Luther wishes him luck on assuming his new office; from the English legation; invitation to a disputation.
From Aurifaber's unprinted collection in Schütze, Vol. III, p. 7 and in De Wette, Vol. IV, p. 669.
Grace and peace from the Lord! The wine of which you write has been sent and given to me, about 6 buckets, my dear Franz, and I wish you luck for your happiness and the new honor or work,
1) Georg Winkler, preacher in Halle, whom the Cardinal had murdered.
2) The continuation of this saying is: "there is no good fur from".
and I pray to the Lord (Deum) Christ to increase and preserve this happiness of yours with all blessings, Amen.
Here we are disputing with the English, when disputing means bickering. It is unpleasant to me that our prince is burdened with such great costs. I, at least, am sick to death of them, and have long since begun to hate these useless arguments with Carlstadt and Zwingli, by which, as Paul says [1 Tim. 6:4], the hearts are darkened, and by which one loses all that one knows and becomes a fool. "Thinking themselves wise (he says [Rom. 1, 22.]), they have become fools." But of this verbally a more.
The disputation on the private mass will take place, God willing, next Saturday [Jan. 29] 3), and the summa of the same is taken in this conclusion:
All human service in divine things is an abomination.
But every private mass is of the kind, So every private mass is an abomination. Fare well in the Lord, and come if you can. Given on the day of the conversion of St. Paul [Jan. 25] 1536.
Your Martin Luther.
No. 2209.
To the Elector Johann Friedrich.
See St. Louis edition, vol. XVII, 284, no. 1281.
No. 2210.
Elector Johann Friedrich to Luther.
The Elector rejects Luther's thanks for the gifts sent; expresses himself unfavorably about the fact that the English envoys have spoiled the matter by bickering, and designates Eisenach as the place of the meeting for discussion with Strasbourg and Augsburg.
The concept is in the Weimar Archives, Reg. H, fol. 97, No. 41. Printed by Burkhardt, p. 244.
3) This results in a correction of the time determination for this disputation. All previous editions put it in the year 1535, but that the conclusion given by Luther here is identical with the one given in the St. Louis edition, Vol. XIX, 1298, can be seen at first glance.
Letters from the year 1536. No. 2210. 2211. 2212.
Our greeting before. Venerable and reverend, dear devotee! We have read your letter, which has now been sent to us, and would have been without need of your thanks for the wine and the wild boar, which we have had sent to you, because we are inclined to you with many more gracious gifts. Where the wine also pleased you and tasted good, we granted you with all graces, because we also ordered to send you the best.
But that you report that the English embassy is delaying things by quarreling and doing little, we would not have provided for that and do not like to hear it, but we do not bear the delay and expense, because we know that they also do such delay of the place for other reasons.
Since the people of Strasbourg and Augsburg strongly urge you to designate a time and place for the meeting, and you 1) consider such a discussion necessary, we also put up with it and have gladly heard it, because we hope that it will be enough for many good things, and we consider Eisenach to be the most convenient place for it. Therefore, you will know how to name such a place and time according to your opportunity, and when you have united with them in such a place and time, then let us know the same day, and we will provide you with horses, wagons and food to visit such a day. And because you do not consider it useful nor necessary that your many come together, we would like you to take with you the Doctor Pomeranum or Magister Philipp Melanchthon, whom we have hereby appointed for you. In our gracious opinion, we do not want you to do this, and we are inclined to you with all special graces. Date at Torgau, Thursday after Conversionis Pauli [27 Jan.] Anno 1536.
No. 2211.
To Johann, Georg and Joachim von Anhalt.
Luther is ill and therefore cannot join them and the Margrave on February 2.
First printed in 1830, after the original, in Lindner's "Mittheilungen", II, p. 36; then in the Erlangen edition, vol. 56, p. 203 and in De Wette-Seidemann, vol. VI, p. 168.
1) "you" put by us instead of: "ever".
To the illustrious, highborn princes and lords, Johanns, Georgen and Joachim, brothers, princes of Anhalt, counts of Ascanien and lords of Bernburg, my gracious dear lords.
