To explain the eighth commandment, here is Luther's "Sermon against the Vice of Slander," which he delivered in 1515. It is taken from Dr. Löscher's "Reformation Acts", Vol. I, p. 259 and translated from Latin into German by the deacon Rambach of Halle.
[Since the translation is more of a paraphrase, however, and often reproduces Luther's thoughts quite incorrectly, we bring this writing here in a new, more literal translation. Cf. Erl. Opp. lat. var. arg. I, 75-87. ed.]
To the ninth commandment was counted: "The order of a common box of the congregation at Leißnig, with Luther's preface", with which writing it has this relation. It
In Leißnig, a small town on the Mulda River in the Electorate of Saxony, into which various surrounding villages were parished, those noblemen to whom such villages belonged, the town council and the inhabitants of said villages, after they had previously settled with the Abbot of Buch Monastery, and the Elector confirmed such settlement, came together to make a unanimous decision that in the future every year ten men, Two from the nobility, two from the town council, three from the burghers and three from the peasants should be elected, who should collect all parish revenues, including alms, and, if necessity demanded it, order investments, so that in this way the parish priests, deacons and schoolmasters would be properly paid, the church buildings would be kept in good repair and the poor would be cared for, but begging in public places would be completely abolished. They brought the matter to a head and drew up a certain decree for themselves, which Luther liked so much that he suggested that they have it printed and make it known to others, which is what happened, and he wrote a preface to it. It appeared for the first time with the inscription: "Ordnung eines gemeinen Kastens. Advice on how to deal with spiritual goods. To the Christians of the community of Leißnig. Martin Luther", 1523 in quarto to the light. The preface that Luther made to it is worth reading carefully. In it, he makes suggestions as to how the authorities should let the monasteries, bishoprics, and convents fall into disuse, use the goods they contain for the glory of God and the provision of others, and, among other things, establish good schools for boys and maidens from the begging monasteries in the cities. He presents all this with great modesty, makes only suggestions and asks that they be well considered and that the matter be arranged according to the rules of Christian love; nevertheless, he has had to suffer much over this. The papists, and especially Ludw. Maimburg and Anton. Varillas, have therefore taken occasion to slander him as well as the princes and authorities in Germany, as if the Reformation had only been intended to be supported by the ecclesiastical estates.
The author of the book, the author of the book, is the one who has taken Luther's party, because he has given the impetus for this and paved the way for the work itself. Maimburg says in the "ÜiZtoirs cku IwtüerLnisws", lid. I, sset. 55, Luther's proposal pleased the princes, because they were eager to enrich themselves through the church properties, and therefore Luther's following grew stronger every day, as could be seen at the Imperial Diet held at Nuremberg at that time; for at the same the Lutherans had the upper hand. Varillas writes about this in ,,Histoire des heresies", lib. VI, p. 9, where he still makes the mistake of thinking that Leißnig was Leipzig, and here the decree was made because of the common caste. But how wrong and malicious this procedure is, Seckendorf has shown in ,,Histor. Lutheranismi", lib. I, § 138, p. 237, thoroughly and clearly. Otherwise, this writing, together with Luther's preface, can also be found in the Jena (Thl. II, p. 248), Altenburg (Thl. II, p. 333) and Leipzig (Thl. XXII, p. 251) parts, in which manner it has also been printed here, namely after the first edition. Luther's preface, on the other hand, has been included in the Wittenberg collection (Thl. IX, p. 535) without the order itself.
[The Erl. Ausg., Vol. 22, 105-130, lists five editions from the year 1523. It is also based on the first edition.
D. Red.]
With regard to the tenth commandment, Luther's "Sermon on the Forsaking of All Things", which he delivered in 1517, is still found here. Dr. Löscher first published it in Latin from a manuscript in the "Vollständige Reformation-Acten" (Vol. I, p. 785), and the German translation, which is in this part, was made by Diaconus Rambach.
This text is also given here in a new translation, whereby at the same time a corrupt passage of the original Latin text has been corrected. Cf. Erl. Opp. lat. var. arg. I, 197-200. ed.)