To an unnamed person. July 20, 1528.
My dear Lord and friend! I wish you above all things the grace and mercy of God the Lord through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, our only Redeemer and Beatificator. A few days ago, my dear brother Caspar
Creuziger, the Holy Scripture Doctor, miserably denounced how he understood in the published visitation of your friends that you were arrested with strange, whimsical thoughts concerning the providence of God and were completely confused therein, even deaf, as it were.
and shattered about it, and finally to worry that you would like to tear off and shorten your own life with your own fist; for this, God Almighty protect you; also discovered to me next to it and told me piece by piece what the thoughts and your pretence were.
(2) These are your suggestions and complaints, that God Almighty may know from eternity who shall be blessed, or who shall be blessed, whether they are dead, alive, or yet to come. Which is true and must be admitted, for he knows all things and nothing is hidden from him, because he has counted the drops in the sea, the stars in the sky, the roots of all trees, branches, twigs, leaves, even all the hairs of men, and knows them.
(3) From this you finally conclude that you do what you want, good or evil, so God knows whether you should be saved or not. That is true; and yet you think more of condemnation than of salvation, and quarrel about it, not knowing either what God's mind is toward you; therefore you become pusillanimous and quite misguided. Therefore, as a servant of my dear Lord Jesus Christ, I write this report and comfort to you, so that you may know how God Almighty is disposed toward you, whether you are destined for salvation or damnation.
4. in the event that God the Almighty knows all things, and all works and thoughts in all creatures must be done according to His will, juxta decretum voluntatis suae; nevertheless, His earnest will and opinion, also command, is determined from eternity to make all men blessed and partakers of eternal joy, as Ezek. 18, 23, where he says: "God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live." Because He wants to make and have sinners blessed, who live and hover under the wide, high heavens everywhere, do not separate yourselves from God's graces by your foolish thoughts, which are inspired by the devil.
5. for his grace stretches and stretches from the going out to the going down, from noon to midnight, Ps: 103, 12. and overshadows all who convert, true repentance.
and repent, and make himself worthy of his mercy, and seek help. "For he is rich in all them that call upon him," to the Romans, 10, v. 12. To this belongs a right true faith, which casts out such trembling and despair, which is our righteousness, as to the Romans, 3, v. 22, it is written: "The righteousness of God through faith in JESUS CHRIST, who is in all and over all men." Notice these words, in omnes, super omnes (in all, over all), whether you are not also among them, and are one of them, who lie under the marks of sin and get it. How then your heart will convince you and feel in your conscience that you want to rise too high and flutter and give room to unholy thoughts and take the place of God's word to the wind.
6.. Therefore, you have more reason to pray and supplicate, and to be sure of their supplication - in case God moves and does not come soon, he does not remain outside, because he does not abandon those who call upon him - and by the same put away the trembling and shaking, yes, completely drive out and away and give leave to despair and his head, which is the devil and his Borzan companions*); And finally, think nothing else, if such ungodly thoughts occur to you, that they are of the evil spirit's origin and the devil himself, do not ascribe them to you, but call upon the deceiver, and upon God, to protect you from such henceforth, for help and assistance. And think so much of salvation as of damnation, and comfort yourselves with God's word, which is true and eternal, and such evil winds will cease and pass away completely. ? If you have a good, straight and right path, why do you want to go around and around for a long time? God the Father himself shows you with his finger and tells you how he is disposed toward you, because he cries out with a bright, loud voice, Matth. 3, 17: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; hunc audite, hear what he will advise you and say. And if you are thus hard
2) Co-fellows; from the Latin socius bursae.
D. Red.
If you were hardened and completely deaf, and did not lift up your eyes to heaven as a desperate, hardened man, and if your ears also had fallen from hearing, so that you did not hear God the Father crying on high:
You shall hear and see the Son standing by the way, where everyone must pass by, and in like manner, yea, even more vehemently, you shall hear him calling, blowing with a great sound, as with a mighty trumpet, as it is gloriously written in Matt. 11:28, Venite, come, come. Where, where do you want to go with your vain thoughts? You will not make yourselves blessed with these and similar dreams. "Come, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." He does not only say "come", but "all", no one is excluded, he is whoever he wants to be, even if he would be the very worst, because in the end it will be the best, Matth. 21, 31. Whores and boys have to do it, the worldly pious do not belong here, who wear clean clothes.
