To the respectable, highly respected gentleman, Mr. Nicolao von Amsdorf, preacher at Magdeburg, my dear lord and godfather, D. Martinus Luther.
God's grace and peace in Christ! A print has gone out, as of a priest, who appeared to the priest of Staßsort in this next cradle night in the form of a confessional child, about which I would very much like to have your correct and dry judgment (as you are used to do in such matters and are inclined to do). For where it would have happened in this way, it still made me wonder; although there may not be much questioning as to who he is, the journeyman, but what he means by wanting to become so grainy, and comes as surely as if he had been grained.
2. and without doubt, because Christ himself confesses that Beelzebub has a kingdom on earth, such his humble legate will not be
have come without his king's command, and so heartily want to confess. For you (along with us) know almost well how such a poor sinner has had such great remorse and sorrow for his sin ever since the beginning of the world, and would gladly do enough for his sin, if God would allow him to do so. But God's mercy is too great and takes care of the poor, humble sinner; otherwise he would fast and mortify himself to death, or do greater works, so that he would corrupt himself as a weak, pious, silly little spirit. Therefore, he does not want to burden such a poor sinner with such repentance, but will do it himself once, so that he gets his right absolution, and is no longer allowed to do enough for his sin, auras.
Now it is said piece by piece, and it is valid who will mock the other best at the end.
*) The title of the little book to which Luther wrote this preface is: "Eine Warhafftige Historia geschehen zu Stasfart sso Dietzs, am abend der geburt Christi im MVXXXIIII jare. With a beautiful preface, D, Mart. Luther Gedruckt zu Wittemberg, Nickel Schirlentz 1535." 2^ sheets. The writing with the preface is found in the Wittenberg (1559), vol. XII, p. 360; in the Jena (1568), vol. VI, p. 331; in the Altenburg, vol. VI, p. 500; in the Leipzig, vol. XXII, appendix, p. 117, and in Walch. The preface alone in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 590 and in the Erlanger, vol. 55, p. 86.
And even if such a ghost had not appeared, we Christians still know what his thoughts are, as St. Paul says. He will let my Scheblimini remain, and will not tear it down with anger or mockery. For if my heretic booklet (the holy scripture) is right, he may bite my Scheblimini in the heels. If his head is crushed by the same Scheblimini, then he must not care for mockery to his detriment. Then we will not confess to him (as he does), but from the judgment seat say otherwise, thus: Do this, and die eternally in the hellish fire.
Behold! I wanted to ask you for a judgment and interpretation of this ghost, so I would have done it myself; please forgive me for that. I did not consider that you are the highest and right bishop of the Christian churches in Magdeburg. The Psalter was not available, which with its musica would have awakened me to such great majesty of your state, otherwise I would not have been so bold. Therefore, I still humbly ask you to give me your opinion in writing in these high matters, and to paint the pious confessor as he deserves. But if you wanted to push these things home to me again and consider me a pope (as I consider you a bishop) (God be unaware of the great honor of both of us), then you must realize that bishops have often been more learned and more pious, neither the popes, nor St. Augustine at Hippon. Alas, a wretched bishop! Nevertheless, he was the most learned and best of all popes and bishops (even if he was not the holiest of all). Not that I am mocking the pious legates, and how could I mock such a high spirit, even if I would like to?
If I, as a pope, would like to answer such a legate in earnest, you know that before I gather my cardinals and prelates together, they have starved, burned, drowned, murdered, chased away, dispersed etc., that my Concilium can be held much less, neither of the Roman Pontiff, who could hold it well, if he wanted to, and would not have to worry that he would not be so well off, as in the Costnitz Concilio the three Popes would have to be held on one occasion.
times. Therefore, it will almost remain with you, as the archbishop and ordinario loci or diocesan, what is to be done here.
6 I, who am called a pope (and I am), want to commit to you (so that your conscience may act safely) plenitudinem potestatis, also the scrinium pectoris, that you may absolve such a sinner, as he is in articulo mortis, or, as St. Peter says, in rudentibus inferni. Petrus says, in rudentibus inferni, absolviren, und ihm seine rechte Genugthuung auflegen, forma, stylo, modo, figura, loco, tempore, quibus potest fieri, melioribus, vel istis: Irascatur tibi omnipotens Deus, et retentis peccatis tuis, detrudat te in ignem aeternum. Et ego auto- ritate Domini nostri lesu Christi et sanctissimi Domini Lutheri, Papae primi, mihi in hac parte consessa, absolvo te ab omni misericordia Dei et vita aeterna, mittens te his verbis in infernum, qui tibi et Regi tuo praeparatus est ab initio mundi, Arnen.