G. and peace in Christ. Sublime, high-born princes, gracious lords! I have no lack of good will to come to E. F. G. in the morning. But I have now been coughing and suffering from catarrh and similar ailments for three days, so that I have never come up for air, and I am not allowed out yet. Otherwise E. F. G. would know how I am inhibited if I were healthy. I therefore request that Your Grace graciously allow me to have such a knock-off, and that you grant it to me against my Lord Margrave 2c. Margrave 2c. my excuse in the best possible way; for I would willingly and gladly do this and much more to the best of my ability. God knows that. Christ, our dear Lord, 2) be with E. F. G. all, Amen. Vigilia purificati. [Feb. 1, 1536.
E. F. G.
Martinus Luther, D.
No. 2212.
To Anton Lauterbach in Leisnig.
Concerns about the blessedness of mothers who died in childbirth and of stillborn children.
Manuscript at Gotha in Cod. chart. 402, fol. 168. 4. and at Wolfenbüttel in Cod. Gud.214; also in Aurifaber, vol. III. Printed in Schütze, vol. III, p. 8 and in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 671 f. German in Walch, vol. XXI, 1441.
To the highly venerable man, Mr. Anton Lauterbach, the faithful servant of the church in Leisnig, his extremely dear brother.
Grace and peace in Christ! "Oh, my Anton, have patience, it will soon be better. On the other hand, about the miscarriages (abortis) and the dying childbed women, these are my thoughts." First of all, of the childbearing women themselves, if they die in faith, there is no doubt that they will be saved, since they are in the duty of their gender created by God.
2) "HErr" is missing in the original.
Letters from the year 1536. No. 2212. 2213. 2214.
and so faith is found active in its work, even completed in the cross, so that it can safely await the day of judgment or rather of consolation. Therefore, women must be admonished to make the greatest effort to bear the fruit in this emergency, even if they would have to die in childbirth itself. For some care more for their life than for that of the fruit, fearing death or fleeing pain.
Secondly. As for the fruit that dies either in the womb or in childbirth, this is my opinion: that this sign of God's wrath is not to be despised for the sake of unbelieving and wicked people, who, if they knew that it was of little concern, would do many things that are frightening to think about. Therefore, I would like this misfortune to be made great (but privately) among hard and unintelligent people, in order to deter them from future presumption, of which the world otherwise already has enough, for whose sake God allows such things to happen, whether they want to be frightened. But because such things also commonly happen to the godly (to the seduction and annoyance of the godless), we must think that it is a temptation to our faith. Therefore, if the women are godly, you can comfort them in this way, that they should first of all entrust this matter to the goodness of God, who is much kinder than a man can think. 1) Then he did not bind himself to his sacraments in such a way that he could not do anything else without the sacraments, as under the law he made many (even kings) blessed without the law, namely Job, Naaman, the king of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. But for this reason he did not want his law to be publicly despised, but rather to be kept under the penalty of cursing. So I hope that for these little ones, who are deprived of baptism through no fault of their own, and since there is no contempt for a public commandment, the kind and exceedingly merciful God will think of something good for them,
1) The following is inserted in the consolation writings: "Ein schöner, herrlicher Trost für fromme gottselige Frauen 2c. 1542", inserted. It is missing in the first printing. See Seidemann at De Wette, vol. VI, p.339, also St. Louis edition, vol. X, 733 f.
But which, because of the wickedness of the world, he did not want to proclaim or allow to be believed in general, so that there would not be a contempt for all things that he decrees and commands. For we see that many things are commanded by God for the sake of the wickedness of the world, which He clearly does not regard as anything in godly people. In short, the Spirit works all things for the best; in the wrong-doers He is wrong. 2) Therefore, be careful not to teach this opinion of mine publicly, which belongs only to the consciences of the godly. For the great multitude immediately accept this as a certain law which they can safely follow, and so it will happen that even with knowledge and will they will either kill or neglect the fruit. Therefore, this matter must rather be kept silent publicly, and the good consciences must be comforted privately. For God has not revealed to us what He wants to do with the little ones who have not been baptized, but has reserved them to His mercy, but has commanded that the word and the sacraments be publicly insisted upon; "then we shall leave it at that". He is not unjust. Be well. Greet your flesh, Agnes. 3) 1536, Tuesday after Dorothea [Feb. 8].
Your Martin Luther, D.
No. 2213.