Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg

Evangelical Handbook

A practical guide to Christian doctrine and life, presenting key teachings of Scripture in a clear and accessible form for faithful Lutheran confession.

Source: shared Google Doc source text.

Portrait engraving of Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg

About This Work

Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg (1580-1645) was a leading Lutheran theologian, court preacher, and church statesman in early 17th-century Saxony. Serving as chief court preacher in Dresden under Elector Johann Georg I, he played a decisive role in shaping the religious and political response of Lutheran territories during the turbulent years of the Thirty Years' War.

A staunch defender of confessional Lutheranism, Hoënegg opposed both Calvinist influence and attempts at theological compromise, insisting on strict adherence to the Book of Concord. His preaching and writings reflect the polemical clarity and pastoral urgency characteristic of orthodox Lutheran theology in this period.

His Evangelical Handbook serves as a practical guide to Christian doctrine and life, presenting key teachings of Scripture in a clear and accessible form. It stands as a representative example of early Lutheran orthodoxy aimed not only at clergy but at instructing the laity in faithful confession and practice.

Title Page and Source

Original publication details

Evangelical Handbook,

in which it is irrefutably proved from certain sacred Scriptures how the Lutheran faith is rightly catholic, but the papal doctrine is fundamentally erroneous and contrary to the Holy Scriptures.

To save the heavenly truth, for the instruction of the simple, and of Christians who are in the Papacy, prepared by Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg, Court Preacher for the Elector of Saxony at Dresden.

Printed in Leipzig in the year 1603. Second edition. Dresden: Justus Naumann's bookstore. St. Louis, Mo.: M. C. Barthel.

This reader's edition is generated from the linked Google Doc source text and arranged into separate chapter pages for easier reading.

Chapter Index

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Each article and appended piece has its own page for easier reading and sharing.

Preface - Matthias Hoë

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Preface - Leipzig Faculty: To the Christian Reader

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Balduin's Salute

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The First Article: Of the Holy Scriptures

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The Second Article: Of the Church

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The Third Article: Of Justification

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The Fourth Article: Of the Invocation of the Saints

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The Fifth Article: Of the Sacraments

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The Sixth Article: Of the Holy Supper

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The Seventh Article: On Reserving, Enclosing, and Adoration of the Sacrament

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The Eighth Article: On the Feast of Corpus Christi

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The Ninth Article: Of the Mass

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The Tenth Article: Of One or Both Kinds in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar

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The Eleventh Article: On Sacrificing and Praying for the Dead

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The Twelfth Article: Of Purgatory

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The Thirteenth Article: Of Celibacy or Priestly Marriage

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The Fourteenth Article: Of the Roman Pope and Thus of the Antichrist

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Luther's Open Letter on Translating "Alone" in Romans 3:28

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