About the end of August 1541.
One says: He who cannot be advised cannot be helped. We Germans have heard the dear word of God many years ago, through which God, the Father of all mercy, enlightened us and called us from the horrible abominations of the papal darkness and idolatry into his holy light and kingdom. But how gratefully and sincerely we have accepted and kept this is terrible enough to see even today. For, just as if the former sins were too few, since we have angered God to the utmost (though unknowingly) with masses, purgatory, the service of saints, and other works and righteousness of our own, and have filled all corners with such great idolatries, and thought to serve God especially in them, we go over them and persecute the dear Word, which calls us to repentance from such abominations, and knowingly and wantonly defend such idolatry with fire, water, rope, sword, cursing and blasphemy, so that it would be no wonder if God had not only let Turks, but also vain devils flood over Germany, or had let them flood long ago.
For how can he suffer the length? He must handle and protect truth and justice at last, punish evil and the evil poisonous blasphemers and tyrants, otherwise he would lose his divinity, and
Finally, no one can be taken for a God, where everyone should do for and for what he desires, and despise God with His word and commandment as surely and shamefully as if He were a fool or a rascal, 2) who would not be serious about His. He is not serious about his commandments. Therefore he must make it so that one must grasp it, it is serious and not joking.
(3) Above this, we who have accepted the gospel and boast of the word also fulfill the saying Rom. 2:24: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. For, except for a few who take it seriously and gratefully accept it, the rest are so ungrateful, so wanton, so insolent, and live no differently than if God had given us his word for this reason and delivered us from the pabst with his devilish prison, so that we might freely do what we desire, and so that his word might serve not for his glory and our salvation, but for our will, when it cost the blood and death of his dear Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, that such things should be so abundantly preached to us.
2) Göckelmännle'm - Gaukelmännlein, Närrchen.
*This writing is probably caused by the request of the Elector Johann Friedrich, which he sent to Luther and Bugenhagen at the beginning of August 1541 (it is found in Burkhardt, Briefwechsel, p. 392), to exhort the people to pray against the Turks. It can be assumed that Luther complied with this request without delay, and that the document probably went out in August. It was first published by Nickel Schirlentz in Wittenberg in 1541 and was reprinted by him in the following year. In addition, there are other editions from 1541, without indication of place and printer. In the collections: in the Wittenberg (1551), vol. II, p. 553 k; in the Jena (1568), vol. VII, p. 433b; in the Altenburg, vol. VII, p. 473; in the Leipzig, vol. XXII, p. 390, and in the Erlangen, vol. 32, p. 74. We give the text according to the Erlangen, which brings the first original print, comparing the Wittenberg and the Jena.
(4) For, to begin with, what desperately wicked sects and heresies have arisen, such as coining men, dissenters, Anabaptists, and many more, all under the name and pretense of the gospel, who, being freed by the gospel from the pope's ban and tyranny, were safe to teach and do what they pleased; which, however, should not have hissed in the time when the pope was God and Lord. Then came the great god Mammon or avarice; how he possessed not only peasants and burghers, but quite rudely nobles, counts, princes and lords, so that one can hardly read of the like in all histories. The nobility wants to have everything that peasants and burghers have, yes, they want to be princes; the peasants increase grain, barley and everything besides the nobility, and make muthwillige theurung, since otherwise God has let grow enough. The citizen also values in his craft what and how he wants.
(5) Thus it is known beforehand what kind of wickedness the servants and maids practice in houses, what kind of stealing, unfaithfulness and all kinds of wickedness they do, so that all the fathers of the house complain and cry out about the servants. So also the stealing, one neighbor to the other, is no measure. Item, the workers or workmen, how they are masters! They take enough money, work what they want, how they want and when they want. Even if they spoil it and ruin it, no one can say a word against them. And, that I do not forget the lawyers, it has come to the point with the right that nobody likes to go into the right, if he has such a bright good thing, as the sun is clear in the bright middle day. I do not want to be hypocritical, but to tell the truth; the Imperial Court of Appeal, behold, what a devil's whore rules there, if it should be, as a divine jewel in German lands, some comfort to all those who suffer injustice. But see how they play along with those in Goslar, Minden and others, and help the desperate boy, Heinz Mordbrenner, in all evil matters, if they are not judges, nor can they understand, nor are they part of things concerning the gospel or the church.
So Germany is ripe and full of all kinds of sins against God, wants to defend it, and defies with God that I am unfortunately an all-too
I have often said that either the Turk or we ourselves must punish each other. I have forgotten the usurer; oh, how surely he lives and rages, as if he himself were god and lord in all lands; no one may oppose him. And when I wrote against him, the holy usurers laughed at me and said: Luther does not know what usury is; he may read his Matthaeum and Psalter. Well then, if I am a preacher of Christ, and my word is the word of God, as I have no doubt, then either the Turk or another wrath of God shall teach you, accursed usurer, that Luther well understood and knew what usury is; that is worth a good guilder.
