to the Christian reader.
These lectures and interpretations of mine on the first book of Moses I have never made in this opinion, that I would have been inclined to let them go into print publicly, which then have been my least thoughts; but that I might first of all serve this school of ours, as it is now, after the opportunity of the time, and have cause to exercise not only my hearers, but also myself in God's words, and not to conclude with a rotten and useless old age the dying of my body, which I feel in myself daily; as then the 146th Psalm made me lively and cheerful. Psalm, in which v. 2 says: "I will praise the Lord as long as I live, and sing praises to my God as long as I am here."
After that I took such work upon myself, so that when I should depart from here, I would be found in the same small group of minors and little ones, from whose mouths God praises him, to destroy the enemy and the avenger of revenge, Ps. 8:3. For without this, the world before has more than too many such devils and abominable people, who blaspheme, counterfeit and pervert God's word, so that God is deprived of his honor and the devil is worshipped in his place.
But now it has happened to these lectures of mine that they have come to two pious and God-fearing men who have caught and collected them, namely D. Caspar Creutzigern, to whom his books given to the day give sufficient testimony, with what spirit and diligence he teaches and promotes God's word, and ^1. Georgius Rorarius, our church's deacon here in Wittenberg, who both diligence and work M. Vitus Theodorus, preacher in Nuremberg, also before him.
and has done his part. And so these three, all of whom are faithful and diligent workers and servants in the word of God, have considered it good that these lessons of mine should also be communicated to others through public printing and that they should benefit from them. I gladly let them be sure in their opinion, as St. Paul says Rom. 14:5, especially because I have seen that they have a Christian zeal and do great diligence, so that the churches of the Lord Christ may be counseled, helped and served everywhere. For this reason, I take pleasure in their undertaking and praise it; I also wish them from the bottom of my heart that they may have God's rich blessing in this.
However, I would rather that they had spent so much Christian diligence and so many good hours on a better book and scribes; for I do not recognize myself for the one, nor am I the one of whom one could say: Nor am I the one of whom one would like to say, "He tried to do it"; rather, I stand behind among the last, and may hardly boast of myself and say, "I wanted to do it. And only God would have me be worthy to be the very last and least among these last and hindmost. For all that I have introduced in these lectures, I have not considered so precisely; but have spoken it plainly and simply, as my thoughts have given it to me in a hurry and the words have come to me; I have also often spoken German with them, and have made almost more words than I like.
Not that I am aware that I have taught or said anything wrong in this; for I am most concerned about that.
I have been most careful to leave out everything that would be obscure and unacceptable in the interpretation, and to present clearly and distinctly, according to my understanding and ability, what I wanted everyone to understand. Unfortunately, I feel and find all too much that such important things, of which Moses writes, are much too weak and insignificant on my part, since necessity demands better and I should have done better. In the meantime, I take comfort in the common saying: God gives an evil year to the one who does a thing better than he can; item that one should not push anyone beyond his ability.
But what need is there of many words? It is Scripture; yes' Scripture of the Holy Spirit, which we act; and who can be capable of the same, as St. Paul says 2 Cor. 3, 5. It is, as St. Gregory says, a water, in which a lamb can be founded and can stand, but an elephant must swim; that is, it is God's wisdom, which makes the wise of this world and the prince of the world himself fools, the unlearned ready and eloquent, and the wise and eloquent unlearned and dumb.
So he is not always the best who achieves everything, grasps everything and forgets nothing or leaves nothing out (although none of those who could do this has ever been, nor will ever be born); but he is the best who lets God's word be dear to him; as the first Psalm v. 2. says: "Blessed is he who delights in the law of the Lord and speaks of it. Therefore it is left enough that we let ourselves like this high wisdom of God, love it, contemplate it and talk about it day and night.
We also see the books of the Fathers; we also find that they did not lack good will, but they could not reach perfection. And how ridiculous they make themselves nowadays, who dare to comprehend such great and high trades of the holy scriptures with a fine, exquisite and pure Latin, as they themselves call it, and
to paraphrase a little more broadly; yet they themselves are without all spirit and understanding, and, to act such high things, are not much more skilful than (as they say in the proverb) the ass is to the bagpipe.
St. Jerome rightly says: "For the tabernacle of the Lord, each one brings according to his ability: one gold, silver, precious stones, the other skins and goats' hair; for the Lord needs all these and is well pleased with the good will of all those who offer and bring to it, even if they do not all offer the same gifts.
Therefore, I am also satisfied that these lectures of mine go out publicly in print and are brought and sacrificed as goats' hair to the temple of God. But I ask God through my Lord Christ that he may let these lessons be a guide for others, so that they may be prompted to do something better, or at least to make an effort to interpret and do everything better than I have been able to do. For without this I have given my adversaries and the devil, their God, sufficient cause to blaspheme, reproach, and master (as I have always gladly done from the beginning), as I hope and may proudly defy and boast in the Lord; as they find worthy and well deserve, that they can do nothing but reproach and blaspheme, because they neither want nor are able to do anything good, but their mind and conscience, as Paul Tit. 1, 15. 16. is unclean, and they are incapable of all good works.
May our dear Lord Jesus Christ strengthen and accomplish the work he has begun in us, and hasten on to the glorious day of our redemption, which we desire by the grace of God with lifted up heads, therefore sighing and waiting for it in a right faith and good conscience, so that we have served the ungrateful world and the devil, in whom no improvement can be hoped, but is at the same time an enemy of his own and our salvation. Come, dear Lord Jesus! And he who loves you, say: Come, dear Lord Jesus! Amen.