Martinus Luth, D.
(1) I did not want to write anything against him, even in the life of Sebastian Franken, because I despised such a wicked man too highly, and always thought that his writing would be worthless among all sensible people, especially among Christians, and would perish by itself in a short time, like a curse of an angry, wicked man, because this is what King Solomon teaches in his Proverbs, Cap. 26, 2. "As a bird flew by, and a swallow passed by, so is an undeserved curse, and does nothing." Here Solomon teaches us to beware of the undeserved curse.
Do not accept the good mouths that like to curse and blaspheme, but think and say: "It is a swallow that flies over me and tickles a little. For whoever would be so mad that he would not suffer such things from the swallow, but would prevent its flight, as if he were worried that it would nest and muck on his head, 1) or gouge out his eyes, or bite off his nose, would be taken for a fool, and would also have to be mad in truth, who would take vain, foolish care and work.
1) Wittenberger and Jenaer: "nusten"; Walch: cough.
*) Freder's writing, which is directed against Sebastian Frank, has the title: "Ein Dialogus dem Ehestand zu ehren geschrieben. By M. Johan Freder, To the Most Illustrious Highborn Princess, Frawe Dorothea, Queen of Dennemarck etc. With a preface by D. Mart. Luth. Wittemberg. Hl.XbV." 17 sheets in 4. At the end: "Gedruckt zu Wittemberg durch Nickel Schirlentz. M.D.XbV." The preface is found in the Wittenberg collection (1559), vol. XII, p. 374; in the Jena (1562), vol. VIII, p. 255b; in the Altenburg, vol. VIII, p. 471; in the Leipzig, vol. XXII, appendix, p. 136; and in the Erlangen, vol. 63, p. 384. We have reproduced the text according to the latter. The text of the old editions is very poor.
2 In Vitis Patrum it is also read that a brother complains to an old father, how "so many evil thoughts came into his head", which hurt him; for the devil is a master of writing evil thoughts into good hearts, against God and man, and has for this purpose a hard pen and very sharp ink, which burns like fire, from his infernal inkpot; the old man answered and said: "Do you hear it? You cannot prevent birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair. So do the same here: if thoughts come to you, let them go; if they come, let them go, and do not stop them or quarrel with them.
Now Bastian Frank is such a wicked blasphemous mouth, which can do nothing but blaspheme and defile, and likes to write and speak the worst of everyone, as if he were the devil's own and dearest mouth; that I think it has been his life to think and speak evil of other people, from which he has fed more than from eating and drinking. There is no one who teaches rightly or lives rightly, he is, or is called, as he pleases and who he pleases; and if he encounters something good, he lets it pass, or turns it back shamefully, always seeking and pondering evil, of which he may say that it seems good, as he is sorry in his heart where he finds something good that he cannot blame, and all his heart's desire is where he can find evil, which he may shake to a stink. Repent, then, of his delight in poor men's misfortunes, errors, and sins, as a foul-mouthed sow does with her trunk in the mire and stink.
4 And yet he found that he knew how history books are read with particular pleasure before others, and are held dear, because everyone would naturally like to know what has happened in the past, still happens, and should happen. Therefore, he especially intended to write histories for him, so that he could spread his poison among the people all the more powerfully under the honey and sugar and do all the greater harm; for he well felt that he could be quite unfit and not useful for teaching the truth and resisting error or heresy, nor for some church service,
Therefore he did not care about such things, but only wanted to do what he could, that is, blaspheme and defile, and feast and delight in it.
5. For from his books you will not well learn what a Christian should believe, or what a pious man should do; he neither can nor will teach it; yes, that is much more, you will not know from his books what he himself believes, or what kind of man he is; he censures everything, but says nothing against it, or disputes what one should believe or hold; without as much as I can sense and judge by the smell of my nose, he is an enthusiast or Gaister, who likes nothing, for Gaist, Gaist, Gaist, who thinks nothing of Word, Sacrament, preaching, but by the Gaift one should live, that is such a life, The coiner also made his peasants neither want to see nor hear a letter, nor a book, nor a scripture, and called us and our scribes and literalists, and mocked us when they saw a book in our hands; And when we would speak unto them, they stopped up their ears, saying that they had the gist, and could not hear our word. That is a life in which every man is his own master, and does what he wants; and what seems good to him must then be all right and well done, and called the gout; everything else must stink, and be nothing but vain dross, dross, dross.