(7) However, these horrible pieces could still be borne for a while, but it has come to this that it cannot go on, that now some nobles, towns, even small dirty towns and villages are approaching, and want to defend their pastors and preachers, so that they should not punish sin and vice in the pulpit, or want to chase them away and starve them; in addition, whoever can take from them is holy. If they complain to the officials, they must be called stingy, whom no one can satisfy. They say, "In the past, a priest had thirty guilders and was well satisfied; now they want ninety and a hundred. But that they, the ministers, are stingy, thieving, robbing, and unfaithful to lords, that is Christian holiness.
8 Item, no one considers that whoever came before with thirty guilders can now hardly come with a hundred guilders. Why? Before, a bushel of grain was worth two, three pennies, an almond egg three pennies, and so on in all pieces; now the grain must be worth nine, ten, eleven, twelve pennies, an almond egg eighteen pennies. After that they say that the priests are stingy when they have increased the market and have taken sixty guilders from the poor man; he must be called stingy when he has ninety guilders, of which they have taken sixty from him. O right, right, that you miser should not be called miserly, but he who is maltreated by your miserliness should be called miserly;
1) Almond - fifteen.
so, so, so one must beat the Turk, if God, previously enraged in all ways, cannot give us happiness because of such outrageous willfulness and wickedness. What is a priest? Is good! But a Turk is a Turk, a devil is a devil, you may wait for them. If the priests, that is, God's servants and preachers, will not be, you will no longer be lord, peasant, nor citizen "Christian"; and if you will not respect the book and the teachers, nor honor them (for they are God's servants, and he who despises them despises God who sent them), your sword and shield will be less than paper and pen. You will and you shall know it.
(9) I am a certain prophet, so that I am sorry for myself, and I would like it to be a lie (as Micheas also wishes). I have often preached against avarice and wantonness, and said: Gather, gather, gather, dear peasants, burghers, nobles! Gather confidently, and give it freely enough; brother Vitus will come and find what you have gathered. You shall not keep it, which you so wantonly strive for (that is, steal and rob); you shall gather it for another, who will stab you to death for it, or at the very least beat your skin full and mock at it. Cause you to steal from the poor and needy, who cry out to heaven and do not let God rest until He hears them and punishes you miserly people, as Habakkuk 3:6 says: "Woe to him who increases his goods with other people's goods. Summa, it is almost like before the flood, Gen. 6, 12: "God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." I am sure that if the world does not improve, but continues to increase in all kinds of evil, it must break the last break; and I have no other consolation or hope in such a being than that the last day is at the door, because it is getting too much that God will no longer be able to tolerate it.
10 Here you say: What shall we do then? Shall we despair, let go hands and feet, and give everything to the Turks without any resistance or opposition? No, by all means, I have no objection to that.
especially not that one should despair or despair. For just as God cannot tolerate the insolent iniquity and willfulness of which I have spoken above, so also He does not want one to despair or despair. He wants the middle road, and neither to the right nor to the left, as the Psalter says: "God is well pleased with those who fear Him and trust in His goodness" [Ps. 147, 11.]. Without any doubt, He is angry and displeased with those who despise or do not fear Him and His word, and with those who do not trust but doubt and despair.
(11) Therefore, there is still good advice for those who would only listen to it and let it be advised, namely, to begin to fear God and to trust in His goodness. If this were to happen, we know very well that neither the Turk nor the devil could have anything to do with us, for if God were with us, who would be against us? But who wants to and can bring people to such fear of God? The holy prophets have never been able to do this among the people of Israel, or even among a few of them, until the king of Babylon came and taught them, when he left no stone unturned, strangled everything or carried it away and devastated the land [2 Kings 25], so that they learned to fear God and to call upon Him. Thus one must listen to the fools with pistons, as Isaiah says: Vexatio fst intellevtum aufitui [Is. 28, 19.]. So the Turk is also our schoolmaster, and must prod us and teach us to fear God and pray, otherwise we will rot completely in sins and all security, as has happened until now.
If we now wish to be helped and advised, let us repent and amend the evil things mentioned above. Princes and lords are to establish justice in the land, control usury, prevent the avarice of the nobility, burghers and peasants, above all honor God's word, provide for, protect and promote schools, churches and their servants. Likewise, the nobility, burghers and peasants must be obedient in this respect, exercise discipline and respectability in towns and countries, and not allow craftsmen, workers and servants to exercise such great courage, but punish them freshly. Summa, one has the Catechismum German, clear, bright
2200 Erl. SS, so-ss. 55 L.'s exhortation to prayer against the Turk. W. XX, 2748-2750. 2201
enough; one knows well (praise God) what every state and person should do and not do, which we unfortunately did not know before and would have liked to do, then God will hear our prayer and certainly help us, as all the prophets and all the Scriptures promise us.
