangement of the material, because the first Stangwald edition of 1571 and the first Selnecker edition of 1577 were lost to him. We were so

1. What these numbers mean is unknown to us. They are also found in the 1581 edition.
2. Erl. Ed. vol. 57, p. XVIII f.

fortunate to obtain both editions, and have found that the Jnhalts-Verzeichniss of Selnecker's first edition of 1577 agrees so literally and literally with that of Stangwald's of 1571 that only the following two variants had to be applied. Namely, in the heading of chapter 28, the word "Co- nuenten" is printed in Latin letters in Stangwald's edition, and in German letters ("Conuenten") in Selnecker's edition, and in the heading of chapter 33, the word "D." is printed in Stangwald's edition, but in Selnecker's edition it is "Doct. printed. This is the whole difference in the table of contents. The "Kurze Register der fürnehmsten Materien", which follows, consists in both editions of 187 identical headings, and in the "Index bibli- cus" Stangwald has only 4 more biblical passages than Selnecker, everything else is the same. The sequence of the material and individual sections has been the same in both editions everywhere we have looked up and compared them, except that Selnecker has often omitted headings of the paragraphs in Stangwald's work, thus combining several smaller sections into one larger one and sometimes skipping a section that he may have placed elsewhere. Selnecker has also taken the marginal glosses verbatim from Stangwald and even in the appendix no other deviation of both editions from each other is noticeable, except that Selnecker has omitted several Latin verses and citations, which are found in Stangwald, and added at the end the aforementioned register of 4½ sheets. Yes, even Stangwald's explanatory notes in small print, in which he speaks of himself in the first person, are included verbatim in Selnecker's edition, as for example in "Melanchthon's Disputation with Luther on Justification" and in the "Book of the Birth of the Desolate Abomination of the Antichrist". We can therefore consider Selnecker's edition to be nothing more than a reprint of Stangwald's Redaction, as Stangwald himself correctly called it in the preface to his new edition of 1591, and we must agree with Walch when he asserts that one should not oppose Aurifaber's Redaction with Selnecker's, but only with Stangwald's.

Introduction. 33

Both editions, Stangwald's and Selnecker's, have not been distinguished from each other even by learned, famous theologians; thus Walch mentions in his preface p. 14, 2nd column: "When the famous Mr. Johann Albr. Fabricius 1)

various editions of the Tischreden, so he also remembers two that came out in Leipzig, namely 1581 and 1621 jn Fol. and immediately adds: in ordinem redacta per D. Nicolaum Selneccerum, qui majorem etiam delectum adhibuit, adjecta vita Lutheri et appendice argumentorum quorumdam Christiane et utiliter ab eo explicatorum et admonitione de dictis quibusdam, quae Lutheri esse, non videnturr, which message can be improved and expanded in one and the other. For the edition that came to light in Leipzig in 1621 is not Selnecker's, but a new edition of the one that Stangwald was in charge of. In this edition, there is no information about Luther's life, and as far as the appendix is concerned, it is not only attached to the Selnecker edition, but also to other editions. On the same page, Walch states that the famous Leipzig theologian Adam Rechenberg, in his schediasmate historico de beati Lutheri colloquiis, declares the editions of 1581 and 1621 to be the best, mentions Selnecker's name in the former, but not Stangwald's name in the latter, nor that it had been printed several times before. Likewise, Johann Gottlieb Möller makes the same judgment about the 1581 edition, with Selnecker's name, but does not mention Stangwald's editions in his dissertation: de auctoritate scripti sub titulo: Lutheri colloquiorum mensalium in Germanico, Anglico et latino idiomate editi. Rostock. 1693. p. 6.

Before the year 1591, Stangwald's name did not come to light, and only in the preface to the edition of that year, twenty years after the first edition of 1571, one year before Selnecker's death, does he for the first time refer to the edition of 1571 as his own. In contrast, in the three intervening. Sel-

1. In the eentikoliop . 302.

The name of the editor is mentioned in each of Aurifaber's editions, 1577, 1580 and 1581. However, this was done only one year after Aurifaber's death, with Selnecker's remark that he published Aurifaber's collection, which he "has communicated to us".

We cannot help but notice that it is very striking to us that Selnecker, one of the most famous Lutheran theologians, should have reprinted the work of Stangwald, a candidate of theology. Conversely, it would be much easier for us to understand. In our opinion, we are dealing here not with two, but only with one redaction of the Tischreden. One edition is as similar to the other as one egg to the other. Everything we have written about Stangwald's edition applies equally to Selnecker's edition.

Stangwald says in his preface of 1591: "But because the copies had all been sold, so that none could be obtained, I took the copy again at the suggestion of good friends and with the knowledge and approval of the Honorable Consistorii of Weymar" 2c. The first edition, differing in order from Aurifaber, appeared in 1571, without a name. The following three editions 1577, 1580, 1581 are, according to all testimonies, only a reprint of the edition of 1571, under Selnecker's name, and the edition of 1591 quite similar to the previous ones, except for Selnecker's preface, Selnecker's life of Luther and the pieces behind the appendix. From this we conclude that Stangwald's and Selnecker's editions are not two different editions, but only different imprints of the One Edition of 1571. The matter may perhaps lie like this: During Aurifaber's lifetime, Selnecker did not want to give his name to the altered Aurisaber edition, but put Stangwald in front. As soon as Aurifaber is dead, he appears in the following year, 1577, with his name. Fourteen years later, at Selnecker's advanced age, when he probably no longer wanted to deal with the publication of the Tischreden, Stangwald reappeared and gave his name in 1591,

34 Introduction.

A year before Selnecker's death, for the first time and also claims the edition of 1571 as his own. Whether the matter is one way or the other, factually it is certain that we are dealing with only one, not two different editions. Our assumption is also confirmed by the fact that Stangwald says: "Because all copies have been distributed, so that none more have been available", and he himself has not made the attempt to a new edition in the 20 years from 1571 to 1591. Three editions of Selnecker's edition were completely sold out during this time. Stangwald's first edition of 1571 will hardly have lasted that long. The version of the words in our edition of 1700: "und nachmals zu Leipzig etliche Mal gedruckt worden", seems to us to be much more appropriate to the circumstances than the one we find in the edition of 1591: "etliche mal nach gedruckt worden". These last words probably only mean "reprinted" because the supply was exhausted. Thus, the old famous theologians may be completely right in that they not only do not distinguish between Stangwald's and Selnecker's editions, but even, like Rechenberg and Fabricius, refer to the reprints of the 1591 edition, e.g., the print of 1621, as Selnecker's editions.

For the sake of an easier overview, we give here a compilation of all known editions of the German Tischreden published before Walch.

Aurifaber issues:

1566. Eisleben. Urban Gaub isch.

1567 ^ct*av Frankfurt. No indication of the printer. 1568. Frankfurt. Simon Hüter.

1569. Frankfurt. No indication of the printer. Appendix Finck's. Prophecies of Walther.
1570. Eisleben. Urban Gaubisch.
1571. Eisleben. Urban Gaubisch. After Aurifaber's death.

Stangwald-Selnecker editions with modified order and appendix:

Without name: 1571. Frankfurt. Thos. Rebart's heirs. Selnecker: 1577. Leipzig. Jacob Berwaldt's heirs.

" 1581 " ""

Stangwald: 1591. Jena. Tobias Steinmann. "

Stangwald: 1603. Jena. Tobias Steinmann.

" 1621. Leipzig. Bartholomäus Voigt.

? 1669. ? ?

Stangwald: 1700. Leipzig. Andreas Zeidler.

"1723. Dresdenand Leipzig. Joh. Christoph

Zimmermann and Joh. Nie. Gerlach.

All these editions, with the exception of the one from 1567, have folio format. After them, until our days, only four editions have appeared, all of them reprints of Aurifaber's edition, namely: 1. the edition by Walch, reprinted from the edition of 1568; 2. the Stuttgart-Leipzig edition, reprinted from Walch; 3. the Förstemann-Bindseil edition, reprinted from Aurifaber's first edition of 1566, and 4. the Erlangen edition, reprinted with minor changes by Förstemann-Bindseil.

d. Walch's edition.

For the first time in a complete edition of Luther's works, Walch's Table Talks are included. Walch gives the following information in the preface, p. 15, § 11, as to why they were not previously included in the collections: "They were not included in the collections of his complete writings, which could not have been the case, since all of them, with the exception of the Leipzig one, had been written and produced before they saw the light of day for the first time. Although the Wittenberg, Jenische and Eislebische parts were subsequently reprinted, they were not increased, and if this had been done, one might have had misgivings about including the said Tischreden. This is probably at least the reason why they were omitted from the Leipzig collection. The work is not regarded by all in the same way. Some think that it is more important to suppress it than to spread it by new imprints and to give the enemies even more opportunity for all kinds of slander against the blessed Luther's person and teachings". But what motivated him to include the Tischreden in the collection of Luther's writings, he writes the following in the last two paragraphs of his preface: "What finally prompted the present printing of Luther's Tischreden?

Introduction. 35

As far as this is concerned, I cannot help but be concerned that various people considered it questionable and thought it would be more advisable not to include such table speeches in this new collection of Luther's complete writings. For in this way, the work would not only be spread out even more, but it would also be given a reputation, as it were, as if it belonged to the true writings of Luther, since until now, there had been misgivings about assigning such a place to him. I also cannot deny that I myself was of this opinion, and if it had gone according to the same, then these table speeches would have been omitted. But since the work has already become more than too well known through the many editions and is in so many hands, since it cannot be denied to the blessed Luther, and since much good can be found in it, since enemies gain nothing against Luther and his teachings through what is offensive and questionable, as has been sufficiently demonstrated in the present preface, as well as previously by others: Indeed, since for this very reason, if it were now to be suppressed as it were, they would be likely to give rise to blasphemies, and since very many have soon expressly requested that they not be omitted from this collection, the publisher has been moved by this to undertake this new printing, and has believed that if it were omitted, the collection of Luther's writings would not be complete, in which I do not wish to oppose him. However, one does not take more part in it than that these table speeches are presented as they first came to light. They are considered no more than an appendix to Luther's writings and have therefore been placed in the last part of this collection.

"The printing itself was not done according to the Stangwaldian or Selneckerian editions, but according to the Aurifabrian editions. This has been done for the following reasons: because in this collection of Luther's writings, one promised to deliver everything correctly according to the first editions; because the three editions differ noticeably from one another, and it would not have been practical to show such a difference at all times.

The reason for this is that much of what is subsequently included in these Table Talks is already found in other writings that are in this collection and would therefore have had to be included twice. In particular, the edition of 1568 has been used for the reprint, which is consistent with the first editions of 1566 and 1567. The content of each chapter has been placed in front of it, as was done previously with the other writings. The larger Latin passages have been translated into German, while the smaller ones have remained. The many errors found in the first editions have been improved. Some have thought that it would have been good if one had made notes about the oerter, in which something questionable and offensive occurred; however, one has found reservations about this, and thought that Luther had already been saved enough because of these table speeches.

The title of this edition is: "D. Martin Luthers sowohl in Deutscher als Lateinischer Sprache verfertigte und aus der letzern in die erstere übersetzte Sämmtliche Schriften. Zwey und zwanzigster Theil, welcher die Colloquia oder Tischreden, so von Johann Aurifaber mit Fleiß zusammengetragen, und nach den Hauptstücken der Christlichen Lehre und Glaubens verfasset worden worden, enthält; Herausgegeben von Johann Georg Walch, der heiligen Schrift D. und Prof. Publ. Ordin. at the University of Jena, as well as Hochfürstl. Sächs. u. Brandenb. Onolzb. Church and Consistorial Council. Halle in Magdeburg. Printed and published by Joh. Justinus Gebauer. 1743." Quarto.

This edition has three prefaces. 1) An excellent, instructive preface by Walch of March 16, 1743, pp. 2-39, from which we have taken a great deal into our preface. Then follows the entire preface or attribution of Aurifaber's first edition of 1566, pp. 40-54, from which we have already included what is necessary. Finally, Aurifaber's preface to the edition of 1568, p. 54 f., which we have printed in its entirety above. On p. 56 is the "Verzeichniß der Hauptstücke" (index of the main parts).

1. As far as the prefaces go, not the individual columns, but the whole pages are numbered.

36 Introduction.

or the 80 chapters contained in the Table Talks. Then follow the Table Talks themselves with appendices on 2407 colums. At the end, there is a small register of the "Sayings of the Holy Scriptures, so in the Table Talks usefully explained and interpreted", on Col. 2408-2413, which we have also retained.

We must mention one printing error here, namely that in Cap. 74 the paragraphs from 12-20 are counted incorrectly. We have corrected this in such a way that we have designated the second § 12 as § 12a, because this incorrect counting has passed over into all editions after Walch's. Walch was the first to assign a number to each of the 80 main parts or chapters and to designate the subsections of each chapter with paragraph numbers. At the beginning of each chapter, the headings of the paragraphs of this chapter are then compiled, so that the order of the same and the content can be easily surveyed. Walch also first introduced the chapter and verse numbering of the biblical passages, which later editions have made full use of without mentioning Walch. Walch's spelling is modernized.

e. The Stuttgart-Leipzig edition.

As far as we know, a new edition of the Table Talks did not appear until 1836 under the title: "D. Martin Luthers sinnreiche Tischreden. Written according to the main pieces of Christian doctrine. A new, well-written edition. 2 volumes. Stuttgart and Leipzig, published by L. F. Rieger and Comp. in 1836. Volume I contains the first 23 chapters on 631 pages, Volume II the remaining 57 chapters, whose counting starts again at one, plus appendix on 760 pages. Everything is arranged in the same way as in Walch's edition. Here, too, the language has been changed according to the times without affecting the content.

f. The Förstemann - Bindseil edition.

The title of this critical edition is: "D. Martin Luthers Tischreden oder Colloquien, so er in vielen Jahren gegen gelahrten

The book is a compilation of the main points of our Christian doctrine, which is also given to foreign guests and his table companions. After Aurifaber's first edition with careful comparison of both Stangwald's and Selnecker's redaction edited by Karl Eduard Förstemann, Doctor of Theology and Philosophy" 2c. "and Heinrich Ernst Bindseil, Doctor of Philosophy" 2c. Abtheilung I-IV in 4 volumes. Gr. Octav. In the edition we have, the place and year of printing are affixed with a note that reads: Evangelische Buchhandlung in Berlin (Otto Kritz). We therefore take the following information from the Erlangen edition: "Abth. 1-3. Leipzig 1844-1846. Abth. 4. Berlin 1848. Gebauersche Buchhandlung." The first three volumes were edited by Förstemann, who prefaced the first volume with a 4-page preface. After his death, Bindseil continued the work in the 4th volume, which he provided with a preface of little over one page and an introduction of CXX pages. From page LIX to p. CXX is an exposition on the "plan of this new critical edition of the Tischreden". Each volume is provided with an index of the half of the chapters printed in the volume in the same manner as Walch did before each individual chapter. The first volume with indexes comprises 435 pages; vol. II 460 pages; vol. Ill 450 pages; vol. IV 750 pages. As the last leaf of each volume indicates, the first three volumes are printed by B. G. Teubner in Leipzig, the fourth volume by Ed. Heynemann in Halle. The main index of the 80 chapters of the Tischreden is found at the end of the fourth volume.

Because the Erlangen edition offers only a review of this edition, we include its review here and let its external description precede for the sake of discussion.

g. The Erlangen Edition.

This critical edition of the Tischreden forms the 57th-62nd volume of the Erlanger Ausgabe von D. M. Luthers sämmtlichen Werken. The title is: "D. Martin Luthers vermischte deutsche Schriften. After the oldest editions critically and historically edited by D. Johann Kon-.

Introduction. 37

rad Jrmischer, k. second pastor at the Neustadtkirche and second university librarian at Erlangen. II Table Talks. Vol. 1-6. Frankfurt a. M. and Erlangen. Published by Heyder and Zimmer. 1854." Octav. With a preface by Jrmischer of XXXVII pages. In this preface, Jrmischer justifies himself because of the great similarity of his edition with that of Förstemann-Bindseil and gives p. XXXIV of the preface as the reason for it: Förstemann and Bindseil "applied a formal system of rules, where we merely continued to follow our simple general principles in the usual manner. That, therefore, the independence of our edition cannot be harmed by its similarity to that of Förstemann is, I hope, clear. A little earlier he says that he also had to "correct the biblical passages" and p. XXXV that he also compared Walch and Stangwald.

Now we can return to the consideration of the Förstemann-Bindseil edition.

In this edition, it is to be acknowledged that the comparison of Stangwald's and Selnecker's editions has really been done, which requires a laborious, lengthy work of which no one has a concept who has never done such things himself; it is to be regretted, however, that Förstemann and Bindseil have not made use of the good variants in these editions to improve Aurifaber's text from them.

In view of the difficulty already mentioned in finding a piece of Aurifaber's edition in Stangwald's or Selnecker's, it is not surprising that Förstemann and Bindseil have not provided proof for a fairly large number of them.

where they are to be found in these editions. It is, however, surprising that the Erlangen edition has also not found one piece of those which are missing in Förstemann-Bindfeil - but which are nevertheless all in the Stangwald edition. From this, we must conclude that the editor of the Erlangen edition did not compare the Stangwald edition at all, but printed it from Förstemann-Bindseil. Such passages are the following: 1)

+-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | Table speeches | stands by^ | l Pole | | | | | forest | | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | Cap. 63, § 12/ | | i. | 224. | | | | Page | | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 60, § 15 | ffff | | 446*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 7, § 79 | e/ff | ff | 10*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 9, § 62 | ,, " | ff | 24. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 3, § 90 | | ,f | 183. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 3, § 97 | | ff | 111. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 4, § 82 | | | l771. | | | | | | | | | | .604*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 2, § 36 | ,, ff | f, | 223*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 7, § 123 | ffff | ff | 86. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 7, § 169 | f, ,, | ,, | 330. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 7, § 171 | ,f, f | * " | 603*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 26, § 28 | ffff | ,, | 811*. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 15, § 47 | ffff | ,, | 776. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 43, § 171 | ffff | ff | 589. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 59, § 6 | " (Erl. 62, | | | | | 132^para. | | | | | 2.) | | | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | Cap. 7, § 115 | ffff | Page | 827. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 43, § 4 | ffff | ff | 376* | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 43, § 150 | | | 676. | | | | | | | | | | '798. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 47, § 15 | | " 1 | 798*. | | | | | | | | | | 799. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+ | " 48, § 28 | f, ,f | ,, | 847. | +-----------------------+---------------+---------+-------------------+

This proof is still strengthened by the fact that the Erlangen edition has reprinted all proofs, which Förstemann and Bindseil have indicated wrongly, likewise. This has taken place, for example, in the following places:

+-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | Table | . | 57 is | 4 | tatt8t. 460*. (Cf. the duplicate | | speeches | 2 | wrong 8t. | 0 | Cap. 34, 8 6.) " " 78*. (" " | | Cap | , | | 6 | "" 2, 8114.) | | | 8 | 87 " | | | | | | "" | * | | | | 4 | | s | | | | , | | | | | | 8 | | 7 | | | | | | 4 | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 4 | 87 ,, | 7 | " 78*, p.74. (Same omission.) | | | , | "" | 4 | | | | 8 | | | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 1 | 16 " " | 5 | " 555. (Selnecker twice; St. | | | 7 | 8. | 5 | omitted.) | | | , | | 5 | | | | 8 | | | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 1 | 2 " " | 1 | 191* | | | 9 | 8t. | 8 | | | | , | | 1 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 1 | 12 " " | 1 | " 194*'. | | | 9 | | 9 | | | | , | | 4 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 1 | 13 " " | 1 | " 8. 184*. | | | 9 | 8t. | 8 | | | | , | | 4 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 2 | 14 " " | 1 | " 8t. 558*. | | | 1 | " | 5 | | | | , | | 8 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | | 2 | | 3 | " " 346*. | | | 7 | | 6 | | | | , | | 4 | | | | 8 | | | | | | 1 | | * | | | | 3 | | | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | ,, | 3 | 21 " " | 3 | " " 328*. | | | 7 | " | 2 | | | | , | | 3 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | | 3 | 24 | 3 | " " 329. | | | 7 | | 9 | | | | , | | 2 | | | | 8 | | | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | | 3 | 33 " " | 3 | " " 335*. | | | 7 | " | 6 | | | | , | | 5 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | /, | 3 | 61 " " | 2 | " " 323*. | | | 7 | " | 2 | | | | , | | 3 | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | * | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+ | | 3 | | 3 | " " 345* | | | 7 | | 8 | | | | , | | 5 | | | | 8 | | | | | | 1 | | * | | | | 2 | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | +-----------+---+-----------+---+------------------------------------+

1. We quote from Stangwald's edition of 1700.

38 Introduction.

In addition to the proofs provided by FörstemannBindseil from Stangwald's edition of 1603 and Selnecker's edition of 1581, the Erlangen edition has added the deviating leaf numbers of the editions of 1591 and 1577. This offered no difficulty in the otherwise quite identical editions, but was a purely mechanical work.

Furthermore, Förstemann and Bindseil bring everything that deviates in Walch from the first Aurifaber edition, continuously through the entire work, as variants. This seems to us to be quite unjustified and it seems to us that it would have been better to leave these deviations completely unconsidered, because Walch did not want to deliver anything new, not even an improved edition, but only an improved edition.

print the edition of 1568. It is not customary to make the printing errors the subject of continuous variants and marginal notes. The variants could only concern carelessness, misprints and accidental small improvements. Nevertheless, Förstemann and Bindseil have recorded all the variants found in Walch. The complete comparison of Walch had to serve to insert the biblical passages from Walch, which was also done in such a way that all of Walch's printing errors, with the exception of six, have been transferred to the Förstemann-Bindseil edition. The Erlangen edition has faithfully reprinted all the printing errors from the Förstemann-Bindseil edition. These are the following:

1. Deficient Letter.

Introduction. 39

+----------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------+ | > Job 2, | instead of | Walch XXII, | > F.-B. | Erl. ed. 60, | | > 11. | Job 3:11. | 1218. | > Ill, | 87. | | > Job | | | > 105th " | | | > 39, | " Job | " 1218. | > 111th, | "" 60, 87. | | > 37. | 42:3. | | > 106th " | | | > | | "" 1240. | > 111th, | "" 60, | | > Ex. 4, | " 2Mos. 4, | | > 123rd " | 111. | | > 24. | 25. | ,,,,1323. | > 111th, | | | > Ps. 2, | | | > 186th " | "" 60, | | > 4. 5. | " Ps. 2, | "" 1333. | > III, | 195. | | > 8. | 4.5. 9. | | > 194th " | | | > | | "" 1566. | > 111th, | " , " 60, | | ITHess. | " 2 Thess. | | > 372nd " | 206. | | | | "" 1607. | > 111th, | | | Rom. 10, | " Rom. 16, | | > 404th " | "" 61, 44. | | 2. | 18. | "" 1668. | > IVth, | | | | | | > 24th " | "" 61, 87. | | > Hohel. | " Prov. 9, | "" 1952. | > IVth, | | | > 5, 1. | 5. | | > 277th " | " (61, 153. | | > Ezech. | | "" 1961. | > IVth, | Ez. 16.] | | > 16, | "Ezek. 16, | | > 286th " | | | > 52. | 51. | "" 193. | > I, 154th | "" 61, | | > apost. | | | > " IIth, | 442. | | > 7, 59. | "Apost. 7, | "" 732. | > 170th " | | | > | 58. | | > IVth, | "" 62, 6. | | > 1 Cor. | | "" 2094. | > 417th. | | | > 15, | " I Cor. | | | "" 57, | | > 15. | 15, 50. | "" 813. | 11, 235. " | 200. | | > Psalm | | | IV, 319. | | | > 104, | " Psalm | "" 1998. | | "" 58, | | > 6. | 104:9. | | | 369. | | | | | | | | 2 Chron. | " 2 Kings. | | | "" 62, | | | (Sam.) | | | 146. | | > Isa. | | | | | | > 6, 5. | " Isa. 6, | | | "" 59, 9. | | > Psalm | 1. | | | | | > 148. | | | | " 62, 44. | | > Ebr. | " Psalm | | | | | > 12, 4. | 145. | | | | | | | | | | | | " Ebr. 13, | | | | | | 4. | | | | +----------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------+

Lauterbach made this last mistake and it runs through all the issues.

It follows from the foregoing that Forste mann-Bindseil and the Erlangen edition do not look up the biblical passages.

but reprinted from Walch.

The Förstemann-Bindseil edition improved the following six printing errors in Walch; the Erlanger reprinted these six improvements:

+---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | I | | | W | | | F.-B. I | Erl. ed. | | n | | | al | | | V, 500. | 62, 239. | | c | | | ch | | | | | | o | | | X | | | | | | r | | | XI | | | | | | r | | | I, | | | | | | e | | | 2 | | | | | | c | | | 18 | | | | | | t | | | 4. | | | | | | : | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | P | | | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | , | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | C | | | | | | | | | o | | | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | | | c | | | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | | | : | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | P | | | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | | | t | | | | | | | | | r | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | , | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | * | Matth. 8, | Matth. | | | 9 | " II, | "" 59, | | * | 15. " | 18, 15. | | | 57 | 351. | 161. | | , | | | | | . | | | | , | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | | Jer. 9:22. | Jer. 9, | | | 4 | " I, | "" 58, | | | " | 24. | | | 49 | 358. | 73. | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | | | "" 60, | | | | | | | | | 84. | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | | Act. 5, 24. | Act. 24, | | | 12 | " 111, | | | | | 5. | | | 15 | 103. | | | | | | | | . | | | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | * | Matth. 5, | Matth. | | | 7 | " II, | "" 58, | | * | 9. | 15, 9. | | | 66 | 198. | 406. | | | | | | | . | | | | " | | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+ | * | 2Thefs. 1, | 1 Thess. | ** | | 15 | " 111, | "" 61, | | * | 13. " | 2, 13. | // | | 95 | 395. | 74. | | / | | | ** | | . | | | | , | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | +---+-------------+----------+----+---+----+-----------+-------------+

A printing error in the biblical quotations is peculiar to the Förstemann-Bindseil edition; the Erlanger has reprinted it:

Joh. 5, 18. instead of Joh. 3, 18. F.-B. 111, 406. Erl. A. 61, 89.

From this follows: the Erlangen edition has direct from the Bible also not One

The book is not corrected in any place, but the few improvements from FörstemannBindseil are reprinted.

The following variants, mostly from Walch, are incorrectly given in Förstemann - Bindseil and also reprinted in the Erlangen edition:

--------- ---- --------------------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- -------- -------- ------------ F.-B. F.-B. Ill, Erl. ed. Var. 3 186. 60, 195. "one" in the Ausgg. instead of: once Walch XXII, 1323.

             1 pushes instead of:  **,,**            394.    " l, 313.          **,,**   58, 13.                  pushes                                                                        

             5 suppressed instead                    205.    " 1, 163.                   57, 212.                  of: suppressed                                                                

        ,,   2 beats it " beats            **,,**   394.    " I, 313. **,,**   **,,**   58, 13.                  it                                                                            

,, 1 X. 8t. u. IV. 459. " 1, 366. 58, 83. instead of: 8t.

,, ,, 2 real instead of: ,, 1643. " IV, 2. *** 61, 126. right //**

,, ,, 1 Will " will 539. " II, 12. 58, 167.

,, ,, 2 there is missing ,, ,, 898. " II, ,, ,, 59, 99. instead of: that is 304. missing

        ,,   3 such instead of:    **//**   **//**   1591.   " 111,    **/,**   **//**   61, 71st                  false                                            392.                         (Var.l.).   --------- ---- --------------------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- -------- -------- ------------

Accordingly, it will probably follow that the Erlangen edition did not compare Walch, but reprinted everything related to Walch from Förstemann-Bindseil.

The Förstemann-Bindseil edition has from Cap. 28 to 31 incl. inverted counting, both in the text and in the registers; for Cap. 27 is set twice, once correctly, the other time incorrectly above Cap. 28, and then continues in the wrong counting until Cap. 31. 31. the superscription

of Cap. 32 is then correct again. Quite the same in the Erlangen edition, in the text and in the registers. From this we would almost like to conclude that the Erlangen edition has not printed its text from the first Aurifaber edition, but from Förstemann-Bindseil. This assumption gains probability from the fact that the Erlangen edition vol. 58, 258, Cap. 11, § 14, Walch XLll, Col. 628, refers to Aurifaber's note as Förstemann's note.

40 ' Introduction.

Only one case has struck us in the Erlangen edition, where the same does not include an error of Förstemann-Bindseil, namely vol. 57, 105, note 5. The F.-B.'sche edition vol. I, 81, has noted note 4, in relation to Walch's translation from the 2nd Psalm: "IV. und die Herzen (!) rathschlagen mit einander." There the Erlangen edition offers "gentlemen" as Walch really has it at that point. Förstemann had not read well. Such an obvious printing error, even if it had been there, should nevertheless have been let slip without an exclamation mark. But also in other places such printing errors are emphasized by exclamation marks, e.g. F.-B. Vol. I, 24, Note I "thätliches"; W. gives instead "tödtliches"!

The Förstemann-Bindseil edition has a large number of quite useless e.r variants:

F.-B.

I, 27 datauf lieget instead of: lieget darauf.

I, 40 one shall instead of: shall one.

I, 45 Doctor Martinus Luther once said instead: Once said D. M. Luther.

I, 52 without fruit not instead: not without fruit.

I, 64 since they nevertheless the Aristotle instead: since they the Aristotle nevertheless.

idiä. him the sophists instead: the sophists him.

I, 318 Affects instead of: Affectus.

I, 322 remain seated instead of: remain seated.

I, 323 St. Paul instead: Paul.

I, 324 Christos instead of: Christ.

I, 328 the letters instead: Letters.

I, 336 shall go over it instead of: shall go over it.

The advantage in these insignificant variants is usually on the side of Walch, who, without changing anything essential', has mostly made the language somewhat smoother than it is found in Aurifaber. It should be noted that the variants listed are taken by us at random from a small circle, namely F:-B. Bd. I, 27-64, and I, 318-336. Many hundreds of similar variants are noted by F.-B.. The Erlangen edition has omitted quite a number of these useless variants.

Neither F.-B. nor the Erlangen editions have accepted any of Walch's variants, even when an incorrectness is palpably improved, as in Cap. 43, § 115, where Walch, according to the sense, has written "not" instead of "also". Cf. F.-B. IV, 106, note 1, and Erl. Ausg. 61, 248, note 2.

That Förstemann and Bindseil did not make use of the HallischeHandschrift 1) to improve and correct Aurifaber's text is no longer surprising to us after we have become acquainted with it in Bindseil's Latin edition. Both the Hallische Handschrift and Rebenstock are, as we have shown above, just as much, if not worse, corrupted and contaminated with additions, bad readings and changes than the German editions.

D. The English translation.

In 1652, an English translation of the Table Talks appeared in folio under the following title: "Dris Martini Lutheri Colloquia Mensalia, or Divine Discourses at his Table, etc. . . . Collected first together by D* Antonius Lauterbach, and afterward disposed into certain Common places by John Aurifaber Dr in Divinitie. Translated but of the high Germane into the English Tongue by Capt. Henrie. Bell. . . London, Printed by William Du Gard, dwelling in Suffolk-lane near London-stone. 1652." Folio. 541 pp. 20 leaves of dedication, prefaces, index 2c. Dedicates: "To the Right Hpnorable John Hendrick Lord Major, The Right Worshipful the Sheriffs and Aldennen, the Common Council and the other Worthie Senatore and Citizens of the famous Citie of London", signed by Thomas Thorowgood. The preface comprises 9 pages and contains remarks against the Papists and praises of Luther taken from the writings of the Calvinists. From p. 11 on is "Capitain Henrie Bell's Narrati ve or Relation of the miraculous preserving of Dr. Martin Lutheri Book, entituled Colloquia Mensalia", dated July 1650. From this narrative, which appears quite fabulous, Walch has given the essentials in his preface p. 15 ff, § XII. We do not consider it necessary to repeat it here. On p. 14 is the verdict of Charls Herle and Edw. Corbett, who were also ordered to censor the book, dated November 10, 1646: "We find many excellent things are conteined in

L^t Mspt"^ bEint with the so often attracted

Introduction. 41

the Book worthy of the light and publick view. Amongst which Luther professed that he ac- knowledgeth his error which he formerly held touching the real presence corporaliter in Coena Domini. "There is no need to prove that those who have judged in this way have deviated from the truth; for Luther never deviated from the true doctrine, nor did he put up with the opinion of the Reformed. 1) Under the preceding narrative, there is a "Copy of the Order from the House of Commons" of February 24, 1646, executed by Henrie Elsing, in which a privilege is granted to Henrie Bell for the sole sale of his English translation of the Table Talks for 14 years. It is remarkable that such a privilege was granted on February 24, before the censorship of November 10. Then follows a testimony from Aurifaber's preface and three letters from Protestant clergymen about Luther's Table Talks, and finally the English translation of Aurifaber's preface complete on 9 sheets, along with a sheet index of the 80 sections of the Table Talks in the same order as Aurifaber. Now follows the work itself and finally the prophecies of Luther collected by Georg Walther. From this last appendix of the prophecies, it can be concluded that the English translation will be made according to the Frankfurt edition of 1569, which is presumably to be considered a reprint. The prophecies are attached only to this edition and to the later so-called Stangwald editions of 1700 and 1723. This edition was published again in London in 1791 in folio. Copies of the first edition

1. Walch Vorr. S. 18, § XIII: It is wrong what some want to pretend, as if he had left this true doctrine before his end and had put up with the opinion of the reformers, or had repented that he had written against them. When in 1546 D. Geortzius Major went to Regensburg to attend the Colloquio there, and Lutherus considered him, along with some others, suspicious because of the article on the Holy Supper, he confronted him with this and reminded him seriously, after he had apologized and made his confession correctly, to do the same in sermons, lectures and private conversations, and not to make himself suspicious, as before, with silence. Luther also said shortly before his death in Eisleben: if he should live longer, he would once again shout against the sacramentarians. Leoksnä. rist. Lutk. lid. Ill, 8161, x. 693.

are in the Royal Library in Copenhageri and in the Frankfurt City Library.

Of the translation itself, Joh. Gottl. Möller (x. 17) that it deviates from the German original, especially from the first edition of 1566, in some parts, without being able to decide whether the translator himself made these changes, or whether he had deviating editions of the original in front of him. We believe that this question would be settled by comparing the English translation with the Frankfurt edition of 1569.

Nature of the table talks.

In the discussion of the various editions of the Table Talks, we have shown that we are actually dealing with only one, Aurifaber's, from which all the others have flowed, in such a way that all of them reproduce the same Aurifaber translation, all of them have exactly the same content, which is found in Stangwald and Selnecker only in a different order, what is therefore said about the Aurifaber edition covers all the others. Thus, we can now proceed to the consideration of the nature of the table speeches. It is not necessary to separate the external from the internal characteristics, because the presentation of the former will also make the latter completely clear.

Duplicates in the table talks.

Through all previous editions of the Tischreden, without exception, from the first, the Aurifabersche, in 1566 to the last, the Erlanger, in 1854, there are a very large number of duplicates, now already 320 years. The number of duplicates, from which we have freed the Tischreden, amounts to about 520. Of these, the largest number, namely about 380, are duplicates in the Tischreden themselves; about 140 are pieces taken from other writings of Luther into the Tischreden. The latter are all interpolated by Aurifaber 2), who has added them several times with an insertion.

2. They are not found in the Latin editions.

42 Introduction.

The first part of the text is the first part of a paragraph, and the last part is not the same as the first part of a paragraph or paragraph. In the writings from which they are taken, these pieces rarely form the beginning of a paragraph, nor does the conclusion of them coincide with the conclusion of a paragraph or section, but they are usually torn out of the middle of a section, and the paragraphs are divided differently, which makes them very difficult to find.

The Stangwald and Selnecker editions are advantageously different from the Aurifaber editions in this respect, for they have 146 fewer duplicates than the latter. Also, in those editions, a large number of pieces that Aurifaber inserted from Luther's writings into the Table Talks are removed from the Table Talks and placed in the appendix with an indication of the writings from which they are taken. Walch and the later editions have not made use of this really significant improvement. Urged only by his publisher to include the Tischreden in his collection, Walch did not want to bother with an editing and improvement of the Tischreden. FörstemannBindseil referred to the duplicate only in 84 pieces that they recognized as duplicate by comparing Stangwald's and Selnecker's, but only in five of them did they decide to omit them. Förstemann and Bindseil did not notice 56 of the duplicates omitted by Stangwald and Selnecker, although several of them refer to the same place in Stangwald, e.g. to

Cap. 27, § 43 and Cap. 32, 811 aauf8t . 350*.

" 45, § 24. " 76, § 27(2). " 483.

" 45, § 47 "" 73, § 12 a "" 472.

" 48, § 2 "" 38, § 8 , ," 534.

" 48, § 40 "" 38, § 7 "" 534.

" 61, § 6 "" 7, § 104 " " 524*.

Of these 84 pieces, 9 are also duplicated by Stangwald.

The Erlangen edition, on the other hand, has reinserted all duplicates. Only in 9 places, according to the F.-B. edition, it has referred to duplicates. Yes, the inattention of the editor of the Erlangen edition goes so far that e.g. the

second paragraph of Cap. 61, § 10, which is another relation of Cap. 26, § 52, is printed again in its entirety in the latter place as a note. Likewise compare Cap. 22, § 151 and Cap. 43, § 2, where in the Erlangen edition to each of these two different relations the deviations of the others are printed as notes, thus one and the same thing is actually reproduced four times. Such a thing is repeated even more often, e.g. Cap. 20, § 14 and Cap. 1, § 89, in general almost every time when the notes referring to Stangwald assume a larger extent, e.g. Cap. 20, § 29 compared with Cap. 20, § 4; Cap. 27, § 95 compared with Cap. 22, § 104 etc. yi.

Walch left out only 5 pieces:

Cap. 15, § 21a, because already Cap. 15, § 10.

" 76, 810a, """ 4, 8 56.

" 74, 8 33a, """ 74, 8 3.

" 43, 8 55a, "" 43, 8 68.

and the long note, which the Ert. Ausg" vol. 60, 18 f. to Cap. 24, 8 74, Walch did not bring, because already printed Walch, alteAusg., Bd. IX, 1421.

A large number of these pieces are already duplicated, as different relations, which completely cover each other in thought, in the sources themselves, namely in the diary of Cordatus, from No. 1770 on. We have not included them, because we considered them dispensable due to the great similarity with their doppelgängers.

We have not printed the following numbers from Cordatus: No. 31, because contained in Lauterbach pag. 19; further, because duplicated in Cordatus itself: No. 1124. 1267. 1356. 1365. 1393. 1412. 1442-1449 (Melanchthon's letter to Brenz). 1450 (Luther's addition to the previous letter. Walch, old ed.,XXI, 1349). 1439. 1620. 1677. 1715. 1770. 1771. 1772. 1773-1780. 1783-1814. 1816-1825. - To be found in other writings 359-362. 1186-1192. Not suitable for communication No. 614. So there are altogether 85 pieces of the 1843 numbers of the Cordatus, of which we have made no use.

At Lauterbach are only two duplicates namely:

S. 150 Table Talks Cap. 27, § 65 contained in p. 49 Tischreden Cap. 27, § 134.

S. 152 "" 27, 8 64 "" S. 49 " ,, 19, 8 7.

Introduction. 43

In the Hall manuscript, too, we encounter quite a number of duplicates. The following have come to our attention. ,

+-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | | B | Table | > Rebenftock | | | inding | speeches | | | | rope | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I. | | Cap. 12, § | > I, 28b and II, 105 b. | | 49 | | 71. | | | and | | | | | 11, | | | | | 1 | | | | | 22. | | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 7, § 16. | | | 55 | III, | | | | | 36. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 38, § 3 | and Cap. 13, § 68. I, 33a " II, | | 57 | III, | | 143b. | | | 51. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " 11, | " 18, § 2 | "" 43, § 78. I, 39 " II, 171b. | | 68 | 367. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 2, § 103 | "" 49, § 9. 1, 63 " 11, 149 b. | | 113 | III, | | | | | 63. | " 50, § 2. | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " 11, | | > I, 64 " II, 36. | | 115 | 36. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | 1, | " | " 27, § 35. | | | 135 | 111, | | | | | 244. | | | | I, | | | | | 135 | | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | | 111, | ' " 27, § | " " 30, § 5. | | | 245.^ | 36. | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | | | . " 56, § 4, | " " 56, § 9. | | | | cl. 2 | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 27, § 37. | | | 135 | 111, | | | | | 245. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 27, § 38. | | | 135 | 111, | | | | | 245. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " II, | " 29, § 1 | " " 28.2 5. | | 159 | 179. | | | | | | | | | | " | | | | | 111, | | | | | 185. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | | " 77, § 1. | > I, 89 " II, 14b. | | 165 | | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " I, | Missing. | > I, 89b " 1, 198. | | 167 | 375. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 4, § 63. | | | 178 | 111, | | | | | 314. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " I, | " 66, § 50 | "" 4, § 83. I, 96b " 1, 142. | | 180 | 293. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " II, | " 24, § 12. | > 1, 116 " II, 228b. | | 218 | 307. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " II, | " 3, § 55. | > I, 133b " II, 94b. | | 250 | 20. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | 1, | " | " 73, § 1 | "" 22, § 94. | | L66 | III, | | | | | 132. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 66, § 4. | > I, 158 " I, 162. | | 287 | 111, | | | | | 229. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | 1, | " I, | " 16, § 8. | | | 322 | 330. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " 11, | | Lauterb. pag. 58. | | 348 | 108. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " 11, | | Grief at L. pss. 199. | | 392 | 285. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | 1, | " 11, | " 75, § | | | 403 | 113. | 1(Turkish | | | | | Empire),, " | | | | | 27, § 2 | | | | | (Antichrist) | | | | | II, 60 | | | | | (Antichrist.) | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | 1, | " | " 22, § 77. | | | 409 | 111, | | | | | 128. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I, | " | " 27, § 95 | "" 22, § 104. | | 419 | 111, | ' | | | | 264. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 27, 2121 | " " 27, § 85 Conclusion. | | 5 | 111, | | | | | 172. | | | | II, | | | | | 13 | | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | | " 1, | " 67, § 2 | " " 76, § 16. | | | 383. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 37, § 7. - | | | 32 | 111, | | | | | 174. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 9, § 44. | > 11, 100 and II, 180. | | 89 | III, | | | | | 3. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " 11, | " 11, § 16 | " " 9, § 19. | | 90 | 241. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " II, | " 52, § 1. | | | 93 | 95. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 27, § 64 | " " 19, § 7. | | 122 | III, | | | | | 29. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " - | " 43, § 9. | | | 170 | II, | | | | | 344. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 59, § 6. | > II, 28b and II, 201b. | | 220 | 111, | | | | | 202. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " | " 26, § 68. | | | 307 | 111, | | | | | 217. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | II, | " II, | " 43, § 39. | | | 341 | 344. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I | " | " 3, § 91. | | | II, | III, | | | | 47 | 59. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I | " | " 22, § 12 | " " 22, § 64. | | II, | 111, | | | | 111 | 125. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+ | I | " | " 22, § 25 x | "" 19, Sec. 42, Para. 10. | | II, | 111, | | | | 115 | 130. | | | +-----+--------+---------------+---------------------------------------+

As this register shows, 16 of the 39 duplicates in the Hall manuscript are also duplicates in the German Tischreden, of all those in Rebenftock only 13, i.e. just one third. The duplicates in Rebenftock are almost all small and insignificant, mostly only other redactions. The duplicate Bindseil I, 68 and II, 367 can hardly be named in the same way in Rebenftock, because it is only hinted at, but not widely executed, as in Bindseil. This makes us inclined to attribute priority to the Rebenftock collection over the Höllische manuscript.

We consider it superfluous to print here the register of the 520 duplicates we have proved in the German Tischreden, because

we have accounted for every omission of any piece and provided the necessary proof. Such an index would fill 12 entire columns of our edition.

We have already spoken above about the presumed cause of the duplicate in Cordatus.

In the Tischreden, the same pieces are often assigned to different sections at the same time. By combining related material and reducing the number of chapters from 80 to 43, Slangwald noticed the 146 duplicates from which he has removed from the Tischreden.

The difference of the duplicate of a-

44 Introduction.

other often comes from the fact that they are different translations, e.g. Cap. 4, § 34, and 15, § 17; Cap. 1, § 18 and 4, § 35.

More often, through inattention, such repetitions are also found in the same section, e.g., Cap. 15, § 6 and 15, § 39; Cap. 15, § 10 and-15, § 21."

Frequently, different relations that completely coincide with each other, e.g., Cap. 27, § 36 is found three more times, namely Cap. 30, § 5; Cap. 56, § 4 and Cap. 56, § 9. Of these we have retained Cap. 56, § 4, authenticated by Lauterbach p. 174, and Cap. 27, § 36, authenticated by Cordatus No. 643.

Other miscellaneous relations, one of which is dispensable, include the beginning of Cap. 15, §12, and the last paragraph of Cap. 12, §35; Cap. 4, §33, Cap. 13, §72, and Cap. 21, § 1 (Cordatus No. 1631); the second paragraph of Cap. 4, §78 and the last paragraph of Cap. 15, §19 (Lauterbach pag. 21).

Even some of the pieces taken from Luther's own writings are found twice, e.g., Cap. 17, § 22 and Cap. 19, §25 from the Great Catechism. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. X, 130, § 232; Cap. 6, § 5, para. 3 and 8, § 8, last para. from the Kirchenpostille. Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XIII, 674, § 25; cap. 24, § 35 and 7, § 130 from Interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians Cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VM, §§ 87. 88.

We are firmly convinced that, despite all our efforts, we have not succeeded in freeing the Tischreden from all the pieces that Aurifaber has inserted from other writings of Luther, but that quite a number of such passages can still be found. Pieces of which we assume that they can still be found in other writings are, for example, Cap. 2, § 84, of the provision; Cap. 10, § 4 and § 10, of free will; Cap. 11, § 11 and § 12, of the 1st commandment; Cap. 12, .§§ 77-82, the law does not serve for justification; Cap. 17, § 23, of baptism, and others.

To make it clear to the reader how immensely altered the appearance of the Tischreden is in our edition by omitting the duplicates and pieces taken from other writings of Luther, we give

the proof about it at Cap. 12, "of the law and Evangelio". At the same time, we indicate the sources from which pieces are newly translated. Where the pieces omitted from Luther's writings are to be found, can be found in the relevant paragraphs in our edition. The paragraphs marked f in the front are omitted.

+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | Table | Where printed elsewhere. ' Sources. | | Talks. | | | | > Cap. 12, § 20. Letter to the Galatians. | | Cap. 12,? 1. | | | | Cordatus No. 7-10. | | 2. | | | | Sec. 1. " 188. | | 1-3. | | | | Ab. 2. Cap. 11, § 23. "189. | | f4 . | | | | 190. "" 291. | | 1-5 . | | | | "" 205. | | 6. | | | | Epistle to the Galatians. | | 7. | | | | Cordatus No. 498. | | f7 . | | | | Cap. 26, § 72. . "" 502. | | 8. | | | | Cf. " 12,? 68a. " . "1623. | | 9. | | | | cf. " 12,? 3. "" 34. | | 1-10 . | | | | " 24, ?15. | | 1-11 . | | | | " 12,? 43. | | 1-12 . | | | | "74.75. | | 1-13 . | | | | > "" 1781. | | f14 . | | | | /" 1,s84. "" 1637. | | 1-15 . | | | | UNdl.,, 7,? 154. | | t16 . | | | | > "" 1648. | | 17. | | | | " 9,? 53. | | f18 . | | | | " 12,? 31. | | ' 19. | | | | > "" 1032. | | 20. | > | | | > " "1649. | | f -21 . | > | | | > and(" 3?! ?50^ last para. letter to the | | s22 . | > Galatians. | | | | | 23. | Para. 1. " Cordatus No. 1017. | | | | | 24. | Para. 2. / Cap. 7,? 170. | | | | | 25. | and l "13,? 46. | | | | | 26. | > // " 1696. | | | | | 27. | Cap. 12,? 55, para. 1. | | | | | 28. | > " 26,? 1. Kummer bei Lauterbach, pas. 203. | | | | | f29 . | " 26,? 16, para. 1. end. | | | | | 1-- 30. | cf. cap. 12,? 22. | | | | | 31. | " 37,? 64. | | | | | > 3132. | | | | | | 1-33. | | | | | | 1-34. | | | | | | 35. | | | | | | 35. | | | | | | 36. | | | | | | 37. | | | | | | 38. | | | | | | 39. | | | | | | 40. | | | | | | 41. | | | | | | 1-42 . | | | | | | 43. | | | | | | 44. | | | | | | 45. | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+ | | | +--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+

Introduction. 45

+-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | Table speeches. | | | Where printed | | | elsewhere. Sources. | | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | Cap. 12, 846. Cap. | | | 2,? 36. | | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1 | 47. house mail. | | | | | | 48. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | f | 49. Cap. 1, 8 55. cordatus No. 863. | | | | | | 50. " 2, 8138. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | | 51, para. 1. " 12, 8 60. | | | | | | 51,para. 2. Cordatus No. 340. | | | | | | 52. | | | | | | 53. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | f | 54. " 40, 8 1. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 55, para. 1. " 12, 8 41. | | | | | | 55,letz.para. " 15, 8 12. | | | | | | 56. cordatus No. 191. | | | | | | 57. "" 1346. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 58. " 37, 8 M. | | | | | | 59. ,, " 131. | | | | | | 60. " 12, 8 51. "" 1406 . | | | | | | 61. | | | | | | 62. "" 815. | | | | | | Cf. Lauterbach pas. 141. | | | | | | 63. | | | | | | 64. | | | | | | 65. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 66, para. 1. Preface to the A. T. | | | | | | 66, para. 2. """ N.T. | | | | | | 66, para. 2. 3. """ A.T. | | | | | | 66, paras. 4-7. """ N. T. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 67, para. 1. " " | | | | | | 67, para. 2. 3. Letter to the Galatians. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 68. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 68 a. Cap. 12, § 19. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 68d. 26,Z43, para. 5. | | | | | | 69. | | | | | | 70. Lauterbach xaZ. 148. | | | | | | 71. "" 172. | | | | | | 174. | | | | | | 72. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | f | 73.- . Epistle to the Galatians. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 74. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | | 75. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 76. | | | | | | 77. | | | | | | 78. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1- | 79/Cap. 12, § 32. | | | | | | > and l " 37, § 50, last. Para. | | | | | | 80. | | | | | | 81. | | | | | | 83.'s Cap. 11, § 17. cordatus No. 1391. | | | | | | > andl " 11, § 22. | | | | | | 84, par. 1-^. "13, § 78. Cordatus No. | | | 1327. | | | | | | 1328. | | | | | | 84, paras. 5-11. " 26, § 11. | | | | | | 85. Lauterbach pag. 30. | +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+

In this chapter, 36 paragraphs had to be deleted, partly because they are duplicates, partly because they are taken from other writings of Luther. Paragraphs 26. 35. 43. 44. 46. 83. 84 are also duplicates, which are not deleted here, but in other chapters. If all these pieces were here

Furthermore, other paragraphs than the ones we have indicated may have been taken from other writings of Luther, e.g., §§ 77-82, which are often repeated in Luther's great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians. 26 paragraphs of this section have been newly translated by us according to the originals. Thus, only 24 paragraphs remain in their old form.

Admixture of foreign things.

In the collection of table speeches there is a rather large number of pieces that are not table speeches. We are not talking here about the pieces that Aurifaber took from Luther's writings and trimmed to make them appear as table speeches, but about those that openly stand out as strange pieces. It was already in the plan of the first collectors to include not only table speeches in the narrower sense, but also advice, concerns, consolations, letters, rhymes, interpretations of sayings, and so on. We encounter such things already, though rarely, in Cordatus and Lauterbach; much more in Rebenstock and the Hall manuscript; in considerable numbers, however, in the German Tischreden, including those that are not by Luther at all. Stangwald and Selnecker have relegated such things to their appendix. We, too, have not wanted to proceed too radically with these things, but have omitted only those pieces in which Luther obviously has no part, such as Melanchthon's letter to Brenz, and those which are already printed in other volumes of Luther's works. The others we have retained, namely because otherwise no place would have been found for their inclusion in Luther's writings and some of them are nevertheless very valuable and instructive, such as Luther's disputation with Melanchthon on justification, Cap. 13, §§ 2-11., This piece we have even newly translated from Oeem Latin, because the Aurifaber translation was not sufficient. Which of these pieces we have retained, and which we have omitted, may be found in the paragraphs concerned. They are the following:

46 Introduction.

Cap. 1, § 64. Luther's rhymes from the Reum Testament.

" 4, § 67. Fable, told by Ph. Melanchthon with Luther's reproach. (Lauterbach pag. 67.)

" 7, § 30. Lx manuseiÄptjs rssotutionidus visputationum. (Stangwald 824.)

" 11, K 13. Interpretation of the Catechism. (Some of it in Cordatus.)

13, § 2-11. Luther's disputation with Melanchthon.

"Melanchthon's letter to Brenz with a postscript by Luther.

"19, § 42. Luther's speech with Bucer and Lycosthenes.

"21, § 5. admonition from the ban after the sermon Invocavit 1539.

24, § 60. Interpretation of the saying Joh. 8, 44. (Cordatus No. 657.)

"43, § 136. Luther's prayer for his marriage state.

" 47, p 6. verses from human life, told by Luther.

" 64, K2 . Excerptfrom Luther's Warning to the Germans.

"66, ? 20. Predigtam heil. The sermon was preached on Epiphany 1544 against the jurists.

" 66, H21 . " from the secret engagement Wider dieJuristen .

" 66,ß22 . " Against the Lawyers.

and " 66' § 51Sonnt . Reminiscere 1539 against the lawyers.

66,'? 24. sermon to lawyers on how to study law.

66, § 52, on 23 Feb. 1539 Against the Jurists.

Appendix § 13. little verse: What money has for violence in the world.

Furthermore, a number of pieces appear to be spurious:

Cap. 1, § 9, the last paragraph, seems to be Aurifaber's translation of No. 3 of the next 810.

,, 2, § 11, para. 4 seems to be another relation of Cap. 24, § 91.

" 2, 8 11, " 1-3 """ "9, 861,, "

" 3, § 13, " 1 probably em to the following formed entrance.

" 7, § 179' probably "an expansion of Cordatus A'o. 1322. "

" 12, 862Some other redaction of Cap. 26, § 16, para. 3, Cord. No. 815.

"19. 86shall be taken from Cordatus No. 1351.

" 22. 851An entrance formed to the following §. Cf. Lauterbach pss. 127.

" 23. 85seemsunreal , compared with Luther inWalch , St. Louis ed. XIII, 2644, § 18 and

Lauterbach paK. 96.

" 24. 817 , the last paragraph, will probably be only an extension of the last words of Cordatus No. 1666 .

" 24. 858perhaps formed from Cordatus No. 1418.

" 26, § 13 probably formed from Cordatus No. 891.

" 7. 83very similar in thought to Cap. 7 , § 56; is probably formed from it.

" 24, 821 , the last para, appears to be Aurifaber's narrative, not Luther's. Only in the German

Table Talks.

" 37, § 114, para. 2, probably an adaptation of Cordatus No. 1338.

"47, § 3 will probably be just another version of Cap. 48, § 38.

That these assumptions of ours are not made up out of thin air, but have good reason, will be seen immediately from the following.

Arbitrary treatment of the originals in the table speeches.

In the table speeches, the originals have been dealt with in a highly arbitrary manner and much has been fictionalized.

Cap. 2, § 17, Vine I, 3a. Zd, Bindseil l,^. 6, compared with Cordatus No. 517, offer, as D. Wrampelmeyer correctly remarks, a rather characteristic example of the way in which the original form of Luther's words is distorted by later additions and alterations.

From Cordatus No. 435, a single sentence, Aurifaber has spun two whole paragraphs, namely Cap. 7, §§80 and 81; Bindseil III, 37, on the other hand, gives only the first half of the sentence in Cordatus.

From Cordatus No. 1208, two and a half rows, Aurifaber has made the extensive first paragraph of Cap. 19, § 26.

Cap. 24, § 115 Aurifaber tells that one fainted in the presence of Luther, while according to Cordatus No. 453 Luther himself was afflicted by it. On this occasion, a whole consolation speech to the sick person is invented from the thoughts with which Luther comforted himself.

In Cap. 26, § 52, what was reported by Cordatus No. 1129 is illustrated by a set of

Introduction. 47

Additions brought to about four times the size.

Cap. 43, § 13, the last three paragraphs, Luther's words are horribly distorted. Cf. Cordatus No. 1513.

In Cap. 66, § 48, Cordatus No. 649, how the nobility deals with theologians and jurists, is transformed into a dispute of theologians and jurists.

From Cordatus No. 1097, One Paragraph, Cap. 74, § 2 three paragraphs are made.

Cordatus No. 555 has become more than threefold in Cap. 76, § 3.

In Cap. 3, § 14, No. 1761-1763 of the Cordatus are interwoven, rearranged, changed and provided with various additions.

An interesting example of how the originals were handled in the Tischreden is provided by Cap. 9, § 19 and 44, § 3, which are based on Cordatus No. 1743. 1745 and 734. Also included in these two paragraphs are Cap. 9, § 45 and § 46; Cap. 50, § 2; Cap. 2, § 42; Cap. 11, § 16;.Cap. 2, § 61; Cap. 37, § 100; Cap. 44, § 3, and similarly Cap. 37, § 75. Of these 11 pieces, 8 had to be deleted.

The above information contains only a few samples of the deviation of the table speeches from the originals. The deviations from the records of Lauterbach are by far not as substantial as those of Cordatus. Nevertheless, what D. Wrampelmeyer has said in his preface p. 30 f. about this in relation to Cordatus, also finds its full application to the table speeches after Lauterbach, namely: "In many cases, the version of the Latin and German records is similar. This similarity, of course, almost never goes so far that one could speak of a literal correspondence of the Latin table speeches or claim that a paragraph of the German table speeches is similar.

The author of the book, the author of the "Cordatus", states that "the Cordatus Table Talks are a faithful translation of a Latin text on which they are based. "It is hardly possible to think of a greater contrast than that which exists between Cordatus and the later Tischreden in the material that has been handed down together. Those who compiled the Latin and German table speeches allowed themselves the greatest arbitrary wedges. They tore the original records apart, arranged the material under general categories and provided the individual sections with content, not infrequently with omissions and concealment of important data and facta. This was done to a particularly rich extent in the compilation of the German Tischreden. This procedure, however, has had bad consequences. In part, what belongs together has been torn apart, in part, it has led to superfluous repetitions on a large scale. Thus we are confronted with the phenomenon that, especially in the German table speeches, a lot of conversations occur twice, not infrequently three times and more. In fact, the mass of the actual repetitions is so great that after eliminating them, the volume of the German table speeches would probably melt down to half." 1)

By tearing apart the original records, one felt compelled to make new connections, to form introductions and conclusions, and to make other additions, some of which are correct, however, others are demonstrably wrong.

Spoiled state of the table talks.

With regard to the Latin editions of the Table Talks, we have already demonstrated that they have a very corrupted text. Some false readings of the Table Talks run through all editions, e.g.: -

German Table Speeches. BixdseU.

Cap. 3, § 28: the Jewish countryside : India. (Kummer at Lauterbach psA. 87.) Ill, 77.

"45, § 24: not much without blood instead of: not long in bloom; > wrong also in Lauterbach paZ. 176. i, 352. cf. cap. 76, § 27, para. 2. > Stangwald omitted the word.

"75, K 1, para. 11 a. E.: by a pious man instead of: by a bad boy. (Cord. No. 1600.) I, 398. " 76, § 28, par. 2, middle: Bride instead of: prokunci sdepth of the seaj. (Cord. No. 1556.) ' 111, 107.

"77, § 1, penultimate par.: gegen Abend instead of: gegen Morgen. (Lauterbach xaZ. 36.) 1, 165.

1. This assumption seems too high to us. What we have eliminated, is, according to our surplus, about one sixth. With knowledge and will, we have not left much in the way of actual repetitions, and what we have missed will probably not be significant.

** 48** Introduction.

Other false readings run through all German editions, again confirming their complete dependence on Aurifaber. This is the case, for example:

Cap. 3, § 22: Lock legs instead of: Schooßbeine. Cord. No. 704.

" 7, § 17 towards the end: prior instead of: Priest. Lauterbach pn.]. 45.

" 7, § 43: em good dishes instead: Bellitzschier (i.e., a happy face). Lauterb. pag. 79.

" 12, § 23, para. 2, end: papists instead of: Prophets. Cord. No. 74.

" 27, § 66, par. 1, middle: Hell dragons instead of: Hell's dragons. Lauterb. pag. 64.

" 30, § 2 to end: lice instead of: People. Cord. No. 806.

" 35, § 11to end: oddball instead of: Haufe. Lauterb. pag. 193.

" 35, § 12z . Ans.: Life instead of: Lobes. Cord. No. 537.

" 35, § 13geg . end: zu Kauf instead of: zu Häuf. Lauterb. pag. 19.

" 39, § 12: Scorpion scorpio instead of: Ostrich struthio. Cord. No. 230.

" 43, § 183: India instead of: Italia. Cord. No. 1538. Stangwald omitted the word.

" 48, § 17, para. 1 End: Altvater instead of: Adam. Lauterb. 104.

"48, § 25: Monks instead of: Dying. Kummer at Lauterb. pag. 202.

"54, § 27 Last paragraph: Johann XIII. instead: Johann XXIII Lauterb. pag. 83.

" 57, § 4, 2 rows are omitted, one in the middle, the other towards the end. Lauterb. pag. 192.

" 69, § 3, para. I, end: drunkenness instead of: Dryness. Lauterbach pag. 184.

" 70, § 2, para. 4: they [the Sternes have to sue instead of: we have to sue. Cord. No. 169.

"75, § 1, para. 11 Begin: on loud wars militia instead of: loud malice malitia. Cord. No. 1599.

" 76, § 4, para. 1 middle: more miserable instead of: more internal. Lauterb. pag. 10.

" 76, § 16, sub. 2: Willows instead: Waid sFärbekraut): Lauterb. pag. 185.

In quite a few cases, Stangwald has chosen duplicates that contain the correct reading, e.g.

Aurifaber: Cap. 3, § 60: violence; Stangw.: has will gewollt. > Cord. No. 949. cf. cap. 43, § 158. " 24, § 117: klage. Stangw.: > schlage. Cord. No. 654. cf. cap. 26, § 27.

In other places, Stangwald noticed that not everything was in order, and then tried to put an end to the difficulty by circumventing it, e.g.

Aurifaber: Cap. 43, § 33: D. Phil., Lauterbach pas. 133: D. Pistor. Stangw.: N. N.

"66, § 25: da fehlet euch Wahrheit. Lauterbach pag. 46: Das fehlet euch. - Truth 2c.

Stangwald has omitted here the word truth, which belongs to the > following, as we have already seen above twice that he has omitted the > word that is burdensome to him.

Stangwald has actually corrected the following passages, for example:

Aurifaber: Cap. 37, § 114: Oil. Stangwald: Eel. > > "" 45, § 70: Opinions, Stangwald: Meiningen. > > ""55, § § 7: Loss. Stangwald: Unlust. Lauterb. pnA. 56. > > "" 74, § 6: Ueberwaschung. Stangwald: Ueberwachsung. U. a. m.

In his preface p. 33, Wrampelmeyer has named a whole number of wrong readings in the table speeches.

Incorrect timing.'

Very often there are wrong time indications in the table speeches, even more often the time indications made in the originals are omitted.

Cap. 2, § 99 towards the end: 1541 instead of: 1532. Cordatus No. 848.

" 4, § 116: 1542 instead of: 1538. Lauterbach pag. 5.

" 15, 819 : In January of the 40th year held: 2 Feb. 1538. Lauterbach patz. 21.

" 17, 829 : Anno 41, perhaps: 1531.Cordatus No. 789 . No speech in Cord, is after1537.

" 26, 883: 1541, v. Cordatus No. 1067, perhaps 1531.

" 55, 87: The same day (5 Apr., Lauterb. p. 56) held: 10 April 1538. Lauterb. pas. 60.

" 77, 83: 1537 instead of: 1538. Lauterbach pag. 13.

Vine II? 21b.: 1532 instead of 1533. Cordatus No. 1248.

" II, 123 b.: Anno 38, 10 Oct. v. Cordatus No. 797.

Introduction. 49

Other information that differs from each other is also not uncommon:

Cap. 4, ? 67: Melanchthon told at table. Lauterb. pas. 57: inthecar .

"24, 888 : at Erfurt. Stangwald p. 163": to Bononia (v. i. toBologna ).

Cord. No. 907: at Wittenberg. Vine and binding rope: at Nuremberg.

Cap. 43, 831 : He had 21 wives, she had 20 husbands .

" 30, ? 34: " " 12 "" 9 ""

Lauterbach xaZ. 140: (The wives not specified.); she had had 9 husbands.

Cap. 22, § 53: 500 parishes in Würzburg unoccupied.

" 1, § 21: 600 """"'

"48, § 30: the cellar had collapsed behind Luther and his wife. Cord. > No. 1607: a wall and a beam had fallen down next to Luther. > > " 76, § 26, para. 7: The pope says: Christ will remain, instead of: > Christ is inauthentic manserem. (Cf. the wrong translations > below).

" 4, 8108: DaD. M. L. was in his garden, against Cordatus No 1553.

With a small piece we want to show the reader an example of the changes that the Tischreden have undergone through the various editors:

Lauterbach, pag. 174: Deinde legit in libro Campani, propria manu scripto et Mun- steri reperto, cujus titulus erat etc. (After that he read in the book of Campanus, which he had written with his own hand and which had been found at Münster, whose title was 2c.).

Bindseil II, 30: D. Martinus Luthel-us librum Campani legens manu ejus propria subscripta et Munsterii, cujus titulus erat etc. (Since D. M. Luther read the book of Campanus, which was signed by his own hand and by that of Munster, its title was 2c.).

Rebenstock II, 33 a: D. M. L. librum Campani legens, manu illius propria scriptum et a Munstero relictum, cujus titulus erat etc. (Since D. M. L. read the book of Campanus, which he had written with his own hand and which Münster had left behind, its title was 2c.).

Aurifaber, cap. 37, § 6: D. Martinus Lutherus read in the Campani book, which he had written with his own hand and had overlooked and crossed out Münsterus, which title was 2c. Likewise Stangwald.

Aurifaber, Cap. 2, §39: As he was reading in the book of Campani, the gusher, so he was with

1. In order to understand how it was possible that the editors of the Tischreden made a person out of the city of Münster, one must note that "Sebastian Münster" attacked Luther because of his translation of the Bible, in that he wanted to judge everything according to grammatical rules. Cf. Lauterbach's Tageb. paz. In our edition: Appendix 1, No. 106.

of his own hand, the title was 2c. (Here "Münster." is missing.) This last redaction is missing in Stangwald, who has omitted it as a duplicate.

In a large number of pieces, it can be seen that the editors did not even replace them, e.g., Cap. 24, § 123, cf. with Cord. No. 86; 23, § 2, cf. with Laüterb. pag. 137; 14, § 21, cf. with Cord. No. 320. 321; 26, § 42, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 34; Cap. 12, § 23, cf. with Cord. No. 74. 75; 43, § 75, cf. with Cord. No. 35 and 38; 21, § 17, cf. with Cord. No. 1703. 1704; 7, § 148, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 69; 7, § 98, cf. with Cord. No. 48; 7, § 9, cf. with Cord. No. 42; 1, § 54, cf. with Cord. No. 1568; 7, § 152, cf. with Cord. No. 519; 19, § 4, cf. with Cord. No. 1350. In other ones, the straight opposite is reported of what the sources bring, e.g. 26, § 30, para. 1: Therefore come to me, my dear Schlainhauffen, item to Magister Philippo, Co.rdato 2c. In contrast, Cordatus No. 378, the challenged one is directed away from Philippus and Cordatus, to Christo. - Cap. 27, § 15 it is said that "the pope made an alliance with the emperor," while Cordatus No. 609 reports that the pope made an alliance with the emperor's enemy, the king of France^- Cap. 48, § 30, the Latin words are the exact opposite of Cordatus No. 1311. The "not" is omitted. - In Cordatus No. 1252, private citizens and authorities are placed "opposite" each other; in the corresponding paragraph of the Table Talks, Cap. 44, §§ 7. 8, both are blended and drawn together.

In many cases, the German table speeches

50 Introduction.

Explanations inserted, often also what just occurred to the editors, e.g. Cap. 74, § 6, towards the end, the explanation of Ebionites, against Lauterb. 37; Cap. 74, § 9 the way Jerusalem was destroyed, against Lauterb. pag. 124; Cap. 80, § 1, where Burkhard's horses came from, against Lauterb. pag. 166; Cap. 12, § 30 and 31 the explanation of Labyrinth and Minotaur; Cap. 76, § 28 the annual marriage of the Doge of Venice to the sea as to his bride, against Cord. No. 1467. - Furthermore, much is inserted in Cap. 22, § 143, gegey Lauterb. pag. 203; in Cap. 76, tz 26, against Lauterb. pag. 166; in Cap. 13, tz 32, against Cord. No. 1385; in Cap. 76, tz 13, para. 2, vs. Cord. No. 886; in Cap. 37, tz 106, v. Cord. No. 530; in Cap. 37, tz107 ,

v. Cord . No. 1466; inCap . 37, tz108 ,

v. Cord . No. 1093; inCap . 37, tz109 ,

againstCord . No. 1102; inCap . 37, §110 ,

v. Cord. No. 1226; in Cap. 55, tz 5, against Cord. No. 1268; on the other hand, omitted in Cap. 75, tz 2, compared with Lauterb. pag. 35; in Cap. 57, tz 4, compared with Lauterb. pag.

Cordatus, No. 1666: Daemon signo dato visus est exire, i.e.: That one has seen as if the evil spirit goes out on a given sign.

Cordatus, No. 1707: Tantum admittantur consolationes, i.e.: Only the consolation should be accepted.

Lauterbach, pag. 192: homines attoniti ac ôåôõöùìßíïé, i.e. senseless, deluded.

People.

Lauterbach, pag. 120: qui lectorem suspensum relinquerent, i.e. which left the reader in uncertainty.

Lauterbach, pag. 47: Alii juristae impii eua tantum quaerentes habent jus in armis, i.e. other godless jurists, who only seek their own, have the law in arms.

191 f.; in Cap. 37, tz 109, cf. with Cord. No. 1102. U. a. m.

Very extensive translations are found, e.g., Cap. 1, tz 79, cf. with Cord. No. 1605; 7, tz 166, cf. with Cord. No. 1759; 9, tz 42, cf. with Cord. No. 1318; 12, tz 26, cf. with Cord. 1637; 20, tz 2, cf. with Ed. No. 1415; 22, tz 62, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 178; 26, tz 42, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 34; 26, § 43, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 49 f.; 37, tz 61, cf. with Cord. No. 194; 37, tz 94, cf. with Cord. No. 1695; 37, 126^, cf. with Cord. No. 246; 37, tz 126, cf. with Cord. No. 394; 43, tz 84, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 164; 45, tz 34, cf. with Lauterb. pag. 121; 47, tz 4, cf. with Cord. No. 1828; 55, tz 5, cf. with Cordatus No. 1268; 59, tz 2, cf. with Cord. No. 1347; 66, tz 56, cf. with Cord. No. 1040; 74, tz 2, cf. with Cord.-No. 1097; Appendix tz 5, cf. with Cord. No. 1368.

In order to give the reader an idea of the immense prolixity of the translations in the German Tischreden, we let follow here some translation samples, compared with the originals.

Aurifaber, Cap. 24, § 17, penultimate paragraph: But that the devil has gone out by invoking papist monks and priests, and has left a sign after himself, such as breaking panes of glass or a window, or tearing a piece of the wall, that he has done 2c.

Aurif. Cap. 26, § 68, conclusion: And again, those who are in such temptations should also be comforted, or make a measure and an end of it, believing God's word more than their thoughts and Satan's input and corrupt arrows.

Aurif. Cap. 57, § 4, para. 3, middle: And darkened people who go drowning in their thoughts and respect no one, and melancholy heads, and hopeful, stubborn spirits.

Aurif. Cap. 57, § 6, beginning: Therein they let the reader hang between heaven and earth, stamping, concluding nothing certain.

Aurif. Cap. 66, § 25, para. 3, conclusion: "The others in general are godless, seek only their own enjoyment and benefit, draw the law and twist it to their advantage, make wrong out of right and right out of wrong, with their interpretation and sophistry, solely for the sake of money.

.introduction. 51

If you want to study further the way Aurifaber translates, compare Cap. 76, § 26, para. 3 with Lauterbach pag. 165 and Cap. 66, § 53 with Lauterbach 187.

After a close inspection of these translation examples, we hope that no one will want to agree with us that we have (probably the greatest thing we have allowed ourselves), e.g., Cap. 24, § 1 and Cap. 24, § 127 have been deleted as contained m Cap. 24, § 2, and deleted the last paragraph of Cap. 24, § 2 deleted, as contained in Cap. 5, § 5.

Incorrect translations.

There are a large number of mistranslations in Aurifaber, which run through all German editions.

Cap. 1, § 28, para. 7, middle, Lauterbach pag. 78 at the end: verbum vehiculum Dei Aurifaber translated: "GOtt wirkt durchs Wort, welches gleich wie ein Wagen ist", instead of: GOtt wirkt durchs Wort, welches sein Träger und Werkzeug im Herzen ist.

Cap. 4, § 111, para. 2, end, has^Aurifaber: The booksellers get a bad name to their copies, where Bindseil I, 411 correctly offers: "take maculatur for good paper to their copies." There Aurifaber seems to have read: nomen maculatur [i.e. the name is stained) instead of: nomen maculatur sd. i. take bad paper).

Cap. 15, § 21, beginning, Lauterbach xa§. 194: in festo Natali, Aurifaber translates: "on his Luther's birthday," instead of: am Weihnachtsfeste.

Cap. 18, § 7, Lauterbach pag. 27: certius responsum, Aurifaber translates: "an answer after eating, if he had washed his hands", instead of: a more reliable answer.

Cap. 22, § 42, Lauterb. pag. 33: olim magistratus percacavit papatum, Aurifaber translates: "the pope has insulted the secular authorities who elevated him," instead of: the authorities have made nothing of the pope. (Here again is the opposite.)

Cap. 22, § 50, Lauterbach pag. 115: an con- cionatores publice sint arguendi, Aurifaber translates: "whether a preacher should punish publicly", instead of the other way around: whether preachers should be punished publicly.

Cap. 25, § 5, Lauterb. p>a§. 121: ex gallinis: "from the hens' nests," instead of: from the chickens.

Cap. 27, § 78, toward the end, Lauterbach pag. 77, vappas: "cows," instead of: unworthy people.

Cap. 33, § 1, Lauterb. pa§. 126: in ipsa bona feria sextae: "on Friday and during the fasts," instead of: on Char Friday.

Cap. 35, § 8, Lauterb. pa§. 186: offa: "a soup," instead of: a morsel.

Cap. 37, § 1, beginning, Cord. No. 1059: suavissimis Verdis et moridus: "he was very kind in words, but frivolous in gestures and in life", instead of: of winning words and manners.

Cap. 37, § 99, Lauterb. pag. 8: seductore

L. -. "as G. K. boasted of his spirit", instead of: the seducer of Georg Karg.

Cap. ö4, § 27, para. 2, beginning, Lauterbach pag. 83: praesumptio: "presumption," instead: Anmaßung.

Cap. 75, § 1, at the beginning, Cord. No. 626: ponet arcem suam: "he will carry his bow," instead of: he will build his castle.

Cap. 75, § 1, para. 9 at end, Cord. No. 880: vulpes ex antris proveniens Caucasi montiss: "a fox, which from the hole Caucasus herfürwischet and creeps", instead: [the Turk), which emerges from the caves of the Caucasus Mountains.

Cap. 76, § 26, para. 7 at the beginning, Cord. No. 539: Christum manserem esse: "Christ shall remain," instead of: Christum manserem esse.

Cap. 5, § 19 in the beginning, Cord. No. 945: Maximilianus valde superstitiosus fuit in re militari. Gentes in periculis mactaverunt etiam dilectissima: "Emperor Maximilianus is said to have been very superstitious in servitude; in perils he vowed to God and slaughtered what he encountered first." (Quite likewise the Hallische Handschrift Binds. I, 188 f.) instead: Emperor Maximilian was very superstitious in matters of war. The pagans slaughtered even their dearest in danger.

Unreliable data.

There are very many unreliable statements in the table speeches. Often the same sayings are put into the mouths of different people.

52 Introduction.

Cap. 45, § 84, the saying is attributed to the Elector John Frederick, which, according to Cap. 19, § 32, Luther is said to have made.

Cap. 28, § 5 is attributed to a nobleman in Meissen, which according to Cap. 29, § 1 and Cordatus No. 1014 to the chancellor of Trier, Caesar Pflug. This seems to have come from the fact that Rudolph of Bunan, of whom a similar saying is told in the same, paragraphs in Bindseil 1, 151 and Rebenftock I, 825, was confused by Aurifaber with Caesar Pflug. In both places of the Latin table speeches, Caesar Pflug is called praefectus Lipsiensis.

Cap. 22, § 9, the process is attributed to Antonius Lauterbach, who, according to Cord. No. 1462 refers to the Cordatus. Likewise wrong Bindseil m, 109.

Cap. 26, § 70 is according to. Kummer at Lauterbach pag. 62 copied from Luther's hand psalter, while according to Aurifaber and Bindseil III, 219 it is supposed to be a consolation writing that Luther sent to Justus Jonas.

Cap. 27, § 56, the statement is attributed to Campegius at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530/which, according to Cordatus No. 1480, Aleander made in Worms in 1521.

Cap. 17, § 4 is attributed in part to Luther's wife, in part erroneously to the wife of M. A. Lauterbach, against Cordatus No. 1205.

Cap. 15, §30 is titled: Prayer for a Child-Bearer. The title is fictitious. Cf. Cordatus No. 933; also incorrectly Bindseil II, 184.

Cap. 7, § 25, para. 3, middle: "da nun Magister Rörer sagte"; whereas Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 1595: "da sprach die Frau."

Cap. 27, § 10, last paragraph, Veit Dietrich is introduced against Cord. No. 920. Likewise Bindseil III, 228>.

Cap. 5, § 19, last paragraph, and Binds. 1, 189: Veit Dietrich had asked about weeping virginity, against Cordatus No. 945. ,

1. This statement and some of the following ones may be correct: but we do not consider them reliable at all, because the originals do not mention anything about it.

Cap. 71, § 2, Bindseil I, 209, Rebenst. I, 110K, Veit Dietrich is introduced against Cordatus No. 672.

Cap. 69, § 1, para. 4, where Hebrew is mentioned, Mag. Förster must help to speak, in Bindseil If 261 and Rebenstock I, 1856 the professor of Hebrew, Matthias Aurogallus, is added against Cord. No. 1615.

Cap. 51, § 3, middle, M. Leonhard the Mathematicus joins in the astronomy against Cordatus No. 953. Likewise Binds. I, 86 and Rebenst. I, 49a. Förstemann-Pindseil and the Erlangen edition make in a note the pastor Leonhard Beier in Zwickau to this Mathematicus.

Cap. 26, § 30 and Bindseil II, 292, Schlaginhaufen is introduced against Cord. No. 378.

Cap. 26, § 20 Aurifaber brings Melanchthon and Pommer, in against Cord. No. 475 and Binds. II, '302.

Cap. 4, § 124 at the beginning and Binds. II, 292, D. Henning is introduced against Cordatus No. 970. Likewise Cap. 13, § 67 against Cord. No. 1072 "and Cap. 9, § 63 against Cordatus No. 1501.

Cap. 4, § 58, Bindseil I, 184 and Rebenst. I, 99a, Valentin Mellerstädt is introduced against Cord. No. 1266.

Cap. 72, § 2 Doctor Johann Cellarius v. Cord. No. 1709.

Cap. 19, § 4, Binds. Ill, 25 and Rebenst. II, 133a Mag. Hausmann v. Cord. No. 1350. In the German Tischreden he is called pastor in Zwickau, Rebenstock calls him pastor in Dessau and Bindseil says that he officiated in Dessau.

Cap. 27, § 153, D. Jonas is introduced against Cord. No. 1363. Likewise Binds. I, 130 and Rebenst. I, 76a.

Cap. 22, § 34 Aurifaber introduces M. Joh. Mathesius against Cord. No. 1688, also against Binds. I, 38 and Rebenst. l, 216.

Pointless stuff.

It is not uncommon to find quite meaningless sayings in the "Table Talks" that run through all the editions.

Cap. 76, § 14: The right worship and invocation of the prophet Elijah and the Baali-

Introduction. 53

The false worship and shouting are painted on a blackboard. ,

Cap. 37, § 30: Arch-heretics were said to have no hope for their fatherland.

Cap. 15, § 41: Then the eyes of all the horses were full of gnats and flew out to the country.

Cap. 78, § 2: Therefore one should get used to being industrious in time, even in the least, otherwise nothing will come of such rascals.

Cap. 62, § 2: No strength nor manhood can help against guns; he is dead before he is seen. Likewise Bindseil II, 194.

Cap. 76, § 19, para. 2 at the end: Christ is called an anointed one; with this they anointed and crowned kings.

Cap. 27, § 82: Finally, the fraud and deception was revealed by a boy and driven out of the country by the king.

Cap. 14, § 19: cups, which they touch with a little finger, instead of: they "do not" touch.

Cap. 43, § 5: A hen and she, instead of: a he male and a she.

Cap. 76, § 27, para. 4: Arragon and Pinskay are mountainous countries, pour water into the flour and put it outside on a hot stove and thus bake bread from it. (This sentence is improved from Slangwald.)

Cap. 43, § 167b, middle of the paragraph: who had a pig's spit standing by him, which also jumped out of bed and fiercely defended itself.

The Latin table talks also offer something similar. Bindseil 1, 145, middle: Erat enim depicta virgo Eva a Drotz, cum qua dux Bruns. Henricus genuit tres liberos in virginitate, et quinque post mortem martern. After martern, perhaps uxoriL 8uae will have to be added, and virZinit8, 8 to be understood from the time before he was married. Likewise Rebenstock I, 79 b.

Knowingly counterfeiting.

Aurifaber seems to have had Lauterbach's diary in front of him in a fairly original form, but a form of Cordatus' diary that had been corrupted by multiple copying and editing. He himself also contributed to making these deviations even greater. From the Lauterbach

The German is mostly quite faithfully reproduced in his notes, but the Latin, which forms the main part, is often mistranslated, expanded, shortened, often not understood at all. The difficult passages are mostly skipped and omitted, or, if he has dared to translate them, wrongly rendered, not infrequently the exact opposite of what the originals offer.

But not only from ignorance and lack of understanding come many inaccuracies, false statements, etc. in the table talks, but often, unfortunately we must say, they are deliberate falsifications. What may have caused Aurifaber to do this, we leave undecided. Also during the publication of the Jena edition of Luther's works, he would have tried, as already mentioned above, to include other writings than those published by Luther himself, but fell into disfavor over this and was therefore deposed from his office as court preacher in Weimar by Duke John Frederick the Middle. 1) With respect to the two Eislebische Theile published by Aurifaber, Walch, old edition, Vol. XXIV, p. 645, § 31 states: "One has wanted to pretend that some things were printed here under Luther's name, which he did not do, but Aurifaber wanted to assure the opposite. So much is clear to us that one has to be very careful and cautious in what goes back to the Eislebian volumes as the first source. Many errors in the editions are due to the Eislebic edition. For example, the letter to Joachim von Anhalt is given by Aurifaber in the Eisl. Ausg. Ü, 499 as not having been printed before. However, it is found in the Wittenbergische Ausg., vol. Xll, 162d and in the Jenaische, vol. VI, 167. Cf. Walch, St. Louiser Ausg., vol. X, 1808 and again old edition, vol. XXI, 1407. De Wette IV, 460 and IV, 536.

The "Concern and Instruction of the Monasteries, and all Spiritual Vows," which is part of the sermon on the day of the Three Kings,

1. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. XXIV, the fourth chapter, especially p. 641, h 29 ff.

54 Introduction.

is also marked in the Eislebische Ausgabe as not having been printed before, but it is found in the Wittenb. Ausg. vol. IV, 464 and twice in Walch, alte Ausg. vol. XIX, 2053 and St. Louis Ausg. vol. XI, 391-414, §§ 253-312.

In the Eislebische Sammlung II, 112, the "German short interpretation of the 23rd, 24th and 25th Psalms" is preceded by the remark: "The following interpretation of three Psalms is taken and added from D. Luther's own handwriting. Luther's own manuscript." Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. IV, 2220. The Latin edition Eri. Tom. XVII, 276, which is procured by the children and heirs of Veit Dietrich in 1559, is also prefixed: De autographo D. Lutheri expressa". Thus we have two autograph originals by Luther of the same writing.

The text: "Die zehn Gebote GOttes mit einer kurzen Auslegung ihrer Erfüllung und Uebertretung", Walch, old edition, vol. Ill, 1994-2005, is a German translation of the Latin text Eri. Tom. XII, 219 ff, rearranged and somewhat changed and shortened at the end. Only a small section Eri. Tom. XU, 226, item (e) septem - gratiae is missing. In the Wittenberg and Jena editions only in Latin. Viteb. I, 199, Ion. 1, 175. This German Uebersetzung first appeared in d^r Eislebische Ausgabe I, 21 and from there passed into the other editions. The other authentic German version is found in Wittenb. Ausg., vol. VI, 104 (108); Jen. I. 244 (319b); Walch, St. Louiser Ausg., vol. X, 148 ff.

What, in the case of these and similar pieces, only suggests itself as a suspicion that Aurifaber may not have proceeded with complete honesty in the publication of Luther's writings, becomes an undoubted, irrefutable certainty when we look at his edition of the Table Talks. Already among the pieces that Aurifaber, as the first writer, handed down, we encountered in Cap. 1, § 95, Para. 1 an excerpt from Luther's writing: "Wider den Meuchler zu Dresden" (Against the Assassin at Dresden), Walch, old edition, Vol. XVI, 2069, § 6. If we look around further in the Table Talks, we encounter in more than 140 paragraphs of the Table Talks probably more than two

The author has inserted, omitted, made introductions, conclusions, and applications to a hundred sections that have escaped from other, already printed writings of Luther, which Aurifaber has remodeled according to his liking. All the pieces he took from Luther's writings were more or less changed by him to make them appear as table speeches.

Because we have referred to the relevant passages in Luther's works for all such pieces that we have discovered, we will limit ourselves here to indicating only some of the most obvious ones.

Cap. 10, § 12, Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2044 f., is from Luther's gloss on the supposed imperial edict, but prefaced: "Dear Sirs, said v. Martinus Luther."

Cap. 1, § 40, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XI, 523, § 19 and 519, § 9, is from the Church Postilla, but prefaced: "Of this saying one asked D. M. Luthern."

Cap. 1, § 49, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XI, 546, § 2 and § 4, is from the church postilion, but introduced: "Es fragete einer über D. Luthers Tische."

Cap. 9, § 33. 34. 35., Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, 541, § 5 and 6; 542, § ch 543, § 8; 550, § 31; 545, § 15; 543, § 9; 545, § 16; 543, § 11. 12. 13; 546, § 20. 21; 549, § 27. 28, divided into 13 pieces and mixed together, with expletives and additions, formed entrances and concluding speeches. They are all from the same sermon on Sunday Quasimodogeniti in the house postille, but prefaced, "Since D. Martinus was asked..." "he answered."

Cap. 10, § 4, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XIII, 1623 f., § 15. 16, is from the house postilla, but introduced: "sprach D. Martinus."

Cap. 10, § 6, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XI, 555, § 7. 8. 9. 10; 557, § 12; 558, § 14; 559, § 16. 17, is from the church postilion, but introduced, "What, said D. M. Luther."

Cap. 10, § 7, Walch, St. Louis ed,

Introduction. 55

Vol. XI, 1268, §61, is from the Church Postilla, but prefaced: "Since on the third Sunday after Trinity the Gospel of the Good Shepherd, who sought the lost sheep, was commemorated."

Cap. 19, § 25, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. X, 137, § 246 and 130, § 232, is from the Great Catechism, but prefaced, "It was asked."

Cap. ^l8, § 12, Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. X, 2158, § 1-8, is from the brief instruction on how to confess.

Cap. I, § 61, Walch, old ed. vol. VIII, Cap. 2, § 55. 56. 63. 67. 68, is from the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, but introduced: "D. Luther sagete."

Lap. 2, § 151, Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, ibid, Cap. I, § 60 and 59, transposed and abridged and introduced: "I have often said it, said D. Martinus, and still say it."

Cap. 7, § I, paras. 4 and 5, ibid. Walch, Vol. VIII, Cap. 4, §46, introduced: "So gedachte sein abermal D. M. Luther."

Cap. 7, § 57, ibid, Walch, vol. VIII, 1524, § 1, introduced: "In my heart, said D. Martinus."

Cap. 9, § 7, ibid, Walch, vol. VIH, cap. I, § 68, introduced: "Since one asked."

Cap. 12, § 67, is compiled from Luther's Preface on the New Testament of 1545, Walch, old edition, vol. XlV. 103, § 14. 15 and (paras. 2 and 3) from the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Walch, vol. VIII, Cap. 2, § 137, introduced: "Therefore I say."

Cap. 12, § 73, Walch, Vol. VIII, Interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 2, § 128 and § 152, introduced: "I say truly, said D. Martin."

As an indication, this will probably be enough. More than ten times as much proof can be found in our new edition, and yet Aurifaber says quite naively in his preface to the edition of 1568, which is included above: "so I do not like to see that one buys old for new and that the people are changed by the new titles and improvements on the nose." And yet only he, and no one else, sets the

The author is not interested in the content of the book, but rather in the way it is presented to the public.

Credibility of Table Talks.

Not all information even from the first recorders of the Table Talks is completely reliable. Cordatus No. 338 has quite a number of erroneous statements about? Incidents from Luther's life. The name of Luther's mother is incorrectly given, Hanna instead of Margaretha, the year of Luther's birth is only corrected by an old hand, probably from 1484 to 1483, the time of the omission of the theses is set in the year 1516 instead of 1517, the time of the first papal bull of excommunication in the year 1519 instead of 1518, as it is correctly stated in Cord. No. 569 is correctly stated.

In No. 343, Cordatus says that Luther omitted his theses in the second year after he became a doctor, even though Luther had already received his doctorate in 1512. The same error is also found by Kummer in Lauterbach pag. 102. - In Nö. 930 it is stated that Luther became a doctor in his 27th year, instead of in his 29th year, cf. Cord. No. 892.

Cord. No. 632 the relation is in several details different from what Luther himself writes to Amsdorf in 1525, 1) 2000 florins instead of 4000 florins at Cordatus. The latter does not state that Luther had the Polish Jew imprisoned, which is stated in this letter as well as in the letter to Spalatin 2), and that Luther had him set free because he did not want him to be martyred.

Therefore, we should not be surprised that we encounter many more and grosser errors among the later collectors of the Table Talks. We know that Luther had five living children, namely John, Martin, Paul and Magdalena. Elisabeth, about one year old, died again on August 3, 1528. Rebenstock, however, lets Luther himself tell in a conversation, which falls into the year 1532, and where Cordatus speaks only of three children, that he had six children.

4. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 951, § 5.
5. Walch, old edition,,Ban- XXI, 955, § 1.

56 Introduction.

Rebenftock adds a fourth, Andreas, to Luther's three boys. In the Höllische Handschrift 1) Luther already has six children and the wife is pregnant with the seventh.

Especially from Cordatus, Veit Dietrich and Schlaginhaufen we know (not so definitely from Lauterbach) that they made their notes on the spot, in the presence of Luther. Nevertheless, with respect to the table speeches copied from Luther, what Walch said at the end of his preface p. 23 b remains true. 23 b at the end: "One does not deny that, because it has not been possible to memorize all the words as they were spoken, and therefore to record them always in the most exact manner, it soon happens that one person, when he hears another's speech, sometimes does not quite grasp and understand it, and therefore cannot put it down on paper correctly: Also, since such collected speeches have been copied by others, some errors can creep in, and these table speeches have been marked differently in some parts and subsequently printed, than the same Lutherus really spoke. But this in itself does nothing. The inaccuracies that have been incorporated do not overthrow the work itself, Lutherus remains the author, and what I noted earlier, that those who collected these speeches could and would have written down the truth, also remains true. One only makes a distinction between the thing itself and some special circumstances of it."

Other questions, which should be discussed in a preface to the Table Talks, are answered by Walch in his preface so appropriately and aptly that we are unable to put anything better in its place and therefore place the relevant paragraphs here.

§ The other question which I have to deal with here is: if Lutherus is to be regarded as the author of the Table Talks per se, whether it would have been advisable to have made them known through printing after his death? To this I answer in the negative, and believe that it would have been better if they had never been published.

1. BiNdkeil II. 353.

and would have published them. For the fact that one writes down another's speeches, which one hears from him over the table or otherwise in familiar company, and thereby has the intention of using them only for oneself, is not in itself wrong; that they are subsequently, when their author is dead, disseminated to all the world through printing, is a thing that one cannot approve of so generally. It happens, without dispute, against the intention of the one who spoke it. To a certain extent, one does him an injustice after his death by having him print something that he did not want to have printed. Many things are spoken in confidence at the table and to good friends: one speaks something that one has misgivings about saying at another time and in another place; indeed, if one worries that it might be spread and brought among other people, one even holds back. The publication of such table speeches was also not necessary. Blessed Luther had left behind so many splendid and excellent books that one could be satisfied with them and have reason to praise and glorify God for this noble treasure: not to think how one gave the papists the opportunity for many blasphemies and slanders against Luther's person and life.

To prove this, Walch refers to the unanimous judgment of many eminent men, Christians and pagans, and finally, to Luther's Latin preface to the "conciunculae", which has already been touched upon several times. 2)

Then Walch continues, § XXII: "If one had wanted to promote Luther's Table Talks for printing, it would have been good if one had made a proper selection and not found all those who had written miau, but only those who could not give any offense. This has already been mentioned here and there. Among others, Mr. D. Rechen berg 3 writes: rrectius colloquiorum illorum collec-

2. Walch, page 27, has the following comment on this: "e) Nicolaus Selnecker, in the preface; or rather, in the letter, which he made to these table speeches in 1577, is not satisfied with those who think that such speeches should not have been printed." Selnecker then seeks to refute the reasons of those who opposed the printing.
3. In the dissertation cited above, § XV.

Introduction. 57

tores fecissent, si graviores ejus sententias a lepidis, quae ipsi, forte remissionum tempore, in mensa cum jucundis amicis confabulanti, exciderunt, separassent et has non conjecissent in chartas et postea typis mandassent publicis, ac adeo sycophantarum turbae, cui tantopere exosus est Lutherus, calumniandi ansam praebuissent. This did not happen, and Joh. Aurifaber, who first brought the work to light, made a mistake in it, not only because of a lack of reflection that clung to him, as some believe, but rather out of excessive respect for Luther, by virtue of which he thought that nothing of what he had said and written should be left behind, but that everything should be published and made known through printing. And even if this respect prevented the proper and sufficient insight, the oversight that occurred originally came not from a corruption of the intellect, but of the will.

§ XXOOl: "The third question, which I have to discuss here, is: 'Since Luther's table speeches have been made common by printing, whether anything can be proved from them that is detrimental to the best person and doctrine? It is known what kind of slander, special-

1. Walch's note p. 27: "Z) In the Höllische auserlesenen Anmerkungen part. II. p. 161, it is said that the ludicrous Anton Lauterbach had first compiled Luther's table speeches, but Aurifaber had made them common to Luther's extreme prostitution out of a pedantic simplicity and lack of understanding through printing, which judgment seems to be somewhat too harshly formulated. Of the same opinion is Just Christoph Motschmann in Lrkkoräia utsrata, namely in the second collection p. 222, but he expresses it somewhat less harshly, noting that Aurifabro's power of judgment was weak, and that this could be seen especially clearly in the table speeches of Lutheri that he compiled, since he did not keep the slightest selectum, but gathered together everything that occurred to him, without considering whether it was spoken in jest or in earnest: whether it could be interpreted as good or bad. Therefore, those with understanding often wished that such collection had either been omitted altogether, or had been done with more caution."-In Walch's note p. 28, 6) it is said that D. Heu mann in poscil. torn. II, lidr. I. p. 6, Luther would never have given his consent to the publication of the Tischreden. ^urikai-er autsrn I^utberurn babobat pro oraoulo ynociarn, at^ue 6tiain svnta OZN8 ornnia pntabat 6886 1ins6nda. - Seckendorf in bistor. Krittler. lidr. Ill, z 134, p. 643 calls the table speeches: lidrurn minus osuts eompositurn, aut VulMtum.

The first time, Satan needed unfaithful and ungrateful disciples. In the beginning, Satan needed unfaithful and ungrateful disciples, people to whom Luther had done many good deeds. The most distinguished among them were: Georg Wicelius, Johann Agricola and Friedr. Staphylus. After the Table Talks came out, one thought to have found all sorts of things in them by which one could, as it were, make him stink with everyone, or paint a color on these and those slanders. One has sometimes mounted something against his person, sometimes against his teachings, and wanted to take the proof from such speeches. This has now been done without reason, and it is considered reasonable that nothing can be proven from the Table Talks that could be detrimental to Luther. For even if they came from him, as I have noted before, they are and remain table speeches: speeches that he spoke without prior deliberation, that were written out without his care and will, and after his death a special book of them was brought to light, which he could neither see nor read through. Our scholars of God have long since remembered this, not without reason. I refer to Johann Gerhard, 2) Leonhard Hutter, Johann Adam Schertzer, Joh. Adam Osiander, Georg Zeämann, not to think of others."

§ XXIV: "In order to elaborate on this, I will add a few special remarks. The first is that one encounters many learned and excellent things in Luther's Table Talks, according to all kinds of matter of which they deal. Of the main articles of our Christian religion, many beautiful thoughts are found here, as of the Word of God, of Christ, of free will, of the difference between the Law and the Gospel, of justification 2c. It

2. Walch's note p. 28: "N He writes in 6X6F68. artio. <is seriptura saer. § OXXXIII, p. 51: Iib6r eonvivialium 86rrnonuni " ibntlmro nee visus, noo l66tU8, N66 aä probat U8 68t, qnin multoti68 xrivato ynoruruckarn arbitrio mutatus, mutilatus, auetn8, iä yuoä üäoin autbsnticam illi inorito äero^at. So he also judges in eoniessiono eatbolioa p. 331 and in äi8putationibn8 tkoolosio. p. 1210." An apt, sharp-witted judgment!

58 Introduction.

is emphatically taught about the Roman Antichrist and the Pabstacy is presented in its right form. From time to time, many serious and moving admonitions and warnings are given. The book can be read and used with benefit; it serves not only for learning, but also for edification. Andreas Stangwald 1) presents this with several others, and adds: It can be said without falsehood that in these miscellanea the whole Christian doctrine is abundantly, brightly and clearly set forth, so that in it every Christian can have rich and full instruction of all that he needs to know for his soul's bliss. Johann Aurifaber notes exactly this, and Nicolaus Selnecker says that there are many great teachings, spirit and comfort in these table speeches, so that one must hold it in high esteem."

Then Walch defends Luther against the accusation that he spoke too disdainfully of some books of the Holy Scriptures and of the church teachers, "and then continues:

ß XXVII: "Thirdly, I add that even if one encounters one and the other in Luther's table speeches that one cannot approve of and endorse per se, he is nevertheless to be excused for this reason, or nothing is to be proven against his person and teaching. This remark is also of such a nature that it is based on good reasons. Blessed Luther was a human being and the grace of God, which proved itself in him powerfully, did not go any extraordinary ways with him, which made him not only gradually enlightened and sanctified, but also constantly clung to human errors and weaknesses, and he therefore spoke and did many things that did not come from the spirit of God dwelling in him, but from flesh and blood, and from the remnants of his corrupt nature. He himself knew this very well and confessed it freely. He says in one place: 2) In St. Augustine's office

1. In his attribution of the Table Talks.
2. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, 1976, § 7, Hauspostille, Pred. über das Ev. am Sonnt. Jubilate.

In the books one finds many sayings that flesh and blood have spoken, and I must also confess of myself that I speak many words that are not God's words when I speak outside the preaching ministry, at home over the table, or otherwise. He had spoken and written many things in the heat, which he later recognized as a mistake and complained about it. In another place, he remembers how he puts down on paper in a few words one thing and another that he has in mind, so that he does not forget it: There are in them (as we are human beings) such things as are human, even tasting of the flesh. For when we are alone and disputing, we are also often angry; and God laughs at our excellent wisdom, with which we show ourselves whimsical before him; only believe that he also delights in such of his fools, who teach him how to rule, which I have not seldom done and still often do.'"

§ XXVIII: "Out of such human weakness, or out of the corruption of a lively, bright, and hot temper, some of Luther's speeches have flowed, which, considered in themselves, are not to be condoned; but he is to be excused. For if he sometimes made joking speeches; if he used an expression that does not completely correspond to decency, he did not do so out of a special inclination to what is dishonorable and indecent, but out of carelessness and thus indicated that he was a human being. It remains to be seen whether all idioms, words and expressions really flowed out of his mouth as they were distinguished by his table companions and other acquaintances and subsequently made common through printing. Thus, here too, one must not lose sight of the nature of the time in which he lived. The way of speaking

3. Wülch, St. Louiser Ausg., Vol. XII, 1859 f. in the preface to some short sermons, given to a good friend as a rule.

Introduction. 59

and writing was much harder then than it is now. That which is called decent is changeable. Herr von Seckendorf 1) says: multa verba et dicteria, quae hodie vilia aut spurca habentur, illo tempore sine turpitudine dici poterant et inter facetias non inhonestas locum habebant, quod ex collatione veterum et recentiorum librorum haud difficulter demonstrari posset. Many times it happened that Luther showed his zeal against shameful things, and then he thought that it was not necessary for him to measure the words according to the art, not to think how Luther's enemies often took them out of context and twisted them in many ways."

Wrampelmeyer in his preface p. 37 says: "Also the reproach could be made to the records of Cordatus that they contain just like the later table speeches some coarse, for us offensive. Of course, they do not contain as much offensiveness as the Latin and German table speeches, but at least enough. Here we' certainly must not apply the standard of the present time. Luther's manner has certainly often not been a fine one. But he speaks the language of his people and of his time, and at that time people not only did not take offense at such expressions, but even counted them among the good jokes." Further, in the third note to No. 124 of Cordatus: "Such expressions of Luther's prove very often in the German table speeches, in the pieces which transmit them together with Cordatus, to be later additions not originating from Luther." .. . "The strongest such expressions tend as a rule to occur in Luther only," . "when he wishes to lend the strongest expression to his abhorrence of the devil, his instruments and works." To this we have to add: At that time, when a court jester could put something in his prince's boots and then, to the general amusement of the people, could excuse himself with impunity by saying that a little bird had done it 2), many things were considered proper that are judged quite differently in our time. Therefore, one should not be surprised if such things happen to us.

1. In 6i8tor. 6ut6. likr. Ill, § 134, n. 643.
2. Bindseil I, 250.

Offensive things also occur here and there in the table speeches. By our standards, indecency is found several times, but in our edition, which has been renewed according to the originals, not nearly as much as in the old editions; however, Luther never contains anything truly indecent, no matter how much his enemies would like to burden him with it.

Some people also take offense at some of Luther's harsh statements. Often Luther speaks very harshly about the peasants, as well as about burghers and nobles. That in this Luther, who calls himself the son of a farmer, is not a haughty contempt of honest classes, especially the peasantry, but the expression of the truth: "that the more blessings God pours out on people, the more ungrateful they are," is evident from what we read in Cordatus No. 700, in our Table Talks Cap. 4, §20: "Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jsaat were not only farmers and tillers of the soil, but also theologians, for the Scripture says (Gen. 24, 63.) that Isaac went into his field to signify the gifts of GOD and the creatures that are perceived in the field."

According to this, Luther also declares our faithful, godly peasants to be theologians who do not fall under his harsh judgments.

Something similar is laid down by Walch in his preface in the 29th paragraph. Then he continues in § XXX: "The enemies and the ill-minded can carefully read out of the Table Talks everything that, according to their imagination, serves against the blessed Luther, and therefore take the opportunity to blaspheme and slander in many ways; but if they wanted to show themselves honest and impartial, then they should not forget the many good and useful things that are in it, and for this reason let both Luther himself and the book receive what is right and fair. This must be done here all the more, because one finds far more to praise than to blame in this work. Nicolaus Selnecker 3) writes, not without good reason: "It is a sin and a disgrace that the unholy slanderers have come out of a great, beautiful, excellent garden,

3. In the letter to the table speeches.

60 Introduction.

If there are all kinds of noble trees, fruits, herbs and fragrant flowers in it, and among them a prickly sour herb is found for the wild pigs, they will soon turn their eyes and judgment on such a bitter herb and for that reason reject and destroy the whole garden along with all noble trees and fruits and not think that just such a prickly herb was put there for the wild, desolate pigs. It can be seen from this how Luther always spoke of important and useful things at his table and also presented a teacher to his table guests here, not without some advantage. That is why Herr von Seckendorf also says: 1) Joci aliquantum liberiores in conviviis et inter familiares ei exciderunt; sed conversatio illa amoenior et amorem ei conciliavit, et plurimis profuit; sale enim condire noverat jocos, et in conviviis proponere etiam solebat, quae ad firmandam fidem christianam et corrigendos mores facerent, ut vel ex libro colloquiorum mensalium, minus quidem caute composito aut vulgato, constare potest, et scriptorum fide dignorum testimonio adseritur."

§ XXXI: "But as it is abundantly clear from what I have just said that blessed Luther must be excused if things occur in the Table Talks that are not in themselves to be approved of; so in truth his enemies can cite nothing from it or prove anything that would be detrimental to him and the best doctrine. Let it be said that there is something in them that is either false and erroneous, or evil and dishonorable; does one know that such passages have been so carefully noted and correctly recorded by those at the table that they are in all respects as Luther really spoke them? Is it not fair that those writings which he himself brought to light, or which came out during his lifetime and with the best of his knowledge and will, should be preferred to the table speeches, and that his teachings and opinions should not be judged both by these and by those? For since the aforementioned table speeches are, according to his-

1. In the Historia Lutk. lid. Ill, § 134, x. 643.

Since it is not known whether they were understood and written out correctly in all respects, since they are table speeches and thus conversations that were brought forward without prior consideration, it would be astonishing if one wanted to derive and prove the best doctrines from them, and not rather from the writings that Luther himself edited. To prove this, Walch then states that according to Cap. 17, § 3, Para. 3, in case of need, baptism can also be done with wine, beer, milk, and the like, whereas Luther, in his sermon on baptism 2) from 1540, says that it must be water, not wine, beer, lye, or any other thing. On the basis of this, the papists also accused Luther of error. But now we see from the originals of the Table Talks, 3) that Luther said nothing of the kind, so the accusations of the papists are completely groundless.

Then Walch continues, § XXXII: "And how may the admirers of the Roman bishop bear with Luther's table speeches? How might they judge his person and teachings according to them, and therefore take their accusations against him in the first place? since they would certainly not approve if one were to seduce them and their own in the same way. If one were to record the table speeches of popes, cardinals, bishops, prelates and others, there would certainly be such evil, ungodly, shameful things that one would not easily hear. If they were to be compiled and made known through printing, the papists would in truth be doing a bad favor. Yes, what would they say if one were to judge the character and doctrine of this and that person on the basis of such speeches and therefore wanted to get the proof, since one could perhaps do this with more justification than with Luther's table speeches and also add the shameful deeds? This is what our people have long since recalled against them, and not without reason. Among others, Joh. Ernst Gerhard says: 4) 'et sane

2. Walch, old edition, vol. VII, 1011, § 13; Col. 1015, 8 19.
3. Cordatus No. 935. ,
4. In the letter to his father Joh. Gerhard patroloK.

Introduction. t61

si, ut sermones conviviales, quos adversarii beati Lutheri super mensa in familiari colloquio proferre saepe adsolent, in publicum spargerentur, contingeret, nae futurum, ut quam plurimi erubescant notabiliter'. And Adam Rechenberg1 ) writes: ,aegre ipsi pontificii ferunt, si, quae de pontificum Romanorum, episcoporum et aliorum sacri ordinis hominum sermonibus aut dicteriis, parum Christianis, passim memorant historici, illis exprobrantur. Cur ergo Lutherani reprehendunt, si forte aliquando inter familiares amicos liberius paulo de hac, vel illa re loquutus sit? Nemo sane unqam ex illo vel tam turpes voces audivit, vel in colloquiis ejus consarcinatis legit, quales in pontificum et episcoporum Romanensium vitis, aut scriptis leguntur. '"

Our issue.

We have removed 520 "duplicates" from the Table Talks, which are found partly in the Table Talks themselves and partly elsewhere in Luther's writings.

The diaries of Cordatus and Lauterbach are entirely translated by us from Latin and included in our edition.

In the diary of Cordatus there are 1843 numbers in total. Of these, 1031 are included in the Table Talks, 727 in Appendix No. II; not used because Duplicate 2c., 85 numbers.

Lauterbach has a total of 488 numbers. Of these, 356 numbers are housed in the Tischreden, 127 in Appendix No. I.; 5 numbers are not used. Of these, two are duplicates, two are not by Luther, and one number is not suitable for sharing.

From sorrow 24 pieces are placed in the table speeches.

All Bible passages are looked up and many other errors are improved.

1. In the Dissert. äs solloquiis rnenssliduslmtkeri 8 XXII. one thue add: Ioh.Gerhard in sontsssion, eatkolis. p. 331. Joh. Möller in äslsnsions Imtksri äsksnsi v. 13. and Ernst S a l. Cyprian in the Überzeugende Belehrung vom Ursprung und Wachstumhum des Pabstthums x. 692.

+---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | To bring pieces | | | | | that have been torn | | | | | apart back | | | | | together, the | | | | | following is | | | | | transferirt: | | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | Cap. 1,§ 62 | | Cap. 66, 8 33. | | | after | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 1,s M | | " 3, 8 23. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | Partial | " 2, 8 24 | | " 6, 8 2. | | | | | | | | " 5, 8 19 | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | | | " 5, 8 18. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 7, § 44 | | " 24, 8 75. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 7, 8132 | | " 7, 8133. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 11, 8 26 | | " 11, 8 12. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | In | " 17, § 10 is | | | | | Cord. No. 1183 | | | | | to 1155 | | | | | inserted. | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | Cap. 12, 8 71 | Acc | | | | | ord | | | | | ing | | | | | to | | | | | C | | | | | ap. | | | | | 27, | | | | | 81 | | | | | 06. | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 17, 8 24 | | " 17, 8 4. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 22, 8 24 | | " 22, § 10. , | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 22, 8116 | ,, | " 58, 8 3. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 22, 8156 | ,, | " 44, 8 5. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 24, 8 8 | | " 7, § 94. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 26, 8 33 | ,, | " 26, 8 20. . | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 26, § 35 | | " 26, 8 5. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 27, 8 79 | | " 27, 8138.' | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 37, § 29 | | " 45, 8 59. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 37, 8 44 | | " 30, § 14. ' | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 44, 8 8 | | " 44, 8 7. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 45, 8 6 | ,, | " 21, 8 6. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 45, 8 14 | | " 58, 8 3. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | Partial | " . 45, § 65 | ,, | " 21, 8 6. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 48, 8 25 | | " 13, § 44. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | The last paragraph | " 51, 8 2 | ,, | " 51, 8 3. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | Partial | " 52, 8 3, | ,, | Annex § 10. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 59, 8 9 | | Cap. 69, § 1. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 67, 8 5 | | " 4, 8 71. | | | | | | | | | | " 7, 8 56. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | .74, 8 23 | | | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 75, 8 2 | | " 62, 8 I. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+ | | " 76, 8 16 | ,, | " 67, § 2. | +---------------------+------------------+-----+----------------------+

In the case of a number of other pieces, which are also separate, the transfer was not necessary because, as often happens in conversations, there was no internal connection.

Only one heading has been changed by us, Cap. 39, § 12 after Cord. No. 230, where the manuscript offers struthio, not scorpio.

Some pieces are given by us twice, both according to the redaction of Lauterbach and according to that of Cordatus, namely Cap. 3, § 16; Cap. 27, § 11 and 30, § 10; Cäp. 27, § 36 and 56, § 4; Cap. 43, § 63 and Cap. 62, § I and 75, § 2.

Twice, according to Cordatus and Kummer, we have communicated: Cap. 4, § 82 and 24, § 59: Cap. 15, § 11 and Cap. 2, § 121; Cap. 22, § 6; Cap. 22, § 12 and 73, § 14; Cap. 73, § 17; Cap. 75, § 1; Cap. 76, § 23.

In the choice of pieces we have been bound by the old table speeches, and have left many a paragraph which, if the choice had been with us, we would not have given. But because these

62 Introduction.

pieces have often been brought to light in corrupted and mutilated form, justice demands that they now be published in proper form as well.

The external arrangement of the table speeches into chapters, as in Aurifaber, and into paragraphs, as in Walch, even the headings of the paragraphs, we have left unchanged, because they have often been cited and we did not want to cut off the possibility for the buyers of our edition to look up such pieces.

We have often used Wrampelmeyer's remarks without using his own words. We consider it necessary to note this explicitly here.

We have left unchanged those pieces of Aurifaber's edition with respect to which we could not draw anything from the originals. There is still much of value among them.

We have made use of square brackets several times in our edition: The word inserted in such

Brackets enclosed contains either an addition made by us, e.g. additions of initial letters of names, historical additions, additions of omissions, necessary word explanations, Bible passages inserted by us, translations where the Latin had to remain, or handwritten words, if they are particularly interesting, if a concise, untranslatable word is in the original, In the case of scholastic expressions, for a better understanding of our translation, sometimes also when the word we had at our disposal did not seem to completely cover the meaning of the original, or when we were not quite sure whether we had hit the right note.

Where it is a matter of a revelatory citation, the scriptural sayings are not reproduced by us in the version of the originals, nor, where it could be otherwise, according to the wording of the Vulgate, but according to Luther's translation of the Bible.

Main index to Luther's Table Talks.

(Arranged alphabetically by item.)

Columne

Idolatry 238

Annoyance 1114

Allegories and spiritual interpretations of Scripture 1338

Contestations 784

Antichrist or Pabst 840

Apostle or Disciple of Christ .... 1432

Astronomy and star art 1544

Resurrection of the dead and eternal life 1318

Confession of doctrine and consistency 534

Occupation 1640

New Testament books 1408

Books of the fathers in the church 1388

Cardinals and bishops 970

Ceremonies 996

Christians and Christian life 1094

Christ . 260

Concilien 1348

Trinity 256

Noblemen 1468

Marital status 1122

Angel 696

Excommunication and ban 610

Purgatory 1006.

Prayer 510

Counter and emergency defense 1454

Spirit, Holy 354

Scholar 1560

Law and Gospel 414

Faith in Christ alone makes one righteous before God 446

Worship, right 1118

Ecclesiastical or church property 1382

Columne

Hypocrites and false brothers 1098

Court life 1648

Jews 1570

Lawyers 1472

Catechism 392

Church, Christian 594

Kings, princes and lords 1230

Diseases and their causes 1288

Wars 1438

War chiefs and heroes 1446

Lands and cities 1612

Legends of the saints 1344

Fair 998

Monks, their life and good days 950

Musica 1536

Authority and princes 1214

Ear confession 554

Patriarchs and Prophets 1418

Preaching office or church servant 628

Law, papal or ecclesiastical 982

Imperial days and conventions, or meetings in

Religion matters 1370

Rome 1634

Sacrament of the altar 562

Creation 138

Schools and universities 1522

School theologians 1400

The following are the most important examples of this.

Luther have laid . 1008

Sophistry 1112

Languages 1540

64 Main register to Luther's Table Talks.

Columne

Studies 1558

Sin 356

Day, youngest 1330

Baptism 540

Devil and his works 700

Death 1298

Traditions, human 990

Drunkenness 1646

Turks 1590

Disagreement 1284

Downfall of the enemies of the divine Word 946

Damnation and hell 1328

World and its kind 182

Works of God 64

Works, good 488

Adversaries who wrote against Luther 936

Columne

Will, free 382

Word of God or the Holy Scriptures 1

Magic 780

Signs and wonders 1554

Appendix.

Some table speeches, so in below indicated sections belong 1654

Appendix No. I.

Diary of M. Anton Lauterbach on the year 1538 1668

Appendix No. II.

Diary about D. M. Luther kept by D. Conrad Cordatus 1537 1808

D. Martin Luther's

Meaningful Table Talks,

according to the main points of Christian doctrine..

The 1. Chapter.

From God's Word or the Holy Scriptures.

1. Of the holy Biblia.
2. proof that the Bible is the Word of God.
3. at what time the Bible was interpreted.
4. difference of the Bible and other books.
5. what to look for primarily in the Bible.
6. that one should read the text of the Bible diligently and stick to it as the one true foundation.
7. that the Bible is the head of all arts.
8. the school theologian art in the Bible.
9. that one cannot study the Bible.
10. that the Scriptures are difficult to understand.
11. of the contempt of the divine word; how the world behaves against the same.

That the ingratitude of the world may drive away the word of God.

13. of the future loss of the divine word.
14. about the future lack of righteous preachers.

Where God's word is taught, people are the most wicked.

16. D. M. Luther's prophecy of his teaching.
17. of the excess and contempt of the word of god.
18. ingratitude of the world for God's word.
19. what God's word drives out.
20. The enthusiasts despise God's word.

The antinomians are despisers of the divine word.

22. that the persecutors of Christians and God's word have little luck.

People willfully resist God's word.

24. contempt of the divine word is severely punished.

(25) He who despises the word of God is not to be argued with.

26. what Albrecht, Bishop of Mainz, judged of the Bible.

27 The Bible is hated by the worldly wise and so-

28. the swarmers' error of God's word.
29. the use and effect of the divine word: that God's word alone is certain and surmountable.
30. Apart from God's word, nothing is certain.
31. be sure of God's word.

With the word of God you can defend yourself against the devil.

The gospel reveals the secret wickedness of men.

34. majesty and glory of the divine word, that God speaks to us through it.

The word of God is a fiery shield to all who trust in it.

God is certainly sought and found in His word of Christ.

(37) That all actions and life should be guided by the divine word.

God Himself speaks through the Word, and such a Word is powerful.

God's word is the highest comfort.

The gospel is a mystery.

The world, especially the church, is governed and sustained by the Word of God.

God instructs man's heart, reason, hands and feet through His Word.

43. God has bound us to the oral word.
44. how to teach God's word correctly.

The listeners of the divine word are obliged to feed the preachers.

The Word of God shows all the divine states and teaches how to conduct oneself in them.

The Word of God alone overcomes the devil's fiery darts and all temptations.

The Word of God is and remains the Word of God, whether we believe it or not.

49. To whom the divine word is useful.

50. where one loves the word of God, there dwells God.

2 Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 1. 2. 3

The Word of God alone does everything.

The word of God is twofold.

The power of the Word of God.

The word of God alone is to be believed and not doubted.

55. Those who have God's word pure and hold fast to it are poor.

(56) True Christians are ready to suffer death and all misfortune for the sake of the gospel, but hypocrites flee the cross.

Preaching God's word brings the cross.

58. Whoever wants to teach and confess God's word must not wait for honor, but for the holy cross.
59. the nature of the word of God.
60. God's Word is the body in which children of God are conceived and born.
61. God's word is to be preferred over all persons and things.
62. through whom GOD keeps his word.

63. The word of God is to be firmly believed, but the wickedness of the world is so great that the last day must control it.

64 A rhyme from the New Testament.

65 A rhyme about the Psalm: Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

In matters of religion, one should judge from God's Word and not from human wisdom.

In the past, there was evil study, especially of the Scriptures.

The word of God is not to be judged by the fruits and lives of the hearers.

The Gospel is the best new newspaper.

70. contempt and corruption of God's word is the greatest wrath of God.

71. For what the contempt of the divine word serves.

The first is a description of what the Holy Scripture has to do with people.

73. the sacred scriptural custom.

The word of God appears to reason to be a vain lie.

That the Jews have better teachers and scribes of the Scriptures than we Gentiles.

The first is a complaint about the number of books, and an exhortation to read the Bible carefully.

The first is the first of the two fables of Aesop and the second is the first of the two fables of Aesop.

78. No one is offended by the simple speech of the Scriptures.

Why the same thing is repeated so often in the Scriptures.

80. One should hold on to God's word alone and remain firm.

The word of God is to be heard, not pondered according to God's majesty.

82 Another one of these.

83 Another one of these.

That God's word was preached much more powerfully in the apostles' time, and now in our time, and has been spread more widely than in the time of Christ.

85. contempt of the divine word.

The essence of a thing is to be separated from its custom, and remain solely with God's word.

The Word of God performs great miracles, but everyone wants to master it.

Without God's word, the ceremonies are filth and dung.

Without challenge, God's word is not learned.

90. that ingratitude against God's word will do great harm to our churches.

The world considers that the teaching of the divine word must soon perish.

Preaching God's word annoys the world.

93. How to stand against the despisers of the divine word and the sacraments.

94. How God spoke to the fathers.
95. how the world wants to abolish and settle the division in religious matters.

That the divine Word and the Christian Church may be preserved from the raging of the world.

1. from the holy Biblia.

The venerable Doctor Martin Luther once said to Philippo Melanchthon, item to Doctor Justo Jonah and others, about the Biblia or Holy Scripture, that it was like a very large forest, in which there were many and all kinds of trees, from which one could break off many kinds of fruit. For in the Biblia one would have abundant comfort, teaching, instruction, admonition, warning, promise and prophecy 2c. But there is not a tree in this forest on which he has not knocked and broken and shaken off a few apples or pears. 1)

1. Cf. Mathesius, St. Louis Edition, p. 221.

2. proof that the Bible is the Word of God.

(Cordatus No. 410 and No. 1345. 2)

The Bible is a book with which God misleads the world. But it is wonderful that God has protected this book, as well as His Church. But just as the devil has killed many saints whom we do not know, so no doubt God has caused many good books from the Bible to perish, of which we do not know.

That the Bible is God's Scripture is proven by the fact that everything in it is written by Moses as it goes and stands in the

2. Aurifaber had torn No. 1345 apart and placed No. 410 in between.

4 Cap. 1. of the word of god or the holy scriptures. § 2-5. 5

World, that is, as God made it and created it, and all kingdoms have ceased, but this book, however much it is challenged, remains. God has preserved it with special power. Others who have remained, such as Virgil and Homer, have been loved by the world.

3. which and at what time the Bible was interpreted.

Once, when talking about the interpretation of the Bible, D. M. Luther said that 341 years before Christ's birth and incarnation, the Septuagint interpreters, the seventy doctors and scholars of Jerusalem, at the time of Eleazari the High Priest, at the request of the king of Egypt, Ptolemaic Philadelphi, had brought the five books of Moses and the prophets from the Ebraic language into the Greek, and that the same king had spent great expenses on this interpretation. Then, after the birth, suffering and death of Christ, in 124 years, a Jew named Aquila, after being converted to the Christian faith, interpreted the Old Testament from the Ebraic into the Greek language in the time of Emperor Adrian. Three and fifty years after this Aquila lived Theodotius, who also interpreted the Bible. Symmachus did the same in the thirtieth year after Theodotius, under the emperor Severo. One, whose name is unknown, in the eighth year after Symmachus 'also interpreted the Bible, which interpretation is called Vulgate, that is 1) the common and fifth.

St. Jerome, who first corrected and improved the seventy interpreters and translators, then translated the Bible from Ebrew into Latin, which interpretation we still use in the churches today. And he did enough for one person, nulla enim privata persona tantum efficere potuisset. But he would not have done badly if he had taken a learned man or two to himself for translation: then the Holy Spirit would have seen himself all the more powerful.

1. So Stangwald. Aurifaber lacks the words: "VulS., that is".

According to the saying of Christ Matth. 18, 20: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there will I be in the midst of them. And interpreters or translatores shall not be alone, for good and propria verba do not always fall to one man. And because the Church of the Gentiles has stood, the Bible has never been so ready and understandable, so safe, that it could have been read without offense, as we have prepared it here in Wittenberg and brought it into the German language (praise God!).

4. difference of the Bible and other books.

Luther said that the Holy Scriptures are full of divine gifts and virtues, and that all the pagans' books teach nothing at all about faith, hope and love; they know nothing at all about it, but the pagans' books only look at the present, which can be felt and grasped and understood with reason. But trusting in God and hoping in the Lord is not in them. We should see this only from the Psalter and the Book of Job, as these two books deal with faith, hope, patience and prayer. In sum, the Holy Scriptures are the highest and best book of God, full of consolation in all temptation. For it teaches of faith, hope, and love much else than reason can see, feel, understand, and experience: and when things are bad, it teaches how these virtues should shine forth; and teaches that another and eternal life is over this poor miserable life.

5. what to look for primarily in the Bible, and how to study and learn the Scriptures.

(Cordatus No. 575. 576. 577.)

The highest lesson in theology is to be able to recognize Christ. The teacher should not be ashamed to learn from the pupil and the pupil from the teacher, and if I can be indulgent and kind to my friend, how much more Christ to me!

If the devil leads me to the law, I am condemned, but if Christ leads me back from the law to the gospel and

6 Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 5-7. 7

the promises of God, I am free and righteous. Therefore Peter says in one great word: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ", not in the knowledge of the dialectical or any other art, as if it justifies, but in the knowledge of Christ. On the other hand, the devil's greatest art is to obscure this knowledge from us, so that we end up trusting a friend more than Christ.

So great is the greatness of grace in Christ that we do not experience, understand, or realize this without temptations and fear. If I were not challenged by tyrants and false brethren, I would become very hopeful in my gifts, I would lead to the devil with my great art. I would attribute it to my powers, not to God, not to grace, I would not pray, and so on. That is why I am chastised.

6. that one should read the text of the Bible diligently and stick to it as the one true foundation.

Once upon a time there came into D. M. Luther's house of a noble doctor's son, an honorable, diligent and disciplined student, who did not set his sights on high things, nor did he flutter to and fro in the air; but was content with the lowly, and remained with the foundation and the first reasons, namely with his Institutionibus Juris. He studied these diligently. As the table companions diligently commended him to D. M. Luther, D. Martinus said. Martinus said, "He does this without a doubt from his father's counsel and command. For he who has laid a good foundation, and is well arranged in the text, so that he becomes a good textualist, has a foundation on which he can certainly rest and build; he does not easily run into trouble, nor does he err. And this is also highly necessary for a theologian. For with the text and the foundation of the holy Scriptures I have outwitted and outlived all my adversaries, for they only go along sleepily, teaching and writing everything from their own minds and according to reason, and think that it is a badly easy thing about the holy Scriptures. Just as the Pharisee thought it would be soon

This is what happened when the Lord Christ Luke said to him on 10:28, "Do this and you will live. For the fluttering spirits and enthusiasts understand nothing in the Scriptures, but meanwhile go astray with their wavering, inconstant and uncertain books, which they have devised.

Summa, he who is well versed in the text is a true pastor. And this is also my best and Christian advice, that one draws water from the well or spring, that is, reads the Bible diligently. For he who is well grounded and practiced in the text becomes a good and excellent theologian, since a saying and text from the Bible is more valid than many scribes and glosses, which are not strong and round, and yet they do not hold the engraving.

As when I have before me the saying of St. Paul, 1 Tim. 4, 4, where it is said: "All creatures of God are good, if they are received with thanksgiving. This text indicates that what God has created is good. Now, to eat, drink, marry or be married is 2c. God's creature; therefore it is good. Against this are the glosses; for St. Bernard, Basil, Dominic, Jerome and other holy fathers and teachers have written and done much differently. But the text goes far before and above all glosses. Nor have the dear fathers had a greater reputation among the papacy with their glosses than the bright sayings of the Bible. And so the Bible has been greatly wronged for a while, and yet the dear fathers, as Ambrose, Basil and Gregory, have often written cold things enough.

The Bible is the head of all the arts.

Let us, said Martin Luther once, not lose the Bible, but read and preach it diligently in the fear of God and in prayer. Let us not lose the Bible, but read and preach it with diligence, in the fear of God and in invocation: for if it abides, flourishes, and is rightly acted upon, all will be well and proceed happily. For it is the head and empress among all faculties and arts: if it, the theologia, lies, then I throw on the stocking. 1)

1. Stocking, i.e., torso. Cf. § 62.

8 Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 7-9. 9

But because these people, who are still alive in our time and teach God's word diligently, are still present; and who are also still alive, who have seen and heard me, item, Philippum Melanchthonem, D. Pomeranum, and other pious, faithful and righteous teachers: there it might still stand well. But when they are gone, and this time is past, a fall will occur. As we have an example of this in the book of Joshua and Judges. For in the book of Judges Cap. 2, 8-12, it is said: "When Joshua was dead, and all that lived at that time, there arose after them another generation, which knew not the Lord, nor the works which he had done for Israel; and they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and forsook the Lord their fathers' God, which had brought them out of Egypt, and went after other gods. So also, after the apostles' time, a fall soon arose, because they and their disciples departed: yes, while the apostles were still alive, as St. Paul complains, a great fall happened in the church among the Galatians, Corinthians and in Asia. As, unfortunately, we have also experienced with Muenzer, the Sacramentarians, the Anabaptists, the Antinomians and the like.

8. the school theologian art in the Bible.

The art of the school theologians with their speculation in the holy scriptures is nothing but vanity and human thoughts according to reason. I have read much of this in St. Bonaventure, but he has made me almost deaf. I would have liked to know and understand how God was united with my soul, but I could not learn it from it. They say much about the union of the understanding and the will; but it is vain fantasy and rapture. But this is the right speculativa, rather practica theologia, as: Believe in Christ and do what you are obliged to do in your profession. Likewise, the mystical theology of Dionysius is nothing but a work of fables and lies. Just as Plato also fables: Omnia sunt non ens, et omnia sunt ens Everything is nothing, and everything is nothing: 1) and so lets it hang.

I)' ichts d. i. something.

True, righteous theology is based on practice, custom, and training, and its foundation and bedrock is Christ, that his suffering, death, and resurrection may be grasped with faith. But all those who today do not hold with us, and do not have our doctrine before them, make for them only a speculative theology, since they are guided by reason and how they speculate about things; for they cannot come from the thought that he who does good and is pious is well off. But it is not so called; but he that feareth and trusteth in God, the same is well in the end. Therefore such speculative theology belongs in hell to the devil, as Zwingel and the sacramentalists also speculate, and think: The body of Christ is in bread, but only spiritually, for we see only bread. So they only dream and follow their thoughts, as much as they can comprehend with their five senses. And this is also Origen's Theologia. But David does not do so, but recognizes his sin and says: Miserere mei, Domine: God, have mercy on me. But among men God cannot maintain that he alone is God, for all men are after deity and would also like to be gods; much less can he maintain that he alone is pious and just; and this he can hardly maintain, that he is immortal.

9. that the Bible or the Holy Scriptures cannot be studied in depth.

(The first paragraph of this § in Lauterbach, Aug. 5, 1538.

S. 109.)

Luther: We will probably remain students of the holy scriptures. Dear one, who can properly grasp this saying (1 Petr. 4:13): "Rejoice that you suffer with Christ"? That we should be joyful in the midst of the greatest distress, even gladly, like children, kissing the rue. But always let the Epicureans go, the presumptuous smarties, who ridicule the Holy Scriptures and think they have learned them all ready; like Jakob Schenk (and Joh. Agricola), who are the pestilence of religion, and the fruit of their hopefulness and contempt will be nonsense and blindness. Ah! dear God, we want to act so thirsty in your sanctuary, and

10Cap . 1. from God's word or sacred scripture. § 9. 11

your Scriptures submit to us. And yet we laugh at the fact that the pagans acted with such great, heated zeal in their false religion that virgins and matrons swept the temples with their hair?

And at that time, the doctor said a lot about how powerful the holy scriptures were, which far, far surpassed all other arts of the philosophers and lawyers. Although they were good and necessary, they were, as it were, a dead thing compared to God's word, as far as eternal life was concerned. Therefore, one should look at the Bible with different eyes than one would look at the books of lawyers and other arts. For if anyone here does not come to terms with his reason, and denies himself, he will certainly come to grief in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, the world cannot understand them, since it neither knows nor understands anything about the mortification and death of the old Adam, which is clearly and distinctly indicated in the Word of God. And just as one does not understand God's word, so one cannot be wise in God's matters. This can be seen in Adam, who had only two sons. The firstborn was called Cain, that is, a householder. This one, as Adam and Eve thought, was supposed to be the man of God, and the heir of the serpent was supposed to crush the serpent's head. After that, when Eve became pregnant again, they hoped that there would be a daughter, that the dear son would have a wife: but when she gave birth to a son, she called him Abel, that is, vanity and nothingness; as if she wanted to say: It is in vain with my hope, and I am deceived. But this is the image of God to the world and the church, so that we may learn how things are always done in the world. For Cain, the godless wicked one, is a mighty lord on earth; but the pious and God-fearing Abel must be the ash-brooder, nothing and subject to him, even his servant and oppressed. Now it is completely reversed before God: for Cain is rejected by God, but Abel is accepted and is the dear child of God: even though it does not seem so to reason, but the contradiction is seen, one does not have to turn back on it. So also Ishmael had a beautiful name, which was called: God's listener; but Isaac was nothing. Esau was also called the valley and the man, as he was called.

Jacob did not have to be anything either. So Absalon was called a father of peace. The ungodly always have such an appearance and glitter in the world, but in truth and in action they were scorners, mockers and rebels. But from God's word one can judge and recognize these fellows; therefore let us love the dear Bible and read it diligently.

(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 1381.)

No art is easy for man now, except theology. I would give all my fingers to it, except for three, that it would be so easy for me, too. But I can't get through it any better, because I say, devil, lick me in the ass.

(Cordatus No. 384 this paragraph.)

He who has only one word from the Word of God and cannot make a whole sermon out of it is not worthy to ever preach. I have often decided to carefully think through the holy ten commandments, and when I began with the words: I am the Lord, your God, I have usually stopped at the word I and cannot yet understand it enough, when will I go through the whole decalogue in thinking it through?

(From here to the last paragraph of the § in Cordatus, No. 93. 109. > 110. 111. Ill a. Ill d.)

The ancients distinguished a threefold theology. The real one, which they called the historical one, as the history of the Passion of Christ and indeed the writings of all the evangelists; the symbolic one, as when Christ is called a shepherd; thirdly, the mystical one, which teaches to seek God negatively. But I have set my sermon on the oral word, whoever wants to may follow me, but whoever does not want to, let him leave it. But this is immeasurable above us, not among us, as many enthusiasts scoff. Also those who seek to explore higher things with their thoughts than the simple word of God prescribes are similar to them. Of these the prophet says: I have had a dream, I have had a dream.

In spite of [StJ Peter, in spite of Paul, John, and all the saints, that they understood fully only One Word from the Word of God, for His

12 Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 9. 10. 1Z

Wisdom has no limit, but what is ours, as reason, insight and everything else, is it not circumscribed by a certain limit?

The saints understand the word of God and can speak of it, but they do not learn it. The scholastics have used the parable of a ball; when it lies on a table, it is indeed grasped completely with the eyes, but the table touches it only at one point.

1. I have made an effort, and I have done so with all diligence, and yet I have not yet fully grasped a single word from the entire Scripture. That is why I have not yet come out of the children's teaching, but rather move daily in the spirit what I know, and seek the right understanding of the holy ten commandments and the Christian faith. And indeed, it displeases me to some extent that I, such a great doctor, may or may not want to, have to stay with all my learning with the learning of my Hänsichen and Magdalenichen and go to the same school in which they are brought up 2). For who of all men understands in its full extent, as it must be understood, only this word of God: Our Father, who art in heaven? For whoever understands these words in faith: the God who has heaven and earth in his hands 3) is our Father, immediately concludes with complete confidence of heart: Because this GOtt is my Father, and I am His child, who will be able to harm me? For I am a Lord of heaven and earth and all things that are in them. The angel Gabriel is my servant, Raphael my carter, and all the other angels are ministering spirits in all my needs, and are sent to me by my Father who is in heaven, so that I may not strike my foot against a stone. And then I believe thus: If my good Father leads me to and has me thrown into a dungeon, if he soon afterwards has my head cut off, or if he has me drowned in water, - that this that we are thus tempted may happen, so that we may realize how completely we are
2. The following except for the last paragraph before the

Nov. 7, 1531. (Cf. Cord. p. 507.)

2. In the manuscript uduuntur. Perhaps: aluutur?
3. Here is a gap in the manuscript.

When we have learned these words, or rather only this one "Father", then the faith in our heart falters and our weakness thinks: Yes, who knows if it is true? But I know one word, which is the most difficult in the whole scripture, namely "Thine" in the first commandment. (Ex. 20, 2.)

When he spoke this at the table, with a full and fervent heart, under the midday meal, his wife said, "Why do you speak without ceasing and do not eat? But he said, "I would have liked this very day, before the women began to preach, for them to pray. You are to say an Our Father beforehand.

After that, I Cordatus tried to bring him back to the previous thoughts, and asked what one should answer those who urge plerophoria complete certainty in doctrine like Campanus? He answered, Against plerophoria no one ever taught in Wittenberg, but they talk about the question whether there is anyone who has this plerophoria. And he said, we must be sure of our doctrine or faith, and so on.

4. At another time, Luther said about the understanding of the Holy Scriptures that no one should remember that he had tasted the Scriptures, because he had ruled the church for a hundred years with the prophets, John the Baptist and the apostles. Therefore, it is a great miracle to understand God's word correctly.

(10) That the Scriptures are difficult to understand.

M. Luther wrote these words in Latin on a piece of paper in 1546, when > he was in Eisleben and lived only two days later, and left them on his > table. I, Johannes Aurifaber, copied it, and Mr. Justus Jonas, > Superintendent of Halle, who was in Eisleben at that time, kept the > note with him.

1 Virgilium in Bucolicis nemo potest intelligere, nisi fuerit quinque annis pastor. Virgilium in Georgicis nemo potest intelligere, nisi fuerit quinque annis agricola. 2. Ciceronem in epistolis (sic praecipio,) nemo integre intelligit, nisi viginti annis sit versatus in Re- publica aliqua insigni. 3. scripturas sanctas sciat se nemo degustasse satis, nisi centum

4. The last paragraph of this § will probably be nothing else than Aurifaber's translation of No. 3 in the next §.

14 Cap. I. Of God's Word or Sacred Scripture. § 10-12. 15

annis cum Prophetis, ut Elia et Elisaeo, Joanne Baptista, Christo et Apostolis, Ecclesias guber- parit. Hanc tu ne divina Aeneida tenta, sed vestigia pronus adora. 2Bir finb SBettler, hoc est verum, 16. Februarii Anno 1546.1 )

Otherwise he also said that the clever and great men of the world do not understand God's word, but the lowly and simple ones do; as the Lord Christ also testifies in Matt. 11:25, where he says: "I thank you, heavenly Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise of the world, and have revealed them to babes and sucklings. And Luther said that therefore St. Gregory had rightly said: "That the holy scripture is water in which an elephant swims, but a sheep walks through it with its feet.

11. from the contempt of the divine word: how the world holds itself against God's word.

(The first paragraph is omitted because contained in Cap. 4, § 3 and § > 23.)

2. On another occasion, D. Justus Jonas spoke to D. Luther about a nobleman in the country of Meissen, who cared for nothing so much as how he collected much money and goods and great treasures, and that he was so very blinded that he paid no attention to the five books of Moses. The same had given this answer to the Elector of Saxony, Duke Johann Friederichen (since his Electoral Grace had talked with him much about the doctrine of the Gospel) and said: "Most gracious Lord, the Gospel is none of your Electoral Grace's business. Then said D. M. Luther: Were there also little ones? And he told a fable, how the lion had invited all the animals as guests, and had a delicious, glorious meal prepared, and also invited the sow. When the delicious dishes were served to the guests, the sow said, "Are there also small animals? So are our Epicureans now. We preachers set before them in our churches the very best and most glorious food, as eternal blessedness, forgiveness of sin, and God's grace;
3. For this, see another relation in De Weites Sammlung von Luthers Briefen, Vol. VI, 414.
4. This seems to be another relation of Cap. 28, § 5.

they throw up the rebuke, and scrape for thalers: and' what should the cow Musealen? she isset probably Haberstroh. This happened once to a priest, Ambrosio R., of his parishioners. When he admonished them to listen diligently to God's word, they said: "Yes, my dear pastor, if you would have a barrel of beer brewed in the church and call us to it, we would gladly come. The gospel in Wittenberg is like the rain that falls into the water, since the rain is of little use: but if the rain falls on a sandy field, and since the seed is meager and withered and burned by the sun, such rain refreshes the land and makes it fertile.

That the world's ingratitude and contempt may drive away God's word.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 17, 1538, p. 172 f.)

After that Luther said: "We will, God willing, be diligent to leave a righteous church and school for our descendants after us, so that they may know how to teach and govern righteously: although the great ingratitude and ungodliness of the world frightens me that this light will not stand for long, not more than 50 years. For this has always had its course, as in the time of the archfathers it flourished for a time under Adam, Noah, Lot, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Josiah and Ezechia, and has always come between these the Baal, then it had to be pulled out again.

Consider how the word of God had its course in the time of Christ, which did not last fifty years; indeed, soon in the time of the apostles heresies of false brethren went forth. Arius soon followed. After that Ambrose, Hilarius, Augustine restored the word of God. Soon after, it was extinguished again by the Vandals and Longobards. After that, it was in Greece and other countries; it wandered continuously, as now in Denmark and England and, I hope, also in Italy, but not without great persecution, because the church grows through the blood of the martyrs and is purified by it, because Ps. 116, 15. the death of its saints is valuable.

16 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 12-15. 17

held before the Lord, and before God the blood of the pious is held in honor. When this is shed, Abel's blood cries out in heaven, and God must hear this. But that such great wickedness and ingratitude and godlessness arise in the world now that the gospel has risen again and the Antichrist has been struck to the ground; this is because before the light of the gospel was brought to light again, people did not see or recognize sin in this way. But now, because the bright morning star has risen, the whole world awakens, as if from a stupor, and sees to some extent the sin that it could not see before in sleep and in the dark night.

I hope that the last day will not be long, not more than a hundred years, because God's word will fall again and great darkness will come through the lack of servants of the word. Then the whole world will become animalistic, and will walk in such a crude life in the most certain way. Then the voice will sound (Matth. 25, 6.): "Behold, the bridegroom comes." For God will no longer be able to suffer it.

13. of the future loss of the divine word.

In 1536, on the 2nd day of December, Luther spoke of the future hunger of the Word of God, and of great tribulation and sorrow that would follow, such as had not been from the beginning of the world, according to the saying of Christ Matth. 24, 21.And how now such affliction is already present, namely, the oppression and corruption by tyrants and fanatics, since the spiritualists especially torture, frighten and mislead the consciences in such a way that they do not know which way is right or which doctrine is right. And said D. Luther: "No greater harm can befall us than when God's Word is taken from us and falsified, so that it is not pure. God protect us so that we and ours do not experience this harm: he would rather let us die first, or kill the Turk, or otherwise die blessedly with grace.

(This paragraph in Lauterbach, on Jan. 10, 1538, p. 8.)

Where people have the truth, they are always safe. But in error they are very careful and try very hard, just as a wanderer walks safely on the right path, but is very anxious on the wrong path. That is how it is with us now.

14) The future lack of righteous preachers of the divine word.

D. Luther said: "In a short time there would be such a lack of pastors and preachers that the present righteous preachers would be scratched out of the earth again, if they could be had; then the papists, and also our peasants, who plague the preachers so much, will see what they have done. For physicians and lawyers remain enough to rule the world; but one must have two hundred pastors in a country, since one has enough of one lawyer. If there were only one lawyer in Erfurt, that would be enough. But it is not the same with the preachers. Every village and small town must have its own pastor. My most gracious lord, the Elector of Saxony, has enough lawyers for his country and people, but he must have 1800 pastors. In the meantime, we still have to make parish priests out of lawyers and Medicis. You will see.

15. where God's word is taught, people are the most wicked.

In all lines, from the beginning of the world, where God's word is taught and preached purely, people are most wicked and commit the greatest and most heinous sins, as in the time of Noah, Abraham, and the Lord Christ and the apostles; for then the world lived most ungodly and in the highest ingratitude and wickedness. So also now, in our time, the people are very presumptuous ingrates, and much more stingy than they ever were before: they do not like to help a poor person with a penny. But it shall be so. However, whom one will deceive, 1) that one shall well know.

1. So Stangwald, instead of: "if they will be deceived".

18 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 16-19. 19

16. prophecy of D. M. Luther of his teaching.

(The beginning of this § to "names" in Cordatus No. 141.) Those who do not want the core in my life, will worship the shell when I am dead, that is, the name. And said upon it, Let every man send himself into the time, and use it, and cut in, because there is yet harvest; and as the Lord Christ Joh. 12, 35. saith, "Walk in the light, because ye have it, that darkness overtake you not."

17. of the excess and contempt of the word of God.

(The first paragraph of this § in Lauterbach, April 14, 1538, p. 62.)

That day he admonished his wife to read and hear the word diligently, especially the Psalter. But she boasted that she had read and heard enough and knew it, God willing, she lived by it. Luther answered with a sigh: "Thus arises the weariness and contempt of the Word, that we allow ourselves to think much, want to know it, and yet do the contradiction, and want to be unpunished for it. This leads to misfortune, and God makes us hungry for His word. There will be many new interpretations and the Scriptures will be neglected. That is why I would prefer that my books not be printed, because of the future mobs that will cause all kinds of misfortune. For in my first books I gave the pope a lot of slack, and then I also interpreted the passages of Scripture a little too leniently, as I had read them at the time.

At another time, Doctor Luther spoke of the excess of the divine word and said: "The world has become very secure, and relies on the books it now has, and thinks that if people read them, they can do anything. And he said, "The devil would have made me more lazy and secure, thinking, 'Here are the books, if you read them, you can do it. So the Anabaptists and Sacramentarians also make them believe that if they only read a little book, they can do everything. Against such certainty I pray forever, and repeat my Catechismum after Lin

other, like my little Hans. And pray daily that God will keep me by His holy, pure Word, that I will not grow weary of it or think that I have studied it out.

Otherwise, he once said that the nobility, burghers and peasants, and almost everyone, high and low, knew the gospel much better than he, Luther, or St. Paul himself, as they thought. For they were wise, and thought that they were more learned than all the pastors: but they despised not the pastors, but the Lord and chief of all pastors, who commanded them to preach; who again will despise them, and be their enemy, and take hold of their heads, that they may feel it; he that saith Luc. 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth me," and "he that assaileth you taketh hold of the apple of my eye." Zech. 2, 8.

(Seven lines omitted here because contained in Cap, 65, § 8.)

18. ingratitude of the world for God's word.

( Cordatus No. 1400.)

Since God gives His Son for the servant, and the servant is ungrateful, even wanting to kill the Father and the Son who redeemed him, is this not an ingratitude worthy of all the Turks, pestilence, etc.?

19. what God's word drives out.

At the table, where the doctor had several scholars as guests, the gospel was discussed, as it had come to Sweden, Denmark, and now to other foreign countries: for even in Hungary, where the Turk reigns, the gospel is preached, and from the same place those who would be called to the church office were sent to Wittenberg, and had them ordained there; as the reformation of the churches in Carinthia shows. Then said D. Luther said: "Praise be to God, who wants to rule even in the midst of his enemies. He will reign even in the midst of his enemies and be known under the cross. For tyranny and persecution will not drive out nor eradicate the Gospel, 1) but our shameful, cursed, harmful ingratitude and disgust for the dear Gospel.

1. Cf. cap. 37, § 148, near the end.

20 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 20-22. 21

20. The enthusiasts despise God's word.

(Cordatus No. 1264. 1265.)

It is astonishing that the oral word is so despised by the sectarians, since even Christ after his resurrection would have appeared to his disciples as a mere ghost if he had not comforted them with his words. It is the devil's only concern that he should take away our swords. But the Scripture says differently Ps. 45:4, "Gird up thy sword at thy side, thou hero; put it forth, lash out."

When Schweinsfeld 1) had debated with me for a long time, he finally said: "Doctor, you must put the words "this is my body" out of your eyes, then we will come to an agreement. It is certain that the pope did it this way from the beginning, before he arrogated to himself the sole authority over the interpretation of the word; thus he crucified Christ. Let us only take care of the word, and we will crucify them again.

The antinomians are despisers of the divine word.

(Contained in Cap. 22, § 53.)

22. that the persecutors of the Christians and the divine word have little luck.

Emperor Diocletiani's persecution, said Luther in Eisleben, was very great, because he was willing to murder and exterminate all Christians, and had twelve thousand Christians killed at once. And when all the executioners and their servants had grown tired of the slaughter, he had new executioners 2) brought in and had the Christians beheaded, and thus thought to deter the Christians from the divine word with his tyranny. When this did not help, he also raged against the female gender, which he reviled and dishonored. He had two trees bent down against each other and tied an arm and a foot of a woman to each tree.

1. A derisive name for Caspar von Schwenkfeld in Silesia, as also "Stenkefeld . Walch, old edition, vol. XX, 2195.
2. So Stangwald instead of executioner's knife.

The tree was then broken open and the women were torn to pieces. Or he would hang them naked on the trees with one arm or leg and let them hang until they died. If they wanted to cover their shame, they could do it with the arm that was not tied to the tree.

Finally, when everything was in vain, and the Christian matrons and women did not want to fall away from the divine word and their dear Lord Christ, he had hot lead poured into the backs and fronts of the women (to speak with breeders) and strangled them. When the Roman Empire became empty of people and desolate, so that there were no more farmers, cobblers or tailors (because this emperor killed countless people through his cruel tyranny), the emperor was told that he would not be able to do anything with his tyranny. For he would either have to let the doctrine of the Gospel be preached freely, so that he would retain subjects in the empire; or, if he wanted to kill all the Christians and clear them away, that he would have to endure the danger that he would have the Roman empire quite desolate and empty of people. When Diocletianus, the emperor, found out that his slaughtering and strangling were of no avail, and that God's punishment would also befall him, and that he would not be safe in life and limb, he resigned from the empire and became a hortulanus, planting herbs and grafting trees. So this tyrant lost his empire because of the persecution of the Christians, and had to let Christianity remain, which he even wanted to exterminate. So, I also think, our Emperor Carl will start something vicious against the Gospel, that he will lose all his Netherlands. Johann Pommer once told me that in Lübeck, in an old chronicle, a prophecy was found in the town hall that around the thousand, five hundred and fiftieth year, a great uproar would arise in Germany on account of religion, and after the emperor would get involved, he would lose everything he had. But I do not think that the emperor should start a war because of the pope, especially because war costs a lot of money. For

22 Cap. 1. from god's word or

of the Holy Scriptures. § 22-24. 23

If it were without money, I think the emperor would have caught something for his person long ago, but to go out money for the pope, the emperor is not lenient.

Unfortunately, in 1546, after Margaretha, only five months after Luther's death, a war was started by Emperor Carl against the Estates of Augsburg. Luther's death, a war was started by Emperor Carl against the Estates of the Augsburg Confession, in which Duke Johann Friedrich, Elector, was captured before Mühlberg; the Landgrave of Hesse rode on escort to Halle to the Imperial Majesty, and was also imprisoned there. Soon after this war, at the Diet of Augsburg in 1548, a change in religion was made, called the Interim, which caused all kinds of unrest in Germany. After this Schmalkaldic War, Emperor Carl had no luck at all, neither before Costnitz nor before Magdeburg, nor before Metz, which city he wanted to win back to the empire, and at that time the King of France had inside. In the end, Emperor Carl handed over the empire to his brother, King Ferdinand, moved to Spain, and died in a summer residence built close to a monastery. It is said that His Majesty had her res gestas painted on some cloths, of which there were twenty pieces. His Majesty had these hung on the wall in the cloister of the same monastery, and often let himself be carried for a walk in the same cloister, and sat there in front of the painted cloths, and remembered what had happened in the war campaigns, sieges, field battles and otherwise, what he had used for war chiefs, captains and captains, and also what luck and misfortune he had had there. And when His Imperial Majesty came before the cloth on which the history of the Schmalkaldic War and the imprisonment of the High Elector of Saxony, Mr. Johann Friedrich, before Mühlberg had been painted: then His Imperial Majesty used to sigh before it and to say: If I had let him remain who he had been, I would also have remained who I had been. And it is so; for His Imperial Majesty, after the Elector's imprisonment, had little luck nor victory against her enemies.

People willfully resist God's word.

D. Luther once said: "If I had known in the first place, when I began to write, what I have now experienced and seen (namely, that the people were so hostile to God's word and opposed it so vehemently), then I would have thought of

I would never have been so bold as to attack the pope and almost all men and enrage them. I cried that they sinned only out of ignorance and human infirmities, and did not support themselves in deliberately suppressing God's word; but God led me up, like a horse whose eyes are blinded, so that he does not see those who run toward him.

And the doctor then said that a good work is seldom done or happens out of wisdom or prudence, but everything must happen in an insanity or ignorance. So I went to the teaching and preaching ministry with my hair: but if I had known that I now know, ten horses could hardly have drawn me to it. So Moses and Jeremiah also complain that they are deceived. No one would take a wife like that, if he really thought about what he should have in marriage and in housekeeping. To this Philip Melanchthon replied: He had diligently observed it in the histories and noticed that no great special deeds were done by old people: the great Alexander's and St. Augustine's ages did it; after that one becomes too wise, and old people do a thing thoughtfully before they do it. Then said D. Martinus said: You young fellows, if you were wise, the devil could not get along with you; but since you are not, you may also do ours, who are now old. Our Lord God does nothing great by force; as they say: If the old were strong and the young wise, that would be worth a lot of money. The spirits of the mob are vain young people, Icari, Phaetontes, who flutter in the air, Gemsensteiger, on top and nowhere off, and want to push the twelve cones on the boßleich 1) around, since you only have nine on it; whimsical heads, as Zwingel and Oecolampadius were also.

24. contempt of the divine word is severely punished.

(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 994.)

I have already survived the greatest plague, namely the contempt of the Word, the uttermost and most ungodly wickedness of the world, the noth-.

1. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. V, 1182, § 5.

24

Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 24-27.

25

The only thing that has to follow as a punishment is the abominable things in this world. If I wanted to curse someone very much, I would curse him for the contempt of the word of God, then he would have all that is evil at once, namely internal, external and eternal evil, which the world will not always despise.

In all histories it is seen that where God's word has been preached purely, and it has been despised, punishment has soon followed, and the despising of pure doctrine always precedes punishment; as the examples of the times of Lot, Noah, and the Lord Christ indicate. And because now there is hardly a nobleman, a shepherd, a burgher or a peasant who wants to walk on the pastors and preachers with his feet, I believe that God will punish the ingratitude and contempt of his word severely. The preaching ministry must indeed remain in the world, either righteous or adulterated; for the world does not want and cannot be without worship, and the Turk must also have his priests and church servants, otherwise he could not maintain his regiment: but where one despises God's word, there it wanders away, and the true God and his worship are lost.

Otherwise D. M. Luther said at another time of contempt of the divine word: that if God's word would come to a place, then from that time on also the contempt of the same would be there; this would be certain. And this was also seen in the Jews. God sent them the prophets, Esaiam, Jeremiam, Amos and others: finally he sent them Christ, his Son, even the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles were divided and went into the whole world. All of them cried out at the same time: repent; but nothing would help, they all had to be held up: and all the prophets were killed, Christ was crucified, and the apostles were chased away. But soon after Jerusalem lay in the mire, and such destruction continues to this day. The same will happen to the German land, which now also despises God's word. I think that a great darkness will follow after this light of the gospel, so that the gospel will no longer be heard publicly in the pulpit, and after that the last day will soon follow.

(25) He who despises the word of God is not to be argued with.

(Except for the last paragraph Cordatus No. 1073. 1074.)

Whoever admits that the evangelists write God's word, we will meet him. But whoever denies this, I will not exchange a word with him. For then this will also happen in Christianity: Against him who denies the main reason, one must not dispute. Yet all Jews, pagans, and Turks say that the Bible is the holy scripture. For this book has the highest testimony. And there is no harm if some say that the five books of Moses are not written by Moses, but they are written by Moses.

Idle questions are to be avoided in Moses, like that of Egranus, Moses writes, the birds lived in the water, since he means the air here. That would be just so if one asked whether the beard had been earlier than the man, and one answers: Certainly, for the goats and he-goats were created with a beard on the fourth day before man, but Adam on the sixth day. Such questions are to be answered only with mockeries ironiis illudendae.

The Biblia was unknown to the people in the Papacy. Doctor Carlstadt began to read the Bible only in the eighth year after he had become a doctor, because he and Doctor Petrus Lupinus had been driven to read Augustinum.

The Bible is a source of inspiration for the Bible.

Doctor M. Luther said in Eisleben, shortly before his death: that at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530, Bishop Albrecht of Mainz had once read the Bible; now one of his councilors came to him and said: "Most gracious Prince and Lord, what is Your Lordship doing with this book? Then he answered: I do not know what kind of book it is, for everything in it is against us.

The Bible is hated by the worldly wise and the sophists.

Doctor Usingen, an Augustinian monk who was about my preceptor in the Augustinian monastery

26 Cap. 1. Of God's Word or Holy Scripture. § 27. 28. 27

at Erfurt, once spoke to me when he saw that I was so fond of the Bible and liked to read the Holy Scriptures: Brother Martine, what is the Bible! One should read the old teachers, they have sucked the juice of truth out of the Bible, the Bible causes all turmoil. That is the world's judgment, said D. M. Luther, of God's word, as is also seen in the other Psalm. For if we say to the great men, And now, ye kings, let yourselves be instructed, 2c. if they say no to it, and will not suffer the doctrine; then we must also let them go as good fellows.

28. the swarmers' error of God's word.

(Lauterbach, May 10, 1538, p. 77 ff.)

On May 10, he read a book by Bullinger, who was very vehement against the Anabaptists, who despised the oral word, and otherwise against those who appropriated too much to the word, for they sinned against God and his divine omnipotence, just like the Jews, who called the ark of the Lord God in 1 Sam. 6; Bullinger, however, as if he were trying to keep the right center, taught the true reason, which was the right use of the word and the sacraments. To this Luther answered and said: "He is wrong, does not know himself what he means. I see their deception well, they do not want to appear to have erred, and claim that we and they have stood on two extreme things extremes. They reject the oral word and the power and effect of the sacraments altogether; but we press hard upon them. Now they seek the middle way, and praise the Word and the sacraments, so that we too may drop our extreme opinions and be one with them. Previously they taught that the oral word and the sacraments were only signs and slogans of love. Thus Zwinglius and Oecolampadius went too far. When Brentius resisted, they softened their opinions as if they had not rejected the oral word and other means, but only condemned some gross abuses. They thus separated the word and the spirit from one another; they separated the

Man who preached the word, from God, who worked; the servant who baptized, from God, who cleansed through baptism; and think that the Spirit is given and works without the word. Let this word be but an outward watchword, which findeth the spirit that is before in the heart. Now if the word does not find the spirit, but an ungodly man, then it is not God's word. And so they lie, and define the word not according to God who speaks it, but according to the man who receives it, and yet they want this to be the word of God, which produces fruit, which brings peace and life, but because it is not effective in the ungodly, it is not the word of God. Thus they teach that "the outward word is, as it were, an object, an image that explains something, and they determine only its material use, not wanting it to be an instrument and effective cause, a bearer of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of justification. They are drowned in this error and do not understand themselves. Oh, dear Lord God, if only someone would be angry to death against the devil, who so resists the word and rages in the papists and enthusiasts. He sees well that the oral word and the outward office of the church are doing him harm. That is why he is now spreading various errors against it; but I hope God will strike against it recently.

But a Christian must certainly say: The word of God is one and the same word, whether it is preached to the pious or to the ungodly, just as the church is among sinners; and the same word, whether it bears fruit or not, is a power of God, which makes blessed all who believe in it Rom. 1, 16., and which will judge the ungodly, Joh. 12, 44. ff.. Otherwise, the wicked would have a very good excuse before God, that they could not be condemned, because they would not have had a word, since they would not have accepted it. But we say that the preacher's (even though he is a man) word, absolution, sacrament, is not the work of a man, but the voice of God, the cleansing and effect of God, but we are only the instrument and co-workers of God, through whom God acts and works. We

28 Cap. 1. from god's word or

do not want to grant them that metaphysical distinction: Man preaches, the spirit works, the servant baptizes, absolves, but God cleanses, forgives 2c. Not at all. But we conclude: God preaches, baptizes, absolves. "It is not you who speak" 2c. "He who hears you hears me"; "What you will solve on earth" 2c. (Matth. 18, 18. 20. Luc. 10, 16.) So I am sure, when I go to the pulpit to preach and read, that it is not my word, but "my tongue is a stylus of a good writer" (Ps. 45, 2.). For GOD speaks in the holy prophets and men of GOD. There man and GOD are not to be metaphysically divorced, but I am simply to say: this man who speaks, be he a prophet, or an apostle, or a righteous preacher, is the voice of GOD. Then the listeners should conclude: Now I do not hear Peter, Paul or a man, but God Himself speaking, baptizing, absolving. Dear God, what comfort could a frightened conscience receive from a preacher if it did not believe that his words were God's comfort, God's word, God's judgment! Therefore we conclude simply: God works through the Word (or He works nothing everywhere), which is His vehicle and instrument in the heart. For even the words of Balaam's donkey are not the donkey's words, but God's words; and the very word that comes out of the mouth through the lips: "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you", Matth. 9, 2. penetrates the heart of man, and he is comforted.

But that the word brings forth and works different fruits is God's secret will. The wind blows where it wants (Joh. 3, 8.). It does not behoove us to inquire into it. I cannot say why I am happy now and cannot be happy soon; why I have a better desire for the word one time than another, since I always have the same word. I am not always delighted by the word in the same way.

If I had such a desire for God's word at all times, as I do at times, I would be the most blessed. But dear St. Paul, who complains (Rom. 7, 23.) that he sees another law in his members that contradicts it, was also mistaken. Should the word therefore be false

of the Holy Scriptures. § 28-30. 29

if it does not happen at all times? Summa, this determination of the word has been in great danger from the beginning of the world, and has stood much that men would be certain that it is God's word when a prophet or apostle speaks.

But the enthusiasts are still papists and do not understand the power of the Word of God. I am very surprised at what they may preach, read and write. Oh, dear Lord God, keep us by your word, do not let this treasure be taken from us, but accept it with thanksgiving and keep it. The papists and the enthusiasts do not want to be recognized for having erred, and they deal with the mendacious, as he did, who torments the passage of 1 Sam. 6, that they called the ark of the Lord God itself.

29. The Use and Effect of the Divine Word. Only God's word is certain and insurmountable.

(Cordatus No. 36.)

Frederick (the Wise, Elector of Saxony) said: He had noticed that even if something was thought out by human reason, however astutely, something more astute could still be invented and produced 1). God's word alone is invincible, and the gospel is higher than all reason. This he perceived from the answers of Christ, like that of the interest, likewise of John, whether his baptism was from heaven or not. (Matth. 22, 17-21; 21, 25.) 2)

(30) Apart from the Word of God, nothing is certain.

It was once said that one had read and written much without all understanding; to which Doctor Martinus said: "A great light has indeed now dawned upon us, for we have not only the words, but also the understanding of the same. Praise God that we know what is right. No sophist has this saying, Habac. 2, 4: "The righteous lives by faith", nor can he interpret it,

1. adtruäi, which has cordatus, gives this appropriate sense. Therefore, the conjecture of Dr. (Wrampelmeyer), ukstruäi, is at least unnecessary.
2. On this §, see Walch, old edition, Vol. IV, 267 6.

30 Cap. 1. of the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures. § 30. 31. 31

neither did the fathers understand him: for to be righteous and to do righteousness they interpreted in many ways, except some Augustine. Such great blindness is in the dear fathers. Therefore, one should read the Holy Scriptures first and foremost, after which one may also read the fathers, but with modesty, because they do not always speak and judge correctly about God's things. But those who turn from the Bible to the commentaries and books of the fathers, their study is endless and futile.

31. You should be sure of God's word.

In matters of religion, concerning God's word and doctrine, one should be certain of the thing, and not waver, so that the confession may stand in the challenge, and one does not say afterwards: I would not have meant it; for as such speech is otherwise dangerous in worldly matters, so it is very harmful in theology. Therefore the canonists, the pope's hypocrites and other heretics, are quite a Chimaera, and a horrible beast of wonder, whose face is like a beautiful virgin, and the body is like a lion, but the tail is like a serpent: that is, their doctrine seems beautiful, seems pretty, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful, seems beautiful. Their doctrine is beautiful, seems beautiful, and what they teach is pleasing to reason and has a reputation; then their doctrine breaks through with force, for all false teachers commonly have the brachium saeculare attached to them, but in the end it is a slippery uncertain doctrine, just as a snake has a smooth skin and wipes through one's hands.

At another time, D. Luther said: "First of all, we must know whether this doctrine of ours, which we lead, is the word of God; for if we know this, then we can firmly build on it, that this thing shall and must remain, and no devil shall overthrow it, much less the world, with all its courtiers, how much they rage and rage against it. I, praise God, certainly hold my teaching to be the word of our Lord God, and have now chased away from my heart all other beliefs, whatever they may be called. And I have almost overcome these heavy thoughts and temptations, since my heart said for a while: "Are you the only one who knows the right thing?

Word of God pure? And all the others do not have it? Thus Satan also sets his sights on us, and violently storms in with the name and title of the churches: Yes, he says, what the Christian church has hitherto decided and considered right for so many years, you overthrow as if it were wrong, and destroy both the spiritual and the temporal government with your new teaching. I find this argument in all the prophets, where the noblest leaders, both in the churches and the police, say: We are God's people, because we are in the proper government, founded and appointed by God: What we, as the largest and best group, conclude and recognize as right, that is to be held: Who are you fools, that you want to teach us? are you hardly a handful? Truly, one must not only be well prepared and armed with God's word, but also have the certainty of doctrine, otherwise one cannot stand in the battle; one must be able to say: I know for certain that what I teach and hold is God's, the high Majesty in heaven's, own word and final decision, and the eternal unchanging truth; the rest, everything that does not agree with it or is contrary to it, is vain lies of the devil, false and wrong. And that alone does it, that one starts a game and stays with it and says: You others all err and are wrong, but my teaching alone is right and God's certain truth, I stay with it, even if the whole world says otherwise. For God cannot lie, because I have His word, which I cannot lack, nor be overcome by all the gates of hell; and I have the consolation that God says: I will give you people and listeners who shall accept it: let me only worry, I will stand over you, you only stay firm with my word.

One must be sure that the doctrine is right and the eternal truth, and not ask anything about how it is held by people. Therefore Christ says John 8:46: "Who among you can reprove my doctrine? but if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?" And all the apostles were most certain of the doctrine; and St. Paul especially practiced the Plerophoriam, when he said to Timothy, "I do not believe you.

32 Cap. I. Of God's Word or Holy Scripture. § 31-34. 33

Theo 1. Ep. 1, 15. says: "It is a precious and valuable word that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. For faith in God through Christ must be certain and firm, so that it makes the conscience happy and satisfies it. And St. Peter in his 2nd Epistle Cap. 1, 19. says: "We have a certain, firm, prophetic word, and you do well to pay attention to it, as to a light that goes out in the dark" 2c. If one has this certainty, then that is the victory against the devil; but if one is not certain of the doctrine, then it is not good to argue with the devil.

If you are to be saved, you must be so sure of the word of God that even if all men said otherwise, even if all angels said no to it, you alone could still stand on it and say: I still know that this word is right.

(This paragraph at Cordatus No. 209.)

No face will I have, no miracle will I allow, no angel will I believe who teaches me differently than God's word. I believe this and God's works because these two are in harmony with each other and in all things, from the beginning of the world. For the Word remains the same from the beginning, and I experience in my thinking and feeling that it works as God's Word says, and in all histories we see the works of God agreeing, for as a thousand years ago, so God still works today. I want the word, I do not want miracles. Erasmus, however, wanted miraculous signs because, although he had the word, he did not keep the word.

With the word of God one can defend oneself against the devil.

(Composed of Cap. 26, § 2 and Cap. 24, § 59.)

The gospel reveals the secret wickedness of men.

(This § is taken from the sermon after Christ Day in the Hauspostille. > Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, Col. 99, §§ 41. 42. 43; Col. 101, > §§ 45. 48.)

34. majesty and glory of the divine word, that God speaks to us through it.

The majesty and glory of the divine word is inexpressible, and we can

Never thank God enough for this. Reason thinks: If I should hear God the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, I would run to the end of the world. Listen, brother! God, Creator of heaven and earth, speaks to you through His servants, pastors and preachers, baptizes, instructs, teaches and absolves you Himself through the mystery of the Word and the Sacraments: these words are not Platonis, Aristotelis, or other high scholars and men, but God Himself speaks there.

And these are the best preachers, who teach the common man and the youth in the most simple way, without subtlety and prolixity, 1) just as Christ also taught the people through crude parables. Such are the best listeners, who gladly hear God's word and believe it simple-mindedly: even if they are weak in faith, if they only do not doubt the teaching, they can still be advised and helped. God can suffer weaknesses, yes, even gross bulbs and errors, 2) if one only recognizes it and crawls to the cross again, also asks for mercy, and corrects himself and diligently hears the divine word, believes it, and changes his sinful life accordingly.

David says Ps. 119, 113: "I hate the fluttering spirits, and love your law"; he wants us to diligently pay attention to the power of the divine word, and not to despise the oral word, as the enthusiasts, and especially Schwenkfeld, do now. For God wants to act with us through such means, and also to work in us.

(From here to the end of paragraph Cordatus No. 473.)

It seems wonderful to me when a person (like Michael Stiefel) takes the trouble to tell me one word from the Gospel, which God in heaven has spoken to me before. That is why the ancients said that neither one who preaches nor one who baptizes is to be rejected.

In Balaam's time there were both righteous and false preachers and teachers. That now the text 4 Mos. 23, 3. says, Bi- *.

1. Cf. cap. 22, § 74, and Cap. II, § 13, the last paragraph.
2. Cf. cap. 2, § 24.

34 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 34-36. 35

Moses said that he went and asked the Lord for advice, which is to be understood as meaning that he asked the advice of righteous teachers, who advised him that he should not do anything against God. Moses then explained himself and said, "He no longer went to the judge, as he had before, but to a false teacher and a false prophet.

This way of speaking, that they asked God for advice, gives us an indication that they held up God's word, and that they did not look at those who spoke it, but looked at what they spoke. Thus Rebekah, Gen. 25, 22, did not ask God Himself, but Shem, or an archfather, for advice. For God has always had certain persons and places in the world by and through which He has made His will known. Thus he sent Moses, and through him revealed his word to the children of Israel, so that when he spoke something, they had to say, "This was not given by Moses, but by God himself. After Moses he sent Christ. His teaching is certain, so is his person, so that we cannot be mistaken nor deceived about what we hear from him, that God himself has certainly spoken it; as the heavenly Father says Matth. 17, 5: "This is my beloved Son, whom you shall hear." And when Christ ascended into heaven, he sent the apostles into the whole world, first instituting baptism and his supper. Now, when God's word is heard and the sacraments are received, we can say with truth: God says so. Thus, many times, when I was in temptation and in fear, Philip Melanchthon, or O. Pommer, or even my housewife, comforted me with God's word, so that I was satisfied, and felt: God says this, because the brother said it, either because of office, or because of the duty of doctrine; for God seriously commands that one should hear Christ, and Christ says that we should hear the apostles.

And this also deceives the sacramentarians and other enthusiasts who speak of God's things according to their thoughts. But we say that one should hear what God says.

1. Cf. cap. 7, § 160.

Now God says before the creation of the world: "Let there be the world! then the world came into being and stood immediately. He also says the same thing in the Lord's Supper, that the bread (which he gave to his disciples) is his body; so it is certainly there, as the words say, and does not hinder Bullinger's cavillation here, since he pretends that, because Christ's body is not seen, it does not exist nor is it present; for here he did not create the visible, but the invisible things, in the form and manner that he willed and pleased him. That God has preserved his word in the world, and that the kingdom of the Lord Christ has remained in the world in the papacy, is one of the greatest miracles of our Lord God. But our Lord God takes some hearts, to whom he reveals his word, and gives them a mouth for it, and preserves it, not by the sword, but by his divine power.

The word of God is a fiery shield to all who trust in it.

The word of God is a fiery shield, because it is more proven and purer than gold tried in the fire; which gold loses nothing in the fire, and nothing comes off it, but it endures, remains and overcomes everything. Therefore, he who believes the word of God overcomes all things and remains eternally secure against all adversity. For this shield fears nothing, neither the gates of hell, nor the devil, sin, or death, but the gates of hell fear him; for the word of God endures forever, sustaining and protecting all who trust in it. Otherwise, without God's word, the devil has won the game, for no one can resist him, nor ward him off, without God's word alone: whoever grasps this, and firmly believes in it, has won. Therefore, we should not forget the divine word, much less despise it, as the devil seeks it.

God is certainly sought and found in his word of Christ.

(This § is from the Great Interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, trans. § 56 and > § 55.)

36 Cap. 1. of the word of god or the holy scriptures. § 37-41. 37

(37) That all our actions and life should be arranged according to the divine word.

God also has his guidelines and canons, which are called the Ten Commandments, which are written in our flesh and blood; and the sum of them is: that which you would have done to yourself, do also to others. And our Lord God keepeth these things: for by the measure that thou measureest thou shalt be measured again. God has marked the whole world with this guideline and yardstick: those who live and do according to it, good for them, for God will reward them abundantly here in this life, and the same reward can be shared by a Turk and a Gentile as well as a Christian.

God Himself speaks through the Word, and such a Word is powerful.

D. Luther once spoke of God Himself speaking to us through His Word, and said: If it is true that God speaks to us in the Holy Scriptures, and you still doubt it, you must 1) think in your heart that he is a liar who speaks a thing and does not keep it. But believe thou that he is the supreme divine majesty; therefore, though he open his mouth, it is as much as three worlds, he poureth out the whole world with one word, Gen. 1; and Ps. 33:9 it is said, "When he speaketh, it is done; when he giveth, it standeth."

Therefore, first and foremost, a certain distinction should be made between the word of God and the word of man. A man's word is a small sound that passes into the air and soon vanishes: but the word of God is greater than heaven and earth, even death and hell; for it is the power of God and endures forever. If it is God's word, then it should be taken for it and believed that God Himself speaks to us; therefore one would gladly learn His word. David saw this and believed it, for he says in the Psalter: "God speaks in His sanctuary, I am glad of it. Ps. 60, 8. And we should also rejoice in this, but such joy is also often oversalted for us; as then

1. We have omitted the word "either" with Stangwald.

David also had to endure many temptations, including murder, adultery and expulsion, so that he would walk and remain in the fear of God. That is why he says in the 2nd Psalm verse 11: "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling". Somebody rhyme this together, be glad and be afraid. My son Hans can do it against me, but I cannot do it against God. For when I sit and write, or do something else, he sings a little song to me; and if he wants to make it too loud, then I start him a little, he sings on all the same, but he does it more secretly, and somewhat with worry and timidity. So God also wants us always to be joyful, but with fear and reverence for God.

God's word is the highest consolation. (Cordatus No. 1832.)

The highest grace is to have the word of God, for he who does not have it will one day fall into despair. This is what David says [Ps. 119, 21. "Cursed are those who lack your commandments" and Matth. 15, 13.: "All plants which my heavenly Father did not plant, me will be choked out."

40. the gospel is a mystery

(This § is in the church postil. Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XI, 523 § > 19; Col. 519 § 9.)

By the Word of God the world, especially the Church, is governed and sustained.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 4, 1538, p. 157. Follows Cap. 3, 8 77.)

Speaking is a great and divine gift to men; for by word and not by force wisdom rules men, instructs, edifies, comforts, soothes in all situations of life, especially in matters of conscience; therefore God has given His church an audible word and visible sacraments. But Satan resists this holy ministry of preaching with all seriousness and would like it to be destroyed, because this alone would destroy his kingdom.

It is truly a great and marvelous power of the oral word, that through such a weak word, which comes out of man's

38 Cap. 1. of God's Word or the Holy Scriptures § 41. 42. 39

The devil, who is a very hopeful spirit, is chased away and put to shame by the hissing of the human mouth. That is why he is so vehemently opposed by the sacramentarians, who even despise it, as Carlstadt calls it a hissing of the human mouth. I will be silent of the Anabaptists who blaspheme the oral word. St. Paul says (1 Thess. 2, 13.): "When you receive from us the word of divine preaching, you receive it, not as the word of men, but as the word of God." Item, to Romans, Cap. 10, 14: "How shall they believe, of whom they have heard nothing?" Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians, Cap. 2, 4. he says of Antichrist, who exalts himself above all that is called God or worship, above God who is preached (ëåãüìåíïí). Otherwise, besides this word, every fanatic would make up a special worship and God. Rom. 1. (v. 16.): "There is a power of God which makes blessed all who believe in it." And Matth. 10, 20: "It is not you who speak, but it is your Father's Spirit who speaks through you." Nevertheless, the sacramentarians are so bold, and unashamedly reject the oral word, since they conclude: "No external thing makes blessed: the oral word and the sacraments are external things; therefore they do not make blessed.

I answer: It is much another, God's outward thing, and man's. God's outward thing is wholesome and very powerful. The poor people thought that the external preaching ministry was the same as the cold human traditions of the papists. So the devil went with Schützen: 1) Flesh is of no use (Joh. 6, 63.). If this argument were valid, an unspeakable harm would have followed, for he would have rejected all external means. The devil has also seen this, for he is wont to start with the lowly until he rises to the heights.

1. The manuscript has: "So gienng der teuffel mit fchutzenn." The meaning is perhaps: The devil himself, through his members, has perverted God's word with fiery arrows against the truth, in order to destroy and exterminate it. Aurifaber has: "So the devil also dealt with Zwingel, and drove him, since he said 2c." Bindseil I, 44th: "So the devil went with schertzen." Possibly, however, it is to be read: "So the devil went about with shooters." Then the meaning would be: the devil gave such stupid reasons to the ignorant ABC students. Cf. Cordatus No. 1488 in Cap. 60, § 13.

God instructs man's heart, reason, hands and feet through His Word.

God alone instructs the heart through His word, so that it first comes to know itself, so that it may know how evil and depraved it is, even that it is an enmity against God; as St. Paul testifies Rom. 8, 7. Then God leads man to come to the true knowledge of God, and to be rid of sins, and after this miserable and short life, to attain eternal life. On the other hand, human reason, with all its wisdom, can go no further than instructing people how to govern themselves and live honorably in this temporal and transitory life: that they may do what is good for them in the sight of the world, and that they may leave off what is bad and evil for them. Item, how one should learn to govern, to keep house, to build, and other good arts, that one learns in philosophy and from the pagan books; and nothing more. But how to know our Lord God and His dear Son, Jesus Christ, and to be saved, this the Holy Spirit teaches only through the divine Word; for philosophy understands nothing in the matters of God. And I am very concerned that it will be mixed too much with theology, although I do not dislike the teaching and learning of philosophy. I praise and approve of it, but it requires modesty; let the philosophy remain in its circle, for which God has given it, and use it like a masked person when one plays comedies, and as one otherwise uses worldly justice. But that one wants to mix her into the theologiam, as if she also belonged to it, that does not do, it is also not to be suffered. And I do not like it at all that faith is called a thing, or a quality, or a skill, or an accidental thing; for these are all philosophical words, used in schools and in other worldly affairs, which reason can understand. It thinks that true faith remains in us like the paint on the wall; but faith is a thing in the heart that has its essence for itself, given by God as its own work. But

40 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 42-46. 41

not such a substantia and self-existent thing, ut in praedicamentis corpus est substantia, as one otherwise teaches the boys in schools, that a corporeal thing, so one can see, grasp and touch, is a substance and self-existent thing.

43. God has bound us to the oral word.

Doctor M. Luther once sighed for the sake of the sects and cults that despised God's word, and said: "Oh, that I were a good poet, I would gladly write and make a delicious carmen, song or poem about the benefit, power and fruit of the divine word; for without God's word everything is nothing and in vain, especially what one does in matters of faith. Therefore, God has bound us to His oral word when He says Luc. 10, 16: "He who hears you hears Me." There he speaks of the oral word that comes out of a man's mouth and sounds in other people's ears, and does not speak of the spiritual word that comes from heaven, but that sounds through the mouths of men. The devil has challenged this from the beginning of the world, and has opposed it, and would gladly eradicate it; therefore let us stay with this medium and means, and hold the word in honor. For some years now I have read the Bible twice a year, and if it were a mighty tree, and all the words were branches and twigs, I have knocked on all the branches and twigs and wanted to know what was in them and what they were capable of, and always knocked down a few more apples or pears. 1)

44. how to teach God's word correctly.

The Word of God must be taught and shared correctly, for there are two kinds of people: 2) Some are frightened and grieved in conscience, as they feel their sin and God's wrath, and have remorse and sorrow over it; these are to be comforted with the Gospel. Then there are hard, wicked, hardened, stiff-necked hearts, which must be comforted with the preaching of the law.

1. Cf. § 1 of this Cap.
2. Cf. Cap. 9, § 16; 12, § 19. § 43. § 62; 22, § 60; 26, § 16.

and punish them, and hold up to them the examples of divine wrath. As, Elijah's fire; item, the flood, Sodom's and Gomorrah's downfall, and the destruction of the glorious city of God, Jerusalem, for these same stubborn heads must be attacked and terrified.

45. the listeners of divine word find guilty to feed the preachers.

(The first paragraph to "Commandment" at Cordatus No. 309.)

The hearers of the divine word are more obliged to feed the ministers of the word, than that they should not fornicate, steal 2c.: for the ministry of preaching concerns not only the first table of the ten commandments of God, but especially the first commandment. St. Paul also tells the Corinthians that "whoever serves the altar should also live from the altar, and the ox that feeds should not have its mouth tied", 1 Cor. 9, 9.