(9) Forasmuch then as they shall all come, none excepted, he being equal, or thinking what he will; run also with them, and leap also; stay not wantonly behind with the lost multitude, neither fail yourselves so carelessly and wantonly. Further he says to me: Do not find your way to another, who would not know the way and would have lost the thread in the labyrinth himself, and now and then went astray; but he says it to me, who can meet the path and the way by day and night sinsterling and knows for sure, without all injury of the feet.
10. the Christ, the some way and footbridge alone, Joh. 14, 6. and which is the circle (circle), since the some point stands inside, in which all other figures are comprehended, yes, the round little place and target, to which all shooters must aim, the some one, which is the beginning of all numbers, they are so big or stretch, as far as they always want more, and even if one could not pronounce it; therefore he says it to me.
11 But who are they that are to come? They are those who are laboratis et onerati estis (who are laborious and burdened). What kind of people are they? I don't know the peasants, masters Laboratis unb Onerati; stately names,
as mayor, should be. Yes, of course, Klügling and master, as the reason of man tends to ponder and rummage in God's word, like the sow in the turnip field. Now this one is called, who is burdened with much toil and labor and overflowing thoughts, which take their origin and arise from the devil, who does not celebrate: since great burdens and burdens, yes, mountains become of it, and finally so large that one does not know where beyond and wants to go to ruin over it and despair. That is why he also says: onerati, as if he knew it well, and wanted to help carry and take our burdens and burdens on his neck, and not only help, but relieve us of them completely.
12. estis "you who are"; as: I know well that you have borne heavily and are weary; you must not pretend to be so well and rested, give up the burdens of your neck and back, rest and drop the hopeless thoughts. Ego reficiam vos: "I will refresh you." I! feast on me for this, trust and believe me, reficiam, I will restore you and bring you right; if you were created before from a lowly earth and made of nothing, I am also still so powerful that I can and will absolve you from evil and drive away evil thoughts.
(13) Thus, by and with the divine Scriptures, we are to comfort our minds and consciences, quieting evil thoughts and resisting them; for in the Word of God we are not to brood, but to keep still, to let our reason sink, to believe the Word, to hold it to be sure, not to cast it to the winds and give so much power to the evil spirit and let it overcome us, to fall to the ground over it and perish.
For the word of God is sure, true, and eternal, Heb. 1:3, out of which all things and creatures, by whatever name they may be called, are made and created, and which still abundantly sustains all that liveth and sojourneth, and magnifies, magnifies, magnifies, and upholds the same, rather than such flying, vain, vain thoughts as are given to man by the devil; the word is true, but the thoughts of man are vain.
17422 54, 25-27. III. Main st. - 0. of the Father-Our esp. 6. petition. W. X, 2041-2044. 1743
15 And so remember that God Almighty created us, provided us, and chose us not for destruction but for salvation, as Paul testifies in Ephesians 1:4, and we must not begin to argue about God's provision from law or reason, but from the grace of God and the gospel proclaimed to all men, Luke 2:14. 2, 14. As the angels preached the first sermon to the shepherds in the field, also figured in four voices*): "Glory to God in the highest, and to men peace and goodwill on earth." Since they did not mean, the dear angels, the temporal peace of the body, but of the mind; not since one is safe from brother Veit, who estimates, plunders and strikes, and since one throws with baleen (an axe with a broad edge) and fights with sticks and poles, yes, one puffs the change with guns; but the peace of mind and heart, since flesh, world, death and devil must flee and give heel.
16. According to this, one must neither subtract nor shorten from the gracious promise, which extends over evil and good, small and great, cold and warm, dry and green, in sum over everything, as reported, and attribute it only to pious holy people, in long garments down to the shoes, so that they cover their legs out of pure humility, out of discipline and special respectability, from which the promises of God are shortened and made uncertain, and the faith is completely suspended and taken away.
17 Therefore, from the wait of the grace and mercy of God the Lord, these and similar thoughts of God's providence should be judged and condemned. And if this is done, there is no room for it afterwards.