7 In German: God Almighty be hostile to you, and never forgive your sin, and cast you into the abyss of eternal fire; and I, by command of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the most holy Father Pope Luther the First, deny you all the grace of God and eternal life, and hereby cast you into hell, which has been prepared for you and your king from the foundation of the world, amen. For such confession is followed by such absolution, and you know that as confession is, so shall be absolution. As that priest did, who also had a child confessor before him, the same confessed thus: "Know, know, know, know. He kept whispering and did not say a word. And the priest, who was also not young of the year, soon whistled over his head with his hand, and softly with his mouth: "Whistle, whistle, whistle! like the hunters whistle to the hounds, and let the child confessor go, and said: "As confession is, so is absolution. As is prayer, so is incense, said the devil himself, as a priest prays in bed Complet, and prays himself. 1)
But let this be a measure of jesting. We know almost well that the devil's joke is a serious one for us Christians, as one says: The
1) In the Wittenberg and the Jena correctly: "becheret" (se concacavit); De Wette and the Erlanger: bethöret. Cf. Dietz "Wörterbuch" s. v. becheren.
Cat's play is the death of mice. God warns us to pray and to diligently adhere to the Gospel daily. For even though he may, out of great courage, so boldly oppose our dear Lord and make a mockery of Him, it may still happen that he himself does not know why God would do such a thing to him: and he would just as soon smear himself in his cleverness as he smudged himself in paradise, thinking that he had now won, but not at all understanding that the fruit of the woman should be so short after him and crush his head. After that, he also lacked the art.
(9) If God wants us to pray earnestly and to do God's word diligently, he will not want us to do so, even if he causes so much trouble and harm; but if we are lazy and slothful, it is truly his earnest desire to take our dear Christ from us and put him to shame. For he lets it be known how great a multitude of kings, princes, bishops and clergy he has for himself, and how small a multitude our Christ has. It is said in German, Schade wacht; and the Gospel says, "The people sleep." Isaiah says, "No one believes." Now what you further understand and notice in this (since we do not have to struggle with flesh and blood), let it show me.
I do not know of a new newspaper, for your little chronicle is becoming more and more true, namely, that all popes (that is their star in hell) are always hostile and repugnant to the emperors, along with their followers, and do such a great miraculous work that I would almost become a pope myself. For even if they betray and sell the most pious emperors, and set themselves against them with the utmost courage, they are not rebellious, but the most holy fathers. Christ himself could not do such miraculous signs (let alone his prophets and apostles), for he had to be called rebellious and die as a rebel, even though he had been called to be obedient to the emperor. But the pope and his followers betray and murder the emperors, and yet they are not rebellious. Truly, he is called the most holy one, against whom
Christ is a poor sinner. And truly such a great miraculous sign would make not only Lutherans, but also Turks, vain papists. Well, the bath is heated hot enough, whoever it is for will have to sweat. I know that for sure.
Our consolation is our heart and, as St. Paul calls it, our conscience's testimony that we have not called the devil and the papists to such rages, nor have we counseled them, as they themselves abundantly testify by deed, and must testify without their thanks. They also have souls, for which they will have to answer, which we must not carry on our conscience, but can boast on that day that their deeds did not please us, and we taught against them in the highest way. This is joy, consolation, defiance enough, until my Sheblimini come, but let it be as God wills, be it mockery or death. Long is not eternal. Without doubt, eternity will not be short either. If they also have such a testimony of their heart, they will feel it and experience it afterwards, as we also hope to experience it, and pray that it will happen soon, amen.
True history, happened at Staßfort.
I Laurentius Döner, pastor of Staßfort, publicly confess before everyone by my true words and by the highest truth: that in the year 1534 on the evening of the birth of Christ, our Savior, this history happened in confessional manner, as follows, and thus truly happened.