But how does the world maintain the preaching ministry? Luther spoke of this in Eisleben shortly before his death and said: "The poor preachers are now treated strangely. For if they now have a patch of wood, beautiful meadow wax, arable land or vineyards in their parishes, it is taken from them. One shares with them, just as he in the fables of Aesopi made a pact with Mercurio 3) that he would give half of everything he found to Mercurio. When he found a sack of dates and almonds, he went and peeled the almonds, and put the almond shells on one side, together with the date kernels, and put the almond and date kernels on one side. He gave half of the almond shells and date kernels to Mercurio, but kept the almond kernels and date kernels for himself. So the portion that the peasants give to the poor preachers and priests is nothing else, but dead shells, chaff, grubs and such small things.

The Word of God points to all divine states and teaches how to conduct oneself in them.

(Lauterbach, May 29, 1638, p. 89.)

The Holy Scripture tells us in the shortest and most explicit way how to live rightly. In

3. Cf. Mathesius, St. Louis edition, p. 216.

42 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 46-48. 43

In religion: that you believe in God, and that you love your neighbor as yourself 2c. In the secular regiment: Be obedient to the authorities. In the domestic regiment: love your wives, educate your children. But the pope despises all these as common, worldly things. Our Lord God could be rich if he wanted to, if he would take the plagues, diseases and misfortunes to himself and sell them for money. What would he redeem for money! In the realm of the pope, however, it has been almost so conceived that every single disease had its idol and intercessor. That is why Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg said with sobs: "Don't tear up this perfectly ordered rule.

The Word of God alone overcomes the devil's fiery darts and all temptations.

As a black artist, called Faustus, was thought of over the table in the evening, M. Luther said seriously: The devil does not use the magician's service against me: if he had been able and capable of harming me, he would have done it for a long time. He has often had me by the head, but he still had to let me go. I have well tried him, what a fellow he is. He often hit me so hard that I didn't know whether I was dead or alive. He also brought me into despair, so that I did not know whether there was also a God, and I completely despaired of our dear Lord God. But with God's word I have rescued myself. There is no other help or counsel, except that God helps you (with a word spoken by a man, or otherwise seized by one). But if one does not have the word of God, then it is soon over for us, for then he can ride and drive people according to his will.

The Word of God is and remains the Word of God, whether we believe it or not.

(This § except for the last paragraph at Cordatus No. 254.

15. IN. 17. 18.)

The Anabaptists have come into their error for no other reason than that they have not received God's word and work in due form.

of honor. For they think, out of ignorance and godlessness, that baptism is based on their faith, for they believe that God's work cannot be solid unless it is built on human foundations. They also think that God's work is nothing because I do not think it is, and that God must give way and repeat His work for the sake of my unbelief. He does not do that. If I am baptized without faith or in unbelief, my unbelief shall be transformed, and I shall yield to God and believe His work, because God's work is perfect in itself and cannot be changed. I will explain this by an example: Ten years ago I heard the Ten Commandments preached, which I did not believe then; but now I believe them as God's laws. In this change I have changed, not the ten commandments, which have always remained the same. Likewise, if my overlord had commanded something three years ago, but I had not obeyed, it would not follow that his command had become futile because of my disobedience, and he himself will therefore not change his command, but wants me to change my disobedience. It is the same with infant baptism, if the case is made that their the infants' baptism was not powerful because of lack of faith. But I do not consider that the children are without faith when they are baptized. For they are offered to Christ by the church, and since the church prays for them, they receive faith.

The Anabaptists say that a child is not worthy of baptism because he does not believe, as if this were a correct consequence: he is worthy of baptism who believes and has faith. Wouldn't that be robbing God of what is his? For it is God alone who baptizes, therefore he does not baptize in vain, but he baptizes a sinner who is unworthy of baptism, yes, he baptizes a man who is worthy of damnation. Therefore, if anyone does not want to err or be deceived, let him not say that he was baptized because he believed, but let him boast that he was baptized by God's own hands. But if you wish to be baptized again, you deny that you have been baptized by God, which God has not done.

44 Cap. 1. of god's word or sacred scripture. § 48-53. 45

will let go unpunished whose work you, O man, are bringing to nothing; for he has commanded to baptize in his name.

These clear words: "Baptize all nations," likewise the command of Christ, and in addition to these two pieces, the example of the church, which baptized children for over a thousand years, urge me that I cannot believe the rebaptizers according to that their way, nor do they allow me to be rebaptized.

Baptism must be where Christians are, and Christians are where baptism is; for God does not let His work be in vain and without all fruit. For as the rain from heaven does not depart without fruit, which is nevertheless a bodily thing, and which God causes to fall upon all men without distinction, how should the sacraments be without fruit, which God has ordained and instituted for His children, whom He has begotten through the blood of Christ? The sacraments, the Bible and certain ceremonies of the Christians must also be with the heretics who want to be carried as Christians and be called by the name of the Lord. Without these, no one is in God's people, not even in name, neither in fact nor in reputation. False faith is the work of men, therefore it is without good fruits. But true faith, which is directly God's work, cannot be without good works. Therefore, where God leaves baptism and preaches the gospel, it will not return empty.

What God has commanded (as preaching, baptizing, administering Sacrament) is not our work and we do not do it.

God does not base His word and work on our piety and worthiness; yes, even a prankster and a knave, as now happens in the papacy, may preach or hear a sermon, baptize or be baptized. But such a rascal must be converted if he wants to be saved, and change his unbelief and sinful life: but God's work remains as it is, for and for God's work.

49) To whom the divine word is useful.

(This § is in the church postil. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XI, > 546 f. § 2. § 4.)

50. where one loves the word of God, there dwells God.

Concerning the saying of Christ John 14:23: "He who loves me will keep my word, and my Father and I will come to him and make our abode with him," Luther once said: "Heaven and earth, even the castles of kings and emperors, are not able to make a dwelling place for him; but in the man who keeps his word, that is where he wants to dwell: although Isaiah Cap. 66:1 calls heaven his chair and earth his footstool, but not his dwelling place. If one then searches long where God is, he will find him in those who hear Christ's word, as the Lord Christ says here: "He who loves me keeps my word, and we will make our home with him. Surely no one could speak more childishly or more simple-mindedly than Christ, and yet disgrace all doctors with it. It is not in sublimi, sed humili genere to speak in this way; and if I were to teach a child to speak, I would teach it thus: He that loveth me keepeth my word. It is not to abstain from food, from meat, from women, from money; that is to ask the devil as a guest with all his company.

The Word of God alone does everything.

Doctor Luther said: "Just as God makes everything out of nothing, and creates light out of darkness; so also his word makes that in death there must be nothing but life. Therefore, whoever clings to the word of God and follows it, will finally experience what David says in the Psalm: "When God speaks, it is made, and when He calls it, it stands there," Ps. 33:9; but before one comes to this experience, one must suffer something; for God's way and nature is to create and make everything out of nothing.

The word of God is twofold.

(Abridged from Cap. 24, §15, the last two paragraphs.)

53. the power of God's word.

(Cordatus No. 767.)

Great is the power of the Word of God, indeed, the Epistle to the Hebrews rightly calls it

46 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 53-56. 47

[A double-edged sword, because it has the twofold power to comfort and to frighten. Those, however, who neglect this source, will again drink from the puddles of void. Scribes drink which are scraped out and read with very great difficulty, but with little benefit. Chrysostom writes almost nothing pure but of infant baptism; Jerome treats of his devotions. Neither of them commemorates the authorities, nor do they praise the world's regiment, but they were (as they say) hermit-like, 1) like our monks. Everything has to go in monkishly. But those who want to teach others and govern in the church must know the world, because monastic thoughts are not suitable for governing.

(Here 19 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 7, 8178.)

The word of God alone is to be believed and not doubted.

(Cordatus No. 459 and 1568.)

A challenged person does not join those who want to investigate the highest things, but the church that thinks about faith and grace, because if two become one in her, why it is that they ask, they will be heard Matth. 18, 19. This they shall believe, and they shall be saved. Furthermore, whatever the ministers of the Word or other godly people speak to the afflicted in the name of God, they are to be believed, because they are commanded by God to comfort and teach. That is why confession and absolution are so important.

That someone may have the true sacrament, likewise baptism, likewise the true word which I preach, for this I stake my soul, for this I will also die. This is not valid, 2) for he who believes will be saved 2c.

1. In the original äsvotarii. I do not know a concise expression for it, but the sense of the word is undoubtedly the same as "monkish". Monks do everything out of their own devotion, without God's word, without knowledge of life. Compare what Luther says, especially about Jerome's teaching and life, Walch, old edition vol. IX, 422, § 17, and vol. Ill, 612, § 7.
2. namely: without own faith based on God's word.

I do not rely on any other faith, but on the Word. Here is an example: If I give you a hundred guilders and put them under the table, but you think it is lead or tin, it is you who are lacking, not me, as it is still money and good gold, if you do not think it is. So God does not lie when he promises eternal life; only see that you believe it and consider it to be true.

Those who have God's word pure and hold fast to it are poor.

(Cordatus No. 863.)

Where the truth of the gospel is, there is poverty, according to the words [Isa. 61, 1/: "He has sent me to preach to the wretched," and Luc. 7, 22.: "To the poor the gospel is preached." In former times great monasteries were given full, now not even a penny. Superstition and hypocrisy give money enough, truth goes to Parteken. 3)

(Here 10 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 5, § 26.)

True Christians are ready to suffer death and all misfortunes for the sake of the gospel, but hypocrites flee the cross.

V. Luther said: He had a table-goer in Wittenberg, named Matthias de Vai, a Hungarian, who had also lived in Luther's house in Wittenberg. This one, after he came home to Hungary and became a preacher there, was at odds with a papist preacher. When the pope accused him before the monk George, Woida's brother, then governor and regent of Ofen, and in the interrogation one had harshly condemned the other, and the monk could not reconcile the parties, because each wanted to be right, the monk George said: Harret, I will soon know which part is right or not; and go to and set two barrels of powder in the marketplace at Ofen, and say: Whoever wants to defend his doctrine, that it is right and the true word of God, let him sit on the barrel of one, and I will put out fire: who then remains alive, when the fire

3. Go to Parteken - go begging.

48Cap . 1.Of God's word or sacred scripture. § 56-60. 49

with the powder, so that it does not burn, the teaching is right. Then Matthias of Vai quickly jumped on one of the barrels and sat on it, but the pope did not want to get on the other barrel with his help. Then the monk George said: Now I see that the faith and doctrine of Vai is right, and your, the papists', religion is wrong: he punished the same papist priest and his assistant for four running Hungarian guilders, and had to pay and maintain two hundred soldiers for him for a while; but he let Matthiam de Vai preach the gospel publicly.

And Luther said: "No one on the papist side wants to dare to go into the fire, but our people go confidently into the fire, yes, into death; as one experienced in the past with the holy martyrs, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, Vincentio and Laurentio. Should the papists now be driven to the fire for the sake of their doctrine and religion, oh how many would fall away. Illi sunt Martyres active, non passive. Emperors, kings, princes and lords now drive out and murder the Christians, so the Turk accepts them, defends, protects and handles them. Papistae nolunt regnum Christi, habeant ergo regnum diaboli. This is what Luther said at Eisleben in 1546 shortly before his death, and he also said: We are respected in the world ut oves occisionis.

Next, in Paris, two nobles and two magistrates were burned for the sake of the Gospel: the theologians got the king of France to light the fire himself with a straw wipe. We are like a bunch of sheep that do not go to pasture, but stand in the barn, waiting when they are put on the spit or in the pot.

Preaching God's word brings the cross.

(Cordatus No. 1.)

When God preaches His word, He adds one thing so that the word may be understood. For example, when he preaches that the cross follows the word, the pious experience the cross soon after hearing the word. In the same way, when faith is preached and good fruits follow faith, it is impossible that the one who has been taught by

If a man is righteous by faith, he should not also do good works in his own time. And if this did not happen, no one would understand God's word rightly, because action interprets the word rightly. This is what Christ wants when he says: "Now I tell you before it comes to pass, that when it is done ye may believe." [John 13:19Z

58. Whoever wants to teach and confess God's word must not wait for honor, but for the holy cross.

Whatever gifts our Lord God gives to the people of the world, they take the glory from it; thus people boast of goods, power, wealth, wisdom, art 2c. Our Lord God allows this to happen and suffers it; only God's word and religion (if it is otherwise righteous, pure and unadulterated), since he alone wants to have and keep the glory of it; how just. Therefore he hangs the dear cross, shame, persecution, the world and the devil on the necks of us, who are righteous, faithful teachers, to keep us in humility, so that he alone will keep the honor and we will not become trustworthy. For this reason it rhymes that if one wants to seek honor and good in theology and in God's word, as if he wanted to take coals from a fiery furnace, he would certainly burn himself. Let every theologian, yes, every Christian, be guided by this; otherwise nothing will come of it, if he does not want to be a false teacher and a muzzling Christian.

59. word of god Art.

(Cordatus No. 261.)

In the time of Christ and the apostles (that I say so), the gospel was a doctrinal word; later, among the entire papacy, it was a reading word. Now, however, it has become a fighting word and no longer wants to suffer its enemies, but to get rid of them.

60. God's Word is the body in which God's children are conceived and born.

Just as in the world and in the household a child becomes an heir only by being born into the hereditary estate; so make

50 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 60-69. 51

faith alone to God's children those who are born through the Word, which is the mother in whom we are conceived, born and brought up; as the prophet Isaiah Cap. 46, 3. says about it. Just as we become children of God through such a birth, which God accomplishes without our doing, so we also become heirs in the same way: but now that we have become heirs, we are free, set free from sin, death and the devil, and have eternal life and righteousness.

61. God's word is to be preferred over all persons and things.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 55. 56. 63. 67. > 68.)

62. through whom GOD keeps his word.

(This § is transferred to Cap. 66, § 33, where it belongs).

The word of God is to be firmly believed, but the wickedness of the world is so great that the last day must control it.

(Composed of Cap. I, § 80, end of first paragraph, and Cap. 51, § 2, > end of penultimate paragraph).

A rhyme by D. M. Luther of the New Testament Book.

The will is a noble book, Great art, wisdom it teaches, Blessed is he > who keeps it, To him God will bless all his things. > > For God's word abides forever, And shares the kingdom of heaven with > us, > > We must leave this world, for the Word holds fast with us, and > strengthens us in the time of death,

And helps us out of eternal death.

Another rhyme of D. M. Luther about the words of the psalm: Beati omnes, qui timent Dominum; found in A. Erasmi Sarcerii Liberei, among the Colloquiis Lutheri.

(This § is in Walch, old edition, IX, 1356.)

In matters of religion, one should judge from God's Word and not from human wisdom.

(Contained in Cap. 55, § 2, subsections 4 and 5.)

In the past, there was evil study, especially in the Holy Scriptures.

In our time, studying was evil, since theology and all the good arts were despised, and fine, clever minds were plagued with sophistry. Aristotelem, the pagan, was held in such esteem that whoever denied him or contradicted him was considered the greatest heretic in Cologne and condemned; since they did not understand Aristotelem, the sophists obscured him much more. As the monk did, who spent two hours in the passion sermon with this question: Utrum Quantitas realiter distincta sit a Substantia? Whether the quantity in itself is distinct from the essence? And showing this example, he said, "My head could creep through this hole, but the size of the head cannot. So he separated the head from its size, as a fool. A bad grammarian could have solved it in a simple way and said: the size of the head, that is, the largest head.

With such foolish work, fine, skilful minds were burdened, and neither in good arts nor in theology were they properly instructed and taught. Thus Antipho, Cusa, Cardus, Bovillus and others have labored miserably and tried how they could bring that which is round into the square, also comparing the right string or equal lines with the crooked. Now we have blessed times, God wanted the youth to make good use of them, and to study diligently in those arts that are now flourishing and green.

The word of God is not to be judged by the fruits and lives of the hearers.

(Contained in Cap. 11, § 25, subd. 1.)

The Gospel is the best new newspaper.

As one once told sad new newspaper about D. M. Luther's table, D. M. spoke. M.

52 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 69-75. 53

Luther: The gospel brings good new news, and these are certainly from Jesus Christ, our dear Lord and Savior; otherwise I know of few good new news in the world. There is no greater thing and grace, than if we could believe that God spoke with us; if we believed that, we would already be blessed.

70. contempt and corruption of God's word is the greatest wrath of God.

(Cordatus No. 1361.)

Because GOD gives everything for free and ceaselessly serves people, He bears this reward that they crucify and despise His Son and persecute all servants of GOD, but He also knows this reward that He gives to His despisers, the Jews and Greeks, the Turks, the Germans and Italians the Pope.

(Here 6 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 1, 8 13, end of > first paragraph).

71) What is the purpose of the contempt of the divine word?

When it was once said how God's word and His servants were despised in the world, both among the nobility and also among the burghers and peasants, then said D. Martinus said: "Let this contempt be our consolation, admonition and reminder to give thanks to our Lord God for this great gift and grace, that we may be those who love His Word, gladly hear it, learn it, and delight in the Holy Scriptures. For it is a great punishment and terrible judgment and wrath of God that a man is so hostile to God and His holy Word that he will not hear it, and in addition neither honors nor respects the servants of the Word, but dishonors and despises them.

The people with whom the Scriptures have to do.

(Contained in Cap. S, § 25.)

73. the sacred scriptural custom.

The Holy Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, have the custom of turning a peculiar saying into a common one.

As when I say, Let Moses be put to death, I make of a single and particular Moses a common Moses, which extends to all things, and a common example, which applies to all the laws that try to catch and bind the consciences. The same saying is found in the 69th Psalm, v. 26, where David says, "Let his dwelling place be desolate," because it is a special saying, speaking of the synagogue and Judaism. And St. Peter, Apost. 1, 20, this saying from Judah the betrayer, who is a forerunner of the synagogue, which took Christ Jesus; as if Peter wanted to say: Therefore the synagogue with its rulers and great men shall perish for a thousand devils 1).

The word of God appears to reason as a vain lie.

When Luther was asked by someone about the word of faith, that it was contrary to reason and common experience, and that the church in the world was most plagued and challenged by the devil; yet the Lord Christ says, John 16:33: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"; is there nothing else in the church but sorrow, cross and persecution? The doctor answered and said, "Do you not know that everything in the Scriptures is a lie according to reason? But we are to believe that God wants to prove His power and strength in weakness, and let His wisdom be seen even in the highest foolishness: but blessed is he who believes it.

That the Jews have better teachers and scribes of the Scriptures than we Gentiles.

When M. Luther read the Psalter at one time, he was very surprised that David had such a spirit, and said: Dear God, what high people these were! This David was a husband, a king, a man of war, and a preacher: he dealt with worldly matters, with which he had to do, and yet he wrote such a beautiful book. Thus the New Testament of

1. Stangwald has instead: "for a thousand devils" "in reason."

54 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. , § 75-79. 55,

written by men who were Jews, for the apostles were Jews. Thus, God wanted to indicate that we should worship God's Word, hold it dear and honorable, dear and valuable. We Gentiles have no book that rules and reigns in the Church, except that St. Augustine alone is a doctor and teacher in the Gentile Church before the others; therefore we Gentiles are not at all like the Jews. Therefore St. Paul also makes a fine distinction between Sarah and Hagar, and the two sons, Isaac and Ishmael: Hagar was also a woman, but not equal to Sarah. Therefore, it is a great presumption, hopefulness, and bravado on the part of the pope that he, as a man, has been allowed to set himself against the Scriptures without Scripture, and to exalt himself above them.

Luther's complaint about the quantity of books and his admonition that the Bible should be read carefully.

D. Luther once complained about the quantity of books, that there was neither an end nor a measure to writing, and everyone wanted to make books, and said: "Some did it out of ambition, so that they would also be famous and get a name from it. But some did it for the sake of pleasure and profit, and thus promoted such evil. Thus, through so many commentaries and books, the dear Bible is buried and scorched, that one does not even pay attention to the text. Since in all good arts and faculties those are the very best who are well read and well grounded in the text 1). For in law, a good jurist is one who is well practiced and well known in the text; but now they also soon turn to the scribes and commentaries. When I was young, I became accustomed to the Bible, read it often, and became familiar with the text: there I became so well acquainted with it that I knew where every saying stood and was to be found when it was spoken of; thus I became a good textualis. Only then did I read the scribes. But in the end I had to put them all out of sight and put them away, because in my conscience I could not be satisfied with them, and so I had to

1. Cf. § 6 of this Cap.

again with the Bible; for it is much, much better to see with one's own eyes than with foreign eyes. Therefore I would also wish that all my books were buried nine cubits into the earth, for the sake of the evil example, that otherwise every one would follow me with many books to write, so that one would be famous. No, Christ did not die for our vain glory, that we might have fame and honor; but he died that his name alone might be hallowed.

The first is the first of the two fables of Aesop and the second is the first of the two fables of Aesop.

I think that some of the beautiful fables have come from there: When the cruel tyrant. When the cruel tyrant Julianus, a Mameluk and disowned Christian, seriously forbade in the Empire to teach, preach and confess the Holy Scriptures and God's Word publicly, there were two pious bishops (as church history says) who became schoolmasters and taught the young boys in the schools.

78. No one is offended by the simple speech of the Scriptures.

(This § is from the preface to A. T. Walch's old edition, vol. XI V, > 2, § 3.)

Why the same thing is repeated so often in the Scriptures.

(Cordatus No. 1605.)

Why Moses and the prophets in constant repetition tautologia always bring up the same thing again, one complains about it; but the whole fifth book of Moses is no more than: "I am the LORD, your God, who brought you out" 2c. But the Holy Spirit has seen the ungodliness of people who touch the Bible only with their fingertips and forget the treasure buried in it. We have seen in our time how graciously God has delivered us from the tyrants, from the pope, from the zealots, Zwingli, Oecolampad. These cases should comfort us over and over again, but we have already completely forgotten all of them.

56 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 80-86. 57

80. By God's word one should remain alone and hold fast.

(The beginning of this § is transferred to Cap. 3, § 23, where it > belongs. The following is in Kummer p. 378 Lauterbach p. 87 and > follows after Cap. 3, § 23.)

Such visible and physical things we see daily and cannot understand them and are forced to say: "I believe in God the Father" 2c. Nor do we fools want to master God in the article of reincarnation and salvation, and much disputing about infant baptism and the secret powers of the sacraments, so we poor fools do not know where the great Junker Fart in the belly comes from. So it is said that when GOD speaks A Word, the whole world should tremble, believe and obey. Away with the exceedingly godless Papists, who dare to prefer the fabricated prestige of their church to the Word of GOD. For this Papist argument is the highest and most intolerable blasphemy, so that they spit God in the face. Great indeed is the patience of God who endures this. But it has always been so. For the God of Bethel was held in high esteem by the people of God, but the God that Jeremiah preached was of no value at all. It costs our Lord God so much to keep his power and mercy with a few. He must smite many kings before a few people learn to fear him, and he must make many harlots and knaves blessed before a few sinners learn to believe him. Therefore the prophets and apostles do not labor in vain, that we may abide in the word of God. For without this word we are lost. If we do not wrap ourselves in this God who has become flesh and has been put into words, then we will soon be devoured by the devil.

The word of God is to be heard, not pondered according to God's majesty.

(Contained in Cap. 2, 8 9, paras. 2-4.)

82. a different.

(Lauterbach, Sept. 12, 1538, p. 131.)

A Hungarian presented Luther with strange, ludicrous and unnecessary questions, which he had written down. Luther said: Ah! that

We remain with the revealed will of God, because God has revealed everything to us in Christ, whom we should listen to: He knows how to solve all these "arguments". Yes, God wants to give us everything in Christ, only we should humble ourselves in true obedience. But we don't want to, and apart from Him we are fools, and we deal with the question why God does it this way, lets it happen this way, and we also want to be a little bit in the game.

83. a different.

(Contained in Cap. 4, § 16.)

That God's word was preached much more powerfully in the time of the apostles, and ours now, and was spread farther than in the time of Christ.

(Contained in Cap. 12, § 26.)-.

85. contempt of the divine word.

(Cordatus No. 256 and No. 257.)

The things of God are so evil that I can no longer advise them. For nothing of all that he does with us, even in the most merciful way, remains uncorrupted for him. This can be clearly seen in the words of God. As often as he gives it to the world again, it is despised, mocked, persecuted and eradicated from the world, as much as there is in it. If he does not give it, we are condemned. But if he has given it, we condemn it, and we condemn it by deed and by denial. For if we believe, we do not; if we disbelieve, we deny. Since this is how his word is in this world, what, I ask, happens to all his works, even to himself?

It will happen again, as it did before, that all those who now advise the world for its salvation will run away into the deserts, because of the exceedingly great ingratitude, which always turns the best into the worst.

86) The essence of a thing is to be separated from its custom, and alone

Staying with God's Word.

(Contained in Cap. 22, § 34 and again in another redaction Cap. 37, § 71.)

58 Cap. 1. of god's word or the holy scriptures. § 87-89. 59

The Word of God performs great miracles, but everyone wants to master it.

The teaching of the Gospel has done great wonders, even in our times: it has cast down and disgraced the monastic vows and the abominable idolatry of the corner masses, which nevertheless have a great reputation and appearance. Oh, if only we would also thank God for this and remember back in what horrible darknesses we had been in the priesthood, from which God has thus graciously redeemed us, without any merit on our part, through His Word, which we so shamefully despise, and thereby provoke God to anger, so that He must punish us. But now everyone wants to be a master of the Scriptures, and everyone thinks that he understands them very well, and has even studied them; just as St. Jerome, in his preface to the Bible, complains that there has not been an old fool and a foolish hag, nor a washed-out sophist, who has not presumed to be a master of theology, and has torn them apart.

All other arts and crafts have their preceptors and masters, from whom one must learn them, and also order and laws, according to which one must judge and keep; only the holy Scriptures and God's Word must be subject to every one's pride, arrogance, will and presumption, and be mastered, twisted and interpreted as each one understands and wants it according to his own head; hence also come so many cults, sects and aversions; God forbid them.

Without God's word, the ceremonies are filth and dung.

Let us pray diligently for God's word, that God's name alone may be hallowed; for if the doctrine is not reformed, all reforming is in vain with life: I throw in all ceremonies without God's word. Although the papists have never said or taught anything about righteous ceremonies. Whoever wants to have a right church, he must adhere to the word by which everything is preserved.

The word of God is not learned without challenge.

D. Luther once said: "I did not learn my theology all at once, but I had to search deeper and deeper for it. My temptations have brought me to this, for one can never understand the Holy Scriptures apart from practice and temptations. This is what the fanatics and the mobs lack, that they do not have the right opponent, namely the devil, who teaches them well. So St. Paul also had a devil who beat him with his fists, and thus drove him with his temptations to study diligently in the Holy Scriptures. So I have had the pope, the universities, and all the scholars, and through them the devil on my neck: they have chased me into the Bible, so that I have read it diligently, and thus finally attained their right understanding. If we otherwise do not have such a devil, then we are only speculative theologians who handle their thoughts badly and speculate with their reason alone that it should be this way and that way; as the monks in the monasteries also did.

After all, you can't learn other good arts or crafts without practice. What kind of a physician or doctor would he be if he stayed and ran in schools all by himself? He must, indeed, bring the art into use and begin to practice it, and the more he acts with nature, the more he sees and experiences that he does not yet have the art rightly and perfectly. So must a lawyer and every craftsman and artist do: what should not such be in the holy Scriptures, since our Lord God has a mighty adversary?

It is also a great grace of God that one has a certain text of the Bible before him, from which he can say: This is right, I know that for sure. People think they know everything soon after they have heard a sermon. Zwinglius also thought that he knew it well, but that it was a bad art. But I know that I can't yet do the Lord's Prayer properly, as a learned, old doctor I usually am.

60 Cap?1. Of God's word or holy scripture. § 89-94. 61

I am, or should be. No one can be learned without practice and experience. That is why the peasant said: "Armor is good who knows how to use it properly. So the holy scripture is certainly enough in itself, but God grant that I may also catch and make the right use of it; for if Satan disputes with me, as if God were also gracious to me, I must not make this statement against him, that he who loves God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, 2c. will possess God's kingdom. For the devil will soon reproach me, and come up to me and say, "You do not love God," as my conscience convinces me. But I must take hold of the saying, and use it against the devil, that Jesus Christ died for me, for through Him I have a gracious Father, who has reconciled me to Him, and as St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 1:30, "He was given to me by God for wisdom, for righteousness, for sanctification, and for redemption.

90. that the ingratitude against God's word will make our churches great.

Do harm.

D. Luther said: Our church will not suffer such great distress and danger from the tyrants and their persecution as from our own, and from our great security, wit and carelessness. For even though the pope will try all sorts of things against us and will subject himself to them, and will give and give much to his patrons, in the opinion and hope that if this sect of ours (which is what he thinks it is) and doctrine were suppressed, he would get back everything that he has lost so far: But this will not happen, whether God wills it or not, the word of God would perish in the German land, and then God would not stay away long with the last day, and thus, as the last, break into this terrible night, and push the bottom out of the barrel. Otherwise, the tyrants, fanatics and heretics will only drive us into the Bible to read it more diligently and to sharpen our prayers more earnestly.

91) The bet HLtt's for that the teaching of the divine word soon must perish.

D. Luther said at Eisleben that omnes sapientes mundi thought that the teaching of the Gospel, because it had begun suddenly, would not last long, but would fall again of its own accord. That is why the present bishop of Magdeburg, Hans Albrecht, has the saying: One must command much of the time. He hoped that the papacy in the German land would again start: he is rightly instructed in Rome, therefore he does not ask anything about our doctrine. The children of the world do not say otherwise: When the thick cloud has passed, it will probably smell differently.

Preaching God's word annoys the world.

(Contained in Cap. 4, § 62.)

93) How to stand against the despisers of the divine word and the sacraments.

Dear sirs (said D. Martinus to the parish priests and the clergy, and those who were with them), let us wait on the church with preaching, pure doctrine and sacraments. Whoever will not go to the sacrament, 1) nor learn the catechism, you shall not go to him in his sickness, when he is to die; but let him lie down like a sow: neither take care of him, nor let him be buried in the churchyard, to the horror and disgust of others.

94. How God spoke to the fathers.

D. Martinus was asked: How God would have spoken with the fathers, when John says, Joh. 1, 18.: "No one has ever seen God"; and contrary to this the patriarch Jacob would say, Gen. 32, 30.: "I have seen the Lord face to face"? To this the Doctor replied: "God spoke to the fathers through visions and appearances, so they saw God's face, and not God Himself; as we have God's face and see Him through Word, Sacrament,

1. Cf. Cap. 19, § 15; Cap. 21, § 18.

62 Cap. 1. of god. Word or sacred scripture. § 94-96. 63

-the churches key, in the parents and authorities order. These are God's faces and larvae. For "face" in Scripture means God's appearance, presence and mercy; as David says: "Lord, do not cast me out of your presence. And on the other hand, "to see God's behind and back" means to see God's wrath. According to the grammatica, this means God's face and back. But spiritually, the ancient teachers interpreted God's back from Christ's humanity. So Moses wanted to see God's face, that is, His glory, so that the people would believe him; therefore Moses, as a common person in public office, desired to see God's face, that is, His omnipotence, wisdom and goodness: which three do not distinguish nor separate the person, but are assigned and given to the persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. But God seems weak, foolish and evil in our eyes. This is called seeing God's back and seeing Him from behind; as Paul speaks of the weakness of the crucified God, of the foolish and foolish word.

95. how the world wants to abolish and settle the division in religious matters.

(The first paragraph of this § is omitted because taken from the > writing: Wider den Meuchler zu Dresden. Walch, old edition vol. XVI, > 2069, § 164)

Item, it said D. M. Luther that Mr. Conrad Hoffmann would have said to the bishop of Mainz, Albrecht, Cardinal, three and twenty years ago, that he should control and ward off the religious dispute in time, so that a large incendium would not arise from it. Then the bishop of Mainz said: It is a monk trade, they will probably tolerate it themselves. But he would have known it (said Doctor Luther) since that time.

2. At that time, Doctor Luther also told that in Rome the Pope's fool had once been with some cardinals, who had been beaten.

I) The same narrative, according to Lauterbach, is found in Cap. 27, § 54.

2. This narrative somewhat modified also Cap. 27, § 102, in the last paragraph.

how one would like to do with the Lutherans, so that they could be eradicated? But they had said that the Lutherans cite the Holy Scriptures and St. Paul so violently against them and attract them in their books and writings; this would be in their way, so that they could not suppress the Lutherans. Then the fool said to them that he knew good counsel to get rid of Paul and that his teaching would not be against them. The pope would have the power to elevate saints; St. Paul should also be elevated and placed among the saints from among the apostles, so that his dicta would no longer be apostolic.

That the divine Word and the Christian Church may be preserved from the raging of the world.

Count Albrecht of Mansfeld's chancellor, Georg Lauterbeck, returned from the day in Frankfurt in 1546 and told Luther over the table in Eisleben how Emperor Carl and the Pope were taking such swift proceedings and actions against Bishop Hermann of Cologne and were planning to expel him from the lands and people. Luther then said: "They have lost the matter, they cannot do anything to us with the Word of God and the Holy Scriptures, therefore they want to fight against us with wisdom, force, cunning, practices, deceit, violence and weapons. They themselves give us the testimony that the wisdom, truth and Word of God are with us. But here the papists say, "How shall we do to him that we oppress Christ and his gospel? How shall we do to him that we suppress Christ and his gospel? Let us use deceit, violence and cunning to hinder its progress. And it comes to pass, as the other Psalm v. 2 says, "The kings of the land rise up, and the lords take counsel with one another." What do they want to do? "Against the Lord and his anointed." They want to make this other psalm true. But it follows soon after: "He who dwells in heaven, laugh ye." God still thinks he wants to remain well before the angry young men, and the devil thanks them that they should take me, a poor man, into their rods. I have now been in the council for six and a half thousand years, ruled and made all the laws. Dear nobles, don't get so angry, run away.

64Cap . 1. of god's word or sacred scripture. § 96. 65

from the wall, do not crush your head. "Be ye wise, ye kings and judges of the earth." Receive the Lord Christ, or the devil shall smite you: "that ye perish not in the way." I believe that God wants to overthrow the Pope, so that the last day will come. This is a right hopeful psalm against the same fellows. It starts out silly, but ends proudly: "So that you will not perish on the way. There will be a fire, therefore "good to all who trust in him." It is a proud, high psalm. He says: Behold, what you lords do, "he who dwells in heaven," he takes care of our affairs, and then grabs the great lords between the spurs and rides them to water. It will not help yet.

And Doctor Martin Luther said that in the face of the world's great, weak practices we have no other consolation than that our God is called "not a God who is far away, but a God who is near," Jer. 23:23, and after that a God of mercy. The same sees all these practices: he does not forget them, for he has a great memory. But what does our Lord God say about this? He thinks that he is a poor disciple, and thinks, "How will my son and I fare? The angels are all terrified, and

think: Where do we go from here? Where do we want to stay? But I assume that God will say: This plan or practice does not please me; then nothing must come of it. For even if they intend this and that, and even if all four winds and four elements are against us, we must still hold fast to God: if he will not have us alive, let him have us dead; but we know otherwise, for the dead will not praise you, O Lord.

I have angered the pope very much with the evil pictures. Oh how the sow will raise her rump in the air. But even if they kill me, they will first eat the dirt that the priest, who rides on the sow, has in his hand. I have put a golden bowl in the hand of the priest, and he shall first credence it. I have a great advantage, my lord is called Shefflemini, who says, "I will raise you up at the last day." And so he will say, Doctor Martine, Doctor Jonah, Mr. Michael Cöli,1) come forth; and will call us all by our names, as the Lord Christ says in John, Cap. 10, 8: "He calls them by name." Be fearless.

1. Cf. 48, § 39. His signature under the Schmalkaldic Articles. Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2389.

The 2nd chapter.

On GOD's works.

I. That reason cannot understand nor comprehend God's works.

2. God hides His gifts so that one does not become aware of them.

No one understands God's works.

4 God's wonders, which the world is full of, the blind reason does not see or recognize.

God is incomprehensible, and yet is felt.

The wonders of God are seen in the smallest and least creatures.

God is outside and above, yet in the creatures.

8. 9. 10. Some questions.

God is faithful and true.

12. God's things have even a small beginning.

(13) Abundance of temporal goods hinders faith.

14. God deserves only vain ingratitude with His benefits.
15. that the wood is a great gift from God.
16. that God has almost lost all his titles and names.

That God might become rich.

18. God's power in our weakness.
19. as God does with us, it is not good.
20. knowledge of nature.

How God deals with the right saints.

What God wants from us humans.

God is not angry.

24. god yat put forgiveness of sins in all his creatures.
25. god's mte if you could trust him.
26. God's mercy.

God is patient.

28. God holds us far too well.
29. two regiments on earth.
30. God made everything for the sake of man.

66Cap . 2. of god's works. 67

God's creatures need the wicked the most.

32. God's and the devil's lawyering.

God, not money, sustains the world.

34. do not ponder the secret counsels of god.

God feeds the church.

God is the avenger and executioner.

37. praise of the creatures.

(38) Only with God should one seek counsel in trouble and call upon Him.

God's things go on slowly and weakly.

40. The greatest wrath of God is when He is silent and does not speak to us.

God is incomprehensible in His majesty.

42. what most displeases God.

The greatest wrath of God.

44. God's way when he wants to ruin a country.
45. One should not flee from God.

God punishes, and no one can escape from Him.

47. 48. If God does not hold over us, it is done with us.
48. 50. 51. God's bodily gifts are held in low esteem.
49. how god remains master.

God feeds all animals.

God can do all crafts.

55. God is very annoyed that people do not want to think of Him as a God.
56. I am your God, what it is; and from the abuse of God's name.

5-7. God wants to be praised in all languages.

58. God can be trusted less than people.
59. put God on the spot.

God nullifies human councils and plots.

61. To prove God wrong is something He does not like.

God knows how to deal with His adversaries and ours much differently than we think.

God is much kinder to us than a father is to his child.

66. God is a God of the lowly.

How God shows Himself in challenge.

God has a small number of people on earth.

69. creatures of God, as they are to the wicked.

God is very pleased with the customs of all creatures.

71. God has put great gifts into small, despised things.

The Lord is to be known from the creatures.

73. you should not talk God into it.

God's wrath is greatest when He is silent.

God punishes the authorities through the subjects.

How God breaks and humbles human hope.

Why God created the wicked.

78. god's imprudence.

Satan with all his members, the wicked, resists God.

Why God does all good by means.

Man soon gets tired of a thing.

God feeds all people and creatures in the whole world.

Our Lord God must be wrong, he does what he wants.

God in His majesty is incomprehensible to human reason.

Why God has decreed that the wicked shall prosper and the righteous shall suffer in the world.

Why God decrees that His people be persecuted by the devil and the world.

God is not a God of the dead, but of the living.

God needs evil for good.

God does not let him lack anywhere.

90. thanksgiving is god's dearest service.

God is pleased that we need His creatures.

God fills the belly of the wicked, but gives the kingdom of heaven to the godly.

How God shares with the world.

94. Because God gives all goods for free, people do not respect them.

God's love also for the wicked.

God watches the tyrants for a long time.

God consumes the punishment for a time.

98. signs, so go before the punishment.
99. how god respects great lords.
100. 101. Our Lord's Map.

That from your best comes the best.

God praises His mercy on us sinners with His benefits.

God's works are wonderful.

God spends great expense on the food and nourishment of birds; therefore, He will also feed, nourish and sustain mankind.

God's wrath will soon be atoned for.

107. merciful punishment of God.
108. severe and terrifying wrath of God.

Our Lord God's servant.

God's and the devil's punishments are unequal.

God cannot defend His divinity before us humans.

God is the beginning of all righteousness, the means and the end.

Two kinds of sacrifices pleasing to God.

114. 115. Wrong prudence of the epicureans who judge God's regiment.

Serve God and the emperor.

The first birth was sanctified to God.

118. obedience of god and the devil.
119. forgiveness of sins.

How it would have gone if Adam had not sinned.

God mocks Satan.

The world does not respect God's goods.

123. God's supreme wrath and mercy.

What is most pleasing to God.

God hardens whom He wills.

The one who can humble himself before God from the heart has won.

To know God rightly is the highest art.

128. gOd receives discipline.

God is lenient with His outward and temporal gifts.

130. god's way.

God has set a goal for the adversaries to rage.

God preaches to him himself.

134. God's food and sustenance that goes into the world.
135. goodness of god.
136. signs when God is gracious or ungracious.
137. God is a God of the living.

God has restored all estates through His word.

139. God will destroy a country for the sake of sin.

God's blessings are upon all creatures.

How God will judge.

68 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 1. 2. 69

The first time you see God's goodness, you will know it.

The Magnificat contains all the works of God.

144. God does not want us to understand everything.

A blessed time has God given us now, who only recognized it.

Since a man should be God only a little time, our evil would be waited.

147. serving god.

God is not a cause of evil.

Man does not do God's will.

God's fickleness dismays the people.

Where and how to find and know God with certainty.

God does and gives everything for free.

For the sake of our hardness, God must be hard and God must be far away.

154, 155 How difficult it is to believe what God says.

God cares for us.

What this is: God is nothing, and yet everything.

In what God's consolation and man's consolation stand.

When people listen to help, God's help comes to those who believe in Him.

Our Lord God deals with Christians in a wonderful way.

You only have to believe in God's works.

162. of god's unfathomable majesty.

Bor God is not to be feared.

God's works are wonderful.

God will wake up one day.

166. of God's punishment against the wicked; item heretics and tyrants.

1. that reason cannot understand nor comprehend God's works.

(The first paragraph, Cordatus No. 295.)

All the works of God are inexpressible, no one can think them out, they can only be believed, they cannot be thought out; which one then understands a little, if one once carefully considers what the straw is good for.

(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 827.)

Believing in God the Creator is impossible, because if we believed that he was, we would also know that he is so powerful that he could destroy the world with one word, as easy as it is for the potter to break down the clay. But if we believed that he was the creator, we would not oppose him with our wisdom, power 2c. In short, in his majesty no one can recognize God. That is why he rightly condescended to become man, yes, to sin, to death, to weakness itself, and made himself small enough. But who can believe even this? We believe that the emperor is more powerful than God, that Erasmus is wiser than him, that a monk is more just.

Otherwise, D. Luther said at another time: "All the works of God are public in the day, and yet incomprehensible and inscrutable. For who can say how God created the smallest thing and the least creature, but how he gave a flea or a louse eyes and legs; or how in man an eye sees; or how it happens that a woman has milk in her breasts, and carries a child in her womb, how and by whom it is cared for. At

In the last days we will see it, and all of them will be as beautiful as Adam and Eve were before the fall, yes, ten times more beautiful; as such things are now before God, as if they had all been made ready. In sum, in all creatures, even the smallest, even in their members, God's omnipotence and great miracles appear and are seen publicly. For what man, however mighty, wise and holy, can make a fig tree or another fig out of a fig? Or from a cherry stone another, or, but create a cherry tree? Or even know how God creates, grows and sustains everything?

And indeed, in all good arts and creatures one finds and sees imprinted the holy divine Trinity; as, God the Father's omnipotence, God the Son's wisdom, and God the Holy Spirit's goodness. But because we cannot rightly comprehend or understand 1) how it is that the eyeball sees; item, how distinct and distinctly audible words are heard and spoken when the tongue is moved and ruled in the mouth, which are, after all, natural things that we see and deal with every day: how then should we be able to comprehend and investigate the secret counsel of the divine majesty with our reason?

2. God bends His gifts so that they are not properly perceived.

(Cordatus No. 41.)

By fehr small deficiencies God covers His gifts that they become stinky before men.

1. Cf. § 9 of this Cap.

70Cap . 2. of god's works. § 2-4. 71

The theology, for example, is hidden from the young people by the fact that the theologians do not have fat sinecures (just as they are also kept from marriage), 1) not so much by great evils.

No one understands God's work.

No man can think out and rightly understand what God has done, and still does without ceasing: therefore, even if we sweat blood, and should write only three lines, as St. John wrote, we could not do it. Why do we allow ourselves to think and wonder at our wisdom? Ah, it is vain folly. If we should advise, 2) if there were neither man nor woman, how it should be created, and the like; there would be no one at home, and all our art would fail us. What then is my wisdom compared to God's wisdom? Yes, I will gladly be a fool, let myself be caught and give myself over 3).

4 The wonders of God, of which the world is full, are not known to blind reason.

Reason can neither understand nor comprehend how it is that a man, who has flesh and blood, hands, bones 2c., senses and intellect 2c., has such a bad origin, namely from human seed. 4) Item, that from one kernel that grows a great tree, from one grain of wheat that rots and perishes in the earth, twenty or thirty grains come. Therefore the world is full of God's wondrous works, which happen without ceasing. But because they are so many and so innumerable, and because they are so utterly common, says St. Augustine, they are not respected, indeed, they are not remembered.

Christ once with five loaves exempted five thousand men, woman and children,

1. These brackets are set by us for better understanding. Here, too, the text of Cordat does not require any change.
2. Cf. cap. 3, § 23.
3. In Aurifaber: "gegrepen", i.e. grasped, overcome.
4. Cf. cap. 3, § 23.

and when they were all satisfied, twelve baskets remained and were taken up. If such a miraculous work were to happen now, all the world would be astonished; as they also did and said, John 6:14, "This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. But the fact that God performs great miracles every day without ceasing is not seen and respected by carnal hearts; indeed, they do not even think about it, let alone marvel at it and thank Him for it. God, the Lord, gives water from the rocks, bread from the sand, wine, beer, butter, cheese, from the earth all kinds of plants and fruits, gold, silver, ore 2c. But because he gives all this without ceasing superfluously, no one considers it a miracle.

In the beginning he made Adam from a lump of earth, Eve from a rib, blessed them and said: "Be fruitful and multiply", Gen. 1, 28. This word is and remains strong until the end of the world. And even though many people die every day, others are always born, as Moses said in his Psalm: "You let people die and pass away like a river, and say, 'Come again, children of men,'" Ps. 90:3.

These and other things that God creates daily, the blind, godless world does not regard as God's miraculous works, but thinks that everything happens approximately. But the godly, wherever they turn their eyes, looking at heaven or earth, air or water, 2c., they see all God's wondrous works, at which they are astonished and cannot sufficiently marvel: they see their air and joy in it, praise and glorify the Creator, and also know that he is well pleased with them.

The children of the world, however, who walk in darkness, see none of these things, as has been said, much less do they know about matters of faith. What is it that they can perceive and discern what is good and what is evil in the things that are subject to reason, even doing the outward works of the law to some extent? But the articles of faith, that three persons are one God, that the true Son of God became man, that there are two natures in Christ, divine and human, 2c., are much too high for them, indeed, they resent them, and consider them a poem.

72 Cap. 2. of god's works. §4-7. 73

or fable. For as little does it rhyme if someone were to say: Man and stone are One Person; just as little does it rhyme with reason that God became man, or that divine and human nature, united in Christ, is One Person.

But this is what we Christians have to study all our lives. I also think about this diligently, but I do not understand it. St. Paul understood a good part of it, even though he did not grasp it at all; nevertheless, he brings it out, Col. 2, 9, and says: "In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in the flesh"; item Cap. 2, 3: "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." This is to say: Whoever does not find God in Christ, 1) will never find Him; he may seek Him wherever he pleases; much less understand what His will and nature are. But in him we recognize everything, the whole Godhead and humanity; that is, we see in him at the same time the highest power or might, and the highest weakness, life and death, righteousness and sin, God's grace and wrath. Ah! what shall we say, that God became man? it is a very high and heavy article above and against all reason; but no one, or ever so few people take it seriously.

God is incomprehensible and yet is felt.

God cannot be comprehended, but He can be felt, for He can be seen and noticed everywhere, and He shows Himself to be a benevolent Creator, who does and gives us all the good things that the sun and moon, the heavens and the earth, and all the fruits that grow from the earth, bear witness to. But the fault that we do not recognize God in such His works and innumerable good deeds is not in the Creator that He wanted such things to be hidden from our eyes. No, the fault is not in him, but in us; for human nature is so corrupted and poisoned by original sin that we cannot respect it, nor recognize and understand it.

1. Cf. cap. 2, § 157.

The miracles of God are seen in the smallest and least creatures.

(Cordatus No. 302.)

The greatest miracles of God are seen even in the smallest things: as, in a ripe pear, which half a year before it ripened, sat in the extreme tips of the roots, which are yet very far from the branches on which it now hangs.

God is beside and above, yet in all creatures.

Since heaven is His chair, Isa. 66, 1., He will reach far, far above the heavens; and since the earth is His footstool or footstool, He must also be in the whole world; as the following words also testify, since God speaks, v. 1. 2.: "What is the place where I shall rest? I look upon the wretched, and them that are of a broken spirit, and fear my word." As if he should say: These are the ones with whom I have my dwelling and rest. But now these are scattered to and fro in all the world: and if he fills all things, as St. Paul says Eph. 4:10, then he must be present everywhere. Therefore, whoever wants to be wise before God, let him learn his word and fear him; for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", Sir. 1, 16; but let him fear so that he also "hopes in his goodness", Psalm 147, 11.

Otherwise, on another occasion, D. M. Luther said in answer to a question: "Is God outside, above, and yet in all creatures, even the least, as in little grasses and leaves on trees? And he said: God is not bound to any place, nor is He excluded from any. He is in all places, even in the least creature, as in a leaf of a tree or in a blade of grass, and yet He is nowhere. Nowhere, understand tangibly and decidedly; but in all places he is, for he creates, works and sustains all things. But how is he in all creatures? Substantially, or by his almighty power? He is in both ways in every creature: for, as I said, he creates, he works, and he sustains everything. Other creatures work according to their quality, but God is present and essential.

74 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 7-9. 75

But when one said, "I do not understand this," D. Martinus answered, "Do you also believe that Christ was God on the cross and in the Virgin Mary's body? To believe both is impossible for reason. But I believe it, because the Scripture says so. If then God is essential and present in the virgin's body, He is also in every creature, for it is the same way of speaking. Then said another, So is he also in the devil? Yes, said D. Martinus, also in hell essentially, as St. Paul testifies 2 Thess. 1, 9.: "The ungodly shall suffer torment, eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord"; and Ps. 139, 8.: "If I bed myself in hell, behold, thou art there also."

8. another question.

(Cordatus No. 818-822.)

If it is asked why all men are not saved in Christ, since through Adam all are condemned, I answer by this proof per instantiam: Let not God be angry, as that basic be-.

He loves all people in the highest way, for whom he gave his son to death, of whom he said: "You shall hear him". That our Lord God has turned more to love than to hate, we see in the death of His Son. The devil deceived Adam and Eve, but God sent His Son into the world. With these words one must answer those who ask why God allowed the first parents to fall.

We are not to consider that we have committed sins, but the goodness of God, according to which He sent His Son into the world, even the great multitude of those who have sinned.

we are not to look at. And if God said to all: This is how I want it, this is how I command 1) 2c., what is it to you? But the devil comes here with his "why" and wants to search out all the secrets of God, which no man would suffer from another man, and God should tolerate it? So he also wants to be the master alone.

1. The saying of the tyrants, Juvenal VI, 223: 81c volo, they > juI>60, sit pro rntlonk voluntss.

It is not my place to judge Turks, Tartars and the ungodly, but I believe the general judgment 2) of Scripture, which says Marc. 16, 16.: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved"; this word of Scripture certainly condemns them. But if our Lord God wants to make something different out of it, I do not care. I do not judge him. We are to believe the rule that is set, and God (if he wants) may make exceptions.

Even if God acts strangely, we should still believe that he is a pious man, because according to his goodness he gives people much more goods than people can "think about". And what he does, he does not do without a cause, and if he had to answer everyone's questions, he would be the poorest God.

We should look at God's word and avoid the why in it. We should know His word, not investigate His will, which is often hidden, that is, weigh wind and fire on a scale. With this work the investigators of his majesty toil.

9. another question. 3)

One of them asked: Why does God do so much that one can neither find the cause, nor indicate it, nor understand it? Ah! says D. Martinus, if we do not know or understand everything that God does, there is no power in it, nor does he want us to know what he intends. As he said to Petro, Joh. 13, 36: "What I do, you do not know, but you will know it later" (namely on that joyful day). Only then will we realize how faithful and friendly it is

2. It will probably read: 8sä eornniuni sententias oroäo them. - > Bindseil I, 79 has correctly oommuni, but sententia. > > 3) Cf. § 1 of this chapter at the end. - Similar thoughts in > Lauterbach, Aug. 2, 1538, p. 106. - When someone wanted to investigate > the high judgments of God, without the Scriptures, which seem to > contradict the knowledge of reason, he answered: "This is forbidden > to us" Can we not even fully understand natural things, such as the > visual power of the watery pupil in the eyes, the origin of the > articulated sound in the vibration of the tongue 2c.; can we not learn > this, how much less the counsel of the divine > > j Majesty!

76 Cap. 2. of god's works. §9-11. 77

God has meant for us, even if there have been misfortunes, fears and hardships. However, we should certainly take care of him that he will not let us perish, neither in body nor soul, but act with us in such a way that everything, whether good or bad, must serve us for the best.

We fools cannot give a thorough account of how speech is formed in our mouths, how it happens that the voice of one man is clearly heard by so many thousands, and how we can see with our eyes so far and from afar all kinds of colors, and how we can clearly grasp and distinguish what we see before us, except for nothing: item, how bread, food and drink, which we enjoy every day, is transformed in our bodies, so in a short time, into flesh and blood, urine and dung. If we (I say) cannot show thorough cause in these little things, which happen daily with and in us: how are we then so presumptuous and senseless to flutter about the clouds apart from ourselves, to speculate about divine majesty, being and will, which is far too high, incomprehensible and inscrutable for our blind mad reason?

St. Hilarius adds a fine word: "We are content," he says, "that we do not know how it is with our body, and yet we want to express the divinity. But this we do not do, for there are vain men of the soul who fall and break their necks. Therefore, I faithfully advise that we listen to what God tells us through His Word and act according to it, otherwise all effort and work will be in vain and we will be lost.

10. another question.

One asked: Where was God before the heavens were created? St. Augustine answered: He was in himself. When he inquired further, D. Martinus said: He has built hell for the idle and foolish spirits. Now that he has created all creatures, he continued, he is everywhere and yet nowhere: for I cannot grasp him nor take hold of him without the Word, through my thoughts; but there he can certainly be found, where he has bound himself. The

Jews found him in Jerusalem at the mercy seat, Ex. 25, 17, we in word and faith, in baptism and sacrament; but in majesty he is nowhere to be found. And it was a great grace in the Old Testament that God bound Himself to a certain place where He could be found, namely in the place where the mercy seat was, against which they prayed; first at Shiloh and Shechem, then at Gideon, and finally at Jerusalem in the temple.

In time, the Greeks and other pagans imitated this and built temples to their idols in certain places, as at Ephesus to Diana, at Delphi to Apollo 2c. For where our Lord God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel after it. They also took this from the Jews, that as the Holy of Holies was dark and had no light, so they also made dark and gloomy the places where the devil answered, as at Delphi and elsewhere. Thus the devil is always our Lord God's monkey. The fact that the Holy of Holies had to be dark means that Christ's kingdom can only be found and understood through the Word and faith, and by no other means.

11. God is faithful and true. 1)

That God is faithful and true, he has shown not only in that he has made his promise to us in Christ, through whom we have forgiveness of sins and redemption from eternal death; but he has also presented to us in Scripture many examples of grace and consolation in great saints who were highly enlightened and graced by God, and yet fell into great grave sin. Adam, by his fall and disobedience, bequeathed both sin and death to all his descendants. Aaron brought a great sin upon Israel, that God would destroy them, Deut. 9, 14. David also fell heavily, 2 Sam. 11; Job, Cap. 3, 1., and Jeremiah, Cap. 20, 14, cursed the day in which they were born. Jonah was angry

1. It almost seems as if this § is only another relation, combined from Cap. 9, § 61 and Cap. 24, § 91.

78 Cap. 2. of God's works. §11. 12. 79.

very much and was angry that Nineveh did not perish, Ion. 4, 1. ff. Peter denied, Matth. 26, 70. ff., Paul persecuted Christ 2c., Apost. 9, 4.

These and such innumerable examples are set forth in the holy Scriptures: not that we should be sure and sin on God's mercy; but that when we feel God's wrath and judgment coming upon sinners, we should not despair, but well imagine such comforting examples, and certainly conclude that, as God has had mercy on them, so he will also be merciful to us and will not impute sin to us, out of pure goodness and mercy, shown in Christ 2c. Also, in such examples of great saints who have fallen so hardly, one sees how an evil, cunning, envious, powerful spirit the devil, this world's prince and god, is, that he has been able to bring down (and still does) such high people who have been gifted with the Holy Spirit. 1) Which is nowhere more noticeable than when carnal men, whose hearts are only attached to the temporal, fall into gross sin, such as murder, adultery, theft. 2) Yet such high and pious people, who committed such great sin, fell by God's counsel and decree, so that they would not become proud, nor exaggerate their gifts, but fear. Since David had sinned, killed Uriam, taken his wife, and given the enemies of the Lord cause to blaspheme, he could not boast that he had ruled well and done much good, but said, "I have sinned against the Lord," 2 Sam. 12:13, and prayed with tears the psalm: Miserere mei, Deus, Ps. 51. And Job confesses and says, "I have spoken unwise; therefore accuse me, and repent," 2c. Job 39, 34. 35.

12. God's things have even a small beginning.

When God intends to do something great, He sees to it through a man, and then gives helpers who begin such work by God's command, and also lead it out, and fight their enemies (though not without their help).

1. Cf. cap. 24, § 91.
2. So Stangwald instead of: fall alone.

He overcame great obstacles and resistance. When he wanted to deliver the people of Israel from the long and difficult imprisonment in Egypt and lead them to the promised land, he first called Moses, then he gave him Aaron, his brother, as a helper: they went to Pharaoh and told him by command of the LORD God of the Ebers that he should let Israel go 2c. But Pharaoh at first opposed it severely, and afflicted the people more than before; nevertheless at last he was compelled by so many plagues to let Israel go, yea, the Egyptians pressed and drove them out of the land in haste. But when Pharaoh was sorry that he had let Israel go, and pursued after them with horses, chariots, and horsemen, and all his host, the LORD commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand, wherein he had the rod, over the sea: and the waters were parted; and when the Egyptians pursued after Israel into the midst of the sea, the LORD fought for Israel, and drowned Pharaoh with all his might in the Red sea, and delivered his people out of the hand of Egypt 2c, Exodus 5 to chapter 14.

So in the days of Eli the priest, when Israel was in a very bad way, and the Philistines pressed hard against them and smote them, so that in one day thirty thousand men of Israel were slain, and they took the ark of God and led them into their own land, and Eli fell back from his seat in great grief, and his neck was broken in two, and it seemed as if Israel were at an end; then God raised up Samuel the prophet, and by him restored Israel, that the Philistines were smitten 2c., 1 Sam. 3. 4. 5.

After this, when Saul was so hard pressed by the Philistines that he despaired of great fear and stabbed himself to death, and when three sons and many people died with Saul, everyone thought, "Now it is done for Israel. 31 Shortly after that, when David was chosen and confirmed king by all Israel, the aureum saeculum, the golden age, began. For David, the chosen man of God, not only delivered Israel from the hands of the enemy, but also subdued and brought to obedience all the kings and nations who stood against him; he helped the kingdom so that it stood in full bloom, supreme power and glory in his time and in Solomon's time. For this he awakened

80Cap . 2. of god's works. § 12-16. . 81

God gave him helpers, many high people, priests and prophets, also other godly, wise, experienced heroes and rulers, whom he could use in spiritual and worldly matters; as he then ordered, appointed and arranged both, priesthood and kingdom, so well that they remained in their state for a long time afterwards.

So when Judah was led captive to Babylon, God chose the prophets, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, to comfort them in their misery and imprisonment. They also promised them not only the return to the land of Judah, as happened in the first year of Cory king of Persia, 2c. but also that Christ would surely come in his time.

From this it can be seen that God has never abandoned His people, not even the wretched world (which knows no thanks to Him), even though He lets them be severely punished and tormented for a long time because of their sin. Just as He graciously visited us at this last time and delivered us from the long, heavy, horrible prison of the sorry papacy. May God grant us grace to recognize this and thank Him for it, otherwise things will get worse.

(13) Abundance of temporal goods hinders faith.

(Cordatus No. 661.)

Our Lord God could become rich, if he could only send himself into it. For He would become rich if He only denied us His creatures, soon the sun, soon the air, soon the water, then we would all give out money. But, since we believe that these gifts are commonplace, people consider them to be nothing and want to think that God is right. In spite of him, that he would not give us the sun every day. Thus the greatness of God's benefits is obscured.

14. God earns only vain ingratitude with his benefits.

God gives sun and moon, stars and elements, fire and water, air and earth, and all creatures, body and soul, and all kinds of food of fruits, grains, corns, wine

and everything that is useful and necessary to us to preserve this temporal life. 1) And on top of that he gives us his dear word, yes, himself. But what does he earn with it? Nothing else, but that for it he will be disgraced and blasphemed, yes, his dear son will be miserably mocked, ridiculed and hanged on the gallows, and his servants will be tormented, chased, persecuted and killed. This is the thanksgiving that he has created, redeemed, sanctified, nourished and preserved us by grace. The world is such a herb, fruit and pious child. O woe unto her!

15. that the wood is a great gift from God.

" (Cordatus No. 859.)

I am surprised where our Lord takes so much wood, firewood, timber, carpenter's wood, wooden shoe wood, cooper's wood, and although the wood has a lot of use in the world, nobody pays attention to it.

16. that God has almost lost all his titles and names.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 245.)

God has already lost all his titles, for it seems as if he has become powerless against the mighty wicked of this world and helpless against the wise. And as often as the Christians get into an evil situation, there is immediately the challenge that torments us, that we believe that God has forgotten his mercy, as if he had become a companion of the wicked, who is nevertheless good by nature. For he seems to be well-disposed and benevolent toward the wicked. Thus we believe that he is wicked. But all this is because everything that is God's in this life is very hidden, as it is written 1 Cor. 1:18 ff. Matt. 6:4, 6, 18. For His power is regarded as weakness, His wisdom as foolishness, and His goodness as wickedness.

At another time, Luther spoke of how God was held and regarded by the world, saying: "God alone is a sinner, and no one else; all men are sinners.

1. Cf. § 134 of this Cap.

ZZ Cap. 3. of god's works. § 16-20. 83

The people, on the other hand, are just and everything. But the Father is powerless and impotent; for men are mighty and powerful, as the tyrants whom God cannot resist. The Son alone is a fool, for men are wise and prudent, as heretics, whom the Son cannot answer. But the Holy Spirit is ungodly, for men are God-fearing: just as the false brethren are, and the Holy Spirit cannot do them enough for their sin. So God's power becomes strong in weakness, which becomes weak in our strength and power. Therefore, let us gladly be weak in ourselves, so that we may become strong in God.

That God might become rich.

(Cordatus No. 617.)

Our God does not want to be rich; he could have it better if he wanted to. Namely, if he came to Ferdinand, to Duke George, to the pope, he would first say: You shall give me ten thousand florins, or you will die in this hour 2c. All would say: Yes, dear Lord, gladly, if only I can live. Now, because he does not act in this way, they are also not grateful to him for his good deeds. If he gave us his gifts more sparingly, we would be more grateful than if he deprived people of their limbs, one of a foot, another of a hand, 2c., and gave them back to one after some years, but not to another. Then they would undoubtedly give thanks to God, and those would ask Him to whom He did not want to give them back. But God is nonsensical, that he pours out everything at once, as he does now, since he lets his word flood over us like a whole sea, gives the liberal arts, the languages; the best books are bought at the lowest price. But woe to our sloth! For God will close His hand again and make us worship the preachers of lies again, since we are now neglecting His true servants.

18. God's power in our weakness.

(Contained in Cap. 22, § 44.)

19. as God does with us, it is not good. 1)

How should God do it with us? We can't bear good days, we can't stand bad ones. If he gives us riches, we are proud and hopeful that no one can get along with us, and we only want to be carried on our hands and worshipped as gods. But if he gives us poverty, we despair, become impatient and grumble against him. Therefore nothing is better than to be soon led to the dance with the shovels. Therefore he was right who said: You do not want to suffer misfortune in and from the world, and you do not want to separate from it. How then shall God deal with you? What shall He do who gave His only Son for you? Why are you afraid to go out of the world to him who loved you and died for you? Do you think that the devil or the world will do for you and for your sake what God has done for you? Oh no, not by a long shot.

20. knowledge of nature.

(Dresden manuscript, sheet t 6d. Lauterbach p. 200.)

Adam did not need a book, because he had the book of nature: and all the archfathers, Christ and the apostles quote much from this book, as of the pain of women in childbirth, Joh. 16, 21. and of the community of the members of the human body (1 Cor. 12, 12.). This similitude in Paul seems to me to be very sweet: They are different members, but of one body, so that no member can do without the other. One serves the other; if the eyes do not see, how should the feet be pounded? if the hands do not grasp, how should one eat? if the feet do not walk, where should the hands take? But the stomach, the lazy belly, lies only in the body and lets itself be fattened, like a sow: if now the hands did not want to give him, then they would

1. Similar thoughts Cordatus No. 1018: The human heart can bear neither good nor evil. If we have money and goods, there is no peace; if there is poverty, there is no peace. In the middle lies the right virtus, which is to be content with one's fate.

84 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 20-29. 85

cannot grasp anything. - These teach the law and mutual love among people, like that image of the Greeks of the lame and the blind, who benefited each other through mutual services. But this is more beautiful because the forgiveness of sins is also depicted in it. One foot often kicks another, a tooth bites a tongue, one often pokes an eye with a finger: there must be forgiveness of sins, or one does not remain one.

How God deals with the right saints.

God is wondrous in His saints, and acts miraculously with them, against all human wisdom and reason, so that the godly and Christians may learn to cling to invisible things and come to life again through mortification. For the Word of God is a light that shines in a dark place, as all examples of faith show. Esau was cursed, and yet he was happy and well; he was lord of the land, and priest of the church: but Jacob was a fugitive, and dwelt in misery in another land.

(Here 19 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 85, the > first two paragraphs).

What God wants from us humans.

(Cordatus No. 1496.)

God is a good Lord, who would suffer people to think of Him as their God alone, as He demands in the first commandment, desiring no prize, no money, only that He may be our God, and because of this One He gives everything and gives to all.

God is not angry.

(Abridged from Cap. 2, § 86, therefore omitted.)

24. God has put forgiveness of sins in all His creatures.

(Transferirt to Cap. 6, § 2, where it belongs.)

25. God's goodness, if you could trust Him.

(Cordatus No. 1562.)

To the little birds that nested in his garden and always fled when we passed by, he said, "Oh, little bird, don't flinch; I wish you well with all my heart, if you will believe me. For so shall we believe God, that he wills us well with all our hearts; for he will not slay us, who gave his Son for me.

26. God's mercy.

God's goodness and mercy are not to be searched out, nor is it to be justified, that He does not impute to us such great, horrible sin, that we have crucified His only begotten Son, whom He sent, but covers it up and destroys it.

(Here 9 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 56, last > paragraph.)

God is patient.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 95.)

28. God holds us far too well.

If our Lord God can grant me that I have crucified and martyred Him for twenty years by taking masses, then He can also grant me that I occasionally have a good drink in His honor: God grant, let the world interpret it as it will.

29. two regiments from earth.

(Cordatus No. 292 and 293.)

They are three kinds of effects: of the devil, of nature and of God.

God alone is the one who is ridiculed by all and ridicules all. We have an example of this Gen. 19, 14, when God wanted to save Lot through the angel. And in the Proverbs of Solomon 1, 26.: "You laugh at me, so I will also laugh at you in your accident."

1. In the manuscript it says: Hxernplurn Kadern us Kot per cocaine volentern rnurnZurn servare, which is quite incomprehensible. But it can hardly mean anything other than what we have given, and Cordatus may have intended: sveurn], per anZelurn, volentern eurn servare.

86Cap . 2. of god's works. § 30-37. 87

30. God made everything for the sake of man.

God's power is great, who feeds the whole world, and it is a hard article for us to say and confess: "I believe in God the Father. He has created everything enough for us, all the seas are our cellars, all the forests are our hunting grounds, the earth is full of silver and gold and innumerable fruits, all created for our sake, and the earth is our granary and larder.

God's creatures need (or rather abuse) the wicked most of all.

Our Lord God's goods are enjoyed most by the wicked. For the tyrants have the greatest power - land and people in the world; the usurers the money; the farmers eggs, butter, grain, barley, oats, apples, pears 2c. But the Christians must suffer, be persecuted, sit in towers where they have neither sun nor moon, be cast out into misery, be chased away and tormented. But it must certainly change one day, so it cannot last forever. Let us only be patient and remain steadfast in the pure doctrine, hold firmly to it, and therefore not fall away from it.

32. God's and the devil's lawyering.

Our Lord God and the devil have two different practices, which do not agree, but are even contrary to each other. Our Lord God's words first frighten, then straighten and comfort again. And this is so that the flesh, or the old man, may be killed, and the spirit, or the new man, may live. So also the good angels first frighten, then they comfort again those who are frightened, as Luc. 1, 30. when Mary was frightened at the angel's speech, he comforted her and said: "Do not be afraid, Mary" 2c., and Cap. 2, 10. He said to the shepherds who were greatly afraid, "Fear not, behold, I proclaim great joy to you."

But the devil turns it around, to God's displeasure, needs even a perverse way,

1. The first lines similar to Cordatus No. 311: God has his decalogue (the holy ten commandments and Satan also has his, but which is consistently opposed to God.

makes people safe and bold at first, so that they do wrong and sin without all fear, dread and terror; and not only persist in sins, but have joy and air in them, and think they are doing well. At last, however, when evil comes, or when there is a long way to go, it grieves and terrifies without measure; it causes a man either to die of great sorrow, or, because of an evil conscience, to kill himself at last, and to be left without all consolation in God's sight. Grace despairs.

God, not money, sustains the world.

(The first paragraph is contained in Cap. 76, § 28. The second > paragraph is transferred to the same place).

34. God's secret counsels are not to be known, nor are they to be pondered.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 8, the last two paragraphs.)

God feeds the church.

God creates and gives abundance to his church, feeds it; who else would preach the gospel and Christ? And if all princes and lords were enemies of God's word, the church could not last a day. But God also has some among the princes who honor Him and give shelter to the servants of the Word. Likewise, He also has some in the courts of godless princes, kings, bishops, etc., who serve and worship Him and prevent many plots and counsels of the wicked against the Gospel.

God is the avenger and executioner.

God punishes either Himself, or secretly, through poverty, a wicked wife, disobedient, ill-bred children, and other many and various ways: why then do you desire vengeance?

(Here 8 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 12, § 46.)

37. praise of the creatures.

(Cordatus No. 1530.)

God praises His creature because He says Ps. 104:15, "That wine may gladden the heart of man, and bread may strengthen the heart of man."

88 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 38-43. 89

(38) Only with God should one seek counsel and call upon Him in times of need.

(Lauterbach, April 5, 1538, p. 58.)

One brought a confused and almost impossible matter and asked Luther to promote it. Luther replied: I like to serve everyone in possible things. But the majesty of the Gospel is immeasurably great, which can help all things. If God would, we would seek it from God. But, alas, we rather seek counsel with men and Satan. And said of some men's wickedness, which asked counsel of the diviners, and blasphemed God; who fell into the punishment of the authorities.

39. God's things go on slowly and weakly.

(Lauterbach, November 17, 1538, p. 174. Follows Cap. 13, § 37.)

Afterwards he read in the book of Campanus, which he had written with his own hand and which had been found in Münster, titled: "Against the Lutherans and all the world after the time of the apostles." When Bucer wondered about his whimsical, atrocious errors, Luther said: "Those most shameful evil-doers pursue all their things strictly, since God's cause is so weak. I have now twenty years always built and fought with God's word, has nevertheless trouble. Therefore Habakkuk, Cap. 4, 15: "Your horses walk in the mud of great waters, and the chariots are helped." There are bumps everywhere, the mud clings to the wheels; but they still go through, even though they are weak.

40. God's wrath is the greatest when He is silent and does not speak to us.

There is no greater wrath than when God is silent and does not speak to us, but lets us go and do as we please in our mind and being. As it is now with the Jews, that our Lord God is so harshly angry with them, and for fifteen hundred years does not let himself be remembered with a single word, nor a single moment.

As he threatened them in Ps. 81:9-13, saying, "Hear, my people, I will testify among you; Israel, you shall hear me, that there is no other God among you, and that you worship no strange god. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and let me fill it. But my people will not obey my voice, and Israel will not obey me. So I have left them in the stupor of their hearts, to walk after their counsel." They cried out and prayed with great earnestness and fervor, as their prayer books show. So if I could pray as they pray, I would give two hundred florins worth of books for it. I am surprised that God does not hear them. It is a great, unspeakable wrath. When they cry out now, our Lord God answers thus: When I preached and cried out, no one would hear; so now I do not hear either. You have despised my sermon of punishment; so now I will not hear you again. Prov. 1, 24. ff.

Oh, dear God! rather punish with pestilence, Frenchmen and whatever other evil diseases there may be on earth, so that the warrior curses, before you remain silent. God says: I have stretched out my hand and cried out: Come here and listen 2c., you say: We will not do it. I send unto you my servants the prophets, Isaiam, Jeremiam 2c., saying, Hear ye them 2c. Yea, say they, we will smite them to death 2c. There ye have my son: Ei, we will crucify him 2c.

(56 lines omitted here because contained in Cap. 74, § 24.)

God is incomprehensible in His majesty.

(Contained in Cap. 2, sec. 84, subsec. 5.)

42. what most displeases God.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 19, sub. 1. center.)

The greatest wrath of God.

(Contained in Cap-1, § 70.)

AH Cap. 2. of God's works. § 44-48. 91

44. god's way when he wants to ruin a country. 1)

(Cordatus No. 1370.)

When God wants to destroy kingdoms, He first takes away wise people, that is, He makes them blind, then He also takes away power.

45. One should not flee from God.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 1382.)

It must come to pass that God will not make us fear Him. For he who fears flees; but he who flees from God, to whom will he take refuge?

2. We should indeed recognize sin and confess that we justly deserve his wrath, punishment and disgrace; but in times of need we should have recourse to him and seek help from him in the name of Christ, his dear Son, for otherwise he will lose his honor if we do not consider him to be our God in our hearts and make him a liar. Therefore we should not be afraid of him, but flee to him and call upon him in all our troubles; for the Scriptures say that he is present with us, and hears us even before we begin to cry out.

God punishes and no one can escape from Him.

(Cordatus No. 159.)

It cannot be denied how godless the world is, which can be especially noticed from the fact that God has not only increased the punishments, but also ordered such heaps of punishers. For first he punishes himself. Then all parents and landlords, all authorities, schoolmasters, all executioners and many others, so that one can hardly enumerate all punishers correctly. But if you add the devil with his army, the number of punishers is infinite. But if you want to summarize briefly how little the world cares about even the most severe punishments of God, then only consider this, that people abuse all His punishments for daily curses,

1. For this, cf. chap. 2, § 98.
2. For the following, see § 86 and § 126 of this Cap.

which one wishes upon the other, not only in anger, but also in jest, saying: That thunder may smite thee; that the French may pass thee, and the like.

(Here 5 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 106.)

47. If God does not hold over us, it is done with us.

We are nothing with all our gifts, no matter how great they may be, if God does not always hold over us: if he relies on us, then our wisdom, art, understanding 2c. is nothing. If he does not always sustain us, even the highest knowledge and the best theology that we may attain and have will be of no help to us. For when the hour of temptation comes, it is in a flash and very soon that the devil snatches us away by his cunning, yes, even the sayings, so that we should comfort ourselves, and sets before our eyes only the sayings of doom, with great innumerable heaps.

Therefore, let us learn well and realize that where our Lord God withdraws His hand from us, we may very soon fall and go to the ground. As happened to St. Peter soon after the first concilio at Antioch, when St. Paul confronted him and publicly chastised him for his hypocrisy, so that he angered the weak Gentiles, Gal. 2:11 ff. For this reason, no one should boast and boast about his righteousness, piety, wisdom and other gifts that he has, but humble himself and pray with the apostles, saying, "Dear Lord, strengthen and increase our faith," Luc. 17:5.

48. a different.

D. Staupitz, the Augustinian vicarius in Germania, used to say rightly and well: "It would be unfortunate and dangerous for us to rely on our own strength, even if we were holy and the most learned and understood things in the best and most certain way. For it may well happen that even in what we know and understand to the very best of our ability, we may nevertheless fall short and err, not only for our own sake but also for that of others.

92 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 48-56. 9H

even to the great, noticeable harm of other people. Therefore, it is necessary for us to study the Holy Scriptures and God's Word with the utmost diligence and humility, and to pray with all seriousness so that we do not lose the truth of the Gospel.

49. God's bodily gifts are held in low esteem.

The greater God's gifts (I am speaking now of the bodily ones) and miracles, the less one respects them. The greatest and noblest treasure we have received from God is that a human being can speak, see, hear, etc.: But how many are those who consider this a special gift from God, who consider it great, and who do not want to thank God for it? On the other hand, the world thinks much and much of wealth, honor, power and other things that are even less (for how delicious can it be that is perishable?), and cannot wonder enough about it; yet a blind man (who is otherwise by reason) would gladly do without all this, that he might only see.

But the fact that these divine gifts are held in such low esteem makes them so mean that God also gives them to unreasonable, useless animals, which see and hear as well, and in part better, than we humans do. But what shall I say? Christ made the blind see, cast out devils, raised the dead 2c., nor did he have to hear from the godless hypocrites, who claimed to be God's people, that he was a Samaritan, that he had the devil, Joh. 8, 49. Ah! the world is of the devil, as it goes and stands; how then shall it recognize God's gifts and benefits?

50. a different.

(Contained in Cap. 3, § 16, second half.)

51. a different.

(Lauterbach, Sept. 10, 1538, p. 128.)

When Luther saw cows 2c. walking in the field, he said, "There go our preachers, the milk carriers, the butter carriers, the cheese carriers, who preach to us daily the faith against God as our Father.

52. how god remains master.

(Cordatus No. 182.)

Do you want to know how God remains the regent and master of people? The old he lames, and the young he blinds. So he remains master.

God feeds all animals.

(An excerpt from Cap. 2, Z105.) '

God can do all crafts.

(Cordatus No. 307 and 308.)

God can do all the arts, and in the best way, because with his tailoring he makes a deer a skirt, which he uses for nine hundred years in the most useful way. As a cobbler, he gives it the claws, which last even longer. He is also the best cook, who cooks everything with the warmth of the sun.

God gave this world with all its treasures to people whom He knew would sin. What treasures do you think He will now give to those justified by faith, whom He knows will remain righteous for eternity?

55. God is very angry that people do not want to think of Him as a God.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 401.)

God is devilishly displeased that one does not want to think of Him as God, for He continually speaks in the prophets: Am I not God? Is there another right God than I? Do I not have the power to help?

If God taught me like the pope in the prophet Jeremiah, I would have to die, but the pope asked nothing about it, despised it and laughed at it.

56. I am your God, what it is, and from the abuse of God's name.

(Cordatus No. 418. 419 and 420.)

When I first read these words: I am the LORD your God, they once seemed to me ridiculous and quite futile words, and I thought: Ei, who does not want this? But now I see what these words mean. And this is wonderful, that all people know this pre-

94 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 56-63. 95

Carlstadt, Zwingli, the Pope, and yet do not feel it in their hearts. The Rotten prove this. If we did not misuse God's name, everything would go happily for us on earth, because everything goes badly for those who misuse it.

We just want to be idolaters, as it was in the time of Ezekiel, so God was forced to say Ezek. 20, 39.: If you want to worship idols, worship them in the name of all devils. But it is according to this: I am the LORD your God, it is written: Whoever uses the name of God uselessly will be punished.

We are very great sinners because, in sum, we do not believe. We must complain to God about this, and He Himself knows that we are His image, however we may be. But that we are sinners, and very great ones at that, we know by the fact that we often make Him a liar through unbelief and do not trust Him, since He says most truly: I am the Lord, your God.

God wants to be praised in all languages.

(Contained in Cap. 34, § 6.)

58. God can be trusted less than people. 1)

(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 506.)

Fie on you for the devil and our flesh, that we cannot sincerely trust God, who promises and gives so great things. I Martin Luther trust my wife and each of you more than Christ, although I know for certain that none of you would allow him to be crucified for me 2c.

He asked some: Do you also believe that God is our King, Lord and Father? It is a lie. If it is true, the tyrants will stand evil. Item: If the holy scripture is God's word, then the rulers will come right.

59. put God on the spot.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 439.)

Jeremiah said, "Is it right for the pious to be afflicted and the wicked to be afflicted?

I) Cf. cap 7, § 113.

live in the buzz? Is this to be a God of judgment? Jer. 12, 1. and Isa. 30, 18.

Our Lord God does as we do, he pretends to make it rain and does not; we pretend to become pious and do not.

God nullifies human councils and plots.

(Cordatus No. 471.)

I can't govern myself and want to govern the world? I have also well prescribed God's articles and wanted to govern, but the pious God has let me go in his ass and my master has become nothing.

61. To prove God wrong, He does not like that.

(Cordatus No. 470.)

Gross missteps and outward sins are easily forgiven by God, but to resist the Holy Spirit and make God a liar, God will resist.

62. God knows well how to do it, much differently than we think, with his and

our adversaries.

God knows the counsels and suggestions of all hearts, and knows well how to make it work out for the best. Therefore, it is good that Zwingel, Carlstadt and such like groups and enthusiasts have been put to death, for we would not have preserved L.S. and other our neighbors. O, what a triumph should have been! O, how they would have locked themselves! Therefore God knows well how he should do to him.

God is much kinder to us than a father is to his child.

God must certainly be much friendlier to me and talk to me than my Käthe is to her Martinichen. Now my Käthe or I cannot gouge out an eye or tear off the head of my child with our will; therefore also

1. Cap. 9, § 19 seems to be only a broader version of the thoughts contained in this §.

96 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 63-72. 97

God, yes, much less. For He has a kinder and gentler heart towards His faithful than a father and mother have towards their child, as God Himself says in the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 49:15, where he says: "Can a woman forget her child, and not have mercy on the son of her womb? Even if she forgets him, I will not forget you" 2c. But God must have patience with us. Well, he has put it there, yes, sent his only begotten Son into the flesh and let him become man, so that we should take care of the best for him. I think that Paul himself was an enemy to him, that he could not believe and love Christ as he would have liked.

64. a different.

When I think of the great majesty and mercy of God, I myself am frightened that God has lowered Himself so high.

65. a different one.

I think that God has as much to create and to do, that he makes a thing void again, 1) as that he creates and makes it. This is what D. Martinus said when the dung was thought of, and he continued: "I am surprised that the world has not long since been filled up to the heavens.

66. God is a God of the lowly.

(Contained in Cap. 26, § 39.)

67) How God shows Himself in temptation. (Contained in Cap. 26, ß 39.)

God has a small group on earth.

(Cordatus No. 550.)

The fact that God hardly makes the tenth part of the people blessed is meant in the tenth of Moses. For the world is very wicked, and who would have believed that there would be so great ingratitude toward the gospel among our people?

1. Aurifaber "rightly", whereas Stangwald "wrongly",

69. creatures of God, as they are to the wicked.

(Cordatus No. 23.)

All creatures are both revealed and hidden to the wicked. They look at all creatures like a donkey looks at the rosemary that is poured out for him to eat. He thinks he is eating hay. But it the creature is also apparent to them, because they see it; but hidden, because they do not perceive the Creator in the creature.

God is very pleased with the customs of all creatures.

Our Lord God is pleased for us to eat, drink and be merry, therefore he has also created so many things that we should need them; only that we recognize and consider him to be a God and give thanks to him. For he would not have us say that he had not given us enough, and could not feed and satisfy our poor maggot sack.

71. God has put great gifts into small, despised things.

(Cordatus No. 102.)

I am surprised that God has put such good and high medicine in the dirt. For pig dung, especially when taken warm from the pig in the hand, staunches the blood, horse dung helps against side stitches, 3) human dung heals all wounds.

God can be known from the creatures.

(Cordatus No. 94.)

Animals were created so that we might learn from them to recognize living beings 4) and be afraid of them. Therefore Christ says

2. ut, as Cordatus has, not "ut si", as Dr. Wrampelmeyer conjicirt.
3. xlsurssin.
4. Luinmlia. Aurifaber has: To know and fear GOtt. This thought is also correct, but would not fit to the following. at Cordatus

is correct.

98 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 72-78. 99

Matth. 10, 16: Be wise as serpents" 2c. Or did he not indicate a great thing to us, that the cuckoo devours its parents, the warblers, which I once saw when I looked out of the window? But this means that the false teachers oppress the righteous ones.

73. you should not talk God into it.

(Cordatus No. 99. 100. 101.)

I have often resented God's way; but now I do not talk him into it.

Even though the wicked lead a very happy life, I do not envy them this, for it happens to them no differently than it does to the pig that is thrown into the pen and soon after that is slaughtered. Here belongs what Isaiah 1) says: "Fatten, fatten for the sacrifice" 2c.

I am very hostile to the mercenaries and would rather live under the Turks or Tartars than under their protection. For even if they killed me, I would know by whom I had been murdered, namely by Turks, Christ's enemies. But who are they?

God's wrath is greatest when He is silent.

(Cordatus No. 107. 108.)

Such great monstrosities of things and doctrines announce to the world not a small, but rather a very great upheaval. Evil things, if they are small, move me the most, but very big ones (like the scolding of Campanus against the Holy Spirit) not at all. With these I think: Let go, because this is too high for you.

If I could, I would punish Christ's enemies most cruelly by far and take vengeance on them by remaining silent, and God Himself has no greater wrath than when He remains silent.

(Here 14 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 40.)

1. Perhaps Ezekiel, Cap. 39, 17. 19. since such a passage is not found in Isaiah.

God punishes the authorities through the subjects.

(Cordatus No. 147.)

Princes and rulers of this world are called and are gods of the earth Ps. 82, 1. 6.. Therefore they are of the devil. The mob, however, is the devil because God sometimes does through it what He would otherwise do through the devil to punish the wicked, just as, when fear and reverence for the authorities is taken away from the hearts of the subjects, the mob becomes rebellious. Thus God used the mob, 2) to keep Christ alive longer, as the evangelists often say Matth. 21, 46.: "But they were afraid of the people."

How God breaks and humbles human hope.

(Cordatus No. 239. 3)

Human hope is so great that God, in order to humble it, uses everything that is repugnant to man in creatures (even in man himself). The number of these things is so great that you cannot possibly count them. Or (if you can), count the mosquitoes and fleas, the mice and the poisonous worms! For this purpose he also uses all the wickedness of the devil. Yes, even God Himself, as often as He shows Himself to us otherwise than as a Father, does all this, or allows it to happen, so that He may break our hope and make us humble.

Why did God create the wicked?

(Contained in Cap. 3, § 32.)

78. god's imprudence.

(Cordatus No. 244.)

God seems to have acted carelessly when he commanded that the world be governed by the word of truth, especially because he clothed the truth with the weak word of the cross. And the world does not want the truth, but its opposite,

2. ^1)N8N8 68t ifi here is not to be translated as "abused" as was done in the old "table" speeches, but it is used here, Npe also elsewhere, in the sense of usn8 sst.
3. Cf. Cordatus No. 1614.

100Cap . 2. of God's works. § 78-83. 101

the lies. But this seems to be still more carelessly acted, that he offers this truth to such people, who still do not want to receive it of their own free will. For the world does not obey voluntarily, but hardly at last, forced by the greatest violence, and is kept from crime and ruled right only by the greatest harshness. But it absolutely abhors the cross and would rather have Satan's pleasures than Christ's cross. Therefore, the one who rules the world well is the devil, who alone understands this well and rules the world as it is worth, but he takes his governor to help him, that is the pope. There has never been a more respectable kingdom, nor a kingdom of which the world would be more worthy, than that of the pope.

Satan with all his members, the wicked, resists God.

(Cordatus No. 242.)

Just as the devil is always contrary to our Lord God in all things, in word and in deed, so also all the wicked, who are certainly possessed by the devil, if not physically, then spiritually, set themselves against God.

Why God does all good by means.

God could well feed us without all our labor and means, but he will open his hand that it may be seen that he is a rich Lord; and yet all is a marvelous work of God, that we must say we have it all from him. For we see that some waters have fish where none have been planted; thus, in the little book that flows through my garden, there are fine pike, little pike, and when they are put into another water, they become great pike.

(Here 6 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 49, § 9, para. 4.)

Man soon gets tired of a thing.

When young fowls or chicks, which had only crawled out, were brought to M. L., he said, "How has our Lord God so highly honored flesh and blood, and yet it is not respected at all, he has fed them, and they have not been fed.

blessed. Pythagoras, the pagan philosopher, said that the movement of the stars makes a very lovely center and harmony, agreeing with each other; but people are now tired and weary of it through constant habit. It is the same with us: we have such beautiful creatures, but no one respects them, for they are quite mean. Philip once asked me to give him a seal from the Bible, but one that he would not tire of. You can't give a man something that he could love forever, so that he wouldn't get full and tired, because the devil wanted it. As you can see, sometimes whores and boys remain one and undivided, but husbands and wives can be divorced. So whores, stealing and all kinds of sin and disgrace, one can always do, but otherwise the good can not always love. The devil destroys the works of God, and Christ destroys the works of the devil: these are two abominable things, the seed of the woman and the serpent.

God feeds all men and creatures in the whole world.

How much do you think there are people who buy bread? I consider that a farmer waits the least time of the grain 2c.; otherwise he perishes with his wood, barley, brew 2c. Item, the third part of the fields hardly bears grain, nor are we fed.

My father once said to me: He did not believe that so many sheaves would grow as there were men on earth: but I believe that more sheaves grow; but I do not believe that so many almond grains grow as there are men. But one almond yields scarcely a bushel; a man cannot live on it all the year, and yet all are fed; indeed, there is still grain left when the year is over. This is a strange thing, in which we should feel God's grace and blessing.

Our Lord God must be wrong, he does what he wants and how he wants.

That God should pass such a harsh, severe judgment on Adam, because he had been deceived by the

102 Cap: 2. of God's works. § 83. 84. 103

The man who had eaten the tree offered to him and had disobeyed God, namely, that the field should be cursed for his sake, and that for his sake the whole human race should be subjected to all kinds of tribulations, fears, hardships, diseases, plagues, and at last death should be sent upon it: this seems to be too severe and hard to the wise mind (if it regards the work, namely the biting of the apple, as a bad, small thing); it opens its mouth and says, or thinks, "Oh, is it a great thing and a sin for a man to eat an apple? Is it then a great thing and sin that one eats of an apple? Just as it is now said of such sins as God has expressly forbidden in His Word, especially of drunkenness and gluttony, and others: What harm is it that one is merry and drinks with good fellows? Therefore, according to her blindness, she concludes from this that God has done too much to him, that he is too strict and is trying too hard.

Again, she is offended and angry that Christ lets go of pious, honorable, holy people (as she thinks), does not want to know them, leads them harshly, yes, rejects them and calls them evildoers, although some have been proven wise in his name, cast out devils and performed miracles, Matth. 7, 22, who hear his word and believe in him, forgives their sins, covers them up, does not want to impute them, as great and many as they are, makes them pious, righteous and holy, children of God and heirs of eternal life and blessedness, out of pure grace, without all their merit, good works and worthiness; that also seems too much, even unjust.