(13) But if we do not do this, and will not be advised, we cannot be helped. And it will be in vain for us to cry out that the Turk is a cruel tyrant, for it is of no use for a wicked child to cry out about a sharp rod; if it were pious, the rod would not be sharp, indeed it would not be a rod at all. It does not do (that is short) to be wicked and to want to be unruly; there must be both, one with the other, or both must cease at the same time. You pastors should preach this to the people with diligence, whether God might give them grace to listen and give them counsel, as God said to Jeremiah. And whether they would follow the example of the Ninivites, to whom their Turk was much closer than our Turk is to us, for they had only forty days until their destruction, Jonah 3:4, and yet they remained through their repentance, and when they gave them counsel, they were helped.
14) But if the people are hardened, and the evil has eaten so deeply that no repentance can be hoped for (as Ezekiel says about his brass pot, which had become so rusty that it could not be scoured nor cleaned, but had to be melted down again 1) and poured by the king of Babylon [Ezk 24:12]), what can we other innocent people do? Traun, here it will be said: If God wills it so; one neighbor owes the other a fire damage, then we must (as Ezekiel and Daniel did) with our people, kings, lords and churches, priests, prophets, everything over a pile. How would we have done if we had been in Jerusalem and had had to go with the same dear saints, prophets, kings and queens (as many other holy, pious people did at that time) to Babylon under the great tyrants from our fatherland? We would not lose God for that, nor go to the devil over it. For
1) In the editions: melted.
Daniel and his companions also found God more abundantly at Babylon than they had found at Jerusalem; for God is omnipotent everywhere, and as Saint Peter says, Apost. 10, 35: "He who fears God, wherever he may be in all lands, is well pleasing to God; otherwise the Christians who now live and die under the Turk would all be condemned; but now they are his judges for that day, so now they must be his footstools.
15 Since we do not know that God wants us to do this (for we do not have Jeremiah or Ezekiel to tell us again by God or to command us to yield to the Turk, as the Jews had to yield to the king of Babylon by God's command), it behooves each one of us to defend himself according to his former calling and to do what he can, to the last breath. For we cannot, with a clear conscience, leave our profession until we are forced out of it by force, or are demanded anew by God through prophets or miraculous signs. Therefore we divide this matter into two parts: The bloody blasphemous papists we admonish to stop blaspheming God, and to be prepared differently against God's wrath; the ungrateful, wanton people we admonish to mend their ways, honor God's word, and call upon God. But if the 2) first part does not want to leave, but drags us with it into the distemper, then let us, namely the other part, the small group, not yet despair of God.
16. and although it is difficult for us to bear the burden of those sins, and to ask God not to repay us for them (for they are among us, and we are mixed with them, and either they must enjoy our prayers, or we must repay their sin), we nevertheless owe it to God to honor and believe Him, who tells us to wait for our calling and to do our part, and also tells and teaches us to pray, as He says Matth. 7, 7: "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you", and Joh. 16, 23: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
2) Wittenberger and Erlanger: this.
he will give it to you," and John 14:14: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 1) that will I do;" and Psalm 50:15: "Call upon me in trouble, and I will help thee; and thou shalt thank and praise me."
(17) It is true that we are not Joshua, 2) who made the sun stand still in the sky by his prayer [Jos. 10:12], nor Moses, who cut apart the Red Sea by his heartfelt prayer [Ex. 14:16, 21.Nor Elijah, who scattered fire from heaven by his prayer [2 Kings 1:10], but we are nevertheless the same people to whom God has commanded His word, and through His Spirit has made it preach to us; yes, we are also such people as Moses, Joshua, Elijah and all the other saints. For we of the same God's Word and Spirit that they had, and we of the same God's preachers, servants and ministers that they were, though they were more glorious than we, yet had no higher, better God than we, nor better flesh and blood than we: for they were men like us, and the very creature of God that we are. I am speaking now of us poor sinners who nevertheless love Christ and seek His kingdom, not of the papists and false Christians.
(18) And God must (that I speak thus) hear our prayer as well as His prayer, for we are members of His church, that is, His dear Son's bride, whom He cannot despise when she cries out earnestly. Therefore it is not a great thing for God to do as great or greater works through us than He has done through them, as we have seen and experienced so far, that He has helped us mightily and wonderfully against the devil of the pope, who is somewhat greater than the devil of the Turk, if we could mean it or believe it. For thus he says John 14:12: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father.
19 Therefore, it is incumbent upon us preachers, as we are obligated to do, first to bring the people to repentance.
1) The words: "so wird er's - name" are missing in the Jena.
2) The Wittenberg and Erlangen editions have that concerning Moses first, Joshua second.
with diligence, as those (where the Turk should continue) are certain to die, and must miserably lose everything, body, goods, honor, wife, child, and (which is probably worse) the soul as well; for it is terrible to die in impenitent life (that is, to be eternally damned). Therefore, from the pulpit we should confidently shout and punish vice and sin, as Isaiah 58:1 says: "Preach confidently, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and proclaim to my people their wickedness, and to the house of Jacob their sin" etc. And St. Paul 2 Tim. 4, 2. 3: 3) "Preach the word, persevere, whether in season or out of season, chastise, rebuke, exhort with all patience and doctrine; for there will be a time when they will not suffer sound doctrine."
