Congratulations on starting your marriage and new teaching job in Nuremberg.
Handwritten in Cod. Goth. 185. 4; at Wolfenbüttel in Cod. HeImst. 85 and in Aurifaber, vol. III, p. 229. Printed from the collection of Caspar Sagittarius in Jena in Schütze, vol. III, p.3; in Strobel's Miscell., I, 166; in Strobel-Ranner, p. 249 and in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 664.
Grace and peace in Christ! We wish you happiness, my dear Veit, that the desired marriage has been granted to you, and I pray for your well-being. But that it does not become too much, that is, that not everything goes beyond the common fate of husbands.
Letters from the year 1536. No. 2203. 2204.
Go, lest you make a liar of St. Paul, who presumes to confront us happy and hot-tempered husbands and say [1 Cor. 7:28], "Such people will have bodily afflictions." Now if at times the case should arise that it seems to you that Paul has spoken more truly than you would like: then be you mindful that you prove yourself to be a man who can bear and boast of the weakness of the female, as Peter [1 Ep. 3:7.] teaches, and rather keep the Lesbian Rule than bring righteous wrath upon yourself, and even then you will not concede all power over yourself. But what do I teach, like the sow the Minerva, since the love of marriage still glows so impetuously, since I must know that you can happily rule a hundred manly (marititius) wives (as now is your new one). Much more I wish you happiness in your profession of administration of the Church. I pray and hope at the same time that you will not deviate from the form of the teaching, which you have rather absorbed than drunk here. And I have instructed Doctor Hieronymus Schaller that he should tell you in my name not to let that pagan way of yours (gentile) rule you, although it might tempt you at times, 1) in German it is called "Dünkelfein", that is one who "does the dance well". For you see how great trouble those cause us who have gone out from us. Therefore I want your wife to be greeted by me and asked that she diligently prevent with all her strength of body and soul that you do not become an adulterer with that exceedingly lovely whore, which is called self-conceit (philautia), but prevent and free you from the rut of lust for her, if she should possibly provoke you, as Paul teaches in the letter to Titus Cap. 1,7: xx xxxxxx [not complacent];
1) We have agreed with Cod. Goth. and Strobel-Ranner: tentaverit assumed instead of tentavit in De Wette.
No. 2204.
To Balthasar Raide, preacher in Hersfeld.
Luther answered him, who had asked for something from Luther's hand, very kindly and wished him luck that he was free from rebaptizers and other sects.
From the Wernsdorf collection in Wittenberg in Schütze, Vol. III, p. 4 and in De Wette, Vol. IV, p. 665.
To the highly venerable brother in the Lord, Balthasar Raide, the exceedingly faithful and sincere servant of the church at Hersfeld (Hirsfeldensis).
2) De Wette notes: In the original of the letter Luther had written on the other side, which he calls dorsurn hujus chartae, with somewhat larger and very legible letters the words:
Manum meam petiisti
Ecce manum meam habes Martinus Lutherus.
- These words have been made into "Luther's shortest letter", addressed to "Georg Hirsfelder". See De Wette- Seidemann, Vol. VI, p. 416.
Letters from the year 1536. No. 2205. 2206.
No. 2205.