Who can be Scheidemann here, who can rhyme the two things together, which are as much against each other as fire and water, namely the strictest and most severe law, which God exercises against the innocent (as reason knows), and the all too great kindness and gentleness, which he shows to sinners, does not impute their iniquity to them, but accepts it with grace 2c.? Human reason with its wisdom becomes a fool, therefore it is said: "Unless you turn around and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven", Matth. 18, 3.

God in His majesty is incomprehensible to human reason; therefore, one should be satisfied with the provision and not be troubled by it. 1)

Human reason and nature cannot comprehend God in His majesty, therefore we should not seek nor inquire further into what is God's will, nature and essence, except as He has commanded us. He has given us His word, in which He has abundantly revealed what we should know about Him, what we should think about Him, what we should believe, and what we should do with Him: we should judge ourselves by it, so that we cannot err. But he who has thoughts of God's will, nature and being apart from the Word, and wants to reason it out with human reason and wisdom, causes him much vain trouble and labor, and falls far short; for "the world," says St. Paul, "through its wisdom does not know God in His wisdom," 1 Cor. 1:21.

Nor will they ever learn or know what God's mind is toward them, who worry in vain whether they are endowed or chosen. Those who fall into these thoughts have a fire in their heart that they cannot quench, so that their conscience is not satisfied, and they must finally despair.

Whoever then wants to escape this misfortune and eternal danger, must keep to the Word, and he will find that our dear God has made and laid a strong, firm foundation, on which we may safely and securely stand, namely Jesus Christ our Lord, 1 Cor. 3:11, through whom alone, in vain, by no other means, we must enter the kingdom of heaven; for He, and no one else, "is the way, the truth and the life," John 14:6.

If we are to know God rightly and truly in his divine nature and how he is disposed towards us, it must be through his word. And for this very reason God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to become man, to dwell among us in the likeness of all things, yet without sin, and to make the Father's heart and will known to us.

1. For this section, see Cap. 26, U 68. 69. 74. 75. 76.

104 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 84. 85. 105

as the Father has ordained and appointed him to be our teacher, when he cries from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, ... whom you shall hear," Matth. 17, 5. As if he wanted to say: "It is in vain and for nothing that men undertake to search for my divine majesty; human reason and wisdom cannot grasp me, I am far too high and great for them. Now, I will make myself small enough for her to grasp and take hold of me: I will give her my only begotten Son, and so give him that he shall become a sacrifice, yes, a sin and a curse for her, and in this he shall render obedience to me until death, yes, death on the cross. After this I will preach it in all the world, and those who believe in it will be saved. This is what St. Paul means when he says 1 Cor. 1, 21: "Because the world through its wisdom did not recognize God in His wisdom, it pleased God through foolish preaching to save those who believe in it.

This means that the divine majesty is small and understandable, so that no one should or can complain that he does not know how he should relate to God. But the world is blind and deaf, which neither sees nor hears what God speaks and does through His Son; therefore He will also demand it of them, Deut. 18, 19.

There is no better way to seek, find and understand the grave challenge of eternal providence or election, which grieves many people, than in the wounds of Christ, 1) of whom the Father said and commanded us: "Him you shall hear", Matth. 17, 5. The Father in his divine majesty is too high and great for us that we cannot grasp him, therefore he shows us the right way so that we can surely come to him, namely Christ, and says: "If you believe in him and cling to him, you will find out who I am and what my nature and will are. But this is not done by the wise, the mighty, the learned, the saints, and the greatest multitude in all the world. That is why God is and remains unknown to them, no matter how much they think about him, argue and talk about him.

ll Cf. cap. 26, § 75.

that apart from Christ, God will be unknown and ungraspable.

Do you want to know why so few are saved and so many are condemned? This is the reason that the world does not want to listen, ask nothing about it, even despise that he, the Father, testifies about him: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matth. 3, 17. As if he should say: With him alone you shall find what and who I am and what I want, otherwise you will find it neither in heaven nor on earth. If ye therefore believe on the Son, whom I have sent unto you for a Saviour, I will be a Father; and what this Son saith and promiseeth, it shall surely be true and amen; I will not suffer him to be a liar. 2 Cor. 1, 19. 20.

From this it certainly follows that all who subject themselves to and strive to come to God by any other means than through Christ (as Jews, pagans, Turks, papists, false saints, heretics, 2c.) walk in abominable darkness and error. And do not help them that they lead an honorable, strict life outwardly, pretend great devotion, do and suffer much, love and honor God; as they boast. For since they do not want to hear Christ, nor believe in him, without whom no one knows God, no one receives forgiveness of sins and grace, no one comes to the Father, they remain forever in doubt and unbelief, do not know how they are with God, and must finally die and perish in their sins. For "he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him", Joh. 5, 23. "And he who denies the Son does not have the Father either", 1 Joh. 2, 23. "He who does not believe the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him", Joh. 3, 36.

Why God has decreed that the wicked shall prosper and the righteous shall be iniquitous in the world.

(Cordatus No. 875.)

I do not understand the argument myself, that the peelers have such good days and the pious have such bad days. But God does like a good householder, who chastises the son and not the servant, to whom he does not give the inheritance.

106 Cap. 2. of god's works. § 85-88. 107

but to the son. And the dearer children are, the greater ruth; it the child nevertheless remains in the house. But the servant, though he do too much evil, yet the Lord remembereth, he shall not do it long in my house. But the Baptist had to die so shamefully that one may lament. This is how it is on earth, but it will get better, and Judas also had good days for a while, but he died badly.

(The conclusion of this § is contained in § 59 of this Cap.).

Why God decrees that His people be persecuted by the devil and the world.

(Cordatus No. 1372. 1373. 1374.)

God is never angry or we would be lost, He does not strike, only that He allows it and turns a blind eye, as a father allows his child to be struck by another, and yet even by this admission He only wants to entice us to come to God.

In the book of Judges Cap. 10, 14. 15. the angel says very beautifully: So often I have beaten you and you have not improved, - I believe this happened under Gideon. Whoever surrenders to the man and trusts that he will help, he will certainly help him. The only thing wrong is that we cannot surrender to him. Since the people say, "Do with us as you will," he has always delivered them. Just as David, when he counted the people, was not beaten, because he humbly asked God for chastisement and bowed under the punishment 2 Sam. 24:16, 17. For to have mercy on the afflicted is" his deity, for who else would come to him, praise him and call upon him? For in hell no one confesses him Ps. 6, 6.

The devil can murder and make sad, but God is a God of life and of comfort for the afflicted. Whoever does not know this, does not know God. God is not the devil, but simply God. Indeed, "GOtt" is a double-meaning word. For in one way it is said: GOtt of death, of sin 2c. In the other way is also: GOtt of the good. He who does not distinguish here is very mistaken, for ambiguity is the mother of error.

God is not a God of the dead, but of the living.

This saying allegorizes and draws on Christ, Matthew 22:32, and proves powerfully from it the resurrection of the dead. For if there is no hope of resurrection, nor of another and better life after this short and miserable life, why does God claim to be our God, to give us everything that is useful and beneficial, and finally to save us from all distress, both physical and spiritual? What is the use of hearing his word and believing in him? What good are we if we sigh and cry out to him in anguish and distress, patiently await his comfort and salvation, praise his grace and good deeds displayed in Christ, and thank him for them? Why do we daily stand in danger, let ourselves be persecuted, killed for the sake of Christ's word, which we teach to hold as our greatest treasure and to confess before the wicked world?

But because the eternal, merciful God speaks and acts through His Word and Sacraments with us humans alone (all other creatures excluded), not about bodily things or this temporal, transitory life (which He abundantly provided with all necessities in the beginning), but where we are to dwell when we depart, and gives us his Son to be our Saviour, who hath redeemed us from sin and death, and hath purchased for us eternal righteousness, life and blessedness, that we should believe on him, and be baptized at his command 2c.It is certain that we will not die like unreasonable animals, but if we have fallen asleep in Christ, we will be raised to eternal life through Him on the last day, but the wicked to judgment, eternal shame and disgrace, John 5:29, Dan 12:2.

God needs evil for good.

God only needs everything very well, whereas man and the devil shamefully misuse everything good. God drives to the state of marriage through secret suffering and lust, 1 Cor. 7; for if one man did not have love, lust and desire for another, who would want to be free? But that after that forbidden air is controlled

108 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 88-91. 109

that the man does not attach himself to a stranger, but rejoices in his wife and delights in her love; so also the woman. Through ambition God drives many things, so that they strive for good and honor, have a great reputation in the world, are raised to high status before others, to regents, councils, etc.; who would otherwise let himself be used for this? But ambition must not leave the circle of its command and rule, but remain within it, not seeking that which is not its own, nor doing harm to its subjects and neighbors; for there must be an inclination and desire for it. Through avarice God forces many to consider how they will feed themselves; otherwise, without such a desire to have something of one's own, who would want to work and let it sour him to get food? Yes, all possessions and goods would decay and dissolve, only that avarice would also be kept in its circle. Through fear, trembling and doubting, God drives many to faith, so that they keep God's promise, comforting themselves in Christ, who reconciled sinners to God, so that they, justified by faith, have peace with God, Rom. 5, 1. Except for pride and envy, which are and remain evil, devilish vices. But God also uses them for good, but in a contrary way, not in those who are tainted and blinded by them, but in those who are persecuted by the arrogant and the envious. For thus God works His saints for their good, through the devil and his members. On the other hand, the wicked Satan abuses God and all that is good: chastity and celibacy, for hypocrisy; humility, for spiritual hope; love, for mobs and riots; goods, for splendor and idleness.

God does not lack him anywhere.

God gives us all kinds of abundant things to enjoy, first of all so that no one may complain that he has not provided enough for us to maintain this life. But that there is sometimes a lack, especially at this last time, is not his fault, but the fault of the unholy miser, who snatch up everything for themselves, buy all kinds of goods, increase their pleasures, and take away the good things.

Translate and complain to my husband; keep silent about the shameful usurers who suck the people dry.

On the other hand, that God may rightly and justly inflict punishment in His time on those who not only do not recognize Him nor are obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but are also not grateful to Him for the bodily benefits that He gives them abundantly to enjoy (not for splendor, abundance, pride 2c.), yes, misuse them most shamefully against God and to the harm and destruction of their neighbor.

But now God desires nothing else from us for all his benefits, bodily and spiritual, but a Deo gratias, that we recognize him as our God and Father, obey his word, serve him in faith, call upon him in all our distress, and do not doubt that he will hear us for Christ's sake.

90. Giving thanks is God's dearest service.

God likes it, it is also the dearest, most pleasant service for him, that he is praised. But he is not praised, he is loved first. He is not loved, unless he is gentle and does good. But he does good when he is gracious. He is merciful when he forgives sin. Who then are they that love him? The small group of believers who recognize such grace and know that they have forgiveness of sins through Christ. The children of the world are not concerned with this, they serve their idol, the wretched and shameful Mammon, but he will finally reward them badly.

God is pleased that we need His creatures.

(Here § lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 70.)

When grapes, nuts, and peaches 2c. were placed on the table after the meal, and everyone ate them with pleasure, he said, "What does our Lord God above in heaven say about our sitting here like this and eating his goods? Well, he created it so that we should use it; he does not demand anything else of us, except that we recognize that these are his goods and enjoy them with thanksgiving.

110Cap . 2. of God's works. § 92-97. 111

God fills the belly of the wicked, but gives the kingdom of heaven to the godly.

We do not believe that our Lord God will give more and better than to the rich wicked in the world, to whom he gives delicious good wine (he said this, since he once had a good pure drink of wine), yes, money, property, honor, power and everything they only desire and want to have, only superfluously. But the best good (which they also do not desire) he denies them, namely, himself. But whoever does not have God, even if he has whatever else he wants, he is poorer and more miserable before God than Lazarus, who lay at the rich man's door and died of hunger because of him, Luc. 16, 19. ff. But it will happen to them, as it did to the rich man, that they will be eternally destitute, so that they will not be able to drink even the smallest drop of water.

But if the rich, mild God frequently showers His worst enemies and blasphemers with all kinds of temporal goods, and also gives some great ones, and many of them, dominions and kingdoms, we can easily deduce from this what He will give us, His children (who must suffer for His sake), indeed, what He has already given us. But he has given us his only begotten Son, and with him he has given all things, so that through him we are God's children, heirs also of his eternal heavenly goods, and joint heirs with Christ according to hope, Rom. 8:16, 17, 32.

How God shares with the world.

Our Lord God has divided unequally with the world, that is, he has given to the world all creatures on earth, in the water and in the air, and subjected them to it, so that it should rule over fish in the sea, over birds under the sky and over all animals that are on earth, Ps. 115:16. But he has kept heaven for him, so that he is Lord over life and death: if he wanted to sell the two, he would soon bring back to himself all the goods and treasures that he has given to the world.

94. Because God gives all goods for free, people do not pay attention to them.

(Composed of Cap. 2, §13 and Z14.)

95. God's love even against the evil one.

God is gracious and merciful, as the Scriptures praise Him, because He can love the wicked; indeed, to the blind, hardened world that is in trouble, He has sent His Son as Savior. I could not do it, and yet I am a knave myself.

God watches the tyrants for a long time.

God is patient and of great kindness that He can be so silent and watch the Pope and the Turks, His worst enemies, for so many hundred years and let them go unpunished. Little knows the cause of such cruel and severe punishment, for no one believes that God so terribly punishes the blindness of the damned world, which does not want to accept the truth or cannot suffer long to be saved, but blasphemes and persecutes it: "Therefore God also sends you strong errors, so that they believe the lies," 2 Thess. 2, 11.

In the apostles' time and long after, the gospel had its full course in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Asia, Graecia, 2c., and other kingdoms now held by the Turkish tyrant. But as the people grew weary of it, and many heresies arose, the blasphemous Mahomet came with his Koran. From that time on, they abandoned Christ and worshiped the devil Mahomet. The same happened under the papacy. After our time the punishment will also go over Germany and others, because of the horrible ingratitude and contempt of the dear blessed Word, which is preached to them purely and abundantly. And after this bright light will come a dreadful, terrible darkness. May Christ comfort and help his little army and put an end to their misery through his glorious future. Amen.

God forgives the punishment for a time.

Our Lord God sees very well how the dogs throw, piss, spit and make all corners full of filth. Item, how the drunkards throw out jugs, glasses to windows, break bowls, plates, glasses, windows, stove, and so on.

112 Cap. 2. of God's works. §97-101. 113

break 2c. But when he begins to visit, he is cruelly angry and punishes without end or measure. This is what he said about the wild, impolite, sour behavior and life that great lords, kings, princes, the nobility, but especially the pope, cardinals, bishops, canons, and the entire corrupt house, with all their fornication and other abominable sins, are unashamedly committing at this last time, without all fear and timidity.

The infant Jesus, he said (pointing with his hand to the painting on the wall), sleeps on the arm of the Mother Mary: will he wake up one day, he will truly ask us what we have done and how we have done it?

98. signs, so go before the punishment.

When God wants to punish or even destroy a kingdom, country or people, 1) He first takes away pious, godly teachers and preachers; item, wise, godly rulers and councilors, reasonable and experienced warriors, and other honest people, Isa. 3, 2. ff. Then the mob becomes secure and cheerful, drives all courageous will, asks nothing more about pure divine teaching, yes, despises it and falls into blindness, respects neither punishment, discipline nor respectability, commits all kinds of sins and shame, from which follows a wild, desolate, devilish nature; as we, unfortunately, now see and experience that may not last long. Therefore, I fear that the axe has already been laid at the root of the tree, so that it will soon be cut down. May the good Lord take us away with grace, so that we do not have to experience or see the misery.

99. How God respects great lords.

God regards the great potentates, kings, princes 2c. in the same way as the children of a card game: because they play, they have the card hands in their hands; afterwards, when they get tired of the game, they throw them into a corner under the bench, or into the garbage. God does the same with potentates and great lords: because they are in power, he considers them good; as soon as they have over-

1. Cf. cap. 2, § 44.

he "pushes her off the chair", as Mary sings Luc. 1, 52, and leaves her lying there, ut regem Daniae.

(The following approach Cordatus No. 848.)

The King of Denmark 2) has been captured, his wife has died, his son has died at Regensburg. These are certainly great deeds of God, and yet no one takes them to heart.

100. Our Lord's Map.

God has a beautiful, glorious and very strong card game of vain powerful, great lords, as emperors, kings, princes 2c., read together; beats one with the other. Of which I could tell many examples that have happened in our time alone 2c.

The Pope has now been considered the supreme head of Christianity for several hundred years: if he has only waved a finger, emperors, kings, princes 2c. have had to fear, humble and stoop before him: has thus been a lord over all kings on earth, yes, an earthly god. Now our Lord God comes and strikes with the dew (Luther), the pope, the great king, so that he lies there. This is our Lord God's regiment, as Mary sings in the Magnificat: Deposuit potentes: "He sets the mighty ones from the throne", Luc. 1, 52.

Another speech from God's map.

If I were rich, I would have a golden chess and silver carls made for me, as a reminder: for God's chess and card are great, mighty princes, kings, emperors, 2c., since he always stabs one through the other, or beats, that is, lifts up and overthrows. N. is the four bells, the pope the six bells, the Turk the eight bells, the emperor is the king in the game. Finally, our Lord God comes, divides the game, beats the Pope with the Luther, who is his dew. But he is not dead yet; Christ has begun to kill him with the spirit of his mouth, so that

2. Christian II was imprisoned in 1532; his wife, Isabella of Spain, sister of Emperor Carl V, had died in 1525. His son John died in 1532, the year to which this speech probably belongs. (Wr.)

114 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 101-104. 115

He is now quite dead in the hearts of believers in Christ. I hope that "he will make an end of himself by the appearance of his joyful future. Amen". 2 Thess. 2, 8.

Ezekiel and Apocalypsis speak of it, as if the Turk should be consumed by fire from heaven; which is a dark prophecy. It can also happen by a spiritual fire, which executes and consumes the Antichrist, the pope. For when God gives the Word, He also gives the Spirit of grace and prayer at the same time. When this is strong in the hearts of the faithful, the world is defeated, the devil is overcome and judged, who cannot stand the Word, yes, is in his eyes like thick smoke and dark mist. Now, be it as it may, it cannot be long before both Pope and Turk with their followers are cast into the abyss of hell. Amen.

102) That from the best comes the fear. 1)

Of this once said D. M. Luther over the table and said: From Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs and holy fathers, come the Jews who have crucified Christ; from the apostles come Judas the betrayer; from Alexandria, where there was a famous noble school and had many pious, Christian, learned men, come Arius and Origen; from the Roman church, which has given many holy martyrs, comes the blasphemous Antichrist, the Pope of Rome; from the hermits in Arabia comes Mahomet; from Constantinople, the noble city where many noble emperors held court, comes the wretched Turk; from wives come adulteresses; from virgins whores; from brothers, sons, friends become the worst enemies; from angels come devils; from kings tyrants; from the gospel and divine truth come devilish lies; from the church heretics. The food becomes filth, which is thrown out by the natural course; delicious wine and other drink becomes urine; blood in the body becomes pus; Luther becomes coiner and rebel,

1. On the idea, cf. cap. 41, § 2.

Anabaptists and Sacramentarians. What wonder is it that evil things are among us, coming and going out from us? It must be a very evil thing that cannot stay with such good; and it must be very good that can suffer such evil things.

God praises His mercy on us sinners with His benefits.

(Composed of Cap. 49, § 9 and Cap. 2,§§ 80 u. 30.)

God's works are wonderful.

(This § to the last paragraph Lauterbach, p. 87, note in Kummer p. > 377.)

The creatures of God are inscrutable, yet in truth they are signs 2) of God to the pious. The sun rises daily, the rain moistens, serves the grateful and the ungrateful. As Christ has finely amplified Matth. 6, so all fruit grows out of the trees; as it were, flesh comes out of the wood. For what are trees but wood? If you boil them or roast them, they are wood, but they are flesh; the sweetest fruits that smell like flesh come out of them. So I saw in Italy the most fruitful oil trees standing on the hardest rocks. There I learned to understand the Psalm (78, 15.): "He satiated them out of the rock with water, "b) Thus God blesses our Saxon land, which after all is only broken stone, according to the Gospel (Matth. 4, 3.): "Say that these stones become bread." But these miracles, because they happen frequently and daily, are held in low esteem, as Augustine says.

That is why (said D. M. Luther) one of Wittenberg once said: Ländiken, Ländiken, you are a Sändiken, if I work thick, you are light, if I work thick, you are simple, if I work thick, I do not find. 4) Nevertheless, God gives us good wine and delicious grain from these stones. But because this miracle happens daily, we despise it.

(Here 5 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 1.)

2. Laeramsirta.
3. According to the Vulgate. In the manuscript is erroneously mslls. The passage dealing with honey is Deut. 32, 13.
4. Thus Stangwald. Spoiled at Aurifaber and Walch.

116 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 105-109. 117

God spends a great deal of money on the birds' food and nourishment, so He wills it.

also feed, nourish and sustain people.

(Cordatus No. 192. 1766.)

No one is able to measure the treasures that God spends on feeding the birds alone, and very uselessly at that. I believe, however, that it is more precious to God to maintain the sparrows for a year than the annual income of the king of France. What shall we say of the others, which are larger and more voracious?

Although the sparrows are the worst birds, they still have the best days of the year and do the most damage. In winter they lie in the barns and grain floors, in spring they eat the seed, in summer the best grain from the ears, in autumn they are in the vineyards, worthy of persecution. These are all human sins. But when they come into the churches, they hinder GOD and the hearers from saying. This is devilish sin.

God's wrath will soon be atoned for.

(Cordatus No. 860.)

If God is angry with one, the matter is well advised, because He is merciful; but whoever, when challenged, is angry with God, the matter cannot be helped. Hab. 4, 2.

107. merciful punishment of God.

If God is angry with us, fights for us, hands us over into the hands of our enemies, so that he can punish our sin and iniquity through them, lets pestilence, evil times and other plagues come upon us, but still speaks to us through his word, then it is certainly a sign of his grace toward us. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth," Ebr. 12:6.

108. severe and terrifying wrath of God.

But if people become sure, hear the word, but let it go in one ear and out the other, they can wash much of it, and yet no improvement of life nor fruit of faith follows, as we, lei

who, seeing now that everyone wants to be Christian and evangelical, and yet there is no measure to the care of the belly, the grievous avarice, usury, and other sins, and God prevails through pious, faithful servants and preachers 2c., it is a sure sign that God will soon take away the word and pure doctrine and leave the people in their heart of hearts to walk according to their counsel, and, as Christ foretold the Jews in Matt. 21:43, "the kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to others who bear its fruit. Then follows the destruction, that kingdoms, countries and people are devastated and destroyed 2c.

Therefore, I am afraid and anxious that Germany will also be afflicted and horribly punished in a short time because of the great ingratitude (on our side), contempt and blasphemy of the dear word (on the enemy's side), which God lets shine so clearly and abundantly in these dangerous last times. He can bear patience for a long time when people are wicked; but when they despise and persecute His word, patience is out and the final punishment is in place; as happened with the Jews, Greeks, Romans 2c.

Our Lord God's servant.

D. M. Luther said: God wants repentant sinners (who fear God's wrath, devil, death and hell, and believe in Christ) to be servants: therefore David says in the 34th Psalm, v. 19: "The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted. And helpeth them that are of a broken spirit." And in Isaiah, Cap. 66, 1. 2. it is said, "Where shall my spirit rest, and where shall I dwell? With them that are bruised in heart, and fear my words." This is what the poor thief on the cross did; St. Peter, who denied Christ; Mary Magdalene, who was possessed by devils; St. Paul, the persecutor; all of whom were sorry for their sins and wanted to have forgiveness of sins from Christ and to be God's servants. The great prelates, proud saints, rich noblemen, ox drivers and house builders do not do it, 1 Cor. 1:26, nor would it be good, because no poor person could come before them,

118 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 109-112. 119

even so it would not be to God's praise and glory, but they would ascribe the glory and prize to themselves, saying: It is we.

Nevertheless, there are also some great kings, princes and lords who call upon God and serve Him with all their heart: although they are rich and mighty and rule over lands and people, they are still spiritually poor, Matth. 5, 3, that is, they recognize themselves with right earnestness for poor sinners and pray with David, the great holy king: Miserere mei, Deus. Item Ps. 143, 2: "Lord, do not judge your servant"; Ps. 39, 12: "All men are nothing"; item: "God, be merciful to me according to your goodness" 2c., Ps. 51, 3.

God's and the devil's punishments find unequal. 1)

God punishes with moderation, not in anger and wrath; he chastises as a father chastises his son; he wounds so that he may heal, 1 Sam. 2:6. In sum, he does everything for our correction, salvation, life and happiness, precisely so that we may learn to fear him, recognize his goodness and faithfulness, trust him and call upon him in all our needs. Just as a pious child, chastened by its father, begins to mend its ways, fearing and loving its father more than before, because it knows that he means well by it. The devil, however, where God has cast him, afflicts, terrifies, wounds and punishes, not as a father does his child, but as an executioner does a highwayman, thinking that he will drive the one he accuses into despair, murder him with great suffering and destroy him eternally; he leads into hell and does not come out again; all his doings are directed to that end: Only dead, only dead.

God cannot defend His divinity before us humans.

God cannot maintain with us men that He alone is God; for all men by nature stand and seek after the Godhead, as Adam and Eve did in Paradise, deceived by the serpent 2c., much less can He

1. Similar thoughts Cap. 24, § 10.

He alone receives that He alone is wise and blessed, yet alone He hardly receives that He is immortal.

Aristotle, the pagan, disputes thus (2nd metaphor): Whoever sees the misery and misery in the world from outside, not in himself, sees much that makes him sad and distressed, and therefore cannot be blessed; but God is blessed, therefore it follows that he sees nothing outside of Him. With this, he first denies the immortality of souls; then, that if God does not take care of us, he will not take care of us 2c. But what kind of God is this? He is only not my God.

No sin plagues us so much as the shameful lust and desire, so that we may seek after the Godhead. The evil lust and inclination of the flesh is indeed also a fierce evil, by which people are hardly challenged; but it is only child's play compared to the spiritual evil of whoredom, which far surpasses the fleshly evil.

God is the beginning of all righteousness, the means and the end.

All righteousness comes originally from God. First of all, he speaks to us through his word, offers us his grace, forgiveness of sins through Christ: as he spoke to Adam and Eve, deceived by the serpent, after the fall in paradise, consoled them after imposing a merciful punishment on them, and promised Christ, who was to crush the serpent's head.

So he did with Abraham, commanded him to go out of his fatherland 2c., promised him that he would make him a great nation 2c., Gen. 12, 1. 2., be his shield and great reward, Gen. 15, 1. Further he promised him and his descendants, Isaac, Jacob 2c., that through their seed (Christ) all nations on earth would be blessed, Gen. 22, 18. He also called for Moses, Ex. 3, 7. ff, and David through Samuel, 1 Sam. 16, 11. ff. Mary also, when she became the mother of God's Son, did nothing else but listen to the angel, accepted his word with faith and said: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your words", Luc. 1, 38.

120 Cap. 2. of God's works. §112-116. 121

Thus, God always begins by laying the first stone, that is, the word of promise and grace must precede it. This annoys the papists and all the works saints when they hear this, and prevents them from accepting it, but persecutes it; for they do not know and do not understand that the grace by which God justifies us in Christ is the forgiveness of sins, and even though there is still sin left, God does not want to impute it to us for the sake of faith in Christ. Alas! To know Christ is the highest treasure, of which the world knows nothing, even despises Him. It is like John wrote in Cap. 1, 5: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it.

Two kinds of sacrifices pleasing to God.

Scripture indicates two sacrifices that are pleasing and acceptable to God: The first is called a sacrifice of thanksgiving or praise, when one purely teaches, preaches, hears, accepts with faith, confesses, and does everything that serves to spread God's word, and for the unspeakable benefits that are presented to us through it and given to us in Christ, thanks, praises, and glorifies God from the heart. Psalm 50:14 speaks of this: "Offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to God"; item v. 23: "He who offers thanksgiving praises me. And Psalm 118, 1.: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is kind, and his goodness endures forever." And Psalm 103:1: "Praise the LORD, O my soul, and what is within me, his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not what good he hath done thee."

The other is when a troubled, afflicted heart takes refuge in God in all kinds of trials and distress, calls upon Him in right faith, seeks help from Him and waits with patience, Ps. 118:5: "In anguish I called upon the Lord, and the Lord heard me and comforted me." Ps. 34, 19.: "The LORD is near to them that are of a broken heart, and helpeth them that are of a bruised spirit." Ps. 51, 19.: "The sacrifices that please GOD are a troubled spirit; a troubled and bruised heart You, GOD, will not despise." Ps. 50, 15.: "Call upon me in distress, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt praise me."

The perverse wisdom of the epicureans of this age, of whom there are many, and more and more every day, who judge God's regiment.

When an Epicurean has thoughts of God and sees that things are so unequal and evil in the world that the pious suffer hardship and are oppressed, while wicked wretches have everything superfluous and soar high, he cannot conclude otherwise than that God cannot forbid and prevent this disorderly and desolate being in the world, then he is a poor, weak God; not powerful, much less omnipotent, as he is praised. But if he does not want to change, prevent or forbid it, then he is an unkind, even unjust God, who takes pleasure and joy in it when things go bad. But if he does not know how things are in the world, he is an inconsiderate, unwise, even foolish God.

So lead to school and master the blind condemned race God, their Lord and Creator, deprives and robs him of his divine power, justice and wisdom.

115. another, the same as the previous one.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 49.)

Serve God and the emperor. 1)

When one said, "He who serves God and the emperor has little profit," Luther said earnestly, "This is from hell and from the devil's behind, and is blasphemous speech, which goes directly against the first and other tablets. Against the first, where God commands: "You shall love God, your Lord, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might", Deut. 6, 5, "and serve Him alone", Matth. 4, 10. Against the other: "Let every man be subject to the authority that has power over him", Rom. 13, 1.

1. The thoughts in this § quite different from Cordatus No. 167:

Someone said at the Diet of Augsburg: "I do not care much about the faith, but I know two lords who give evil pay, Christ and the emperor. This was polite, clever and theologically spoken. The meaning: Whoever serves God and his order, the authorities, must be prepared for the cross.

122 Cap. 2. of God's works. §116-121. 123

And Christ says Matth. 22, 21: "Pray to God what is God's, and to Caesar what is Caesar's."

The first birth was sanctified to God.

In the Old Testament, all firstborns were sacred to God, both of men and of cattle. The firstborn son had an advantage over the other brothers, and was their lord as the chief in sacrifice and kingdom, that is, in spiritual and temporal government; for he had the right to priesthood and dominion. Now many examples are given in the Scriptures, showing how God rejected the firstborn sons and chose others in their place. As, Cain, Ishmael, Esau, Reuben, Eliab 2c. were firstborn sons: from them God took their right and gave it to their brothers who were younger than they, as, Abel, Isaac, Judah, David 2c., and that therefore: they became proud and presumptuous over the firstborn and despised their brothers who were more pious and godly than they. God did not like this and therefore deprived them of their honor, so that they could not boast of their firstborn before Him, even though they had a great reputation before the world, land and people; as the Scriptures report.

But the spiritual promise, that Christ should come from their seed, they have forgotten through their pride, that they might not boast of their firstborn according to the flesh. Our Lord God wants to be unpunished, to let us go our way in no way: whoever does not walk in his way goes astray and is a lost sheep.

118) Obedience of God and the devil. 1)

The obedience that is rendered to God and pleases Him is the obedience of faith, Rom. 3:28, that one hears and teaches His word, believes it, abides by it and proves it with fruits of faith, that is, with good works that God has commanded. But obedience to the devil is superstition, so that a person departs from the true faith, follows devil's lies and the teachings of men, and does many and great works.

1. Another relation of Cap. 24, § 123.

of his own choice and devotion, without and against God's command, and tortures himself with it. Hence the common saying: Hell is more sour to the devil's martyrs than heaven is to God's martyrs.

119. forgiveness of sins.

God knew well that we would not do everything, nor could we, therefore He gave us remissionem peccatorum.

120. How it would have gone if Adam had not sinned.

(Contained in Cap. 49, § 7.)

God mocks Satan.

God irritates and mocks Satan in that he puts a poor weak man, who is earth and dust, but has the first fruits of the spirit, before the hopeful, cunning, powerful and evil spirit, against whom he can do nothing.

2. Thus it is recorded in history that a powerful, mighty king in Persia was killed by a
3. The beginning of the second paragraph in another redaction in Kummer's second part x. 258 d, (year 1542) (Lauterbach, p. 201.): Desgl. Cordatus No. 1484. See Appendix No. II.

Drought. When there was a great drought, so that the seeds and plants dried up before they were ripe, the Lord Doctor asked that the Lord, for the sake of His mercy, would give rain 2c. While he was still speaking in this way, locusts (druelii, /3/wi^ot) came flying into the garden in droves, and he said, "God is angry, because he also wants to take away the rest through vermin, as Joel 1, (v. 4.) says: The caterpillars will eat the rest 2c. At last he sighed and said; Oh Lord, behold our prayer, for thy promises' sake. We have asked him, our heater sighs, but the peasants' avarice hinders it, after they have become so licentious through the gospel, that they do what they desire, and are not frightened, neither by hell nor purgatory, but say: I believe, I will be blessed, and become the most shameful mammon servants; he wants these godless people to perish by hunger. But GOD does have means to feed His own, although He denies the rain to the ungodly. For GOD has various means to sustain and to destroy. For at that time of drought many locusts came, and he said that with such an army GOtt could smite the Turk. For one reads in church history that a very large army of the Persians was chased away with gnats before Nineveh*).

*) Cf. Cap. is, § 41: "Nasili" (Nineveh?); also because of the time indication.

** 124** Cap. 2. of God's works. 4 121-125. 125

The strange army sent by God, namely by flies and gnats, was defeated with all its might at the city of Edessa. Thus our Lord God desires to conquer and triumph, not by might, but by weakness: gnats shall smite the great king, and chase the mighty, ravenous beast. So also, a weak man shall defy, resist and overcome the prince and God of the world by faith.

The world does not respect God's goods.

God deceives the world and makes it foolish, because he does so much good even to the worst of the wicked, gives rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, out of the earth grain, wine and all kinds of fruit, yes, also gold and silver and other metals, out of the sea rmd water all kinds of fish, fills their hearts also with delicious food and drink and makes them happy. The world does not think otherwise, because their goods are the right goods, their joy is the right joy.

Therefore let us cling to the word, hold fast to it, and judge ourselves according to the same, which teaches us that all things, with which the world is about, glories, and comes in with, are temporal, defiled, and worldly, and have no continuance, but perish with all their nature, goods, joy, pleasure 2c., And also shew what are the true and lasting goods and joy 2c., namely, the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which are a better and more precious treasure than many thousand pieces of gold or silver.

So I hear, we cannot use this world's goods, joy 2c. without sin? I do not say that, because God created it for us to use and enjoy it, according to this rule of St. Paul, 1 Cor. 7, 29, 30, 31: "Dear brothers, the time is short. Further, this is the opinion: that they have wives, as if they had none; and that they weep, as if they meant none; and that they rejoice, as if they rejoiced not; and that they buy, as if they possessed none; and that they have need of this world, that they abuse it not, for the things of this world perish."

123. God's supreme wrath and mercy.

False teachers and idolatrous spirits are punishments of sins and God's greatest wrath and disfavor, as Hosea Cap. 9, 7. says: "The prophets are fools, and the idolatrous spirits are mad because of your great iniquity and because of hostile idolatry." Just as godly teachers are a glorious testimony to God's grace and mercy. Therefore St. Paul Eph. 4, 8. 11. calls the apostles, evangelists, prophets, shepherds and teachers gifts of the Lord Christ, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and Micah compares the teaching of the Gospel to a fruitful rain.

What is most pleasing to God.

(Cordatus No. 1386. 1387.)

I believe that it pleases God very much when His praise is preached over him Christ whom the whole world blasphemes.

That the Sheflemini Christ has enemies, we must learn. 1)

God hardens whom He wills.

One asked D. Martinum whether the word "harden" is to be understood actually, as it reads, or figuratively and falsely? Then he answered and said: Proprie, actually, one should understand it, but not really; because God works and does no evil, but by his omnipotence he works everything in everything, and as he finds a man, so he works in him. Like Pharaoh, who was evil by nature, that was not God's fault, but his own, when he continued to be evil and to do evil. But he is hardened because God, with His Spirit and grace, does not prevent his wicked ways, but lets him continue and have his way. But why God does not hinder or prevent him, we do not have to ask, because the little word "why" has deceived and killed many souls. It is too high for us to investigate.

Therefore God says: "Why I am doing this, you shall not know; see you on your word,

1. Cf. cap. 7, § 21.

126 Cap. 2. of God's works. 125-133. 12^

believe in Christ and pray, I will do it this way. When God is asked at the last day and judgment, "Why did He let Adam fall?" He will answer and say, "So that My goodness to the human race might be seen and known in giving My Son as the Savior of the world.

The one who can humble himself before God from the heart has won. .

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 86 and § 45.)

Knowing God rightly is the highest art.

God writes Himself and lets it be said of Him everywhere in the Scriptures that He is a God of life, peace and joy for the sake of Christ. Therefore I am an enemy to myself, that I cannot believe it. This means that I do not really know God, nor do I know how he is disposed toward us. Now if I could distinguish between God and the devil, I would be highly learned.

128. gOd receives discipline.

It must be God's business and work, where discipline, especially in wars, and a good regiment are maintained, otherwise it is strange, wild and evil; as one, unfortunately, now sees and experiences too much.

God is lenient with His outward and temporal gifts. 1)

Our Lord God casts worldly virtues, arts, reason, wisdom, 2c. into the rappus, like bread and wine, and often gives them more abundantly to the godless than to the godly; as Harchduke Georg has many more beautiful, worldly virtues, and is more skillful in governing than many a pious ruler.

130. god's way.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 44 and § 98.)

God has set a goal for the adversaries to rage.

(Cordatus No. 1368.)

Let the adversaries rage only because he who has set the boundaries of the sea, though he has

1. Cf. cap. 27, § 152, the last paragraph.

but does not allow it to cross its shores, but restrains the waters, not with an iron shore but with a sandy shore. [Ps. 104, 9.)

132. a different.

The other psalm is one of the finest and best psalms; I am fond of it, that it thus throws itself into the princes, kings, councilors, and so strikes freshly among them. If it is true that this psalm says, then that is a great lie. And he said further, If I were our Lord God, and had commanded my son (as he commanded his son) to rule, and they were disobedient to him as they are now, I would throw the world into a lump.

Mary, the poor child maid of Nazareth, also wants to rumble with the kings, since she says: "He puts the mighty ones down" 2c., Luc. 1, 52. She was a fine maiden, must have had a good voice. I should not sing like that. Yes, say the tyrants, "let us break their bonds," 2c., Ps. 2, 3. What that is, experience teaches us now; for one drowns, hangs, scorches, burns, beheads, strangles 2c., chases away, stabs and plows 2c. And they do it all in defiance of God. "He that sitteth in heaven above, laugheth and mocketh," Ps. 2:4, but it is not laughter to the papists, but great earnestness.

If only our Lord God would allow me a little space and time, so that I could interpret another psalm or two, I would make myself so useless; like Samson, I would take them with me. Judg. 16, 30.

Ask, he says, that the last day will come soon, the world can never be helped: I have tried everything to the best and utmost, but it will not happen anywhere. It will be time for God to close his heaven; he has let it smell too well, we have only become bolder and prouder through it.

God preaches to him himself.

Our Lord God has spoken His word to Himself, especially in the Lord's Prayer, when Christ says: O! help that God's name may one day be hallowed.

128 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 134-143. 129

134. God's expenses and food that go into the world.

(Cordatus No. 710. 711 and No. 715.)

Every man must have 31 guilders, one year to help the other. Our Lord God gives away one day more than the emperor is able to.

God has given the world everything, leaves, grass, money, gold, stones, mountains, land, people, all goods, and has reserved nothing for Himself but death and life.

No one can estimate how much God needs to give the world its food every single day. I know that to feed the world every day stands a kingdom. How many days have there been since the world began? And we do not want to trust him.

135. goodness of god.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 89.)

136. signs when God is gracious or ungracious.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 107 and 108.)

137. God is a God of the living.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 87.)

God has restored all estates through His word.

When it was thought how blessed a time it would be now, because the gospel would be righteously restored and taught, D. Martinus said: God wanted to restore everything before the last day to its first state, for which it was created and ordered, as the gospel, the marriage state, the authority 2c.

139. God will destroy a country for the sake of sin.

I believe that God has cursed the Promised Land because of the wickedness of the Jews; for He washes away all the fatness of a land so that it remains barren and sandy, 1) makes their land become salt pits, as the prophet says, since it is nothing or ever very

1. Cf. cap. 3, § 11.

wears little. Thus God is wont to strip a land of all adornment, that he may have gifted and graced it before others, that it may become bare and desolate. The old lord of Stolberg, after he had come back from the holy land, which he had seen quite well, is said to have said: Is this the promised land? I would take the golden floodplain for it. For even the holy land is no longer as fertile as it was before.

God's blessings are upon all creatures.

God has blessed the creatures along with us humans who have mouths and need food that grows from the earth, but he has not blessed those who come from the earth themselves. For we eat in like manner that which the swine and other unwise beasts eat, only that we put it boiled into the dish and dress it, but the swine bites it from the root.

How God will judge.

God's judgment is happening now through the gospel, but on the last day it will be revealed and made public. Then He will come with thunder and lightning, and in a moment He will send all of us to meet Him, 1 Thess. 4:17, so that we will have to stand before Him and publicly hear the judgment, Matth. 25:34, 41. This is called judging the living and the dead.

The first time you see God's goodness, you will know it.

The worldly authority is a sign of divine grace, that God is merciful, and has neither desire nor pleasure in slaughtering and strangling, otherwise he would let it all go among themselves without regiment, also among the Turks and other nations, like the wild, cruel, unreasonable animals, pigs, bears, wolves, lions 2c.Then they would destroy themselves and devour one another,' according to the saying, 'He who is strong and able puts another in his sack.

The Magnificat contains all the works of God.

All the works of God are comprehended in the Magnificat. When a thing comes up high, then

130 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 143-148. 131

it is nothing; and again, when it is at its lowest and most despised, it comes forth again and rises up. So at the time of Samuel, 1 Sam. 6, when the ark and the ark of God were taken away, people wept that it was now over with Israel and the service, but they were nevertheless preserved.

God does not want us to understand everything.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 9.)

A blessed time has God given us now, who only recognized it!

O God, said D. M., how I have now experienced such a noble time, Luc. 10, 23, so much revelation of good arts, especially of the pure teaching of the dear Gospel. And truly, as Christ says about the time of the last day, everything shall be in bloom, and after that the last day shall come out of it: all arts shall bloom, and everything shall stand on high. When this happens, Christ says, summer will not be far away. Luc. 21, 28.

Since a man should be God only a little while, our evil would be waited.

(Cordatus No. 712.)

I did not want to take a hundred thousand guilders, that the Fugger should be a moment GOtt.

147. serving god.

If one does not serve God alone, then one certainly serves the devil: Cause, you cannot serve God, you have only his word and command. If his word and command are not there, you do not serve God, but your own will. So then our Lord God says: "Whom you serve, let him also reward you; which teüfel has called you? I command you to serve your father and mother, your authorities and your neighbor; you will put up with that, and do what I have not commanded. Am I supposed to put up with that? Oh no, nothing will come of it. For God the

To do is to do what God has commanded in His Word, each in his own state; not what seems good to you, out of your own self-chosen devotion.

So the pope and his crowd are all idolaters and servants of the devil, with all their being and life; for he asks nothing of God's word, yes, he condemns and persecutes the word and directs all his ghosts to lead away from the pure faith in Christ. He pretends to great holiness under the appearance of outward worship, which he has arranged with caps and plates, with fasting, eating fish, reading mass, and what is more like that, but in reality it is all the devil's doctrine.

And when someone asked: What is the reason why the pope and his followers hold so stiffly to such doctrines of the devil? Martin answered: "The gospel tells us that the devil has shown them the kingdom of the world and promised it to them, as he did to Christ, Matth. 4, 8. This makes him mock our preaching and worship, because we are beggars in it and have to suffer a lot. But he lifts up his worship to heaven, for there he has money and goods, honor and authority, and is a great lord who can be emperor and king. Then one sees how the devil has so powerfully occupied them with this temptation, has driven them to forsake the word of God, has imposed and introduced self-inflicted holiness; yet God has preserved some under such devilish specter.

148. god is not a cause of evil

(Cordatus No. 88.)

Origen was much troubled by the question of whether God was the author of evil; but we deny that God is the author of evil, for He is the author of creatures. But we deny that God is the author of evil, for he is the author of creatures, but God's creatures are badly good. But when we speak in this way, the expression "author" or "cause" must be well observed, for in fact God is not the cause of evil, even though He gives the wicked a hardened mind, according to this, "I have left them in the stupor of their hearts." Ps. 81, 12. 13.

132 Cap. 2. of God's works. §149-157. 133

Man does not do God's will.

(Cordatus No. 145.)

God constantly makes visible things out of invisible things and wants us to do the same, but we reverse the order because nature wants to do the opposite in everything. For if I am poor, I should in faith see abundance in all things. But we would rather have abundance, and then, according to our will, either flee poverty 1) or permit it.

150. God's rocking power dismays the people.

(Cordatus No. 258.)

It does not little affect the hearts that God is so changeable 2). For to Adam he gave promises and ceremonies, which he then changed with the rainbow 3) and the box of Noah. To Abraham he gave circumcision. To Moses miraculous signs; to his people the law. He abolished all of them through the Gospel, which he gave to Christ. The Turks were offended by this changeability of God and said that their law would only last for a while, but would then be changed.

Where and how to find and know God with certainty.

(This § is transposed and abridged from the Great Interpretation of > the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 1. Walch, old edition, Vol. > VIII,§§60 and 59.)

God does and gives everything for free.

God created us without our doing, by grace, without our merit, feeds and sustains us also, and gives us heaven freely out of pure grace, for Christ's sake, who believe in Him.

For the sake of our hardness, God must be hard and God.

(Contained in Cap. 22, § 86.)

1. Instead of ünZers in the original would probably like to read.
2. i.e. variable.

fingere3) Instead of aroa areu is to be read.

How difficult it is to believe what God says.

Alas! said D. Martinus, I believed everything the pope and the monks said, but what Christ says now, who does not lie, I cannot believe. That is a miserable and annoying thing. Well, we want it and must save it until that day.

155. a different.

(Cordatus No. 1516.)

Is it not a plague that I am afraid of the man who raised me out of baptism, when no Philip nor Pomeranian loves me so much as Christ, who died for me?

God cares for us.

(Cordatus No. 1800.)

Since God spends so much on feeding useless birds, who would despair that he will be sustained by God?

What this is, God is nothing, and yet everything.

The pagan Plato disputes about God, that God is nothing, and yet is everything: which Eck and the Sophists followed, and yet understood nothing of it; as their words indicate, which no one could understand. But so it is to be understood and spoken of: God is incomprehensible and invisible; but what can be understood and seen, that is not God. And this can be said in another way: God is either visible or invisible. He is visible in His word and work; but where His word and work are not, there one should not want Him, for He cannot be found elsewhere than as He has revealed Himself. But they want to seize God with their speculation, and nothing comes of it; seize the wretched devil for it, who also wants to be God.

But I admonish and warn everyone to let speculation stand, and do not flutter too high; but remain here with the manger and swaddling clothes in which Christ lies, "in whom dwelleth all fullness.

134 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 157-163. 135

of the Godhead bodily", as Paul says Col. 2, 9. There one cannot miss God, but certainly meets and finds Him. I would like this rule to be observed after my death.

In what God's consolation and man's consolation stand.

(Contained in Cap. 7, § 158.)

When the help of men ceases, the help of God comes to those who believe in Him.

If we do not see any way, means, counsel, or manner by which we can be helped out of misfortune, then we conclude according to reason: It is over with us. But if we believe, our salvation is enhanced. For, as the Medici say, ubi desinit philosophia, ibi incipit medicina: Where philosophia ceases, there medicina begins. So we also say: Ubi desinit humanum auxilium, ibi divinum incipit, vel fides in verbum: Where human help ceases, there God's help begins, or faith in God's word.

Our Lord God deals with Christians in a wonderful way.

Affliction comes before salvation, and after salvation joy. To be oppressed and weighed down is to be built up and yet to grow and increase. Our Lord God makes his will against the Christian very colorful and curly, so that almost no one can send himself into it. God's kingdom dwells in the people who are baptized and believe in Christ from the heart, proving it also with their lives: and the true Christians are God's kingdom; but not the mouthed and colored Christians. And even though Christians are tormented and killed here, their Lord lives in heaven, and for this reason they must also live.

The devil takes pleasure and is his work and greatest joy in suppressing God's work, in torturing and tormenting those who love God's word and hold fast to it; the others he leaves well alone. Because Christians are God's kingdom, they must also be tormented, martyred and oppressed.

A Christian must have evil days and suffer much; so our Adam, flesh and blood, will have good days and suffer nothing: how does this add up? Our flesh is given over to death and hell because it has followed the devil and has left God's commandment. Now if our flesh is to be redeemed from death and hell, and is to be again stripped and wrested from the devil, it must again keep God's commandment and join Him, which is no different than believing in Christ Jesus, that He is the Son of God and our Redeemer, and that we keep His word. The word of Christ is nothing else but bearing the cross, having love and hope in the cross, and believing that he will not leave us afflicted for eternity, and will save us and transfer us from this life to that eternal life; but having patience in love, and that one may give credit for his weakness to another, who also is in suffering and keeps it with Christ.

Therefore, whoever claims to be a listener and disciple of God's word, and wants to be a Christian and be saved, does not have to wait for a good day here; but all his faith, hope and love is directed towards God and his neighbor. So his whole life is nothing else but suffering, cross and persecution, and all kinds of adversity and misfortune every hour, yes, every moment, must be expected.

The works of God must be believed alone.

The holy scripture says: "Do not inquire into high things", Rom. 12, 16; for all the works of God are inscrutable, no one can conceive them; only one must believe them, with reason no one can 1) understand them nor fathom them.

162: Von GOttes unausforschlicher Majestät, aus D. M. Luther's Letter to M. Caspar

Aquilam, parish priest at Salfeld.

(This § is Walch, old edition, Vol. XXI, 1129 ff, No.'670, §§ 2-5.)

One should not be afraid of God.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 45.)

1. So Stangwaldt instead of "vermag".

136 Cap. 2. of God's works. § 164-166. 137

God's works are wonderful.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 23, 1538, p. 118.)

On August 23, a disputer asked: Where Balaam was from, if he lived in Syria at the water of Aram, as the text indicates? But how does the Scripture agree with this, which says that he was killed among the Midianites? Luther answered: Perhaps Balaam fled from Moses as a rebel (as they accused him), as if to say: Now the people will go to ruins; the rebellion is already beginning, and so he fled to the victorious Midianites. For Balaam saw the great plagues and confusion of the people of Israel, how God had afflicted them. Yes, God Himself also afflicted them, namely to harden the Gentiles, who always hoped for the downfall of Israel, as today the Papists rejoice in every confusion among us, and draw good hope from it. Thus, according to the judgment of all the Gentiles, the people of Israel were considered to be the most godless and rebellious sect, and I believe that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, followed Moses and the Israelites in such great certainty that he thought that God stood for him and against Israel, as if the sea had opened for his sake; as if he wanted to say, as the text reads, "Now my soul will be satisfied" (Ex. 14:3). Now I have it for sure, that I shall seize it in the sea, and so he perishes in the greatest safety, and those in their weakness come away victorious. So God is strange in his regiment. That which is against him seems to be for him, and that which is for him seems to be against him. Sometimes he seems strong, sometimes weak, so that neither Satan nor all wisdom can judge him. Christ has often appeared very strong to the devil in miracles, but then also weak in suffering, and has even made the devil mad. Therefore, faith, not the wisdom of the flesh, belongs to the miraculous works of God. Thus Oecolampad is blinded by the argument: "Flesh is of no use" (Joh. 6, 63.). So the body of Christ is not there. And Zwingli: "He sits at the right hand of the Father" (Eph. 1, 20.). So he is not in the bread. These have been their brazen walls, on which they stood, and, ver

blinded by looking at everything through a colored glass, they have judged stiffly and firmly in their opinion.

God will wake up one day.

It seems that our God is a sleepy, dumb, deaf and blind God, as the Psalter calls him in many places; but he will wake up one day and speak to his enemies in his wrath, Ps. 2, 5. Then beware, for it is written: I will awake from sleep, and rise, and smite mine enemies. This was said by Luther when Pace said that the Elector of Brandenburg had removed the chasuble from the Bishop of Strasbourg during mass and kissed the crucifix when it was placed in the grave.

166. Bon God's punishment against the wicked, item, heretics and tyrants.

D. Luther said in 1532 that when he was still in the monastery in Erfurt, he had once spoken to Doctor Staupitz: My dear Doctor, our Lord God deals so cruelly with people, who can serve Him when He lashes out like this? As we can still see in our adversaries, of whom he has punished and cleared away many terrible things, who in our time have rebelled against the teachings of the Gospel. To this Doctor Staupitz answered me at that time and said: "Dear, learn to look at God differently: if he did not do so, how could he otherwise dampen the hard heads? He must control the tall trees so that they do not grow into the sky. God strikes ad sanitatem, ut nos, qui alioqui opprimeremur, liberet et redimat. These examples taught me afterwards in 1530 at Coburg that I had rightly understood the appendix or addition to the ten commandments, since God says: "I am a zealous God, who punishes iniquity" 2c. Non est tam crudele in illos tyrannos supplicium, quam necessaria pro nobis Christianis defensio. Sic Zwinglium nunc periisse dicunt, cujus error si praevaluisset, periisse- mus nos cum Ecclesia nostra. But the fifth and fiftieth Psalm says v. 24: Viri sanguinum et dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos."

138 Cap. 3 Creation. 139

Chapter 3.

Of The Creation.

1. the creation is briefly described by Moses.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

So the heavens and the earth were finished, with all their host.

4. God's process in creation and His works.
5. why Moses does not remember the angels creation.
6. of miraculous creatures and works of God.
7. question from the creation.
8. legends of the patriarchs before the flood, how they should be described and distinguished.

Cain was not who Adam thought he was.

10. we cannot thoroughly understand God's creation.
11. from paradise.

Children are God's special blessing and creature.

13. 14. Of the abuse of God's creatures.
14. lutheri thoughts from the swath.
15. of fruits and fruit.
16. fruit respect the children more than money.
17. a different.
18. several questions.
19. spill wine or salt.
20. children are God's blessing.
21. from the children birth.

God's creation of a human being is a miraculous work.

24. from twins.

God's creation in the creatures is marvelous.

26. from comets.
27. 28. From the sun.

29 A question from the sun.

What kind of man Adam was.

31. Adam's moderation.
32. a question of the fall of man.

A man does not understand God's creature and work.

34. why we live in houses.
35. from agriculture.
36. from Adam's apple bite.

(37) Speech separates a man from all other animals.

38. Adam's misery on earth.
39. weakness and misery of human nature.
40. 41. Of the regiment of the maggot sack of human body.

42 A question why people do not accept the knowledge planted in the heart as easily as that in the mind.

43. difference of the animals.
44. what a being and sense had been in paradise.
45. from Adam's case.
46. one question.

47 Adam's heartache after the fall.

48 On the miserable state of human life.

49. of the short life of people.
50. 51. 52. human life a poor life.
51. of the human skin under the eyes.
52. 55. Of children and the same life.
53. We must become like children before our Lord God.
54. 58. 59. Of the little children.

The parents' love for the children.

61. Cain, Adam's favorite child.
62. grandparents love their children's children the most.

The parents' and authorities' violence is different.

The children's discipline and punishment is necessary.

The first is the question of whether a son should betray his father's wrongdoing.

66 The custom of the goods is the most important.

The children shall suffer the infirmities of their parents.

68 Whether a father may disinherit his disobedient child.

69. why the first parents ate only fruits.
70. the parents curse.

The disobedient children are punished by God.

72. hanging on and letting the children have their way corrupts them.
73. 74. No father shall, at his life, give his goods to his children.

The children's unequal nature and nature.

76. from Weibern.
77. women should not be eloquent.
78. that which is evil to women.
79. long hair is a woman's ornament.
80. breast milk and female breasts.

81: Of men and women.

What men and women are made for.

What women are created for.

The greatest people are wrong.

85. children stand best with GOD.

Women should not be in charge.

87. Children are God's gift.

Man is made of dung.

89. of the increase of fish.
90. the youth bursts forth.

If Adam had not sinned, there would have been no need for bread.

The first of these is a book by the author.

93. thoughts of all the wicked.

The first is the question of whether languages, the fine arts, and other natural gifts are useful for theology.

Whether the light of reason also serves theology.

God gives many goods to the wicked here, but much more to the godly.

We do not recognize God's creatures.

140 Cap. 3. of the creation. § 1-5. 141

1. the creation is briefly described by Moses.

(Cordatus No. 1292. 1287.)

High mysteries make vain error, therefore Moses wanted to describe the creation 1) only with few and very simple words, but the purchase of the cave in Hebron and the sacrifices and Jewish customs he described with very many words, so that they did not cause heresy.

The story which so carefully describes the purchase of the cave by Abraham is described in such a way, so that it testified his faith in the promise given to him about the possession of the land of Canaan, and the unbelievers to a testimony also after the expulsion of his own from the holy land, because he knew that the devil would do something against his descendants; because he does not grant us a morsel of bread, and if we get it, he wants to take it from us again. He ridicules all, with the exception of him of whom Paul says [Gal. 6, 7.ft "He is not mocked."

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

(Cordatus No. 1559.)

Before a man learns the first word in Moses: In the beginning God created 2c., he is dead, and even if he lives a thousand years, he will hardly learn it. But this Creator has been forgotten so highly that God also had to send his Son into the world, so that he would remind them of the Father 2c.

3. so the heavens and the earth were completed with all their host, Gen. 2, 1.

All creatures are God's army. I have gladly kept the little word Exercitus, army, as it is written in the Ebraic, in defiance of the devil, who strives with all his might in various ways to hinder all creatures in their works, for which God has created them. The sun, moon and stars shine by day and by night. The sea gives all kinds of fishes, other waters and streams also, and keep their certain course for and without

1. Here orsalurani stands in the sense of ersationsm.

all obstacles. The earth bears and gives all kinds of grain, herbs, grain, barley 2c., wine, fruit, grass, herbs 2c. for the preservation and use of both man and beast. The trees bear all kinds of fruit, all animals give their use. 2) And who can tell it all? The devil likes to prevent all this, but God resists him. Therefore he is also called in the Scriptures the Lord of hosts, because he creates and sustains, that every creature may accomplish that for which he created and ordained it. Sometimes, however, God decrees that a time of unfruitfulness will come, that grain and all kinds of fruit will turn out badly, and that corruption will follow, as a punishment for the wicked, ungrateful world, which does not recognize that all kinds of fruit, vegetables and everything we enjoy are gifts from God.

4. God's process in creation and His works.

Our Lord God's way is to keep this custom, so that His power and might may be accomplished and made strong through and in weakness. Thus he first made the world, a desolate empty lump (chaos) that was dark and shapeless; then he gave form and shape to every creature in a fine order, visible and glorious. He did not create man soon, nor first, but the earth before. So he first hid and concealed in the earth the shrub, which need not be a tree at first. He could create everything immediately with only one word, but he does not want to do it, he likes this way, that he makes something out of nothing. Thus, our cause with the Gospel was also weak in the beginning, but, praise God, it has increased and grown more and more, so that more and more have come to it; but it will fall again because of the great ingratitude and contempt.

Why Moses did not remember the angels' creation.

Moses writes nothing about the creation of the angels, first of all because he describes only the creation of the visible world and creatures that are in it. Secondly, he did not want to give us cause for speculation.

2. Cf. cap. 49, § 9, para. 4.

142 Cap. 3. of the creation. § 5. 6. 143.

He does not speak of unnecessary things. Nevertheless, he remembers the angels in the history of Abraham and Lot, Genesis 18 and 19:1, just as the Scriptures speak of the angels from time to time.

Therefore, God was right not to have written many things, otherwise we would have taken to the wind and despised learning and contemplating what we have now expressed in Scripture and which serves us for salvation, and would have been under obligation to investigate and fathom that which is too high above us and us, that we would not have been corrected.

6. of wonderful creatures and works of God.

At Eisleben over the table was said to D. Luther said, when pike was served in a bowl the 12th Februarii to the meal, that there are no pike in Hispania. Luther replied that the pike was a water wolf, which feeds on the fish in the water, and rules in the water.

Count Hans Heinrich von Schwarzburg told Luther that in Bohemia a lord had a water that should give very good baked fish, and if one dug earth or sod out of the same water or pond and put it into another water, fish would grow out of the same earth. Thereupon spoke 1). Luther: This is the nature of the water, so the lawn has drunk into itself. And said D. Luther: The first chapter of the first book of Moses does not say: God has put fish into the water; but God says: Water, stir up; then fish became from the rain.

God has planted two great wondrous plantings: first, God made Adam from a lump of earth, then He made woman from a man's rib. Is this not a strange planting? Sic nos ex gutta seminis ex muliere nascimur; that is a wonderful thing. Then Count Hans Heinrich von Schwarzburg said that he had heard from his father how a sea miracle had once been brought to a pope in Rome, which had been seen half as well as a man. When it was caught, it would not have wanted to eat or drink: therefore, as one said,

it would die, the pope wanted to look at it again, and after that he had such a miracle of the sea thrown into the water again, so that it would not die. When the priest looked at it, he said: Dear God, how wonderful you are among the creatures on earth! Then the beast began to speak and said, "Much more wonderful in the water. Then said D. Luther said, "This was the devil, for he dwells in the waters and great forests. More sea miracles have been seen, and they are certainly devils. And such a miracle of the sea was then thrown into the Tiber near Rome.

Then the noble lord Volrat, count and lord of Mansfeld, said above the table that there were fishermen fishing in Denmark who had seen two large fish in the sea next to each other, so the fishermen got together and undertook to catch the two fish. But one of them got through the net, and when he saw that the other fish had been caught, he raised a great hue and cry in the sea, and made such a disturbance that many boats went down with the fishermen. But they had caught one of them and brought it ashore, but it soon died and became stinking, so that it was not brought before the king of Denmark. And the king would have had it painted, and would not have seen the same sea miracle otherwise than as a monk; for it would have had a plate, and like a cap, and the like.

Furthermore, Count Volrat said that von Hutten had written to his father, Count Albrecht, from the Gold Islands that they had caught a sea wonder in their voyage on the sea, which looked like a bishop, for it had a jnfulen, a bishop's hat and all episcopal regalia. He and his companions would have been willing to give such a sea wonder to the prince of the same country as a pledge, but they would have thrown it into the water again. When it came to the sea, it walked on the water with its crosier, finally made the cross over it and disappeared into the water.

M. Luther said: "The devil asked in the Gospel of Christ, Matth. 8, 31, that he wanted to

144 Cap. 3. of creation. § 6-8. 145

not let him go into abyssum, into the depth of the sea. For when the devils are cast out, they must not remain on earth, but they must go from the people into the sea.

Count Volrat also said that once a sea miracle had been caught from a ship on the sea, which had been a woman. When it was kept on the ship, a ship's servant took her as his wife and fathered a child with her. After three years, when they returned by ship to the place where the sea miracle was first caught, the same woman jumped out of the ship and took the child with her, which had drowned, but she had disappeared before their eyes. Then the doctor said, "The devil can change in a woman's form, but also in a man's.

7. question from the creation.

One of them asked: How Moses could have written about the creation and other things, as at what times the archfathers, Adam, Seth, Enoch 2c. would have lived and died before and after the flood, if the creation had happened more than two thousand years before his time, and the archfathers had also fallen asleep long before? he answered: I think that many things were written before Moses. Adam will have briefly written and recorded the history of the creation, of his fall, of the promise of the woman's seed 2c., so the other fathers afterwards, especially Noah, what happened at each time. After that Moses will have taken it and put it in a proper order, taken from it and added to it what and how God commanded him; especially the history of the creation, item, of the seed that was to crush the serpent's head, he will have taken without any doubt from the teaching and preaching of the archfathers, which always one has inherited on the other. For I certainly believe that the preaching of the woman's seed, promised to Adam and Eve, for which they had a heartfelt longing and desire, was more powerful before the flood than the preaching of Christ at the last dangerous time.

There will also have been heretics. If Cain had not fallen so horribly, had not become a murderer of his own brother, he would have seduced the greater part of the people and caused vain heresy; therefore God decreed that he should put Abel to death. This is also the end of all heretics, that they finally take up the sword and become murderers; as can be seen in the Arians and the Pabstics, and in our time in the Coiners, Anabaptists, Zwingel 2c. First, they begin their deeds with a pretense of godliness, color and adorn their lies with Scripture, thereby doing great harm, seducing many people, until finally, when their lies are exposed and punished, they put them to the sword. They are not always lacking in will, but only in opportunity; for Satan cannot hide in his limbs, he must let it be known that he is a liar and a murderer 2c. I think that Cain's death, especially among those who were related to him, caused a great cry and terror, so that they lamented: Behold, Lamech slew Cain our father.

8. legends of the patriarchs before the flood, how they should be described and distinguished.

A world would be given if it were possible to have the legends of the patriarchs who lived before the flood; there one would see how they lived, preached, and what they suffered. Our Lord God will have thought: I will keep their legends with the flood, for those who come after will not respect it, much less understand it: I will keep it until they come together again in that life. Then the dear arch-fathers after the flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, item, the prophets, apostles, their descendants and other holy people (whom the devil does not leave unchallenged in this life) will give them far preference and say: I lived a short time, to be counted against the time of the dear patriarchs before the flood, preached a few years and spread God's word, suffered my cross and tribulation over it.

146 Cap. 3. of creation. §8-11. 147

But what is that compared to the great, protracted, unspeakable toil and labor, anguish, torment and plague of our dear fathers before the flood, which they suffered and endured, some for seven hundred years, some for eight hundred and even longer, from the devil and the wicked world?

Cain was not who Adam thought he was.

Adam failed Cain. 1) He thought that because he was the firstborn son, he should precede Abel by far, be his lord and supreme in the spiritual and worldly regiment. But it did not turn out that way, because God did it differently, rejected Cain and gave the right of the first birth to Abel, Gen. 4, 4. 5.: "God graciously looked upon Abel and his sacrifice, but Cain and his sacrifice He did not graciously look upon." Cain was very angry at this and disguised his gestures. Eve, the dear holy mother, had a particularly good hope for Cain, was sure, as she made herself believe, that he would be the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head, according to the promise made to Adam and her. Therefore, when she gave birth to him, she happily said, "I have the man, the Lord," Genesis 4:1, as if to say, "This man will restore us to the sorrow into which the serpent has led us, for he is the Lord himself, true God, also a natural man born of me.

But the dear mother was deceived, did not yet realize her misery, did not know that from flesh nothing else could be born but flesh; that through flesh and blood sin and death could not be overcome and taken away. They were also mistaken about the time when this blessed seed, conceived by the Holy Spirit, was to be born from Mary of virgins into the world. How the dear arch-fathers did not know the time, although the promise was made clearer and clearer by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. As we now also know that the last day will come, but on what day or hour we do not know.

We cannot thoroughly understand God's creation.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 7, 1538, p. 110.)

On August 7, he said: "I have lain down heavily in this illness, so that I gave my life to God; but in this time of weakness many things have come to my mind. Oh, how I have thought what eternal life is, what joy it has. I am already sure of the life that is given to us through Christ, and it is already ours because we believe, but one day it will be revealed. Here we are not to know how the creation of the new world is, since we cannot even fully know the first creation of the world and the creatures. If I had been with God before the creation of the world, I would not have been able to give him this advice, that he should have made such a great work of spheres out of nothing, and that he should have attached to it a clasp, the sun, which in the fastest course illuminates the whole earth; likewise, that he should create man and woman in this way.

(The following, Lauterbach, May 26, 1538, p. 87.)

He has done all this for us without our counsel or hesitation, so we must also give Him glory with respect to the life to come and the new creation, and let Him alone remain the Creator.

11. from paradise.

(Cordatus No. 1096.)

I believe that the whole world is paradise, but that Moses described it according to the four rivers which Adam saw and by which he dwelt, and it is called a garden of pleasure paradisus because it grew everywhere so lovely. Now Adam was in Arabia and Syria after sin, but the earth had ceased to be a paradise. Thus Sodom ceased to be a paradise; - similarly Samaria and Judea, which were once very fertile, but are now sandy lands; 2) - GOD hath

148 Cap. 3. of the creation. § II-14. 14A

it 1) Sodom turned into a salt desert by its curse, not wanting the blessing.

Children are God's special blessing and creature.

When Jonah had hung a beautiful branch of cherries over the table in remembrance of creation, and praised the glorious blessing of God in such fruits, D. M. Luther said: "Why do you not consider this more in your children than in your body's fruits, which surpass and are more beautiful and also more glorious creatures of God than all trees? M. Luther: "Why do you not consider this more in your children than in the fruits of your body, which surpass and are more beautiful and also more glorious creatures of God than the fruits of all trees? In them Mn sees God's omnipotence, wisdom and art, who has made them from nothing: has given them in one year body, life and all limbs so fine, fine and beautiful, and wants to nourish and sustain them. Nevertheless, we do not pay much attention to it, and may even become blind and stingy over such gifts from God; as commonly happens that people, when they have children, become more angry and stingy, scrape, scrape and scrape as much as they can, so that they may leave them much. They do not know that even before a child comes into the world and is born, its modest share, what and how much it will have and what it will become, is allotted and provided for it; as the Scriptures say and the common saying is: The more children, the more happiness. Oh, dear Lord God, how great is the blindness, ignorance and wickedness of a man who cannot realize this, but does the opposite in the very best and most glorious gifts of God: which he misuses for all sins and disgraces, according to all his pleasures and pleasures, and does not sing a Deo gratias to our Lord God for it.

1. It is not necessary to change esm into ens, as Mr. D. Wrampelmeyer suggests, because otherwise the following nolnit would also have to be changed into noluerund. The words from "similar" to "are" are to be taken as parentheses. KalsuZinem also fits Sodom, indeed better than Samaria and Judea. Cf. G. Jauss: Beschreibung des heiligen Ländes, p. 26.
2. So Stangwald instead of "sing".

13. a different.

3. Luther was astonished beyond measure when he saw that the trees were so beautiful and full of fruit, and said: "If Adam had not fallen, we would have looked at all creatures in this way: every tree and stalk would have been better and more noble than if it had been gold or silver. For after the manner of things, if it be rightly considered, every green tree is much more glorious than if it were a tree of gold or silver.

(Here 25 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 7, §6.)

14. another one from the abuse of god creatures.

(Cordatus No. 1761. 1762. 1763.)

The constant recurrence makes things small, strange things are respected.

Avarice and ambition make that we have no pleasure in things.

The wicked do not see the glory of God, yes, even the present creature they cannot recognize, because since God constantly showers the wicked and all people with the greatness and quantity of His creatures, so that by His goodness He attracts to Himself those who are lost by nature, they, on the other hand, only become worse through such great goodness and constant perseverance. What can God do about it, because to hell? If one were to bring an egg from Kalekut and a hen, we would be astonished to death and see. Therefore belongs Matth. 6, 26. 28.: "Look at the birds and the lilies of the field." A fish in the water beats with its tail, namely the male, and casts forth seed; there is the female with it, and receives at once a hundred thousand fish, and all philosophers cannot give the reason of such things, which Moses alone Gen. 1, 3. ff. put forward, "He said, and it came to pass," Gen. 1, 28., "Grow and multiply." So it goes on.

3. This § probably spurious, formed as entrance to the section omitted here, which was spoken on Christmas Day 1538. On this day there were probably golden and silver fruits on the trees, by which these thoughts of Aurifaber are caused.

150 Cap. 3. of creation. § 15-17. 151

15. bom swath D. Martini Luther's thoughts.

(Cordatus No. 1398. 1399.)

I am convinced that Schwaden Manna is heavenly bread. It is so disgusting i.e. delicate that if you nibble it with one finger, it spoils.

Swaths are collected early in a sieve and it falls from heaven, does not grow on earth. Prudentius calls it thawing bread, and all physicians call it manna, as it is called in the text [Ex. 16, 13. 14? One shakes the shoots Reusze, so it falls off, and cooks it, as one wants, like the Coriander is and white like the Thau. They call it what is prepared, as if one said: I find you there, you are right for me. It is spoiled by the mere touching of it and by the noonday sun, that is, the word of God does not suffer any addition.

16. of fruits and fruit.

When Martinus had a turnip full of juice in his hand and ate from it, he said: "The dear fathers must have been healthy people, who lived and ate from the fruits and roots that grew from the earth, and had food and drink from them. I believe that Adam would not have wished him a partridge; but at fruits and at fruit he has had more pleasure, have tasted him much better, than everything roasted and boiled. When I read that the holy fathers lived on roots, I thought they ate the roots of trees.

(From here to the end of the § in Lauterbach, May 12, 1538, p. 79.)

The greatness and diversity of God's gifts overwhelms us, and through the frequency everything becomes small; even the greatest is considered nothing, the very small is valued. It happens to our Lord God, as it happens to parents, whose children consider the daily food to be of no value, but apples, pears, and nuts are held in high esteem.

17. fruit respect the children more than money.

1. Anno 36 the 6th of September the doctor's little children stood before the table, watched with
2. Similar to Cordatus No. 662 in the first paragraph. - When I asked my son what he would give me for food for a year, he said

When the doctor saw this, he said, "Whoever wants to see a picture of someone who rejoices in hope, has here quite a conterfei. Oh, that we could look upon the last day so joyfully in hope! Then he said about the power of peaches, that it was such a delicious fruit, close to the juice of wine. There are large grapes in Persia and Welsh, there must be also large peaches, that these are in our countries like the sloes against it.

Who can rightly recognize the nature, kind and power of the creatures? Adam and Eve will have had such fruit, yes, much better; ours are mere wooden apples compared to it, as all creatures 2) are compared to it. What do you think of the serpent, which will have jested with Eve as the most beautiful creature? It was eaten out of the womb in the most friendly way; for the scripture says in Genesis 3:1 that "the serpent was more cunning than all the other animals on earth"; therefore it will have been the most friendly and the most blissful before others; as still today its little crown and three-edged tongues indicate. But after the curse she has lost her feet and her beautiful body, and must crawl and eat earth.

At the same time, the serpent was the most beautiful animal to Adam above all others, by which the devil was supposed to decorate his art, as he likes to decorate himself at all times; for what is to tempt to sin must be beautiful. A bad, simple farmer and an unlearned man, or an ugly maid, water or a rude sack will not provoke and move anyone to heresy, avarice, fornication, drunkenness or court, but rather a fine, smooth tongue, roses, 3) florins and good thalers, beautiful matzos and sweet wine, beautiful velvet 2c. Thus Satan tempts and induces a man to sin by the purest and most beautiful creatures.

replied the child, "Father, you do not buy food and drink; only apples and pears cost a lot of money. Thus men despise the daily gifts of God; but which are really small, they esteem highly 2c.

2. After "creatures" we have omitted the words "and animals" with Stangwald. The meaning should be: all creatures are now bad and low compared to what they were in paradise.
3. So Stangwald instead of "rothe Nobel".

152 Cap. 3. of the creation. §17. 18. 153

Oh, the quare, Why? was a horrible affect and thought in paradise; how sorry I am for Aphkija! which is a little word that only admonishes and drives. As soon as the serpent turned to Eve in a friendly manner and said: "Do you mean, how? yes? So that she indicated both with thoughts, words and gestures the highest desire and desire for it. As if the devil should say through the serpent and sneer, "You must indeed be great fools to believe," as if God should have thus forbidden you: "For God is not such a man as to ask so precisely whether you eat or not. For since it is a tree of knowledge of good and evil, how can God be so envious that He would not have you be wise and prudent? Aphkiah caused the misfortune that Adam and Eve, who before had the most beautiful and pure bodies, senses, understanding and will, without all evil desire, now became even deceived and the devil's larvae. Their eyes were able to see clearly for many miles, their ears could hear and hear softly; now our eyes have the star. At that time Adam went to his wife without all evil desire, lust and heat, and Eve soon conceived and gave birth without any pain, but now everything has been disguised and reversed.

Rather, look at the young children, whose bodies are still purer and cleaner, than those who still have something, although very little, of Adam's first kind. Eyes, ears and all limbs are more beautiful; dung does not stink so much from them as from the old, so that in youth all limbs are purer and stronger.

In this misery of ours, this is our comfort, that there is another, better and eternal life left. The greatest number die before they come to their senses; many die without children, that they become neither father nor mother: therefore our Lord God must have something great in mind, that it will be much different, namely the resurrection of the dead, since we believe that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and we will live forever. Which is an abominable, difficult, even impossible article for reason to believe, as all other works of God are against reason. Reason are. Aristotle, the learned

Heide, since he writes about the nature of animals, can speak nothing of it.

Summa, God is incomprehensible in creatures, but he can be felt and touched in his word, although he does not do it as we would like, because he does not hold our geometry, measurement and arithmetic. In the face of man he has set the house of fire, the cloaca, in the midst. If I had been a master builder or his counselor, I would have made only one eye on the forehead, one ear on the side, and the nose on the other side. But God has done it differently, he can make the most beautiful bodies out of dust and dirt, and puts the most beautiful eyes in all animals.

18. a different.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 15, 1538, p. 167.)

He then admired the loveliness and the fruit of the deer park at Lochau, where the deer stood, jumped around and watched the people, and said: There our Lord God also made his kitchen to preserve the courts of the princes. After that, in the evening, Luther saw a little bird sitting on the top of a tree to spend the night. He said: The bird already has its dinner and will stay here for the night, unconcerned about the morrow and about its home, rather, as David says (Ps. 91, 1.), it will sit "under the umbrella of the Most High". He sits contentedly on his little branch, letting God take care.

Oh, if Adam's fall had not spoiled everything, how glorious and divine a creature man would have been, how filled with great knowledge and wisdom he would have lived blissfully, free of all misfortune, and then he would have laid aside his earthly body by being transformed, without all the tastes of death. All creatures would have been very pleasant to him, in all things there would have been the sweetest change, as God even now in this very miserable life has pictured the resurrection of the dead in many creatures. When they were lost in the park and he saw knots tied in the trees, he said: "This is what the knot is for, that you may know which is the right way.

154 Cap. 3. of creation. § 19-23. 155

19. several questions.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 20, 1538, p. 175.)

After that he tasted his wines for the wedding. 1) One should, he said, give the guests a good drink, that they may be merry. For, as the Scripture says (Ps. 104:15), "Bread comforts the heart of man, but wine gladdens it."

After that, he asked the Englishman how wine could be brought into the cellar and should neither be crushed nor poured, and he answered: "You should crush must into it and then it will become wine. It is a physical, natural magic. Then he asked, "What are the most extensive waters in all regions? Namely snow, rain and dew. The water goes over the whole land, without borders, even in the mountains. For the highest mountains are covered with eternal snow, because they are in the middle region of the air, which is uninhabitable. Only the devil can dwell there, because he is the lord of the world, as Paul (Eph. 6, 12.) calls him.

20. spill wine or salt.

D. Mart. broke a very bright glass, full of wine on the table; then he said: This is gone, it is a weak vessel. He said, "It is a great superstition and superstition in the world that people would rather see wine spilled than salt. But it can still be helped, so that it is still acceptable: if you spill the wine or take it away, you can still live without it; but if you want to spill the bread and salt and take it away from the people, then it will take effort and work, then you will begin to see sour, then it will become bad at first.

21. children are God's blessing.

He had a rose in his hand, marveled greatly at it, as at a beautifully excellent work and creature of God, and said:

1. For this wedding Luther requested some game in the letter to John, Prince of Anhalt, on Nov. 22, 1538. - The bride and groom were: LInA. Ambrosius Berndt and Luther's sister daughter, Magdalena Kaufmann (Bkuhme Lene in Luther's letter to his son Johannes, June 19, 1530). - Cf. cap. 43, § 34 and § 35.

If a man were able to make a few roses, he should be given an empire. But one does not pay attention to the innumerable many gifts of God: because they are common and we deal with them daily, one does not ask much about them, thinking that it must be so, that it naturally happens by chance.

We see that God gives children to almost all people, fruits of the body, like parents: a farmer shall have three, four or more sons, like him, as if they were cut out of his eyes. All this is not respected, because it is common and happens for and for that reason. It is not a small thing, even among the pagans, that children are born looking and resembling their parents. As Virgilius the poet (Aeneid. 4.) wrote of the queen Dido that she wished she could beget a little Aeneas from Aenea, who would resemble him, look like the father, run around and play. And the Greeks, when they cursed, wished that one's children should not resemble him.

22. from the children's birth.

(Cordatus No. 704.)

Giving birth to a woman is very difficult, because the fruit has to go out through the bones, because the bones of the womb have to push each other with force, through which (as it seems) hardly an apple could come out. This is a great and immeasurable miracle of God.

God's creation of a human being is a miraculous work.

(This § follows § 28 of this Cap. "Lauterbach p. 87], Kummer p. > 378.)

Who can consider the size of the sun, which is far greater than the earth? If one looks at it early in the morning, it looks like a brewing vat, but it can rise in one hour no more than ten spans high and yet it runs in the fastest way in twelve hours from the beginning to the end, and if two hundred suns were lined up in a circle of animals like a paternoster, they would reach from the east to the west; therefore the size of the sun is inexpressible. Likewise, who would have called God

156 Cap. 3. of creation. § 23-27. 157

Has he ever given this advice, that he should join a man and a woman together? Then he gives a woman to the man, who has two breasts, and little warmth on them. Some drop of male seed is the origin of such a large human body, from which flesh, blood, legs, skin, hair 2c. is made, as Job says Cap. 10, 10: "Have you (God) not milked me like milk and curdled me like cheese? So God is very foolish in all his works. If I had advised him, I would have kept the creation of man in the earthen vessel, and set a great lamp in the midst of the earth for the sun, so that it would always have been day.

24. from twins.

(Lauterbach, Dec. 1, 1538, p. 184.)

In the first of December it was written of Nuremberg how a woman there had given birth to four little children at once, two sons and two little daughters, and all of them remained alive. Luther said: "Giving birth is God's work, much more is this miraculous. But the monk children, those undeveloped lumps, do the greatest harm to women; for other fetuses help themselves, but those lumps are a very burdensome burden to the mother.

God's creation in creatures is wonderful.

The birth is very fine and well ordered by God in all creatures, as in man and woman: for no one can conceive the work of birth, nor consider how the fruit comes out in birth and grows in half a day; it stretches so that one notices it. And if one wanted to bring a chicken, which has crawled out of the shell this hour, back into the shell, it would be impossible.

Item, in marriage we all learn and experience that childbearing and childbearing is not in our power and arbitrariness, because the parents cannot see beforehand nor know whether they are fertile, nor whether they will have a son or a daughter. All this is done without our forethought or foreknowledge. My father and mother did not think that they should bring a doctor.

It is only God's creature, which we cannot think out or understand right now. I believe that in this life and in the life to come we will have nothing more to do but ponder and wonder about the Creator and the creatures. The pagan philosophers and all scholars cannot judge any further than that birth has its equal, and one animal begets and sustains another that is like it. Moses, however, explains and says who is the original cause and founder or master, how, why, and for what purpose all things were created.

26. from the comet.

(Cordatus No. 911.)

A comet is also a wandering star pla- netaris and wanders around, is a hur-child among other stars and a proud star, occupies the whole sky, acts as if it were there alone, has the kind of heretics who also want to be considered alone for men on earth.

27. from the sun.

D. M. Luther said that he had noticed and respected that the sun had now gone out for two days with joy and leaping, as the 19th Psalm, v. 6. 7. says: "It rejoices, like a hero, to run the way. She ariseth at one end of heaven, and runneth again to the same end, and nothing is hid from her heat." It is a beautiful work of God, which we nevertheless cannot look at, nor cling to with our eyes, but must turn our backs on it.

Oh, dear Lord God, if we had remained in paradise, we would have been able to look at the sun with bright eyes, without all hindrance and pain; but through Adam's fall, everything is ruined. Adam's fall is a horrible thing, which the world neither considers nor respects. We see people die every day, one after the other, and no one is sure of his life for a moment, and many a misfortune comes one after the other; nevertheless, we do not respect it, do not think that it will also come to us. Thus, God's wrath is held in low esteem, because it happens daily.

158 Cap. 3. of creation. § 27-32. 159

we get used to it and put it to the wind. If we had remained in paradise, we would not have needed either death or forgiveness of sins; we would not have died, but would have been transformed from this temporal life into eternal life, without all pain; we would have seen and praised only the unspeakable goodness and mercy of God.

28. a different.

(This § Lauterbach p. 87., in Kummer p. 378, immediately follows > the first paragraph of Cap. 2, §104.)

The earthly works of the creation we cannot recognize completely, as we admit with the celestial bodies and things situated above us. Who could ever have advised God at the time of creation that he should burden the exceedingly great light of the sun with such a very rapid course that in every hour it covers in its uninterrupted course many hundreds of thousands of miles in the great circumference of the circle of animals? Consider the size of the earth, how great a distance it is on the earth from India to Spain, and yet it the earth is only the center of the circle and of the course of the sun, which travels through the outermost circles with unspeakable speed in its rapid, untiring course, as we see in a wagon wheel, whose axis turns slowly, but the outermost parts move very quickly. 1)

29. question.

If it was light before the sun, it follows that the sun does not make light. D. Martinus answered: "The light of the sun, before it was created, did not exist together as it is now, but was scattered, but God brought the same light together in one lump and made one light out of it, namely the sun as we see it now.

30. what kind of man Adam was.

(Cordatus No. 1030.)

Adam was a very simple man. I do not believe that he burned lights, and

1. This is followed by § 23 of this chapter.

[I believe that he did not know that a cow had unslit furs in its body, nor that he had slaughtered cattle. I wonder where he took the furs. But there is no doubt that he had a very beautiful body and that he saw the eighth grandson. Noah was very wise because he was afflicted by many trials.

31. Adam's moderation.

(Cordatus No. 1095.)

If Adam now returned and saw our expenditure of clothing, food, drink 2c., he would say he had never been in this world, for he drank water, ate the fruit of the trees, and put on a fur of skins. Our ancestors also lived very frugally, and Boaz says Ruth 2, 14. "Dip your bread in vinegar," likewise [Richt. 19, 5.j: "Savour thy heart beforehand with a morsel of bread." For they were populous regions, therefore the multitude of the people caused them to be thrifty.

32. question.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 240.)

Because God knew that man would not remain in his original innocence, in which He had created him, why did He create man? To this question Paul answers: A great Lord must also have shit tiles in his house (Rom. 9, 21.). But if he uses some of his dishes in honor, he thereby increases the prestige of his house and praises his goodness.

2. There are many of them who think, when they have heard or read a sermon or two, that they can now do it all, that they have even eaten the Holy Spirit with feathers; which are satanic, fretful spirits: just as if one could learn the high, great secret of divine majesty, the heavenly golden art of God's counsel, since it is far lacking in common worldly arts and no one can fully study it. How then should one learn in such a depraved, miserable, weak
3. Similar thoughts Cap. 7, p 110 at the end: likewise Cap. 12, § 19.

160 Cap. 3. of creation. § 32-38. 161

How can we investigate and thoroughly comprehend the nature and blindness of the high divine Majesty's counsel and heart?

(From here to the end of § Cordatus No. 241.)

There are people who, after hearing God's word, would rather they had not learned as much as they have learned, because the servant who knows God's will and does not do it will receive more strokes [Luc. 12, 47. 1. These do not know Paul's saying Rom. 2, 1.: "Therefore, O man, you cannot excuse yourself, even if you did not know it."

A man does not understand God's creature and work.

We do not know how our Lord God arranges His building, we only see the framework of poles and crafted ropes; therefore, we do not respect God's will, but we ignore it and do not ask much about it. But when we see God's building and house in that life, we will be amazed and rejoice that we have endured trials.

(Here 5 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 61, § 9.)

34. why we live in houses.

We were created under heaven, but the reason we live in houses is because Adam fell, and because of sins; just as a sick person has jars of medicine from the pharmacy and needs plasters: that is, we must have chambers, rooms, houses, clothes, food and drink, beds and camps. Before Adam fell, we would have been like young journeymen jumping about naked and bare: there would have been no need of carpenters, masons, tailors, shoemakers, or houses.

35. arable farming.

To build the field is a divine work that God commanded, as in Genesis 1:28: "Build the earth and subdue it"; even if it bears thistles and thorns, don't mind it, your part shall still grow.

36. adam's apple bite.

(Cordatus No, 938.)

The bite of Adam into the apple was a heavy bite, of which also we can say Ezk. 18, 2.: "The fathers have eaten herbs, but the teeth of the children have become dull from it. That's why the Claus fool probably said: "The misfortune pours my mouth, that it has been so näschig.

(37) Speech separates a man from all animals.

Of all the gifts of God, speech is the most beautiful and glorious, and by it alone man is distinguished from all other animals. Otherwise there are some animals that surpass man in other gifts: some with sight, some with hearing, some with smell, but none can speak. Although this is an indication that the word must be of a high kind and understanding.

38. Adam's misery on earth.

Adam, the father of us all, will have been the most miserable and afflicted man. 1) It must have been mighty lonely for him to see everything desolate in such a wide world. But when he gave birth to Cain, their first son, with his Eve, who was his only companion and dear spouse, there will have been great joy; likewise when Abel was born. But soon after that great tribulation, sorrow and heartache followed, when one brother slew another, and Adam lost one son, and had to put the other under ban and under guard, and cast him out of his sight. This must truly have been a great heartache to him, so that such a murder must have hurt him and grieved him more than his own fall, because through it he once again became a hermit with his dear Eve. After that, when he was a hundred and thirty years old, he begat Seth. That was hard and it hurt to see God's wrath for such a long time. Alas, he has been a sorrowful man, so that no one believes that he will experience it, although our suffering is child's play compared to his suffering and heartache. And if he were not so pious

1. Cf. Æ 45 of this chapter.

162 Cap. 3. of creation. § 38-43. 163

and strong nature by God's grace and effect, he and his Eve would soon have passed away and died of great heartache, but with the promise of faith in the woman's seed he was comforted.

39. weakness and misery of human nature.

D. Martin marveled and complained about the weakness, misery and wretchedness with which this poor flesh is weighed down and burdened, from which so much filth, dung, snot and sweat comes. If there were nothing but filth in all parts, and if the soul were not more beautiful than the body, a man would be a poor, miserable creature. Therefore the Greeks rightly say, est quasi óÞìá*,* id est, sepulchrum: man's body is like a corpse.

40. of the regiment of the maggot sack of human body.

(Kuinmer x. 361 d. [Lauterbach, July 20, 1538, p. 99, note))

After the dysentery he was very troubled with hardness (τεινασμός) and spoke: I must

let the Ars have his regiment, because God has his punishment also on these members. As we read in 1 Sam. 5, (v. 6.) of the plague of the Philistines when they had taken the ark of God. I mean, they were really afflicted in the butt, that they had to make for a guilt offering to our Lord God five golden eels and five golden mice. Thus God is mighty in all creatures, killing and making alive. For actually our sleep is a death, and death is a sleep. What is our death but a night sleep? 1) For just as through sleep all weakness disappears and the spiritual powers return, so that one looks fresh-minded in the morning, so on Judgment Day we will rise as if we had slept only one night, will be fresh and strong, and will only wipe our eyes. Then the worms, maggots and stink will fall away. Dear God, how wonderful you are in the formation of the limbs of the human body; how frail and exceedingly delicate they are, since they were first formed from a trope.

