1 Christ, our dear Lord, when he had fed five thousand men with five barley loaves, commanded his disciples to gather the rest of the loaves, that nothing should perish, John the sixth, v. 12. According to the same command, I also have taken up this little book, that it perish not; which, of course, is not contrary to good works.
One of the fragments is left over from the gracious food of the Holy Gospel, so that God, the Father of all grace and mercy, now feeds the world so abundantly and wonderfully. And to such fragments I have woven this basket, that is, this preface, in which it would be gathered and kept.
*The book of Caspar Huberinus, "Vom Zorn und der Güte GOttes" ("Of Wrath and the Goodness of God") was published in Wittenberg in 1529 and again in 1538 in octavo and in Lower Saxon dialect in Magdeburg in 1544 in octavo. Luther's preface to it is found in the Eisleben edition, vol. I, p. 482; in the Altenburg edition, vol. IV, p. 703; in the Leipzig edition, vol. XXII, appendix, p. 94 and in the Erlangen edition, vol. 63, p. 282.
**In 1529, Luther had the treatise by Thomas Venatorius, "A Short Instruction to Hold Before Dying People in a Completely Comforting and Blissful Manner at Their Last End," reissued and provided it with a preface. This is found in the Eisleben Collection, vol. I, p. 482; in the Altenburg, vol. IV, p. 703; in the Leipzig, vol. XXII, appendix, p. 94 and in the Erlangen, vol. 63, p. 284. We give the text according to the Eisleben edition.
2. and is well worth it, because it is a useful little book, which does not deal with foolish works or useless gossip, as now, unfortunately, the world is full of useless, harmful books and writers, but deals with the right necessity and main things, which the enthusiastic spirits and mad saints have almost completely obscured with their great, exuberant wisdom and wisdom, since God protects us for it.
(3) For even our adversaries had this booklet printed and spread out before we did, so that they might confess that there is nothing evil in it, but only good, which they themselves must praise and honor. Now there is no papist doctrine in it, but the right Lutheran one (as they call it), since it is obvious that all papists in one bunch, with all their art, are not able to make such a booklet, no matter how small it may be, because they do not have such a mind.
(4) And I will believe that if my name or any other well-known Lutheran name had been written on it, they would neither have printed it nor read it; just as they have often praised my own books and read them with pleasure when my name is torn from them. So my name is an evil thing: if it is written on a book, it is evil, however good it may be; if it is not written on it, it is good, however evil it may be.
5 I have also not wanted to do or change anything in this booklet (which I have also
I did not know how to do it well), but have let it stay in its measure and at all, as I got it printed, so that I do not spoil it and take away its natural strength and juice with my superstition, or rob it of its taste, as commonly happens to good books when Master Klügling comes over them; as also happened to my New Testament, which the blasphemer and Sudeler in Meissen 1) has let pass for his own.
For this reason, I ask all dear friends, both preachers and listeners, to be diligent and to help practice this main part of Christian doctrine, namely faith. For the foolish saints, papists, and red spirits, truly do not understand what the piece is, therefore they do not practice it either. And the devil, through all their mad holiness and spirituality, does not seek badly to raise up their mad holiness, but rather to destroy this main piece, which crushes his head and destroys his kingdom. Truly, he does not care so much about other things. Therefore, let us be courageous and beware, he is not asleep, he is trying and trying to overthrow and disrupt the faith and with it the true church. May Christ our Lord be with us and not forsake us, to whom be praise, glory and thanksgiving forever and ever, amen.
1) Emser. Elsewhere, St. Louis edition, vol. XIX, 971, he calls him the "Sudler in Dresen. Compare the introduction there, p. 15.