*This expression comes from the time (9th and 10th century) when the simple, unison chant began to be developed into a polyphonic chant, by surrounding this unison chant with various ornaments, which soon became a formal secondary voice. However, in order to be able to sing two or more voices and melodies with each other (harmony), one had to attach a certain measure (scale), a certain time value, to the note symbols (neumes) that were common at that time, which did not have a certain duration, and which were represented by various forms or figures. Hence the name Figuralgesang etc. D. Red.
The opportunity for a man to sit on himself and torture himself does not help if he sucks the marrow out of his legs and only skin and hair remain.
(18) What is it to you that God Almighty lets the bright sun shine on the good and the bad, the dry and the green? Although the sun is ordained by God to draw and bring the moisture of the earth with its virtue and powers into the roots, branches and twigs of the trees, so that they bear fruit. Nevertheless, an arid tree remains unfruitful and the effect of the dear sun on it is lost, and yet not at all; beautiful branches often shoot out of the roots of an old, withered tree. And if it has no effect at all on an old tree that is completely withered, it is not the tree's fault, but also the fault of the soil, which is mossy and swampy. For where there is good soil, there also grows good, beautiful fruit, according to the saying: Good field, good grain. So, where there is good preaching, teaching and comfort, there are also good godly consciences and cheerful hearts.
(19) As little as you can prevent the sun from its natural light, which is a small creature compared to the whole firmament and heavenly bodies, because even the smallest star of heaven is greater than the whole wide world, so much less can you and may you bind the grace of God, which has no reason, height, goal or measure, beginning or end, nor can it be measured. If you should ask the world and take it to counsel, it would say: it is a vain, foolish work to let toil and labor go over a withered tree, to moisten or water it, let alone to let the bright, dear sun shine over it.
20 Dearly beloved, do not calculate and reckon so carefully with God. What do you think if the Son of God had asked the chief priests and the Levites, who were standing under the cross when he was crucified, whether he should take the thief into paradise; what they would have said? Without any doubt: if thieves and murderers want to go to heaven, we would like to see it; and perhaps they would have answered: if he goes to paradise, we would like to see it.
we would not have hanged him on the gallows, and he goes to paradise as much as you are God. Thus judges and speaks the vile world and the thoughts of the reason of man.
021 Therefore when John lay asleep in his bosom, and the other disciples said, This man dieth not, he answered the disciples with a fine answer, John 21:22, 23, saying, What is it to you, if I will that he die not? as if to say, See what ye have to do, that ye keep the things which are spoken unto you, and stumble not, neither fall. Let every man return to his own door, and we shall all be saved; and there shall be no need to wonder much what God has decreed in his counsel, whether he shall be saved or not.
(22) And is it not a thing, as if I said, All men must die, that must and shall be; and would also say the like, All men must be damned, with the manner of man's thoughts. We have a bar, which we put up here, which is called: "believe in God's word", which blows such futile thoughts to the wind. Whoever does not want to take pleasure for the uncertain, he goes away empty-handed at the end and has the mockery of it. He who will not let him be advised in time and reject the word of God Almighty, let the furious devil take him; as he will not remain outside, as surely as God is God. If one were to give such good words to someone and did not want to give him
If he had been advised or helped, he would still have been allowed to run away; and if something bad had happened to him, he would have said, "He did not want to let it increase, so it has happened to him; after that he has struggled, so he has succeeded.
23) But it is truly said with distinction, and expressly, If thou shalt receive the gospel, and the word of God, and shalt cleave unto it, and shalt make thyself a partaker of the promise thereof, and shalt continue in it unto the end, thou shalt be saved; but if not, thou shalt be damned for ever, 2 Tim. 2:12. And if it were according to our thoughts, which are of the flesh and of the devil, we should all be put to death: therefore have we the word of promise.
(24) Blessed are they that judge and comfort themselves therewith, and persevere therein unto the end, whereby we obtain the grace of the Lord, if we comfort ourselves from the same, and thereby put away devilish thoughts, and lift up our hearts in faith toward God, and conclude with us assuredly that we have remission of sins, and are justified, and are according to the promise made in Christ, and because of Christ, as St. Paul testifies in Galatians 3:22. That is, when we are dismayed and frightened, and our way and our footing is slipping away, we must rise up in faith, which is based on the promises and assurances of God from Christ or in Christ, amen. July 20, 1528.