To the Gestrengen und Festen Hans Metsch, Captain at Wittenberg, my favorable master and good friend.
1. grace and peace in Christ, together with a strong, full understanding of this booklet.
Strict, firm, dear sir and friend! Although this booklet would almost be worthy to go out without my name and a few letters, not only because of the fact that [there is] in it an artful, finely Christian, useful, comforting
*The book of Menius, to which this preface is placed, has the title: "An die Hochgeborne Fürstin, fratv Sibilla Hertzogin zu Sachsen, Oeconomia Christiana, das ist, von Christlicher Haushaltung Justi Menij. With a beautiful preface by D. Martini Luther. Wittemberg. M.D.XXIX." 51 leaves in quarto. At the end: "Printed at Wittemberg, by Hans Lufft. In the year, M.D.XXIX." In dm editions our preface is found: in the Wittenberg (1569), vol. IX, p. 552; in the Jena (1566), vol. IV, p. 462 (Walch notes: "in the Jenische IV. x>. 504 and
booklet, but also that it is attributed to the laudable, highborn princess, our gracious Lady Sibylla, Duchess of Saxony etc., I have also undertaken to besmirch it with my name and preface, and with the same to give you a copy of it, not only to serve the printers with it, who sometimes use my name and testimony to distribute their books, some falsely, some honestly, but also for the benefit of everyone who desires it and respects my testimony, so that he may have this booklet all the better and learn more diligently.
2 Mostly, however, to admonish you quite faithfully with it. For methinks the Master, He Just Menius, has well met a great part of your heart therein, and painted your need (though blindly) fine and even, that I hope God will grant grace that you will also once give this booklet an image and example, Amen.
(3) For I think that this booklet must also please our adversaries themselves, although they do not want to please anything of ours, because nothing of theirs is attacked in it, but only the marriage state is praised and extolled in a simple and clear way: how much more should it please us and ours, who recognize and praise God's word and work? Truly, such and such a booklet is not only very useful, but also very necessary to read and keep, so that many, or almost most of the people, even though they consider the marriage state to be right and divine, do not consider it necessary or commanded, just as virginity is considered to be a right and divine thing, but not necessary or commanded. So they go along safely, not thinking that God's commandment forces and compels them to marry, just as if they were free, and it were at their discretion and free will to marry if they want to, or never; nevertheless, they remain beside it in publicly recognized sinful life, comforting themselves of the last hour, in which they want to atone, when they can no longer sin, and sin does not leave them, but sin leaves them.
4 To such, I say, this booklet is necessary to have and to read, so that they may know how high need and hard commandment it is, since God says [Ex. 20:13, 14], "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery," just as high need and hard commandment, yes, much higher need and harder commandment it is: You shall be married, you shall have a wife, you shall have a husband. For there is God's word [Gen. 1, 27]: "God created man male and female," and said [Cap. 2, 24]: "They shall be one body; the man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife." Such words of God are not left to our free will, like virginity and solitary chastity, but it must and should be as they read, "Man and woman were created to be one body, and to cleave to one another and to remain. Such a commandment must be enforced with sermons and such books, and the consciences of single persons who are not gifted for solitary chastity must be burdened with it, and they must be harassed and tormented until they have to go to it, and finally say: If it is to be, it must be, and if it cannot be otherwise, then God will will it, and be daring.
(5) Above these are some others, who think that it is enough for them to be married or to have a wife, and think no further than, If I had a wife, I would have a husband; or when they come up, they think of goods and honor, how they may become rich, and go up, and inherit great goods for their children, and ask nothing of the discipline of children. And how now some say: If my son learns so much that he wins the penny, he is learned enough. And now no one wants to raise children in any other way than on jokes and art for food; they think nothing else, except that they are free, and are free to raise the children as they please; just as if there were no God who had commanded them otherwise, but they themselves are God and lords over their children. If, however, there were a strict, orderly regime in the world, and such harmful, wicked people were found that they did not want to mend their ways and raise their children differently, then the authorities should punish them all, both in body and in property.
VIII. p. 210, where it has been printed twice by mistake"; likewise De Wette and the Erlangen edition. In our Jena edition, this preface is not found in the eighth volume); in the Altenburger, vol. IV, p. 557; in the Leipziger, vol. XXII, appendix, p. 92 and twice in the Erlanger, vol. 63, p. 277 and vol. 54, p. 117. We have reproduced the text according to De Wette, vol. Ill, p. 534.
or chase them out to the world. For such people are the most poisonous and harmful people on earth, so that neither Turk nor Datier can be so harmful.
The reason is this: as much as there is in them, they do nothing else but that both the spiritual and the secular state perish, and both housekeeping and child rearing perish, and remain vain wild beasts and swine in the world, which are good for nothing but to eat and drink. Notice that if one does not breed children for teaching and art, but makes vain gluttons 1) and drunkards, who seek only food: where will one take pastors, preachers and other persons to the word of God, to the church office, to pastoral care and worship? Where will kings, princes and lords, cities and countries take chancellors, councilors, clerks, officials? There is no village so small that could do without a scribe; we would all learn to live in such a way that we would not have to deal with the people in the world with whom art and writing are in use and honor; what kind of a desolate, horrible world would that become? Both spiritual, worldly, marital and domestic status would have to go to the ground, and the world would become a pure pigsty. But who will help? Who is guilty of such an abomination, because just such horrible, harmful, poisonous parents, even if they have children, whom they could draw to God's service, and draw them only to the service of the womb? Woe upon woe, and woe to all the same!
(7) Such wicked worms or careless parents and husbands are highly recommended to read or listen to this booklet, so that they may learn what God has given them and what they owe God for their children. My dear journeyman, if you have a child who is sent to be taught, you are not free to raise it as you please, nor are you free to do with it as you please, but you must see that you owe it to God to promote His two regiments and to serve Him in them. God needs a pastor, a preacher, a schoolmaster in his spiritual kingdom, and you can give him one, but you do not do so: behold, there
1) In the original print (after Dietz): "freslinge". De Wette und die Erlanger (Vol. 54, 119): Freschlinge.
you rob not one skirt from the poor, but many thousands of souls from the kingdom of God, and push them into hell, as much as is in you, because you take away the person who would be capable of helping such souls.
(8) Again, if you breed your child to be a minister, you do not give a skirt, you do not endow a monastery or a church, you do something greater, you give a savior and minister who can help many thousands of souls to heaven. Why is it that not all of them are saved? Nevertheless, some do. How do you know it will be your son? Thou art not worthy, with all thy goods, to help one hour to such a divine foundation and great service, and canst help it all thy life. But now you are doing the opposite, not for one hour, but for the rest of your life. This means storming and robbing the monasteries, convents and churches, so that the storming of the rebellious peasants can hardly be counted as an insult and a prelude. Tell me, what hell can be deep and hot enough for such your harmful wickedness? O, what a punishment will come upon us for the sake of such iniquity!
(9) So also, in the worldly government, you can serve your lord or city more with child discipline than by building him castles and cities and collecting treasures from all over the world. For what is the use of all this if you do not have learned, wise, pious people? I will remain silent as to what temporal benefit and eternal reward you have from this in the sight of God and the world, that your child is also better nourished with this than according to your shameful, 2) harmful, sour counsel and conduct. Another time I will admonish you with a special booklet, which God gives, against such shameful, harmful, damned parents, who are not parents, but harmful sows and poisonous animals, who eat their own young. Let it now be enough of an admonition to read this Christian booklet with diligence to every householder who wants to exist blessedly here and there before God and the world. To this end, God grant His grace, amen.
2) "shameful" is missing from De Wette.