1. Cf. Gen. 49, 33; Walch, St. Louis Edition Vol. II, 2070, § 445.

The heart is the best part of a human being and its most essential part. The heart, the best part of a human being and its most essential part, is the most delicate. One still rushes to it as if it were a wall, three cubits thick. How we live so completely in the midst of death! Therefore it is a very heavy lament in Job (Cap. 14, 1.), in which he describes man: "Man, born of woman, lives a short time, and is full of restlessness."

41. a different.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 3, 1538, p. 106.)

This year is a terrible, dangerous year, quite a spiteful year, bringing many very serious illnesses; perhaps naturally because of the comets and the conjunction of Saturn and Mars; but spiritually because of the endless sins of men. Well, it is nothing with this life; we do not want to attribute anything to it and believe in God, who gives eternal life. Give us one blessed hour, and we will have been here.

42. question.

Why do men not so easily accept the doctrine and knowledge of outward respectability and discipline, which are naturally planted and written in the heart of all, such as: Honor thy parents; as those which stand alone in the mind, namely, that twice four are eighth? Answer: The fault is that our nature is completely corrupted and insane through original sin; our understanding and knowledge are so darkened that we do not see and recognize properly, much less do what is naturally innate in us.

43. difference of the animals.

(Cordatus No. 1055.)

All wild animals live under the law, for they fear men and are afraid at the sight of them, and men are like dogs to wild animals. But the tamed animals, which have white flesh, are animals of grace, live with men and are apes of them. But man without doctrine is neither a wild beast under the law, nor a beast under grace.

164 Cap. 3. of creation. § 44-48. 165

What a being and sense would have been in paradise.

There were on February 26, 1538 1) at D. Martin's M. Spalatinus and the pastor of Zwickau, M. Leonhard Beier. Leonhard Beier were at the table: there the doctor joked nicely with his son Martinichen, who wanted to defend his family honestly, dress them honestly and love them; he said: So we would have been in paradise, bad, simple, sincere, without all malice and hypocrisy, and would have been right serious, as this child speaks of God, and is certain of it.

That is why such natural jokes and jests are the very best for children, they are the sweetest little fools. Assumed jokes and jesting at the old do not have such grace, do not plead and do not please so well: because what is colored and composed, that denies favor, does not stick and makes less air than that which comes naturally from the heart. That is why the little children are the finest play birds, who speak and do everything simply, from the heart and naturally. Claus Narr was such a one, who hoarded in his boots, and when he was accused, he apologized to the councilor Pfeffinger 2) and said: The mice had done it.

45. adam's case.

D. Martin said about the miserable and sad case of Adam, that he had fallen from the state of innocence into misery and unhappiness with all his descendants, as we see and experience: Oh, he has, he said, led a miserable miserable life for the nine hundred years, for in all dying men he has seen God's wrath.

46. question.

(Contained in Cap. 3, § 7, at the beginning.)

47 Adam's heartache after the fall.

Adam will have had a great unspeakable heartache and sorrow, after he had lost the righteousness in which he was created by God.

1. Thus the Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 249.
2. Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 250.

He must also have lost a lot of weight in his body because of great worry and fear in his heart. I believe that before, he would have been able to see over a thousand miles as far and as brightly as we can see half a mile now, and thus with the other senses as well. He will no doubt have said after the fall: Oh God, what has happened to me? I have become blind and deaf: where have I been? I have no doubt that this is what happened to him, and it happened that way. It is a terrible case. Before, he saw that all creatures were obedient to him, that he had also played with the snake. Our eyes and ears are almost dead, we do not see and hear well. We will not eat ham there, we must become more beautiful again than Adam was; but childbearing and childbearing will cease.

48 On the miserable state of human life.

Doctor Martin Luther said in Eisleben in 1546: "Oh, how poor we are, we earn our living by sinning. For when we reach the seventh year, we do nothing but eat, drink, play and sleep: from the eighth year we go to school for about three or four hours a day. After that, from that time until the twenty-first year, we do all kinds of hard work, playing, running, going to the bar, and so on, and then we start to do some work. When we reach the age of fifty, we have worked hard and become children again, eat our bread with sins, and work so that we can give other people work to do. When we reach the age of twenty, we first begin to work, and work for ten years, after which we sleep the rest of the time. Half of our lives we sleep, so that hardly five years remain for work, or even three years. Vix decimam partem nostrae vitae we work: the ninth part of our life we eat, drink, sleep and walk idly. Fie on us, we do not give God the decimas. Ah! what do we want with our good works to please God?

166 Cap. 3. of creation. § 48-56. 167

How can we earn our money or be proud of our good works? Job says Cap. 9, 2. 3.: Si Deus volet contendere mecum, non potero ei respondere. What have I done here today? I crapped for two hours, ate for three hours and then walked idly for four hours. Alas! Domine, ne intres in judicium cum servo tuo, Ps. 143, 2.

49. of the short life of people.

(This § is contained in the report of D. Just. Jonas and Mag. Cölius > on Luther's demise. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 283-, ä 10.)

50. human life a poor life.

(Cordatus No. 509.)

It is a very miserable life when someone is plagued by his dearest friends, like David by Absalon, Job by his wife 2c. Thus, the lovers are the most miserable martyrs that the devil leads on the fool's rope. In short, human life is a nonsense. For as long as we are children, we are plagued by childish infirmities; as youths, we are mad with love affairs, and after that, other and other infirmities break in, until, having become men, we become servants of mammon, servants of money.

51. a different.

(Cordatus No. 858.)

We eat ourselves to death, drink ourselves to death, sleep ourselves to death, grasp ourselves to death, shit ourselves to death. This is what we are now experiencing with dysentery. Therefore, how good a reason do we have to be proud?

52. a different one from human misery.

(Contained in Cap. 48, § 38.)

53. of the human skin under the eyes.

(Cordatus No. 847.)

There is no more delicate skin on people than under the eyes, and yet none suffers more.

54. of children and the same life.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 17, 1538, p. 114.)

On August 17, he heard the quarreling and bickering of his children, and when soon after he perceived

when they were reconciled again, he said: "Dear Lord God, how pleasing to you are the life and play of such children! Yes, all their sins are nothing but forgiveness of sins.

55. a different.

He saw the simplicity of his children, and praised their innocence, that they were much more learned in faith than we old fools, for they believed most simple-mindedly, without all disputation and doubt, that God was merciful, and that after this life there was eternal life. How good it is for the children who die in such a time! Although it would be a great sorrow to my heart, because a piece of my body and a part of my mother's body would die, which natural love and affections do not cease even in godly and righteous Christians, so that they would not accept it or let themselves be moved, or would not go to their hearts, if it were to happen to them, their children or their mother.

The people of the world are not evil to the relatives whom they love, like the stubborn and hardened heads and sticks. For such movements and inclinations are works of divine creation, which God has naturally implanted in a human being, and are not evil in themselves. The children live finely simple, pure, without offence and hindrance of reason in faith; as Ambrose says: "There is a lack of reason, but not of faith.

56. We must become like children before our Lord God.

(Lauterbach, Sept. 30, 1538. p. 137.)

Last September he saw his little children sitting at the table and said: Christ says Matth. 18, 3: "Unless you turn around and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven". Where did you command that a wise man should follow foolish children? How can our Lord God stand with His judgment and righteousness, which Paul so praises: God's righteousness, God's righteousness? Is this righteousness, that thou shouldest reject the prudent and accept the foolish? It is said here: Faith

168 Cap. 3. of creation. § 56-63. 169

God's words. Give in, our Lord God has purer thoughts than we have. He must therefore deburr us (as the gushers speak). He must cut away the coarse branches and chips from us before he makes such children and fools out of us.

Behold, how fine pure thoughts the children have, how they look at heaven and death without any doubt. They are in paradise, as it were, and the children who become heroes always have wonderful gifts.

57. another one of little children.

(Cordatus No. 639.)

My son, Johannes Luther, sat at the table and once said seriously that the highest joy in heaven is in Estonia, dancing 2c. There is a river flowing with milk, and the bread rolls grow by themselves. This life of the children is the very happiest, because it has no worldly worries, does not see the strange happenings in the church, nor suffers the horrors of death or future infirmities, but the children have only good thoughts.

58. a different.

(Cordatus No. 399 and No. 1542.)

The children have such fine thoughts about God, that he is in heaven, that he is their God; and as he held his little son Martin in his arms, he added: "I wish that I had died in this child's age, and I wanted to give it all the honor and good that I have and may come over in the world.

When he had taken the child to himself and it defiled him, he said: Oh, our Lord God must suffer much greater stench from men than father and mother from their children.

59. a different from children.

He, Doctor Martin, was watching how his little child of three years was playing and slurring with himself; then he said, "This child is like a drunkard, does not know that it is alive, lives along quite safely and happily, jumps and leaps. And such children like to be in large wide rooms and dwellings, where they have space.

60: Parents' songs against their children. (Cordatus No. 948. 949.)

It is a wonderful grace that the youngest children are always the dearest to parents. My youngest child is my greatest treasure. And this affection for them is necessary because they need the greatest care. Those who have begun to speak can already take care of themselves in some way. The little children mainly need our care. From this can be understood the heart throbbing of Abraham when he went to kill his only son 2c. He will not have told Sarah about it. I would truly dispute with God if he would present such a thing to me.

According to the judgment of reason, God was more fatherly toward Caiphas, Pilate 2c., than toward His only Son, whom He had so miserably murdered.

61. Cain Adam's favorite child.

(Cordatus No. 1255.)

Dear God, how will Adam have loved Cain so much, namely his son born to him first, and this one, thanking the father for it, became a murderer. Fie on you!

62. a different.

Grandparents love their children's children and nephews much more than their own children produced by their bodies. But the chickens, dogs and other unreasonable animals soon forget their young. And such love is an indication of immortality, because they have a hope of future resurrection and eternal life.

The parents' and the authorities' power is different.

(Cordatus No. 1038. 1039.)

Parents guard and restrain their children with greater care than the authorities do their subjects. That is why Moses says, "Have I begotten you?" For the parents have a natural, self-originated dominion over the children, a self-grown dominion, but those the authorities have a drawn and forced, a made dominion.

170 Cap. 3. of creation. § 63-67. 171

Where father and mother can no longer, the executioner must execute and avenge. And the authorities are the guardians of the fourth commandment, like the cat over the mice. Therefore, their dignity is greater, but the reverence for parents must be greater, because they are the source and origin of the fourth commandment.

The children's discipline and punishment is necessary.

Martin Luther did not want to accept his son John again for three days, although he had humbly asked in writing and his mother, D. Jonas, D. Cruciger and Philippus interceded for him, 1) and said: I would rather have a dead son than a naughty son. St. Paul did not say in vain in 1 Tim. 3:4 that "a bishop should be such a man as presides well over his household and has well-bred children," so that other people, being edified by it, may take a good example and not be offended. We preachers are therefore set so high that we should give others a good example, but our ill-bred children offend others, so the boys want to sin on our privileges. Yes, even if they often sin and do all kinds of mischief, I do not find out about it; they do not show it to me, but keep it secret from me. And let us follow the common saying: What evil happens in our own houses, we learn at the very last; when all the people have carried it through all the streets, then we learn it only. Therefore we must punish him and not look through his fingers, nor let him go unpunished.

65. question.

Whether a son, if he knew that his father wanted to betray a city or country, or do great harm and wrong to another, should report it to the authorities? Answer D. Mart: The son is not obligated to be obedient to the father, to do something against God and to sin. However, he may remind and admonish the father to desist from it and not to do it, if not, he would do it.

1. The improvement in the beginning of this § is according to the Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 253,

He must report it to the authorities, because otherwise he would silently consent to his father's actions and would share in them, even at his own risk. As if I saw that my father wanted to kill and murder someone, I should lie down between them and defend myself.

But how, if either the son had to kill the father or have the fatherland betrayed, how should he behave here? Answer: The son should by no means kill the father in any way, but rather command the fatherland to our Lord God and let him rule, who can well preserve and protect the fatherland. For if I were to kill my father, I would not be able to desecrate the fatherland. Why should I then kill and murder the certain father for the sake of the uncertain salvation of the fatherland? We must command our Lord God and dare to do it.

66. the custom of the goods is the most important.

Since M. Philipp Melanchthon said that a rich citizen of Leipzig, Simon Leubel, had sold a large, beautiful, funny, well-built house 2), D. Martinus answered: It is not a matter of making the heirs rich, but it is most important that the heirs can send themselves into it and use God's blessing properly. And we parents are great fools, that we let it become blood sour to us, work day and night, that we leave much good to our children; but to train and instruct them in the fear of God, good discipline and respectability, there we are very negligent. It is a wicked, wrong way.

The children shall suffer the infirmities of their parents.

When M. Antonius Lauterbach's father-in-law came to the doctor, he asked the son-in-law in particular how he got along with his father-in-law and what kind of agreement they had. And he seriously admonished him that he wanted to hold him in honor as a father,

2. The word "sold" is added from Bindseil I, 254.
3. Thus the Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 254.

172 Cap. 3. of creation. § 67-72. 173

and not take revenge for being foolish and whimsical. Otherwise, he would have to suffer and bear the curse of his wickedness and wickedness forbidden by God; God would bless him if he suffered and endured such things.

68 Whether a father may disinherit his disobedient child.

Hans Weller, a citizen of Freiberg, 1) asked D. Martin for advice: Whether he also had the power to disinherit his disobedient, ill-bred son? He answered and said: "Yes, of course, because that is in his father's power and authority; as the old Chremes says in the Terentio: "Should I give my goods to the brat Bachidi? God decrees through Moses that disobedient children shall be stoned, not made heirless. Therefore the father should disinherit him, but with the reservation that if he would mend his ways, it would follow him again.

69. why the first parents ate only fruit.

Answer: What were they allowed to do with the other food, since the herbs tasted so good and had such power? The pomegranates and bitter orange must have smelled so good that one might have been healed by the smell; but the flood of sin has spoiled everything. It does not follow: God created it all, therefore one must eat it all. The fruits were created primarily to be food for men and animals. The other things were created to praise God. So, the stars, what do they serve but to praise God, their Creator? What do the ravens and crows serve now? and yet they honor God.

70. the parents curse.

A wicked, ill-behaved son cut off two of his father's fingers, and the father wished him to lie in the Elbe. This happened, because the son drowned the same day in the Elbe. So I read in the Augustino that when mothers curse their children

1. Thus the Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 254.

The children were trembling, but after that they were delivered again by common prayer.

The disobedient children are punished by God.

When D. Jonas said: The curse, which God has put on disobedient children, would have come true on M. Luther's blood friends, because he would always be sick and weak; D. Martinus answered: It is the deserved reward of disobedience: he once killed and enraged me, 3) that I lost all strength in my body and became completely powerless, 4) he must pay for that. He taught me the text of Paul, about the murderers of parents, 1 Tim. 1, 9. who kill their parents, not with the sword, but with disobedience; but they do not live long, nor do they prosper. This will also happen to the boy. Dear God, how wicked is the world, how terrible are the times of which St. Paul says, when there is no hope of repentance! And Christ says Luc. 18, 8: "Do you think that when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith and love? Oh, who would have died!

72. hanging on and letting the children have their way corrupts them.

Anno 39. 21. Februarii saw D. Martinus saw a boy who was without all morals, rough and wild, but otherwise of a good nature and manner; then he sighed and said: "Oh, what do you do, how children are corrupted if you let them have their way and do not punish them! Sir. 30, 7. ff. Therefore I will not let anything be good to my little house; I will not joke with it as much as with my daughter.

Abraham has a delicious glory from God, since the Lord praises him thus, Gen. 18, 17: "Can I also hide something from Abraham? For I know that he will teach his sons and his household what I have commanded" 2c. Oh Lord God, how few are such fathers under the sun! Therefore it is also evil in the world.

2. Probably Luther's brother's son, Martin Luther, son of Jakob Luther in Mansfeld, who studied in Wittenberg since April 1539. (Förstemann I, 205.)
3. Thus the Hall manuscript. Bindseil I, 256.
4. In the editions: mattlos. (Förstemann.)

174 Cap. 3. of creation. § 73-76. 175

73. another: No father shall hand over his good to his children at his life.

One 1) was with D. Martino and complained of his misery, that he was abandoned and trampled underfoot by his children, whom he had endowed and honestly gifted, indeed, had turned all his goods over to them; then the doctor said: Jesus Sirach gives the best advice to parents, since he says: Do not give everything out of your hand, because you live, because the children do not keep faith. A father (as the saying goes) can feed ten children, but ten children cannot feed a father. 2) That is why in the old days people preached against ungrateful children, about a father who had made his will, which he secretly locked in a box, and put a note with it together with a club, with these words: Whichever father gives his own out of his power shall soon be beaten to death with a club.

Thus it was said of a father who had divided all his goods among his children, that they should feed and maintain him with them all his life; but the children paid no attention to him. When he had been with one child for eight days, he told him to go to the other child and eat with him. Once the father came to the son-in-law, who was sitting and eating from a goose; when he saw his father, he hid it and put it under the table. When the father went away and the son wanted to bring the goose out again, a toad had grown out of it, which jumped under the son's face and ate around him, so that he could not get rid of it, it stuck to him so hard, until it devoured everything on him, without stopping, and could not get full or satisfied, so that he died of it.

They set such examples so that one might see how severely God punishes the children's ingratitude toward their parents, for the disobedience and ingratitude of the youth is exceedingly great. They gladly take what their parents have earned with their hard work, blood and sweat, but they do not want to take it.

1. Claus Bildenhauer. Bindseil I, 257.
2. This saying also in Lauterbach, p. 31.

not to nourish them again, since the parents make it so hard for them day and night, that they make the children rich and leave them much, at the risk of life and limb, and then they are so despised.

Alas! the world is evil, soon starts in youth and bloom, therefore God has given the fourth commandment and commanded with great diligence and seriousness: "Honor your father and your mother" 2c., also keeps hard about it. But the Pope, the Antichrist, with his traditions, has dissolved this commandment of God and trampled it underfoot.

74. a different.

(Cordatus No. 872.)

It seems that old parents who have given their property to their children and are faithlessly abandoned by them should be advised to do as that wise old man did who was treated contemptuously by his son. For he borrowed money from his neighbor and, shut up in his apartment, he anxiously counted it, and then was kept better. But when death approached, he gave it back to his neighbor, not to his son.

The children's unequal nature and nature.

D. M. Luther looked at his children and saw that they were of different natures and kinds, he marveled at God's work and creatures, and said: "Just as the kinds are different, so are the gifts different; indeed, one person is different from another, one has more happiness or unhappiness than another. Therefore, one should look only to God, the Creator and Founder, trust Him and call upon Him.

76. from Weibern.

When D. Martin smeared his wife because of the paralysis of her legs, he said: "Some women were smeared, but you smeared me. For the word in Latin, uxor, woman, comes from lubricate, ab unguendo. For when the Gentiles saw that the marriage state had many obstacles and great danger, against all such misfortunes they smeared the posts of the new brides.

3. "The" put in by us.

176 Cap. 3. of creation. § 76-83. 177

Item: When women accept the teaching of the gospel, they are much stronger and more fervent in the faith, much harder and more rigid about it than men; as is seen in dear Anastasia, and Magdalene was more hearty than Peter. John 20.

77. women should not be eloquent.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 4, 1538, p. 156.)

An Englishman, a learned man, was sitting at the table, but did not understand the German language. Luther said: "I propose my wife to you as a teacher of the German language, for she is very eloquent, she can do it so well that she far surpasses me. But eloquence is not to be praised in women; that they lisp and stammer, that suits them better.

78. that which is evil to women.

There is no skirt or dress that looks worse on a woman or virgin than when she wants to be smart.

79. long hair is a woman's ornament.

Hair is a woman's best adornment, which is why virgins used to walk in hair and have it beaten into the field when triumphing or mourning and suffering. A fine spectacle is to be seen and suits women very well when they have beaten their hair into the field.

80. breast milk and female breasts.

(The first two paragraphs of this § in Lauterbach, Nov. 14, 1538, p. > 166.)

Afterwards they spoke of the power of mother's milk, that it nourished the best. Yes, even calves thrive better on milk than on any other food. So also the children become stronger, which are suckled for a long time. The Swiss, when they are almost grown up, should run to the cows to suckle.

Then they spoke of the breasts, which would be the adornment of a woman if they were proportioned, because large fleshy breasts were not good, promised much, but produced little. Nerve-rich breasts, however, even if they were small, even in very small women, were very productive, so that they could nurse several children.

At another time, Luther said: "Mother's milk is the best, and the children the healthiest, because they are used to it in the womb. And if the children have rough nurses, the children also take after them, as experience shows. Therefore it is unkind and unnatural for a mother not to nurse her child, for God has given her breasts and milk for this purpose. For the sake of the child, God has given her breasts and milk for this purpose, unless she is unable to nurse, in which case necessity breaks iron, as they say.

81. men, women.

(Contained in Cap. 43, Z75.)

82. what they were created for.

God created man and woman: the woman to multiply and bear children; the man to nourish and protect. But the world turns it around, abuses the women to fornication, the men's protection to tyranny. Women lack the strength and power of the body and the mind. The lack of strength of the body is to be tolerated, for men are to feed them. The lack of understanding we should wish for them, but we should bear their manners and ways with reason, govern them and keep them a little too well; as St. Peter teaches: "Husbands, dwell with your wives with reason, and give honor to the female, as the weakest instrument, as joint heirs of the grace of life" 2c., 1 Petr. 3, 7.

Another of the women for whom they were created.

The Holy Spirit praises the women, as, Judith, Esther, Sara 2c., and among the Gentiles are praised Lucretia, Artemisia. Marriage cannot be without women, nor can the world exist. To be married is a remedy for fornication, which controls it to some extent; for flesh and blood remains unclean for all its kind, until one strikes it with shovels. A woman is a kind, pleasant, and pleasant companion of life. Women bear children and raise them, rule the house and distribute properly what a man brings in and brings about, so that it may be used for counsel.

178 Cap. 3. of creation. § 83-88. 179

and not to be useless, but that each one may be given what is due to him. Therefore, they are also called by the Holy Spirit household honor, ornament and adornment of the house: they are inclined to mercy, because they are created by God for this purpose, that they should bear children, be men's delight and joy and be merciful.

The greatest people are wrong.

Adam missed Cain 1), because he thought he would be the man who would help the human race again and would crush the head of the snake. Isaac lacked Esau, Jacob lacked Reuben, Joseph lacked Manasseh 2c. All of them fared differently than they had meant. Joseph alone is called a son, whom Jacob begat in his old age, since he begat others after him. But I think it is because Rachel said, when she saw that he was now old, that he would never take a wife again.

85. children stand best with GOD.

The children's faith and life is best, because they have only the word, they stick to it, and give God fine simple honor that he is true, consider certain what he promised and promised. We old fools, however, have heartache and infernal fire, and still dispute long about the word, which they, the little children, believe badly with pure faith, without dispute. And finally, if we want to be saved in any other way, we must give ourselves to their word alone, according to their example, as Christ says, and with a high oath he prays, saying, "Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven, Matth. 18, 3. It is one of the devil's tricks, even deceitfulness, that we let ourselves be led away from the word by other business and dealings; thinking that we are more interested in them than in God's word (in which all our welfare and salvation, temporal and eternal, stand), hearing, reading and contemplating. Sometimes it also happens unknowingly that we do not think about it.

1. Cf. § 9 of this Cap.

remember that so much is at stake. We are truly poor people, so it is best that we die soon and are protected.

(The following at Cordatus No. 689.)

Luther said to his little child: "You are our Lord's fool. You are under grace and forgiveness of sins and fear nothing under the law. However you do it, it is undefiled; you are in grace and have forgiveness of sins, so be it.

Women should not be in charge.

The wives of the greatest lords, as kings and princes, are in no regiment, but only the men. For God says to the woman: "You shall be subject to the man" 2c., Gen. 3, 16. The man has the rule in the house, unless he is a verbum anomalum, that is, a fool, or that he pleases the woman out of love and lets her rule, as sometimes the master follows the servant's advice. Otherwise, and without that, the woman shall put on the veil; as a pious woman is obliged to help her husband bear accidents, sickness and misfortune, because of the evil flesh. The law takes wisdom and government from women. This is what St. Paul saw in 1 Cor. 7:10, where he says: "I command, not I, but the Lord", and 1 Tim. 2:12: "I do not permit a woman to teach" 2c.

87. Children are God's gift.

(Cordatus No. 568.)

As he was playing with his little child, he said: Oh, the best blessing of God, the best peasants are not worthy, they shall have sows.

Man is made of dung.

(Lauterbach, Feb. 13, 1538, p. 28.)

That day he had bathed, and after supper he washed his hands, saying, How is the water so unclean after the bath? Yea, I have forgotten that skin and flesh are of filth; as the scripture saith, Thou art dust and ashes. Why are you proud, O man? Gen. 3:19.

180 Cap. 3. of creation. § 89-97. 181

89. of the increase of fish.

(Lauterbach, Feb. 13, 1538, p. 28.)

After that, when he saw that there were fish on the table, he spoke a lot about divine power in procreation, especially in the waters and in the sea, where one fish produced many thousands, as the roe shows. One fishes every day in the Elbe, and yet it is full of fish. It is unbelievable how the fish multiply and breed, mostly in the sea; for it is said that the ocean at Antorff 1) brings a new kind of fish every four weeks.

90. the youth bursts forth.

A young person is like a new must that cannot be held, must ferment and overflow, always wants to be seen and be something in front of others, cannot hold himself in.

Adam did not eat bread.

When pears and apples were brought to the table, Luther said: "If Adam had not sinned, there would have been no need for bread, we would have needed only fruit. Then one asked: Why Christ would have eaten after the resurrection? He answered, "Christ did not eat because of need or hunger, but so that he might prove and testify that he was Christ and truly resurrected.

92. a different.

(Cordatus No. 1563.)

When his little son pressed the dog and the dog suffered it, he said: This is according to the will of God, who commanded that the fish and other animals should obey man.

93. thoughts of all the wicked.

These are the thoughts of the Pope and all philosophers: If I am pious, I have a gracious God, if not, there is no God 2c. This means to make oneself God. But I cannot think how a man should feel who does not seriously believe that there is a God, since he sees the sun rise every day 2c. He must ever until-

1. Antorff is Antwerp.

He must remember them and think whether they have been eternal, or he must put his eyes into dung like swine: for to look at creatures and not think whether there is someone who drives, governs and sustains them is incredible.

94) Whether the languages and good arts and other natural gifts are also useful.

to theologia, and to understand the sacred Scriptures.

(Contained in Cap. 13, § 19.)

Whether the light of reason also serves theology.

(Contained in Cap. 13, § 19.)

God gives many goods to the wicked here, but much more to the godly.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 92.)

We do not recognize God's creatures.

When Luther's table was disputed as to how sweet the dew was, Luther answered: "I would never have believed it if the Holy Scripture had not praised the dew itself, since God says Deut. 28:12: Dabo tibi de Rore caeli: "I will give you of the dew of heaven. Alas! Creatura is a beautiful thing: if we are to believe Creationem, tum balbutimus et blaesi sumus, and say Cledo for Cledo, as a child speaks, Lemmel for Semmel. The words are strong, but the heart speaks, Cledo; sed per hoc salvamur, quia cupimus credere. Ah, our Lord God knows well that we are poor little children, if only we would recognize it. The apostles themselves say: Domine, adauge nobis fidem, Luc. 17, 5. But we are all wiser than our Lord God; yes, I myself am also so wise. We cannot understand, nisi per Filium, id est, Christum. This is all his preaching, that he says: Per me, per me, per me, you cannot do it, if you tear yourselves apart; through the Son we are brought to the Father. Therefore, if we only believed that our Lord God was wiser than we, we would already be helped.

182 Cap. 4 Of the world and its kind. 183

Chapter 4.

Of the world and its kind.

1. the godless nature of the world.

2. the insatiability and overindulgence of the human heart.

3. the world cannot bear good days.
4. useless people.
5. 6. ingratitude of the world for the gospel.
6. human misery.
7. people kind with food.
8. what people are.
9. why God created the world.
10. where good and evil come from.

The world does not understand God's word.

Why the pagans wrote such a beautiful thing about death.

14. D. M. Luther's thoughts of the world while he was still in the cap.
15. glittering handsome rathgeber.

God always wants to reform the world.

The world is unruly and cannot be governed.

18. what the world is.
19. three degrees of people.
20. the ingratitude of the peasants.
21. the will of the world.
22. world do not believe that everything that is good comes from God.
23. God is more learned and wiser than we and the whole world.
24. 25. Of ingratitude.
25. inconstancy of human heart.

The gospel exposes the wickedness of men.

28. safety and security of the people.

The world's ingratitude against God's faithful servants.

The world must have serious and swift rulers.

31. of human reason.

The meanest challenge in the world.

The world's highest wisdom.

34. temporal peace.
35. great ingratitude of the world.
36. world becomes the longer the angrier.
37. sin goes before punishment.
38. world cannot be without sin, but therefore it is not to be praised nor suffered.

The world's speeches and essence.

(40) How people forget their blessedness for the sake of temporal goods.

41. As the world was before the flood.

The world does not want Christ as God.

43 The world's likeness.

44. world seeks immortality from its pride.
45. world always decreases the longer.
46. from young people.
47. common state of the best.
48. how to grow old.

49 Of the body of man.

Man cannot comprehend God's gifts.

The world's judgment of the ministers of the gospel.

The shape of the world and the church.

The world grows weary of God's work.

The world does not like the godly.

The world begrudges the Christians their food and would like to have all goods alone.

The world, especially Germany, certain punishment.

57. 58. What to consider in official duties.
58. the world's folly.

The world has become more and more angry after the gospel has come to day.

61. what the world is.
62. Nothing happens to the world in gratitude.
63. imitate what it is.
64. no punishment helps in the world.

The world does not respect God's gifts and works.

The world does not do anything for free.

How the world rewards and rewards good deeds.

How grateful the world is for God's benefits.

The world soon forgets God's benefits and despises His word.

The world is full of hypocrites and blasphemers: how many there are.

The world cannot be reformed.

The world does not want and cannot stand the pure word of God.

73. world remains world.

The world, especially our ingratitude, will help the papacy up again.

The world is getting worse the longer it goes on.

Of the ingratitude of the people.

The world's presumption and security, and of epicurs.

The world's impiety and ingratitude.

79. canons are vain epicurers.

80th Des Epicurismi Regiment.

81. a different from the epicurismo.

82 Of epicurean people.

83. 84. Which pave the way to epicurismo.
84. security of the world.

The people's safety and diligence in errors.

87. the Epicurer thoughts.

The world's goods and treasures.

The world's stinginess.

90. stinginess is a sign of death: money and goods should not be relied upon.
91. the parish priests and preachers avarice.

92: The virtues of Mammon.

93: Pabst's stinginess.

94. Avarice prevents God's blessing.

The first is that the monasteries and ecclesiastical estates should be seized by princes and lords.

96. avarice disrupts and devastates the country and its people.
97. from a stingy farmer.
98. admonition and warning against stinginess.
99. that the princes and lords become stingy and take to themselves all commerce and food.
100. of miserly men who wantonly make a fool of themselves.

The first is a book about the history of the world.

102. of the nobility's avarice.
103. Avarice takes away God's blessings.

184 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 1. 2. 185

104 On the Avarice of the Thuringian Peasants.

105. Christians should not be stingy.
106. of the avarice of the people, especially when the gospel is taught.
107. No one lets him suffice.

(108) Avarice corrupts and hinders God's blessings.

109 From the stinginess.

110: Of those who are attached to the world's wealth.

111. of trafficking and usury:
112. legitimate profit.
113. from usurers.
114. one question: whether a poor person may borrow money?

115 D. M. L. Sermon against usury.

116. from avarice N. N.

117 From unfair trade.

The people do not use their goods with joy because of avarice.

Wealth makes people hopeful and stingy.

120. Temporal goods are the least of the gifts.
121. the buyer of a thing shall bear the damage and stand the risk.
122. final speeches on usury, discussed at Wittenberg.

123. From one who is willing to lend money usurpingly.

One question: whether one can in good conscience deny money, and D. M. L.'s answer to this. M. L. Answer to this.

125. from borrowing.
126. from playing.
127. from binge drinking.

The world always wants something new, soon gets tired of one thing.

1. the godless nature of the world.

(Cordatus No. 54, and No. 68 to: "eject".)

The world does not want to have God as God, nor the devil as the devil. Therefore, it is forced to have its governors, the pope and the authorities. - If it were not for God's forgiveness of sins, I would gladly (after all that I am by nature) throw God out through the window; for the world does not respect God at all. As the Psalm also says: Dixit Impius in corde suo, non est Deus. Ps. 14, 1. On the other hand, God is wealth and pleasure to the world, so that it drives its pride and hope and misuses all creatures and gifts of God. Some years ago, a beautiful play and picture was played and seen in Autors 1), where Antorf was finely painted and paraded around the city as a spectacle on a chariot, and this title or name was written above the city: Antorf a queen of the world. And on one side of the city stood Neptunus, a god of the sea, who brought and gave her great treasures. On the other side Mercurius, the merchants' god, offered her many gifts and goods. This let me be quite a conterfei and kind of the world, in which nothing else is, but contempt of God, pride and court.

The monks used to boast much about the contempt of the world, and helped themselves with the saying of St. Paul to the Romans in the 12th chapter, v. 2, where he says: "Do not put yourselves in the likeness of this world. For this reason, they did not want to attack money as if it were against God,

1. d. i. Antwerp.

The use of wealth, money and goods: since St. Paul and the whole of the Holy Scriptures only describe the abuse, the evil lusts, desires and movements of the heart, such as ambition, fornication, revenge, which the world indulges in and is even flooded with.

2. the insatiability of the human heart, and yet it soon tires of a thing.

D. Martin said: "He who is now a prince would like to be a king or an emperor. A man who loves a virgin is always thinking how he would like to get her in marriage, and in his eyes none is more beautiful than she. When he has gotten her, he soon tires of her and thinks that another is much more beautiful, whom he could have gotten. So a poor man thinks: If I had a hundred thalers, I would be the richest of all; but when he gets her, he wants to have even more. The heart does not remain constant on a thing, the pagans have also had ab experientia, and said: Virtutem praesentem odimus, sublatam ex oculis quaerimus invidi. And said Anno 1542 D. Luther then said: When Lucas Cranach, the older painter, had taken his wife and the wedding had taken place, he would always have wanted to be the closest to the bride. He had a good friend who stopped him for a while and said: "Dear, don't do that; before half a year has passed, you will have enough, and there will be no maid in the house; you will prefer her to your wife. And it is so. For praesentia odimus,

186 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. H2-10. 187

absentia amamus. Of it also Ovidius says: Quod licet, ingratum est, quod non licet, acrius urit. This is imbecillitas nostrae naturae, quod caro praesens bonum non agnoscere potest, sed solus Spiritus agnoscit. So then the devil also comes to it, and throws in the way odia, suspiciones and evil concupiscentias on both sides; hence then comes the running away in matrimony. Therefore a wife is soon taken, but to love her always is donum Dei, and one may well thank our Lord God for it. Therefore, if anyone wants to take a wife, let him be serious, ask God for a pious wife, and say: Dear Lord God, if it is your divine will that I should live without a wife, help me; if not, provide me with a pious husband or wife, with whom I will spend my life, whom I love, and she me again. For copula carnalis does not do it, it must be there, ut conveniant mores et ingenium.

The world cannot bear good days. (Cordatus No. 693 and No. 696.)

The world can bear nothing less than happiness. It cannot use good days, it has too weak legs, it becomes arrogant through happiness and despairs in misfortune. Christ alone was able to bear both. Whatever you may do to heal the world is in vain, it is baptism and Chresem bisem lost. So God says in Hosea, Cap. 6, 5., he has planed them. They face nowand as two thousand years ago, because now God's word falls in similar times. Nowadays we have the same argument with the seventh chapter of John, where they said v. 48: "Does any ruler or Pharisee believe in him?" So nowadays the bishops and princes of the Lutheran doctrine, Isa. 2. believe, it agrees with the counsels of our time.

The nature of the opponents of the Word of God is not human, but diabolical. A man does as much as a man can do, but a man possessed by the devil is moved by truly diabolical enmity, and this becomes of such a kind as that between the serpent and the woman, Gen. 3:15. In short, the first table has devils against it, but the second has men against it.

4. useless people.

In the garden Luther said: "If the useless people all had to die, we would have to become useless, because the devil must have useless servants. Therefore, let them live, because God grants them life. He said this about useless courtiers and other people.

5. ingratitude of the world for the gospel.

1. The thanksgiving that the world gives for the teaching of the gospel is the same as that which it gave to Christ, namely the cross.

6. a different.

When someone complained about the great ingratitude of the people, D. M. Luther said. M. Luther: This year is a year of ingratitude, but the future and the following will be a year of vengeance. There is no end to it, God must also punish against His will, nature and kind, we will overtake it, Is. 1.

7. human misery.

(Contained in Cap. 48, § 38.)

8. people kind with food.

We have all tyrannical animals kind at us with food: the wolf eats sheep, we also; the fox chickens, geese, we also; hawks and vultures eat birds, we also; pikes eat fish, we also. With the oxen, horses, cows we also eat grass; with the pigs we eat dung and dirt, but inside everything becomes dirt.

9. what people are.

We are a wicked traveling possession: we want to believe that God will certainly be merciful to us because He has given us His Son, otherwise it is all over and in vain with us.

10. why God created the world.

God might have left the world uncreated, but He created it so that He might give His

1. Cf. cap. 2, § 14.

188 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 10-17. 189

Honor and power berveisete. One shall not ask our Lord God, quare hoc facis? Why are you doing this? We should do what we are commanded to do, and after that we should not ask: Quare? Why? We must come to the conclusion that our Lord God is more pious than we are.

11. where good and evil come from.

What is good is from God, what is evil is from the devil. Man needs good and courage against God, more than for His praise, therefore "a man's friends are his greatest enemies", Matth. 10, 36.

12. the world.

The world does not understand what God's word means, nor do they all want to be evangelical. Now it is said, multi vocati, sed pauci electi: "Many are called, but few are chosen", Matth. 20, 16.

Why the pagans so beautifully written thing of death.

I am often surprised, said D. M. Luther, what moved the pagans to write such beautiful things about death, because it is so cruel, horrible and ugly? But when I think of the world, it does not surprise me at all, because they have had to see among themselves many bad things from their authorities, which have hurt them, have been able to punish them with nothing else but death.

If the pagans held death in such low esteem, yes, so honestly and highly: how much more should we Christians do so! For the poor people knew less than nothing of eternal life; but we know it, nor do we fear, and are so sore afraid, when we are told of death. Well, these are our sins, and we must confess that we live worse than the heathen; therefore we are not wronged. For the greater the sin, the more cruel is death. This is seen in people who have acted against God's commandment and are to die, or that they are told about the last day, how they tremble and rage, even though they are fresh and healthy. We are such herbs.

14 Doctor Martin Luther's thoughts of the world while he was still in the cap.

Since I was in the cap and first began to write, I would not have thought that in the world the devil plagued people so violently. I thought we had the devil only in the monasteries. And it is also possible, because the monks have taken over the world, that the devils have gone into the nobility and peasants; quia multum peccant in rempublicam, they spoil the country and the people, do great harm.

15. glittering handsome rathgeber.

(Contained in Cap. 66, § 58.)

God always wants to reform the world. (Lauterbach, Nov. 20, 1538, p. 175.)

Then he spoke of the great foolish folly of men, that we poor people want to judge from God's word, which we should obey, as if the tile wanted to teach the potter how to make it and how many fingers he should use. So we want to set ourselves against God, the wretched creature against the Creator. It says (Matth. 17, 5.): "This (Christ) you shall hear"; and Ps. 45, 11.: "Hear, daughter, look upon it, and incline your ears; forget your people, and your father's house." Yes, if Adam had not fallen, still we would have judged ourselves by the Word alone; and now in such fall and darkness will we despise it. That is why the papal church is the most foolish, which is founded only on the outward discipline of reason, without God's word, with the outward childish antics, to which our salvation should be bound. If only there had been such things, which concern good manners and law.

The world is unruly, and does not govern itself.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 20, 1538, p. 176.)

The world is not governed by laws and rules, but irregularly anomalo, like the irregular verb Sum, es, est, eram, fui. There is no regular sequence. Fero, tuli. There are defectives. This has no praeteritum, supina 2c., like the booklet

190 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind/ § 17-23. 191

"Bellum grammaticale" indicates where the noun and the verb are the two generals; the noun has the pronoun, the verb has the adverbium, the participium goes to both; the preposition and interjection serve both. So it goes also in the world, where cannot be governed with laws. For one must let Sum, es, est remain and not make Sum, sus, sut out of it, because it is an idiosyncratic verb in grammar.

18. what is world.

(Contained in Cap. 4, 61, para. 1.)

19. three degrees of people.

People are of three kinds. The first are the great multitude who live safely without conscience, do not recognize their corrupt nature and kind, do not feel God's wrath against sin, do not ask anything about it. The other group is those who are terrified by the law, feel God's wrath and flee from it, fight and struggle with despair; like Saul. The third group is those who recognize their sin and God's wrath, and feel that they were conceived and born in sin, and therefore must be eternally damned and lost. But when they hear the preaching of the Gospel, that God forgives sin by grace, for the sake of Christ, who was sufficient for us to the Father, they accept it and believe it, and thus become righteous and blessed in the sight of God. Then they prove their faith with all kinds of good works, as fruits that God has commanded. The other two groups go there.

20. the ingratitude of the peasants.

(Cordatus No. 700.)

When I said: The farmers are not worthy of such an abundance of goods and the fruits of the earth; I thank our Lord God more for one tree and shrub than they do for all their fields and forests, Philip said: "Doctor, take out some farmers, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac. I answer that these were not only farmers and husbandmen, but also theologians; for the Scripture says Gen. 24:63 that Isaac went into his field to signify the gifts of God and the creatures that are perceived in the field.

21. the will of the world.

The world wants to have night owls, that is, gangs and superstitious; birds fly to them, that is, the world marvels at them, accepts them with great honor, gives them money and good enough.

22. world do not believe that everything that is good comes from God, and his creature and

order.

(Cordatus No. 290.)

That marriage is a marriage, the hand is a hand, and goods are goods, all men understand and believe well. But to believe that marriage is God's order, that hands are God's creation, that the food I eat is given to me by God, and that everything else is created for my benefit, that is not man's work, but God's work in man.

God is more learned and wiser than the whole world.

(Cordatus No. 690. 691.)

Erasmus, Oekolampad, Zwingli, Carlstadt want to measure everything according to their wisdom and thus become disgraces; but I thank God that I know and believe that God knows more than I do. He can do something higher than I can understand, because He can make visible things out of invisible things, because everything that He is doing now through the power of the Gospel makes visible things out of invisible things. Who would have expected this outcome ten years ago? But the flesh is very godless.

God forgives our sins for free, but also adds punishment ultionem and threats: "If you do not believe, you will die" John 8:24. Before believing this and accepting it for nothing, we torture ourselves to death, preferring to go to St. James in a whole suit of armor kurus 1). Summa, for the world

1. In all editions "Küriß", i.e. armor, armor, which gives a very appropriate sense, namely that the pilgrimage to Compostella is made a torturous one "by" walking there in full armor. For the word, compare Luther's Werke, Wittv. Ausg., Bd. 7, Fol, 148 a: "a reisigen Kürisser", which means there without doubt a harnischten Reitersmann. According to Dr. Wrampelmeyer, Kuruß should stand for drorus,

192 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 23-29. 193

belongs not truth and life, but lies and murder; the former is dealt with by the pope, the latter by the Turk.

24. ingratitude.

When young chickens were roasted on the table, Doct. Martin Luther to M. Nicolao Hausmann: There you see the treasures and desire of the farmers, which they do not recognize that they come from God and are given, do not thank him for it.

25. a different.

In the pestilence here no farmer wanted to bring in wood, eggs, butter, cheese, grain 2c., so we had to suffer two for one plague, as pestilence and hunger; but if they had it outside, we had to pick it up from them.

26. inconstancy of human heart.

Man's heart is like mercury, which is now here, soon elsewhere: today one thing, tomorrow another. Therefore it is a poor thing and vanity, as Ecclesiastes, the preacher of Solomon, says, that a man desires uncertain things and longs for them, and that he does not know how they will turn out; on the other hand, he despises those things that are certain and that are ready for him.

As Duke Frederick reigned, we both disliked him and his meekness and gentleness, that he led a peaceful, calm and collected regiment and court, and hoped for another, better one who would come to the regiment after him. Well, we said, if we had Duke Hansen, it would be fine. Now that we had him, after Duke Frederick's death, we wanted the current Duke, John Frederick, Elector; he will do it, we said, but for more than three years, he certainly won't be any good for us either.

Therefore what God gives us we do not want; for this reason Christ also did not want to reign on earth, but gave it to the devil.

also ekurus, ekur, Kur written, thus "schaarenweise". That here not this meaning, but "in full armor to St. Jakob wallen", has, is clear from Walch, -old edition, Bo. VIII, p. 1624. interpretation of the letter to Gal. cap. 1, § 93. cf. also cap. 45, § 44 in the last paragraph: "Kürissen".

to whom he says, "You govern. But God is a different man and has a different nature, manner and mind. I, he says, am God who does not change. I stand firm over my promises and urges.

Christians should thank God for what is present; and as it is certain, so it is good, and God provides and gives it out of His infinite mercy, and sing the 117th Psalm: "Praise the Lord, all nations; praise Him, all peoples, for His grace and truth are over us forever."

The gospel exposes the wickedness of men.

Just as the cold becomes greater and swifter in winter when the days lengthen and the sun comes closer to us, for it makes the cold denser and compresses it: so also the wickedness of men becomes greater, that is, more apparent, and breaks forth greatly when the gospel is preached; for the Holy Spirit punishes the world for sin, which the world cannot nor will suffer.

28. safety and security of the people.

It is a wonder that people are so sure and hopeful, since we have so many innumerable examples and arguments among us, which should justly admonish us and drive us to fear and humility. For first, we do not have a certain hour of death, we do not know when we will die. Secondly, the grain and wine by which we eat and are nourished are not in our hands; moreover, neither the sun nor the air by which we live, neither day nor sleep, is in our power or authority, but all is in God's hand. I will keep silent about spiritual things, such as our own, peculiar and public sins, so that we may be oppressed, challenged and afflicted. And yet we have hearts harder than steel, stone, and adamant, which regard not these things, but ask nothing of them.

The world's ingratitude against God's faithful servants.

It must be a great spirit, serve the people in body and soul and yet suffer extreme danger and the highest ingratitude over it.

194 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 29-37. 195

Therefore Christ says to Petro, Joh. 21, 15.: "Simon Johanna, do you love me?" and repeats it three times one after the other; after that he said v. 16.: "Feed my sheep". As if to say, "If you want to be a true pastor and shepherd, it must be love that makes you love me; otherwise it is impossible. For who can suffer ingratitude? who can lose his goods and health, and then put himself in the greatest danger? Therefore he says, "It is necessary that you love me. The pope and Turk have smelled us very well and have done her, the world, justice, for she also wants it. She cannot stand righteous, pious, faithful servants of God, yes, she murders them, therefore she must have such companions, nourish them, and moreover hold them in great honor and be cursed and seduced by them.

The world must have serious and swift rulers.

The world cannot do without such heads, by whom it must be ruled, even N. N. with his tyranny is like a morsel for the world. Therefore God speaks through the prophet Samuel to the people of Israel, who asked for a king, he wanted to give them a king. "But this was to be his right: Their sons he would take for his chariots and horsemen, their daughters for his cooks; item, their best fields, gardens, vineyards and oil gardens he would take and give to his chamberlains and servants." 1 Sam. 8, 11. ff. Luther then said: "When Prince Frederick returned home from the election day in Cologne, since Emperor Carl had been elected Roman Emperor, His Electoral Grace had elected his most distinguished councilors. Gn. had asked their most distinguished councilor, Mr. Fabian von Feilitzsch, how he liked these new newspapers, that they had elected the King of Hispania as emperor? the same wise man had answered: The ravens must have a vulture.

31. human reason.

Human reason either despairs or is presumptuous. If it despairs, it dies sine crux et lux. But if it is presumptuous, it also goes away and is deceived.

The meanest challenge in the world.

(Lauterbach, April II, 1838, p. 61.)

The highest challenge in the world is that no one is faithful to his profession, but everyone would like to go idle. I am now exhausted, 1) have many worries and am plagued with many affairs. Others walk idly and do not want to do anything: and I think that if we did not have to do it, we would not do it either. I can see where the pope came from, because the lazy, idle lords and princes also shat on him.

The world's highest wisdom.

(Contained in Cap. 21, § 1, subsections 6 and 7.)

34. temporal peace.

(Contained in Cap. 15, § 17.)

35. a different.

(Contained in Cap. I, § 18.)

36. world becomes the longer the angrier.

I hold it to be so, that the greater and brighter the light of the gospel is, the more evil the world is: so Christ in his day made evil worse, and St. Paul did not make many more devout Christians.

37. sin goes before punishment.

Since the Jews were to be beaten, captured and conquered by the Romans, and the land devastated and desolated, they had to crucify God's Son first: so do we, despising God's word, whether we carry it in our mouths or not, and boasting of the gospel, drive out the pastors and faithful pious servants of God and Christians. We still build bastions, ramparts and great mighty fortresses, but we do not build ourselves.

Jerusalem was also firm, the king of Babylon lay a whole year before it, still it had to go, there helped nothing for it. God also says through Jeremiah: "If you kill all the Chaldeans and leave only three alive, let those three fall in the window and kill you.

1. Cf. Cap. 26, § 46; Cap. 48, § 26.

196 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 38-4o. 197

38. world can not be without sin, but therefore it is not to be praised nor

to suffer.

Alexander Alesius Scotus wrote from Frankfurt on the Oder that D. Christoph von der Straßen, 1) a jurist, would be a godless man and great epicure, approved of bad fornication, public whore houses and other fornications, which would be forbidden. Item, would have decreed over the table that if someone spoke of something different, but of fornication and whores, then he should give a guilder as a penalty. Then M. Luther was moved and angry and said, "He brought this with him from Italy, even though he had despised his parents from childhood. For I once had him up in my room, where his father could not persuade him to have and hear a preceptor, whom he, the father, wanted to assign to him.

Yes, it is true, as that knave says: The world is and cannot be without sin; but that one would therefore conclude and infer from this: The world is not without sin, therefore sin should be permitted and approved 2c., this does not follow. Just as it does not sound: The church is not without offense, therefore one should let offense go, permit and approve it. It is another to commit fornication and other evil by deed and work, and another by or by right. How we must suffer our unfaithful workers, wicked servants, wicked neighbors; but to approve, to praise, and to say that it is fair and right, that is too much. It should come to this, as with the Lacedæmonians, who allowed stealing and let it go, but so that someone would handle it artificially, masterfully, and steal. I do not believe that the Lacedemonians approved of thievery, but wanted to arouse the fathers of the house to greater diligence and to stimulate them to pay more attention to their thing. If it were right to commit fornication and thievery, the comedians would have allowed it, too, and would not have insisted so much that young journeymen would marry.

1. The name is inserted after Förstemann.

The world's speeches and essence.

(Lauterbach, Jan. 15, 1538, p. 10.)

Then it was said of the disloyalty of a courtier of the bishop of Mainz, who had fallen away from the gospel to the papacy and said with great certainty: "I will put Christ behind the door for a while, until I become rich, then I will bring him in again. Similarly, a certain atheist (xxxxx) said: If you want to be deathly timid, you will never get rich. Such remarkable, exceedingly ungodly sayings deserve the greatest punishment. If one could end this, that he could put God behind the door and pull him out again, if he wanted to, then man would have acted well; then God would be their prisoner. These are the words of the Epicureans and the last times, which challenge God's great plague and the Last Judgment.

(40) How people forget their blessedness for the sake of temporal goods.

Doctor Luther was asked at Eisleben in 1546 over the table: How is it that people in the world are so stingy and stingy, and everyone wants to be rich, even often with his soul's damage? There was also an example of a nobleman who said: "In the old days, when I was young, it would not go with me: if I had to clothe my wife and child, I had no money; I did not know how it would work. But when I began to put the sea-oak on my back, I became rich and came into money and property. If I had not done that, I would have remained poor for the rest of my life; it was all the sea creature's fault.

Then D. Luther started and said to D. Jonah: "Doctor, don't you know what Astche von Kram 2), the knight, said to me in Wittenberg, that someone had once said to him: "My dear, if you want to become rich, powerful and great, you must drill a hole in a tree, put your soul in it, and drive a stake in front of it so that it stays inside. When you have become rich, then go and take the peg from the tree.

2. Assa von Kram; cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. X, col. 488.

198 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 40-45. 199

met your soul out of it again. Then Doctor Jonas said: How, if someone would come in the meantime, and take away the sea-oak from the tree? Then Doctor Luther said, "I'll let him take care of that, I wouldn't dare.

To this the doctor said of usurers that one spoke now in Saxony:

Who says that usury is a sin. The hefft no money, dat gläube fri.

But I, D. L., say against it:

Who saws, that usury no sin si. Die hefft kein GOtt, dat gläub nur > fri.

Then said D. Luther said, "I would like to prevent avarice and usury and even eradicate them, but I am not able to do so; but this I would like to prevent, so that avarice and usury do not become rife. In the same way, I would gladly control stealing, adultery and fornication, so that they would not be used, and so that such sins and vices would not become rampant and rule. For we preachers must oppose sins and punish them severely, otherwise we must hear the curse that is written in Isaiah Cap. 5, 20: Vae vobis, qui malum dicitis bonum. I must do like my cousin Fabian Kaufmann, who went for a walk in Speck0 and wanted to sleep inside: now he comes to a place where there was a whole nest full of snakes lying in a heap. When the snakes came to him, he drew his sword and struck under them, cutting off the head of one and the tail of the other, thus destroying the nest. So I cannot prevent a snake from entering my garden, but if I come across it, I slay it and pin it to a fence; therefore I can prevent it from making a nest inside. 2) Neither can I hinder the vices, that they should not be, but that they should not rule and reign in me, and be changed into morals, and even become prevalent. Rom. 6, 12. For the pagan Seneca says: Deest remedii locus, ubi ea, quae vitia fuerunt, in mores abeunt.

1. A copse near Wittenberg, cf. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. X, col. 686.
2. Cf. Appendix § 19; also Walch, old edition, Vol. XIV, 395, § 2.

41. world before the flood, as it was. (Cordatus No. 1407.)

The world before the flood was very learned because of its long experience, but also the godlessness was very great, therefore it also came to ruin. But now we have to die soon and we are not allowed to come to a greater knowledge than is necessary to feed the belly.

The world does not want Christ as God.

: (Cordatus No. 1383.)

The world does not want the corporeal God, who is born, lives, is crucified, much less the one who reproves sins; to him they cry: Death, death. On the other hand, it seeks and worships the incorporeal God with great effort and honors him with great cost.

43 The world's likeness.

It reminds me of the world as of a dilapidated house: David and the prophets are rafters, Christ is the pillar in the middle of the house, which holds it all.

44. world seeks immortality from its pride.

D. M. Luther spoke of the world's hope. Because all people feel and recognize, even see, that they must die and pass away, everyone seeks immortality here on earth, so that he may be remembered forever. At one time, great kings, princes and lords sought it by erecting great marble pillars and very high pyramids, buildings and pillars, arranged in squares, and always the higher the more pointed, so that they thought they would become immortal, as they do now with great churches, magnificent, splendid houses and buildings. Warriors chase and strive for great honors and praise with victories and glorious victories. Scholars seek an eternal name by writing books, as we see now in our time. But they do not look to the eternal, imperishable honor and eternity of God. Alas, we are poor people.

45. world always decreases the longer.

(Lauterbach, Jan. 2, 1538, p. 2.)

Dear God, how has the world declined from the time when the imperial rights were given to the people?

200 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 45-54. Z01

Since a maiden of twelve years of age was marriageable and a boy of fourteen years of age was considered manable. Now they are much too weak in such years. The world and people's strength is always going down, it is running out.

46. tongue people.

(Here 7 lines are omitted because composed of Cap. 3, ß 90 and Cap. 48, § 38.)

(The following at Cordatus No. 1274.)

Weeds grow soon, so the girls grow faster than the boys.

47. common state of the best.

To be and live in a public state, which God has appointed, is the most secure, because Christ also lived and walked in a public state among people. And warn His own, when He says Matth. 24, 26: "If they say, Behold, He is in the wilderness; go not out; or, In chambers; believe it not." And in such corners they have led the most shameful boyish life. Among people in public, one must be civil and honest, and shy away from God and man.

48. how to grow old.

If you want to grow old, grow old soon, keep your collar warm, don't > fill your bowels too visibly. > > Don't get too close to the Grethen, So you'll slowly turn gray.

49. man's body.

(Cordatus No. 1137 and No. 719.)

The human body is a shameful sack of lye, through which nothing else flows but evil sweat, urine, saliva and more rivers than it has limbs. I experience this on my leg, which I recently opened again by rubbing, and as if from paradise, four rivers began to burst out.

When he took his little Martin, he said: "Oh, that God can put such fine black eyes into a piece of meat from a stinking sack. It reminds me just now, as if I took

1. puts fine eyes into it; and to make nose, mouth, hands and feet out of a piece of flesh in the womb is also an art.

50. man cannot comprehend God's gifts.

(Cordatus No. 416.)

The very great gifts and goods of God cannot be grasped by the human heart, therefore the shepherds Luc. 2, are dismayed; so also we are often dismayed when God opposes us in the most friendly way.

The world's judgment of the ministers of the gospel.

To restore and comfort a despondent and afflicted conscience is much more than having many kingdoms. But the world does not respect it, even despises it; it calls us rebels, disturbers of peace and blasphemers, who pervert and change the doctrine. Verily it will prophesy itself, though we see it with great sorrow of heart. So the Jews also say of Christ, John 11:48: "If we let him go, the Romans will come and take away our land and our people" 2c. But when they had killed Christ, they did not come? Yes, I mean, they came and made a mess of them. So the despisers and enemies of the word will destroy the peace and turn Germany around, so that it will go over and over and lie in ashes, when we are now carried away. So they want to have it.

The shape of the world and the churches.

(Contained in Cap. 20, § 18.)

The world grows weary of God's works.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 2, end of first paragraph.)

The world does not like the godly.

(Contained in Cap. 60, § 7.)

1. Perhaps from Plunze, blood sausage. (Wrampelmeyer.)

202 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 55-60. 203

The world begrudges the Christians their food and would like to have all the goods for themselves.

Doctor Luther once said: "If a poor man had a good field or meadow, those of the nobility would soon begrudge it to him, seeking to overtake him. So did the centauri of the king of Gerar, Abimelech's court, do to Isaac the pious patriarch: for when they saw that Isaac had gotten a hundredfold fruit of the field which the king had let him, they came quickly, and stirred up the king against him, that he took Isaac's field again. Gen. 26: For they thought: The field bears much, therefore it must be ours: it is a fruitful land, we are nearer to it than he. Why did we rent it to Isaac? We would rather have it ourselves. They think that if they get the land back, they will soon become rich. He had a hen that laid a golden egg for him every day, and he thought, "There will be a great treasure in that hen, and she will have a golden ovary. So he thought he would get rich all at once, and strangled the hen, and took out the stick, and found nothing. Sic et nostri Principes jam nihil aliud agunt, quam ut fiant maledicti a Deo. They also push Isaac out to the land, but they do not know that Benedictio Dei is with him, and that they find maledicti.

The world, especially Germany, certain punishment.

(Lauterbach, Sept. 15, 1538, p. 131.)

On the 13th Sunday after Trinity, September 15, he gave a very serious exhortation to prayer against the future plagues of Germany from the Turks, the Pope and the mobs, which we caused by our impenitence. Therefore the punishment must come. God turn the evil! For the whole world is nothing else but an inverted decalogue, vain contempt of God, vain blasphemy, vain disobedience, fornication, courtiers, thieves, is almost ripe for the slaughter: so the devil does not celebrate through the Turk, the Pabst and the Rotten.

57. what to consider in official capacity.

If I did not let myself get angry from the bottom of my heart for the sake of the man who died for me, the world would not be able to give me enough money to write a book or to interpret something in the Bible. I want to have my work unrewarded by the world, it is too small and poor for that: I have never asked my lord in Saxony for a penny, because I have lived here.

58. a different.

(Cordatus No. 1266.)

All wickedness has now come together in one heap. This is seen in lending, because many, provoked by the gospel, would like to lend, but there is no one to give back. It is like borrowing to him, like finding. I have been much deceived by such boys. It is to lend and to give back.

59. the world's folly.

(Cordatus No. 1278.)

Great is the folly of men who value gems not according to their goodness a virtute, but according to their estimation. A turquoise for three hundred guilders, which has no proven value. Therefore, Claus Fool answered the prince who asked him, since he bought a gemstone, how much he valued it: As much as a rich fool may respect and pay for it.

The world became more and more angry after the gospel came to light again and was preached.

(Cordatus No. 1123.)

It is a wonderful thing and full of awe that the world has become worse and worse as often as the gospel has had to be preached again. All spiritual freedom of Christ they draw on carnal lust. Therefore, the kingdom of the devil and the pope is the best for the world in outward things, because the world wants to be ruled with laws, with superstition, with lies, with tyranny, and through the doctrine of grace it only gets worse, because it does not believe that there is another, future life after this one. The

204 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 60-65. 205

proved the one who, when he was dying, threw away his will written on paper, on which only these words were read: I have robbed when I could, you also rob when you can. Dum potui, rapui; rapiatis, quando potestis.

61. what the world is.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 1419. The following in Cordatus > No. 1454 and No. 1621).

1. The world is an assembly of people who receive all the benefits of God with ingratitude. He who has not come to know the world, let him go to a monastery. 2)

The world did not sit faith, love, the cross. It does not grasp faith, therefore it does not practice love, through which faith is active. It also cannot want to suffer the cross, through which faith is practiced and increased.

Since faith is trust in God, who is merciful in His essence, it is frightening that the world despises it and thinks that faith is only an opinion of God, who is angry and demands only justice. And, just as the world does not want faith, it also does not want that with which faith, love and the cross have to do objecta, namely God, the neighbor, the adversary. Because it considers God an enemy, it looks at no one but itself, and considers the friend an adversary. Therefore, the world cannot understand the first commandment of God and the commandment of the neighbor, but inevitably hates God and what is His, the Word and His saints. It loves itself and its own in all things, it seeks the devil and the honor of the flesh and its peace.

Nothing happens to thank the world.

(Cordatus No. 1352.)

One can never do right to the world nor preach. When the Pabstacy is preached, the conscience is violated; but when you preach Christ, you cause offense.

1. Regarding the first paragraph, cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol: XI, 894, § 25.
2. There he will come to know the ingratitude of the world.

by the flesh and the papacy; but if you preach the flesh, you offend Christ. The world remains the world, and if Christ cannot help it, we will leave it at that. But who is it that believes this? It is not that they want to believe, but that they see.

63. imitate what it is.

(Cordatus No. 1353.)

Imitation is a devilish and human thing, therefore it is simply harmful or at least useless. Thus, heretics imitate the word of God, hypocrites imitate the works of faith, idolaters imitate ceremonies, tyrants and reckless people imitate war, fools imitate the government, clumsy people imitate the crafts, asses imitate the arts. Therefore, when GOD sets up his word, works, arts 2c. in the world, he also makes monkeys, and the [great multitude follows the monkeys. But it is GOD alone who sustains the remaining examples prototypias. Thus is the world from the beginning.

64. no punishment helps in the world.

The world is not improved by any punishment, it does not change, it balks and barks against it. As the farmers say when the Elbe has run out and drowned and ruined everything in the field: "If you have drowned my grain, you have not drowned my thalers. Well, God can lend you a good pittance, but after that he comes and demands a serious reckoning, so that you keep neither skin nor hair. For such prideful presumption has never gone unpunished.

The world does not respect God's gifts and works.

(Here 21 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 2, § 49.)

(Cordatus No. 434.)

If God did not give His blessings to the earth for only one year, how great would be the lamentation among the people! But now, since He gives everything abundantly, they are very ungrateful.

3. The year 1531 was very fruitful.

206 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 66-69. 207

The world does not do anything for free.

The world is so selfish that it does nothing for nothing, but wants to have everything rewarded. As this fable indicates, D. Martinus said: One rented his donkey to another and walked beside him; but he sat on it, because the sun shone so hot and stung him, he asked the master of the donkey, he wanted to sit on it, and also let him walk a little in the shade, but he would not and said: He had rented him the donkey to ride, and not the shade of it, the same he should pay him specially, because he wanted to have it. This fable is a conterfection and a picture of the bet, which does nothing in vain, and does not want to give or grant the shadow.

How the world rewards and rewards good deeds.

(Lauterbach, Apr. 5, 1538, p. 57.)

Philip told an excellent story of ingratitude in the chariot. A farmer was walking around and being tired, he rested beside a cave. In it a snake was hidden and enclosed, calling him and asking him to free it. If it would be freed, it wanted to give him the best reward and thanks on earth. When the stone was rolled away and the snake was freed, it wanted to kill the farmer, saying that this was the way of the world against its benefactors. But since he expected a greater reward, he appealed to a court of law; the animal which first met them was to decide the matter. There a horse was brought, old and worn out, which should be killed. It answered: "I'm doing fine. Now that I've pulled my heart out, they want to flay me and beat me to death. Then an old dog, which had been driven away, complained about its master in the same way. He demanded a third judge. They met a little fox, who said, because he was clever, "I must see how the liberation happened. And to him were given all the fowls of the farmer price, if he were delivered from the serpent. The fox went into the cave with the snake and immediately jumped back. The farmer put the stone in front of it again, but when the little fox came by night to fetch the chickens, it was killed by the

wife and the servant were killed. Luther answered: This is a picture of the world. Whoever is helped from the gallows brings one up. If I had no example, it would be Christ, who delivered the whole world from hell, and he is crucified by his people. 1)

How grateful the world is for God's benefits.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 2, 1538, p. 106.)

After that, they told about the people's blasphemies and grumbling because it rained in the harvest and they had been punished with drought before. He replied: "So God must be thanked, and if God had not spared the world because of a few believers, it would have long perished. It must also have hurt the pious King Solomon very much when he wanted to rest in his old age and handed over the government to his sons, that they loved gifts and gold more than justice.

The world soon forgets God's benefits and despises His word.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 27, 1538, p. 122.)

On August 27, Luther lamented the future misfortune of Germany because of the contempt for God and the Word, and because of the wickedness that follows from it. For as soon as people begin to fall away from God, which is the origin of all hope, as Jesus laments in Sirach Cap. 10, all sins go by force, as we, unfortunately, see today that the race has become so insolent in a short time, provoking the wrath of God. This is what happened to the inhabitants of Sodom, who, while Abraham, the hero who freed them from four kings, was still alive, forgot about God's benefits and even despised Abraham, who taught them. Then religion, worldly rule and good manners also perished and the plague soon followed; although the Jews belittle the sins of the Sodomites, namely that they had killed a very benevolent girl, who gave alms, in an outrageous way. But the

1. Cf. Phädrus, lüd. IV, cad. 16. - The same fable is told by Mathesius, St. Louis edition, p. 164 f.

208 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 69-73. 209

The holy fathers have impressed this on their descendants by means of an image, so that this may be a prophetic word over all despisers. For the gospel is the girl; it promises the help of grace to all people. But, alas, the world persecutes the gospel to the utmost. That is why the plagues will follow. God help us.

The world is full of hypocrites and blasphemers, of which there are many.

i) Anno 38, the 21st of September, D. Martin said much of the world's wickedness and the same's various different pieces and pitfalls, Colax, Sycophanta, Cacoethes, which sins

and vices are almost one and the same, only that one goes on top of the other, just as one climbs higher and higher from one step to the next. Colax, I think, is called Gnatho in the Terentio, a scratcher of ears, a flatterer, a licker of plates, who speaks and does what one likes to hear and have for the sake of one's stomach; and is still a human sin, who finally thinks to do harm to others with it. But is such a hypocrite, betrayer and slanderer, who wants to earn the gray skirt. And this sin is more diabolical than human. Gnatho belongs to the comedies, Sycophanta to the tragedies. Phor-

mio in Terentio is a pious person who has almost none of the two vices. Cacoethes, a villain who knowingly and wantonly does evil.

The world cannot be reformed.

(In Kummer x. 411b. ff. Lauterbach p. 70.)

Lament over the world because of the future. - The great misfortune threatening the world, he indicated almost with sobs, because it would be so evil and incorrigible that it could not suffer any discipline and punishment. And there is already a very great movement in the world by the revealed word. It cracks very much, hope it will break by the last day which we expect. For all vices are now taken for good morals, and

1. Another relation of K 70 of the 37th Cap. where the 6th November 1538 is given by Lauterbach. Cf. also Cap. 39, § 2.

do not want to be reprimanded. Therefore we pray: Thy kingdom come, deliver us from evil, though things are more polite and better now than they were twenty years ago. There are now much finer people and also much finer schools where young people are taught. We have, praise God, new universities that have accepted the Word of God. So there are many fine particular schools that are well suited. Zwickau, Torgau, Wittenberg, Deventer, Goldberg are fine particular schools, which are almost equal to universities. The growth of the schools is a fruit of the Word and they are teaching institutions of the churches. If these are promoted, then ]it shall, if God wills, stand much more courteously. And I think that the universities were first invented by the Saracens, as there is a famous school in Alkair Cairo, which was imitated by our emperors. The monasteries are the old schools.

The world does not want and cannot stand the pure word of God.

The philosophers and scholars among the pagans have had innumerable speculations, thoughts and opinions about God, about the soul, about eternal life, but they have all been doubtful and uncertain, without God's word. Now, because God has given us His dear Word pure and unadulterated, we despise it, according to the saying: Malum, malum dicit omnis possessor: When one has a thing, no matter how good it is, one gets tired of it and does not respect it. Now when the word comes away, we will seek foolish works and deal with self-chosen devotion and superstition of human thoughts and conceit; thus we must become wise with our harm.

73. world remains world.

There was lamentation about the last terrible time, which could neither be governed by laws nor punishments. Martin said: "The world remains the world, which neither loves nor suffers justice, but is governed by God through a few heroes and excellent people. As a boy of twelve tends a hundred oxen in the pasture, so the race is also governed supernaturally.

Z10Cap . 4. of the world and its kind. § 74-77. 211

The world, especially our ingratitude, will help the papacy out again.

D. M. Luther pleaded diligently for the course of the pure doctrine of the Gospel, and against heresy and the papacy. For if the pope were to come back into power, he would duplicate his tyranny and make it illegal. As he did after the Costnitz Conciliar, he has honestly smelled himself for the hundred years since he was deposed, and has introduced very ungodly profanation and abominations. But I am not so much afraid of the pope and the tyrant as of our ingratitude and contempt for the word that would help the pope back into the saddle. If this happens, I hope that Judgment Day will soon follow.

75. world becomes the longer the more annoying.

Claus Bildenhauer said to D. Martin that he would almost become a child again; then the doctor said: "It is the fault of the time, you and I have eaten too many Easter eggs, it is over with us. When I think of my companions who grew up with me, they are very thin and almost all gone. For now every twenty years a new world is created. Then Bildenhauer said that he remembered that four Electors had ruled in Saxony, and what a fine time it had been then, when Duke Albrecht and Ernst had ruled with each other, and both had stayed together with two wives in Torgau. Thereupon spoke D. Martinus said: "At that time there were pious people, now it is the devil that no one may trust the other. The princes are very tyrannical and use force.

Of the ingratitude of the people.

Just as the Israelites did to Mosiah, who led them out of Egypt, so do we now, who have been led out of the prison and house of service of the Antichrist in Rome. But he prayed for them. I pray that the boys will be punished.

Aristotle, the pagan, tells of several causes why one may be justly angry, one of which is ingratitude. Scipio, the noble hero of Rome, was able to

.suffer, but others it makes no sense. God's patience and wrath are both great. And just as God spoke to Moses verbally, as one good friend to another; so He also speaks to us verbally through the preachers, as Christ says Matt. 10:20: "It is not you who speak, but your Father's Spirit who speaks through you." We despise the same.

The world's presumption and certainty and Epicurians.

(Lauterbach, Jan. 1, 1538. p. 1.)

On January 1, in the year of the Lord 38, he sharply examined M. G. Karg, who had been summoned to the sacristy, because he had cursed himself in a whimsical presumption in a letter to his best friend: If Christ offered him the kingdom of heaven, he would not accept it at this hour, because he did not want to keep it with Luther in the article. Since this letter had come before the Elector through his friend, it was then handed over to D. L. with the strictest order that he should be imprisoned in the castle; but D. L. examined him beforehand in the sacristy. Then the quaestor took him and put him in prison against all the privileges of the university. After that, he was released from prison on the first of February and was imprisoned in his room by intercession. Luther's. At home the doctor sighed and said: "How great is the presumption and certainty of the world! What is only a little something dares to offend Christ and to lift its foot against Him. It will get even better, epicurism will arise with force, because the world, the despiser of the Word of God, is nothing but a preparation for epicurism before the last day, who believes neither in God nor in another life. Is it not terrible that among the people of God there are such epicurists? not only in private and hidden, but also publicly in office, in glory,

1. Interrogation of M. Georg Karg in the Sacristy in the presence of D. Jonas, D. Cruciger and Melanchthon. Cf. Luther's letter to the Elector about this matter, dated Jan. 4, 1538, in Walch, old edition XXI, 410, where Rörer is not mentioned, nor in Lauterbach.

212 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 77-82. 213

like the Sadducees were among the Jews, ruling in religion and yet believing nothing of the future life and also teaching so. Such people are our papists today, who know the Scriptures and yet consider them a dream. The bishop of Mainz says and does what he wants. Leipzig is drowned in such avarice that they take 45 florins a year out of 100 florins under the pretense of piety. For that must be love, that one lends 100 florins. Justice is that one gives 45 guilders for it. In ten years, 100 florins carry 1000, isn't that epicurism? Leipzig is drowned deeper in the sea of avarice than the mountains of Arabia under the flood of sin, which lay only fifteen cubits under the floods, but Leipzig lies fifteen miles under the floods of avarice. So are all the others. Ah, evil times are yet to come. Our Epicureans are worse than the Cardinals of Italy, who said: We want to let others be pious, even if we ourselves do not want to.

The world's impiety and ingratitude.

God entices us with promises, both in the Law and the Gospel, so that we "may hear His word; but the world and the wicked not only do not respect it, but also despise it and persecute it. Therefore they are justly condemned, and it serves them right that they should become beggars, and also here temporally be put to shame.

(Here 15 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 15, § 19, para. > 2.)

79. canons are all epicureans.

The canons of Würzburg, Mainz and Cologne have the best days, live in idleness, feasting and damming, have everything in stock, without any worries, what their heart desires, and then go happily to heaven, where it sizzles. The bishops do not have it so good, because they are in the regiment and have to do to some extent with the trades.

80th Des Epicurismi Regiment.

(Lauterbach, Dec. 12, 1538, p. 190.)

Eck is a man of great gifts and has a good memory, but because this very

impudent man has been in Rome for some time, he has learned there many good examples of the Epicurean life, that he asks neither for the papacy nor for the Gospel. Dear God, twenty years ago I would not have thought that even now there should be Epicureans in the Christian Church, since almost all Romanists are drowned in the Epicurean life, caring neither for God nor for a good conscience. These are horrible times. I used to think that the Epicurean sect had died out long ago, but it still flourishes, because Epicurism has set its intention on this life, leads people from the eternal to the temporal. Such people were Pomponius Atticus, Scipio and other very wise people, in whom God shows the foolishness of human reason, although Cicero, in his letter to Octavius, has indicated his opinion of eternity. Nevertheless, there was a high intellect in Cicero, who concluded from reason that it was safer to surrender to the opinion that there is an eternal life after this than that everything is temporal and transitory; and it is also certainly true that it is much more certain according to reason that one should surrender to Christianity than to Epicurism. For if a man is deceived by the delusion of Epicurus, he has lost the eternal for the temporal. But if Christianity deceives him (which is impossible), he has lost only the temporal for the eternal. God protect us all from this opinion, in which the whole world now walks.

81. a different from the epicurismo.

(Kummer p. 403. Lauterbach, p. 205. May 26, 1541.)

After that, people complained about the epicurism of our time, where noblemen, burghers and peasants care neither about God nor about eternity. Luther answered: "Do not be surprised by this in the last times; consider how it happened in the time of Christ in the people of the Most Holy God, when besides the Pharisees there were also Sadducees in the regiment, good fellows who believed nothing.

82. of epicurean people.

D. Martin Luthern was told over tables in Eisleben that a nobleman, C. von

214 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 82. 83. 215

Seckendorf was supposed to have said in a convivium: If God would let him have his wealth and pleasure, that he might live a thousand years and do all his will, then he would gladly leave his heaven to our Lord God. Then Doctor Martin Luther said: "That was a real pig, and they are nothing but trotters.

Also D. Martinus said that D. Henning Goede, a lawyer and cathedral provost at Wittenberg, had not known much about our Lord God, for he, D. Luther, had come to him when he was sick 'lying on the ground without a bed and had only his hood covered over him; then he had asked him: What he was doing well? He answered that he was sick, and the doctor began to talk to him and said: Dear Doctor, you are a weak man, you should now also reconcile yourself with our Lord God, and it would be your best that you provide yourself with the reverend sacrament, so that you would be ready when God would command you. Then D. Henning would have answered: "Well, there is no need yet, God will not act so Swissly on me, and thus hasten me. But D. Luther said that it would have happened to him right away, as he had told him. For the next day his speech would have slipped, and he would have died soon after; so he went there, and did not know much about God. And the doctor then said that we should always be ready and prepared when God knocked and demanded of us that we be sent to take a Christian farewell from this world.

After this, Doctor Luther spoke of the great power of the devil and gave this simile: That, just as a wild horse or stallion cannot get rid of a hamster when it comes to its throat, but the small angry animal, the hamster, strangles the great horse, be it as joyful, wild or biting as it likes; item, just as the lynx kills a deer when it jumps on its head and sits between its horns, eating out its brains, or grabs it by the throat and bites it in two: So is Satan; if he possesses a man, he can be attacked by a man.

He leads man into despair and harms his body and soul; as St. Peter says of him in his first epistle, Cap. 5:8, that he "goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Therefore, one should pray daily and resist him with faith and prayer.

(This paragraph in Kummer x. 288 d. [Lauterbach, p. 74, note.))

The devil has no better way to defeat us than by leading us from the word to the spirit. I have observed this as a miracle in the Sacramentans, because they do not look at the word. They do not look at the word, but only at the things that are added to the word. They see bread and wine and water. But one should stay with the word and not concede the spirit to the people. The sacramentarians see only bread and wine and water, not the word. So they see only the raised serpent, not the word. Gen. 21. I am reminded of the devil as of a bailiff: he strangles everything he sows, but if he has a bird that pleases him, he lets it live, so that it sings what it wants. 1)

83. which pave the way to epicurismo.

Oh dear Lord God, how terrible, horrible and dangerous the future will be! Lyra's prophecy moves me very much and goes not a little to my heart, because it belongs to our time, when he writes: Detecto Antichristo, erunt homines carnales, dicentes, nullum esse Deum; that is: When now the wickedness of Antichrist is revealed, then the world will fall into great courage, so that it will think that there is no God. Then the antinomians and lawbreakers will start their work, they will remove all fear, they will make people even sure that they do not respect their sin. If sin is not respected, Christ is not respected either, because he came for the sake of sinners to make them blessed. And the strong do not need a physician, but the sick, as he himself says Matth. 9, 12. 13.

In contrast, the Sophists and Cano-

1. Cf. the relation of Cordatus Cap. 24, § 59.

216Cap . 4. of the world and its kind. § 83--88. 217

nist hard on their ungodly statutes and traditions and want to weigh down the consciences with them. Dear God, the greater Your goodness is, the greater is the wickedness of the world.

(The following contained in Cap. 66, § 50; therefore omitted).

84. a different.

Anno 30, June 16, a student at Wittenberg, who had written many ungodly questions in his book, wanted to turn the Scriptures according to his head and almost cause a new epicurism, pretending that there were neither good nor evil angels, and many horrible things about the Holy Spirit and the resurrection of the dead 2c. The professors punished him severely for this and denounced it to D. Martino, who said with a sigh: "Dear Lord God, what will become of this? Oh how terrible times we will have! The authorities should severely punish such epicureans, like other public offenders.

85. the world security.

In 39, February 2, St. Martin spoke a lot about the shameful, harmful security of the world, so that even the godly would be secure, not feeling nor respecting their sin, misery and hardship in which they are stuck. Therefore, it is written in church history about a pious young boy who boasted how well he was doing, without any temptation; then an old hermit said to him: "It is a gift of God, but still everyone should be plagued by his sins and feel them, or else it would be a bad sign. For everyone likes to have good days, to which no one is hostile: but if he is God-fearing, he will also have and feel his temptations of the flesh, as St. Paul complains Rom. 7, 14. ff.

The people's safety and diligence in errors.

(Contained in Cap. 1, § 13, sub. 2.)

87. the Epicurer thoughts.

(Contained in Cap. 2, § 114.)

The world's goods and treasures.

The Fuggers can, said D. Martinus, in a hurry raise a ton of gold five or six, which the emperor is not able. N. Fugger has left at 18 tons of gold. It is said that the Fuggers and Welsers once lent the emperor twelve tons of gold in the war before Padua. Augsburg is able to raise thirty tons of gold in three weeks; the emperor cannot.

And the doctor said: That a bishop of Brixen once died in Rome, who had also been a cardinal and very rich, and when he had been dead, no money had been found with him, but only a slip of paper a finger long, which was stuck in his sleeve. When Pope Julius received the same note, he soon thought it was a money note, and soon sent for the Fugger Factor in Rome, and asked him if he did not know the writing? He said: Yes, it was the debt that the Fugger and his company owed to the Cardinal, and made three times a hundred thousand florins. The pope asked, "If he could pay him such money? Fugger's servant said: "Every hour. Then the pope summoned the cardinal from France and England and asked, "Could your king also lay three tons of gold in one hour? They said, "No." Then he said, "A citizen of Augsburg can do that. And the pope Julius received the same money.

The doctor also said that the Fugger in Augsburg should have given the estimate once, and he would have given the answer: He did not know how much he had or how rich he was, so he could not give the estimate. For he had his money in the whole world, in Turkey, Greece, in Alexandria, in France, Portugal, England, in Poland and everywhere; however, he wanted to give the estimate of what he had in Augsburg.

Mr. Doctox also said that he had heard of someone who said that he had received a sheet of cards from the Emperor Maximiliano, on which few words had been written, with which he had come to the Fugger in Augsburg, who had given him thereon

218 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 88-93. 219

He said that he had given him six thousand guilders, which he would have put in his coat and carried with him, so that his servants would not have noticed it. But the doctor said: He would have liked to believe that with the sheet of cards, because in former times small letters would have been written, and great faith would have been held. But to lead the money, so that it would not be noticed, seemed to him a little too mildly spoken.

The world's stinginess.

(Cordatus No. 1482. 1483.)

When Pommer returned from the places to which he had been called, he brought a hundred florins as a gift to the doctor, because he would have deserved them, since he had served in his Bugenhagen's office. He did not want to accept it, and since they argued with each other and Pommer said that many of the people would otherwise say that he was ungrateful, the doctor replied: "For their sake I will not take it, because they would judge Pommern, who is righteous, but they are the most ungrateful of all. For what do they give me, the Pomeranian and others? Nor do they want to burn themselves white.

There is such scratching and clawing under the gospel that it is a shame. I must preach once and touch them, for they make it too rough, so I must make it rough. For if preachers do not punish, evil customs become habits; from these laws and rights are made by evil customs. Therefore preach, whoever can, against that exceedingly ungodly mischief.

90. stinginess is a sign of death: money and goods should not be relied upon.

(Cordatus No. 1022.)

What has money, does not get away, what we see now at the richest rulers. Therefore, away with greed! And when princes have very great treasures, they rely on them completely and perish through them. Since Doctor Hennig Göde counted the sausages in the fire wall, he soon died, and if I took care of building, malting, cooking, I would soon die.

91. the parish priests and preachers avarice.

(Cordatus No. 1090.)

My dear priests also begin to be stingy, always wanting to give a penny or two more than other people, since it behooves them to set a good example for the farmers by going down from such a high price. So it is a bad profit, so that they make themselves bad consciences and give bad examples. Fie on you, you miser.

92: The virtues of Mammon.

Mammon has two virtues: the first is that he makes us safe when things go well, and live without fear of God. The other is that in times of trouble, when things go badly, he teaches us to tempt God, to flee from God, and to seek a foreign god.

93: Pabst's stinginess.

(Lauterbach, Feb. 2, 1538, p. 19. The last paragraph, Aug. 4, 1538. p. 107.)

Pabst's avarice has been the greatest and most insolent, and the devil has chosen Rome for him. That is why the ancients said: Roma radix omnium malorum avaritia. [The first four letters form the word Roma.

of all evil]. 1) And I found this verse in a very old book:

Versus amor Mundi Caput est et Bestia Terrae. 2)

For it would be an abominable handling of avarice, to snatch everything to oneself without the work of hands, without preaching, without the service of the church, but only with superstition and selling of their works. Hence Peter describes their avarice in the strongest terms 2 Pet. 2:14., "They have a heart smitten with avarice." I believe that no one can recognize the nature of avarice unless he knows Rome, for all other deceptions, frauds, avarices are nothing against the Roman superstition. Therefore, at the Diet in Worms, the

1. Some lines of this also in Cordatus No. 31).
2. If the word amor is reversed, it is called Roraa.

220 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 93-95. 221

His Imperial Majesty wanted to abolish it, or they wanted to abolish it. There, they were waiting for my writing "To the German Nobility," which was made known to me by Doctor Wick. At that time, the course of the Gospel began very well, but the three sects, Carlstadt, Münzer and the Anabaptists, hindered it very much. Nevertheless, God promoted it and abolished it through me, without my doing. There is truly a great power of the papacy over all kings and rulers, and I have put this down in the one booklet "Against the Ban". I did not intend to write this booklet against the papacy, but against the abuse. But they were soon frightened, because their conscience accused them.

Luther was told about the tenacity of a very dirty miser who denied his fortune to his own body. He answered: He collects treasures, and does not know for whom? Let us eat and drink as we please, and thank God for His bounty. Others will eat after us.

94. stinginess prevents God's blessing.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 5, 1538, p. 110.)

On that day came his brother Jacob Luther and M. Mich. Cölius and complained a lot about Count Albrecht of Mansfeld that he was the ruin of his people. Luther said: "I am sorry that you have to suffer so much because of his wickedness, so that God's blessing is hindered. For when GOD gives common blessings, as with mines, and a person wants to appropriate it and take GOD captive, GOD flees with His blessings. He wants to be freely uncaptured in His gifts.

The first is that the monasteries and ecclesiastical estates should be seized by princes and lords.

Doctor Luther once said about the table that a true proverb was: "That the goods of the church are wealthy goods, and that the goods of the church do not prosper. And that is what one has from experience, that those who have drawn spiritual goods to themselves end up impoverished and become beggars.

And thereupon he said: Burkhard Hund, Elector Hansen of Saxony, would have said: We of the nobility have drawn the monastery estates under our manors; now the monastery estates have eaten and consumed our manors, so that we have neither monastery estates nor manors anymore. And Doctor Luther told a nice fable about this and said: "Once upon a time, an eagle made friends with a fox, and they agreed to live together. When the fox had made all friendship with the eagle, he had his young in our tree, where the eagle had his young eagles. But the friendship did not last long, for as soon as the eagle did not have food to bring to his young, and the fox was not with his young, the eagle flew down and took the fox's young, and led them into his nest, and let them eat the young eagles. When the fox returned, he saw that his young had been taken away, so he complained to the supreme god Jovi that he wanted to avenge Jus violati hospitii and punish this injuriam. Not long after, when the eagle again had nothing to feed his young, he saw that in a place in the field they sacrificed to Jovi. Therefore he flew there and quickly took a roast from the altar, and brought it to the young eagles in the nest, and flew away again and wanted to get more food. But a glowing coal was left on the roast; when it fell into the nest, it set the nest on fire, and when the young eagles could not fly, they burned with the nest and fell to the earth. And Doctor Luther then said: "That is what happens to those who seize spiritual goods, which are given for God's honor and for the preservation of the ministry of preaching and the service of God: they must lose their nest and young, that is, their manors and other worldly goods, and also suffer harm to body and soul.

At another time, Doctor Luther said: "That the spiritual goods have eagle feathers of a kind and nature; for where they are put with other feathers, they devour and consume them. Thus, if the spiritual goods are placed per fas et nefas among other goods

222 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 95-98. 223

If the two are mixed together, they also consume them, so that one of them ends up with nothing at all.

There was one in Wittenberg, named Severus, who had been preceptor of the Roman king Ferdinandi's sons, who went to Doctor Luther's table. He had said about Doctor Luther's table: There had been a dog in Linz, which had been used to fetch meat from the meat banks in a basket. But when other dogs came to him and wanted to take the meat, he put down the basket and bit his way through them. If they had overpowered him, he would have fallen into the basket with his mouth first and caught a piece of meat, so that he would also get some of it. Then said D. Luther said: "This is exactly what our emperor Carl is doing now; after he has long defended the ecclesiastical goods, and now sees that every prince is seizing the monasteries and convents, he is now also seizing the bishoprics; as he recently seized the bishoprics of Utrecht and Liège, so that he might also get partem de tunica Christi.

96. avarice disrupts and devastates the country and its people.

(Lauterbach, Oct. 2 and 7, 1538, p. 140 f.)

On October 2, he lamented the very miserable confusion of the worldly regime due to the devilish avarice, which hindered all worldly justice, obligations, orders and contracts; everyone was looking to accumulate a lot of money. 1) The stingy do not esteem grain and food as highly as money, which they cannot eat. The world is still all about money, as if soul and body depended on it. God and the neighbor are despised, mammon is served. Dear, look at our times, how the very stingy noblemen, burghers and peasants trample religion underfoot, chase away the preachers by great hunger. If they do not want to build our Lord God's house, their house will fall apart again, as the prophets Haggai and Malachi have said to their despisers.

1. Here in the manuscript is probably interpung incorrectly; the punctum should be after pecuniae.

They were threatened by those who did not want to give anything for worship; therefore God would not give them anything, but they would perish through famine and war. Look at the passages of the prophets there; will it not be the same in our time? There will come terrible times, almost worse than over Sodom 2c.

On October 7, I Lauterbach was forced to go to Grünau Grunnaw to fetch D. Martin home, who was tied up there by the stone of D. Jonas. Jonas, who was suffering from a severe seizure, and said to Jonas: You must be patient and already live according to the laws, for such are the cases of the world, as Terence (Adelph. IV, 8, 21.) says, "as if we played with dice"; we want to move to joys, so we come to suffering.

97. from a stingy farmer.

(Lauterbach, Oct. 23, 1538, p. 156.)

