The council complains about the ecclesiastical grievances caused by the preacher Johann Forster's teachings and his annoying lifestyle. - Luther received this letter on August 28.
The original is in the Weimar Archives, Reg. O, p. 133. 6. copy in Cod. chart. Goth. 398, fol. 124, without the supplement. Printed by Burkhardt, p. 305. The supplement in a note, p. 308 f. Latin. We have translated it from the end and into German.
Our friendly, willing service, and what we are able to do good, your honorable with diligence before.
Letters from the year 1538. No. 2455.
Venerable and highly learned, favorable, dear Doctor! We are well aware of what the Almighty God has mercifully and wonderfully done many years ago (may His divine grace grant even longer and always) with the illumination of the salvific preaching of the pure light of evangelical truth in this city of Augsburg, as in many other places, and has distinguished the light from the darkness in such a way that we hope that the majority (tail) of the churches here will be found on the path of divine truth. First of all, we give God eternal praise, honor and glory, and we thank your E., as an instrument and faithful planter, who has been chosen for this purpose from time immemorial. And even though we and the common city may have been held in unfair suspicion years ago, as if our church did not agree with the church at Wittenberg, perhaps more out of the instigation of the enemies of divine truth and unity, than out of the right reason of things, we have nevertheless been found on both sides in the same, right understanding of the Holy Scriptures, and even so, that by the grace of the Almighty, not only a fervent love, concord and brotherhood between your E., the church at Wittenberg and us in the word of the Lord, but also by common Christian estates and heads a faithful commitment to persevere in the evangelical truth has been made, as the Christian Concord, our printed church order and established understanding indicate. In this, we, praise God, have so far stood and remained firm with unanimous doctrine and church service, also performance, which is due according to the reported understanding, and, if God wills, want to remain unchanged. And where some of our preachers preached, wrote or spoke against this, we would neither permit nor impose it. And to further indicate that we have been and still are cordially well pleased with the Christian church in Wittenberg, we have written to your E. and Mr. Philippo Melanchthon in various years for a Christian, understanding servant in the Word of God, and have faithfully requested that he be assigned to us at our expense. Thereupon, undoubtedly out of a faithful, good mind, Master Johann Forster was sent to us, whom we also, as scholars and educated in so far famous Christian church, received and accepted with all joy, in the good hope that the disciple would follow the master with honorable conduct, Christian doctrine and morals without means, and work the Christian fruit in time. But as we have lived up to our hope
God knows that we would much rather report the fact that we have or have not been idolized than to tell your story in so many words. However, since we have always and in all ways for our and the common city of Augsburg's Christian patron and promoter, and still, we cannot, out of special trust, refrain from having had a little patience and oversight with the appointed Master Johann Forster during the years and time of his service, from daily improvement with him, and also, as we have had the good fortune to show towards him, some of the things we have done, We have also refrained from such disparaging remarks as we might have had the right to make against him, in order to avoid and cut off such disparaging remarks as might have been made against this city before others, as if we were not in agreement with the Wittenberg church doctrine, in which doctrine we have always been very pleased, and therefore have preferred to appoint the Forster mentioned; But immediately in the beginning of his preaching ministry (we do not know, from his own or other people's movement) he took upon himself to bring all other of our preachers to a public recantation of false and erroneous doctrine, and to discuss it in the open pulpit, if it had not been confessed, much less overcome, which aroused not a little displeasure and annoyance in both his confreres, the preachers, and also the common people, in view of the fact that everyone, or the very best (very first) and most part, 1) in Christian, brotherly love and unity, had been quite content and unaccusatory after the expulsion of the Concord. We were also disconcerted that he, above all others, took it upon himself to strike at strange persons, presumably as attached to the papacy as to the Gospel, and to almost make a party, although this is to be unjudged by men further than the day lies. God wills, however, that Forster's and the persons mentioned's conduct be done out of Christian, good zeal, for to compare themselves with a few persons in such a way that they attend only one preaching and church service, and despise all the other preachers because of their person and their doctrine, will have little good reputation for us. Likewise, we are sufficiently informed that his conduct and life are found inappropriate for the parish office according to the teachings of Paul in many ways, with the loading of excess wine, quarrelsome, bitter words, and other things, he is probably called to the sick late or even after midnight.
1) Burkhardt offers: "jederman oder jeder allerwegerst vnd maisttaie" etc. We have assumed: "jederman, oder je der allerwegerst und maist tail" etc. - "wegerst" - on the best way. See St. Louis edition, vol. XVII, 2260, s. v. weger.
