in a Christian letter of consolation to the people of Miltenberg, how they should take revenge on their enemies.
February 1524.
Jesus.
To all the dear friends of Christ at Wittenberg, Martinus Luther, Ecclesiastes at Wittemberg.
Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The holy apostle St. Paul, when comforting his Corinthians
he began thus, 2 Cor. 1:3, 4: "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, that we also may comfort with comfort those who are in afflictions, that we may be comforted by God." In which words
"voutoris üobunnis Oarolstuclii." We give the text after the Erlanger, which brings the original print.
He teaches by his own example that one should comfort the afflicted, but that this comfort is not from men but from God. Which he noticeably adds, in order to avoid the false, shameful comfort, which the world, the flesh and the devil also seek and give, by which all benefit and fruit of suffering and the cross is spoiled and prevented.
2. but what comfort comes from God, he shows in Rom. 15, 4: "What is written before is written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. He says: "To have hope"; but to have hope is that which is not seen nor felt, Rom. 8, 24. Worldly comfort is to see and feel what the afflicted desire, and not to have patience; but here patience is to abide, with the comfort of the Scriptures in hope. This is also what St. Paul does to his Corinthians. For when he had told them of God's comfort, he finally comes to praise them as they are a letter of Christ, prepared by his evangelical preaching ministry and written with the living Spirit, 2 Cor. 3:3, and sows high praise of the gospel, so that a carnal man, looking at it, might well think: Is this man drunk, who wants to comfort the Corinthians, and yet only praises himself and his preaching ministry, and extols the gospel? But whoever looks at it rightly understands how Paul draws the right, noble comfort of God from the Scriptures and strengthens them and makes them happy through the gospel.
(3) Accordingly, dear friends, I have also resolved to comfort your hearts with such comfort as I have from God in your tribulation, which I have received through D. Johann Carlstadt, your expelled pastor, and also received thorough instruction in other ways, how the enemies of the gospel and murderers of souls have acted against you for the sake of the word of God, which they now call Lutheran doctrine with their sacrilegious blasphemy, so that they may appear to be doing God a service by pursuing the doctrine of men, as the Jews also did against the apostles when Christ was preached to them.
4 Now this would be a worldly comfort that would be of no use to your souls and the cause, but would not be of any use to you.
It would be quite harmful for me or you to console ourselves by reproaching and complaining about the sacrilege and wickedness of the blasphemers. And even if we strangled them all with our fist or drove them away, or had pleasure and joy, if someone punished them for our suffering, nothing would be achieved. For it is a worldly vengeance and comfort, and not due to us; but it is due to our enemies; as you see that in you they have cooled their tempers, and smelled themselves, and are glad of it, and have comforted themselves finely.
5 But what comfort is there? Is there hope? Is patience there? Is there writing? Yes, instead of God they have used their fist, instead of patience they have shown vengeance, instead of hope they have made their courage visible, and they feel what they would have liked to feel. Where does such comfort come from? It is not from God; it must surely be from the devil. That is also true. But what is the end of the comfort that comes from the devil? Paul says it Phil. 3, 19: Quorum gloria in confusionem, "their glory will come to an ignominious end".
(6) Now behold what a rich and lofty consolation you derive from this. First of all, you are certain that for the sake of God's word you suffer such their outrage and shame; what does it matter that they call it heresy? You are certain that [it is] the word of God, so they may not be certain that [it is] heresy; for they do not want to hear it and have it, nor may they prove that [it is] heresy, and yet on such uncertain grounds they continue to blaspheme and persecute, as St. Peter [2 Ep. 2, 12] says, which they do not know. Therefore they may not have a good conscience in the matter; but ye have a sure and certain mind, that ye suffer for God's sake. Now who is willing or able to say what a blessed, proud defiance this is, when one is certain that one suffers for God's sake? For who suffers? Whose business is it? Who will avenge it if we suffer for God's sake? St. Peter says: "Blessed are you, if you suffer for righteousness' sake." If someone were emperor of the whole world, he should not like such emperorship only for the sake of
Such suffering to overcome, but also consider a dirt against such comforting treasure.