It was reported in letters that a rich farmer had recently brought his grain to the city for sale; but since no one wanted to buy it at his price, he is said to have said: I don't want to give it closer, I would rather go home and let the mice eat it. When he had done this, such a large number of mice suddenly gathered in his house that they gnawed all his grain with a great noise. When he fled from his house to his field, he also found his seeds freed and destroyed by the mice; the others were unharmed. To this Luther said: If this is true, it is a certain sign of God's punishment, but unfortunately! of the ungrateful world a sign of wrath.

98. D. M. L. Admonition and warning against avarice.

In the year 39, the Lord was very angry and vehement against the stinginess of the peasants, who throw away the grain and leave it lying around until it becomes expensive: that, praise God, he said, three peasants have hanged themselves all ready. Such fellows, who rob and toil the whole land, are worthy of such punishment. For this theurge is a wanton theurge. God

224 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 98-102. 225

There would still have been enough, it also still grows -all days; only that the devil possessed us, to make wanton theurge, become murderers and thieves of our neighbor. For Christ will say in that day, "I was hungry, and you did not feed me," Matt. 25:42. Only do not think that you will escape punishment by selling the grain at such a high price, for you are a cause of the poor man's death and destruction: the devil will lead you away. Therefore, those who fear God and trust in Him, pray for daily bread and against these robbers, so that they may be disgraced or reformed.

That princes and lords may become stingy, and take to themselves all merchandise and food.

It is said that in some places in the papacy it was customary to paint the first letters of the three holy kings, C. M. B., which signify their names, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, over the doors of the holy three kings' eves: over these three letters C. M. B. one used to paint a cross. This should mean that the devil should have no power or authority in these places. When a stranger saw this in one place and did not know what the cross and the three letters meant, he asked one of them; the latter answered him and said: "The three letters mean the virtue of princes, counts and noblemen, because they now want to be cretzmars and alehouses, item, millers and brewers and take to themselves all trades and civil food. When the other asked what the cross written over it meant, he replied: "It means that one should beware of them. This must have been a real prankster who interpreted the letters in this way.

100. of miserly men who make mischievous theurge.

Anno 39, April 7, D. M. L. gave a written, serious admonition to D. Creuzigern, to the Rath, 1) therein he asked that they want-.

1. Cf. also Luther's letter of April 9 to the Elector John Frederick. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 414.

The poor people had to be careful that they did not go hungry. For there was such a shortage the same day that neither bread nor rolls could be had for the money; so he secretly gave the council a felt for the sake of carelessness. In the evening, one of the mayors, Lucas Cranach, came to him and excused the council, saying that the grain had been held up for them in the Mark by an arrest and grief. There spoke D. M. Luther said: "Alas, that our prince is not in the country! The nobility is very brazen and unfaithful: they buy all the grain from the peasants and lay it down, thus hindering the grain, making a wanton theurge, since God's punishment is not yet there. There belongs a prince who talks with such squires.

The first is a book about the history of the world.

(Contained in Cap. 59, A 6, para. 3.)

102. of the nobility's avarice.

The nobility has a fine and honest food, so does the peasant, because agriculture is a divine food, and the dear patriarchs also had this food, because this food comes straight down from heaven. But what do the nobles do? They scratch and scrape, proliferate, and are in a state of upheaval, and have the falbel, 2) because they want to make their children princes and lords. Some of them are so stingy that they would like to give their children an annual income of ten thousand guilders. Then the children turn out badly, and our Lord God blows into the badly won property, so that everything is pulverized and torn to pieces. Oh, that one should get rich by stealing, it does not do. "Benedictio Damini divites facit," says Solomon in his Proverbs, Cap. 10, 22. That was a wise man. And I have grown old and have also found out whether I do not have a great experience, for I was a monk up to my fourteenth year: but in

2. Perhaps the "Fallübel" in the saying used by Luther: "Was Fallübel gehe den, der es besser macht, als er kann. Wittb. Ausg. Bd. Ill, col. 463a.

226- Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 102-104. 227

In the twenty years that I have seen the world, I have seen so many miserable cases and miseries that it is exceedingly clear that you will also see how our citizens here will fare; they will not bring their usurped and ambitious goods to the third heir.

The old Margrave Joachim, Elector of Brandenburg, once said to Duke Frederick of Saxony: "How do you princes of Saxony strike such heavy coins? In our regiment alone, we have won about three tons of gold from it. Behold, this has happened in about forty years. The land was open to him, he could bring the good coin out, melt it in the crucible, and have Markian pennies struck from it, and bring the same coin back to the Electorate. But where does this good come from? It is a pitiful thing that people are so blind and do not see such things, quod quando peccant, tum sibi ipsis ruinam parant. As the Holy Scripture says in the 73rd Psalm, v. 18: "Dejicis eos, dum attolluntur." It is a hard word: "Tolluntur in altum, ut lapsu graviore ruant." Now the noblemen have thought up a new discovery and say: "May I not do what I want with what is mine? They have learned this from the Gospel. Nun? Yes, the knife is mine, so I may stick it in the neck. It is true, they are Domini suarum rerum, sed non alienarum. If I give one five florins for ten, what is that? are they not thieves and robbers?

Two of them were reported to D. Martino that they made theft with the grain, as Friedrich B., Tylo D., 1) and was asked: Whether they also had the power to hinder the grain of land on the common market? Luther answered: "It is only human malice; what would happen if God's punishment were to come? Oh, dear Lord God! If the world is so evil, I will gladly die, even of hunger, that I may get away. Then he said to the mayor, "The bailiff is a cause, who has had some grain carried away on ships. As he once said: "If the citizens would

1. According to Bindseil II, 164: Friedrich Brandt and Thilo Dene, the latter mayor of Wittenberg.

If he could not make good beer and sell it cheaply, he would make the barley expensive before they wiped their mouths. This speech of his makes me suspect him. God has blessed us wonderfully in this sandy land, more than the Thuringian soil, which is a land rich in grain.

On May 14, Friedrich Brandt sent to D. M. Luthern and apologized for the suspicion, as if he should pour out the grain and be in the company of the envelope; indicated that D. Martin's letter had moved him very much; asked, he did not want to believe such from him. D. Martin answered and said: I have admonished and warned him, but conscientia mille testes adest, conscience is there, that will convince him, tell him: Hoc fac, et vives: do this, and you will live. If he is pious, there is no need.

103. stinginess takes away God's blessings.

(Lauterbach, Apr. 3, p. 54.)

After that, some tyrants were remembered who, out of avarice, oppressed their subjects and lost the blessing of God, mowing down everything in the purest way, as Ferdinand, Duke George and Count Albrecht of Mansfeld did in the mine, which they would not build on their own. It is an atrocious thing about the insatiable greed that would kill itself. As it is said of Duke George, when he had filled a spacious vault with silver and thalers, he is said to have said: Come back first, what we may not bring in here, we want to find another place. Moses did not wrongly command (Deut. 19, 10.) that the vine and the harvest should not be cut down so purely, but also left for the poor. But because avarice is insatiable, there is no end to the gathering of treasure, because such people hinder the blessing of God to themselves and others.

104 On the Avarice of the Thuringian Peasants.

(Lauterbach, May 21, 1538, p. 84.)

Erfurt used to be very productive in terms of crops, but now it is subject to the curse. It is more expensive there than in Wittenberg. I saw this a year ago

228 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 104-109. 229

and considered, because they had small bread and black bread. Oh, no one takes care of the worldly regiment. They only collect money, and so we lose the blessing of God. They have such wine wax there that one can give a jug for three pennies; if they had only half the wine wax, they would be very rich. But since the wine was in great quantity, they could not deny it, gave the wine for the wood.

105. Christians should not be stingy.

When people complained about the great stinginess of the people, even at the time of the Gospel, that they did not want to help anyone in need, D. M. Luther said. M. Luther said: "Well, let it be that our hearts are not inclined to give, but a Christian should be mindful of his position and office and of love, so that he may be charitable and gladly give, and give to the poor who are in need, and do it with a cheerful heart, for the sake of God, who will reward it abundantly, as He promised in Luc. 6, 38: "Pray, and it shall be restored unto you"; as Solomon says, Proverbs 19, 17: "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to God by usury." Just as again the Strauesgütlein i) are, who waste and spill everything; as the wise pagan Seneca said to a waster: You have a plague and disease, which is called, Gaudens dando, have desire and joy to give and use everything there. For such a waste is also not to be praised, as one who despises rationality and gives away without distinction and need.

106. of the avarice of the people, especially when the gospel is taught.

We now learn, said D. Martinus, since people are taught righteously about God and worship, as well as about right good works, how even an abominable avarice has possessed the hearts of almost all and most of them. No one shows charity to the poor, as he should; they devise various ways and means to increase all things and goods and to make the most of them.

1. Straues from: to scatter, to disperse; hence the opinion of the word "Strauesgütlein": those who are too good, so that they waste everything, squanderers.

even in the most trivial matters. But what is spent on church servants and schools, as such things are very small, is considered great and high. Therefore, it is not only a great shame, but also a great sin at this time, that it is seen that many parishes are either completely deserted or miserably neglected and abandoned because of people's avarice.

But look at the former times, when there was no true religion and people were led to idolatry and idolatry, and trust in their own self-chosen works; there was no measure nor end to giving, there it was only cutting with all power. Everyone was willing to give, all monasteries full of monks, all monasteries full of chasubles were fed, and enough was given to them, yes, all superfluous: Churches were adorned and decorated with silver and gold in the most beautiful and abundant way, yes, they were showered. Therefore this blindness of the world is to be deplored.

107. No one lets himself be satisfied.

We are of the kind, said D. M. Luther, if we have a penny, we would like to have a florin, and if we have a florin, we would like to have a hundred 2c.; if I have a candel of beer, I would like to have the barrel of beer. So the peasants do, they would like to be citizens, citizens noblemen, noblemen princes 2c. That is, not to be satisfied in bodily matters, which happens much less in spiritual matters.

(108) Avarice corrupts and hinders God's blessings.

(Cordatus No. 1553.)

Grain will never again be bought as cheaply as before, for our sins deserve punishment, and usury has become too great.

109. stinginess.

(Lauterbach) Aug. 8, 1538, p. 111.)

Old wines are cramped, because wines that are three years old are no longer strong. The godless miserly ones may pack themselves away, which they keep for a long time, until they become nasty. They hinder God's blessing and man's joy, as the bishop of Würzburg, the

230 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 109-112. 231

hewed out a cellar completely in a rock, wanted to get several hundred barrels in it without containers, but his covetousness failed him.

110. of those who are attached to the world's wealth.

A man who has surrendered to the world's riches and honor, and yet forgets his soul and God, is like a little child who holds in his hand an apple that is beautiful in shape and outward color, and thinks it has something good, but inside it is rotten and full of worms.

D. M. Luther's Table Talks on Commerce and Usury.

111. of trafficking and usury.

A civil and lawful trade is blessed by God, that one out of twenty pennies has one, but an ungodly and unrighteous profit in trade is cursed. Like Melchior Lotther, 1) book printer, who from his books, which I gave him to print, gained a great money, that one penny acquired two. It has carried in the first mighty much, so that Hans Grünenberger, the printer, said with conscience: Doctor, it carries too much, I may not have such copies; it was a God-fearing man, therefore he was also blessed by God.

(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 595.)

It would be considered a cheap rate or profit if twenty pennies gained one, which would make five florins from the hundred. But now they simply want a penny to make one or two, and a hundred florins two hundred, and such people do not become rich, at least not in goods that remain to them.

The Romans have forbidden to take twelve from the hundred, but now they may take all Leipzig markets from the hundred fifteen guilders, that does annually eight and forty guilders, is just the twenty-fifth. Fie you

1. Rebenftock I, 222a.

times! When sin is no longer considered sin, there is neither counsel nor help; but I hope God will come with the last day, as soon as the word of the gospel will cease.

112. legitimate profit.

In 42, on July 14, Dominus Jakob Prepositus, pastor of Bremen, came to Wittenberg, who had been Luther's companion and brother in the monastery, an old, pious, sincere, learned and God-fearing man, so that he might see his father, Martinum, once again. Then they talked with each other, and first of all they thought of the usury in which Flanders and the Low Countries were drowned. Thereupon spoke D. M. Luther said: "The whole world is drowned and flooded in usury, so that without any fear or hesitation people steal, rob and steal as much as anyone can; therefore those who have invented and practice it should be punished and condemned. If five or six out of a hundred were taken, we would be satisfied, if only there were a pledge that could bear it. And if such a trial were held that the principal sum should not be claimed by the one who lent it, but by the one who borrowed it, so that the redemption would be with the seller and not with the buyer, we would let it happen that six percent should be taken; for the goods have increased, so that it can be used. But the buyer, who has lent the money, shall also bear the risk if the house burns down or the field is washed away, or falls into ruin, or otherwise suffers noticeable damage, so that it cannot bear or pay the interest. And such danger of the pledge makes this contract right; not the re-purchase or the redemption. Oh, how blessed we would be if we could persuade the people to do so; but the devilish usury and turnover eat up everything, so the emperor in his fatherland gives twelve out of a hundred. Fie on you!

D. Martin Luther was asked by a pious, God-fearing man who had lent a hundred florins to someone who had asked him against it.

232 Cap. 4. of the well and its kind. §112-119. 233

out of good will and good cheer, let a cellar be used: whether he would also do it with a good conscience? Then the doctor said, "It must be a pious man who wants to have a conscience about this; why would he not take one service after another?

113. from usurers.

Public usurers are to be banished, as I have now done to the nobleman Heinrich Ryder, that is, he is not to be given the sacrament. But one of them said, "How, if he repented and reformed? M. Luther answered, "That has its measure; but he must become a Zacchaeus and give back what he has robbed too much from those he has robbed, or he will not repent properly. According to the laws described, he cannot keep it with a right and good conscience, let alone according to divine laws. And whoever eats and drinks with him makes himself partaker of his sins.

114. question.

One of them asked M. Luther: If a poor man were in need of money, and had no pledge, would he also take money for his business of advertising? Then he said, "Let him live on his poverty, and feed himself with God and honor; do not sin, nor do wrong, for money is round and perishable, and soon vanishes. So we should not sell the skill of advertising and winning, for it is uncertain. But the people are to be kept to manual labor, and the rich are to be exhorted to works of mercy.

We do not reject worldly and civil commerce and food, which are just and fair, without avarice and deceit. But we see that the world is not to be reformed, is hopeful and proud, and still boasts of evil deeds and misdeeds. What a jumble is now in Leipzig, which is drowned in avarice. Summa, mundus est diaboli, Genitivi casus, et diaboli, Nominativi casus. The world is of the devil, and the people have become vain devils.

1. Cf. cap. 21, 8 4, last paragraph. In Förstemann it is called oar.

115. sermon Dollar Martin Luthers wider den Wucher.

In 39, April 13, Luther preached a very harsh and sharp sermon against the avarice of usurers, saying: "They are worthy of all disgrace and cursing and are the greatest enemies of the countries, strangling many people with their shameful avarice and usury. And very beautifully acted the saying of Solomon: "He who has mercy on the poor lends to God on usury," Proverbs 19:17.

116. from avarice N. N.

(Lauterbach, Jan. 9, 1538, p. 5.)

On the ninth of January, Melanchthon dined with Luther and said much about the cases of the world, which have various influences on the minds of men, and about M. Vitus Winsheim, who, devoted to avarice, had a very good judgment about good and bad florins. The doctor then said: "If my husband had had such a mind, he would have become very rich. Philip answered, "That is impossible, for a mind that is intent on the common good cannot pursue self-interest.

117. unfair trade.

(Cordatus No. 1316.)

It is an unequal trade if one has it in his will to set the price as he wants, the other is in need; for the latter respects the goods according to his liking.

118. stinginess does not let people use their goods with joy.

(Contained in Cap. 3, § 14.)

Wealth makes people hopeful and stingy.

Where there is great good, there are also all kinds of sins; for good makes courage, courage makes war, and war brings poverty, poverty brings humility. Therefore the rich will also have to give a great account; for to whom much is commanded, he must calculate much. Wealth, understanding, beauty are fine and beautiful gifts of God, but we misuse them very badly. However, great intellect and a skilful

234 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. §119-123. 235

A head full of sense is also an evil thing if it turns out badly; for it is said: Qui velit ingenio cedere, nullus erit. No one wants to depart from his mind and head; he wants to be right. It is much better for a man to be a little beautiful under his face, for a disease may come and take it away; but the ingenium, the mind and head, cannot soon be changed. It is written Gen. 3, 5: "You will be like God"; yes, I also mean, we are gods. This disease is innate in us from Adam: You will be like God.

120. goods the least gifts.

Wealth is the least thing on earth and the smallest gift that God has given to a man. What is it against God's word? Yes, what is it against bodily gifts, as beauty, health? and against the gifts of the mind, as understanding, art, wisdom? We still strive so diligently for them, and let no work, toil, or danger hinder us or prevent us. One strives day and night to accomplish much and great good, and has no rest; yet materialis, formalis, efficiens et finalis causa, nor is there anything good in it. Therefore, our Lord God commonly gives wealth to gross asses, to whom he does not grant anything else.

The buyer of a thing shall bear the damage and stand the risk.

If I sell my field to someone, take a hundred guilders and give five of them; if the Elbe comes and washes it all away, the buyer shall bear the damage, not I. Just as if I sell a horse to someone and hand it over to him; if it dies soon afterwards, the damage is the buyer's, not mine, the seller's. The risk of the goods and the property is his who buys it, he must keep it. Res enim transit cum periculo; qui emit, is eam curet. For the seller no longer owns the goods or has them under his control, but he who bought them from me for a hundred guilders, to him I will give five of them annually at interest, and therefore he must also bear the damage.

122 Positiones und Schlussreden vom Wucher zu Wittenberg disputiret.

D. M. Luther were brought Pofitiones and Schlussreden vom Wucher, which Ulrich Mordeisen of Leipzig was to disputiren, since he wanted to become Doctor, praesidente D. Doctore Hieronymo Schurff. Then he said: If I wanted to argue, then I wanted to use the argument, namely: Everything that God has permitted - and forbidden, that is good; God, however, has forbidden usury; Ergo, therefore 2c. Then one said: Usury is against nature and natural law, why then did God forbear and permit it? Answered D. M. Luther: "To others, as to the Gentiles, as a punishment, for they, the Jews, do not take usury one from another. Ps. 109, 11. And he said further: "The proofs are very well and precisely put together, I can see that he is poking at me with a word in them; but they please me well, if only the lawyers would also think about them, but no one wants to open their mouths.

I have often asked D. Hieronymum often asked him to write a book against usury, and he was willing to do so; but where is it? If they also instructed the princes and lords in this way, as they write and teach about it in the school, and said: Most gracious lord, you have the cry, therefore stop it E. F. G., or I will recite my service to you. But this is not de pane lucrando, there is nothing in the kitchen. Then one said: Every man has his infirmity and sin; if one should do that, then one would also often have to show him other vitia, deficiencies and vices. Answered D. Martin: Ei, this is a lame argument and quite unequal, because adultery is not in my hand nor power and do not have, therefore I replace it again and restituire. But with money and property it is another thing, because I have the same in the box.

123) From one who is willing to lend money usurpingly.

A great, rich prince and lord, since he was about to die and his soul was on the tip of his tongue, was persuaded by his friends and advisors to make a will that one hundred thousand florins, which he had with him, should be put into trade in Leipzig.

236 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 123-12b. 237

This is a beautiful penance, said D. M. Luther. M. Luther; if some were left to die in this way, without sacrament and consolation, the others would be offended by it. So now, unfortunately, it has come to this, that one says: O! good works, my piety does not make me blessed, therefore I will be stingy, proliferate, and do what pleases me and is good for me 2c., and if I am to die, then I will have absolution pronounced. Yes, dear companion, St. Augustine says: God has promised you that he will be merciful to you, but do you also know that he will be merciful to you if you have not wanted his mercy out of spite, in your fresh, young and healthy days? Oh how I would like to preach now, if I were strong.

Then one said: It would be too hard and unkind, if one should not have the power nor the right to demand the main sum, which he has lent, again according to his opportunity. Likewise, if the pledge would perish from water, fire 2c., that the damage should be the buyer's, not the seller's? Answer: Well, with this one has glossed over the usury and disguised to put the money on interest. If you have money, and a pious poor man comes to you and asks you for it, then lend and help him according to your ability; this is the right of a Christian. One of them said, "Yes, they don't give you anything back? Answer: You have to wait. Therefore a Christian must have the three things: 1. he must give, 2. he must lend, and 3. he must suffer: but the none, or ever so little, is more to be done in the world.

124. question.

(Cordatus No. 970-974.)

With a clear conscience, he who has set aside a few guilders can say that he has no money to spend when someone asks him to lend.

Speaking of lending, John l. Ep. 3, 17. speaks of the needy brother, and Christ speaks Luc. 6, 30. of him that asketh, that is, of the needy, not of an idle man, not of prodigals, who are commonly the greatest beggars, because none of these is helped by lending.

In this city no one is needy except the students. Poverty is great in the city, laziness even greater. You can't get them to work with money, they all prefer to beg.

I will not take my wife and children's bread and give it to those who are not helped by it. But one who is truly poor must be helped from the heart.

Therefore, the passages that speak of alms are not to be interpreted in relation to the idle, for example this Luc. 3:11: "He who has two coats, let him give one to him who has none. But by the one coat the Scripture means all the clothing of which the truly needy man has need according to his condition and need, as it calls bread all food.

The devil tries to make us monks again through almsgiving and to give godless idlers the opportunity to indulge and eat. They all wanted to get rich with me before, there was no end to the begging.

125. borrow.

If you lend, you will not get it back. If they give it back to you, it will not happen so soon, and so well and good. But if it does, you lose a good friend.

126. from the game.

Cards and dice games are the meanest now, because this world has invented many and various games, it has, truly, well solved. When I was a boy, all games were forbidden, so that the card makers, pipers and minstrels were not allowed to go to the sacrament, and had to confess from playing, dancing and other spectacles and shows, if they had practiced it or watched it and had been there. Now it goes in high pregnancy, and one defends it for exercise of the mind 2c.

Alas, said D. M. Luther, the world is full of usurers! I would be content to take five, six or even seven of the hundred, because the goods have increased, with a pledge; but so that it can bear such interest, and that the buyer does not have the power to demand the main sum again. Since

238 Cap. 4. of the world and its kind. § 126-128. 239

But if no pledge is put up, but only money is badly lent at interest, and one has to demand the principal sum for a certain time, then it is not right. For money is a barren commodity; it does not bear and raise money again, since it is sown in the same way as grain is sown; I cannot sell it by my skill. Therefore the present dealings with money are unjust and against God, which destroy and drain the land and the people.

One of them said, "Why don't princes and lords punish such unlawful and unchristian trades and usury? M. Luther answered: What! Kings, princes, and lords have other things to do, they have to panketiren, prangen, hagen 2c., cannot wait for it: therefore it goes and stands also, as long as it can, it must break and a great unpredictable change must follow. But I hope that the last day will soon put an end to it.

127. from boozing.

I recently, said D. M. Luther, preached a hard and sharp sermon at court against drinking; but it does not help. Taubenheim and Minkwitz say: It could not be otherwise at court, because the musica and all knightly and string playing would have fallen, only with boozing would now be the worship at courts. And indeed our most gracious lord and prince is a great strong lord, can well stand a good drink, his need makes a

If he were a drunkard, his lady would not have it good. But when I come to the prince again, I will do no more than ask him to command his subjects and courtiers everywhere, with serious punishment, that they should get drunk. Perhaps, if it were commanded, they would do the contrary; quia nitimur in vetitum, what is forbidden, against it one gladly does.

The world always wants new things, soon gets tired of one thing.

(Cordatus No. 961. 962.)

The ingratitude and vanity of the world cannot be expressed in words. Before the New Testament was translated, everyone wanted it to be translated. When it was translated, they loved it for four weeks and wanted the Old Testament to be translated. This also lasted four weeks and the Psalter also four weeks. The book of Jesus Sirach, 1) which now causes much trouble, will also last four weeks after it is translated, and after that the people will desire something new until they fall into error.

The book of Jesus Sirach is entirely about the house, so the "Ecclesiastes" is about the world regiment. It is house law and city law.

1. The book Jesus Sirach was finished in 1533, therefore in this year these words will be spoken. (Wrampelmeyer.)

Chapter 5.

From idolatry.

1. what idolatry is.
2. to establish worship without God's command.
3. the nature and character of the idolaters or works saints.
4. from the idolatry of Baal Peor.
5. idolatry of Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.
6. Jeroboam's calves and the cast calf of the Jews.

7 Idolatry is naturally inherited by us.

8. where idolatry initially come from.

(9) Apart from Christ, all worship is idolatry.

10. 11. Idolatry and its punishment.
11. end of idolatry and idolatrous.
12. beginning of idolatry.
13. from the Astrologia.

The world is full of idolatry.

16. idolatry in the papacy.
17. that Jacob put away foreign gods, and from Cain.
18. idolatry and superstition is common to all.
19. warriors have commonly had and used a lot of superstitions in the papacy.
20. the pagans' monkey work of the holy of holies and others.
21. of the golden calf.
22. of the sacrifice of the people.
23. idolatry, which is practiced with the monks and nuns.

(24) The idolatry of false teachers is for all time.

25. 26. Of idolatry in invocation of the saints.
26. of foreign gods.

What idolatry is.

240 Cap. 5: Of idolatry. § 1-3. 241

1. what idolatry is.

Idolatry is and means all kinds of holiness, worship and spiritual being, glittering from the outside as beautifully and gloriously as it can, plus all kinds of heated and ardent devotion of the heart, of those who want to serve God without Christ, the mediator, without his word and special command. For example, in the papacy, it was considered one of the most spiritual works when the monks sat in their cells and wrote about God and His wonderful works; when they were so fervently inflamed in their great devotion that they lay on their knees, prayed and had their contemplation of heavenly things with such great joy and devotion that they thought they had great joy. Then they cast out all thoughts of women and all that is perishable, thinking only of God and His great wondrous works. All this, which reason considers to be vain angelic spirituality, is still a work of the flesh, as St. Paul clearly indicates when he speaks Gal. 5:19, 20: "But the works of the flesh are manifest, which are adultery, fornication, idolatry, sorcery" 2c.

Therefore, all kinds of religion (let it have a name and appearance, as great and holy as it may be), since one wants to serve God without His word and command, is nothing else but idolatry. And the holier and more spiritual they seem, the more harmful and poisonous they are; for they lead people away from faith in Christ, and make them rely on their own powers, works, righteousness; as this time of the Anabaptists is also, who want to be far better than others 2c. And of all monks, especially of the Carthusians, order, fasting, praying, hard shirts, the most holy works, rule and whole life, which state, however, was held in the papacy the most holy, are vain carnal works: for they hold that they are holy and become blessed, not through Christ, whom they regard and fear as a strict, wrathful judge, but through their order rules.

So now no one can persuade the papists that the corner mass is the greatest blasphemy and idolatry on earth, the like of which has been so abominable in Christendom since the beginning of time.

The apostles' time has never been, for they are blinded and hardened. Therefore all their understanding and knowledge of God and all divine things is also perverse and wrong, considering that to be the right and greatest worship, which is the greatest and most abominable idolatry. And again, that is idolatry, which is the right and best worship, but to know Christ and believe in him. But we, who believe in Christ and have his mind, can, praise God, know and judge everything, but can be judged by no one with truth, 1 Cor. 2:15.

2. setting up worship without God's command.

One of them asked: How can one prove that whoever establishes a church service out of good opinion and devotion, without God's word and command, is lacking the right God and serves a foreign god? He answered: A man honors and calls upon God for this reason, that he turns to Him for comfort, help and all good things. If the same invocation and honor happens according to God's word, that man turns to God for all graces because of his promise and promise made to us in Christ, he honors and calls on the true, living, eternal God. But if he performs a work or service of God out of his own devotion and discretion, in order to appease God's wrath, to obtain forgiveness of sins, eternal life and blessedness, as is the way of all hypocrites and saints of works, then he honors and worships an idol that he himself has invented in his heart, contrary to God's command and commandment, and is an idolater and idolater; and it does not help him to think, I do it in honor of the right God: "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. 14, 23.

3. the nature and character of the idolaters or works saints.

(Cordatus No. 887.)

The idolaters do as the musicians do, for as often as God wants them for His service, He cannot make them do it. Although he preaches to them in his word the way, the time and the place of his service, he does not make them do it.

242 Cap. 5: On idolatry. § 3-5. 243

they do not want. All hypocrites, papists, and even all natural people do the same. All of them want to worship God and seek Him as He does not want them to, in high groves 2c. So let him wait for us, because it annoys him. Idolatry is God's angerer, irritant, challenger and embitterer of His house, of which God says Jer. 11:8: they have chosen their own ways, and I will confront them for their inventions.

4. Baal Peor's idolatry.

The Jews write to the Gentiles out of envy and annoyance: It was such a service and such a way, that before the image of Baal Peor, one has torn open and thrown one's butt. This is not the opinion, for all idolatries and idolatry have ever been so arranged that they have had a semblance of spirituality and holiness. But I think it was such an influx and service, as with us in the Pabstthum St. Valten, 1) St. Antonius, Cyriaci and Rochi, and the like; that Baal Peor should not do harm to the people, nor spoil them with pestilence, cold fire, Sanct Valtens pestilence, or other plagues.

Also I consider it to have been a disorder, similar to our pilgrimages and church masses, that they (as written in Ex. 32, 6. of the idolatry of the cast calf) got up early in the morning, prayed and sacrificed, then ate and drank, and later here two, there two got together and went out under the bushes to do their baptism 2c. The way has been very common before this time in the Pabstthum with the pilgrimages that one has visited in the cross week of the holy place or churches, about a half, whole, two or three mile way from the cities. And when two could not come together to commit their fornication, they went to such pilgrimages, atoned for their lust, but under the pretense of the holy service. There is still much of this abominable nature under the cursed papacy; may God put an end to it, amen.

1. d. i. Valentin.

5. idolatry of Moloch, the Ammonite idol.

This idolatry has had a great appearance and glorious prestige, as if it were dearer and more pleasing to God than the common worship commanded by Moses in the Law. Therefore, many people who seemed devout, spiritual and holy from the outside, when they wanted to show God a pleasing service, sacrificed their sons and daughters out of great love and devotion in honor of God, as they thought, and thought that by such work they would become righteous and dear children of God. They did not mean otherwise, for in this they followed Abraham's example, Genesis 22, and pleased God with it.

Against this the prophets preached fiercely, calling it sacrificed to idols and devils, not to God, as the 106th Psalm, v. 37, 38, testifies: "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the devils, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, which they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And Jer. 32:35: "They have built the high places of Baal in the valley of Benhinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters to Moloch, whereof I commanded them not; neither did it ever enter into my mind that they should do such abomination. "2c. Jeremiah continued on 7. But the prophets had to lie and be damned heretics.

This idolatry was also common in the papacy, but in a different way. The parents were praised blessed who gave one or more children into the monasteries, so that they became monks or nuns, since they could serve God day and night 2c. Hence the common saying: "Blessed is the mother who has given birth to a child who has become a spiritual person.

These sons and daughters were not burned in the flesh and sacrificed to idols, like those mentioned above, but they were thrown into the jaws of the devil, who, through his apostles, the pope and his multitude, miserably murdered their souls with false doctrine, so that they relied on their works 2c. Now, "he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning", Joh. 8, 44. This his handiwork he does without ceasing, daily murdering in many ways.

244 Cap. 5. Of idolatry. 8'5-10. 245

Wise countless people all over the world. Those he cannot kill physically, he kills spiritually, through lies and false teaching, but under the appearance of truth and wholesome teaching. Summa, "he goes about" without ceasing "like a roaring lion" 2c. Know how to judge thyself, "that thou be sober and watchful, and resist him steadfastly in the faith," 1 Pet 5:8, 9.

Of the idol Moloch spoke Anno 1540 D. Luther (as M. Hieronymus Besold, blessed, has diligently written it out), that the holy scripture often remembers Moloch, and that Lyra and the Jews' Commentarii said that it would have been an idol, made of copper and brass, like a man, who would have held his hands in front of him, in which they would have put glowing coals. When the brass image became hot, a father went and sacrificed to the idol, took his own child and placed it in the idol's glowing hands. However, they rang and tolled with bells and cymbals and blew horns so that the parents did not hear the child's cry. Against this all the prophets cried out, especially Jeremiah (Cap./, 31. 19, 5. 32, 35.). And the prophets write that Ahaz sacrificed his son in this way. (2 Kings 16:3) In the 106th Psalm, v. 37, it also says this. All this was done out of the opinion and tradition that they had thought: If I sacrifice to our Lord God, I will sacrifice something delicious to Him; what shall I sacrifice to Him, a calf? I will sacrifice My own son to Him.

6. Jeroboam's calves, and that cast of the Jews.

The calves remain in the world forever, until the last day, not that anyone should make and have made for him new calves like those; but in whom a man, putting his trust and confidence in God, makes for him, like Jeroboam, calves, that is, other and strange gods, which he honors and worships instead of the one, right, living and eternal God, who alone can and will counsel and help in all distress. So now all these calves serve, who abandon themselves

on their art, wisdom, strength, holiness, wealth, honor, power, alliance, good fortifications, fortresses, and in sum, on everything, be it what it may, since the world builds on and defies them; for such reliance on perishable creatures is true idolatry and idolatrousness.

7. idolatry is naturally inherited.

(Cordatus No. 1034.)

We all easily fall into idolatry because we are all idolaters by nature, and since idolatry is innate in us, we like it very much.

8. from where idolatry initially arose.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 151.)

(9) Apart from Christ, all worship is idolatry.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Btief to the Galatians, > Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 153.)

10. idolatry and its punishment.

Idolatry is called and is, if everything is not done, taught and done according to God's word, as it prescribes and teaches us. For where one wants to serve God, one must consider not what one does and the work, but how it is to be done, whether God has also commanded it, since "God" (as Samuel says 2 Sam. 15, 22.) "is more pleased with the obedience of His word than with the burnt offering.

Therefore, whoever does not obey God's voice is an idolater, even if he praises the highest and most difficult divine services. For it is the characteristic of idolaters that they do not choose what is easy and small to look at, but what is great and difficult. Such things have been seen in monks, who always and almost daily devise new services; but because God has not commanded it in His word, it is vain idolatry, along with it and always blasphemy, contempt for God's word, avarice, injustice, violence, unjust courts and judgments, and the like.

246 Cap. 5: Of idolatry. § 10-12. 247

For what men set up for worship without God's word and command is idolatry; as the Scriptures say.

Therefore, one should flee idolatry with the utmost diligence, as it is not followed by evil punishment, but by final and extreme destruction. For since God punishes the injustice done to one's neighbor with terrible scourges, as is seen in the prophets and histories, how much more severely and cruelly will he punish when he sees that his honor is defiled and oppressed by godless people through idolatry, false doctrine and idolatry? Oh, the punishment will be much greater than a man's heart can think or his tongue can utter.

11. a different.

All worship that is performed without God's command is ungodly and idolatry. Although such worship is praised in fathers who had God's command. And from this rule all monasticism and idolatry in the priesthood and elsewhere can be judged and judged.

12. end of idolatry and idolatrous.

The life of idolaters is not only arduous, for they do not celebrate or rest, and they get sour, but idolatry is sure to be followed by misfortune and ruin, even if it is blissful in the first place, and receives great goods and power. On the other hand, the right, true, pure religion must suffer hunger and sorrow, be fiercely contested and persecuted. But how the idolaters use such goods can be seen in the papacy, in foundations, at the courts of cardinals and bishops, and it happens with them just as Moses says: "When he was fat and full, he became lustful" 2c. Deut. 31, 20.

And the secular authorities defend and protect such ungodly beings and abominations; for kings and princes (which the Scriptures call shields Ps. 47:10 because of their office, which they should serve with their power) are commonly patrons of ungodly beings and idolatry. But what will be the end of it? Namely, as Samuel says in 1 Sam. 12, 25: "If you do evil, you will be wronged.

then both you and your king will be lost." For idolatries, which one performs and does in order to avert God's wrath, provoke God to anger even more. Thus, the papists of today, with their masses, pilgrimages, and invocations to the saints, do nothing but promote their ruin and downfall, and hasten to punish them. For God can suffer nothing less than contempt of His word, which always follows idolatry for and for. From this comes strife and dissension, hatred and enmity of the right pure doctrine, and murder; for the idolaters want to defend their false doctrine and idolatry, not only with insults and blasphemies, but also with their fists.

Therefore, God is forced on both sides to look into it and to judge, so that the godly are not oppressed, and the idolaters do not go unpunished, because they have deviated from God's word and have created new services, with which the other simple and unintelligent people, as entangled and confused with nets, may not come to the right knowledge of God. Which sin, however, those who are in the teaching and preaching ministry should punish 'freely and unashamedly, regardless of their high dignity and dignity. For the prophets, as seen in Hosea, chap. 5:1, not only punish the house of Israel in general, but also publicly name the priests in particular; item, the king's house, that is, the king himself and the whole court. They did not ask that there was great danger that the authorities were thus publicly punished and touched, and that they were scorned for it, and that their sermons were reproached as seditious. For another and greater danger pressed upon them, namely, that they saw that by such examples of the authorities the subjects were also seduced and provoked to sin.

Therefore it is highly necessary to punish the founders and masters or perpetrators of such offenses, especially if they are in high offices, powerful and learned; although it is not without danger. Above all, however, the abuses in the papacy and other errors are to be punished with seriousness, and one is to

248 Cap. 5: On idolatry. § 12-16. 249

Do not turn to the judgment of the worldly wise nor be deterred, who think that the right pure doctrine could nevertheless be preserved, if one did it carefully and cleanly, that one dealt with it gently and quietly, and for the sake of common peace let the adversaries pass and go a little, see through the fingers, do not lead with the seed bell. No, dear sirs, the danger of arousal is greater, which righteous, faithful teachers and preachers can neither counsel nor control in any other way than to freely and unashamedly punish what they see to be evil and wrong, false and seductive.

13. beginning of idolatry.

I hold, said D. M. Luther, that idolatry has its origin and has come from the right religion: that the holy fathers commanded their children and told them to pray early; after that the descendants worshipped the sun early. As then all idolatry commonly has its beginning from imitating the right worship, and wants to embellish itself with a semblance of divine word and the pious examples that have had God's command. .

(The following paragraph at Cordatus No. 1431.)

Every idolater is stingy; the work saints religiosi are idolaters, therefore stingy. The true righteousness has pity, the false, indignation. Everyone who deals with (his own] righteousness. 1) is sad and safe, and the holier religiosior ---- scrupulous, the stingier.

14. from the Astrologia.

(Contained in Cap. 70, § 4, last paragraph.)

The world is full of idolatry.

All the world (also God's own people, the Jews) has been full of idolatry, for one went there, the other there, worshipping as much as they had mountains and trees in the land, which were pleasant and beautiful; as is seen in the prophets, and we have also done in the papacy. Such was the high idolatry, since they worshipped God with earnestness.

1. Justitiarius cannot possibly mean "judge" or "judicial officer" here. That would be an idea quite foreign to Luther.

They sought, sacrificed and fasted, and hurt the body with it. But no one was served by it but the devil and his own thoughts. This then is the greatest dishonor and blasphemy that God encounters in the world, which arises from not knowing Christ; for everything that is apart from and without Christ, be it ever so glorious and great, is nothing but blasphemy and idolatry.

After that, there is another grosser idolatry, where the great god Mammon, that is, money and goods and the like, is honored and worshipped, since one's heart clings to it and trusts in it. The world is also full of such gross idolatry; for emperors, kings, princes, noblemen, citizens, peasants, go about with the crude block, the shameful mammon, the wretched helper of necessity; everything is attached to it. Thus God is blasphemed and dishonored everywhere, both with the subtle idolatry of hypocrites and great saints, as among the Jews were the Pharisees and Sadducees, and among us are the Carthusians and monks: they worshipped their own righteousness, great merits and holiness, virtues and good works; and with gross idolatry, since most of them despise God and cling to mammon. This is what goes on throughout the world, that people do not honor God, do not ask about Him, do not call upon Him, do not thank Him.

16. idolatry in the papacy.

D. Martinus said how in the papacy on the feasts of St. Catherine and other holy martyrs these words and prayers were read and sung: O God, have mercy and be merciful to those who commemorate my memory. God answered: "Come, my beloved, what you have asked, you have received. So this is where idolatry came from. ,

After that they unashamedly taught: The saints can do more than God has commanded them, have more merits than meritlessness. There the saying of St. Paul had to be used to Colossians, Cap. 1, 24, where he says: "Now I rejoice in my suffering, which I suffer for you, and make up in my flesh what is still lacking in afflictions in Christ" 2c. He had to serve them for the

250 Cap. 5: On idolatry. §16-19. 251

They did this for their idolatry and for the merit of their other works, which they shared and sold to others. Since St. Peter says 1 Ep. 4, 18: "If the righteous is hardly preserved, where will the ungodly and the sinner remain? Nor did the desperate boys Opera "supererogatio- nis, remaining works, which they did not need, impudently invented.

That is why the great deception of the devil came with the pilgrimages to Grimmethal, where people were blinded as if they were mad and foolish. Servants, maids, shepherds, women, left their profession in the queue and ran there. It is rightly called Grimmethal, Vallis furoris; there was no one who would have spoken a word against it. The bishop of Würzburg was silent about it and agreed to it, and because we now speak against it and say that it is wrong and idolatry, we are persecuted to the utmost. If we had had faith in Christ, we could have easily recognized and judged this; but because we have abandoned it, we have fallen into all kinds of darkness. How the good N. in H. and near N. built a chapel for a horse. Well, let us pray and be brave, and keep faithful to God's word.

17. that Jacob put away foreign gods, and from Cain.

(Cordatus No. 1590.)

Since in the first book of Moses Cap. 35, 2. it is read about Jacob that he had removed the foreign gods, one must not think as if he had only removed or broken one or the other idol, but that he had completely changed the false worship. There will have been a being and the true worship has often fallen, as when one reads Gen. 4, 26. that Enos began to call on the name of the Lord, because the true worship was violated by Cain, who was an evil-doer; but it should not have been, because by the promise of the Lord 1) [Gen. 4, 15.

1. In the original erroneously xntris. - The preceding words: "but it should not have been" are either to be understood with Dr. Wrampelmeyer: "he was not predestined for that" or, as it seems to us, it would be better to change "had" into "would have", which fits better into the context.

If he said, "I'll beat you seven times over," he only got worse, and so he will have been a seemingly fine saint of the world, and he did not want to be ungodly.

18. idolatry and superstition are common everywhere.

(Cordatus No. 945. 2)

The Turks, the Tartars and all the pagans very often use writings and magic signs to fortify themselves against weapons. This abuse finally reached the Christians, and Maximilian was very superstitious in matters of war. The pagans slaughtered in danger even what was dearest to them. The cause of this is that they know nothing of faith and prayer, which are the advantage of Christians.

19. warriors have commonly had and used a lot of superstitions in the papacy.

(Cordatus No. 946. 947.)

Not only superstitious, but also foolish was the vow of Jephthah, who killed his daughter after the victory, before which the Holy Spirit came upon him Judges 11:29. But God lets His saints be fooled. If a godly man had been there, who would have told him not to kill his daughter, the law would have suffered a mitigation, he God would not have meant it that way, he would have saved the daughter, as Jonathan was redeemed 1 Sam. 14, 45. from the vow of his father Saul.

The histories of the Old Testament are very glorious, but to us, when we read them, quite dead; but to the believer they live, like the history of Jephthah, which is followed by such great lamentation and lamentation over the virgin for two 3) months, which lamentation happens without a doubt Judges 11:37, because she was to die without children, as can be seen in Hannah 1 Sam. 1. And for sensible spouses barrenness is something very hard, which one easily realizes in the joy we have in our children, who are the sweetest pledge of marriage.

2. A part of this number was drawn to the following §; however, we let it follow here completely.
3. In the original erroneously "three" months. Cf. 11, 37. 39.

252 Cap. 5: On idolatry. § 20-24. 253

20. the pagans' monkey work of the holy of holies and others.

The Gentiles took it from the Jews and imitated them with the holy of holies, that they had their places and corners, where one asked the idols for advice, where they gave answers; these were also dark and gloomy. But the holy of holies was a dark place in the temple, so that the kingdom of faith is indicated, which cannot be grasped and understood with any reason, but only with faith. In this way the Gentiles also imitated and followed the Jews in slaughtering and sacrificing their children; for it was a good service to God in the sight of reason to slaughter and sacrifice children, as if to say, "If we had something dearer, we would also dare to do it and serve and please God.

21. the golden calf.

When the people in the desert, because Moses was on the mountain, set up a golden calf with Aaron the high priest, Exodus 32, they did not want to honor another god or have many gods, 1) but only wanted to change God and His service, beyond what Moses had prescribed and commanded them. Not all, but only the most noble and a part of the people agreed. They wanted to indicate that God wanted to be honored and reconciled by sacrificing calves.

Such sacrifices were before the law, coming from the fathers and taken. And the worship of the Jewish calf was taken from the Egyptians and was a tradition: they honored an ox and an idol, Apis, just as the people of Israel did, as St. Stephen tells Apost. 7, 41. ff. But this worship of the Egyptians is a tradition of Joseph, who sacrificed oxen and calves.

22. of the sacrifice of the people.

(Lauterbach, July 21, 1538, p. 100.)

On July 21, there was talk of human sacrifices that were still taking place, which were only

1. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 2114, § 246.

Emperor Carl in our time and erected Minorite monasteries in their place. It was said that at the court of Ferdinand there was a priest's robe of that idolatrous service, which was made of various colored bird feathers, but the sleeves were small, the hands of gold, set with artificially carved and other precious stones. Adorned with this garment, the priest awaits a revelation and then chooses a child or adult to sacrifice with great reverence from the people. Luther said: "It is not to be wondered at that such idolatries are still going on, since in the lifetime of the most holy prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah this idolatry was in bloom among the people of God, against which the prophets fought to the death. For idolatry always has the greatest prestige.

23. idolatry, which is practiced with monasticism and nunnery.

There must be sects, said D. Luther. M. Luther, who practice idolatry as long as the world stands, and with the highest devotion give the errors a great appearance and prestige. Just look how much weeping and wailing there was at the blessing when the parents gave their children into the monasteries to be blessed; especially the maidens when they sang the Regnum mundi. Oh! what weeping there was when the parents sacrificed their children to Moloch and burned them. It was a horrible sacrifice in the past, especially when the parents' natural love and inclination towards the children was great, because they were not blocks and sticks.

(24) The idolatry of false teachers is for all time.

D. M. Luther was brought a great book, which a Frenchman, called Wilhelmus Postellus, had written about unity in the world, in which he tried hard to prove the articles of faith from reason and nature, so that he would convert the Turks and the Jews, and bring all people (they would have as many different kinds of worship as they always wanted) to one faith. Then said D. M. Luther said: "It is too much to fast for one bite, although others have fasted before us.

254 Cap. 5: On idolatry. § 24-27. 255

In the past, the French also wrote books of natural theology, with which they wanted to prove the Christian faith from natural reason. But this one has fared according to the saying: Frenchmen lack brains. There will still come enthusiasts, who will dare to put all kinds of idolatry with a sham and cover on the faith and thereby embellish it. Then Philip Melanchthon said: He had heard of a merchant who had seen in Jndia that they worshipped serpents, and that the people there had honored a large serpent and dragons with the highest worship.

(25) Of the invocation of the saints, which is also idolatry.

The question was asked: "Where did the papists originally get the calls of the dead saints? Then spoke D. M. Luther: Perhaps they took it from the pagans, who divided God into innumerable images and idols, and assigned and gave each one its office and work. As they invented and pretended that Pallas was such a goddess, through whom society, peace and friendship among men would be preserved. They did the same with other idols, so that each one had his own humble work. The papists unchristianly imitated them, thus denying God's omnipotence, and each of them had a special opinion apart from God's word, according to his own mind, in the most certain way.

Just as once there was a sacristan who, when he was to consecrate many hosts over the altar, thought that he had not spoken congruously according to the Grammatica: This is my body; but said: These are my bodies. He then boasted of his art and said, "If I had not been such a good grammarian, I would have committed heresy and consecrated only one host. Such fellows, said D. M. Luther, the world will produce many, that the Grammatici, Dialectici, Rhetores and Philosophi will falsify the holy scripture and make a mixture out of it and their art; since one can highly

Each should remain in its place, as and for what it is ordered by God, not brew into each other. Theology should be empress, philosophy and other good arts should be its servant; not rule and master it, as Servetus, Campanus and other enthusiasts do. May God preserve His dear Church, which is carried by Him like a child in its mother's womb, and protect it from such scholastic and philosophical theology.

26. another one of invocation of the deceased saints.

(Lauterbach, April 3, 1538, p. 53.)

The invocation of the saints has been a terrible blindness and a source of money; nevertheless, the papists do not want to turn back. Summa: Even the dead have had to help to strengthen the foundation of the pope, because the invocation of the saints and the satisfaction for the dead have carried everything. The dead have borne much more than the living. Superstition nourishes more than religion; the former is the master, the latter the maid. 1)

27. of foreign gods.

Doctor M. Luther was asked: How one could prove that having foreign gods means so much as to establish and establish a worship against God's word? To this he answered and said: Deus et cultus sunt relativa, God and worship belong together, one cannot be without the other. For God must be the God of every man or people, and is always in praedicamento relationis, referring and drawing on one another. God wants to have some who call upon him and honor him; for having a God and honoring him belong together, sunt relativa, as husband and wife in marriage, neither can be without the other. Therefore whoever sets up and establishes a worship service of his own, out of his own devotion, without God's command, is an adulterer and idolatrous, as a wife is when she keeps company with another, and woos him, and again; and seeks one another.

1. This is immediately followed in the original by Chapter 33, § 3.

256 Cap. 5: Of idolatry. § 27. 28. 257

God, for the right, true God, even though he thinks he is doing God a righteous service.

What idolatry is.

This actually means to commit idolatry: without God's command, out of one's own devotion, to make a

Service to God. For he wants to be unmastered by us, how we should serve him: he wants to teach us and pretend it: his word should be there, it should shine and guide us. Without his word everything is idolatry and vain lies, however devout and beautiful it may be.

Chapter 6.

Of the Holy Trinity.

1. comparison of the holy trinity.

2 There is an image of the Trinity in all creatures.

The article of the Holy Trinity surpasses all reason.

4. testimonies of the Holy Trinity.

The article of the Holy Trinity has always been contested.

6. as the learned pagans have described God.
7. that the heretics abuse their art and skill, and dispute the articles of faith.

1. comparison of the holy trinity.

In divine things and matters, the Father is the Grammatica, for he gives the words and is the fountain from which flow good, fine, pure words to be spoken. The Son is the Dialectica, for he gives the disposition, how a thing is to be put in fine order one after the other, so that it closes and follows one after the other. The Holy Spirit, however, is the Rhetorica, the speaker, if it is finely presented, blows and drives, makes alive and powerful, so that it presses on and takes the hearts.

2 There is an image of the Trinity in all creatures.

(Cordatus No. 1289. 1290.)

All that is his, including the Trinity, God has placed in his creature. So he also put the forgiveness of sins against the enemy, the swine, the ox, the woman, etc., which must be spared, just as he himself does. Therefore his epithet is that he alone is. For he alone can have patience with men, but with men is the greatest right, yea, even the greatest wrong. Thus Paul says in Acts, Cap. 13, 18., "He tolerated their ways." In the sun you find the essence,

in rivers, the essence, the current, and the force; in astronomy, motion, light, influence; in grammar, three parts; in a Hebrew word, three essential letters; in arithmetic, three numbers; in dialectics, explanation, division, conclusion; in rhetoric, the outline, the delivery of the speech, the gestures, or the recital, for invention and memory are gifts of nature, not of art.

Thus every thing has weight, number and measure, but this, which is very good, the scholastics pass over and have devised useless things.

The article of the Holy Trinity surpasses all reason.

On the evening when Martin Luther had preached early about the Holy Trinity, he spoke a great deal about this high, excellent article of our Christian faith, which surpasses all human reason and understanding, namely, that one is three and three is one; which no arithmetician, philosopher, jurist, Jew or Turk can grasp or understand. Thus

1. Instead of splendor, which was just before also used of the sun, should be read with vine I, 4b and binding rope I, 8. probably luxury.

258 Cap. 6. Of the Holy Trinity. § 3-7. 259

The similitude of the physical father and son does little for the matter, for it is a very weak image or similitude, in which only the difference of the two persons is indicated; namely, that these two persons are an inseparable being, which no creature can comprehend or indicate.

Basil, one of the ancient teachers, sets forth and shows the best simile or image of this, namely, that all men are called rational creatures because of reason, which is common and natural to all men, for what has reason is a man. But men are nevertheless differentiated: although they have a common name, that they are called rational men, yet one in particular is very unlike the other, because one far surpasses the other in understanding and reason, and also in other gifts and virtues.

4. testimonies of the Holy Trinity.

(This § is found in the house postilla. 2. sermon on sunday. Trin. > Walch, St. Louis ed.; vol. XIII, col. 680-682, §1.)

This article has always been fiercely contested.

(This § is found in the 1. sermon on Sund. Trin. in the house > postilion. Walch, St. Louis ed. vol. XIII, col. 666, §3; col. 667, §5 > and 6; col. 674, §25; col. 675, §27. 28.)

6. as the learned pagans have described God.

The philosophers and learned pagans have described God as being like a circle, which dot is everywhere in the middle, but its circumferentiality, which is all around it from the outside, is nowhere. So that they would indicate that God is everything and nothing; for our Lord God is everywhere, and yet cannot be comprehended nor grasped. I find him not only at Jerusalem in the temple, and in the image and likeness,

as he exemplifies and holds himself up to me. He is everywhere, namely in the baptism, crib, sacrament, but nowhere is he in his majesty, nor in my speculation, as I paint him according to my thoughts and sense. Oh good God, how wondrous you are, "who put to shame the wise in their wisdom," Job 1:12, 13. It still takes effort and work enough for us to understand and attain something of it, only the ABC, if we pray diligently and call upon God for help. And if the wicked, out of their own thirst and iniquity, according to their own reason, want to decide and do something without and against God, then God turns it around immediately, so that it wins the canker: and if he does not, then he loses the honor and glory of his majesty.

7. that the heretics abuse their skill and art and dispute the articles of faith.

When in 1532 a horribly evil book against the Holy Trinity had gone out in print, D. Luther said: "The enthusiasts do not think that other people have also been challenged by this article; but it does not hold the sting that I oppose the Word of God and the Holy Spirit with my thoughts. When M. Veit Dietrich said to the doctor: "Someone should ask that he would not be taught in the Holy Scriptures, but that he would be taught in them. Thereupon said D. Luther said: "Oh no, otherwise one would also have to ask that there be no gold in the world; item, that there be no sun, for the sun is a cause of all sins and vices in the other table of the ten commandments, and if there were eternal night 1), then there would be less death and murder, or fornication and adultery, also less theft.

1. So set by us. Aurifaber: "not". Stangwald: "day and night". - Night" also stood in the section we omitted, Cap. 15, § 42.

260 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. 261

Chapter 7.

Of the Lord Christ.

1. that Christ is truly God.
2. whereby Christ's divinity is recognized.
3. believing in Christ is the right religion.
4. of the humanity of Christ.

No human being can comprehend the two natures in Christ.

6. thoughts of D. M. Luther about the birth of Christ.
7. from the feast of the Annunciation of Mary.
8. the faithless ingratitude.
9. why Christ was born.
10. 11. D. L. comforting thoughts of the Incarnation of the Son of God.
11. of the childhood and youth of Jesus; item, of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior.

No man can unlearn Christ.

The name of Jesus alone helps.

15. that the Lord Christ is our high priest, from Romans 8.

Christ remains priest and king.

17. 18. Christ is our high priest.
18. Christ an eternal priest.
19. Christ our King and God.
20. scheflimini.
21. Christ presents himself as if he does not care for his poor, afflicted and persecuted members.
22. the scripture separates Christ from our priest, bridegroom 2c.
23. Christ our eternal mediator.

25 Against Schwenkfeld's Opinion of the Creatureliness of Christ.

26 All errors and heresies go against Christ.

27, 28: That the Lord Christ's divinity has been contested by the devil and heretics for and for.

The deity of Christ should not be separated from his humanity.

30. Whether the Godhead in Christ also suffered.

31. error of the heretics in the article of Christ.

Of the resurrection of Christ, that reason cannot comprehend it.

33. about Christ's resurrection, what it is good for.
34. suffering of Christ and His Church, and how Christ nullifies the power of the devil.

Collation of the suffering of Christ with the suffering of His Church.

36. At what time and hour Christ ate the paschal lamb.

37. Christ's friendly conversation in the Lord's Supper.
38. of the sweating of blood and other spiritual sufferings of the Lord Christ in the garden.
39. Christ's own work.
40. how Christ becomes ours rightly.
41. Christ the greatest of sinners.
42. of the entry of Christ into Jerusalem.
43. of Christ's sufferings, who did and still do the most harm to him, Jews and Gentiles.
44. of Christ's future.

45 Christ preached from a book.

46. Christ has gone to hell.
47. of Christ's resurrection.
48. epitaph of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is to be carved on his tomb at Jerusalem.

Another epitaph found at Jerusalem near the tomb of the Lord Christ.

50. Christ our glory and praise.

(51) Whether they were right who said and spread the miraculous signs of the Lord Christ, when he had forbidden them.

After his resurrection, Christ revealed to the apostles everything that had happened to him during his suffering.

53. Christ's humility and kindness.

Christ leads his kingdom wonderfully.

55. crucifix of Christ.

In Jesus Christ alone shall one believe.

Christ alone should be in a Christian's heart.

58. Christ is law and freedom, sin and righteousness, death and life.
59. why Christ had come.

60 Christ's special work and own ministry.

61. which people may benefit from Christ.
62. Christ must remain eternally, and all who believe in him.

No one wants to have Christ as his Lord.

He who knows Christ well is a master of the Scriptures.

65. before Christ, one should never be afraid.

The dead Christ is not forgotten.

67 Christ wars with great lords.

68. Christ often revealed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead.
69. 70. Where Christ abides, there also abide those who believe in him.

One flees from Christ, but runs to Satan.

Christ must receive his word himself; we are too weak to do so.

The devil is hard on those who love and confess Christ.

75 St. Paul's person.

The Christian's golden art, to know Christ rightly.

77. 78. To know Christ surpasses everything that is on earth.
78. teaching of Christ and the apostles.
79. Christ preached in vain.

81 Christ once coined.

82. That John calls Christ the Word.

The prophecies of Christ are described with dark words.

Christ's kingdom will be wonderfully built and preserved.

85. word of Christ Matth. 11.

86 Christ holds over his kingdom and protects it, the devil also, but with unequal armor and weapons.

87. common question in the world of Christo.

The prophets' knowledge of Christ.

262Cap . 7. Of the Lord Christ. 263

89. it does not follow that Christ has done this and that, therefore we also may do it.
90. christ's name.

The kingdom of Christ has remained under the papacy.

92. difference of the kingdom of Christ, Pabst and Mahomet.

In the kingdom of Christ, even the weak believers belong.

94. Christ is the only physician against death, which few desire.
95. Christ has overcome the world.

Why the Son of God appeared.

97. temple of all gods, excluding Christ, at Rome, called Pantheon.

The world does not know Christ and his own.

99. knowledge of Christ.
100. What Christ requires of us.

The first is to be able to argue about God's grace shown to us in Christ.

102. joy in Christ is hindered by the devil.
103. will I not wash you 2c., Joh. 13.
104. miracles of Christ and the apostles.
105. Christ's highest humility.

The greatest strangler that has happened on earth.

A wonderful thing is the faith of Christians.

108 Against the Obstacle of Reason.

109. difference between the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

110 Ascension Day.

Christ alone is to be heard.

112. 113. Lamentation of the godly over their unbelief.
113. from the name of Jesus Christ.

How a believing soul talks to Christ.

The blasphemy of Christ and his word makes it all.

117. no one leads to heaven 2c, says Christ John 3.

If God is for us, who can be against us? from Romans 8.

119 Christ is the only comfort of his believers in their cross and loan on earth.

120. Apart from Christ, one should not remember God.

The enmity between Christ and the devil started already in paradise.

Christ is an unworthy guest in the world.

What kind of king Christ is.

Christ and the law cannot dwell together in one conscience.

In Christ we have everything.

126. Apart from the humanity of Christ, one should not seek grace or forgiveness of sins.

In what matters one may dispute without danger from the majesty of God.

The Christians' art and wisdom.

You should get to know Christ.

Knowing Christ in the face of adversity is difficult.

131. Christ's burden that he has borne.

Christ must have a big mouth and wants people to accept his word.

Christ has interpreted the law.

Christ and the pope are rushed to each other.

The devil will have to let Christ remain.

136. Christ is to be sought in the Holy Scriptures alone.
137. with Christo one should remain.
138. Christ's appearance on earth.
139. of the merit of god's word.
140. One should defy and insist on Christ alone.

Christ and Satan cannot get along.

142. verses, so under the Colloquio to Worms Anno 1545 were made, that the Pabst and Luther can not be compatible with each other.
143. Christ is an evil steward.

Christ and Satan never compare, one must give way to the other.

145. Apart from Christ, everything is wickedness.

Christ's kingdom is preserved by God alone, against all devils and the rages of the world.

147. Christ is the highest article.

The little animal Ichneumon is the image of the Lord Christ.

Christ is the salvation and wisdom of believers; otherwise it is a poor thing with human wisdom.

150 Christ soon grew tired of this life, and so did his Christians.

Christ humbled and humbled himself deeply.

152: How Christ distributes merit far away.

153 The Christians' Consolation.

The preaching of Christ was not as prestigious as it is now at the time of the Gospel.

Hearing Christ is the greatest worship.

Christ alone is the comfort and hope of Christians.

157. Christ is a bishop of our souls.

In what God's consolation stands.

159. Christ does not shrink.

160 The Lord's Giving of Christ.

What the world thinks of Christo.

Apart from Christ there is no consolation, and how Christ chides the faithful.

God is not only the God of the Jews, but also the God of the Gentiles.

That Christ would save the Jews and the Gentiles.

Christ cannot be unlearned.

166 Of Christ's Kingdom.

How to confess Christ.

168. repugnant works of Christ and the devil.

169'. Christ bears the curse of the law.

170. Above the article of Christo, one should hold.

171. forgiveness of sins.
172. to write or speak of God's grace.

How God's grace is apprehended.

174. strokes make you angry.

175 David's fame from his piety.

176: Reason's annoyance at Christ's weakness.

177 Christ was silent until his thirtieth year before he entered the ministry.

178. Christ's words are powerful.

179 Ways of Preaching in the Papacy.

180 Christ's intercession and preaching is certain.

181 Believing in Christ alone makes you blessed.

182. of god's glory.

264 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. § I. 265

1. that Christ is truly God.

That Christ, the Son of Mary, the virgin, is the true and true God, is testified to in the Holy Scriptures everywhere, but especially in the Evangelist John, Cap. 8, 25, when the Jews were offended at his teaching and asked, "Who then are you? And JEsus said to them: First of all, he who I speak to you," as if to say, "I am your prophet and preacher, according to the saying of Moses, Deut. 18:15: "A prophet like me the Lord your God will raise up for you, from you and your brothers, and you shall obey him. And whosoever shall not hear my words which I put in his mouth, and all that I command him, which he shall speak in my name, of him will I require it." That is: First and foremost hear me, then you will see who I am. I am just the one Moses pointed out. It is a little milder and more polite than if he had said: I am your Messiah. And about this saying St. Augustine struggled fiercely, broke himself and troubled himself. Therefore one should read the dear old fathers and teachers with great distinction and Christian understanding; 1) for they were men just as we are, and have also often erred and erred.

At another time, D. Martin Lüther spoke of the deity of the Lord Christ, saying: "All the sayings in the Holy Scriptures that speak of faith in Christ clearly indicate that he is the true natural God, otherwise it would be idolatry and against the first commandment ("You shall not have other gods") to believe in Christ and worship him if he were not God, for "God does not give his glory to anyone else," Isa. 42:8. 42, 8. Now this article, that Christ is true God, is founded by certain strong testimonies in the Holy Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, since Christ is often called God with clear, expressed words. As Joh. 1, 1.: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and GOD was the Word." And Joh. 20, 28. Thomas, the apostle, also calls Christ God, since he says: "My Lord

1. Cf. Cap. 57, § 11, about the middle, paragraph 6.

and my God." The same St. Paul, Rom. 9, 5, speaks of Christ as being God, saying: "He who is God over all, blessed forever." Col. 2, 9: "In Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," that is, essentially.

(Here a section is omitted because contained in the great > interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old > edition, vol. VIII, § 49 and 50.)

M. Luther said at another time that Christ is the true natural God. For, he said, if Christ is not God, neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit is God, for our article of faith says that Christ is God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Many speak of the divinity of Christ, such as the Pope and others like him, but just as the blind man speaks of the color. Therefore, when I hear Christ speak, I believe that the undivided Godhead speaks. Thus speaks the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when he says Matth. 11, 28: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Here the whole Godhead speaks in an undivided and undivided way. Therefore, whoever preaches such a God to me, who did not die for me, I do not accept him as my God. Whoever has this article has the main article of the Christian faith, although this article is very foolish in the eyes of the world. Christ says John 14:16: "The Comforter, whom I will send, shall not depart from you, but shall abide with you," and make you bold to suffer all kinds of misfortunes and evils. Now he says: I will ask the Father; before he said, I will do it. Before he speaks like a god, now like a man. Thus I learn my article, that Christ speaks as God and man.

Also Christ sometimes speaks as a pure man, and at the same time as a pure God; therefore, when he says: I give, these are not only the words of a man, but of God. But when he says, I will ask; these are the words of a man, and yet the Son of God asks. As when I say, The maid hath dropped the child; I mean not the body of the child only, but also the soul. Item, so

266 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § I-5. 267

I say: The child has eaten; so I understand that not only the mouth, but the whole man with body and soul has eaten or fed. In the same way one should also say of Christ.

Item, D. M. Luther testified from his own experience that Jesus Christ was a true God, he also wanted to confess this publicly; because if Christ was not God, then there would certainly be no God. And said D. Luther: I do not want to become an Epicurean, if God wills it; I know well what the name of Jesus has done to me. It is well said and true that the 68th Psalm, v. 21, sings: "God lays a burden on us, but He also helps us: we have a God who helps, and the Lord our Savior, who saves from death. Therefore, if God wills, no tribulation, misfortune or other creature shall separate me from my Lord Christ.

Our only comfort is that we believe in Jesus Christ. I have often been so close to death that I knew I would have to die, because I had taught his word before the evil world and had confessed him; but he has always graciously comforted me again and made me alive. Therefore let us be diligent to keep him alone, and there shall be no need, though the devil be yet so wicked and crafty, and the world so evil and false. I will abide with the dear Lord Christ, I will encounter whatever I can: I have been baptized into him, I can and know nothing except what he has taught me. But it is indeed a very great and difficult art, involving many and various trials and experiences, that one can heartily call Christ a Lord and God who saves from death, as the 68th Psalm, v. 21, says; and from this same word and trust I will never, if God wills, let myself be torn away.

2. whereby Christ's divinity is recognized.

(The beginning of this § is taken from the great interpretation of the > Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 1. Walch, old edition, Vol. VIII, § 62. > 63.) > > (The rest of this § is omitted because contained in Cap. 7, § 120.)

3) Believing in Christ is the right religion, 1)

Although no religion seems more foolish than that of the Christians, I believe in God, since Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the heavenly Father. I do not believe in any other God, as the superstitious and idolaters do, for they are rejected and given a wrong meaning. I D. M. Luther does not want to know about any other God, but only about the one who hung on the cross, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Virgin Mary.

4. of the humanity of Christ.

There is a great mystery about the incarnation of Christ, which cannot be explained or investigated by human reason, since God, the highest majesty, has thus lowered himself into our flesh. If we have this Christ, we have everything; for St. Paul to Colossians, in the other chapter, v. 9, says: "In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. And St. Paul earnestly presents Christ to all men, so that they may believe in him. But there is, alas, nothing more contemptible in the world than the Lord Christ.

No human being can comprehend the two natures in Christ.

That Christ is God and man is contrary to all reason, sense, and understanding; for when the two natures in Christ, as the Godhead and humanity, are to be brought into one being, reason is at odds and says, "I do not understand. But thanks be to you for this confession; for it is not written that I should understand and grasp it with my reason, but you must give yourself up, and believe the word of the gospel through the action of the Holy Spirit, and give glory to God that he is true.

Joh. 16, 23., Matth. 21, 22. and Marc. 11, 24. Christ says: "If you ask anything in my name, I will give it to you.

1. This § seems to be spurious, only an extension of the same idea contained in Cap. 7, § 56. - Cf. also Cap. 13, § 83.

268 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 5-8. 269

give." There Christ speaks as if he has everything in his hand and power to give everything to everyone what one asks from him in faith.

6. thoughts of D. M. Luther about the birth of Christ.

(Lauterbach, Dec. 25, 1538, p. 195.)

That evening he was very joyful, and all his speeches, songs and thoughts were about the incarnation of Christ our Savior; and he said with sighing: Alas! We poor people, that we are so cold and lazy about this great joy, which has been done for our benefit, the great good deed, which is far, far above all other works of creation 1); and yet we should believe it so weakly, when it is preached and sung to us by angels, which are heavenly theologians, and have rejoiced so much because of us. Their singing is by far the most beautiful and the main thing of the whole Christian religion. For the Gloria in excelsis Deo Glory to God in the highest is the highest service of God, which they desire and bring to us in this Christ. For the world, after the fall of Adam, knows neither God nor the creatures, lives entirely outside of God's glory. Oh how great thoughts man would have had of God in all creatures, so that he would have contemplated God's omnipotence and wisdom even in the smallest flowers. For, truly, who can conceive how God creates from the barren earth: such diverse little flowers, such beautiful colors, such lovely smells, which no painter nor apothecary could make? Nor can God bring green, yellow, red, blue, brown color out of the earth. Adam and his people would have used all this for God's glory and would have used all creatures with thanksgiving, which we now enjoy to our disgust without any knowledge, just as if a cow and unreasonable cattle trampled the very best flowers and lilies only with their feet. Therefore, here the angels call the people who have fallen back to faith and love, namely to the glory of God and to peace on earth.

1. In the original probably erroneously "are". We have put "is" for it according to Bindseil III, 43.

7. from the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.

The feast of the Annunciation, called Annuntiationis Mariae, when the angel came to Mary and brought her the message full of God that she was to conceive his Son, may be called the feast of the Incarnation of Christ. For that is when our redemption began; just as the English and French began to count the year from this feast. For the mystery of the Incarnation of Christ cannot be explained by any human being, nor can it be fathomed by reason, that God, the Supreme Majesty, has lowered Himself into our flesh. For if we have Christ, we have all that our heart desires. That is why in St. Paul the word "in him" is so often used and repeated, since he so vehemently and diligently imagines this Christ in all men; for apart from and without him there is no God, comfort, or blessedness. But, alas, there is nothing in the world that is less esteemed than this incarnation, indeed, it is despised.

Christ lived three and thirty years, went to Jerusalem three times every year, that is, he went up a hundred times. If the pope could boast that Christ had only been to Rome once, what boast could he make? And yet this city Jerusalem is utterly destroyed.

8. the faithless ingratitude.

This is a great glory of God, that He put His Son into our flesh and blood, and for our sake made Him human, like us, yet without sin. What a mystery of the greatest miracles and benefits of God is one that no human heart can truly contemplate, for we are so cold and ungrateful. O of corrupt nature! Fie on the shameful fall of Adam, that I should not love this one who has redeemed me so dearly from eternal death, the devil and hell.

When Doctor Martinus looked at the painted infant Jesus lying in the womb of the pure virgins of Mary, he sighed deeply for the sake of the article of the Incarnation of God, and said: "Ah, that we could have such a glorious

270 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. §8-11. 271

If you were to consider the work of divine mercy a little, and not to babble on like that! Fie on you, you disgraceful unbelief, how you stand so shamefully ungrateful against the friendly gracious will of your God, who otherwise wants to stick to all creatures. O Adam's sin! What have you done!

9. why Christ was born.

(Cordatus No. 43.)

Peter preaches 1) that Christ was born to set all things right, that is, to bring us to self-knowledge, and for this purpose alone the whole creature is placed before our eyes, so that we may contemplate the Creator in it; and this is fortunate for us, because we do not draw much faith from the first article of faith.

10. of the incarnation of the son of god comforting thoughts of D. M. Luther, according to

of the writing.

On this day (of the conception of Christ), said D. M. Luther, we preachers should diligently hold up to the people the history of the feast, which Lucas describes with poor simple words in a fine and orderly manner with all the circumstances, and well imagine it, and all of us should have joy and delight in the comforting, blessed story that today Christ, our Lord and Savior, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, took human nature in the pure, chaste virgins of Mary, became our brother, has placed us poor stinking maggot sacks and damned human beings in the highest honor, that we are now children of God and his, Christ's, co-heirs, about which we should rejoice more than about all the treasures on earth.

Here one should not dispute how it happened that he who fills heaven and earth, whom neither heaven nor earth can comprehend, is resolved in the pure mother's body? These and such disputations hinder this joy, and give cause for one to begin to doubt it. That is why I am very annoyed with Erasmum, that he has

1. Perhaps 3 Petr. 1, 4. Aurifaber has Paul and draws on Eph. 1, 4. and Col. 1, 33.

Doubting things that should be our greatest joy.

St. Bernard spends the entire sermon of this feast on the praise of the dear Virgin Mary, forgetting the comforting story that, as the Church sings, hodie Deus homo factus est: Today God became man, and the redemption of the human race began. Bernard and Anselmus have done too much to him by exalting and praising Mariam too highly. We Christians should rejoice in the great honor that has been bestowed upon us today, that "the Son of God did not take on the angelic nature, but the seed of Abraha, became like us His brothers, yet without sin," Ebr. 2:16, 17, so that He might become merciful and a faithful high priest before God to atone for our sins. Item: "that by his death he might take away the power of the devil, and deliver us from the power of death. He redeemed us, who through fear of death had to be slaves all our lives. Ebr. 2, 14. 15.

This unspeakable grace of God, shown to us in Christ, we should consider great and praise. It is true that one cannot sufficiently praise Mary, the high and noble creature; but when the Creator Himself comes and gives Himself for us, that He redeemed us from the power of the devil 2c., neither angels nor we can sufficiently praise, praise, praise for eternity 2c. There we will also have eternal joy and bliss.

Other thoughts of D. M. Lutheri about the incarnation of the Son of God.

He who takes reason to counsel will never send himself to know the articles of our faith (especially the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ), much less believe that they are certain and true. No one can or should be forced to believe by force. For even if people hear something from the holy scriptures or read it themselves and have thoughts, they still do not want to accept it; the majority of them are repelled by it or even throw it to the wind; except for a few who are stirred and opened by the Holy Spirit.

272 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. §11. 12. 273

The Turk keeps his subjects in obedience and coercion by his Mahometan faith and religion (as the pope has done before this time by the ban and human doctrine). He believes that there is one God who created everything. He lets Christ remain a prophet, but that he is the native, true, natural Son of God, he considers this to be the highest blasphemy, for which he has persecuted his word and his people for so long, and he even intends to eradicate it.

In my great temptations and struggles against the devil, I have learned from the Scriptures and am certain that Christ, true natural God, was also made man. Therefore, I not only believe it, but have also experienced in many ways that this article is certain and true. For in high spiritual temptations nothing has helped me better than that I have comforted myself of it, and have rejected the devil with it, that Christ, the true, eternal Son of God, is our flesh and bones (as Paul Eph. 5, 30. says: "We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones"), sits at the right hand of God and represents us. If I take hold of this shield of faith, I will soon have chased away the evil one with his fiery arrows.

God also kept this article strong and firm, protected it against all heretics, Popes and Turks, preserved it in the beginning of Christianity, and afterwards confirmed it with many miraculous signs, so that all who challenged it finally became sinners and disgraced by it. God also allows us to call the Son of Mary His Son and true God and to worship Him. He also hears all those who call upon Him in the name of Christ. Even in this last time of gloom, now some twenty years ago (when the devil, through the end of Christ, the Pope and his followers, attacked us with all his power and cunning), nothing else has preserved us but prayer, sighing and crying out to God our Father in the name of Christ our High Priest.

Whoever says: I or others, they are called and be whoever they want, have the pure doctrine against the pope, tyrants, Anabaptists, sacramentalists, and other red spirits.

defended and preserved, he is the one who lies to us. God alone does it for the sake of Christ, who shall reign among his enemies and sit at the right hand of God until they are all made the footstool of his feet. In spite of the devil and all his scales!

12. of the childhood and youth of Jesus; item, of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior.

All the wisdom of the world is mere child's work, even foolishness, compared to the knowledge of Christ. For what is more wonderful than to know and to recognize the great ineffable mystery that the Son of God, the eternal Father's image, has taken on human nature and has become like another human being in every way? In Nazareth he will have helped his father Joseph to build houses; for Joseph was a carpenter, therefore also Christ is called the son of a carpenter, even a journeyman carpenter. What will those of Nazareth think on the last day, when they see Christ sitting in divine majesty, and say to him: "Lord, did you not help to build my house? How did you come to have such high honors?

Many fables are invented by many, what Jesus did in his childhood and youth; 1) as can be seen in the book with the title "De Infantia Salvatoris, oder de Vita Jesu. But because in the same book there are many ridiculous, foolish things, it has never had any reputation among Christians. But this is the most necessary thing that we Christians should learn and know with the greatest diligence, that the Son of the eternal God lowered Himself so low, was born so poor and miserable, and did this for our sins, and hid His majesty from us too well for so long. When he was born, he cried and cried like another child; Mary had to wait for him and take care of him, suckle him (as the church sings: "There was a little milk for his food"), etch, wipe, lift, lay, carry, etc., like another mother her child. Soon after

1. Dgl. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, 2644, 818, and Vol. XI, 280, § 118.

274 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. § 13. 275

Joseph had to flee with his mother and child into misery in Egypt from Herod, who was looking for the child to kill it. When they returned to Nazareth after Herod's death, he became the parents' servant, Luc. 2, 51, and often gave them bread, drink and other things. Mary may also have said to him: Jehovah, where have you been? Can't you stay at home? And now that he is grown up, he will have helped Joseph to carpenter 2c. Not to be annoyed by this weak, lowly figure and contemptible nature, as was seen in Christ, is great, high art and wisdom, yes, God's gift and the Holy Spirit's own work.

Some, and many others, are annoyed by the fact that we sometimes say in the pulpit that Christ was a roomer, when it is a much greater annoyance that he was hanged on the cross as a blasphemer and rebel between two evildoers. But now the hanged were cursed, as it is written in Deut. 21, 23: "A hanged man is cursed in the sight of God"; and Gal. 3, 13: "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. But since we are always preaching this article, and are so diligent to impress it upon the people, and since all Christians daily confess in infantile faith that Christ our Savior suffered under Pontio Pilato, was crucified, and died for our sins, why should we not also say that he was a carpenter? especially since he is thus called in the Gospel in clear words, since the people are astonished at his doctrine and wisdom, and say, "Whence came this to him? Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary?" Marc. 6, 3.

It is written, 1) there was a pious, godly bishop, who often asked God with earnestness, that he would reveal to him, what Jesus had done in his youth. About a while later, the same bishop had a dream like this: It seemed to him in his sleep as if he saw a carpenter doing his work, and a little child with him picking up the shavings that had been cut off. Then a virgin in a green skirt came, and called to both of them that they should go to the

1. The same selection is found in the house postilla. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, 151 f" § 19.

They were told to come and eat, and they were served porridge. The bishop saw all this, as he thought, in a dream, standing behind the door, so that they were not aware of him. Then the child began to say, "What is that man standing there for, should he not also eat? The bishop was so frightened by this speech that he hit his head hard on the main board of the bed and woke up.

Be it as it may, be it a poem or a story, I believe that Christ in his childhood and youth acted and behaved like other children, but without sin. As Paul testifies to the Philippians, Cap. 2, 7: "Jesus Christ was like another man, and was found to be like a man in his deeds. He will often (as I think, do not say it for truth), when the parents have prayed, by divine power have provided and brought what was needed, without money. Therefore (when the mother saw that there was a lack of wine at the wedding in Cana) she says to him, out of a motherly heart and trust, Joh. 2, 3: "They do not have wine", because she had noticed in him more than once before that he could provide advice when there was a lack. Therefore I believe that Mary, the mother, not only knew and believed that he was the true, natural Son of God (because she conceived this child miraculously, unusually, namely by the Holy Spirit, and was born without any pain), but that she also saw and noticed this by some signs that he did in his youth. Therefore, whoever wants to understand this child correctly must remember that there is no higher wisdom than to recognize Christ, and not turn away from it or be angry that the world considers the preaching of the Son of God, who became man, was crucified, died, 2c., to be the greatest foolishness and annoyance, but know that it is a divine power and wisdom for us believers, through which we are saved, and in which even the dear angels take pleasure and delight.

But the fact that the dear Lord humbled himself so deeply, that he became obedient to the shameful death of the cross, is what he has done for us poor, miserable, damned people for our comfort and salvation. When a great, mighty quay-

276 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ, ß 12-15. 277

ser or king would wash the feet of a despised beggar; dear God, how gloriously would this humility be praised and glorified in such a high person! But because God's Son, the Lord over all, humbled himself to the highest degree and showed obedience even to death on the cross, no one is surprised about it, except the small group of believers who recognize and worship him as their Lord and Savior.

Therefore I say: To recognize Christ, that he was a man, and so humbled himself, that he became "the most despised and unworthy man, afflicted and beaten by God" 2c., Is. 53, 34. and did this for our sake, that is the right' golden art of the Christians and their highest wisdom. As St. Paul, 1 Cor. 2:2, says: "I know nothing, except JEsum Christ crucified." Nor can the devil be hurt any more or hurt any more, for if one teaches, preaches, sings and says about Jesus and His incarnation, 2c.

Therefore, I like it very much when one sings loudly and slowly in the church: Et homo factus est; et: Verbum caro factum est. The devil cannot hear these words, he must flee from them for many miles, for he well feels what they contain. If we would rejoice so heartily over these words: the Word became flesh or man, as much as the devil is frightened and trembles before it, it would be very good for us. But the world despises all God's works and words, because they are presented to it in such bad, simple words.

Well, the godly are not deceived by how small and bad the words are, but take heed of the eternal heavenly treasures and goods, which are contained therein, held out to them and offered to them as their own, which are unspeakable, yes, so great and glorious that even the dear angels desire to look at them, 1 Petr. 1, 12.

No man can unlearn Christ.

No man, be he apostle or prophet, much less I or my like, can learn Christ in this life, so that he would know and understand rightly who and what He is.

For He is true, eternal, almighty God, and yet He took our mortal nature upon Himself and showed the highest obedience and humility even unto death; therefore He Himself says: "I am gentle and humble in heart. Matth. 11, 29. Now I cannot sufficiently explain how I feel when I am quite happy or sad; how then should I explain the high emotions and movements of Christ?

The name of Jesus alone helps.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 1658.)

This I will leave behind me, that I will consider Christ my Lord alone as my Lord, 1) not only in faith and scripture, but also in experience, for he has proved it in me. For I have the thing that Christ is my Lord and the experience at the same time with the Scriptures. But, verily, it is become sour unto me.

And Mr. D. said that spiritual temptation taught what Christ was good for, and that he had sometimes tried it and experienced how powerfully the name of Jesus Christ had helped him, so that no tribulation should drive him away from Christ; the same experience also made him believe that the holy scriptures were certain divine truth. For this experience of his would have made the sayings of Scripture quite certain to him, since the Lord Christ says: "Those you have given me, I have not lost," John 17:12. Item John 6:37: "What comes to me I will not cast out," but this is included so that they do not run away.

15. that the Lord Christ is our high priest, from the 8th chapter of St. Paul's.

to the Romans.

Christ, our High Priest, has gone to heaven, "sitting at the right hand of the Father, and praying for us without ceasing", Rom. 8, 34.

1. "will hold" i.e. my faith, my doctrine and firm conviction, confirmed by Scripture and experience, shall be said after my death and certainly held for it, that I will, "Christ alone I hold for my Lord."

278 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 15-19. 279

In his death he is a sacrifice paid for our sin, in the resurrection a conqueror, in the ascension a king. In his death he is a sacrifice paid for our sin, in the resurrection a victor, in the ascension a king, in intercession and advocacy a high priest. For in the Law of Moses the High Priest alone went into the Holy of Holies, into Sancta Sanctorum, and interceded for the people. Thus our Lord Christ is finely portrayed in this figure.

Christ remains priest and king.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 505.)

Christ wants to remain a priest, although he is not ordained by any bishop. But God has ordained him, saying: You are a priest forever. [The D and the U are longer than the stone in Revelation, 1) 300 miles and more in length.

In the Holy Scriptures there is no book in which the priesthood of the Lord Christ is so finely and actually described as the Epistle to the Ebrians. Christ's priesthood is a great comfort to the godly, because he is a priest. But that he is also a king is not so comforting, because the heart thinks that he is a strict judge.

17. Christ is our high priest.

2. "You are a priest after the order of Melchizedek," says God, the heavenly Father, to Christ, His Son, Ps. 110, 4. Martin said: "Let us cling to this priest and stay with him, for he is faithful and given by God for us, and he loves us more than his own life, John 10:12. He proved this with his bitter suffering and death, which is certainly true. Oh, who could believe this, how blessed he would be!

(This paragraph follows immediately after Cap. 51, § 6. Lauterbach, > March 3, 1538, p. 45.)

Afterwards his servant recited the 110th Psalm: "The Lord has sworn" 2c. He said: "This is the most beautiful, most glorious verse in the whole Psalm, since God has sworn to this Christ alone.

1. Rev. 21, 16. - 12000 dirt roads (stadiums) are 300 miles.
2. This paragraph will probably be spurious; formed to the entrance for the following.

that he shall be our bishop and high priest, and no other. It shall be neither Caiphas, nor Annas, nor Peter, nor Paul, nor the pope. He alone shall be the priest: therefore I swear an oath that he alone shall be, therefore flee to this priest. I mean, the epistle to the Eberians can make it useful, this: You are a priest.

18. a different.

There is a great and glorious consolation, which every devout Christian, for the honor and good of the world, should not and would not do without, namely, that he knows and believes that Christ, our High Priest, is seated at the right hand of God, represents and forbids us without ceasing. Item, our souls faithful shepherd and bishop is, which the devil can not snatch from his hands.

But we can see from this how a cunning and powerful spirit the devil is, that he can frighten and destroy pious, God-fearing hearts with his fiery arrows in such a way that they lose this beautiful consolation and immediately think perverse thoughts about Christ, that he is not their high priest, but accuses them before God; that he is not the bishop of their souls, but a strict judge. Therefore the dear apostles, Peter and Paul, did not warn us so faithfully in vain that we should "be sober and watchful, armed with God's armor to resist the devil, steadfast in the faith", 1 Petr. 5, 8. Eph. 6, 13.

19. Christ an eternal priest.

Christ will remain a priest forever 2c., even though he is not ordained by any bishop, because God himself ordained him when he swore, and he will not repent: "You are a priest forever" 2c. In these letters of these words: You are a priest, any syllable is much greater than the tower of Babel. "Rule among your enemies", Ps. 110, 2. Thus ev must and will certainly preserve his teaching, which we preach and confess before the wicked world, even before the gates of hell. We Lutherans (as we are called) and the papists dwell in

280 ' * Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. § 19-23. 281

under one roof. Every part wants to be God's people and the right church, and no part wants to give way to the other. Now one part must finally give way, namely the wicked to the righteous.

The Jews and apostles, together with their listeners, were also under one roof. When the Jews had for a long time plagued the Christians, persecuted them, stoned and murdered many of them, and finally chased them all away, and now thought they were rid of the evil people and the boys, the Romans came and finished them off. The same will happen now: when the papists have raged and raged to blaspheme and condemn Christ's teachings, to persecute Christians and shed their innocent blood, they will have to give way to this part. For Christ will and can never leave those (who hold and confess Him as their eternal King and Priest to the end of the world, preach and confess His doctrine, take comfort in His prayer, John 17, and that He sacrificed Himself for their sin) without comfort and helplessness.

20. Christ our King and God.

Whoever has Christ as his King and God, who has taken on human nature, flesh and blood, born of the pure virgin Mary, must certainly take care that he has the devil as his enemy, who will cause him much suffering and torment him all his life. But this is our comfort and great glory, that we poor people have the Lord of life, death and all creatures, clothed with our flesh and blood, sitting at the right hand of the Father, who lives forever and prays for us, protects and shields us.

21. scheflimini.

Scheslimini, that is, sit at my right. The Scheslimini has many and great enemies, 1) we, his poor little group, must experience this so that we feel it. But he will remain seated before them all, as before, and we in him and through him; I know that.

1. Cf. cap. 2, § 124.

forsooth. And even if we have to suffer much and are strangled, it does not hurt if we dare to rely on His word Joh. 14, 19: "I live and you shall also live". Item Joh. 17, 24: "Where I am, there you shall be also".

22. Christ stalks as if he does not take care of his poor, afflicted and persecuted members 2c.

For this reason Christ is incomprehensible in this life, because the world rewards his best and most faithful servants very badly, persecutes, blasphemes, condemns and kills them as the worst, most harmful heretics and evildoers 2c. In addition, he is silent and lets it happen, so that I sometimes think: I almost do not know where I stand, whether I preach right or not. This has also been Saint Paul's trial and torture, which he (I think) has not said to many, or has not been able to say; for who can say what it means that he says 1 Cor. 15, 31: "I die daily"?

23. the scripture calls Christ our priest, bridegroom 2c.

The Holy Scripture often calls Christ our priest, bridegroom, bridegroom 2c., and us, who believe in him, his bride, virgin, daughter, which is a beautiful image that we should always have before our eyes.

Now he proved his priestly office firstly by preaching and proclaiming and revealing to us the will of the Father, that whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, Joh. 3, 16. Secondly, he also prayed for us, yes, for all of Christendom, until the end of the world, shortly before he went to the Father, when he said Joh. 17, 20.I do not pray for them alone" (to whom I gave your word and commanded to preach), "but also for those who will believe in me through their word"; and still "he sits at the right hand of God and represents and pleads with us before God without ceasing", Rom. 8, 34. Thirdly, that he sacrificed his body on the wood of the cross for our sin.

He is our bridegroom, we are his bride. What he, the dear Lord Christ, has, even he himself, is ours, for "we are members of his

282 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. §23-26." ' 283

His body, his flesh and his bones", as St. Paul says Eph. 5, 30. What we have is his. But it is a very unequal change: He has eternal innocence, righteousness, life and blessedness, which he gives us, that they should be our own. We are captives of the devil, subject to sin and death. He redeemed us from the devil's power, crushed his head, took us captive, stripped us, cast us out to hell 2c. Our sin he took upon himself, bore, and gave his life for a redemption for us. He has taken away the power of death, yes, he has devoured it eternally, so that we may cheerfully defy it with St. Paul's 1 Cor. 15, 55.: "Death, where is your sting?"

The prophet Hosea speaks of this spiritual marriage in the person of Christ Cap. 2, 19. 20.: "I will betroth myself to thee for ever; I will trust in thee in righteousness and in judgment, in grace and in mercy; yea, in faith will I betroth myself to thee, and thou shalt know the LORD." And Isa. 62:4: "The LORD hath delight in thee, and thy land hath a dear Puhlen." Item v. 5: "As a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you." 2c.