20) Now if there are some who do not want to suffer such punishment in God's name, they may stay out of the church or go out in 4) the devil's name. Who holds the others here? They will do us no good nor help, but rather harm in such troubles, who will not hear God's word; but we cannot keep God's word silent for their sake; let them go to the devil and die like sows and dogs, without sacrament and grace, always buried on the shingle. For if we want to have a merciful God, we must truly suffer from Him that He punishes and reproves us as sinners and bad boys, and also confess that He does right, since 5) He reproves us sinners and bad boys, as David says: "Against You alone have I sinned, that You might be just in Your words" [Ps. 51:6]. True Christians like to hear that they are scolded and punished with God's word.
(21) But these, wishing to be unpunished, freely confess that they are the right desperate wretches, who thereby also sin against the Holy Spirit, as not wishing to suffer Him to punish them by His preaching ministry; or, have they fallen so far as to take our preaching and word for ours, that is, for man's?
3) Here the Erlangen edition has reprinted from Walch 2 Tim. 4, 23. besides two other wrong Bible citations of Walch in this writing.
4) "in" is missing in the Jena.
5) Erlanger: that.
If they do not want to keep the Christian word and therefore do not want to suffer, then they have long since fallen from the Christian faith, well worth and deserved that they hear Mahomet, the Turk, the Pope, the devil and his mother in place of God, amen, if they want it that way. But let them not be in our army; or, if they must be, let them not be in it, lest we everywhere rely on their help, but take care and pray that God will not make us pay for their wickedness, because we do not like it that they, as enemies of God, should despise his word, from which we desire help.
22 And especially the army preachers should admonish, beg, implore, and promise the warriors, including the wild, savage, and crude brother Vitus, 1) who is capable of much torture and wounding, 2) who is capable of suffering from the diseases of Francis, Pestilence, Sanct Veltens, Sanct Antonius, Sanct Quirinus, and etc. that they will refrain from such blasphemies, and pray the Lord's Prayer and the faith instead. For they should know that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the devils in hell, and that the Turk remains undefeated with cursing and blasphemy. As that captain said to a warrior who could curse the enemy very much, "Do you hear, I do not have you in the army to curse Alexandro, but to fight against Alexander. Perhaps some will be admonished and will follow, first those who intend to be saved, but the others are not concerned, they will be better or worse. For for their sake nothing is and will be done in such troubles and great things, and God will not look at them but at the others, as Psalm 34, v. 16, says: "The eyes of the Lord look at those who fear him and wait for his goodness.
23 Thus it is recorded in Roman history that an emperor had a Christian band among other pagans, who knelt down in the field and prayed (as is proper for Christians) before the battle; then a storm came and struck the enemies from heaven. This was the emperor (though pagans) a dear people of war, and called them ÷åñáõíïâüëïõò, that is, thunder-.
1) i.e. the warrior servants.
2) Erlanger: "Wunderns". This reading is wrong, because here is aimed at the curse frequent with war servants: "God's wounds".
than those who could be struck with thunderbolts. In the same way, we could still do well if we would earnestly improve ourselves and pray heartily. For what God does and gives to the whole world, to the Gentiles and the Turks, to the evil and the good, He does all this through and for the sake of His dear children, that is, for the sake of Christians who fear Him, who recognize themselves as sinners, who gladly allow themselves to be punished, and who nevertheless cordially trust in Him, pray and call upon Him in all their needs; this is certainly true. Let this be said of the first work of our preaching ministry; he who has ears to hear, let him hear; he who has not, let him remain back there without an ear, earless, deaf and deafened, as long as he will or can, we must go.
(24) The other work is that we then turn to God with right prayer; for these are the two priestly offices, to turn to the people and teach them what is right and good, and then to turn to God and pray that we may do this and also obtain happiness and victory. As Samuel, 1 Sam. 12, 23, 24, says: "Far be it from me to sin against the Lord in this way, that I should cease to pray for you, and to teach you the good and right way; only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart." Here we hear that it is sin against God if we preachers do not teach the people rightly and pray for them, so it is also sin if the people do not obey nor fear God, who teaches them through our preaching ministry.
(25) The people are to be admonished about this, that they also pray; for the Lord's Prayer and all prayers are common to all Christians, whether they be preachers or hearers, but especially to the preacher, as he who is to lead the word, and to stand and walk at the head. But how one should pray has been abundantly taught in many books, namely, that one should not doubt in prayer [Jac. 1:6]. For whoever doubts whether he will be heard by God, let him stand in line and not be sworn to God and prayer. For he cannot and will not suffer to be doubted, that is, he cannot and will not have us call him a liar or an unfaithful God; but he who doubts does as much as if he said, "Lord God, I do not believe it, I do not know it.
Nor whether it be true that thou sayest, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 1) that will I do"; and the like many other sayings.