(2) On the evening of the Nativity, after Vespers, I sat in confession in the choir in the parish church at Staßfort, and instructed the people in the faith, who wanted to go to the reverend Sacrament on the morning of Christmas Day. And when I had heard them all, and had given instruction according to my ability, with God's help, and got up, and was willing to go to my dwelling, and saw no one else who wanted to go to confession, one came at the last, a simple man, according to my liking, but in his skin a real rogue, dressed in a black, evil skirt, and had an evil hat on his head, and pulled the hat down before the
Eyes, and stepped to me from the chair, and spoke to me with strong words:
3. Lord, will you also hear me confess? I answered: Yes, tell me. And he kneeled on the ground, and sat from me about two paces. I said unto him, If thou wilt confess, thou must come near unto me, that I may hear thee, what is thy affliction. He answered, "If he were near enough, I would hear what he said to me.
4th And began, and asked me, Lord, what think ye of the birth of Christ? I answered: I think much of it. For, as the Scriptures show us, by his incarnation, birth, suffering and resurrection, he saved us and redeemed us from eternal death and damnation. He further asked what I thought of his birth and where he was born. I answered that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary of virgins, according to the confession of our Christian faith, and according to the instruction of the Holy Scriptures. He further asked: Where is it written that he was born of a virgin? I answered: The prophets and evangelists testify that she is a virgin, as Isaiah on the seventh, v. 14, Matth. on the first, v. 23, and St. Lucas on the first, v. 27. To this he answered me mockingly and said: Yes, it may be written there, but I do not really understand the Scriptures.
5 And asked further: As I understand the saying Is. 7, 14, so it is written in the Hebrew text: Alma; and what does Alma mean in German? I answered: It means a maid or a young woman who still wears a wreath and is undefiled. Which Christians do not think and believe otherwise than that she is the pure, undefiled maiden Mary, from whom Christ our Lord and Savior was born. He answered: This is a lie, it may well be a whore, since your Christ was born of her. To this I answered: You cannot yet make this true to anyone in eternity. And he asked me further, saying, What more do I think of Christ, and why he was crucified? I answered, He was crucified, and died for our sins, and through our sins was born.
His death delivered us from eternal death, from sin, from the devil, and from hell. To this he answered: No. He died because of his sin, because he was a transgressor of the law of Moses. I answered: This is a lie of the highest order. For he has never committed any sin; he came as the true Lamb of God and took away the sin of the world.
6th Then he began, and said, I walked in the field, and saw heaven open; and Moses looked down from heaven, and stretched forth his horns out of heaven; and on one horn of Moses hung your Christ. And Moses was wroth, and cast Christ from the horn to the earth; and the Jews took him, and for his transgression against the law of Moses crucified him, and killed him: and upon the other horn sat the man that gave Adam and Eve of the apple to eat in paradise; and asked me thrice, saying: Do you know this man? Who was he? Then I was frightened and answered, "It was the devil. He answered nothing; he was silent.
007 Then said I unto him: Why hast thou denied Christ, and destroyed, and profaned, and blasphemed him? And all these words which thou hast spoken are lies. The devil himself confessed that Christ is the Son of God. He asked: Where is this written? I answered, Luke in the fourth and more places in the holy Gospel; when [v. 33], "the man that was possessed in the synagogue with an unclean devil cried with a loud voice, saying, Stop, what have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth, thou art come to destroy us. I know who you are, namely, the holy Son of God". Further there [Luc. 4, 41.]: "The devils also went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Christ, the Son of God."
(8) To these words he answered, "It may well be that it is written there. The devil did not mean these words, nor has he ever been serious about telling Chri-
stum took him for God's son. At that time he had a good inn, which he did not like to leave, so he gave him good words and called him the Son of God. Summa Summarum, he completely denied Christ, that Christ had done nothing for us for the salvation of our souls. At the last I said to him: Why then did you come to me? If thou wilt confess, confess; and dost thou desire absolution from thy sin and unbelief, and to receive in a right faith the holy sacrament for the remission of thy sin? He answered: he does not ask for any absolution, nor for any sacrament. He would not know what they served him for, nor would he know how to produce much fruit with them.
009 Then said I unto him, Depart thou whither thou goest. And he said: I will do it, and in the morning we will speak of it in another way. And I said, Do so boldly, and come again. Then he got up from me and stank horribly. But where he went, God knows, and who he was is well known to God. But according to his promise he did not return. I do not desire him either. This history happened in the year and day as reported above. God Almighty, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, protect us from the devil and his seduction, and keep us by his grace in his holy word until our end, amen.