Detailed report by Weiler, as an eyewitness, on the proclamation of the Last Day by Stiefel in Lochau.
The original is in the von Wallenrodt Library at Königsberg. Printed in Actis Boruss. II, 689 (not correct) and (after the original) in Burkhardt, p. 216 (several times interpungently disturbing the sense).
Hail! I recently gave someone a letter that was to be delivered to your noble prince, but I hear that it was lost through the carelessness, or, to put it more correctly, through the rebelliousness (renitentia) of the messenger, in which I wrote, among other things, if I remember correctly, some things about Stiefel's prophecy, which I will repeat in a few words so that you have the story in its entirety. You know how he started the story in a modest way, so that he did not seem to bring up anything improbable or contrary to Scripture. For he said what everyone said at that time and still now, that the end of the world was near. But after he had perceived that this met with the approval of the people, as it is wont to happen with all new things, he brought a prophecy on the way and invented I do not know what kind of revelation, and, not satisfied with that either, began to demand of our Lord Doctor that he should approve his conceits and confirm his prophetic books by prefaces. When the Herr Doctor refused this, Stiefel began to attack him by letters, and asserted in a more than bitter manner that the spirit had gone out in him, calling him a Pilate and Herod. Luther endured this, as he was wont to do, in the most modest manner, and exhorted him in letters, which were kept as friendly as possible, that he should desist from his presumption. For he went so far in his nonsense that he not only predicted the year and the day, but also the hour. When this was reported to the prince, he began, as was right, to become indignant when he saw that new doctrines were being spread near his door.
and, moreover, considered these meetings suspicious because of a riot. For there ran together an immense crowd, and a mixed one at that. Therefore he would have thrown the boot into prison if Luther had not intervened. Finally, he was forbidden to mention this matter in his sermons. Stiefel certainly promised sacredly, but soon after the departure of the prince he returned to his old ways, because the predestined time was near. But it was the day after Lucä [I19 October], at the eighth hour in the morning. Therefore, three days before, he began to exhort the people to repentance and to partake of the body and blood of Christ; he did the same on the following day. On the third day he rested, perhaps because by fate it was a Sabbath 1); but he was busy hearing confessions, for an immense crowd had gathered there, even from regions forty miles and more distant. In short, I went there with some members of the school (scholasticis) to refresh my spirit, so that the spectacle would not be without spectators. At the same time, I was admonished by the doctor that I should observe everything carefully. We arrived in the evening, however, so that we would not disturb the story if Stiefel learned that Wittenbergers were there. By chance, I found some in the inn who had traveled all the way from Silesia; I saw that they were sad and thoughtful, fasting and sober. Soon it becomes clear what kind of people they are. I approach, greet them, and since I have nothing else to say, I complain about the rain and blame the carter's obtuseness for not knowing the way. Then I ask who they are, where they come from and what news they bring. Immediately, the one who was the oldest among them began to speak, saying that he had come from Silesia, prompted by the rumor of the last day, of which they had heard that he was at the door; But now he knew that he was there, instructed by Stiefel, whom he placed among the prophets and then exalted with praise to heaven, and said that he was not a little surprised that among our people 2) so little consideration was given to such a great man, while among his people he was honored as what he really was, namely, as a prophet, and he spoke this out.
1) Saturday, October 18.
2) After nostros Burkhardt has an ill placed comma.
Letters from 1533. no. 2017.
of experience, do not let yourself be guided by assumptions. Then he asked me to come together with the man, he knew that he could satisfy me and anyone else by his proofs; there was such a great spirit in him that he could do it, such a great kindness that he wanted it. While we were talking like this, I don't know what other people came in between, a not to be despised crowd, there were about twenty; these were followed by others and again by others. And so you could see all the seats full of guests. And to put an end to the story: one goes to bed, and in the place that each one had taken, one could rest, if otherwise there can be any rest in such a big crowd and such a big hubbub. I wake up very early, since it was still quite dark, my companions. Among all, the shepherd of the cattle, as he had been ordered by Boots, was the first to give a sign; I, thinking that it was the last trumpet, admonished those who happened to be around me not to lose heart. But the prophet had foretold that it would happen that first of all the animals would die; so that the cattle and the sheep would not frighten his own, the shepherd, obeying the word, drove them away. Now we stream into the church. We see that everything, at least as much as it could be done in this scantiness, was arranged quite solemnly. The beginning of the mass was: "From deep distress"; the epistle of Paul follows; after this: "Now we ask the Holy Spirit", and after that the priest reads the gospel. Finally the whole crowd sings with each other the apostolic creed: "We believe" 2c. And meanwhile Stiefel mounts the pulpit. After a short preface, he finishes the Gospel with very few words. Then he begins his prophecy with these words: "Everyone among you knows well enough that there is a rumor, which is not dark, that the last day is coming, and they say that I am the author of this rumor. But there will be no one who can say in my presence that he heard this [from me] in holy sermons. 2) "Let no one believe that this has been said of me because I do not know that day which is highly desired by me, since I am not only aware of the day, but also of the day itself.
1) After In so Burkhardt has a comma; it should be in front.
2) In what now follows, Burkhardt has punctuation that disturbs meaning.