Whether the dear Lord establishes a spiritual marriage with us, betroths himself to us to be our eternal bridegroom, graces and adorns us with his eternal heavenly goods, and also swears to be our eternal priest, it still does not help, the great multitude runs in the devil's name, fornicates against him, worships foreign idols, as the Jews served Baalim, Astaroth 2c. Astaroth 2c., and we in the papacy worshiped the saints. Yes, this is even more to be lamented and wept over: we, who now know from God's word that he is our high priest and bridegroom, when there is a tribulation, fear and distress, when we should have the most refuge, we flee from him and worry that he is angry with us and wants to leave us in hiding.

24. Christ our eternal mediator.

"There is only One GOD," says St. Paul 1 Tim. 2, 5, and "One mediator, between GOD and men, namely the man JEsus

Christ, who gave himself for salvation for all." Therefore, no one should think of coming before God and obtaining grace from Him without this mediator, high priest or intercessor, Ebr. 5, 1. 2. 1 Joh. 2, 1. 2. If he is our mediator before God, it is certain that we are sinners and lost, and through our honorable life, good works, virtue, merit, holiness, even through the work of the law, we cannot appease God's wrath, nor can we obtain grace and forgiveness of sins.

Thus, by this single word "mediator" all the saints' merits, good works and righteousness are rejected and condemned before God, so that they cannot stand before God. We also see from this how unspeakably great God's wrath is against sin, because it could not have been atoned for or paid for by any other sacrifice, but only by the Son and the precious blood of the Son of God.

25 Against Schwenkfeld's Opinion of the Creatureliness of Christ.

(This § is Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 1593, no. 159, and vol. XX, > 2072.)

26 All errors and heresies go against Christ.

All heretics have laid themselves against the article of Christ. Manichaeus challenged mankind, because he pretended that Christ was a ghost. Just as, he says, the sun passes through a painted glass and shines, and the rays touch and pass through the other part, but the sun takes nothing from the essence of the glass; so Christ took nothing from the essence and nature of Mary.

Arius wanted to worship the deity. Nestorius wanted it to be two persons. Eutyches taught that there was only one person, because the divine one was devoured. Helvidius pretended that the mother was not a virgin. As if Christ was born in original sin.

It is all about Christ, and about the article that the children say before the table: "And I believe in Jesus Christ" 2c., which repels all devils and hell, and before it all devils are terrified and tremble; nor must it be so shamefully challenged.

284 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 26-30. 285

become. The pope knows nothing of the office of the person of Christ. Macedonius alone challenged the article of the Holy Spirit, but it soon fell and fell to the ground; for if the article of Christ remains, the other soon perishes.

But all heresy goes against the other article. The son has sinned, he must suffer, they do not want him. The Turks and Jews left the father, but the son did it, and much blood was shed over it. I think that more than two million martyrs remained in Rome. It has been true from the beginning of the world with Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob; and I believe that the devil was also cast into hell because of this, because he was a beautiful creature of God, so he also wanted to be the son.

According to the holy scriptures, we have no stronger argument than the dear holy cross; for against Christ and the article all kingdoms contend, all that is mighty, and yet cannot overpower him. Therefore, the holy scripture is the first argument to prove Christ's divinity and humanity; the other is the cross.

So many rulers have perished who have challenged it; so many kingdoms have opposed it; but the article still remains. Then I, a poor monk, must come and seize a poor nun; they have it: therefore the word and the cross do it, they make one sure. They will have neither word nor cross; but we accept the word, and the cross soon follows; and though we would gladly be rid of the guest, yet we accept him, and have patience.

27. that the Lord Christ's divinity has been contested by the devil and heretics for and for.

When it was said over Luther's table in 1543 that there were many heresies, sects and cults against the Holy Trinity, Luther said: "It all goes against the high article: "I believe in Jesus Christ. Luther said: "It all goes against the high article: "I believe in Jesus Christ. In the first article, as: "I believe in God the Father, almighty Creator of heaven and earth"; there stimulated

They all come in droves, for they all want to have only One God. But they do not want to suffer the son; just as the devil himself did not want to suffer the son, because he wanted to be a son himself, crying that he was a beautiful creature. Adam also did not want to have the son, he wanted to be as wise as the father himself. There are many figures who, as I think, have indicated this from the devil. Ishmael wanted to be Isaac, and Esau wanted to be Jacob; so the devil was also against the Son of God, that is why it is still the same for us.

28. a different.

(Contained in Cap. 7, § 97.)

The deity of Christ should not be separated from his humanity.

Doctor Martin Luther said: He had received letters in which one denied that the Godhead in Christ had not suffered, but only mankind. When Dominus Jacobus, Prepositus at Bremen, heard this, who was just at Wittenberg and was eating with M. M. Luther, he said: "This cannot be, for it is written: "God, who has purchased the church (or congregation) with His blood. To this D. M. Luther answered and said: Oh, this is the trade! The devil deals with it, one wants to tear Christum and to separate. Such heads are not godly, but ambitious: they do not seek God's glory, but their own, for they want to be seen before others, and leave disciples and pupils behind them.

(30) Whether the Godhead in Christ also suffered?

(About this § Stangwald remarks in the appendix p. 824: This is taken > ex manuscriptis resolutionibus Disputationum Circularium Lutheri, Wie > die in der Universität zu Wittenberg gehalten wurden).

The question was asked, "Is it right, true, and Christian to say that Christ suffered and died according to the divinity, or divine nature? Because the Godhead is not subject to death, it can neither suffer nor die. For St. Peter says: "Christ is dead", or to the

286 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. § 30. 287

Death delivered, "according to the flesh, but made alive according to the Spirit," 1 Petr. 3, 18. Then answered D. M. Luther, and said: All God-fearing and righteous Christians, or the whole holy Christian church and congregation, believe without all doubt that which is spoken of in the infant faith, namely, "that JEsus Christ, the only Son of GOD, in One Divine Being and One Nature with the Father, is truly man. Conceived of Mary of virgins, born of the Holy Spirit, suffered, was crucified, died and was buried", therefore they believe that not only the human nature, but also the divine nature, or the right true God, suffered and died for us.

And although suffering, dying, 2c. are foreign qualities that cannot otherwise be said of the divine nature in particular, but only of the human nature, nevertheless, because the divine nature has thus assumed the human nature and clothed itself in it, these two natures are now inseparable from one another, so that Christ is now in One Person both God and man at the same time: what now befalls and happens to this person, who is Christ, that same thing also befalls and happens to this God and man. Hence it is that these two natures in Christ communicate their idioms and attributes one to the other; that is, what is the peculiar attribute of one nature is also communicated to the other, and is rightly said of it, because they are interdependent, and are alike as interwoven and united, so that they cannot be separated or divided from one another. As, being born, suffering, dying 2c. Idiomata, attributes of human nature, which the divine nature is also made part of in this person, who is and is called Christ, for the sake of the union, which cannot be separated nor set apart from one another, and must be grasped only with faith.

Therefore not only man, but also God is conceived, born of Mary of virgins, suffers, dies, is buried 2c., as St. Paul testifies Rom. 1, 3. when he says: "Son of God, born of the seed of David, according to the flesh" 2c. He

says: "according to the flesh", because Christ, from David's seed, took on the human nature; therefore it is rightly and actually said that he was born. But because this same nature, in One Person, is so closely united to the divine nature, it almost shares its idiom and quality with the nature of God, as it was born and became man, as John says in Cap. 1, 14: "And the Word became flesh", God became man. Thus, not only man, but also the Son of God, as Paul says, or the right true God was born. And Mary, the virgin, is not only the mother of a man, but a true, real mother of God, as the angel Gabriel testifies, Luc. 1, 31, when he says: "Behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and bear a son, 2c., who shall be called the Son of the Most High." And adds to this, v. 32: "And GOD the LORD will give him the throne of his father David" 2c. Therefore Mary, the virgin, truly gave birth to the true Son of God, who is also the true Son of David.

But that which has been said and proved of the communication and impartation of one quality of nature (namely, that being born 2c. is also assigned to and said of the divine nature through the communion of qualities), the same is also to be understood of the communication and impartation of the other qualities, such as suffering, dying, being buried 2c, although they are actually due to and belong to human nature; yet the divine nature in Christ subordinates itself to these and suffers 2c., also according to the saying of Paul, Rom. 8, 29: "We must be conformed to the image of the Son of God" 2c. Item, v. 32: "Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us" 2c. And in the first epistle to the Corinthians, Cap. 2, v. 8: "For if they had known the glory, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Item, to Philippians, Cap. 2, 6, 7, 8: "Jesus Christ, though he was in the form of God, for he was like God; yet he took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of another man, and in his deeds was found in the likeness of men, and humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death.

288 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 30. 289

on the cross." Likewise, the Church sings: Vita in ligno moritur: Das Leben stirbet am Holz 2c.

Therefore, one should certainly believe that everything that is actually due and happens to human nature in Christ is also communicated, assigned and given to divine nature. So that it is rightly and truly said: God is born, nursed or suckled, lies in the manger, freezes, walks, stands, falls, wanders, wakes, eats, drinks, suffers, dies 2c.

There is also a beautiful, excellent saying to the Eberians, Cap. I will only refer to it in this piece,' since it speaks thus, v. 7: "You have made him lack a little time of angels 1)". And soon after, v. 9: "But the one who lacked a little time of angels, we see that it is Jesus, through the suffering of death"; but he says: "a little time", that is, until he had tasted death. What could be more clearly said? "He is," saith he, "become lower than the angels." Why? "Because of the pains of death," for he has tasted death; therefore he has become somewhat lower than the angels, whose nature is not subject to death, for they do not die. But he, because he is a lord and creator of the angels and natural God, for he is the Son of God, nevertheless he humbles himself and dies.

On the other hand, it should also be known that idioms, attributes of the divine nature in Christ are rightly shared with and given to the human nature: because it is connected and united with the divine nature without any separation, they are rightly communicated and given to it. Therefore Christ says John 3:13: "No man leadeth unto heaven, but he that is from heaven, the Son of man which is in heaven"; and yet he standeth and walketh here on earth, and speaketh with Nicodemus. Therefore it is seen that what is appropriated and given to Christ, or to human nature in Christ, is rightly and properly due to man.

1. Aurifaber's marginal gloss: lack, says D. M. Luther there. In the Ebräisch this verse reads thus: You let him lack a little time of God; that is: You left him three days of his suffering, as if no God was with him; but where there is no God, there is also no angel.

given to the divine. Item, he says Matth. 18, 19: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, 2) there am I in the midst of them". In these sayings he certainly speaks of his personal presence, that in this person, who is and is called Christ, there must also be both man and God at the same time, or both natures together, undivided, present everywhere, and in truth, hear, create and work all things in all, as the 8th Psalm, v. 7, says: "You have put it all under his feet" 2c. So, where one nature is, there must also be the other, and none can ever be separated or separated from the other in eternity.

But since no human heart or reason can understand, comprehend, or investigate such things by its understanding and wisdom, it should be accepted with faith and believed to be true, because God says so in His Word. If we do this, then we will understand and feel (as devout Christians and godly people who have experienced these things testify) what comfort this article gives in all troubles and temptations of sin and death. Item, we will learn what light it brings to understand the Scriptures; yes, since this article is not understood, it can be seen, yes, it is certain that in this history of the suffering of Christ everything is cold and in vain, and one understands nothing of it, although one chats about it a lot.

And from this it can be understood that Peter says 1. ep. 3, 8.: "Christ was killed according to the flesh" 2c. that the divine nature is not excluded, but was made a part of suffering and dying. For he says: According to the flesh he was given in death. Although suffering and death are proper and are the nature and characteristic of human and mortal nature, he nevertheless says that Christ died, who is both true God and true man. Therefore God and man died. About that, who knows this and understands it.

2. Aurifaber's marginal gloss: To my ram, out of my command, and in my honor, so it goes out well. Doctor Martin Luther.

290 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 30-33. 291

He cannot be mistaken, says Gregory, if he worships Christ in the grave, dead. For if he worships Christ in the grave, dead, he also believes in him who died and was buried. For the dead and buried Christ was not only man, but also God.

31. error of the heretics Lei the article of Christ.

I know nothing more about Christ, said D. M. Luther. M. Luther, which the devil would not have challenged, therefore he must now start again from the beginning and bring out the old errors and heresies.

Sabellius was the first to say: Christ would be God, but there would be only One Person of the Godhead. This is the next and most subtle heresy, that there is only One Person, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This was followed by the Patripassians, who were not very different from them. Then came the Arians, who distinguished the persons, but said that the Son was not God from eternity, but was only called God, just as the princes were called gods. After this came the Manichaei, who challenged the humanity of Christ, saying that it was a ghost, not a true body. Then came the Photiniani, who pretended that Christ was indeed a true man, but that he had no soul.

Thus the devil has challenged Christ through and through, that he has nothing left to challenge, therefore he must start again from the beginning. The Pelagiani and the pope with their followers are the most beautiful heretics, who have a great pretense; for they admit that Christ is God and man, but they deny his custom, use and office, namely, that he is our righteousness without our work. No, they do not want that, but say: we must also do something for it. Therefore, God must allow Himself to be led into the school and reformed and, as Christ says, "Wisdom must be justified by her children," Luc. 7:35.

Of the resurrection of Christ, that reason cannot comprehend it.

The history of the resurrection of Christ teaches that reason itself cannot

can believe that Christ rose from the dead, because only by means of the oral word, which, so that there was no lack of it, the angel brought from heaven and proclaimed. But he brought it to the weak vessels and instruments, to the women, and to those who were troubled and in anguish. They were fools, both before God and the world. Before God, that they sought the living among the dead. Before the world, because they had forgotten the great stone that lay on the tomb, they prepared Specerei to anoint Christ, which was all in vain.

Spiritually, however, this indicates and means that if the great stone (namely, the law and human statutes that keep the conscience bound and entangled) is not rolled away from the heart, then Christ cannot be found, nor can we believe that he is risen, because through him we are redeemed from the power and right of sin, death 2c., Rom. 8, 2, so that the bonds of conscience can no longer weigh us down. The pope, who killeth Christ in the hearts of men, giveth money enough unto his own, that they say Christ is not risen, but that they boast of works.

33. about Christ's resurrection, what it is good for.

Since Christ has risen again, he has taken all things with him, so that all men must rise again, even the ungodly. But that we are still alive and in need of this world is like a householder going overland and saying to his child or servant, "Behold, you now have two golden pennies, which you need for your physical needs and food until I come again.

Also, all creatures are a figure and image of the future resurrection, because towards summer they come to life again from death, grow and green; which in winter no one believed would happen, if he had not experienced and seen it before. Likewise, when he ascended into heaven, he also carried all things with him, sits at the right hand of God the Father, and has transferred us, who are members of his body, with him into the heavenly being, so that we also may

292 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 33. 34. 293

To be lords of all things like Christ, but so that he may remain the firstborn among many brethren.

Therefore a Christian who believes this looks at the sun and everything we need in this world as if they were not there, but always remembers the life to come, in which he is all ready, even though it does not yet appear, even "all creatures wait for the redemption and revelation of the children of God", Rom. 8, 19.

All creatures have been eliminated, and all works, no matter how holy they are, have been purely excluded and cut off as necessary for salvation. Since a work makes blessed, so also apples and pears make blessed. Christian righteousness is not such a righteousness as is in us and clings, as otherwise a qualitas and virtue, that is, which is found in us, or which we feel; but is an alien righteousness, altogether apart from us, namely, Christ Himself is our formalis Justitia, perfect righteousness, and the whole being, I Cor. 1, 30.

34. suffering of Christ and His Church, and how Christ nullifies the power of the devil.

Is it not a strange thing that the Son of God should sit there and be so miserably mangled, mocked and ridiculed? whom all angels worship, before whom the earth trembles, whom all creatures recognize as their Creator, they spit in his face, strike him on the mouth with a reed, say: "He is a king, he must have a crown and a scepter," Matth. 27, 30, 31, 32. 27, 30. 31. 32. The Lord Christ does not complain about this in vain in the Psalm: "All my bones have been cut in two," Ps. 22, 15. So they have stretched him.

Oh, it is nothing with our suffering: when I look at our suffering, someone would be ashamed to death. We are still to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, and even if we become conformed, it is still nothing. He is the Son of God, we are poor creatures: if we suffer eternal death, it is nothing.

There you can see how the devil has a fury against the Son of God and the human race. Once I saw a wolf tearing a sheep; ei, how goes

he will kill them! Jtem, 1) When he enters the sheepfold, he does not feed any of them, for he has first slain them all; then he starts and feeds, thinking that he will devour them all. So the devil also thinks: I have now caught Christ, I will also get his apostles by and by; but he does not see that he is the Son of God, and that is also the devil's foolishness, he does not know that after this he should feel so bad, and that he should be paid so badly.

After this the devil is destroyed, so that he must be afraid of a young child in the cradle: for where he only hears Jesus called by a true faith, there he cannot stay; for he remembers: I have strangled this one. Just as if Hein Mordbrenner 2) were to come to a place where the Elector of Saxony was, and he found out about it, he would flee and not expect the Elector, for he knows that he has burned him. So also the devil must be afraid of Christ: he would run through a fire before he would stay. This means: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," Genesis 3:15. I mean, he bruised his head so that he could neither hear nor see the Christ.

I have often liked the parable in Job about a fishing rod that fishermen cast into the water and put an earthworm on it; then the fish come and want to eat from it, so they eat the iron with the earthworm, and the fisherman pulls the fish out of the water. Our Lord God did the same to the devil: he cast his only begotten Son, the Lord Christ Jesus, as a fishing rod into the world, and put the humanity of Christ as an earthworm on it: so the devil snatches at the man Christ and strangles him, and bites into the iron, into the divinity of Christ; snap! there he and all his power lie on the ground. This is the divine wisdom, that he lets his feet, that is, his Christians, be tortured in the race and be humiliated: then the devil thinks he has it all in his power, but he is still far short.

1. The same idea also applies to Cap. 24, § 90.
2. Duke Henry of Brunswick.

294Cap . 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 35-37. 295

Collation of the suffering of Christ with the suffering of His Church.

Doctor Luther says that the work of the young theologians should be that they confer the suffering of Christ with the suffering of the Christian church, and said: Christ did not say the words in vain on the cross: Consummatum est, that is, all is accomplished; for now it is so, Christ's suffering is fulfilled in his church. For first of all they crowned him and mocked him, when the pope wrote himself King of kings and Lord of lords. Then they crucified him with the monastic vows. After that there is an earthquake, and the sun loses its light. The Pabst's regiment has lost its light, both its eyes are pierced out. Item, the rocks are torn apart, that is, many hard heads are now coming to the gospel, who never wanted it. Now it will be said: "Into your hands I commend my spirit. It rhymes very well; for what the man, the Son of God, speaks or does is a great thing, at which all angels must marvel, yes, the earth trembles at it.

To what time and hour Christ gave the paschal lamb.

According to the Law of Moses, Christ began to eat the paschal lamb with his disciples on Green Thursday evening, when the day began at seven o'clock. After that he instituted the new paschal lamb. And when he had washed the disciples' feet, he went out into the garden: there he was caught about the eighth hour of the night, for such a great and heavy struggle could not last long.

He was led first to Annas, then to Caiphas, when Peter denied him three times before the cock crowed, from nine to twelve. During those hours, until early in the morning, when it began to be day, the Jews plagued, mocked, and spat on the Lord Christ.

In the morning at the earliest the chief priests held council, and heard Christ. After that, when it was day, that is,

About the sixth hour they brought Jesus to Pilate, where they accused him of being crucified and spent almost three hours on it, so that it was almost nine before Christ was crucified.

And this is what St. Marcus says Cap. 15, 25: "They crucified Jesus at the third hour", that is, it was not yet at six. And St. John, Cap. 19, 14, because it was nearer to six than to three, therefore he writes: Christ was crucified at six, that is, according to our pointer, from nine the Jews pressed in Pilate for Jesus to be crucified, and they hardly attained it at twelve. And at twelve, when he had hung on the cross a while, darkness fell: and at last at nine, that is, about three in the evening, he gave up his spirit with a great cry.

"And because it was the preparation day," he says in v. 31, "the Jews hastened that the dead bodies might be taken down from the cross," that is, that Christ lay in the grave the fourth part of the Jews' Easter day; and that is one day. The other day began on Friday, after the sun had set, and lasted all night until the sun set again on the Sabbath day. All this time Christ lay in the grave. But on the Sabbath day, after the setting of the sun, the third day, which the Jews call the Sabbath day, is observed, according to the Jewish way, which is the day closest to the Sabbath at Easter. On the same Sunday morning, when it was light on the same third day, and the sun went out, Christ our Savior rose again from death. And this is what we confess, believe and say in our faith: Risen on the third day, do not say after three days, but on the third day.

37. Christ's friendly conversation in the Lord's Supper.

(Lauterbach, April 11, 1538, p. 61.)

Afterwards he remembered the meal of Christ and the apostles at the last supper, where the Son of God speaks to His own in the most intimate way and bears their weakness.

296 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 37-42. 297

There were special collations where Philip said: "Lord, show us the Father"; Thomas: "We do not know the way"; Peter: "I will go with you" (Joh. 14, 8. 5.; 13, 37.) 2c. These are vain collation speeches, where everyone has expressed his thoughts. There has been no lovelier collation from the beginning of the world than this.

38. of the sweating of blood and other spiritual sufferings of the Lord Christ in the garden.

Someone asked over Luther's table about the sweating of blood and other high and spiritual suffering that Christ had endured in the garden. Then said D. Luther said, "No one can know or remember what kind of suffering it was: if a person were to begin to feel this, he would have to die. You know, many people die of mental illness. Oecolampadius and Carolstadius 2) died of it. Oecolampadius thought: "Behold, how Zwinglius perished so miserably, we have begun the game of the sacrament with each other. So Carlstadt also mourned himself to death: for the three days before he died, in the church at Basel, in his chair, where he used to stand, a great long man had stepped, stood in it and heard the sermon. Those who were standing next to the same chair saw nothing, but because Carlstadt was not sitting in it, they thought the chair was empty; but all the other people in the church had seen the tall man in the chair. When Carlstadt heard this, he lay down and died of sorrow. For heartache is death itself. If a man should feel such anguish and distress as Christ had, and if the soul should nevertheless remain in the body and endure such things, it would be impossible: soul and body would have to separate. Christ alone was able to do this, which is why he broke out in a bloody sweat.

39. Christ's own work.

Christ has no money, nor purse, nor earthly kingdom, for the same has all of them.

I) d. i. Table Talks.

2. Oekolampadius died in 1531, Carlstadt in 1541.

he has given to kings and princes. But one thing he has reserved for him, which is neither the work of man nor of angels, namely that he is a victor over sin, death, the devil and hell, and can save and preserve even in the midst of death those who believe in him through his word.

40. how Christ becomes ours rightly.

(This is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII. § 365. 360. 361.)

41. Christ the greatest of sinners.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. 3. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 322. 323. 324.)

42. of the entry of Christ into Jerusalem.

(Lauterbach, April 14, 1538, p. 61 f.)

On April 14, Palm Sunday, Luther spoke much in the evening about Christ's entry into Jerusalem. It was a paltry, clerical entry, where Christ, such a great king, sat on a donkey; clothes were his saddle. A whimsical entry according to the prophecy of Zechariah (9:9). For after he had come from Bethany to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, which was as near as the bridge from hence, a great multitude, because he had just before wrought the miracle on Lazarus, went shouting before him, and followed him. Then he sent in his disciples to borrow donkeys and to ride badly to fulfill the prophecy. I believe that it was not Christ himself who put on the prophecy, but the apostles and evangelists who did so, as a testimony. Christ preached in the meantime and wept. The people honored him with olive branches and palms, which are signs of peace and victory. These ceremonies were later borrowed by the Gentiles from the Jews in their triumphal processions, but the Jews did not adopt them from the Gentiles. For the Jewish people and Jerusalem are older than all the Greeks and Latins; for the Greeks began about the time of the Babylonian captivity, but Jerusalem was before the Persians and Assyrians, much more before the Greeks and Romans. Therefore

298 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 42-16. 299

the Gentiles adopted many ceremonies from the Jews because they were older. It was nevertheless a glorious, splendid entry, solemn by prophecy and miracles, although it was outwardly poor and despised.

43. of Christ's sufferings, which most grieved him, and still do, the Jews.

and pagans.

(Lauterbach, May 12, 1538, p. 79.)

On the evening of May 12, Luther spoke of the greatness of Christ's suffering; because he was completely innocent, he would have been justified in saying, "The prince of this world has nothing on me" (John 14:30), and yet he suffered most grievously and was most shamefully mangled for the sake of our sins. The Jews crucified him by word, the Gentiles by deed. The suffering of Christ is a tremendous prophecy of the wickedness of the Gentiles, for Christ suffers more today in the church of the Gentiles than in the synagogue of the Jews. More bitter is the blasphemy, the contempt, the tyranny, than once among the Jews. For if one confesses in Italy the article of faith and of the last judgment, the pope says: Why do you believe this? Be of good cheer. 1) This and similar blasphemies have not only been spoken by a pope, but it is a common speech in all Italy, which elsewhere no man could utter with impunity.

44. of Christ's future.

(The first paragraph of this § in Lauterbach, June 14, 1538, p. 89 f.)

The prophets have summed up the twofold future of Christ. As we know that the last day will be, and yet we do not know what will happen after the last day, except that we know in general that there will be joy and eternal peace of heart: so the prophets know the future of Christ, and yet they did not know what would be after the coming of the Messiah, not other than in general. So also the prophets thought that immediately after the coming of the Messiah the last day would come. To-

1. Fac tibi bonum vultum: put on a friendly face.

first, because they call the time of the Messiah the last time. Secondly, because they have summarized the signs of the first and the second future as if they would occur at the same time. Thirdly, this is also the reason for Paul's question in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: whether the day of judgment will come while they are still alive. Fourthly, so does Christ himself, who gives both signs at the same time.

(This paragraph in Lauterbach, Sept. 12, 1538, p. 131.)

Augustine's saying is very, godly, because he says: Christ has put his single in harmony with our double, and so it makes a perfect number. For Christ's death is called the simple, because he dies only according to the flesh; but our death is the double, because we would be eternally damned according to body and soul because of our sins.

(The first four lines of the last paragraph in Walch are transferred > to Cap. 24, § 75, where they belong).

45 Christ preached from a book.

(Lauterbach, Oct. 11, 1538, p. 147.)

After that it was said that D. Jakob Schenk did not preach from a book. He Luther said: I do it not for necessity's sake, but as an example to others, and no one may be ashamed of the book in the pulpit, because Christ, the high Master, Luc. 4, 17 has left us the example of preaching from the book.

46. Christ has gone to hell.

When the article "descended into hell" was mentioned in our Christian faith, D. Martin said: "This is my simple opinion, and I believe that Christ went to hell for us, to break and destroy it; as is proved in the 16th Psalm, v. 8 ff, and Acts 2:24 ff. 2, 24. ff. is proven. Although foolish and quarrelsome spirits and clever ones might take cause to dispute, and pretend that the word infernus, hell, is taken and understood for a grave, as it is written several times in the first book of Moses about the creation. But here the Ebrew word nobet, which is pit, is not written; but scholah, which is Gehenna, hell. For the ancients made four different kinds of hell.

300 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 47-52. 301

47. bon Christ's resurrection.

Anno 30, April 9, Martin spoke of the resurrection of the Lord Christ through the Word and the preaching of the Gospel, which does not happen without earthquakes, just as Christ was wiped out of the grave and resurrected with a great earthquake. Even today the world is still stirring. And a tumult arises when Christ's righteousness and holiness alone are preached and proclaimed. But such an earthquake is salutary, comforting and fun for the God-fearing and true Christians, and more to be desired and desired than peace and rest against God, with an evil conscience.

The Jews let them dream and thought that Christ's kingdom would be a worldly kingdom; as also the apostles, Joh. 14, 22.: "Lord, what will it become that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" We meant that the whole world should see thy glory, that thou shouldest be emperor, and we twelve kings, among whom the kingdoms should be divided, that every one should have among him six disciples for rulers, earls, and lords; which would be the two and seventy disciples, for so many were they. Thus the dear apostles had already divided the land according to Platonic delusion and human reason. But Christ describes his kingdom much differently, as follows v. 24: "He who loves me will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him" 2c.

48 Epitaphium Salvatoris nostri JEsu Christi, quod fixum est Hierosolymis ad sepulchrum Christi.

(Not from Luther.)

49. another epitaph, still in Jerusalem at the tomb of the Lord

Christ is found.

(Not from Luther.)

50. Christ our glory and praise.

Our greatest glory, honor, and praise is that we have Christ, the Son of God, born of our flesh, yet without sin, seated

all creatures in heaven, on earth and in hell. But whoever wants to have him as Lord will have the devil as his enemy and adversary.

(51) Whether they were right who said and spread the miraculous signs of the Lord Christ, when he had forbidden them.

To this the Doctor answered: When Christ speaks outside of His office, He speaks as a God, as when He speaks of His person, and says Joh. 16, 15: "All that is of the Father is Mine"; Joh. 14, 1: "If you believe in God, believe also in Me" 2c. But when he speaks according to his office, as sent by the Father, he speaks as a man and servant, not of his person, as when he says Matth. 20, 28: "I have come to serve" 2c. So also here, when he is about to perform his miraculous works, he speaks as if sent by the Father. And he is well pleased to reveal it, so that he may give us an example and a lesson that we should not seek our glory in what we do good, but only in God. Therefore John testifies in his entire gospel that Christ honored the Father, not himself; this is what he made us preachers believe. So also is that of his ministry, when he says: The Son does not know about the hour.

After his resurrection, Christ revealed to the apostles everything that had happened to him during his suffering.

This is what D. Martin said to someone who asked him and wondered how the evangelists could have written about things they had not known and could not have known or remembered. When they wrote: Christ woke up the three disciples who were sleeping in the garden. They also wrote that the angel appeared to Christ, spoke to him, and comforted him. Likewise the words of Christ when he prayed, which they had not heard. Item, what happened during the night in Caiphas' and Herodis' house, which they neither saw nor heard, because they had fled.

302 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 53-63. 302

53. Christ's humility and kindness.

(Cordatus No. 1638.)

It is certain that Christ had the sweetest intercourse with the apostles, served them at table 2c. In the end, the good people were accustomed to this and let it happen. He came to serve. This they granted him. The example is set high for us.

Christ leads his kingdom wonderfully.

(Contained in Cap. 7, § 85, last paragraph.)

55. crucifix of Christ.

(Contained in Cap. 30, § 32.)

56: One should believe in Jesus Christ alone. 1)

(Cordatus No. 210 and No. 211. Anno 1531.)

There is no stronger argument against the Jews than the seat of David, because they have not had dominion for 1531 years now. There is nothing else that presses them harder than the seat of David. And Pauli's arguments against the Jews are not a joke. Although no religion is so foolish in the sight of reason as the Christian religion, I believe in one Jew, who is called Jesus Christ; I do not believe in others, for the Jews have been rejected and given a wrong meaning.

2. In every way, he who stands in the holy place, preaches in the pulpit and in public, should teach. And it is much better for one to lack rhetoric than dialectics, which teaches; but rhetorics, with its eloquence alone, adorns the doctrine that one teaches. The color is rhetorica, the crossing out dialectica. If we cannot have color against the pope, we can still design.

Christ alone should be in a Christian's heart.

(This § is in Luther's preface to the great interpretation of the > Epistle to the Galatians. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 1524, § 1.)

1. Very similar to Cap. 7, § 3.
2. Very similar Cap. 52, §1, at the end.

58. Christ is law and freedom, sin and righteousness, death and life.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. 2. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 307.)

59. why Christ had come.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the letter to > theGalatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 45.)

60. Christ's special work and own ministry. (This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians, Cap. 4. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 46.).

61) Which people will benefit from Christ.

The fact that Christ came and became man does not help the hypocrites, who live and are secure without fear of God; nor does it benefit those who are obviously godless despisers: likewise the despairers, who think that there is no consolation. Grace to wait on, when the law has frightened them. But to those alone it is of use and comfort who have been troubled and frightened by the law for a while, and yet do not despair in such serious and heartfelt terror of the law, but come with comforting confidence to Christ, the throne of grace, who "redeemed them from the curse of the law, when he himself became a curse for them," Gal. 3:13. Those who do this attain mercy and find grace.

62. Christ must remain eternally, and all who believe in him.

(Cordatus No. 413.)

There is talk of future persecution. But we know from the second Psalm: Christ they must let live, and though we die, we are not dead; but if Christ dies, I also die. But I take comfort in the fact that God's word, which endures forever, says: "I live, and you also shall live" John 14:19. I have been baptized into Him, therefore I know of none but Christ.

No one wants to have Christ as his Lord.

(Cordatus No. 417.)

My sermon is in vain and similar to the one who sings in a forest, for he sings to the trees.

304 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. §63-71. 305

men And only the echo resounds again. Thus we preach to the glory of God, although no fruits follow. And although many' blaspheme, yet it is good to preach Christ for the sake of less.

He who knows Christ well is a master of the Scriptures.

Cabbala was good until Christ; therefore, because Christ has now come and the grave is open, it is all over. But our red spirits say that there are still many things hidden in the holy scriptures that have not yet been revealed. This is false and not true, for the grave is open and Christ has come forth. Therefore he that knoweth Christ, and knoweth him aright, is a magister in the scriptures, and shall remain a magister.

65 You should never be afraid of Christo.

(Contained in Cap. 2, §155.)

The dead Christ is not forgotten.

Many a dead person has been forgotten, can we not also forget the dead Christ? said a Jew once; which is a devilish speech. Yes, dear devil, it is called Sheflimini, that is: Sit at my right hand. Therefore Christ, his suffering and death must be preached in the world as it stands.

67 Christ wars with great lords.

(Cordatus No. 513.)

To those who speak of the persecution of mighty tyrants, I answer, Let this be done to Christ, who will not war with beggars, but with kings 2c. The kings of the Assyrians, Babylon 2c., they went there, for such must not end it, however great they are. All the prophets have spoken against them, and they have cried out against them, as Daniel's words prove. This is what the Turk does to us, Ferdinand 2c. God's deception 1) is to strike one prince with another, and with me the pope.

1. Teuschen, i.e. secret being in a good and evil sense, Müller III, 156 (Wrampelmeyer).

68. Christ often revealed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead.

(Cordatus No. 436.)

As often as Christ sat and ate with the apostles after his resurrection, so that they could feel that the divine majesty was sitting with them and dwelling in him bodily, they often had to think: How we have held on to Christ like peelers and evil-doers, because it is said of Peter John 21:17 that he became sad. Therefore what he says Joh. 16, 22 had to happen: "I will see you again" 2c. If he had not done this, he would never have brought the apostles to him.

Where Christ abides, there also abide those who believe in him.

(Cordatus No. 438.)

If we were not baptized, if we did not believe in Christ, the devil would leave us alone. But we will hold fast to Christ, no matter how much the devil may be angry with us. Where Christ abides, we will abide; if he goes to hell, we will go with him.

70. a different.

(Cordatus No. 440.)

We have more opportunities for joy than for sadness, because we believe in the living God, and Christ lives and we should also live John 14:19. But sadness is innate in us, and the devil is the spirit of sadness, but God is the spirit of joy that saves us.

One flees from Christ, but runs to Satan.

(Cordatus No. 469.)

The Son of Man came to save sinners, and sinners would rather follow the devil, who promises only a pittance and hardly gives it, but they flee Christ, who certainly promises and gives ten times a hundred thousand guilders.

306Gap . 7. of the Lord Christ. § 72-76. 307

Christ must "receive" His word Himself; we are too weak to do so. 1)

(Cordatus No. 478.)

Satan has often said to me: How if your teaching against the pope, the mass, the monks 2c. was wrong? And he has often hurried me so that I have broken out in a sweat. I finally answered him: Go and talk to God, who has commanded to hear this Christ. The Christ must do everything. Therefore, whoever wants to be a Christian must let Christ answer for everything.

73. a different.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 50.)

The devil is hard on those who love and confess Christ.

I think that the devil will have assailed and tormented our dear Paul, because he has so faithfully and diligently emphasized, taught and confessed Christ: and so vehemently insisted on him, as through him alone we must be saved who believe in him, out of pure grace and mercy, without all our merit and good works, they go before or after: even the false teachers, who taught against this, punished severely and by name; as fine epistles testify.

75 St. Paul's person.

Then Magister Veit Dieterich asked him, saying, "What kind of person do you think Paul was, Doctor? Then the doctor said, "I think Paul was a despised person who had no reputation; a poor, scrawny little man, like Master Philip.

The Christian's golden art is to know Christ rightly.

Psalm 51, v. 8, it is written: "Behold, thou delightest in the truth that is in secret: thou hast made me to know the secret wisdom. This is a secret hidden from the world, and will remain hidden:

1. Cf. cap. 24, § 101, para. 1.

the truth that is hidden, and the secret wisdom; not of the lawyers, physicians, philosophers and the wise men of this world: no, but your wisdom you have made me know. This is the golden art that Sadoletus cannot do, although he writes a lot about this psalm.

Of this art, which the world's wisdom regards as foolishness, even as nothing, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, v. 18 ff: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to them that perish: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written (Isa. 29:14), "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise" (that is, it will be nothing and come to nothing) "and I will reject the understanding of the wise. (Isa. 33:18.:) "Where are the wise? Where are the scribes? Where are the worldly wise? Has not God made the wisdom of this world foolishness? Because the world through its wisdom did not recognize God in His wisdom, it pleased God to make blessed those who believe in it through foolish preaching 2c. Because the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks ask for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a vexation to the Jews and a folly to the Greeks. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ, divine power and divine wisdom. For divine foolishness is wiser than men are, and divine weakness is stronger than men are 2c. For Christ Jesus was made unto us of God wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that" (as it is written Jer. 9:24.) "whosoever shall boast, let him boast of the LORD."

Erasmus, Sadoletus, the papists, Walen 2c. see that I abolish the error of the rabble and the common man. This is not to be suffered by them; for they hold that one should never follow the people, and for the sake of common peace one should always believe what the people believe. Although the faith of the people is nothing at all, and no faith to be respected, for it is certain that they think nothing of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But he who has started the game loves the truth, therefore he will

308 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 76-80. 309

be the enemy of lies. Therefore, the boys will have to go to the ground. Whether we have to put something on it for the sake of Christ, let it always go. For "God's judgment begins at the house of God," 1 Pet. 4:17; we must be the first, but they must follow, and after that no end; so they shall know.

To know Christ surpasses everything that is on earth.

You should not take the whole world for it', said D. M. Luther. M. Luther, that you know that Christ is Christ, that is, our only Savior, High Priest, King and Lord, whom I did not recognize for a long time in my monastic life. Since we are already dying, Christ still lives; if he lives, we also want to live for sure. For this saying stands firm and certain, and will also remain true forever against all hellish gates, since it says John 14:19: "I live, and you also shall live. Now Christ, whom we preach, is God, therefore the whole world is nothing against this Christ.

78. a different.

All the wise men of the world mock and ridicule us Christians for leading and carrying on the cause of the Lord Christ with such earnestness; but it shall surely fall upon their bosoms at the last day.

(Here 6 lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 1, § 5.)

And if I would only leave behind me the fact that I now practice and teach with the highest diligence that one should beware of speculation, and take hold of Christ alone in the most simple and certain way, then I would have done and accomplished much.

79. teaching of Christ and the apostles.

When one said that St. Paul had taught many things more clearly and distinctly than Christ, M. Luther replied: "If this saying in Paul, Rom. 5:12, were not written: 'Sin came into the world through a man, and death through sin, and reigns also over those who have not sinned as Adam did,' then one could hardly say, 'I have sinned.

The first two words of the Bible, "original sin" and "original sin", are the same as the first two words of the Scriptures.

He further said that after his resurrection, when he sent the Holy Spirit, the preaching of Christ went out into all the world, resounded and penetrated mightily. As he commanded the disciples shortly before he ascended to heaven, Marc. 16, 15: "Go into all the world" 2c. Item Joh. 16, 7. Cap. 14, 26.: "It is good for you that I go, for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said to you. He will guide you into all truth." This Master, the Holy Spirit, spoke and worked through the apostles, and presented the doctrine of Christ more clearly, so that their preaching penetrated powerfully and produced more fruit than when Christ preached. As he himself had previously proclaimed, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and shall do greater works than these." Joh. 14, 12. Item, when he said Matth. 28, 19.: "Go, teach all nations, and baptize them in the name" 2c. This is said: My people, the Jews, to whom I am promised, have not wanted nor can they hear my preaching in a small corner (in Judea) of the world. Now all nations in all the world shall and must hear your preaching. This and no other: "For all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and I will be with you to the end of the age", Matth. 28, 18. 20.

But I think that Christ preached gently and carefully, not wanting to penetrate with power (as he could have done, because he preached so powerfully that the people were astonished at his teaching), for the sake of the fathers to whom he was promised, so that circumcision and the law, together with the divine service, might be done away with and abolished in silence, with honor and patience on the part of those who thought highly of the fathers.

80. Christ preached in vain.

(Cordatus No. 435.)

Christ preached in vain and yet had the pious women given to him Luc. 8, 3., and yet once coined, Matth. 17, 27. for need or out of poverty.

310 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 81-84. 311

81. Christ once coined.

(Contained in the previous §.)

82) That John calls Christ the Word.

He wanted to show that Christ is the person who spoke to the fathers at all times, Is. 7. Behold, I myself, who spoke, am now present; and Joh. 1, 1.7.: "No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has proclaimed it to us. Do you now want to know who is the one who has spoken to his believers in all ways? "The Word," says St. John, "which was in the beginning before the creation of all creatures, by which all things were made."

The prophecies of Christ are described with dark words. 1)

The prophecies that God's Son should take on human nature are so obscurely described that I think the devil did not know that Christ should have been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Therefore he says to Christ in the wilderness, when he tempted him, Matth. 4, 6.: "Are you the Son of God?" Call him the Son of God, not because he thought that he was the Son of God in kind and nature; but according to the scriptural way, which also calls men the children of God, Psalm 82:6: "You are all the children of God."

This is why such prophecies about Christ, his suffering, resurrection and kingdom were not revealed before the time of his future (except to the prophets and other highly enlightened people), because everything was saved and directed to Christ, who was the only right master to open the understanding of the Scriptures. Therefore Moses commanded his people Deut. 18, 19: "You shall obey him"; and God the Father says Matth. 17, 5: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; him you shall hear."

1. The first lines of this § were used in the old edition for an entry of Cap. 24, § 63, which was then followed by a section from the Church Postilla.

That Peter and the other apostles (as can be seen in the apostles' stories) do not call Christ God in their sermons in clear words, is because they did not want to anger the pious Jews, who were still weak in faith, nor give them cause to avoid and persecute their sermons, and thus fast a suspicion against them, as if they wanted to proclaim a new God, and reject the old true God of their fathers and now no longer accept him. Nevertheless, they draw on, and remember with clear distinct words, the ministry of Christ and his works, that he is a prince of life. Raises the dead, justifies and forgives sin, answers prayer, enlightens and comforts hearts 2c. So that they may sufficiently indicate and confess that he is true God; for no creature can do these works, but God alone.

Sometimes the apostles use dark sayings about the divinity of Christ, as 1 Cor. 10, 4: "They were drunk with the spiritual rock that followed with them, which was Christ." Item v. 9: "Let us not tempt Christ." By these words Paul proves that the Son of God existed before, that is, from eternity before He took on human nature, He has always presided over His church, enlightened it, governed it, protected it, strengthened it and preserved it against the power of the devil and the evil world. Thus, John 8:58, Christ Himself says: "Before Abraham was, I am," clearly indicating that He existed before He became man.

Christ's kingdom will be wonderfully built and preserved.

Our Lord Christ rules and preserves his Christianity wonderfully, not by human wisdom and power, like worldly kings, princes, etc., yes, he hides his divine wisdom, power and strength, so that they are nowhere to be felt nor seen, and he is foolish to speak according to reason, to build and preserve his kingdom.

He also has servants and officials, 2 Cor. 5:18, 20, whom he sends out into all the world, not armed with weapons of the flesh, but commanded.

Z12 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 84-86. Z1Z

preaching his word to them, enlightens and strengthens them with the Holy Spirit. They do nothing but preach the word. In this way Christ destroys the devil's kingdom and builds him a church that the gates of hell cannot overcome, Matth. 16, 18. As the 8th Psalm, v. 3, sings: "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have given a power or kingdom. So put to shame great potentates, kings, princes, 2c., the pope, who now also cannot continue with their religion, power and wisdom, who dare to destroy his word and people, Jer. 1, 18. 19. Therefore they finally go to ruin over it, as the said Psalm sings further: "Thou hast prepared such power for the sake of thine enemies, that thou destroyest the enemy and the avenger."

But a strong faith belongs to it, which keeps to the word, and does not allow to err nor to be annoyed that the great leaders on earth are against this teaching, call it heresy, and persecute it as the worst and most harmful people, who spread it, accept it and confess it. But they do not know (although, unfortunately, many now deliberately persecute and blaspheme the recognized divine truth), "that they rebel and counsel against the Lord and His anointed", Ps. 2, 2, yes, "they think they are doing God a service by it", Joh. 16, 2.

85. word of Christ Matth. 11.

It is frightening to the world, and annoying and mocking to all worldly wise men, that Christ says Matth. 11, 25: "I praise you, Father and Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to babes" 2c. But it is very comforting for us Christians, whom the Lord has bound together with a strong and firm bond, so that we are one body, have one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Father, Eph. 4:4, 5, 6.

Therefore Christ's kingdom alone is directed to destroy the works of the devil and to justify and save sinners (not the worldly wise, righteous 2c.) who feel their misery and sorrow and desire his grace and help from the bottom of their hearts. For this they will bring him into the

praise and preach his word, and confess and spread it before the wicked, ungodly world, that his kingdom is therefore a spiritual, eternal kingdom, not a corporeal, transient kingdom. Therefore we also dwell with our bodies on earth, but with our hearts in heaven, "waiting for the redemption of our bodies, and longing for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ," Phil. 3:20.

Afterwards, Martin thought of this doctrine, that Christ's kingdom would be led wonderfully, and he said: "Christ leads his reign wonderfully and foolishly, according to reason. He hides himself and presents himself as weak, which makes it seem as if he is powerless and has no authority or power. Nevertheless, he puts to shame the most powerful, cleverest and holiest in the world, emperors, kings, princes, pontiffs, cardinals and bishops, with their courtiers and followers. But it is highly necessary to be sure of the things.

86. christ holds over his kingdom and protects it, the devil also; but with unequal

Armor and weapons.

The devil challenges Christianity and fights against it with the greatest power and cunning; he attacks it with tyrants, heretics, false brothers, and arouses the whole world against it. On the other hand, Christ resists the devil and his kingdom through a few, small, simple, despised people, with the greatest weakness and foolishness, as it can be seen, and still retains the victory. Therefore he says Matth. 10, 16: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." As if to say, "You, my messengers and disciples, will be ill received by the evil world, not only earning ingratitude and contempt with your faithful service, but also being persecuted for it; in sum, they will deal with you as wolves with sheep. Now it is a very unequal, strange warfare, when one sheep has ten, even a hundred or more wolves against it; as happened to the apostles and disciples of Christ, when they sent Christ into all the world to preach, when always one after another was put to death.

Lions, and even more ferocious monstrous animals

314Cap . 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 86-90. 315

should be sent among wolves. But Christ desires to show his supreme power and wisdom in our greatest weakness and foolishness, as the world sees it, and thus to lead the matter out, so that all who oppose his messengers will eat death and go to the devil. For he alone, the LORD of hosts, works miracles, preserves his sheep in the midst of wolves (if they devour one, he sends ten others in its place), and tears the wolves' mouths asunder; so that we may see from this that our faith does not rest on the power, wisdom and deeds of men, but in the power of God.

87. common question in the world of Christo.

The meanest and noblest question among those who are called Christians is this: Whether Christ is Christ? That is, whether men are redeemed from death, justified, and saved through him alone?

The wise men of the world, the learned, and the greatest multitude on earth doubt it. The pope and his followers dispute it and say no to it, as their teaching and life show. In the same way, the red spirits do not want to let Christ be Christ, so that one can obtain forgiveness of sins through him alone, and become pious, righteous and blessed before God, through faith in him alone. We, who have and confess the word of God, say yes to the fact that we are accepted and saved by God through Christ alone: we know, believe and confess that it is the truth; therefore we preach it, therefore we must also suffer ourselves, Psalm 116:10.

So there are always three sects in disagreement about this article. The first, who doubts it; the second, who disputes it, denies it and persecutes it; the third, who believes it to be certain and true, even confessing it before the evil world. The former is a great multitude, the latter a small group.

The prophets' knowledge of Christ.

The prophets knew that Christ, when he came, would save those who believed in him from the eternal curse, and therefore also true, natural, and true, natural.

God, as several prophecies clearly indicate; as Isaiah, Cap. 7, 14, calls him Immanuel, that is, God with us; Jeremiah, Cap. 33, 16, says: "He will be called the LORD, who is our righteousness" 2c.

But as far as the coincidences and circumstances are concerned, how or by what means he should save the human race from the eternal curse, methinks, all the prophets actually did not know. I think the same and other pious hearts in the people of Israel are preserved in faith, as our children, who badly and simple-mindedly believe that Christ is our Savior and God, also have happy, lovely thoughts about it.

(89) It does not follow that Christ has done this and that, therefore we also may do it.

Now some pretend that Christ drove the buyers and sellers out of the temple by force, therefore we may also exercise the same force against the bishops and enemies of the Word; just as coining men and other riotous spirits are supporting themselves in the peasants' revolt. Anno 1525. No, said D. Martin, Christ has done many things that we should not and cannot imitate him. He walked on water, fasted forty days and forty nights, raised Lazarum from death after he had been in the grave for four days 2c. We will leave that and the like.

Much less does he want us to stand against the enemies of the truth, but gives the contradiction Matth. 5, 44: "Love your enemies, pray for those who insult and persecute you" 2c. But we are to follow him in the works on which he hung a public commandment; as Luc. 6, 36: "Be merciful, as your Father is merciful." Item Matth. 11, 29: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" 2c. Item Luc. 9, 23: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

90. christ's name.

Nevertheless, the name of Christ remains under the papacy. But I fear, unfortunately, that it will still come to this, that one will call Christ

316 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 90-95. 317

so that the word of Christ will be fulfilled Luc. 18, 8: "When the Son of Man comes, do you think that he will also find faith on earth? Therefore I do not believe that the last day will come with such a clear light of the gospel as it now appears, praise God. There will follow a terrible darkness after this bright sun, and yet under the name and shine of the light, which can soon come. Blessed are those who have fallen asleep in the Lord.

The kingdom of Christ has remained under the papacy.

One of the greatest miracles that happened on earth is that Christ's kingdom remained under the papacy, since for several hundred years nothing else was heard, nor held up to the poor people, but the law of the pope, that is, the doctrine and commandment of men, so that it was no wonder that Christ's name and word were completely unknown and forgotten.

God has wonderfully preserved the Gospel in the church, so that it is told to the people from the pulpit, from word to word: so also in the papacy the children's faith, the Lord's Prayer, baptism, and the sacrament of the altar have remained. These have stuck to the hearts that should have seen them; this has been a special great power of God. God has also often awakened fine, God-fearing, learned men, revealed His word to them, and given them the courage to publicly punish the unrighteous teachings and abuses that had been established in the church, even with writings, as John Huss and others. Thus God receives His word, not by human wisdom, force or sword, but sends those whom He has chosen to cast out the devil in the midst of wolves.

92. difference of the kingdom of Christ, Pabst and Mahomet.

Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of grace, mercy and all comfort, as Ps. 117, 2. is written: "His grace and truth rule over us forever. The kingdom of the end of Christ is a kingdom of lies and corruption, Ps. 10:7: "His mouth is full of cursing, falsehood and deceit, his tongue is full of evil, his mouth is full of evil, his tongue is full of evil, his mouth is full of evil, his mouth is full of evil, his mouth is full of evil, his mouth is full of evil.

causes toil and labor." Mahomet's kingdom is a kingdom of vengeance, wrath and desolation, Ezek. 38.

The kingdom of Christ also includes those who are weak in faith.

The weak in faith also belong to Christ's kingdom, otherwise the Lord would not have said to Petro: "Strengthen your brothers", Luc. 22, 32. Item Rom. 14, 1: "Receive the weak in faith." And 1 Thess. 5, 14: "Comfort the fainthearted and carry the weak."

If the weak in faith did not belong to Christ, where would the apostles remain, whom the Lord often punished for their unbelief, even after His resurrection? Marc. 16, 14.

94 Christ is the only physician against death, which few desire.

(Cordatus No. 849. 850.)

The devil is the master of death. He can make a tree of death out of a leaf, and he has more vessels full of poison than all the pharmacies, and if one does not help, the other does. But as a drink of water quenches thirst and a morsel of bread satisfies hunger, so Christ is the remedy for death. But it will not come to pass, as Simeon says Luc. 2:30, "For mine eyes have seen thy Savior."

A thirsty man is greedy for drink from the heart, and of the dear Christ no one wants to be greedy who can satisfy forever.

95. Christ has overcome the world.

We know, praise God, that Christ has overcome the world together with its prince, the devil, so that sin cannot rule over us now, nor death devour us. We should be much happier about this than the children of the world about temporal welfare, happiness, wealth, honor, power 2c. For the Scriptures do not fail to bear witness to this.

Now we have, through the Scriptures, certain signs and seals, Holy Baptism, the Lord's Supper, absolution, so many beautiful, glorious, divine promises that we have no reason to doubt them.

318 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 95-98. 319

yet it will not go away. Therefore we may earnestly pray, "Lord, strengthen our faith," Luc. 17:5; for the defect is in us (not in Christ, who has accomplished everything, and has sent us the letter and seal of his grace), that we so waver and falter, and so coldly think that he is our King, High Priest, Bridegroom 2c. He who could grasp this would know the noble art, would be a fine doctor and a blessed man.

Why the Son of God appeared.

The Son of God came into the world to redeem us from the devil's power, sin and death, to make us righteous and blessed, and we still flee from him as from the devil. Moreover, if we want to be Christians, we pay little or little attention to the gifts of God, which he gives us abundantly to enjoy for the preservation of this short, fleeting life, and we strive with great diligence for the evil gifts that the devil offers us (which, compared to the eternal goods that Christ gives us, are small, despised crumbs, even if they are great money and goods), and which we obtain and possess against God and right.

(Cordatus No. 474, the following paragraph.)

The practice of theology must be experienced, even if it is only in the last hour. But blessed are those who experience it in life, like Schlaginhaufen, Weller and me.

The temple of all the gods, except Christ, called the Pantheon in Rome.

In Rome there is a round temple in which the Romans have placed the images of all the gods they worship and adore, so they have called this temple the Pantheon 1) (of all the gods), except for Christ, which image was not placed in it. For what is great, mighty, wise and holy cannot stand Christ, even the whole world rages and rages against him, Ps. 2:1, 2, nor does he remain for ever, and all idols together with those who make and worship them fall to the ground. Ps. 115. therefore more and greater power is needed.

1. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. X, 1004, §11.

be behind him, because the wise men of the world and the great and mighty lords believe that they want to destroy him, that is, his word and church, to the ground; but they shall and must leave it, and have hellish fire for a reward.

This temple (pantheon) was subsequently given by Emperor Phocas (the murderer of the pious Emperor Mauritii and the first founder of the Pabst primacy) to Pope Bonifacio the Third in 606 to make it to his liking: he baptized it differently, called it the church of all saints instead of all idols, and did not include Christ, from whom all saints derive their sanctity, thus establishing the invocation of saints and new idolatry.

To this Bonifacio, the third one, D. M. Luther interprets his name in his Chronica thus: Bonifacius is a papal name, means so much as a good form or reputation; because under a good appearance or form he does vain evil, contrary to God and men.

When I was D. M. Luther was in Rome, I saw this church: it had no windows, but only a round hole at the top, from which it had light, and was vaulted high: it had such thick marble stone columns or pillars that our two could hardly encompass. At the top of the vault were painted all the gods of the pagans, Jupiter, Neptune, Mars, Venus, and whatever else they were called. All these gods were one with each other, so that they might deceive and cheat the whole world; but since Jesus Christ is coming, they do not want to suffer him, nor has he beaten them. Now the popes have come, and have driven him out again; but who knows how long it will last?

98 The bet does not know Christ and his own.

(Cordatus No. 48.)

As Christ himself, so are we in the world, namely invisible, 2) because the world does not recognize us who believe in Christ, as it does not recognize Christ, who is certainly in the world according to the word: Behold, I am with you.

2. The et before quod is to be deleted. The second sicut, which D. Wrampelmeyer objects to, is correct.

320 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ*. § 99-103. 321

99. knowledge of Christ.

The righteousness of our works does not consist in fears and mortal misery; indeed, it causes heartache to those who rely on it. Nothing on earth makes man certain (it is called the work or the righteousness of God's law, much less holiness chosen out of human devotion or discretion) that sin is forgiven and not imputed: only the knowledge of Christ, through which man receives comfort and strength of faith in all afflictions and mortal distresses. Without this knowledge of Christ, I cannot suffer any conscience at all; indeed, the devil drives me through sin, so that the world becomes too narrow for me; only the knowledge of Christ straightens me out and satisfies me.

100. What Christ requires of us.

(Cordatus No. 817 and No. 823.)

God demands nothing else from the believers than: This do in remembrance of me. But if you say, "Yes, Lord, I will be struck on the mouth over this," He answers you Ps. 50:15, "Call upon Me in time of need, and I will save you." And this is an easy service of God. Of such ease of his service he says that you should seek first the kingdom of God, and after that be of good cheer, for everything else will fall to you. He also promised us help in the cross, so what can we lack?

If I had as much faith as I should, I would have slain the Turk long ago and made the tyrants mad. I have been so troubled with them, but I lack faith. Meanwhile God says to me 2 Cor. 12:9, "Be content with my grace, for my power is mighty in the weak."

101. by the grace of God shown to us in Christ.

(Contained in Cap. 26, § 16.)

102. joy in Christ is hindered by the devil.

We should rejoice in Christ without ceasing, as St. Paul exhorts us, so that we may be completely joyful and full of joy.

We would be healthy, and could not become either sad or sick. But the wicked Satan hinders such joy wherever he can, goes about without ceasing, tormenting and distressing us, either without means, by his fiery darts, or by wicked poisonous mouths, even by ours. I encounter this very often.

103. will I not wash you 2c., Joh. 13.

These words, Joh. 13, 8. where Christ says to Peter: "If I do not wash you, then you have no part with me", are not to be understood that Christ baptized his disciples at that time; because Joh. 14. is clearly expressed that he himself baptized no one, but his disciples, and they among themselves baptized one another, at Christ's command. Also, the Lord did not speak these words about washing water alone, but about the right spiritual washing (but the cause is taken from this physical one), by which he alone, no one else, washes and cleanses Peter, the other disciples and all believers from all their sins, and makes them holy and righteous. As if to say, "I am the only true physician; therefore, if I do not wash you, you will remain unclean and dead in your sins.

But with this way he also saw the priests' way and ceremonies and wanted to follow them, who, according to the law of Moses, washed their hands and feet before they went into the temple. So does our true eternal priest. As if to say: Before I begin my new kingdom and go into the new temple, and you follow me, I will first wash and cleanse you. But that Christ washed not his own feet, but the feet of the disciples, when the high priest in the law washed not the feet of others, but his own feet, this is the cause: he was unclean and a sinner, like other men, therefore he washed his feet, and offered not only for the sin of the people, but also for his own. But our eternal High Priest is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners: therefore it was not necessary for him to wash his feet, but he washed us and made us clean from all sins by his blood.

Above this he wanted to indicate by this foot washing that his new kingdom, which he had

322 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 103-106. 323

would not be an external worldly kingdom with a difference of persons, one higher and greater than the other, as in Moses' kingdom, but one should serve the other through humility. As he says Luc. 22, 25. 26.: "The worldly kings rule ... But not so do ye: but let the greatest of you be as the youngest, and the chiefest as a servant." Which He Himself also showed by this ministry of foot-washing, as an example to us, as He says John 13:14, 15: "If I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. An example have I given you."

104. miracles of Christ and the apostles.

(Contained in Cap. 61, § 6.)

105. Christ's highest humility.

Whoever reads the Passion diligently and pays attention to it will see the great humility of the Lord Christ, so that it could not have been greater. But the fact that he humbled himself so deeply is not only due to us, that we should follow his example, as St. Paul very finely points out Phil. 2, 5: "Let every man be of the same mind as Christ was" 2c., but is more due to the devil, that the Lord Christ thereby deceived the trusting, cunning spirit, so that he would be misled about such great humility, and not think that he should be the seed of the woman who would crush his head. As the promise, Genesis 3:15, made to the first parents, reads: "I will put enmity between your seed and the seed of the woman"; as if he wanted to say: I will deal with you, you poisonous serpent.

In 1533, Doctor Luther interpreted this saying of Paul, Phil. 2, 6, in such a way that Christ "would not have considered it robbery to be like God," namely, that St. Paul wanted to say: Christ is God, but he does not want to be, but wants to be your servant; and that alone does it.

The greatest miracle that has happened on earth.

The greatest miracle that has happened on earth is that the Son of God of the most ignominious

died on the cross. It seems miraculous to us that the Father should say to his only begotten Son, who is a true, natural God, "Go, be nailed to the gallows of the cross and be hanged.

Now one should not separate the Godhead from mankind. But I presume that it may be so; nevertheless, the eternal Father's love for his only begotten Son is inordinately greater than Abraham's love was for Isaac. For he is the only beloved Son, as the Father himself testifies from heaven, Matt. 3:17: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And yet he is so miserably cast down, as "a worm and no man, a mockery of men, and contempt of the people," Ps. 22:7.

Blind reason is offended by this; think: If he is the eternal Father's only begotten son, how does he deal with him so mercilessly? Does he not deal more kindly with Caiphas, Herod, Pilate, and the worst evil-doers on earth, than with his Son? St. Paul says that the Jews, that is, the works saints, are offended by this sermon, and the Greeks, that is, the worldly wise, consider it foolishness, 1 Cor. 1:23. But for us Christians it is the greatest comfort, because we know from it, and certainly believe, and do not doubt, that the merciful God and Father so loved the poor, damned world that He did not spare His only begotten Son, but gave Himself up for us all to the most shameful death, so that all who believe in Him might not perish, but be saved, John 3:16. 3, 16. Rom. 8, 32. Therefore we consider this sermon to be our highest wisdom and true golden art, and a divine power by which we are saved, 1 Cor. 1, 24.

This example is especially meant for those who are afflicted with high spiritual temptations (which everyone cannot bear, such as: Sadness and melancholy of spirit, fear and trembling before God's wrath, judgment and eternal death, and such poisonous, fiery darts of the afflicted Satan), always have before their eyes and comfort themselves with this: that although they feel such heavy and unmistakable suffering much and often, they are not rejected by God for this reason, yes, that He loves them above others, because He has conformed them to the image of His only begotten Son.

324 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 106-109. 325

They do not doubt that because they suffer with him, he will also deliver them from it, just like him. "For all who want to live godly in Christ must suffer persecution", 2 Tim. 3, 12, but one more than the other, according to whether each is strong or weak in faith; "for God is faithful, who will not let us be tempted above our ability", 1 Cor. 10, 13.

A wonderful thing is the faith of Christians.

Our faith is a strange thing, that I and others, who want to be saved in another way, should believe in the man Jesus Christ, that he is the true, natural Son of God, and yet he had to die an ignominious death on the cross, hanged between two evildoers. As he himself said to his disciples shortly before his suffering Luc. 22, 37: "It must yet be fulfilled in me, which is written of me, that he is reckoned among the transgressors; since we have never seen him", 1 Petr. 1, 8. that he is like a stone lying in the sea to us, since we know nothing of it. But because he says in the gospel Joh. 14, 6: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me"; item, Matth. 28, 18. 19. 20: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me", therefore "go and teach all nations, baptizing them ... and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you." Well then, if he says that he is Lord over all, who has authority in heaven and on earth, then he is and will remain so.

He proved it at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg a year ago, when the greatest and most powerful leaders in Christendom, both spiritual and secular, were assembled against him, and were furious and angry to destroy his word completely and to exterminate all of us. But if we did not know that he was Lord over all, he would have proved his majesty, so that we should praise and give thanks to him without ceasing, and be sure that he is able and willing to save us from all danger and distress, however great and severe they may be. But what shall I say? This great

The miracle of this Diet has been forgotten as if it had never happened. The world is no good at all; it is of the devil, as it goes and stands.

108 Against the Obstacle of Reason.

We Christians do not allow ourselves to be challenged that reason, the devil's whore, according to her blindness, allows herself to think that there is no more unrighteous, foolish faith than that of the very Christians who believe in a crucified Jew, Jesus Christ. Well, let them lie and mock as long as they can, in the name of their idol, the devil. We have and praise it as the highest grace of God that we recognize and believe in Jesus Christ, who was crucified and died for us, because we know that "no other name has been given to us men, whereby we may be saved. 4, 12. Therefore condemn as blasphemous abominations and lies of the devil all other faiths and religions, as invented by Pabst, Mahomet and others, are certain that God has given away and rejected the founders of these superstitions and false religions in a wrong sense.

109. difference between the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

When one of the doctors asked Luther: What is the difference between the resurrection and the ascension of Christ? he said: Christ is set over all things by the resurrection, even after mankind, as it is written in the eighth Psalm, v. 7, 8, 9.And the Lord Christ Himself said after His resurrection Matth. 28, 18: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me," although according to the Godhead He was from eternity; but through the Ascension He receives dominion and government over all things. This is the difference, as that I give a likeness of it: A young prince, king or prince, is heir and lord of all the land and people of his lord father, but he is not permitted to rule or reign until his time. To go to heaven and sit at the right hand of the Father Almighty is to be like God, to sit in equal majesty and power, which is called a divine power, and to rule over all.

326 Cap. 7: Of the Lord Christ. §110. 327

110 Ascension Day.

It was a strange thing to see that Christ disappeared before the disciples' eyes and ascended to heaven; and the good disciples will have thought in part: We have eaten and drunk with him, and now he is visibly being lifted up from us into heaven; if only it were true? For they were not all equally strong in faith, as Matthew writes in chapter 28, v. 17: "When they saw the Lord, they fell down before him, but some doubted."

I know Doctor Jonam very well, and if he were to appear now in the air and disappear before our eyes, it would truly give me strange thoughts. But the Lord will be alive for the forty days from the resurrection until the ascension, when he has shown himself alive with many proofs, Acts 1:3. 1:3, taught them all they needed and strengthened them in their faith, reminding them of what he had said to them before, so that they did not doubt his person. Even though it was difficult for them. For when the Lord stood in the midst of them in the evening of Easter day, and said, Peace be unto you. "they were frightened and thought they saw a ghost", Luc. 24, 36. 37. "And Thomas would not believe before that the other disciples had seen the Lord, because he had seen the nail marks in his hands" 2c., Joh. 20, 25. And Acts 1, 7. 1, 7. when he had talked with them forty days about the kingdom of God and was now about to ascend, they asked him: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

But afterwards, when they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, their minds were much changed, and they were no longer afraid of the Jews, but stood up fearlessly, and preached of Christ with all joy before all the people 2c. And Peter, Apost. 3:6, said to the lame man, "Silver and gold have I none; but what I have I give thee, in the name of JEsu Christ of Nazareth: arise, and walk." And yet afterwards the Lord had to show him by a vision, Apost. 10, 9. ff. that the Gentiles also have the promise of life through Christ.

Although he had heard from the Lord before, shortly before his ascension, Marc. 16, 15: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures"; and Matth. 28, 19: "Teach all nations"; and to the Galatians, Cap. 2:14, Paul punished him because a complaint had come against him. I say this to show that the apostles, after receiving the Holy Spirit, did not soon know everything and were sometimes weak in faith. Paul (since all of Asia turned away from him, also some of his disciples departed from him, and many false spirits, who had a great reputation, sat against him) says with a sad heart 2 Thess. 3, 2: "Faith is not for everyone"; item, since he 1 Cor. 2, 3. "I was with you in weakness and fear and great trembling"; 2 Cor. 7:5: "We were always in trouble, struggling on the outside and fearing on the inside": he will not always have been strong in faith, so that the Lord had to comfort him: "Be content with my grace, for my power is mighty in the weak", 2 Cor. 12:9.

This is comforting to me and to all Christians, for I also believe, but that it would be better, 1) and yet teach others the faith: I know that my teaching is right, but I am still far short of faith. I sometimes think: you preach God's word, the ministry is commanded to you, and you are called to it without your will, you confess and praise Christ, which does not come to pass without fruit, for many do better; but when I see my weakness, that I eat, drink, and at times am also cheerful and a good collationist, then I begin to doubt, and say: Oh, who only could believe! 2) That is why the secure, presumptuous spirits, as heretics (and all false Christians), are peevish, harmful people, who, when they have once looked at the Bible above or heard some sermons, soon make themselves believe that they have the Holy Spirit, understand and know everything. Oh, pious hearts are much differently minded, praying every day, even every moment: "Lord, strengthen our faith," Luc. 17:5.

1. The meaning of this sentence is: "I should probably have stronger faith."
2. Cf. Cap. 12, § 19; 3, § 32.

328 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. §111-113. 329

Christ alone is to be heard.

(Cordatus No. 816. s

If Christ comes and speaks to you (if you repent of your sin) like Moses, "What have you done?" then strike him dead. 1) But if he speaks to you like God and your Savior, stretch out both ears.

112. lamentation of the godly over their unbelief.

Is it not a miserable plague that we make our sin so great and grievous, forgetting our baptism, yes, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave and sacrificed Himself for it, for which "God hath made us, that He should be our righteousness," 2c., 1 Cor. 1:30, which, of course, the devil will have to leave unpunished?

He who is rich and powerful defies and insists on it, and even if he is a wicked man, he does not worry that he will lose his property and power because of it. A lord, prince remains lord or prince over land and people, even if he is not pious because of his person. So a child is a child and heir to all his father's goods, and does not prevent himself from becoming unclean, courting his mother's bosom, or insulting his father. How is it then that we are so fainthearted, so despondent, and nowhere so wise as the children of the world? Luc. 16:8, so that we cannot also be moved and say (when we feel the power of sins through the law, and the terror of death makes us sweat with fear): What is it now that I have sinned? Is God, who keeps faith forever, Ps. 146, 6, therefore a liar? who through Paul, his chosen armor, speaks Rom. 5, 20: "Grace is much more powerful than sin"; and Ps. 117, 2: "His grace and truth rule over us forever". This would also mean to praise and extol our inheritance, not before the world, but before God, who is pleased with it and makes it the most pleasing service to Him.

1. A heroic saying, by which is meant to be said: Although someone wants to attack you in Christ's name, do not accept him; Christ is not an angry judge, but a kind savior. Cf. in § 113 the saying, "It is not Christ who terrifies, but the devil."

Our righteousness is not like the worldly righteousness of which the lawyers speak; but we are called and are righteous because Christ sacrificed himself for us and made us clean from sins, holy and righteous by his holy blood; item, because we have been baptized, have his word and believe. If the devil therefore come, reproach thee with thy sin, and afflict thee, and put thee to death; turn him away from thee unto Christ, who is thy righteousness and life, and let him debate with him. But thou keepest his word. The children are best of all; they trust their fathers, and say plainly, It is my father; and though they sometimes do it, and are wicked, and do evil, and are reproached for it, yet they dispute not whether he be father or no father; therefore they do best.

113. a different.

(The beginning of this § contained in Cap. 58, § 9, para. 5, therefore > omitted. The following Cordatus No. 574. 2)

It is the most insolent vice and the greatest deception of Satan that we trust men more than God. I do more good to my wife and all of you than to Christ, knowing that no one has done such things for me as he has. And although he has done so great things for me, I fear him more than I love him. As soon as I say, "Yes, I am a poor sinner," Christ answers, "I died for you, that is why I baptized you, that is why I teach you every day. How patiently he bore the apostles' lack of understanding, and how kindly he dealt with them, we must diligently take heed. Christ, compared with all who are by nature the most kind, is yet alone the lamb, those the lions. The evil spirit reverses all this with the highest art, and makes of the kindest Christ a severe judge. But know this, that it is not Christ who terrifies, but the devil. This believe me, as when GOD speaketh, for the Holy Ghost speaketh to man, by a man, without special revelation. Pommer has with words that are not directed to it

2. Cf. cap. 2, § 58.

330 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. §113-117. 331

I have often been so comforted by the words of the Holy Spirit that I am still comforted by them today. This is how the Holy Spirit instructs and comforts people when we speak without thinking. 1)

114. name JEsus Christ.

I have and know nothing of Jesus Christ, because I have neither seen nor heard him bodily, but only his name. But I have learned so much about him from the Scriptures, praise God, that I am content to let him suffice me, and for this reason I do not desire to see or hear him in the flesh. Moreover, in my greatest weakness, in the terror and feeling of the burden of sin, in fear and trembling before death, in persecution of the wicked world, I have often experienced and felt the divine power, which this name has demonstrated in me, who was otherwise abandoned by all creatures, snatched me out of the midst of death, made me alive again, comforted me in the greatest despair, especially in the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, that I, if God wills, will remain by the name, live and die. . And before I would allow in my life that Erasmus or another, be he called and be he who he will, should be too close to my Lord Christ with his godless and false doctrine, however delicious color he paints it, to adorn and decorate it, before I would not live. Yes, it would be more tolerable for me to suffer all torment and torture, together with my wife and child, and finally die the most shameful death, than to see such things and keep quiet about them.

How a believing soul talks to Christ.

(Contained in Cap. 48, § 35 and already printed: Walch, St. Louis > Edition, vol. X, 1509.)

The blasphemy of Christ and his word makes it all.

When people blaspheme Christ, persecute and condemn His Word as surely and boldly as the papists and their followers, blinded by the devil, are now doing

1. The conclusion of this section is contained in Cap. 1, § 5, last paragraph. The preceding paragraph follows directly from Cap. 58, § 9.

The Jews, who are obdurate, thirsty and foolish, drive out and murder many pious people as the worst heretics; but some (as the red spirits and enthusiasts, called Anabaptists, Sacramentans, Antinomians, or others who will come after us) falsify and pervert the good word: so it is in the end, and must break in a short time. As happened to the Jews. When they ascribed Christ's teachings and deeds to the devil and blasphemed him on the cross, the whole creature trembled, for it could not bear it. The sun lost its light, the curtain in the temple was torn, the earth shook, the rocks were torn, the graves were opened. And when the Lord had swept his threshingfloor and gathered the wheat into his sheds, he set fire to the chaff 2c. So will he do now at the end of the world, when the number of his elect is fulfilled.

117. no one leads to heaven 2c., says Christ John in the 3rd chapter.

As if he wanted to say: Without me, no one can become pious and righteous before God by his own strength, merit, self-chosen holiness, not even by the works of the law, nor can he enter the kingdom of heaven. For I am and remain in heaven, and yet for this reason I came down from heaven, that I might take you up with me. From this it follows that only those who believe in Christ obtain forgiveness of sins, are justified before God and inherit the kingdom of heaven, that for this reason he came down from heaven into the world, that he took on human nature and through his suffering and resurrection redeemed us from the power of the devil, sin and death, and made us heirs of the kingdom of heaven; as he further says Joh. 3:14, 15: "As Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up," that is, crucified and slain, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In these three words (gone to heaven, come down from heaven, and be in heaven, which mean three different times) he briefly summarizes his omnipotence. 1. "Coming down from heaven" is that he descends to heaven.

832 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 117-119. 333

He appeared on earth, became man (equal to us in all things, but without sin), let his glory be seen through teaching and miracles, and finally accomplished the work of redemption of the human race. 2) "To go to heaven" means that he will no longer appear on earth in bodily form. 3. to be in heaven is that he has never left the right hand of the Father, that is, the Godhead, but has always been and still is in heaven, that he has never left or will never leave the human nature he has assumed.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8.

Now Christ our Lord and God has swallowed up death for our comfort and salvation forever. Now that death has been swallowed up forever through Christ, sin, which is the sting of death, has become blunt, so that it now has no edge or point to prick us, that is, to frighten, accuse and condemn us. So also the law is eternally unable to strengthen sin, that is, the law cannot drive us, nor convince us that we are sinners; yes, those who are in Christ and walk in the Spirit, not according to the flesh, as Paul says Gal. 5:16.

In this way the devil is also captured, stripped and judged, and all power is taken away from him, so that he cannot continue to rule over us forever. So also all the fury, raging and raging of the blind false world, the devil's bride, has become a mockery and laughter; for what can it do more than kill the body and promote us the more temporally to eternal life and bliss? Therefore all misfortune, be it sickness, poverty, affliction, misery, sorrow, all kinds of suffering, is far too little and small, even if it lasts a hundred years and even longer, compared to the future glory that will be revealed to us on the blessed day of our redemption, Rom. 8:18.

This is not the case with us and in us, but we feel the contradiction quite rightly; that is why faith is necessary, which neither sees nor gropes, but sticks to the word. But hope waits

The faith that has been grasped through the word will be saved through patience. In his time faith will become a public and eternal vision, the invisible will become visible (as in the beginning of creation the world, which was not yet visible, became a visible and essential world), and man will have eternal life, bliss, joy and happiness. Happy is he who understands this and would like to believe it!

119 Christ is the only consolation of his believers in their cross and suffering on earth.

Scripture testifies that all the godly must suffer persecution, 2 Tim. 3, 12, and enter the kingdom of God through tribulations, Acts 14, 22. 14, 22. Therefore St. Peter admonishes the believers to "resist the devil, who walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, firmly in faith", 1 Petr. 5, 8. Further v. 9: They are not the only ones who are challenged by the devil and the evil world, but "should know that their brethren have the same suffering from time to time in all the world". Such is the feeling of devout hearts who are serious about holding fast to the word of Christ and persevering in his grace and knowledge to the end. Let us not speak of the poor and afflicted consciences, who (especially in this last gruesome time, when the furious devil is pouring out all his wrath and fury) suffer innumerable times to and fro, under the godless tyrants in the papacy and in Turkey, in various ways: Who, in their distress and anguish, have no other consolation than to have Christ, the Son of God, as their Savior and Advocate with the Father, to keep His word, and to have a heartfelt longing and desire for His blessed appearing, when He will finally redeem them and abundantly satisfy all their sufferings for eternity.

Then one will look at the other, will confess us to each other, and say: Behold, how do we come together here? Who would have thought of this wonderful, blessed change? On earth we were the most miserable, unworthy, well-suffering people, had to be heretics and rebels, and

334 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 119-123. 335

as a curse of the world and children of the devil let the tyrants execute us. Where are they now, the angry nobles, the great, mighty kings and lords, who wanted to exterminate Christ, his word and poor little people to the ground? who spat at us, mocked and ridiculed us, trampled us underfoot, threw us into the towers, chased us out, inflicted all plagues and tortures on us, had us executed by fire and sword? Where are the holy spiritual fathers who banished, cursed and handed us over to the devil as the worst blasphemers and deceivers of the world? They are in the abyss of hell, "since their worm does not die and their fire is not extinguished," Isa. 66:24. On the other hand, we who have heard Christ, according to his Father's command, have believed in him, have held fast to his word, and have borne our cross for a little while, hardly even for a moment, compared to the great glory that is now revealed to us, now live in Christ in unspeakable eternal joy and blessedness, and praise him together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, with all the dear angels and saints.

120. Apart from Christ, one should not remember God.

No other God is to be remembered except Christ, of whom the Father testified: "This is the one you shall hear", Matth. 17, 5. The God who does not speak through Christ's mouth is not God. In Judaism, God would not hear anywhere except at the mercy seat, Exodus 25:22: so He will not hear anyone except through Christ. But as the majority of the Jews did not ask for the mercy seat, but ran from time to time, burned incense here and there on the high mountains and hills, or under the green trees, and sought God in various places; in part also out of great devotion, their sons and daughters, to God (yes, to the devil, as the 106th Psalm, v. 37). Psalm, v. 37, says) in honor of God and to serve him with it: the same happens in Christianity; the great multitude is drowned in their thoughts and carnal devotion; one seeks God in St. Jacob's, another in Rome, the third in the monastery, and so on. This is called

the prophet Isaiah Cap. 53, 6: "going astray and looking to his own", self-chosen, not to God's "ways". For whoever seeks God apart from Christ will never find Him, and will do as he pleases. Whoever does not follow this word of Christ ("No one comes to the Father except through me", Joh. 14, 6.) is eternally lost.

(Here a section of 26 lines is omitted because. contained in Cap. 2, § > 84, paras. 7-9.)

The enmity between Christ and the devil started in paradise.

No wonder that Satan is hostile to Christ and opposes his word, kingdom and people with all his power and cunning. There is an old hatred and enmity between them, which began in paradise. So they are also of a perverse kind and nature. He smells Christ over several hundred miles. In Constantinople, he hears that we teach, speak and preach against his kingdom here in Wittenberg; he also senses what harm comes to him from this, which is why he rages and rages so horribly.

But it is more to be wondered at that among us men (who are of the same kind and nature, and so firmly bound together by the bond of love that one should love another as himself) there should be such great ill-will, envy, hatred, anger, dissension, discord, revengefulness, that one should murder the other over it. Who is closer to the husband than his wife? to the son than his father? to the daughter than her mother? to the cord than her sister-in-law? and again. Item, brothers and sisters could not be closer related to each other: nor is it rare to find unity, love and friendship among them. The pagans also noticed this and complained about it, but they did not know that all this is the work of the wicked devil.

Christ is an unworthy guest in the world.

(Contained in Cap. 4, K 42.)

What Christ is for a king.

Christ does not pay much attention to the worldly and domestic regiment, because he is not

336 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 123-133. 337

He did not come to be a worldly lord, but for this reason he became man, that he might be a king, to destroy the devil's kingdom and to make the people blessed. As he himself says: "The Son of Man came to save that which was lost", Luc. 19, 10. But he is foolish enough to do so.

Christ and the law cannot dwell together in one conscience.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 5. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §44. 45.)

In Christ we have everything.

Oh dear God! said D. Martin, that we might trust in you and give thanks to you, who have cared for us in this way, yes, who have given us and bestowed upon us everything in Christ. For this is the great unspeakable mystery, which is hidden from all worldly and carnal wisdom, namely, that God, the heavenly and almighty Father, has died to us in His majesty, has manifested everything and given it to the Son, who is now our flesh and blood, yet without sin. To the same he directs us. If we alone hear and accept him, we shall have all things in him. For our sake he should be crucified so miserably and horribly by the most holy people, who had the greatest name. For Annas is as much as John; Caiphas as Peter; Judas as a king of the Jews. They had to take offense at your Christ and become knights at him. Summa, those who have had the greatest name in the world have been the worst scoundrels.

126. Apart from the humanity of Christ, one should not seek grace or forgiveness of sins.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 857.)

In what matters one may dispute without danger from the majesty of God.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, §58.)

The Christians' art and wisdom.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 877.)

The first thing to do is to get to know Christ.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 84. 85. 86.)

Knowing Christ in the midst of temptation is difficult.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to oie > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 87 and 88.)

131. Christ's burden that he has borne.

Christ had to bear the sins of all the world, and all the blood that has been shed since the beginning and will be shed in the future. He had (I mean) a burden on him, under which he would have had to sink, if he were not true natural God, and did it all for our sake; but few among us thank him for it.

Christ must have a big mouth and wants us to accept his words.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 709.)

When Christ speaks a word, he opens his mouth, which is as wide as heaven and earth, even if he only speaks of a herb. He said this on the occasion of the words Gen. 1:28: "Grow and multiply, and fill the earth."

Item, he said at another time: If the emperor speaks a word, that can do something; but if Christ speaks, he fasts heaven and earth at one bite. Therefore, when he speaks, the man's word must be regarded as different from the word of man, for he is truly God himself.

Christ has interpreted the law.

When Christ preached Matt. 5, he consulted, punished and refuted the false interpreters and interpreters of the law, and set right again Moses, whom they had adulterated, saying, Thus and so shall ye understand Moses.

338 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 134-139. 339

Christ and the pope are rushed to each other.

(Cordatus No. 71.)

I have attached Christ and the pope to each other, so I don't care about anything else. 1) Although I come between the door and the hinge, and must be pushed.

The devil will have to let Christ remain.

(Contained in Cap. 26, § 5, para. 2.)

136. Christ is to be sought in the Holy Scriptures alone.

(This section is contained in Cap. 1, § 5.)

137. with Christo one should remain.

The world begins to rage again, to become senseless, mad and foolish against Christ. Let us go with the man to failure and rise with him; let us see what they will gain and what we will lose, for he says: "Where I am, there shall my servant be also", John 12:26.

138. appearance of Christ from earth.

Christ came once on earth and was seen and heard with miraculous signs and preaching, and so he will not come again. I do not want him to send me an angel. And if an angel would come to me and let himself be seen in a visible form, I would not believe him. I will abide by God's word alone, as He has revealed and given it to me through His prophets and apostles, and will not hear or accept any other voice.

He continued: "Nevertheless, methinks there are still many Christians, and I believe there are many more of them here than at the time of St. Paul in Corinth. But I think that the end of the world will be the same as the end of the world at the time of the flood, when there were only eight people in the ark who were preserved. For even though there are sinners with us now, they do not persecute the Word.

1. i.e. I continue not to worry about any /thing.

139. Of the Preference of God's Word.

Of the merit of God's word, Luther said: "Christ has once visibly come to earth and has lived among us and made us see his glory; he has accomplished the work of redemption of the human race out of God's deliberate counsel and providence. I do not desire that he should come yet once, nor do I want him to send me an angel. And even if an angel would come from heaven and visibly present himself to me, I would not believe him, because I have my Lord Christ's letter and seal, that is, his word and sacrament; I abide by it and do not desire any new revelation.

And that D. Luther himself told this story: that he once prayed fervently in his little room and thought of how Christ hung on the cross, suffered and died for our sins; there was a bright glow on the wall and a glorious figure of Christ with the five wounds appeared in it, and looked at him, the doctor, as if it were the Lord Christ himself in the flesh. When the doctor saw it, he first thought it was something good, but soon he thought it must be the devil's ghost, because Christ appeared to us in his word and in a low, humble form, as he had hung on the cross and been humbled. Therefore the doctor said to the image: "Get up, you devil, I know of no other Christ than the one who was crucified and who is presented and preached in his word. And soon the image had disappeared, which had been the devil in the flesh.

The doctor said that a virgin in Wittenberg had been ill, the old economist's friend, who had also seen a vision as if she saw Christ in a glorious and beautiful form: now she had almost worshipped such an image, because she would not have meant anything else than that it was the Lord Christ. When a messenger was hurriedly sent from the college to the monastery, and D. Luther was sent for, he too

340 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 139-145. 341

The devil had admonished her that she should not let the devil make a monkey out of her. Thereupon, she spit in the face of the image; the devil soon disappeared and the image was transformed into a large snake, which ran to the virgin in bed and bit her ear, so that the drops of blood stood on her ear and flowed down, and the snake was soon gone. Luther himself saw this with his eyes along with many others.

140. Christ alone is to be defied and insisted upon.

Well then, we have trusted in the man, the Lord Christ, the Son of God, who will certainly not leave us. Our life and limb are upon him: where he abideth, there shall we abide also: else know I nothing that I can contend against. Therefore, if Christ lives, he will know that we do and suffer all things for his sake, preaching, teaching, writing. As the world also knows, and we also know: on him we dare, he also will help us; but it must also break, and cannot stand thus.

Christ and Satan cannot get along.

1. Christ and Belial cannot be reconciled nor reconciled with each other, and humanly speaking they cannot let up on one thing: neither gives way to the other, it is an eternal enmity between them. For, the papists admit that they are wrong in indulgences, remember everyone: Qui semel malus etc.. He who is once a prankster is always thought to be one. If the indulgence falls, the mass falls; if the mass falls, the monasteries and convents fall, and so on.

142 These verses were made at the colloquium held at Worms in 1545, that the Pope and Luther cannot be reconciled with each other.

(Not from Luther.)

1. according to the sense contained in Cap. 27, §105

143. Christ is an evil steward.

Christ keeps house in an evil and unwise way, because he becomes poor and a beggar, so that he has no place to lay his head, suffers hunger and thirst, heat and frost, and makes others rich and blessed.

Christ and Satan never compare, one must give way to the other.

Because the devil is a prince and god of the world, of the Lord Christ, of his word and of those who have it pure and unadulterated and hold fast to it, he must and will also receive it, of whom it is written Ps. 110, 4: "You are a priest forever" 2c. and Ps. 2, 6: "I have appointed my king on my holy mountain" 2c. And it is impossible that Christ and the devil can get along with each other in one bed, one must cast out the other. Thus we Lutherans and Papists cannot dwell under one roof with each other, neither can suffer the other, one part must give way to the other. The Jews and the apostles were also under one roof, but the Jews had to give way.

And said further: This time of ours is the same as it was in the time of Jude Maccabaei, who protected his people from violence, and yet could not subdue the enemies, but they kept the regiment. And his own have done him the greatest harm, that I believe he has often desired death in such disloyalty and ingratitude; for these two pieces make one weary.

145. Apart from Christ, everything is wickedness.

All that is in the world, apart from Christ, may be so high and delicious, may seem so angelic, and may be called holiness, honorable life, virtue, discipline, honor; but it is nothing more than a cover of shame, under which lies hidden the highest wickedness, yes, the devil himself. Although it is not evil in itself that in the world there is wisdom, discipline, honor and honorable life 2c. But if one wants to draw such a thing so that it 2) should also be valid before God, then a loud disgrace will be created.

2. "it" inserted according to Stangwald.

342 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 145-149. Z43

cover it, so that the abominable sin is covered, which is called blaspheming God and persecuting His word. It is not evil to be sensible, learned, wise and virtuous, for these are fine jewels and gifts of God: but this is the devil, that they misuse such glorious gifts of God, such beautiful virtues, art, respectability and modest living as a cover of shame, and under the same appearance blaspheme and persecute God.

It is quite a fine jewel and special adornment around a chaste virgin; but if this chaste virgin would approach and murder father and mother, then the beautiful virtue and chastity would only be a cover of a great villainess, father and mother murderer. So these also seem to be pious and holy, and yet under such appearances they are so wicked that they are beyond all measure, so that nothing on earth can reveal and expose such wickedness, but only the gospel of the infant Jesus. As the old Simeon said to the mother Luc. 2, 35: "O Mary, your Son will make all the world, and the best, most pious people, into nothing but knaves, scoundrels and murderers, who are now coming in, so that they will be worshipped for wisdom and holiness, so that they will break out and prove themselves to be the worst enemies of God and of true Christians. That one will say: Fie on you, kitten, how you have such a smooth bellow and sharp claws: you do as cats do, licking in front and scratching behind.

Christ's kingdom is preserved by God alone against all devils and the world's rages.

(Omitted because contained in Cap. 26, § 2, sub. 3.)

147. Christ is the highest article.

The highest article of our Christian faith is Christ, which neither Zwingel nor Oecolampadius had and understood, nor have all the other heretics and red spirits.

The little animal Ichneumon is the image of the Lord Christ.

(Lauterbach, Aug. 14, 1538, p. 112.; and April 23, p. 69.)