26 Therefore, where you want to pray, think that you kneel or step boldly and unashamedly (if you have recognized yourself as a sinner and want to be corrected, as said above) and speak to God like this: Lord God, heavenly Father, I ask, and I will have it without fail, that it should and must be Yes and Amen, that and no other, otherwise I will not pray nor ask; not that I am right, or worthy, I know well and confess that I do not deserve, yea, have deserved the infernal fire and thy eternal wrath with many great sins, but that I may be a little obedient in this, since 2) thou dost command and compel me to pray in the name of thy dear Son, our Lord JEsu Christ; upon this defiance and consolation of thy causeless goodness, not upon my righteousness, I kneel or come before thee and pray for N. N. etc.
27 Secondly, it is also sufficiently taught that one should not tempt God in prayer, that is, not set him the time, measure, goal, way, or person, how, when, where, or by what means he must hear us, but rather humbly send it all home to him, who, according to his divine incomprehensible wisdom, will certainly find it. But do not doubt (if it could be seen otherwise) that the prayer was certainly answered, as the angel Gabriel, Dan. 9, 23, says: "When you began to pray, the command went out" etc. and was answered far higher and more than Daniel had asked. Such things, I say, are sufficiently taught beforehand in the Catechismo, and otherwise in many writings. Therefore, even in the present emergency against the Turk, we should keep it this way, and everyone should pray to himself.
In order that the people may be stirred to devotion and earnestness by public prayer in the church, I would be pleased, where it pleases the pastors and churches, that on feast days, after the sermon (whether in the morning or in the evening, or around each other), the 79th Psalm: "Lord, there are Gentiles fallen into your inheritance,
1) The words: "in my name" are missing in the Jena.
2) Erlanger: that.
sing one choir after the other, as usual. After that, a well-tuned boy steps in front of the lectern in their choir, and sings alone the antiphon or tract: Domino, non secundum [Ps. 103, 10.]; after that, another boy sings the other tract: Domino, no womineris [Ps. 79, 8.]; and on it the whole choir kneeling: Adjuva nos Dous [Ps. 79, 9.]; allerdinge, wie man in der Fasten im Pabstthum gesang; denn es sehr devächtig lautet und siehet etc., and the words rhyme well against the Turk, where one directs them with the heart. On it (where one wants) the layman may sing: Keep us, O Lord, in thy word, 3) Grant us peace, or the German Vater-Unser. The 79th [Psalm] should be alternated with the 20th Psalm, which prays for the authorities and those who work in conflict. If, however, such a song would be too long after the sermon, it could be sung instead of the Introit, or even under the Communion. This would be enough for public prayer (besides the Litania) ceremonies in this case. But if someone wants to pray in church or at home, and does not know a better word or way, he should take the Lord's Prayer before him and, if he pleases, stimulate his devotion with these or similar words:
(29) Heavenly Father, we deserve to be punished by you, but punish us according to your mercy and not according to your wrath. It is better for us to be delivered into thy hands than into the hands of men, or into the hands of the enemy; as David also asked [2 Sam. 24:14]. For great is thy mercy; we have sinned against thee, and have not kept thy commandments etc. But you know, Almighty God the Father, that we have not sinned against the devil, the pope, the Turk, nor do they have any right or power to punish us, but you can and may use them as your fierce rod against us, who have sinned against you and deserved all misfortune.
(30) Yes, dear God, Heavenly Father, we have not committed any sin against them, so that they would have the right to punish us; but they would much rather have us go to heaven together with them.
3) "Preservation - word" is missing in the Jena.
sinned most abominably against thee. For they inquire not whether we have disobeyed thee, blasphemed thee, committed all manner of idolatry, as they do, dealt in false doctrine, faith, and lies, committed adultery, fornication, murder, theft, robbery, sorcery, and all manner of evil against thee, they inquire not. But this is our sin against them, that we preach, believe, and confess thee, O God the Father, the only true God, and thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, an everlasting God; yea, this is the sin which we do against them. But if we denied you, the devil, the world, the pope and the Turk would leave us satisfied, as your dear Son says: "If you were of the world, the world would love yours" etc. [John 15:19.]
(31) Behold now, thou merciful Father over us, and grave judge of our enemies, for they are thine enemies more than our enemies, and when they persecute and smite us, they themselves persecute and smite thee; for the word which we preach, believe, and confess is thine, not 1) ours, all the work of thy Holy Spirit in us. The devil does not want to suffer this, but wants to be our god instead of you, to create lies in us instead of your word. The Turk wants to put his Mahomet in the place of your dear Son Jesus Christ, because he blasphemes him and says that he is not a true God, that his Mahomet is higher and better than he is. If then it is sinful for us to hold, confess and praise you, the Father and your Son and the Holy Spirit, as the true, unified God, then you yourself are the sinner who works such things in us, and is called such things, and wants to have them. Therefore, when they hate, beat and punish us because of such things, they hate, beat and punish you themselves. Therefore wake up, dear Lord God, and sanctify your name, which they desecrate; strengthen your kingdom, which they destroy in us, and create your will, which they want to dampen in us, and do not let yourself be trampled underfoot for the sake of our sin by those who do not want to punish our sin in us, but want to erase your holy word, name and work in us, so that you do not become a god.