(7) Therefore, dear friends, you truly have no cause to desire vengeance or to wish ill upon your enemies, but rather to show them heartfelt mercy. For you are, indeed, except for what will befall them in the end, already smelled all too high; they have already suffered all too much; they have only benefited you that you may come to God's comfort through their raging; they themselves have done harm that they will "hardly, and some never, overcome.
8 For what is it that they have afflicted you for a time only in body and goods? It must come to an end. And what is it that they rejoice in their courage for a little while? It will not last long. See your salvation and their sorrow. You have a good, sure conscience, and a right cause; they have an evil, uncertain conscience, and a blind cause, which they know not yet how it is wrong. So you have the comfort of God with patience from the Scriptures, in hope; so they have the comfort of the devil, through vengeance, in visible courage.
(9) Now if you were given the desire to choose that part or yours, should you not run and flee from their things, as from the devil, if it were a kingdom of heaven, and hasten to your part, if it were a hell? since heaven may not be happy when the devil reigns there, and hell may not be sorrowful when God reigns there.
10. Therefore, dear friends, if you wish to take good and arrogant revenge and comfort, not only on your physical persecutors, but rather on the devil who rides them, do so to him: Only be glad and thank God that you have become worthy to hear and know His word, and therefore [to] suffer, and be pleased that you are certain that your cause is God's word, and your comfort from God; and let your enemies lament that they have no good conscience in their cause, and have only the wretched, sorrowful devil's comfort, through their iniquity, impatience, revenge, and temporal will of courage. Believe, surely, with such
With a cheerful spirit, praise and thanksgiving, you will do more harm to your god, the devil, than if you strangled a thousand of your enemies. For he did not do it to comfort them or to hurt you physically, but he would gladly make you sad and miserable, which would be useless to God. So you do all the more, and mock him that he lacks his purpose and displeases him.
II. Above this I will show you one more thing, which should tickle him very finely, of which he is most afraid. He knows well that there is a little verse in the Psalter [Ps. 8, 3], which is called: Ex ore infantium et lactentium fundasti virtutem, ut aboleas inimicum et ultorem, "You have laid a strong foundation through the mouth of infants and sucklings, that you may put an end to the enemy and avenger. This verse does not only threaten him with grief and misery, but also that he will be destroyed; and that not by great power, which would be an honor for him, but by powerless infants, since there is no power in them. This bites and really hurts the mighty, proud spirit, that its great power, its terrible raging, its raging vengeance should be brought down without force by childish weakness, and that it should not be able to defend itself. To this end let us help, and do it with earnestness.
(12) We are babes and sucklings, when we are weak, and let the enemy be mighty and powerful over us, that they may speak of their things, and do what they will; but we must hold our peace, and suffer as though we could not speak or do anything, like the young children, and they like the mighty heroes and giants. But still God speaks through our mouth his word, which praises his grace. This is such a rock and firm foundation that the gates of hell cannot stand against it. Where this remains and continues, it finally happens that even some of the enemies are converted who were the devil's scales. When such scales are taken off him by the word of God, he becomes naked and weak; so it happens, as this verse says, that it puts an end to the enemy and the avenger. This is a joyful victory and overcoming, which happens without sword and fist; therefore it also hurts the devil. For it does him only gently and
well, if he can move us to anger, revenge, impatience and sadness through his own. But where joy comes out of it, and God's praise and glory of his word, that is his real hell.
(13) Yes, someone might say, it is forbidden to speak of the word of God in body and in good. Well, let him who is strong not keep such a commandment, for they have no power to forbid it. God's word shall, must and will be unbound. If anyone is too stupid and weak, I will give him another advice, namely, that he may secretly rejoice in praising God.
and praise His word, as it is said above, and ask for strength from God to speak of it publicly, so that the enemy and avenger may be disturbed. For this purpose I will give you this hundred and twentieth Psalm in German, and recently interpret it, so that you may see how God comforts you through His Scriptures, and how you should pray against the false blasphemers and furious persecutors. Follow the Psalm with the interpretation:
1) In the original as well as on the title of the scripture according to the Vulgate count: "119th Psalms".