November 8, 1543.
Luther's verdict on Schwenkfeld. 1)
Caspar Schwenkfeld had Anno 1543 on the 8th day of Novembris D. M. Luther one of his books by his own messenger, which title was "von der Herrlichkeit". 2) There D. Luther: Schwenkfeld is a poor man, who has neither mind nor spirit, but ex is nonsensical (attonitus), as the enthusiasts all are, he does not know what he is babbling about, but this is his opinion and his main reason (principium): The creature is not to be worshipped, because it is written (Matth. 4, 10.): "You shall worship God, your Lord, and serve Him alone? Then he thinks, Christ is a creature, therefore I should not worship Christ as a man. And fingirt zwo Christus, sagt: Die Creatur sei nach der Auferstehung und Verherrlichung in die Gottheit verwandt, und deshalb worship, und bescheißt die Leute mit dem herrgllichen Namen Christi, wie er dann schreibt: "zum Preis Christi".
But the children go through it badly, and say: I believe in Jesus Christ our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
1) This superscription is found in Walch, old edition, vol. XXI, 1593 and Erl. 65, 219. In the Tischreden, the superscription reads: "Wider Schwenkfelds Meinung von der Creatürlichkeit Christi." We have translated the Latin passages of this section.
2) In the other redaction: "of the holiness". According to the citation in Köstlin, Martin Luther, p. 684 aä p. 590, 2): "Von der Herrlichkeit vel Heimlichkeit".
Spirit, born of Mary, the Virgin 2c. So the fool will make me two Christs; one who hangs on the cross and another who has gone to heaven and sits at the right hand of God, his heavenly Father. I shall not worship the Christ who hangs on the cross and walks on earth. He allowed himself to be worshipped when he fell down before him. So the Lord Christ himself says: "He who believes in me, believes in him who sent me". The phantom has stolen some vocabularies from my book "The Last Words of David", with which the idiot also wants to make himself beautiful, as the sharing of qualities and the independence (identitatem) of the person; thus he mixes it in, and then wants to say: I also meant it that way.
He wants to teach me what Christ is and how I should worship him. I have it, thank God, better than he, I know my Christ well, therefore he lets me unheeded. Then Magister Rörer said: 3) Well, dear doctor, that is too rough. He answered: "You teach me to be so rough. So one must talk to the devil. He revokes in a public writing the rapture with the Sacrament, and bring me testimonies of Doctor Joh. Hessen and Doctor Moibano from Breslau, otherwise I do not believe him, even if he swears to me and puts his fingers in the middle of the wounds.
3) In the other redaction: "Then the woman spoke."
*) The letter is found in the Wittenberg edition, vol. XII, p. 210d; in the Jena (1562), vol. VIII, p. 173d; in the Altenburg, vol. VIII, p. 344; in the Leipzig, vol. XXI, p. 437; in the Erlangen, vol. 56, p. 71 and vol. 58, 30. Further, in all editions of Luther's Tischreden (except the Sl! Louiser, where this piece has been omitted), Cap. 7, § 25; in De Wette, V, p. 613 and in Erbkain, Geschichte der protestantischen Secten, p. 399. (De Wette has the wrong proof in this letter: "Witt. II, 210," which Erlanger, vol. 56, p. 71, reprinted). The closer time determination results from Luther's "Urtheil von Schwenkfeld", which we have inserted here from the Tischreden l. c.. The same is found twice in Walch's old edition, namely vol. XXI, 1593 and vol. XXII, 408; twice also in the Erlanger, vol. 58, p. 29 f. and vol. 65, p. 219. In Walch in the 21st volume and in the Erlanger in the 65th volume without time determination immediately before the "Zeugniß für einen Boten", in which Luther certifies that he is still alive. This "Urtheil" and the "Zeugniß" have nothing to do with each other, because the latter is to be put approximately in March of the year 1537. Compare Luther's letters to Melanchthon and to his housewife of February 27, 1537, De Wette, Vol. V, 57 ff. The latter letter is also found in Walch, XXI, 392. We have given preference to the redaction in the Tischreden as the more original.
And Doctor Luther had returned to the messenger an open letter, which had not been sealed, and was the superscription:
[Luther's reply to] Schwenkfeld's messenger.
My messenger, dear man! You shall tell your master, Caspar Schwenkfeld, in reply that I received the letter and the booklets from you. And would to God, he stopped. For he has previously lit a fire in Silesia against the Holy Sacrament, which has not yet been extinguished and will burn on it forever. Over this he continues with his eutychism and creatureliness, misleading the churches, when God has neither commanded nor sent him anything. And the nonsensical fool, possessed by the devil, understands nothing, does not know what he is saying.
But if he will not stop, let him leave me with his little books, which the devil has made of him.
I have given him my final judgment and answer: Increpet dominus in te, Satan [Zach. 3, 2.], et sit spiritus tuus, qui vocavit te, et cursus tuus, quo curris, et omnes, qui participant tibi, Sacra- mentarii et Eutychiani, tecum et cum vestris blasphemiis in perditionem. Sicut scriptum est: Currebant et non mittebam eos: loquebantur, et nihil mandavi eis. [Jerem. 23, 21. The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, and let it be thy spirit that hath called thee, and the way in which thou walkest, and all that hold with thee, Sacramentians and Eutychians, with thee and with your blasphemies, to damnation. As it is written, "They ran . and I did not send them; they talked and I did not command them."] 1543.
Martin Luther
with your own hand.