1) Erlanger: and not.
and have no people to preach, believe and confess you. 2)
See, such thoughts give you the words in the Lord's Prayer, if you look at them right: "Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done" etc. Therefore, you should also put such thoughts into your Lord's Prayer; as we see that all the prophets pray that God will spare their sins for the sake of His name, so that the Gentiles (who want to take the right name of God and not their sins) do not boast: Where is now their God? [Ps. 79, 10.]) They rather care for the name of God, and that the enemies do not devastate God's word (which is the highest wrath), because they are punished for their sin. Therefore they confess their sin and ask for mercy, so that for their sake God and His name will not be destroyed; thus they turn and turn away God's wrath on the enemies, as they are enemies of His people, not for their sin, but for the sake of God, who has His name, word and kingdom in them.
33. Such and such prayer is, as said, of all prophets; as you see in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Psalms, who always confess their sin to God, but yet boast themselves innocent, yes, pious, righteous and holy against their enemies, not because of their work or sin, but that they have, worship, call upon and confess the right God, which God works in them, and thus must themselves be a sinner to the devil, Turk, pope, world, flesh, be wrong, be condemned, blasphemed and punished. Which he must suffer (or rather suffer unwillingly) for the sake of our sin, as St. Paul Rom. 2:24 says: "God's name is blasphemed for your sake among the Gentiles." Therefore, if we want to be God's people, we should be holy and pious, so that God does not have to suffer for our sins 4) or He will punish us terribly and make us suffer ourselves. And just as we do not want to take him for a god, so we will not take him for a god.
2) This entire prayer has been translated into Latin and included in the 7th volume of the Latin Wittenberg edition (toi. 1556), but there provided with a conclusion formed by a foreign hand.
3) "itself" is missing in the Erlanger.
4) "Sin" is missing in the Jena.
If he does not take us for his people, whom he wants to save and help, he will not take us for his people.
34 Let this be said of what we, who are in the spiritual ministry, should and can do. For even though I myself am often troubled that our sin and wickedness is too great, the unrepentant raving of the papists and the ingratitude of our part is overwhelming, that I would doubt our prayer, I am also moved by the example when God forbade the prophet Jeremiah not to pray or complain for his people, "for I will not hear you," Jeremiah 7:16, and again Jeremiah 15:1: "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart. 15, 1: "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart for this people; drive them away from me," and Ezek. 14, 14.If the three men, Noah, Daniel, Job, were among this people, they would save nothing but their own souls"; for truly it is far too horrible that we Germans, having spent the previous horrible life under the idolatries of the papists, now also, when God graciously visits us with the light of His unspeakable grace, blaspheme and profane the same, and exercise all courage against His servants and our neighbor. etc.:
(35) But because I have not the new commandment which Jeremiah had, that I should not pray, though there be some right devout hearts, though few, yet doubtless many more than a Moses, or a Samuel, or a Noah, Daniel, Job, it will not be done in good conscience that we should despair and cease to pray of our own thirst and nobleness, but must keep the common and ancient commandment, "Pray, seek, knock. 7, 7], so that we will not be scolded as God scolds the prophets Ezek. 13, 5.: "O Israel, thy prophets are as the foxes in the wilderness; they tread not before the gaps, nor make themselves a barrier about the house of Israel, nor stand in contention in the day of the Lord"; and Cap. 22:30: "I sought among them if there were any that would turn away wrath from me, that I might not destroy the land: but I found none. Therefore I poured out my wrath upon them, and with the fire of my fury I consumed them, and so gave them
their merit on their head" (says the Lord); thus also Isaiah, Cap. 64, 7. complains: "No one calls on your name" etc.
Therefore, we must pray that whatever God wills may come to pass. If we do not get it this time, and what we would like to have now, nevertheless our prayer is certainly heard and pleasant (we know that), and much greater and better things must follow, neither we have asked; as St. Paul says Eph. 3, 20: "Who is abundant and mighty over all that we ask or understand. And, O blessed would we be, if we had to miss the Turks with this prayer this time, and yet would have acquired the last day for it soon after, which cannot be far away, and the Turk also (like the Pope) must be at his end, of that I have no doubt.
(37) And beware of the Turkish Epicurean faith, where some pretend: What shall I do? What is the use of praying? What good is much worrying? If it is done, it must be done. For thus the Turks believe and say: No one can die unless his hour comes; therefore they are so foolish and foolhardy and think they are doing well and doing right. Yes, it is true that what is done is done; but I am not commanded, but rather forbidden, to know what is done. Therefore, because I do not know what is done, God tempts those who go in for such ignorance and pervert; I am commanded to know what is to be done. And therefore his word is given unto us, that we should know what we ought to do, and not do that which we know not, but commit the same unto God, and keep our commandment, our profession, our office; God will and will alone know what is done, thou shalt not know it.