Letters from the year 1538. No. 2455.
and come, since he has not yet sobered up, but rather has been very 1) drunk and immodest. Your E. must understand what Christian consolation such a person may communicate to a person in mortal distress, and although his deficiencies have been sufficiently made clear to him in a humble and decent manner, no improvement has been felt in him, as he has also accepted the warning impatiently enough. For as our ordained church priests (indeed, according to the occasion of our city, honorable, select men) indicate to us, there has seldom been a meeting in which he did not engage in unnecessary bickering and brooding, not only against his fellow priests, but also against the prebendaries, The result was that a year ago, two of the church priests, handsome, intelligent people, no longer wanted to sit with him, but had renounced their office. And although we would have tolerated such a thing and the resulting annoyance with a heavy heart, and would have had more reason to change the forester than the reported church priests, we nevertheless hoped for improvement from him, and also worried about the unfounded clamor with which the repugnants tended to charge us before others, as if he would be abolished contrary to the church in Wittenberg, and again tolerated him longer. But the longer we watched and waited for improvement, the more he was able to abuse our patience. For beyond the fact that he himself has publicly confessed before the convention of church presbyters and preachers that a unanimous doctrine and church service of the Concord and our printed church order is here, and is definitely kept, he wants to provoke quarrels and discord, as it were, which is why he also sent a letter to one of our preachers, Master Me! Keller, the other day, and sent these notes 2) and questions, which are stored here, and, regardless of the fact that he hears them daily and may not accuse them of any repugnant doctrine, requests his own handwriting from him, which does not give a slight indication of his unbrotherly and hostile will. Now, our church provosts and preachers were recently assembled on Thursday [Aug. 15], almost all of them, up to 20 persons, before whom Master Michel reported Forster's request for the handwritten note, half a bit painfully, but, as the provosts and others say, modestly, talked about it and asked a question: whether ever from
1) In the text: "prießlich", which will probably be read from "größlich".
2) At the end of this letter.
had been taught to him in such a way or had been heard, so that he had given cause for such a request by Forster, and had also given an explanation of the articles prescribed by Forster, so that they were all well satisfied, and no one had anything against it; only Forster would have said, after Master Michel had finished speaking, that the said Master Michel had said, among other things, at that time, that the articles which Doctor Luther had recently let go out 3) were not in accordance with the Concord. But Master Michel did not confess to this, and called the whole assembly to witnesses, whether they had heard such from him or not, to say publicly; whereupon they all and each in particular said: they had not heard such speeches from Master Michel. But Forster would have said: it was spoken by him, and he would have written it out, would also be true; and what the church provosts and preachers all said against it, not once, but in many ways, all and in particular, and asked him, Forster, not to belittle them all in this way etc., he finally insisted on it, and wanted to overcome them all to the untruth and punished them, thereby moving the named church priests, as requested and ordered by superiority for this purpose, so that they all appeared before us, and complained and complained to the highest degree of Forster's iniquity, as well as of the manifold quarrels and impropriety that had long since passed, with the indication that they should by no means continue to sit with him: They complained to the highest degree, indicating that they would by no means continue to sit with him, but would soon relinquish all their offices, because no improvement could ever be hoped for, but that they would have to worry about all the unpleasantness and inconsistency with him, because he often said something now, which he immediately denied again, and again wanted to accuse the people of their words and speeches in a different way than they had said. How burdensome and unpleasant it would be for us and the common city to see and allow, beyond our long patience, that a church leader, forgetting and neglecting good manners and the appurtenances of his office, should behave in such an indecent manner towards respectable, pious, pious people, who, by reason of their superiority, have been given the right to do so, especially in these times, when nothing more than brotherly love, peace and unity are needed in our town (which has many different kinds of people in it)., as he is highly knowledgeable, can easily take into consideration. Therefore, and so that our church provost's office would remain unchanged in good order as before, peace, tranquility and harmony between other our provosts.
3) The Schmalkaldic Articles are meant, which appeared in 1538. - This passage gives a clue to approximate the time when the Schmalkaldic Articles were first published.
Letters from the year 1538. No. 2455. 2456.
and unity, and also to prevent all kinds of disruption, we are induced (God willing that we should have been left) to act against him according to our necessity and opportunity, asking your E. in an official and friendly manner to understand this thorough, truthful report of ours, which we have given to your E., as a special leader of the Christian religion ordained by God, to do herewith with our own messenger, in Christian friendly opinion and according to our necessity, to understand whether also through him, Förstern, or someone else, whoever he or they were, would be subjected to spreading and denigrating another of us, not to applaud nor believe the same, but certainly to have and to hold that this is the true reason and root of his change 1) and no other, we also remain steadfast in the Christian Concord, our printed church order, and otherwise in other ways as Christian people are entitled to, as much as God grants grace, in all ways, and your E. and to show your E. at all times a pleasant, helpful and friendly will. Date Monday, August 19, 1538.
Bürgermaister vnd Paumaistere als verordente Kriegs- vnd Gehaime Räthe zu Augspurg.
(Inserted note.)
Since I cannot understand you well enough in the Sacrament trade, I ask you, my dear Michael, to explain your opinion to me freely and clearly with your handwriting:
First, whether you hold and confess that the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are truly and essentially the body and blood of the Lord, according to the words of Christ and the article of our Confession and Apology.
Second, whether you hold and teach that in the Lord's Supper even the unworthy truly and substantially receive the body and blood of the Lord.
Third, what people you think are the ones Paul calls unworthy.
Because this demand of mine concerns your hope and faith, which I demand of you not only as a Christian and a private man, but also as a teacher, I hope that you will not be allowed to fail it, nor will you be able to fail it. lo. Forstherus.
1) That is, his removal from office. See Tischreden, cap. 37, § 69, St. Louis edition, vol. XXII, 1051.
No. 2456.