Luther asked what the crocodile was. It must certainly be a lindworm, a large

Lizard, 18 cubits long, a beast of Egypt, which is said to be moved by the highest joy when it can eat human flesh, so that it also sheds tears of joy. And yet this monstrous beast is killed by the Ichneumon. Therefore the Egyptians worshipped both as gods. Thus 1) Ichneumon also arms himself against the viper, a very poisonous serpent, with clay, puts on a clay leymen armor and defeats the dragon; this is our Lord God's game, who does not proceed with violence but with wisdom, and a model of Christ. That is how powerful God is in the creatures. But we do not know the land animals: the unicorn, the rhinoceros, the leopard, the giraffe, the tiger, the ostrich. God is wonderful in His creatures.

(April 23) On this day he said much about the Ichneumon, a small animal that miraculously killed both the crocodile and the viper, as Pliny writes. This animal is an example of Christ, who, although weak, nevertheless defeats his enemies.

Christ is the believer's salvation and wisdom, otherwise it is a poor thing with human wisdom.

The Lord Christ alone is our victory over the devil: he who does not have him is lost. Nevertheless the world despises the Lord Christ, and still wants to be wise; so the devil thinks, "This is a right venison for me. Extra Christum non est salus: A Christian alone is safe from the devil, if he holds Christ for his wisdom, sanctification, righteousness and salvation.

Alas for our poor cleverness! Before we become wise, we lie down and die. That is why the devil is well pleased: when a man is thirty years old, he still has carnal wickedness, not to mention spiritual wickedness. Nevertheless, it is a wonder that we can do such great things in such weakness. But our Lord God gives it. He gave Alexandro Magno

1. Instead of iäeo in Lauterbach we have chosen the more appropriate reading ita etiam in Bindseil II, 108, because iäeQ seems to have arisen by repetition from the preceding sentence.

344 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 149-156. 345

Wisdom and fortune, and yet calls him a youth in the prophet Jeremiah, Cap. 49, 19, a young man, where it is said, "Who knows who is the young man whom I will prepare against them?" 1) A young spoon, he shall do it, he shall come, and shall turn back the city of Tyrum. But Alexander did not forget his stulties, for he often got drunk and stabbed his good friends when he got drunk; indeed, he drank himself to death at Babel afterwards.

Our youthful years are nothing: when one reaches the age of twenty, what does he understand? People are not as strong now as they were a long time ago. Solomon was not much over twenty years old when he became king, but he must have been instituted by Nathan; so our Lord God also appears to him, and says: He should ask what he wants, and God will give it to him; then he desires wisdom: this pleases our Lord God very well, as the text says 1 Kings 3:5 ff. Now one would desire a box of money, even my most gracious Lord himself. Well, they say, if I had money, I would get it.

(Here, § lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 43, § 33, para. > 2.)

150 Christ soon grew tired of this life, and so did his Christians.

Christ did not want to be long here on earth in the preaching ministry, but handed over the kingdom and rule to his Father, and appointed apostles. Of the same (as well as the others) Paul writes Phil. 1, 23: "I desire to be dissolved" (that is, to die). They also have enough of this life. So now we also cry out, we are tired and weary of this life, we also desire that God take us to His heaven only soon, or come with the last day, and put an end to the game (since the falsification of doctrine and other vices have become rampant). Our Lord God must be a humble man, so that he can provide the world with people.

1. This scripture is rendered by us in German.

Christ humbled and humbled himself deeply.

(Contained in Cap. 7, §105.)

152: How Christ distributes his merit. (Cordatus No. 519. 2)

A merit is a work for the sake of which Christ has given a reward, but Christ gives us because of His promise. As when a prince says: Come to me to my castle, I will give you a hundred guilders. Here I do a work by going to the castle, for the sake of which the florins are certainly not given to me; not for the sake of any merit, but for the sake of the promise.

153 The Christians' Consolation.

(Composed of Cap. 1, § 54, para. 1. u. Cap. 7,§ 71.)

154 Christ's preaching has not been like this, as now at the time of the Gospel.

(Contained in Cap. 12, § 26.)

Hearing Christ is the greatest worship.

When one asked, "What is the greatest service that pleases God?" D. Martinus said. Martinus: Hearing Christ and being obedient to him is the greatest and highest worship; otherwise all is useless. For he has it in heaven much better and more beautiful than we can do it; otherwise Saul's sacrifice and service would also have pleased him, since he said, "Your service and sacrifice only provoke me to anger," 1 Sam. 15, 22. ff, and was nevertheless from the outside the most beautiful and best service. Thus says the fortieth Psalm, v. 7: "Thou wilt not have heave offerings and burnt offerings, but they shall be obedient unto thee. Just as the men of war say in wars: Obedience and keeping to the letter of the articles is the victory.

Christ alone is the comfort and hope of Christians.

(Contained in Cap. 7, §1, penultimate paragraph.)

2. Cf. Cap. 14, § 45.

346 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 157-164. 347

157. Christ is a bishop of our souls.

The best help for Christians is, said D. Martinus, that Christ is a high priest and bishop of our souls. Martinus said that Christ is a high priest and bishop of our souls, since conscience always says that he is a strict judge when it feels God's wrath against sin. Apart from Christ and his word, no one can help himself.

In what God's consolation stands.

People's comfort, said D. Martinus, and God's comfort are two different things. Man's consolation is in outward visible help, which can be grasped, seen and felt. God's consolation is in the Word and the promise alone, since there is neither seeing, hearing nor feeling. A baptized and believing person must be very dear to our Lord Christ.

159. Christ does not shrink.

(Contained in Cap. 13, 815, para. 4 from the end.)

160 The Lord's Giving of Christ.

(Contained in Cap. 7, 8113.)

What the world thinks of Christo.

Christ must be the world's joke, mockery and ridicule. Pilate would not have had Christ crucified, if he had not been overawed. The Pharisees, Judas and Pilate, that is three persons for the death of Christ. The Pharisees had Jesus killed out of envy, avarice or greed; Judas out of greed for money; Pilate out of ambition and fear. The first one is the most evil.

162) Apart from Christ there is no consolation and how he chides the believers. 1)

Outside of Christ, no one can comfort, advise or help him; but in him there is all comfort and joy, through faith in the Word. How could our Lord Christ rebuke us more simply than by calling us sheep? A sheep lets itself be reproached, but nevertheless gives wool or milk, and lets its life with patience.

1. Cf. § 157 of this Cap.

God is not only the God of the Jews, but also the God of the Gentiles.

St. Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans solely for the sake of the anguish, namely, that God is not only God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, that is, that He is gracious to all who believe in Christ and wants them well. Adhere only to Christ, for apart from Him there is no knowledge of God, nor blessedness, comfort and help.

That Christ would save the Jews and the Gentiles.

It was said to D. Luther in 1543 that Christ said to the Gentile woman, "He has not come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and yet he helps her as a Gentile and heals her daughter; therefore he must speak against his own conscience. Luther answered and said: "Christ was not sent to the Gentiles, but when the Gentiles came to him, he did not reject them: he was personally sent only to the Jews, therefore he also preached in the Jewish country, but through the apostles his teaching went into the whole world. Thus St. Paul calls the Lord Christ "a minister of the circumcision, because of the promise which God made to the fathers, since God kept His promise truly, and the Jews can boast of God's truth, but the Gentiles shall boast of God's mercy", Rom. 15, 8. 9, and is not forgotten by us, the Gentiles. God has not spoken to us, so we have had no king nor prophet with whom God has spoken, but St. Paul says otherwise in one place, Apost. 13, 46: "To you alone it was preached, but since you were unwilling, behold, we turn to the Gentiles."

This still annoys the Jews today, because they think that the Messiah is theirs alone, and it is a beautiful and glorious name that Moses says 5 Mos. 7, 6: "You are a holy nation. But David also promises Christ to the Gentiles in his Psalms: "Praise the Lord, all the Gentiles," Ps. 117:1, not only to the Jews. There it is solved. After that

348 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 164-171. 349

All the promises made to Abraham are also true. But the dear apostles understood it with difficulty. They were good rough fellows, they could not have done otherwise: they must have thought they wanted to become great lords; they had already divided the people among themselves from time to time. As the two disciples who went to Emmaus when Christ died said, Luc. 24, 21: "We hoped that he would redeem Israel. But this opinion had to be mortificiret. They could not think otherwise, the good fellows. The Lord Christ still treats them kindly, and he is much too kind to them. It is written in the legend of St. Peter that St. Peter always had a little cloth with him to wipe himself, and that he finally got red eyes; and I will believe it. When he was asked why he was crying, he said that when he remembered the most pleasant company of Christ with the apostles, he could not refrain from tears. Christ must have been a good, kind man: and so he still deals with us daily, but we do not recognize it. But after that, on the day of Pentecost, they will be taught differently.

Christ cannot be unlearned.

Christ is incomprehensible, no one can learn him in this life, so that he would understand what and who he is, because he is God. I cannot explain my own actions, movements and thoughts, how could I explain the majesty of Christ?

166 Of Christ's Kingdom.

(Cordatus No. 1759.)

Since Christ reigns in his kingdom, he says: I baptize you, I give you the sacrament, receive, eat, drink, I preach to you. But in the worldly kingdom the ruler says: Do this, and I will give you this 2c. A king seeks his advantage, but Christ ours, with the gentlest words, but those are the cruelest oppressors. The harsher they are, the better. But in Christ's kingdom, the more gentle 2c.

How to signify Christ.

(Cordatus No. 1416.)

Christ's history is to be regarded in three ways, first, as a history, second, as a gift, third, as an example. The stories are the most reliable examples of faith and unbelief.

168. repugnant works of Christ and the devil.

(Cordatus No. 659.)

Christ and the devil are different in work and office, for the latter is the author of life, the sustainer of righteousness, the creator of heaven and earth; the latter, on the other hand, is the lord of death, the author of sin, and definitely the destroyer of all that Christ builds up. In short, all evil and all sickness are works of the devil. But when God ascribes evil to himself in the Scriptures, he did so for the sake of the Manichaeans, who set up two gods, one good and one evil.

Christ bears the curse of the law.

The malediction and curse of the law was borne, taken upon Himself, and abolished by Christ alone, and all this is found there; so that those who have the spiritual blessing and benediction bear and suffer the bodily curse and malediction are persecuted and well afflicted; the wicked here generally go empty-handed.

170) Above the article of Christo, one should hold.

(Contained in Cap. 12, § 35, sub. 2.)

171. forgiveness of sins.

Forgiveness of sins does much, therefore God can forgive the church under the papacy, especially because baptism has remained pure, as well as the sacrament and the text of the Holy Scriptures. Even if they have been tainted by glosses and jugglery, as accidentia, the essence has remained for itself, which has adhered to the hearts that should have caught it, there has been especially great power and authority.

350 Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 171-177. 351

(This paragraph Cordatus No. 1403.)

The article of forgiveness of sins is in all creatures.

(Here three lines are omitted because contained in Cap. 13, § 55)

(From here to the end of the § at Cordatus No. 134.)

Grace does not take away nature, but changes it, and uses it for the glory of God, e.g. the gentle nature of a person who is kind and calm by nature, like Hausmann, uses it in the preaching ministry, so that the sensitive people, who cannot stand anything, have a preacher who presents everything sweetly to them, on the other hand, when God needs a messenger, who seriously lectures his things and dares to rebuke the recalcitrant 1) he uses the wrath of a fierce man, a man like Cordatus, who is harsh in words and manner, so that those who are not converted by the gentleness of the one may be converted by his harshness, or perish, so that they have no excuse. Thus God also uses for the best those who are scheming, devious, those who have great intellect, the boasters and the like, so that everything may bring salvation to His elect.

172. write or speak Bon GOD's grace.

(Contained in Cap. 26, § 16.)

173. How God's grace is fasted.

(Contained in Cap. 1, § 5, sub. 3.)

174. strokes make you angry.

After the plague we get angry, like the Jews after the thunder and lightning at Mount Sinai. As we Germans also say, "The sick man was never worse than when he recovered. Therefore it must all come by grace, if we are to be saved.

175 David's fame from his piety.

Why does David praise and exalt his piety, purity and innocence so highly, since he has

1. Instead of in moriMros ilLvioriseros will have to be read, as D. Wrampelmeyer conjicirt correctly.

was a murderer and adulterer? Answered D. M. Luther: You must look well at the little word (meam) "my"; for when David speaks: My piety or righteousness, give him a right Correlativum, my righteousness, namely, against my enemies, there I am pious, for you, my God, know that I have a good cause.

So it is with baptism and absolution: if we go away, we are also pious; yes, before men, but not against God; if he wanted to act seriously with us, we are not yet pious. So my most gracious lord, the Elector of Saxony, must now also be pious against the one of Brunswick, and say: You know my piety against my enemies, not against God; for we have a good, just cause, they are evil.

176: Reason's annoyance at Christ's weakness.

Reason, when it sees Christ born a little child, lying in its mother's womb at the breast and sucking, cannot recognize Him as a Savior and Beatificator of the world: so do the enthusiasts in the Sacrament of the Altar. Just as Christ was wiped out of the grave with a great earthquake, so also today there is and will always be a tumult and tumult in the world, when Christ's obedience, holiness and merit are preached, praised and believed that he alone is our Savior. But such an earthquake is more salutary and pleasing to pious, godly hearts to see and hear than Christ lying in the grave and resting: if there is peace and tranquility in Christendom, it is an evil sign.

177 Christ was silent until his thirtieth year before he entered the ministry.

Christ abstained from preaching and teaching until his thirtieth year, and always kept silent, neither letting himself be heard nor heard in public. However, since he had so much and so many impiety, abominable idolatry, theft of God, false worship, so many

352 ' Cap. 7. Of the Lord Christ. § 177-182. 353

He had to see and hear blasphemy, so many harmful heresies and sects among the people of God. Yet he was able to refrain from doing so until he was publicly called to the preaching ministry.

178. Christ's words are powerful.

(Cordatus No. 542.)

The words of Christ are very strong, have hands and feet, and pass over all the counsels, cunning, and wisdom of the wise, and he puts them to shame with the simplest words and thoughts, that we can do nothing nor escape, as, "Pray unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." There he neither forbids nor commands anything, but yet he concludes them with their own words, saying, "If you have caused Caesar to be so far broken down that you must have his coin, give him what is his. Matth. 22, 20. 21.

179 Ways of Preaching in the Papacy.

(The first paragraph in Cordatus No. 1322.)

In the past, it was considered feminine and childish to mention Christ in the pulpit. Scotus, Bonaventure, Occam, Aristotle and Plato ruled. 1)

People were somewhat ashamed and shy, indeed, they considered it to be almost inconsistent, effeminate and a disgrace to call Christ on the preaching chair. And the names of the prophets and apostles were never remembered, nor were their writings taken up, but the rule and manner of all preachers was this: First, to hold forth a theme, saying, and question from Scoto or Aristotele, the pagan master. Secondly, they divided the same. Thirdly, they went into the Distinctiones and Quästiones. And the same preachers were

1. Most likely, the following paragraph is only an Aurifaberian adaptation and extension of the preceding one.

The best of them did not insist on the Gospel, did not even deal with a few words of the Scriptures, and the Holy Scriptures were even covered up, unknown and buried.

180 Christ's intercession and preaching are certain.

(Contained in Cap. 7, § 95.)

181 Believing in Christ alone makes you blessed.

There it is, said D. M. Luther, there it is. Whoever believes in the man called Jesus Christ, God's only Son, has eternal life; as He Himself says John 3:16: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

If others do what they want, they are still lost, and neither Moses nor the law helps here; indeed, Moses and the law kill man, and do not give life, but death. Therefore it is all up to the Son, who brings eternal life. He who has the Son of God has eternal life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life: for the Son must please God, and God cannot be hostile to the Son. Where the Son is, there he looks, and is well pleased with him. Therefore, in short, it shall be the son alone before God, and nothing else. If you do not believe in the son, whether you are a monk or a nun, a Carthusian or a barefoot, you are already judged.

182. honor of god.

It is God's honor and glory that He has made His Son man, our flesh and blood; which mystery no man can sufficiently consider or conceive. And yet we are so cold and ungrateful. Fie on the shameful fall of Adam, that I should not love this Lord, who has redeemed me from eternal death so dearly!

354 Cap. 8: Of the Holy Spirit. § I-8. 355

Chapter 8.

Of the Holy Spirit.

1. of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
2. when the Holy Spirit has begun to fulfill His ministry.
3. what the Holy Spirit is.
4. the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
5. with what the Holy Spirit comforts, and why he is called a comforter.

Why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth.

Why the Holy Spirit is called a witness.

8. testimonies of the Holy Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is also God, and yet another person than the Father and the Son.

1. of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

(Cordatus No. 1036 and No. 1159.)

The spirit is one and the same, but it has two offices, for the spirit of grace makes God pleased with us and us pleased with God. But it is the spirit of prayer that prays for us and the whole world that good may come and evil may depart. The spirit of grace teaches others, the spirit of prayer asks that the name of God be sanctified, that his kingdom come 2c.

Notice that it is one thing to have the Holy Spirit and another to have the revelation of the Spirit. Before Christ, many had the Holy Spirit, but they did not have the revelation of the Spirit.

(The following is contained in Cap. 13, § 35. The following paragraph > in Cordatus No. 1310.)

The Spirit is always first in teaching, but not in hearing. He is preceded by the word and followed by the spirit.

2. when the Holy Spirit has begun to fulfill His ministry.

(This § is found in the house postilla in the sermon on the holy day > of Pentecost. Pentecost. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XIII, Col. > 2057, § 21; Col. 2058, § 22; Col. 2059 f., § 26. 27; Col. 2051, § 9. > 10; Col. 2052, 8 11; Col. 2053, § 14.)

3. what the Holy Spirit is.

The Holy Scriptures testify, and the Nicene Symbol confesses and teaches from the Holy Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives life, and who is worshipped and honored at the same time as the Father and the Son. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must also be true, eternal God with the Father and the Son in one being. For where

If he were not the true, eternal God, then the divine power and honor, that he makes alive and is worshipped and honored with the Father and the Son at the same time, could not be attributed to him either; as the holy fathers have vigorously claimed and preserved this from the Scriptures against the heretics.

4. the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is an eternal, almighty God, as we believe and confess in our Christian faith: to Him the Lord Christ gives special names, and calls Him 1) a Punisher, who punishes the world for sin 2c. 2) A Comforter. 3) A spirit of truth. 4) That he proceeds from the Father, and thus is true, eternal, almighty God with the Father and the Son. 5) That he testifies of Christ 2c.

5) With what does the Holy Spirit comfort? and why is He called a Comforter?

(This § is found in the sermon on Sunday Exaudi in the Hauspostille. > Walch, St. Louis ed. Vol. XIII, Col. 622, § 2 and 3; Col. 623, § 4.

Why is he called a spirit of truth?

(In the house postilion on Sunday Exaudi. Walch.

St. Louis ed. vol. XIII, col. 623, § 4.)

7. why is he called a witness?

(In the house postilion on Sunday Exaudi. Walch. St. Louis edition, > vol. XIII, col. 625, § 9; 625, § 10.)

8. testimonies from the holy scriptures that the Holy Spirit is also God, and yet a different

Person, because the Father and Son.

(In the house postilion on sund. Trinitatis. Walch.

St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, col. 673 f., §§ 22. .

23. 24. 25.)

356 Cap. 9: Of sin. § 1. 357

Chapter 9.

Of sin, and its difference, nature and punishment.

1. difference of hereditary and real SUnde.
2. sinning against the recognized truth.
3. sin in Holy Spirit.
4. sinning from ignorance whether it is sin, and from the difference of ignorance.

The greatest sins committed against God.

The greatest and most wicked sin is to despise God's word.

7. how to get rid of sin.
8. the greatness of sins, how to recognize them.
9. that all people are under sin.

(10) How human reason stands, both against sin and grace.

11. hypocrites do not confess their sins from the heart.
12. the cause of sins.
13. the punishment of sins.
14. what sin sorry, or not.
15. the punishment of sins.
16. difference of the Pharisees and tax collectors sin.

Let no one despair because of his sins.

18. example that God forgives sin.
19. God does not leave unpunished any sin that is not recognized and confessed, especially in the first table, which is not considered sin but virtue.
20. the fall of the wicked, and how they are taken in their ungodly nature and false doctrine.
21. sign that GOD has forgiven us our sins.
22. what belongs to the fraternal forgiveness.

23. Believing in the forgiveness of sins makes you blessed.

24. Christ forgives righteous sins.
25. sins punished by the Holy Scriptures.
26. sin against the gospel.
27. forgiveness of sins is for and for remained.
28. against the temptation of sins.

Forgiveness of sins is in all ranks and offices.

Forgiveness of sins must be above everything by all means.

31. of the regiment and housekeeping.
32. difference of sin and sinner.
33. description of the spiritual regiment.
34. who are forgiven their sins.
35. where forgiveness is sought, and how it is to be grasped.
36. security of sinners.
37. corruption of human nature, that one asks nothing about spiritual things.
38. hatred and court.
39. lutheri dogs.
40. forgiveness of sin comes by grace, without any works.
41. argument of one who wanted to abolish original sin.

42 Recognition of sin.

43. sins are distinguished.
44. sin must be confessed.

No evil-doer goes unpunished.

46. following the people.

Great saints have also been sinners.

48. difference of punishments, and cause of sins-
49. from original sin.
50. blasphemy sin.
51. sin grows and takes over.
52. sinners should not despair.
53. how sin is forgiven.

54 Of original sin in Christians.

Original sin corrupts everything.

56. to sin willfully.

57. Whether the offended should ask forgiveness from the one who offended him.

(58) Everyone seeks his own benefit, because nature is corrupt.

59. what is the soul of man.
60. twofold case.
61. image of God's mercy.

62 From the presumption.

63. whether bad fornication is sin.
64. from an evil conscience.
65. from a tender conscience.

1. difference of hereditary and real sin.

None of the Fathers in the Church thought of original sin, except Augustine, who distinguished original sin from real sin, namely that original sin is evil lust and desire, and a root and origin of all real sin. And even though the wages of sin is death, as St. Paul says Rom. 6, 23, such lust in believers is not a mortal sin, but only a daily sin, which God forgives them and does not cause them to commit.

The people of the world are not to be reckoned with because of their faith in Christ, and because they resist it with the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit.

St. Paul writes and points out the difference between mortal sin and daily sin to Romans 8, v. 13, where he says: "If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if ye by the spirit of the flesh kill business, ye shall live." Here you have a very clear distinction in saints and epicureans.

358 Cap. 9. of sin. §2-4. 359

2. sinning against the recognized truth.

Many papists do and argue against the known truth, as well as the heretics and fanatics. But we have a rule given to us by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says Titus 3:10, 11: "Avoid a heretical man, when he has been admonished once and again. And know that such a one is reprobate, and sins, as one who has condemned himself." And Christ Matth. 15, 14: "Let them go, they are blind and blind leaders. Thus Doct. Pommer used to say, "If a man is blind, he cannot see. For if it is a bad error, done out of simplicity, one gives way to the admonition and lets himself be taught; but if it is a stubborn will, one does not give way, but remains stubbornly on it. Just as Pharaoh was hardened and hardened and did not recognize his sin or humble himself before God until he was thrown into the Red Sea.

(This paragraph at Cordatus No. 1564.)

I think that if Moses had used the signs in Egypt for one, two or three years, they would have been used like the suns 2c. That is how ungrateful the world is.

1. D. Carlstadt also had such a stubborn mind: when he promoted someone to the doctorate in Wittenberg, he had an oration and said: "I stand here and promote this one, and know that I do wrong and commit a mortal sin: but I do it for the sake of two florins, which I get from it. But he introduced the saying of Christ, Matth. 23, 10., where he says: "You shall not be called masters"; from this he wanted to prove that neither Magistros nor Doctores should be promoted. Since in the same place the Lord Christ admonishes us that we should beware of sects and cults and let the Lord Christ alone be master in divine matters. Otherwise, children would not be allowed to call their parents father and mother, because God also allows Himself to be called Father. What was to become of it? Since the word, Carlstadt has also fallen and fallen into various errors and remained in them.
2. This narrative in another version also Cap. 67, 8 9.

Therefore, a distinction should be made between those who sin out of simplicity and those who sin wantonly out of hardening.

3. sin in Holy Spirit.

(Cordatus No. 339.)

There are six sins against the Holy Spirit, which, although they amount to one, are different in their deeds, or rather misdeeds. The first is presumption, 2. arguing against the known truth, 3. hardening, 4. despair, 5. begrudging his brother grace, and the sixth: impenitence to the end. 2)

4. sinning from ignorance, whether it is sin, and from the difference of ignorance.

It was asked of the saying Augustini: Whether that alone is sin, which happens willingly? From this it follows that what is done out of ignorance is not sin. Then said D. Mart. Luther said, "Augustine speaks of the will in a worldly and common way, as the right-wingers are accustomed to speak of it, not theologically; as he then interprets and explains this saying himself in the recanting books. Moreover, anyone who sins in error does so willingly, without constraint; it is a deliberate error. But the papists do not sin in error, but knowingly with will; for they now know, especially the most distinguished among them, that our doctrine is right and founded in God's Word, as they themselves confessed and said at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530. 3)

For when the Confession of the protesting estates was read before the emperor and all the estates of the empire, Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria (who was vehemently opposed to the teaching of the Gospel) said to Doct. Eck: "Doctor, can this thing also be overturned from the Holy Scriptures? Then Doct. Eck, the theologian, said: No, it cannot be overturned with the Holy Scripture, but with the Fathers. Thereupon the Bishop Albrecht of Mainz, Cardinal, had said to the Duke of Bavaria

2. For the continuation of this, see Appendix No. II. 3) Cf. Cap. 27- > § 150, towards the end.

360 Cap. 9: Of sin. § 4. 5. 361

See, how fine our theologians hold with us; those, the Lutherans, have to prove their thing in the Scriptures, we have it outside the Scriptures!

The same bishop Albrecht also said at this imperial diet (since several committees had been formed by princes and theologians to reconcile and compare the Lutherans and the papists): "Ah! what is the point of much concord! see, the Lutherans have one article, even if all the others were not right, so one cannot refute the same, namely of marriage. And V. Luther said, when he told this: Haec testimonia ipsorum valde nos confirmant: These testimonies of them strengthen us very much.

But theologically, according to the Holy Scriptures, everything is called and is willingly sinful; for we are all sinners by nature, conceived and born in sins, completely corrupt and poisoned, have an evil will from Adam, which is always contrary to God, unless it is negated and changed by the Holy Spirit through the Word. Neither the philosophers nor the jurists know or understand anything about this, therefore they are excluded from the theological circle and the judicial obligation to recognize and judge the doctrine apart from God's word.

But there are three kinds of ignorance: one is called insurmountable; the other gross; the third assumed. The insurmountable one is when I know nothing about the rights described, whether they are divine or human. And this one excuses and makes all peoples and nations innocent. For although they neither know nor believe that God is triune in person and became man, they are excused for this insurmountable ignorance by reasonable, worldly-wise people, but it does not apply in theology. For St. Paul says Rom. 3, 23: "They are all sinners" 2c., and Rom. 5, 12: "Death has come to all men", and also rules over those who have not sinned, that is, even over little innocent children and infants.

Gross ignorance is when one does not want to learn; he is cheaply ignorant, that is, he is excused in something, but not at all.

But assumed ignorance is when

one willfully does not want to know a thing, which the lawyers call dolum malum, bad trickery, because one does not want to know it; as our papists are now.

5. the greatest sins committed against God.

The greatest sins committed against God are those committed against the first tablet, understood in the first three commandments: but no one understands nor feels the sin, except the one who has the Holy Spirit and the grace of God. Therefore, everyone is sure, and since such have angered God and become the devil's own, they still think they are well off with God; even if they falsify, persecute and condemn His commandment and word, they still think in their mind that they are doing God a favor and special service. As, an example:

Paul did not weep otherwise, he did God a favor by helping to defend the law; for he considered the law of God the highest, noblest and greatest treasure on earth, just as we now consider the gospel. And he wanted to put life and limb on it and leave it above, and in short defend the law; and he lacked nothing at all in understanding, wisdom and power, if he had need of it. But before he looked around, and when he thought his cause was best, he received another command, and it was said to him, that all his works, doings, diligence and zeal were against God. And yet he had the best reputation and appearance among scholars, wise men and saints, so that everyone had to say that Paul acted rightly and did godly, good works, because he was zealous for God's honor and His law.

He also had the arguments and the reason for himself, which could not be overturned nor refuted by reason. But God found a solution and struck him on one ear so that he fell to the ground and had to hear: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Apost. 9:4, as if to say, "In order that you may think you are serving me, you are persecuting me with hostility. And that it may be true, read this lesson: Thou boastest that thou hast my word, and understandest the law, and dost earnestly desire it.

362 Cap. 9. of sin. §5.6. 363

and everyone falls to you, you take the testimony of the rulers and scribes, and you go along safely in the delusion. But I have commanded in my law: "Whoever uselessly uses and abuses the name of God shall die"; Paul abuses and uses the name of God uselessly; therefore I punish him justly. The first part of this final speech proves the work and the deed, because Paul persecutes God's Son, the true Messiah or Christ, who is and is called the name of God.

Paul could not solve and resolve the argument, therefore he had to crawl to the cross, be ashamed, and say: He had not understood the divine word and law correctly, and confess his great sin, abuse, also unbelief and lack of understanding, even blindness, and pronounce judgment on himself, it would have been right for him. Therefore he also says, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Behold, thou art a master of the law and of Moses, and askest first what thou shalt do.

The greatest and most wicked sin is to despise God's word.

Without this, we have many other things upon us which are repugnant to our Lord God, and which are a grievance to him, such as anger, impatience, avarice, belly care, rutting, evil lusts, fornication, hatred and other vices: these are vain great abominable deadly sins, which go and abound with power everywhere in the world: yet such sins are nothing against the abominable contempt of divine word, which is so great and base, that in truth avarice, adultery, fornication, 2c. are not so wicked, indeed, they would all remain so if we loved and valued God's word. But, alas, we experience the contradiction that all the world is drowned in this sin. Peasants, burghers, and those of the nobility do not give a hoot about the gospel, but snore against it and consider it no sin, even if they despise it or persecute it. So I see my wonder in the church, that among the listeners one yawns out there, the other out there, and among such a large crowd there are hardly ten or twelve who are there because they want to notice something from the sermon.

In addition to the fact that this sin is so common, it is also a really terrible, infernal, devilish sin, in that it does not want to be recognized like other sins: everyone considers it a minor thing if one is in the sermon and does not diligently pay attention to it. Yes, most people go along like this, and let themselves think that the wine or beer tastes just as good under the sermon as at other times; no one cares about it, and much less does anyone make him feel guilty that he regards the good word so lightly. This does not happen in other sins, such as murder, adultery, and theft, which the newcomer follows, if not soon, but in his own time, so that the heart is shocked and wishes it had not happened; but not hearing the word diligently, even despising, persecuting, and falsifying it, no one has a conscience about it.

Therefore, it is such an abominable sin that the country and its people must finally be destroyed, for because it remains unrecognized, no repentance, forgiveness or correction can follow. This is what happened to Jerusalem, Rome, Greece and other kingdoms. Germany still has to answer for it, because sin always cries out to heaven and does not let God rest, so that he must be angry and say: "I gave you my dear Son, my highest and dearest treasure, and would have liked to talk to you, to teach you and instruct you for eternal life; but I have no one who will listen to me, so I must let the punishment go. As the Lord himself testifies in John 3:19: "This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their works were evil. As if he wanted to say, "I will gladly keep silent about the sins of all others, but this is the judgment that breaks the neck of the world, namely, that I have sent my word, and they do not ask anything about it. Otherwise they are full of sins, and I would gladly help them by my word; but they will not. If they will not hear my word, they will hear the devil's word, and I must let it come to pass; but they will see how it will go with them.

The same thing happened to the Christians in the morning in the beautiful, large countries,

364 Cap. 9: Of sin. § 6-16. 365

which the Turk has now brought under him; Hungary is almost gone as well. We Germans, and other nations, also do not want to hear the gospel nor suffer, therefore they must hear and suffer the devil's hordes, the Anabaptists and sacrament abusers. Alfo it shall happen, where one despises the word of God, and does not want to hear, there hear the Turk with his Koran, the red spirits and all devils, who preach all kinds of error: because it is the highest and greatest sin, so also the greatest and most severe punishment belongs to it.

7. how to get rid of sin.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 68.)

8. to recognize the greatness of sins.

(This § is in the great interpretation of Brie to the Galatians, > cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 69.)

9 All people are under sin.

(This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, 8 70.)

(10) How human reason stands, both against sin and grace.

(This § is found in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, Cap. I. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 74.75.) > > Hypocrites do not confess their sin from the heart. > > (This § is in the great interpretation of the Epistle to the > Galatians, cap. 1. Walch, old edition, vol. VIII, § 76.)

12. the cause of sins.

When Martin was asked, "Where does sin come from and what is the cause of it?" he said, "Holy Scripture shows that it comes from the devil, whom our parents obeyed against God's word, disobeyed God, and thereby fell into terrible punishment. For through the same sin, not only are our bodies so weakened that they have become mortal from immortal, but the mind, heart, spirit and will have been destroyed.

is utterly depraved and wicked. For man has lost the right true knowledge of God; so the will is so utterly depraved that it desires and wants nothing, for that is evil, which is, as Paul says, "hostile to the law of God," and takes pleasure in sin, yes, is an "enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, for neither is he able," Rom. 8:7.

13. the punishment of sins.

The punishment of sin is death, both temporal and eternal, as St. Paul says Rom. 6, 23. Therefore it cannot be sweet, but bitter, because God says: "The day you eat of it, you shall die of death", Gen. 2, 17.

14. what sin sorry, or not.

(Cordatus No. 135.)

Sinning against the Ten Commandments is tolerable, but sinning against the mercy of God is intolerable; but so sin those who persecute Christians for it, because they do not defend themselves or take revenge.

15. the punishment of sins.

(Lauterbach, Nov. 29, 1538, p. 182.)

Then they spoke of the fierceness of the plague, which killed people by very short attacks, and at that time three people died in two houses in Wittenberg. Luther said: Punishment follows sin, as Paul says to the Corinthians (I. 11, 30.): "That is why there are so many weak and sick among you, and a good portion sleep." It will certainly have been a good distemper. So also Paul says 2 Cor. 13, (3.): "Forasmuch as ye seek to know him that speaketh in me, even Christ." So also the extraordinary sins of ungodliness and ingratitude will provoke God's utmost wrath.

16. difference of the Pharisees and tax collectors sin.

(Cordatus No. 1344.)

Christ knew best how to distinguish between sins. That is why he hates the envy of the Pharisees very much and punishes it severely.

366 Cap. 9. of sin. § 16-24. 367

But to the Magdalene he proves to be kind and friendly. Those do not want the word, this one seizes it. Let us be sinners, and only not envious.

Let no one despair because of his sins.

Because of our sins, that we are great sinners, we shall not despair nor despair. For God, who has publicly proclaimed the forgiveness of sins to all who recognize and confess them from the heart and has offered it to everyone, excluding no one, will not be otherwise minded, but remains true to His word forever and ever, and keeps faith.

18. example that God forgives sin.

We must not make or think ourselves more pious nor more pure than the avenger and murderer was on the cross before conversion. And if the apostles had not thus fallen, I believe that the forgiveness of sins would not be believed. Therefore, when it comes to the reckoning, I say: Dear Mr. Peter, I have not denied Christ my Lord as you have done, even though I am a great sinner. So the forgiveness of sins remains.

Even though the apostles were sinners, the Lord Christ always excused them, as when they plucked up the ears, Matth. 12, 1. ff. But he vexes the Pharisees with the giving of interest, as he has always been almost sharp and mocking against them. And he always comforts the disciples, as Peter, when he says: "Do not be afraid, you will see men again", Luc. 5, 10.

19. God does not leave unpunished any sin that is not recognized and confessed, especially in the first table, which is not considered sin but virtue.

(Cordatus No. 1743. 1745. 1)

The judgment of God is revealed and certain, that he who does not believe will be condemned. Accordingly, we too can condemn the ungodly, such as Zwingli, David his son Ab-

1. Cf. cap. 44, § 3.

salon, when he says: Oh my son Absalon! because he knew that he had died in public turmoil, and because he had defiled his father's bed. [Ps. 58, 12: "God is still judge on earth", that is, no evil goes unpunished.

Let God make me fall into all sin, only not into that which I do not recognize for sin; for nothing offends God more than when one does not want to have sinned, like Saul. But there are sins that are not recognized against the first table, others are against the second. Some are restored to repentance by preaching, like David. But when they say Deut. 29:19: ["It is well with me, because I walk according to my heart"; "That the drunken woman may go with the thirsty"; likewise Num. 16: "Is this his spirit?

20. the fall of the wicked, and how they are taken in their ungodly nature and false doctrine.

(Cordatus No. 1746. 1757.)

Our Lord God catches the wicked when they are most secure, and in the most trivial matters, like the pope through indulgences.

What falls from heaven is diabolical, what stumbles on earth is human.

21. sign that God has forgiven our sin.

(This § is from the sermon on 22 Sonnt, nach Trin., Hauspostille. > Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, Col. 2504, § 33.)

22) What belongs to the fraternal forgiveness.

(This § is from the sermon on 22 Sonnt, nach Trin., Hauspostille. > Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, Col. 2505, § 34.)

23. believing for the remission of sins makes you blessed.

(Contained in Cap. 24, § 120, last paragraph).

24. Christ forgives righteous sin.

Being a monk, I often wrote to D. Staupitzen, and once I wrote to him: O my sin, sin, sin! Thereupon he gave me

** 368** Cap. 9: Of sin. § 24-30. 369

this answer: You want to be without sin, and yet have no right sin. Christ is the forgiveness of righteous sins, as murdering parents, blaspheming publicly, despising God, breaking marriage 2c., these are the righteous sins. You must have a register, in which righteous sins are written, if Christ is to help you: you must not deal with such pile-up work and puppet sins, and make a sin out of every bombardment.

25. sin, as the holy scripture punishes.

The Holy Scriptures do not deal primarily with gross outward sins, such as publicans, harlots, and knaves, for even the heathen can recognize and judge such sins; but deal most of all with spiritual harlotry and idolatry, which are done contrary to the first three commandments of God, which in the sight of the world have the appearance and title as if they were virtues, and are held to be respectability and piety.

26. sin against the gospel.

Among our people, God's word is despised to the highest degree; among the papists, it is blasphemed, and thus both parts sin most abominably against the first table of God's Ten Commandments (although God is less irritated and angered by transgression of the other table), which gives an evil indication. Therefore, since God does not help us, we are lost. On the other hand, I am comforted, first of all, by the great hope of the Turk, who relies on his power, and by the poverty of King Ferdinand. Now it is God's nature and way that he is wont to remove the mighty from the throne. On the other hand, I am also comforted by the fact that the Pope and Franzos are inviting the Turk into our country: therefore, God help us. And if the Turk comes, he may lead some away; he must leave Ezechiam and Jesaiam alone.

27. forgiveness of sins is for and for remained.

(Contained in Cap. 7, §171.)

28. against the temptation of sins.

(Contained in Cap. 11, §15.)

Forgiveness of sins is in all ranks and offices.

(The first sentence Cap. 7, § 171; the rest contained in Cap. 2, § > 24.)

Forgiveness of sin must be above everything by all means.

The law does not do justice in any state or art; it is impossible that everything could be done according to the law. As we also see in the children's art taught in schools, grammatica, there is no rule so common and straightforward that it does not have its excerpts. For this reason, forgiveness of sins is spread and set throughout life in all deeds, works, and arts. For the fact that a poem, poem, or song is exempt from common rules, and is not straightforwardly presented as another bad speech, that is forgiveness of sins.

This is called punctum mathematicum, which is indivisible and identical, so that it does not lack even the tiniest and smallest dot, which is impossible to find; just as the righteousness required by the law cannot be found anywhere. The physicum punctum, however, as it is called in schools, that everything does not happen so exactly and in the same way, is forgiveness of sin, since one must have patience, since it does not happen everywhere as it should.

Although the same dot, which they call mathematicum, is nowhere to be found, one must shoot at the purpose and target as much as possible, but one does not hit it, and still gets far enough away. Nevertheless, it means that one must sometimes see through one's fingers, hear and not hear, see and not see. So I told M. S. the other day that he should tell his pupil: he should learn the punctum physicum and have patience, nothing would come of the mathematico puncto, that everything should be done in a straight line, and as they say: you can't turn everything into bolts.

M. Luther talked about this at one time with M. Veit Dieterichen: The jurists with their art must also often seek the forgiveness of sins, because they do not meet it all the time. And

370 ' Cap. 9. of sin. § 30-36. 371

If they make unjust judgments, and the devil torments them in conscience, they could not resist him, even if they had Bartholum, Balduin and all the scribes for themselves: but with the Ýðéåß÷åßá, that is, with the forgiveness of sins, they may protect themselves. They must "strike first" and hit what they can, and then say to our Lord God: "Dear Lord God, let it go like this, we can't do better; if it is wrong, forgive it. Because it is not possible to do justice, seu punctum mathematicum; therefore no jurist, even in the very best conclusion, can stand against the devil, if he does not take theologiam to his aid, so that he comes and says: Dear Lord God, I have given a judgment in this matter, it is our rule so; if it is not right, forgive it. And this a jurist must do also in civil matters, not only in spiritual ones; because they cannot meet punctum mathematicum, or the actual law.

But a theologian must have it and be sure to say: It is written in God's word, and nowhere else. This the jurists cannot do; they do as the uncertain organists do: when they strike on an organ, if one pipe does not agree rightly, they take the others; if one voice is not right, the other is right. But theology meets the punctum mathematicum, which says: There is one righteousness, which is Jesus Christ; he that believeth on him is righteous. Of Christ we theologians preach and say: This our doctrine is right; so also say the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah. We do not want to have forgiveness of sins, because the teaching is not mine, but God's; as the Lord Christ also says: "The words I speak are not mine, but my Father's", Joh. 14, 10.

31. of the regiment and housekeeping.

Luther thought of this at one time: In the administration of the household and the police, the law must be that one does not want injustice to occur. However, when it does happen, the remission of sin must come to it, for otherwise it will be corrupted. A man must do many things to his wife and

children, and yet must not disregard the law. So it is in all estates. In all creatures the forgiveness of sins is shown. The trees do not all grow straight, the waters do not all flow straight, nor is the earth the same in all places. Therefore this judgment is true: He who cannot see through his fingers is not fit to govern. That is, one must be able to tolerate much, and see through one's fingers, and yet not let all things go. It means: Nec omnia, nec nihil.

32. difference of sin and sinner.

(This § is found in the fourth sermon on the Passion of the House of > God. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIII, Col. 1815-1817. 8s 30. 31. > 32.)

33 Description of the spiritual regiment. 1)

(This § is from the sermon on Sunday Quasimodogenrti in the house > postil. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, col. 541, § 5 and § 6; > col. 542, 8 8; col.543, § 8; col. 550, 831; col. 545, 815; col. 543, § > 9; col. 545, § 16.)

34. who are forgiven their sins.

(This § is from the sermon on Sunday Quasimodogeniti in the house > postilla. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, Col. 543 f., 8s 11. 12. > 13.)

35) Where forgiveness is sought and how it is to be obtained.

(This § is from the sermon on Sunday Quasimodogeniti in the house > postilla. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, Col. 546, § 20. § 21; > Col. 649, 8 27. § 28.)

36. security of sinners.

When God said through Adam to Cain, who had slain his brother Abel, Gen. 4:7: "Is it not true that if thou art righteous, thou art acceptable; but if thou art not righteous, sin resteth at the door?" thus He touches and points out the safety of those who sin, and speaks to Cain as to the

1. This § and the two following are all from the same sermon, which is divided into 13 different pieces and mixed up, with omissions and additions, formed entrances and final speeches, as this has also been done many times by Aurifaber, e.g. Cap. 8, §§ 5. 6. 7.

372 Cap. 9. of sin. § 36-41. 373

greatest hypocrites and poisonous barefoot monks. As if Adam wanted to say: How was it for me poor devil in paradise? I also wanted to hide it with the fig leaves, and hid myself behind the trees; but, dear fellow, our Lord God cannot be deceived, the fig leaves do not. It must have been very painful for good Adam and it must have hurt him that he had to cast out his firstborn son and put him under ban and under guard. He chased him away from him and drove him out of his house, saying: "Turn away from me and don't let me see you anymore; I know well what I lost in paradise, I don't want to lose anything more for your sake; I will now keep God's commandment and order with greater seriousness. And will first have preached more diligently and more earnestly.

37. corruption of human nature, that one asks nothing about spiritual things.

Human nature is so depraved that it has no desire for heavenly things and eternal life. Just as a young child born into the world does not ask anything about how things are in the world, and if it is promised and offered treasures, riches, money and pleasures from all over the world, it pays no attention to anything, but only grasps at its mother's breasts. So are we carnal men: if the preaching of the gospel beckons us heavenly treasures and goods, which are acquired and promised to us through Christ, we pay no attention to them, nor do we take any comfort in them, but only have our pleasure and joy in temporal and perishable things. This pestilence, sickness or destruction is not understood nor felt by human nature.

38. hatred and court.

(Cordatus No. 1440.)

There are two deadly sins, hatred and pride. Hate is murder, pride is a lie. That to which the Germans call envy is a lesser sin, as are avarice and anger, for, like zeal, it means only that one does not begrudge a thing. The bitterness of the mind is not connected with the fact that one always thinks how he wanted to take revenge.

39. lutheri dogs.

D. M. Luther often used to say: I have three evil dogs: Ingratitudinem, Superbiam and Invidiam (ingratitude, pride and envy); whoever these three dogs bite, he is bitten very badly.

40. forgiveness of sins comes by grace, without any works.

St. Augustine and Gregory are under the delusion that our works should be propitiatory for satisfaction, not for salvation, that is, we could propitiate God with our works so that enough would be done for sin, but we would not be saved by it. But St. Paul clearly teaches in explicit words that forgiveness of sins comes from the promise made by grace, which cancels sin, and makes the conscience satisfied and calm, that it is now satisfied with God, and turns to Him all good things, as a child to its Father, in all confidence, and may come before Him and speak with Him, Rom. 5:1. Otherwise, and without this, the Church would have no certain comfort. If God had not preserved His Church under the forgiveness of sins, no one would have been saved. And although the same has not been taught, yet the text of the Gospel, the sacraments, baptism and absolution remain.

The greatest consolation is when one is challenged because of a particular sin, to say to him: "Dear brother, if you had not committed the sin, you would still have to rely on the mere grace of God, shown to us in Christ, and be forsaken or lost; therefore do not despair.

41. from the original sin argument of one who wanted to cancel it.

(Cordatus No. 1185.)

A certain gusher brings these reasons against me: no law is given to the righteous 1 Tim. 1, 9., Adam was righteous, therefore no law was given to Adam; and so he wanted to abolish original sin. But the supersentence is wrong used; for the same.

374 Cap. 9. of sin. § 41-47. 375

is only about the righteous after the fall, or about the holy ten commandments, not about the commandment Gen. 2, 16. 17., which was given to Adam in paradise.

42 Recognition of sin.

(Cordatus No. 1318.)

This is the highest impiety of the world, that it does not want to believe that it is God who justifies, and all men ascribe righteousness to themselves, and no one wants to confess what God Himself obviously says about all; for when He says: God justifies the impious, He calls us all arch-villains. For what does the wicked not dare to do? Everything, if he has the opportunity. He who has not done the evil that another has done, has done something that the other has never done. No one is pure, but confession is lacking. What is done is done. He who has stolen, let him steal no more. Eph. 4, 28.

43. sins are distinguished.

(Cordatus No. 1319.)

Crimes in office publica crimina are much more serious than those committed by private individuals. For what is a thief who is hanged compared to the sins that Harchduke Georg commits? Every day he kills many souls, and yet he wants to be just.

44. sin must be confessed.

Magister Paul, 1) who had secretly given his stepson to a farmer in the Mark, and had a dead carcass put into a coffin and publicly buried in Wittenberg, as if the child had died, because of which he was also imprisoned and lay in the tower; he sent D. M. Luther a psalm that he had made, and wrote to him next to it that he wanted to pray for him that he might be set free again. Then the doctor said, "Oh, dear Lord God, how I would like you to be free; but your loose, useless excuse will disgrace you, for the circumstances are too important, great and much; over and above that which accuses you, you will be disgraced.

1. Mag. Paul Heinz from Liibben. Cf. Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 402, July 26, 1537.

also the deed and the work itself. It would be better to confess the sin and ask for mercy and relief from punishment; for confession of sin and iniquity deserves and obtains mercy, not only from God, but also from people, who have mercy on the one who confesses it. But it is lazy to confess one's sin, and one is ashamed of it.

So David did: after he had committed adultery, he kept silent for a whole year, as if nothing mattered to him, although his heart would often have told him and he would have felt it; but he did not heed it. The nature and manner of sin is that it makes a man dumb, then Satan comes along and makes him completely obdurate. So he goes in impenitence, where God does not reveal sin to him through the law, so that he feels his wrath against sin, and in turn, he is corrected and comforted through the gospel. Oh, rather let us confess and repent; for we have a gracious God who does not let us lack Him; He will gladly forgive if we only recognize and confess it.

No evil-doer goes unpunished.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 19.)

46. following the people.

(Contained in Cap. 9, § 19, last paragraph).

Great saints have also been sinners.

(Cordatus No. 653.)

Let David be a great example of divine mercy; he tore a lion in two and slew a devil on Goliath. He had God's testimony about this, and then he fell over two pigtails; fie on you, and he became a murderer and hopeful. I think that he has come out of it. He was almost the greatest of all the saints, with the exception of the Baptist, after him is Elijah. I mean, Moses, Aaron and his sister also became detached. But when God said Deut. 32, 51: "Because you did not sanctify me at the Haderwaffer", if he had not taken the forgiveness of sins, he would have died immediately and been condemned.

376 Cap. 9. of sin. § 48-53. 377

48. difference of the punishments and cause of the sin punishment.

They talked about the causes of the punishment, which is done out of God's justice; partly through the authorities, partly also through various plagues and misfortunes, but also both through repentance, that one corrects oneself, and through the gospel. Then said Doct. Martinus said: "The punishments are very unequal, one is greater and more severe than the other. It is a godless opinion and delusion of those who pretend that all sins are equal, as Sebastian Frank teaches. St. Paul's sin is much different than Neroni's.

49. from original sin.

These thoughts of Erasmi's are the greatest and most dangerous torture and challenge, for he thinks that God is unjust when the pious are wronged. For if God were just, he thinks, and ruled according to justice here on earth, giving to each one as he deserved; then it would not be evil for the pious, nor good for the wicked. This is an epicurean and godless delusion and thought, which comes from the fact that they think that nature is neither mad nor corrupt. They do not see that our knowledge, reason, understanding, will, powers, inwardly and outwardly, in body and soul, are completely evil and corrupted by original sin; therefore they think that God is such a man as they and their bewitched eyes think. They all have blue spectacles before their eyes, and through them they also look at God as if He were such, and cannot look at Him otherwise. For they do not see what great misfortune and evil original sin has caused us, and how it has corrupted our judgment, knowledge, understanding and senses. Reason thinks that this alone is original sin, that one has evil desire and disorderly lust for the female sex. That is why all scribes and scholastic theologians say that carnal lust and desire are original sin; but unbelief, hopefulness of heart, despising God, scorn, blasphemy, murmuring against Him when things go bad, they know and understand nothing about it, nor do they consider it a sin.

50. blasphemy sin.

(Cordatus No. 479.)

Whoever the devil says that Christ is not merciful to him, makes God a liar who points us all to Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and this is to answer him: Even if I am a sinner, Christ is righteous.

51. sin grows and takes over.

In the 86th year of Abraham's age Ishmael was born to him, and before he was 99 years old Sodom and Gomorrah perished. So soon sin increased and prevailed in the five cities. Just as with us man's wickedness has grown and risen so high in such a short time that I believe the world will not be able to endure beyond five or six years. Sodom and Gomorrah perished in the 488th year after the flood. I am telling you this terrible story so that you may learn the right use of it, namely, to frighten those who are hopeful, proud and presumptuous in their hearts.

52. sinners should not despair.

Therefore let him who has fallen into sin not despair, but amend, repent, and cease from sin, and let him do it no more. Judas, in betraying Christ, committed a great sin, but not unto death; whereupon he repented, and was not restored by faith, and the sin grew greater and greater, and followed that he despaired.

53. how sin is forgiven.

First, sin is forgiven, not that it is no longer present or felt, but that it is not imputed. Secondly, the law is fulfilled, not that enough of us is done for it, but that we are forgiven for what we cannot do; 1) for the righteousness of our works has heartache. In the article of forgiveness of sins is the knowledge of Christ, which alone can comfort and raise up: without this I can

1. The preceding are St. Augustine's words.

378 Cap. 9. of sin. § 53-58. 37S

If I suffer no conscience at all, the devil drives me through sin, so that the world becomes too narrow for me; only the knowledge of Christ raises me up again and sustains me.

54 Of original sin in Christians.

Original sin, after baptism, is like a wound that begins to heal. It is a real wound, but it is healed, and is in constant use and practice of healing, even though it still festers, hurts and aches. Thus, although original sin remains in the baptized until we die, it is killed daily and without interruption; its head is removed so that it cannot condemn and accuse us Christians.

At Eisleben, M. Luther said to Doct. Jonas, when a barber cut off his hair and took off his beard, that original sin in man was like a man's beard; which, even if it were cut off today, so that one would be smooth around the mouth, nevertheless the beard would grow again in the morning. Such growth of hair and beard did not cease while a man lived, but when one strikes it with a shovel, it ceases. So original sin also remains in us and stirs while we live, but it must be resisted and such hair must always be cut off.

Original sin corrupts everything.

Anno 1541 D. Luther said of the original sin: We would have a blessed life, if the Venenum originale, the original sin, were not, the Vritis sieut Dii: You will be like God, Gen. 3, 5. Our Lord God says: Do what I command you and let me rule; so we want to be gods and want to rule. Then we are well able to do it, and so we direct it that all misfortune and heartache come upon us.

56. to sin willfully. 1)

To err and sin is still okay, but to want to sin willfully, knowingly and deliberately is too much.

1. Cf. Cap. 13, § 51 the beginning of the fourth paragraph.

(57) Whether the offended should ask forgiveness from the one who offended him.

Luther answered and said, "No, for Christ neither did this himself nor commanded it. It is enough if he forgives him in his heart, and if he is asked, forgives the guilt, and does not desire revenge or punishment, but asks for him. I once also wanted to ask some who had offended me, as M. Eisleben and D. H. Schurf; it happened that none of them was at home, and I refrained from doing so. Therefore, I now thank God that it did not happen.

Then one of them said, "Is there anyone so pious among those who are offended that he does not bear the words of reproach and abuse with impatience and does not hate the one who offends him? Luther said: "If someone does wrong, he must also confess it; but should I not remember what is public, what Carlstadt, Münzer and Grickel have done to me? Who would deny it to me? I have done them no harm, but all good.

Zedermann seeks his own benefit, because nature is corrupt.

All natural inclinations are either against God, or without God; therefore none are good. I prove it thus: For all the affections, desires, motions and inclinations of man are corrupt, as the Scripture says: All men are false and indebted to God, that is, the nature of man is evil. Experience also testifies to this; for we see that no one is so pious as to marry, to beget children alone, to love them, so that they may be brought up and taught in the right knowledge of God. No great hero has done great deeds for the sake of the common good, but out of a desire for honor, and is condemned for that reason. From this it follows that such natural innate desires and inclinations are evil? Are they evil?

Luther answered: "It is true that such emotions and inclinations are evil, but God tolerates and suffers them, and allows them to exist in those who believe in Christ. Thus he creates a man from man's seed in his own image; through authority he makes peace, and pleases him with all these things,

380 Cap. 9. of sin. § 58-64. 381

like a carnival play, not for the sake of our worthiness, but for the sake of God's mercy and forgiveness.

59. what is the soul of man.

I would like to know what the soul of man is, because the body, when it is dead and the soul has gone out, is nothing else but a stone. I cannot understand it: we will not see it before what we were before the fall, because when we will see the opposite image.

60. twofold case.

Falling and sinning happen in two ways: First, out of weakness; this is forgiven if one recognizes it, confesses it, and abjures God. The other, out of stubbornness and stubbornness; this is not forgiven, if one recognizes it and is sorry for it. But that they which have fallen shall be received again into grace, if they repent, is proved by the examples of Adam, David, and St. Peter: for the Holy Ghost is given by the word. Therefore, if those who have fallen hear God's word and repent, they receive the Holy Spirit again: but those who do not hear it are lost, like Saul, Jude 2c. David asks that he not lose the Holy Spirit again, for he knew well what a great thing it 1) is; therefore he asks: "Do not take your Holy Spirit from me again", Ps. 51, 13.

61. image of God's mercy.

(Cordatus No. 77 and No. 78.)

With mere words, God could not have brought His mercy so close to us, namely forgiveness of sins and all other things, so that He blesses us to believe them, if He did not also impress it upon us in great and strong examples by His word, first on Adam, then on others, such as David who broke marriage, Job who cursed, likewise Jeremiah and many others. 2)

"Cursing" reads harder in German than in Hebrew. But it means only this much,

I) Thus Stangwald. 2) Cf. cap. 2, K11, para. 2.

as when one says, "That some misfortune may befall you," or 3): I wish that it may not go well with you.

62. presumption.

(Contained in Cap. 13, § 47.)

63. whether bad fornication is sin.

(Cordatus No. 1501.)

Since Paul says 1 Cor. 6:9 that both fornicators and adulterers will not possess the kingdom of God, it is strange that to this day people are found who ask whether simple fornication is a mortal sin. 4) Therefore, I answer such people that they may read for themselves what is written. But if they want me to be their judge, I certainly cannot judge differently from what the Scriptures say.

64. from an evil getbifsen.

D. M. Luther once said about the table that it was a tender weak thing around an evil conscience, because it could not save itself. As also the pagans said of it: Conscia mens pravi de se putat omnia dici: An evil conscience always draws to itself everything that is spoken. And D. Luther then told this story: Someone had entered a hostel and wanted to spend the night there, who would have liked to steal. As the guest and the innkeeper sat at the table, the light began to run because there had been a knot in the wick. The host pointed to the light with his hand and shouted: "Thief, thief! The guest, who was a thief, jumped up from the table, took hold of the words, and wanted to hit the innkeeper; his conscience drove him there. For if he had not been a thief, he would not have followed these words.

Item, he said, "There was a preacher who scolded adulterers in the pulpit, saying, "I have long punished adulterers with words, and now I will punish them with deeds; for I know an adulterer among this multitude of my hearers, and I see him before my eyes, and know him so well that I will punish him also with

3. Instead of "vol" in the original, "vel" will be read.
4. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. 1, 1225, z 60.

382 Cap. 9. of sin. § 64.65. 383

And he lifted up the stone, and stood as if to cast at the adulterer. Then there were one or twenty of them down under the pulpit, and they all cowered, and feared every one that he would throw at him, and would run out of the church. Then the priest said, "I wept that there were only one adulterer among you; so you should all be adulterers. That is what conscientia, conscience, does. Then he told the story of the woman who had stolen the brush: when she saw other women talking to each other, she did not think otherwise, because they were talking about her stolen brush 2c.

65. from a tender conscience.

I think that if the apostles had lived at such a time as we are living now, when sin and vice are overflowing everything, their consciences would have been much too tender, they would not have been able to suffer it. But we have bear skins, wild boar skins; we do not feel it so hard. Whoever has a hard 1) skin over his heart, it might well break. Well, we may well pray and become pious.

1. delicate?

The 10. Chapter.

Of the free will.

1. from the name of free will.
2. what free will creates?
3. free will ability.
4. a different one from the free will.
5. 6. Whether man's will in conversion and justification also does and works something to this end?

The will of man does nothing for salvation.

8. the name "free will" is hostile.
9. of the incapacity of the human will.

Man for himself is not able to do anything.

11. most terrible wrath of God, when he lets us have our will and takes his word.
12. right doctrine of free will against God.

1. from the name of free will.

(Contained in Cap. 10, § 8.)

2. what free will creates?

(Cordatus No. 1016.)

Staupitz said of free will thus: I used to confess every day and resolved every day that I would start to be pious and remain pious, and I missed it by far every day. I don't want to lie to God any more, I can't do it. I want to expect one good hour that God will meet me with his grace, otherwise it is lost. For the will of man produces either presumption or despair, and cannot fulfill nor accomplish the law. It is a great mountain over which I must go, and the presumptuous flesh says, I will go over. The knowledge of sin answers: you cannot go over; but despair:

I will leave it that way. This is how it is with the law; it makes people either presumptuous or despairing. But in order that they may despair in truth and for their salvation, for this purpose we preach the law, and after that also faith, so that people may not become sluggish.

3. free will ability. 2)

(This § is from the explanation of the first book of Moses. Walch, St. > Louis edition, vol. I, col. 480 ff, §§ 140-152.)

2. Förstemann remarks: "These two different redactions seem to be based on a Latin text. Stangwald says: "This is taken from the great orumentary of D. M. L. about the 1st book of Moses* 2c. This indication remains always very uncertain." This remark shows that Förstemann had no idea of how arbitrarily Aurifaber dealt with the pieces taken from Luther's own writings, apparently to make table speeches out of them. If he had known this, he would have approved and accepted Stangwald's statement without further ado.

384 Cap. 10: Free will. § 4. 5. 385

4. a different one from the free will.

Oh, dear sirs, said D. M. Luther, why should we boast and say so much about our free will, as if it should also be able and do something in divine and spiritual matters, however little that may be? For if we were to look at it and consider it rightly, and were able to do so, what terrible misery the devil has wrought in us men through sin, which is innumerable and unspeakable; we would be ashamed to death; indeed, if we recognized it rightly, we would be frightened with great sorrow, fall down immediately and die.

For first, he led us into original sin and brought death upon us. After that, not only death follows sin, but also all kinds of misfortune; as we experience daily that in the world there is all murder, lying, deception, stealing, robbery and other disgraces, vices and plagues; so that no one is safe for a moment, neither of his body nor of his goods, all of which is in danger.

Over such misfortune is a greater one, as it is written in the Gospel, that the devil leads into men, possesses them, makes them mad and foolish; so that because of sin the human race is no different than a stinking, shameful, secret chamber of all devils. So shamefully has he brought us humans to ruin through sin that we could not have been more shamefully brought to ruin. For eternal death and God's wrath are upon our necks: after that we are never safe, and are afflicted in body and soul here on earth. Let this be a terrible, miserable and horrible devil's kingdom.

Now what can such a corrupt and poisoned man, who is the devil's tool, even cloak, think of doing good, much less do that can please God, especially in divine and spiritual matters that affect our souls' salvation? 1) In worldly matters, which concern body and goods and this temporal life, governing land and people, keeping house and the like, 2c. he can do something that has a semblance and appeal to God.

1. See the 18th article of the Augsburg Confession. Likewise, the "Instruction of the Visitators," Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. X, 1667 f.

But "everything that does not come from faith is sin," says St. Paul Rom. 14:23.

But we do not yet know what we have become after the fall of our first parents and what we have brought with us from our mother's womb; namely, a nature that is completely crazy, corrupt and poisoned in body and soul and in all its powers. There is nothing good about it, as the Scripture says. 2) And this is my final opinion, as can be seen in all my writings, especially against Erasmum Roterodamum, the most distinguished of all scholars in the world. Whoever wants to deny man's free will, that he is able to do something in spiritual things and can contribute, even in the slightest, has denied Christ. I stand by this, and know that it is the certain truth. Even if the whole world were against it and decided otherwise, the decree of the high divine majesty would remain in force against all the gates of hell.

(The following up to the end of § is from the house postilion, sermon > on 4 Sonnt, according to Epiphaniä, Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. > XIII, Col. 1623 f., § 15 and § 16.)

5. whether the will of man in conversion and justification also does and works something for it?

One spoke to D. Martin: "Doctor, some new theologians claim that the Holy Spirit does not work in those who resist Him, but only in those who will and give their will to it, therefore man's will is also a cause and contributor to faith. From this it follows that not only does faith justify, nor does the Holy Spirit work through the word alone, but our will also does something to it. Luther answered and said: "By no means, the will of man works and does nothing everywhere in his conversion.

2. Aurifaber's remark: There you see, dear Christian, that what some, especially the synergists, chatter and pretend is a lie, as if the dear man of God had changed and softened his hard opinion of free will, as they baptize it, because it is straight against their error. Still, they boast of D. Luther's discrepancies. Yes, behind them.

386 Cap. 10: Of free will. § 5-8. 387

and justification. Non est efficiens causa Justificationis, sed materialis tantum, but suffers only and is the materia in which the Holy Spirit works (as a potter makes a pot out of clay), even in those who resist and are recalcitrant, as in Paul. But after he (the Holy Spirit) has worked in such a resisting will, then he also makes and creates that the will cooperates and agrees with him.

Against this he said: St. Paul's example is a special work of God before others, since he was converted, therefore it cannot be taken for a common rule that it must also be kept with all others. Luther replied: "Just as St. Paul was converted, so the others will also be converted at all times: for we all resist God, but the Holy Spirit draws us men, if He wills, in His time, through the ministry of preaching, therefore the oral word should always be held in high esteem and heard; for those who despise the oral word soon become heretics.

But here one should diligently distinguish the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the word is preached orally, and yet the Holy Spirit does not work immediately: for this reason one should not despise it, but always hear it with pleasure outwardly; God will work well through it in his time. In the meantime, he moves the hearts inwardly and blows where he wants, works and makes the word in the heart strong and active, if it pleases him, but not because of the ministry of preaching, which God wants to have unnoticed. For God has decreed that no one should believe, nor can believe, except through the ministry of preaching, that one may hear His word, for this is the instrument and the tube through which God the Holy Spirit stirs the heart, awakens and works true repentance and sorrow in conversion and right faith.

Just as no one can beget children, with God and honor, except in the state of marriage; although not all married couples have children, but it is God's work alone, as the 127th Psalm, v. 3, says: "Children are a gift of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is a gift": so the Holy Spirit does not always work through the word, but when it pleases Him. That we therefore

In our conversion and justification before God, we do nothing inwardly, nor do we work with our powers and free will, not even the smallest thing, but only suffer, and allow the Holy Spirit to shape and create us through the Word, as a potter does his clay.

The sayings in the Holy Scriptures about failure (such as: "No one can come to me unless the Father draws him", John 6:44) can be seen as if they deter us. But it is not so: for they only show us that with our powers we can do nothing, nor are we able to do anything good before God, and remind the godly that they pray; if they do so, they are provided.

6. another of the free will, whether it does something in the conversion of man, besides God's Spirit.

(This § is in the church postil. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XI, > 555, §§ 7. 8. 9. 10.; Col. 557, § 12; Col. 558, § 14; Col. 559, §§ 16. > 17.)

7. man's will does nothing for his happiness.

(This § is in the church postil. Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XI, > 1268, § 61.)

8. the name free will is hostile.

(Lauterbach, Jan. 10, 1538. p. 7.r)

The third question: whether man has a free will? Luther answered: "This name, free will, was very detestable to all the fathers, although they and we admit" that God gave man a free will. But here the question is whether that freedom is within our powers. It should be called a fickle, changeable will, because God works in us and we act in a passive way, as the potter can make a vessel out of the same mass "for honor" or for dishonor. Thus our free will is suffering, not active, because it is not in our powers. Then he told him to read the Bible and Philippus' Melanchthon's locos communes.

1. This § follows Cap. 36, § 1.

388 Cap. 10: Free will. § 9. 10. 389

9. another, of the incapacity of human will.

Is it not a miserable pity, said D. M. Luther, that a man should not be able to do so much? When God Himself beckons to him and says: "Dear one, you have two ways before you; take and choose one, Sir. 15:15 ff. Wouldst thou rather have my grace and eternal blessedness given and carried home in vain, without all thy cost and labor; or stand to gain it by thy works, and yet not obtain it? Yea, exhort and entice unto grace, and against it with everlasting wrath and punishment, if we accept it not.

How should or can he do more, if he does not help anyone, that he offers his mercy so abundantly, irritates and gives, admonishes and admonishes, punishes and strikes? He himself would gladly let go of justice and put a stop to it, so we want to have justice without mercy, and yet also have our own idol with us.

10. man for himself.

Dear one, how shall he know how to govern who knows nothing of God, who was conceived and born in sins (as we all are) and is by nature a child of wrath and an enemy of God? Eph. 2, 3. How shall we find the right way and stay on it, if we can do nothing else, as the prophet Isaiah says Cap. 53, 6. but walk astray? How is it possible that we should resist the devil (who is a prince and god of this world, and of whom we are all prisoners), since we are not able with our strength and power to do so much that only a small leaf would not hurt us, or even that we could forbid a powerless fly? What do we poor miserable people want to boast of great comfort, help and counsel against God's judgments, God's wrath and eternal death, when we experience every day and every hour in ourselves and others how we can neither advise, help nor seek comfort in small, physical hardships?

Therefore, only shoot freely: As little as a natural sheep can help him in the very least, but must be bad of all good deeds.

Much less can a man govern himself, find comfort, help and counsel in matters concerning salvation, but must rely on God, his shepherd, alone, who is a thousand times more willing and diligent to do whatever needs to be done for his sheep than any pious shepherd in the flesh. Item, because the nature of man is completely corrupted and condemned by original sin, from within and without, in body and soul, and flees from God when it feels its sin rightly: where then remains free will and human powers? Where then are the laws of man and the preachers of works who speak to man? Do your best: we must also do our part; send yourself to the grace of God, and you will become a child of blessedness. Yes, we are unprepared and unskilled with our abilities, powers and works: when it comes to the meeting, it does not hold the sting.

How should one reconcile himself to God, whom he does not like to hear, flee from Him to a man, be more faithful and loving to a sinner than to God? What a fine reconciliation is this? Just as the children of Israel did at Mount Sinai, when God gave them the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:18. This indicates that nature and free will cannot stand before God, for they are afraid that He will strike them with clubs, and consider Him to be nothing but a devil, an executioner and a bully, who can do nothing but rage. Oh, he who has nothing more than free will and good works, let him go to hell, he will gain nothing, it must be something greater than our holy life.

Therefore I say that the spiritual powers are not only corrupt, but also completely destroyed by sin, both in men and devils; so that there is nothing else but a corrupt mind, and such a will, which is indeed hostile and contrary to God, which neither thinks nor strives for anything else, but only for that which is contrary and contrary to God. It is true, and I also admit it, that the natural forces in man are still somewhat uncorrupted. But what are these natural forces? Namely, that man, who otherwise would be in the

390 Cap. 10: Of free will. § 10-12. 391

ungodly being was drowned and became the devil's own, but nevertheless has a will, reason, free will and power to govern the house and the world; item, to govern ships and other such things, which are subject to man without God, Gen. 1, 28. 29. For such natural works and powers are not withdrawn from man, as there are, to beget children, to have government and authority, to keep house 2c., although God by His omnipotence must also be involved; but are much more confirmed by the Word of God, as is written in the above-mentioned place. But the sophists have drawn it into the spiritual realm and being, and may well have found something of it in the dear fathers; but the Romanists, who have less sense than horses and mouths, have drawn it into these spiritual things, and thus mixed spiritual and worldly things together.

Therefore it behooves us to sweep out such filth as the sophists have brought into the church, and to put aside and get out of the way such vexations. We allow that such sayings are true and right, as long as they are understood and interpreted as they belong, namely in this temporal and physical world kingdom. But if one wants to draw them into the spiritual realm, where one has to do with God and before God for the sake of one's conscience, then we say no to that, because there is nothing pure or good about us, but what we are and have is all drowned in sins. Everything that is in our will is evil, and everything that is in our mind is only vain error and blindness. Therefore man has and does nothing else in divine matters, but vain darkness, error, wickedness, perverse evil will and lack of understanding: what then can he do good, love God? 2c.

11. most terrible wrath of God, when he weighs down our will and takes his word.

Alas! said D. M. Luther, how could there be greater wrath, than when God lets us go according to our conceit, mind and will, takes away his word, that he no longer punishes and lets men, yes, the devil himself be our master? What else can there be but dissension and disunity of doctrine, whereupon from disunity of doctrine follows also outward disunity, strife and sedition; as it was said in Joseph's time, how abominable dissension and sedition were among the Jewish people, hard before the birth of Christ. What is much praised about free will and human powers, about the natural light of reason? What is it but blindness and darkness? What can it be better than fencing against faith and God's word?

I therefore reject and condemn as vain error all doctrine that praises our free will, as it strives against the help and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. For since apart from Christ, death and sin are our lords, and the devil is our God and prince, there can be no strength nor power, no wit nor understanding, that we might send or strive for righteousness and life; but must be blinded and captive, belonging to the devil and sins, to do and think what they please, and contrary to God with his commandments. Well, that may be a fine freedom for me.

12. right doctrine of free will against God.

(This § is Walch, old edition, vol. XVI, 2044 f., § 43. 44, except for > the last 6 lines).

Laurentius Valla is the best whale I have seen or experienced in my life: De Libero Arbitrio bene disputat, quaerit simplicitatem in pietate, et in literis simul; Erasmus eam tantum in literis quaerit, pietatem ridet.

392 Cap. 11 Of the sacred catechism. § 1-4. 393

Chapter 11.

Of the holy catechism.

The catechism must remain.

2. the catechism is necessary in the church, especially for the children.
3. 4. The Catechism is the best and most necessary teaching in the church.
4. the catechismi summa and content.

The catechism is necessary in the church.

7. 8. contempt of catechism will bring ghastly darkness and heresy.
8. the catechism must reign.
9. of the ten commandments virtue and vice.

Misuse of God's name against the other commandment.

How to honor and take hold of God.

13 Short sayings of the Catechismi, as taught by D. Luther in his house.

14. from the first three commandments of God.

(15) Upon the first commandment draw all things, and be comforted thereby.

16. sin against the first commandment.
17. what the ten commandments are kept for in the world.

18. What the punishment of original sin is.

19. how to preach the ten commandments.
20. of the order of the ten commandments.
21. brief content of the ten commandments of God.
22. what reason understands in the ten commandments of god.

The first commandment of God.

Why the Ten Commandments should always be taught.

25 From the Catechismo, so come out to Augsburg.

The mind and content of the first commandment.

27. the power of the first commandment.

The catechism must remain.

(Cordatus No. 486.)

"You are a priest forever" Ps. 110, 4. He wants to remain a priest, even if the papists do not want to. He has already fought two battles, against Muenzer and Zwingli, both of whom they call martyrs, and our catechism will prevail.

2. the catechism is necessary in the church, especially for the children.

(Lauterbach, May 12, 1538, p. 82.)

After that, it was said that in Pomerania the catechism examinations were neglected in schools, homes and churches. Luther said: "Oh, the sermons in the church do not edify the youth, but the interrogation of the catechism in the home, the explanation and interrogation at confession is very effective. This is burdensome, but necessary. The papists have fled these discomforts, have to think only with the interest register. And so the army of Christ and the church have been neglected.

The Catechism is the best and most necessary teaching in the church.

(Lauterbach, May 26, 1538, p. 85.)

Luther: My advice is that one should not disputire about hidden things, but should be a

stay in God's Word, especially in the Catechismo, because in it you have the most correct way of the whole religion. For God Himself has given the Ten Commandments, Christ Himself has prescribed the Lord's Prayer, the Holy Spirit has set the articles of faith in the most correct way. These three things are so arranged that they could not be put in a finer, more comforting and shorter way: but people despise it because it is a small thing, because boys and little children recite it every day.

4. a different.

(Cordatus No. 694.)

The Catechism is always to be preached as the most perfect doctrine. I wanted to preach it daily and read from the book, but our preachers and listeners know it so well ad unguem that some are annoyed to preach it, and others, hearing it, are ashamed of this little teaching and strive to be seen, and when they hear the peasants and noblemen say: Our pastor always fiddles on one string, 1) they seek better and higher things.

1. Norat. urs potzt. 5, 356: (ut eitUurrosäus) Liästur, okoräu, yul ssmxsr obsrrat suäsm. (Wrampelmeyer.)

394 Cap. 11 Of the sacred catechism. § 5-7. 395

5 Des Catechismi Summa und Anhalt.

1. The Catechism is the true layman's Bible, in which the entire content of Christian doctrine is comprehended, so that every Christian needs to know it for salvation. As the Song of Solomon is called a song about all songs, Canticum Canticorum; so the Ten Commandments are God's Doctrina Doctrinarum, a teaching about all teachings, from which God's will is discerned, what God wants from us, and what we lack.

On the other hand, the symbol or confession of faith in God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is 2c, Historia Historiarum, a history above all histories, or the supreme history, in which the immeasurable marvels of the divine majesty are presented to us from the beginning to eternity, how we and all creatures were created by God; how we are redeemed by the Son of God (through His incarnation, suffering, death and resurrection); how we are also rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit, sanctified and made a new creature, and all together, gathered into one people of God, have forgiveness of sin, and are eternally saved.

Third, Oratio Dominica, the Lord's Prayer, is an Oratio Orationum, a prayer above all prayers, the most exalted prayer, which the most exalted Master taught, and in which he comprehended all spiritual and bodily distress, and is the most powerful consolation in all temptations, tribulations, and in the last hour.

Fourth, the reverend sacraments are Ceremoniae Ceremoniarum, the highest ceremonies, which God Himself founded and instituted, and in them assures us of His graces. For this reason we should hold the Catechismum dear and valuable, and teach it diligently to the youth, for in it the right, old, true, pure, divine doctrine of the holy Christian Church is summarized; and what is contrary to it, consider it to be innovation and false doctrine and insanity, which has also lasted so long.

1. This § seems to be only another, extensive redaction of Cordatus No. 1453, which we have communicated in the second paragraph of § 20 of this chapter. For the first paragraph, compare Cordatus No. 1714, in our second appendix.

and as great a semblance and reputation as ever it wants, whether it be old or new; we should beware of this.

The catechism is necessary in the church.

Doct. Mart. Luther said about tables: "We must have baptism, the passion of Christ, the Lord's Prayer, faith and ten commandments, and the article of justification, how one should become pious, righteous and blessed before God in the church, otherwise it may be as it pleases. For the world does not want it; for if anyone has learned the faith, it should be me; but we see that the world does not believe, therefore it does not believe. And if the catechism would not help the preachers in any other way, it would still be good so that the common people would no longer fall for the ceremonies. In my youth and throughout my life, I did not hear the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Prayer preached.

7. contempt of catechism will bring gruesome darkness and heresy.

Future heresies will darken this light, for we have the Catechismum, praise God! pure in the pulpit, as it has not been in a thousand years. For from all the books of the fathers, one could not gather as much as is taught by God's grace now, in our times, in the little Catechismo. There have, indeed, been great eclipses, and Doct. Carlstadt was awarded a doctorate, since he had never seen the Bible. 2) I read the Bible alone in the monastery in Erfurt, then God wonderfully sent it, against all people's thoughts, that I had to go from Erfurt to Wittenberg, there I was well deposited, 3) and have now become a wonderful monk, who deposited the devil in Rome, the Pope, by God's grace; yes, not I, but God through me, his poor, weak instrument, which no emperor nor potentate could have done. Therefore, he can easily drive out and overthrow the Turk by some means. For the fact that the emperor is tempted to do something against us means something; his melancholy will be something.

2. Cf. Cap. 1, § 25, the last para.
3. Cf. cap. 67, K 6.

396 Cap. 11 Of the sacred catechismo. § 7-11. 397

Good. Perhaps he has seen and noticed the malice and impiety of the papists, which makes him angry that they are dragging out the concilium for so long.

8. a different.

Whoever is not satisfied with the Catechismo, when the Catechismum is preached, is being preached to by the devil, said D. Mart. Luther.

9. the catechism must reign.

(Here 13 lines are omitted because contained .in Cap. 1, § 14.)

(This paragraph in Cordatus No. 484.)

Opportunity makes a preacher. I cannot take my sermons from my own posts, I cannot let myself be bound by words, but I still preach the same content. The occasion of some person or private business gives me the content of the sermon, and my servants, who were once dear to me, were kept only so that they might answer me when they were asked how I had been, and to see whether they knew how to answer when they were asked.

If I were younger, I would cut off a lot in my posts and make them shorter, because I have used too many words in them. No one can follow or achieve the same long speeches and chatter, nor is it suitable or rhyming at all times: everything must be adapted to the circumstances, but the catechism must remain and reign.

10. of the ten commandments virtues and vices.

(Cordatus nos. 1420-1424.)

The Decalogue the Ten Commandments is a book which contains so perfectly the virtues against God and man, and the sins opposed to them, that none is equal to it in the world.

The virtue of the first commandment is godliness, that is, fearing and believing in God. The sin, on the other hand, is ungodliness; of the second commandment, confession of doctrine and preaching, the sin of blasphemy; of the third, outward worship, which is useful for teaching, as hearing God's word. Of the

same the worship that shows our faith. The sin that opposes this is contempt for religion and the Word.

The virtue contained in the fourth commandment is obedience to superiors, parents, and authorities, and it virtue is distributive justice i.e., that we give everyone his due. The opposite sin is sedition. The virtue of the fifth commandment is kindness, not anger, not seeking revenge, the sin is cruelty; of the sixth virtue is abstinence, not committing adultery; the sin is unchastity; of the seventh virtue is charity, the sin is covetousness, theft, fraud in trade and commerce.

The virtue of the eighth is truth, not damaging the good reputation of anyone, the sin of impersonating evil; the ninth virtue is righteousness, the sin of covetousness; the virtue of the tenth is abstinence, the opposite sin contained therein, evil air.

The ten commandments are to be interpreted and understood as commanding affirmative, according to the words of 1 Tim. 1, 5., "The principal sum of the commandment is love." So also, "Thou shalt love GOD thy LORD," 2c. Matth. 22, 37.

Abuse of God's Name Against the Other Commandment.

These words: "I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods beside me"; item: "You shall not take the name of your God in vain"; they seemed to me to be futile, useless and ridiculous in the light of the Gospel. When I first read them, I thought: "Who doesn't know that? But now I see, praise God! what they want; yes, they are much more wonderful than all men can understand and reason out, they are who they want. Carlstadt, Zwingel, Pabst, and all the others, who talk a lot about them, do not believe in their hearts that they are true, so that they may remain true: In the name of God, all misfortune arises. I mean, the hordes and enthusiasts prove it honestly. If God's name were not misused in this way, things would be better on earth now; but because there is neither measure nor end to misuse, everything goes badly, as we see and experience.

398 Cap. 11 Of the sacred catechism. § 12. 399

How should one honor and take hold of God? 1)

(The first paragraph Cordatus No. 366.)

The first commandment teaches faith in the promises and fear because of the threats, and since God is known from his deeds, he adds the execution from Egypt, just as it is otherwise said that God raised Christ from the dead; through such things we grasp the true God. Here belongs what he says: Whoever sees me (my deeds and my works) sees also my Father. "Your God" is the one who helps you, who cares for you; but not the gods of the Gentiles, who have eyes and do not see. Promises have benefits, threats punishments, as is the downfall of the Egyptians; and "strong" to help and punish; "a zealot" who wraths the apostate. An example is Sanherib, who wanted to conquer Jerusalem with his power. Secondly, he is also a zealot against his own whom he loves, whom he helps, whom he comforts and protects. This seizes faith, but fear deals with it, lest we give offense. "He that visiteth" is a terrible threat, which is rightly to be impressed upon our souls, and reason fiercely contends against it; but since the law is passed in the parents, Ezek. 18, v. 20. ff., their children do not perish, and the promise which follows is beyond all human comprehension. "Thou shalt not make any image nor likeness unto thee" Ex. 20:4, that is, I will not be worshipped in thy way. This is how our Philip interprets it, he believes it is the same thing and good. 2)

1. This § follows, as with Cordatus, so also with Stangwald, after § 26 of this Cap. and begins there thus: So then we serve God the Lord with faith in His fear 2c.
2. putat idem esse et bene quidem. Regarding these last words, I must confess that they are not clear to me. - This passage, according to the words of Cordatus: Thus our Philip interprets it, seems to be not by Luther, but by Phil. Melanchthon. Whether this number of the Cordatus is an excerpt from one of Melanchthon's writings, which is completely included here in the Table Talks, or whether the presentation in the Table Talks is an extension from the Cordatus, I am not able to determine. - In Rebenstock II, 40 a. and Bindseil II, 42, the above passage (in excerpts) forms the conclusion of a memorial to the preacher Johannes Mantel in Mühl
3. With faith in his fear, for he says, "I am the LORD your GOD." If he is our God, he will take care of us, feed us, protect us, help us and save us. But the gods of the heathen have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear; therefore the heathen and the Maulchristen do not believe that God cares for them, yes, they have no right God, but a deaf, blind God and idols. But we have a God who cares for us, hears us and helps us, and punishes the wicked; therefore we should believe and trust in him, and expect and hope for help from him, and also fear him, so that we do not anger or offend him.

But he testifies that he cares for us, because he brings his people out of Egypt, protects and shields them. Although he is slow in doing so, and had well afflicted them before. But God is wont to do so, that is His way, that He may thus try us, test our faith, and finally snatch and deliver us from temptation and distress. It is also a horrible example of God's wrath that he destroyed all Egyptians at once. But the human heart is so hard and iron that it does not fear God, even though he punishes with great severity and cruelty.

And here also other deeds of God are to be shown and told, that he fed his people in the desert and protected them from the enemies and fiery serpents; item, the calf servants were punished very severely, likewise those who doubted to take the promised land. These and many more countless examples, even in distant times, if we would only consider them, show us that God cares for mankind. But we pass by finely.

hausen. Instead of the last words of Cordatus, which are incomprehensible to us, we find the following: "Thus Christ speaks to Philip, who asks him to show him the Father: When you look at Christ and his good deeds, you grasp the Father." Assuming now that the relation of Cordatus is the original and correct one, we see here that the Latin Table Talks made Philip the apostle Philip out of Philip Melanchthon and then also trimmed the text accordingly. - With regard to the last words of the Cordatus, it is also doubtful whether these are to be regarded as words of Luther or as words of the Cordatus.

3. The first words of the following paragraph are to be regarded as an answer to the question contained in the heading of this §.

400 Cap. 11 Of the sacred catechismo. § 12. 401

do not ask about it, nor do they think about it. So great is the wickedness of man's heart that it does not respect God, its Lord and Creator, and even despises Him. And yet some are so rude and impudent that they may praise, extol and extol the powers of free will, as if it were also able to do something in God's affairs and to cooperate.

"Strong." The word also testifies that God cares for us, that He helps and punishes, for it is not to be understood of God's strength, power and might, so that He created all things; but in that He now rules, helps His own, protects and shields, takes vengeance against the wicked; as David in the 71st Psalm, v. 3, calls God a strong, mighty helper.

"A zealot." GOD is zealous in two ways: First, God, as a zealot, is angry with those who fall away from him, become unfaithful and perjured, and prefer creatures to him, trusting in the favor of great lords, relying on good friends, their power, works, wealth, art, wisdom, 2c., or who prefer their idols and worship to him, as those who forsake the righteousness of faith, despising it, wanting also to become righteous and blessed by good works. Item: He is fiercely angry with all who defy and insist on their authority; as is seen in Sanherib, king of Assyria, who thought and insisted that he would completely overthrow Jerusalem with his power. Likewise with king Saul, who also meant to preserve the kingdom by his power and might, and to bring it upon his children, when he had oppressed and cut off David. On the other hand, God is zealous and zealous against those who love Him and hold His word dear and valuable. God loves them again, protects and preserves them as the apple of his eye, and resists the adversaries and drives them back so that they cannot do what they have in mind. Therefore, the word "zealot" includes both hatred and love, revenge and protection, so it demands fear and faith. Fear, lest we anger or offend him. Faith, that in trouble and distress we believe that he will help us, feed us, protect us in this life; just as we

pray daily: "Give us this day our daily bread" 2c., and that he forgive and pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and give us eternal life. For in all things and dealings, both spiritual and corporal, let faith rule and reign, and let the heart believe and be sure that God looks upon us, loves us, and will help us and not leave us; as the 50th Psalm, v. 15, says: "Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt praise me" 2c. Item Ps. 145, 18: "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him with earnestness" 2c. And Joel 3:5: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.

"Who visiteth the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation" 2c. This is an atrocious word of doom, which should strike fear into our hearts. But it is contrary to our reason, for we think it is wrong that the children and descendants should be punished for the sake of their fathers and forefathers, and that they should repay them. But because God has so decreed and decreed, we must confess that He is a righteous God who does no one wrong, so that we may fear Him. This cruel threat, because it is against reason, does not move flesh and blood, does not pay attention to it, does not ask anything about it, throws it to the wind, and considers it as if a goose were whistling at it. But only then do we believe it to be true, right and just, and are startled when the Holy Spirit stirs and awakens our hearts. And here we see what free will is capable of, that it neither understands nor fears: for if we felt it rightly and recognized how serious a word of doom it is, we would fall down and die from the moment we heard it. As there are also examples of this, where God says that He wants to cast the people into misery and prison because of Manasseh's sin. But would anyone say, "I see that the descendants have no hope of some mercy if the parents sin? Answer: To those who repent, the law is taken away and abolished, so that the sin of the parents does not harm them, as the prophet Ezekiel says in Cap. 18:20: "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. But God lets go of the outward and bodily punishment.

402 Cap. 11. of the sacred catechismo. § 12. 13. 403

even over the penitent children from time to time, for the sake of example, so that others may take offense at sins and be pious.

"But do well and be merciful in a thousand" 2c. This is a great, glorious, comforting promise, which far surpasses all understanding of reason, which considers it neither right nor just that for the sake of a pious man many undeserving people should receive good. But one finds many examples that many people have benefited from a pious man. For Abraham's sake many people were preserved and blessed, as well as for Isaac's sake, and God did well and blessed the whole kingdom of Syria for Naaman's sake.

But "to love God" means to believe and believe that God is favorable to us, that He helps us, assists us and does us good. Reason thinks that God does not ask anything about us, does not care for us. The fact that God burdens and burdens the human race with too many plagues and misfortunes is therefore hostile to God. Therefore, love comes from faith, and faith is required of us, because God promises everything good.

"Thou shalt not have other gods before me, nor make thee any graven image. This is to be understood plainly, that this is the very God who has given this word to the world, and to honor him as he has commanded. For to have other gods and to make idols is to devise and set up new divine services, as those do who forsake the fear and faith of God and invent human gratification. So the summa of this commandment, as it is written in Moses Deut. 6:13: "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him only." And in the 34th Psalm v. 6: "Those who wait for you will not be put to shame." The other commandment requires invocation of God's name in all afflictions, and thanksgiving; that is, to recognize and confess that we have received all good things from God. 1)

1. This entire § is found in Bindseil's OoUoouia II, 244-246, but not in Rebenstock, which reinforces the assumption expressed above that this passage will not be by Luther, but by Melanchthon.

13. short sayings of the Catechismi, as D. Martinus Luther has taught him in his house. 2)

The Ten Commandments of God.

As faith is, so is God. God does not remain outside, even though he forgives.

Despair makes monks and priests. God cares, but we are to work. God > wants to have the heart alone. Idolatry is the idolatry of the heart. > God gives through creatures.

God's word presents the world to us, what a tender little fruit it is.

One should celebrate for the sake of God's word. 3)

God's Word is our sanctuary and makes all things holy.

Works of obedience are to be greatly respected.

All those who rule are called fathers. Fathers of souls are worthy of > double honor. Authority does not belong in the fifth commandment.