38) Joab, the captain of David's army, having enemies in the rear and in the front, did not say to Abishai his brother, "Wait, let us see what is done, and we will do it;" but he said, "Fight against Ammon. Ammon, I will fight against the Syrians. If the Syrians are too strong for me, come to my aid; if Ammon is too strong for you, I will come to your aid; be of good cheer, and let us be strong for our people,
2212 Erk "2, SS-S5. 55. L.'s Exhortation to Pray Against the Turk. W. XX, 27SL-2766. 2213
and for the cities of our God; but let the Lord do what pleases him." So we also should judge ourselves in our offices, not according to the disposition, since we have no word, light, or science of it; but do it out of our eyes, heart, and all our senses, let it remain hidden in darkness and secret, and do what we know and are commanded to do by his word and imagined light. Then the misguided will probably find themselves and unsought, which otherwise cannot be found, and become vain epicureans, Turks, impudent stupid fools, or despondent and desperate miserable people. The devil rides such people to make them think they are clever and wise, and they do not see that it is the apple on which Adam and Eve, together with all their descendants, ate eternal death; they also wanted to know God's secret counsel and providence about what they were commanded, tempted God with it and transgressed His holy commandment.
After this work of ours, the clergy, think, you secular classes, also on your work, let yourselves be told and advised, listen to God's word and pray with us; establish justice in the country, punish usury and other more vices. Moderate the ugly, shameful drinking, gambling and expenses; send yourselves also 1) to the sacrament, and do not oppose it, as the others do, as if it were poison, or as if it were a disgrace to their status, to humble themselves therefore. If we want to confess the word, we must also truly receive the sacrament, which is instituted for confession, or (as Christ himself speaks) for remembrance; otherwise such contempt, that some may not go there for many years, cannot please God, and certainly there will be no good conscience nor earnestness toward God's word.
40 And when ye go against the Turk, be sure, and doubt not, that ye fight not against flesh and blood, that is, against men, lest I be your prophet, that a Turk shall smite many Christians: but be sure that ye fight against a great host of devils; for the host of the Turk is the host of devils. Therefore leave
1) "also" is missing in the Erlanger.
Do not rely on your spear, sword, guns, power or quantity, for there the devils do not inquire; as we are well informed by experience so far, that the Turk has had vain victory and luck against us, and will have further, where we as men will war against men. Just as the pope and his devils could not be defeated without God's word, even though the emperors Friederici, Henrici 2) etc. were powerful enough, but he trampled them all under his feet, because the devil was with him. We must learn to sing with the 44th Psalm, v. 7. "I do not rely on my bow, and my sword cannot help me" etc. We must have angels with us against the devils, which will happen if we humble ourselves, pray and trust God in His Word.
41 When we have done our part, whether we prepare ourselves with prayer or defend ourselves, let us then say with Joab [2 Sam. 10:12], Let us go freshly, let God's will be done, as he has ordained and as it pleases him, to life or death. If he will have us punished and beaten, then we will die and suffer in our profession and his command, and for his name's sake, and thus become his martyrs; we have the advantage over that, that we will be judges and lords of the Turk, the Pope, the world and all devils forever, with Christ and all the angels. And what can the Turk and all devils do to us Christians? and how evil can he do it? He can neither give us nor take away our fiefdom. For life was taken from us long ago, in the beginning of the world, in paradise, through Adam's sin, in which we are already dead and dead all who are born of him, Rom. 5:12 (the Turk as well as we). On the other hand, Christ our Savior has long since restored and given it to us through His resurrection to all who believe and call upon Him and desire Him; but not to the Turks and unbelievers, nor to the devils, for they remain in death.
(42) This he may well do, that he may shorten the time of us mortals, that we may sooner be buried, and rot, and come to death.
2) This refers to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Henry IV. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIX, 1964.
He is not able to do anything more for us. As Christ himself comforts us Matth. 10, 28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body", and after that they have nothing that they can do to you. Vide, si placet, meas .ibidem annotationes. 1) And 1 Petr. 3:13, 14, 15: "And who is he that can hurt you, if ye follow that which is good? Even if you suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Do not be afraid of their defiance, and do not be dismayed, but sanctify God the Lord in your hearts." For we do not fight to gain land and people, property and honor, or to establish and spread idolatry, but to preserve God's word and His church, especially for our dear youth and descendants, and we intend to fight the Turk so that he will not put his devilish filth and blasphemous Mahomet in the place of our dear Lord JESUS CHRIST; this is indeed the fundamental cause and serious opinion of our fight, death and life in this case; this is certainly true. Therefore we wage a godly war against the Turk, and are holy Christians and die blessedly.
43. so it may well be that the Turk, like the pope, would fall. For the two kingdoms, the Pabst's and the Turk's, are the last two abominations and God's wrath, as Revelation [14:8, 9] calls the false prophet and the beast, and must be seized together and thrown into the lake of fire. For this has never been heard of any kingdom from the beginning, that they so shamefully destroyed the marriage state, as the pope and the Turk do. The pope, under the pretense of chastity, has condemned them forbidden and unclean. The Turk tears man and woman from each other and gives and sells the women as if they were cows or calves; of this, and other things, I have written in the Sermon to the Gentiles 2). Summa, there is nothing different, because house-, city- and church-regiment disturb, both in the Pabstthum and Turkey.