6th For when he had articulated Luther well enough and peevishly enough, with all his doctrine, and comes to the words of the Sacrament: This is my body etc., he says: These words Luther has caught, and continues with them, and shall break it all, as if the Gaist were nothing. You can hear that he is hostile to the letter of the holy Scriptures, and is not only a zealot or sacrament desecrator, but, as I said, he is a devotee and enthusiast, who does not want to be under God's word or the holy Scriptures, but to be judge and master over them out of devotion. What wonder is it that such a possessed person can neither teach nor do anything good? He must blaspheme, defile, lie and deceive God and men, as the spirit of evil drives him when he is drunk and full, and then most of all when he presents himself as most holy and pious. The Gaist can
Nothing else, of which we have been warned enough by the dear apostles.
(7) Other, pious teachers (even some heretics do the same), they also rebuke and punish the vices confidently; but they do not do this because they have pleasure and joy in the vices, to shake, to laugh or to mock the poor miserable sinners in their heart, like the Pharisee in the Gospel [Luc. 18, 11.] and said: "I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, and like this tax collector"; and like the shameful. Ham did to his father Noah (Gen. 9, 22.He laughed at this and told his brothers with all his heart, as if he were sorry that his father was lying there drunk and uncovered, or sober; but for this reason the pious punish all kinds of vices, that they would like to correct them, and they are sorry and grieved in their hearts that people are thus fallen into sin and disgrace by the devil and the flesh; they would rather that neither sin nor vice should happen; Besides, they teach much and all good things, and let themselves be heard and heard freely, who they are, what they believe, and what they do not believe, that we may know what we have in them, and where we may find them at home; summa, they are children of light, and walk in the light.
(8) But the Hamists and Pharisees ask nothing about how to advise or help other people; they are satisfied with the fact that they can feast on other people's dirt and sins and make themselves useless, wanting to be seen and praised before the world. I am reminded of them, like the disgraceful flies, which sometimes in natural distress, in the secret chamber, want to crawl into our buttocks, and feast in the same rose and fine flower, and suck their honey, and then fly out; when they have well defiled the proboscis and feet there, they want to sit in our face on the nose, on the eyes, cheeks, mouth, in the most honest place, as if they came from a fragrant pleasure garden or an apothecary.
9. such flies one is this Sebastian
1) Thus the Wittenbergers and the Jenaers; Walch and the Erlangeners: to him.
Frank, and almost the most distinguished one, that he would like to bet with his father Ham, and with his brother, your Pharisee, who would like to keep the beautiful name Beelzebub before alleil auderu in this matter. Beelzebub is called a large fly, which we Germans call a bumblebee; which name the people of Israel gave to the devil in ancient times, as we read in the Gospel. For this is the devil's own way and office, that he sours, digs and shakes his proboscis in the sins of poor people, as if he would like to make the dirt so big and wide that heaven would be full of stink and God with all the angels would be out. Yes, just such a bumblebee is this Sebastian Frank, as you will see in this booklet of M. Johann Freders. For there he crawls up the butts of all women, and together with his shameful proboscis drives out everything that the devil has ever spoken evil of women, or done through them. There he tickles himself with, laughs and does him so heartily gentle that he may speak nothing good but all evil of them; has his pleasure in such nice, fine balsam and thesem; He also holds it up to our noses and mouths, as if we should thank and praise him for bringing such a stink and devil's filth to our noses, or as a great bumblebee has stuck such great filth in our faces through his books that we should be happy.
(10) I only want to indicate one thing, so that I may show that I have read his books and am not hostile to him without cause. Dear, tell me, how is it fitting for a writer of history to say, "Put out the light, and the women will all be the same? And if he had heard such words from a frivolous man, should he therefore write it in the book and confirm it with such joy and pleasure? Should he not at least, if he had forgotten the holy women and virgins, think of his own mother, or of his own wife, and be ashamed in his heart if there were a speck of reason or honor, or an honest drop of blood in his body? Or why are not all men the same when the light is put out?
Yes, perhaps he didn't mean it that badly. Mine this way, mine that way, he certainly has
This is what he meant when he said that he wanted to defile women, as he does to everyone else. For in honor of women, one must not say such words as this, and many more that you will find in this booklet, yet well punished and condemned, which no pious man of integrity can read with patience. And whoever likes to read them is as pious and honest as this Beelzebub Frank, or the shitty poet Lemchen, who has also been such an arshummel.
12 But, as I said, I have never intended to write against this Beelzebub Franken, nor do I want to do so yet, and I do not consider him worthy of honor, as he is not worthy either. Whoever has reason will
I know how to hold myself against such Franks, Lemchen, Hammers and Pharisees. I know that whoever can read Franconia's or Lemchen's book with pleasure and love cannot have a merciful God, nor can he have his own conscience satisfied, whether he has one and all devils as merciful lords. However, in honor of this booklet, I have written this preface, because I myself would have liked to write many annoying things against the Franconian, so that I may help to warn everyone against the devil and his bumblebees, who are both enemies of God and man, and do harm to honor, body and soul, and wherever they can. Christ our Lord, save him and destroy him, amen.