But because I have been forbidden by certain people not to mention this matter in sermons, I have been forced to obey them, which I certainly command by divine grace. However, I do not deny that I have made many who demanded just this of me certain about that day and even about the hour; I have also indicated this to many by letter. But because this very day has dawned, and also the hour is approaching with its presence, I would be wicked and ungodly if I did not communicate to you my revelation, which has been granted to me by God, and I will, especially in this matter, obey God rather than men. I therefore announce to you that today is the day of our redemption, and so that you also have the hour: it is the eighth hour that is now coming (but it was between the seventh and eighth). It is also not hidden to me that some look at my person, who despise this revelation, and base themselves on it, that it argues against the holy scripture, especially in this saying [Matth. 24, 36.]: "But of the day and the hour no one knows." O dear God! How far such people err from the right knowledge of the Scriptures; this serves clarification for me. For it is written in another place that one should not add to the Scriptures, but also not take away from them. But how much those take from Scripture who take the divinity from Christ, judge for yourselves. But just by saying that no one knows the day and the hour, not even the Son of Man, they certainly take the divinity from Christ. Therefore they do not understand this word: "No one knows the day and the hour. The evangelist speaks in the present time, because one reads: "nobody knows" and not: "nobody will know". Therefore it will happen that everyone knows. Otherwise it would necessarily follow that Christ himself would not know the day and the hour. But that Christ knows this I can easily prove: first, because after his resurrection he said: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. But if all power is given to him, it is necessary that he knows everything, otherwise how could he exercise his omnipotence in things which he has not known? Therefore, you see what kind of power those people attribute to Christ. Secondly, there is now no one who is a Christian or wants to be considered a Christian who does not admit that Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. But sitting at the right hand of the Father is nothing else than that he is true God, like the Father. But who is he who denies
wanted that [nothing is] 1) hidden from Him, except who denies the omnipotence. So what is it that these people doubt that it will happen that the day and the hour can be predicted? Besides, I have many other things that I would like to tell you, but I am afraid that I do not have enough time. For the hour is near; moreover, there are not a few who desire to partake of the body and blood of Christ. But to return to the matter at hand, I have said that there will be people who know the day and the hour. First, I give thanks to the Almighty God for His immense and infinite grace and goodness towards all, but especially for this revelation that has been given and granted to me, from which I can truly assume that God does not look at the person. Then you know that from the beginning it has always been the case that when God wanted to bring about something extraordinary, He always sent prophets ahead to predict that this would happen, as can be seen from the example of Noah, who predicted the Flood. Then he cited several other examples of the Old Testament, until Christ, who had John as a forerunner. But that the last day exists is indicated by the clarity of the Gospel. It still remains that we determine the day and the hour, which of course, as you know, no one before me has ever known, but by a certain special grace, as I said before, this alone has been granted to me by God. But so that you may know that I am not led by a false delusion, or missing through error, I will explain my revelation to you. There are two things in the holy scripture: the word and the mathematical number. There is no need for me to say more about the word here, especially since you know enough what it is and have often heard it from me as long as I have been a pastor. The number, however, is the measure of the times, as can be seen from Daniel, Ezekiel and the Revelation. Now, as it is certain that the word is certain, so also the number must agree with it. Moved by this reason, I first subjected all that belongs to the Old Testament to the calculation, and immediately found that everything coincides with the numbers. I did the same in the things that belong to the New Testament; in the end, I also arrived at the last day and even at the hour of
1) Here is a hole in the paper; we have filled the gap by: nihil et. Burkhardt conjicirt: deo quicquarn with the remark: "kutri is probably still preferable according to the sense."
myself, and found that it was the eighth. There remains only one doubt, whether this is the hour in the morning or in the afternoon. But although the calculation wants the afternoon hour, I still believe that it is the morning hour. And this is a consideration that first came to my mind yesterday when a certain godly and pious man, whom I will not name, talked to me about this matter. For as Sunday is the best day in the whole week, and Christ has chosen the same, 2) so he will also without doubt choose the best of the hours. But the morning hours are preferred to those of the afternoon. Therefore it is certain that he will come now. But so that I may also comfort you: You, as Christians, must shake off the delusion that you think that Christ will cause you fear or terror by his coming, but rather believe that he will come [for you] as a brother and friend, only for the wicked as an enemy. But the saying of Peter, which says [2 Pet. 3:10] that at the coming of Christ there will be a very great crashing of heaven, earth, and all the elements, seems to argue with this; but in truth he does not argue against it. For the same says [v. 13.] that he will create a new heaven and a new earth. This I understand thus: Because God is omnipotent, he can also create a new heaven and a new earth in an instant. He will place this celestial sphere next to this old globe (spheram) and then in an instant he will transfer us, who are godly, to it. 3) After we are taken away, only then will the wicked hear that crashing of the old heavens of which Peter speaks. Therefore there is nothing that you should fear. As he spoke this, he lifted his hands toward heaven and at the same time exclaimed tearfully: He will come, he will come, he will come! And immediately, without a word of farewell, he descended from the pulpit. Only then did the crying and weeping women start shouting and screaming. Stiesel turned to them as he approached the altar and addressed them with these words: "Do not be frightened; he comes as your brother and not as your enemy." He then approached the altar. After the sacred act was performed there, each one went home. Now the ninth hour was near. After the ninth hour was heard, those who were commanded by the prince joined the prophet and placed him in a
2) namely for the last day; Oct. 19 was a Sunday.
3) Instead of transferrret, read transferet.
Letters from 1533. no. 2017. 2018. 2019.
They led him away to Wittenberg. There he was suspended from his office and made a vow that he would await the verdict of the prince, since he recognized and confessed his error. There you have the story in full, and in more words than I intended. Hold my unrhymed things to my credit.
There is a rumor here of the death of the king of Denmark; there is an interregnum in Denmark, and the king's son has been forced to resign from the government. But we do not know anything certain. I ask you, however, to give me certain news about this. Moreover, it is said that Margrave William has led troops out to Liefland and that everything is hostile. You will learn more from the chancellor; be well. Wittenberg, November 17, 1533.
No. 2018.