1) The "Notes on the Evangelist Matthew," to which Luther refers here, can be found Walch, old edition, vol. VII. The passage in question, Matth. 10, 28, ibid. there, Col. 148 ff.
2) The previous number in this volume.
44 Lastly, let the children learn the Catechismum, whether they are led away in strife, yet know something of the Christian faith; who knows what God may work through them? Joseph was also sold in Egypt in his seventeenth year, but he had God's word and was able to keep his faith, and afterward he converted all of Egypt. So did Daniel and his companions in Babylon [Dan. 1, 8. f.]. Likewise, if the wives, being carried away, should live with other men in Turkey, both in bed and at meat, to be patient, and to suffer these things for Christ's sake, yet not to despair, as if they were damned: for the soul can do nothing, as the enemy doeth unto thy body. He who is a prisoner is a prisoner; God's word and faith remain uncaptured, just as Christ himself remains uncaptured. The preachers will be able to continue to teach and transfigure this. It is said: "marvelous, unsearchable, incomprehensible are His ways" [Rom. 11, 33.] and as He says to Moses: "My face thou canst not see, but My backside shalt thou behold" [2 Mos. 33, 23.].
45. But I do not want to have written such comfort at all, that Mainz, Heinz, and whoever else they are, the desperate assassins, traitors, murderers and evil-doers, should console themselves of that, whom I respect well, and also truly know that before they accept our teaching, the divine word (which they themselves must know, recognize and confess, that it is not our word, but truly God's word), much before they would become Turks against us, or, if they could, they would gladly become devils themselves, let alone that they should not heartily indulge, serve, advise and help the Turk as they only can, according to the saying of Virgilii: Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo, 3) if God does not help us from heaven, then all the devils will help us in hell; that is Mainzes and Heinzes, together with your thoughts, that I truly know.
46 And this is no small comfort to me, that God will look upon our miserable pleas, cries and sighs, and upon such great treacherous wickedness and devilish plots of the Heinzen and Mainzen, so we
3) Virgil, Ii6. VII, v. 312.
2216 Erl. SS, S7-SS. 55. L.'s exhortation to pray Wider den Türken. W. XX. 2768-2770. 2217
and still have to suffer, and help us above our merit, even regardless of our sin, yet against both, and finally, when we are humbled, give them their deserved reward on their head. For he lets sing of him: Facit judicium injuriam patientibus [Ps. 146, 7.] and: Justus est Dominus [Ps. 145, 17.]. And just as they sing now: Where is now your God? we want to sing once again: Where is now Mainz, Heinz, G[eorg) and their fellows?
(47) Likewise, I will not and cannot have comforted our nephilim, 1) the tyrants, usurers, and rogues among the nobility, who make themselves believe that God has given us the gospel and redeemed us from papal imprisonment, so that they may be stingy, toil, and exercise all courage, press their princes, oppress land and people, and want to be everything in everything, which is not commanded but forbidden to them. They are the ones who help God's wrath to send the Turks to thresh over us, over themselves as well, where they will not repent. For it is impossible that Germany should remain standing, even infallibly and unpleasantly, where such tyranny, usury, miserliness, and the arrogance of the nobility, the bourgeoisie, the peasants, and all classes should remain and increase; in the end, the poor man would keep no crusts of bread in his house, and would rather, or so gladly, sit with the wise among the Turks than among such Christians. If there is too much power and no one better, they mock God's word and plague his servants.
1) i.e. giants, tyrants, Gen. 6:4.
2) Jenaer: like this. - Erlanger: "superiority."
48. But the consolation is that God, the Father of all mercy, a right judge, as well as an angry avenger 3) of all devils, Turks, Mahomet, Pabst, Mainz, Heinz, and all evildoers, has given us His holy, sacred word out of heartfelt grace, to recognize His dear Son; and that such a word is nevertheless accepted, honored and praised among so many blasphemers, persecutors, despisers, desperate devil children, by many good-hearted, chosen people, so glorious that not a few have risked their life and limb, property and honor over it, and still do. Such people's faith and prayers will and should push the bottom out of the barrel and put an end to the game, as Christ says, Luc. 18, 7. 8.: "Do you think that God will not save His elect who cry out to Him day and night? I tell you, he will save them in a moment."
In sum, we Christians should not presume on our wisdom or power (as the Turk, the Pope, Mainz, and the world do); nor should we despair or fear, as Judas did, and the Turk, the Pope, Mainz, and the world must do in the end. Our consolation, defiance, arrogance, presumption, pride, insistence, security, victory, life, joy, glory and honor sit above at the right hand of God the Father Almighty [Rom. 8:34]. Defiance, devil, bend him a hair, he is called and remains Scheblimini. All things are commanded unto him, he shall do and do well, as he hath done from the beginning, even unto the ages of ages, amen.
3) Jenaer: "Streffer" - punisher.