and the comfort of others. Still, these things are not their proper blessings, but only shadows and emblems of their true blessings, which consist in faith, hope, love, and other gifts and graces, which love communicates to all.
This is the communion of saints, in which we glory. And whose heart will not be lifted up, even in the midst of great evils, when he believes that which is indeed the very truth; namely, that the blessings of all the saints are his blessings, and that his evil is also theirs! For this is the sweet and pleasant picture which the Apostle Paul depicts, in Galatians vi, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." [Gal. 6:21] Is it not a blessing to be in such a company in which, "whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it"? [1 Cor. 12:26] as it is said in I. Corinthians vi[65]. Therefore, when I suffer, I suffer not alone, but Christ and all Christians suffer with me; as He saith, "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of My eye." [Zach. 2:8] Even so others bear my burden, and their strength becomes my own. The Church's faith supports my fearfulness, the chastity of others bears the temptations of my flesh, the fastings of others are my gain, the prayer of another pleads for me. In short, such care have the members one for another, that the comely parts cover, serve, and honor the uncomely; as it is beautifully set forth in I. Corinthians vi.[65] others as though they were my own; and they are truly my own when I find joy and pleasure therein. Let me, then, be base and vile; yet they whom I love and admire are fair and beautiful.
And by my love I make not only their blessings, but their very selves my own; so that by their honor my shame is made honorable, by their abundance my poverty is filled, by their merits my sins are healed. Who, then, could despair in his sins? Who would not rejoice in his pains? For it is not he that bears his sins and pains; or if he does bear them, he bears them not alone, but is assisted by so many holy sons of God, yea, even by Christ Himself. So great a thing is the communion of saints, and the Church of Christ.[66] If any one does not believe this, he is an infidel, and has denied Christ and the Church. For even if it should not be perceived yet it is true; but who could fail to perceive it? For why is it that you do not sink in despair, or grow impatient? Is it your strength? Nay: it is the communion of saints. Otherwise you could not bear even a venial sin,[67] nor endure a word of man against you. So close to you are Christ and the Church. It is this that we confess in the Creed, "I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic[68] Church." What is it to believe in the holy Church but to believe in the communion of saints. But what things have the saints in common? Blessings, forsooth, and evils; all things belong to all; as the Sacrament of the Altar signifies, in the bread and wine, where we are all said by the Apostle to be one body, one bread, one cup.[69][1 Cor. 10:17] For who can hurt any part of the body without hurting the whole body? What pain can we feel in the tip of the toe that is not felt in the whole body? Or what honor can be shown to the feet in which the whole body will not rejoice? But we are one body. Whatever another suffers, that I suffer and bear; whatever good befalls him, befalls me. So Christ says that whatsoever is done unto one of the least of His brethren, is done unto Him. If a man partake of the smallest fragment of the bread of the altar, is he not said to have partaken of the bread? If he despise one crumb of it, is he not said to have despised the bread?
When we, therefore, feel pain, when we suffer, when we die, let us turn hither our eyes,[70] and firmly believe and be sure that it is not we, or we alone, but that Christ and the Church are in pain, are suffering, are dying with us. For Christ would not have us go alone into the valley of death, from which all men shrink in fear; but we set out upon the way of pain and death attended by the whole Church, and the Church bears the brunt of it all. Therefore, we can with truth apply to ourselves the words of Elisha, which he spake to his timid servant, "Fear not: for they that be with us a remote than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." [2 Kings 6:16 f.] This one thing remains for us also; namely, to pray that our eyes may be opened (I mean the eyes of our faith), that we may see the Church round about us. Then there will be nothing for us to fear; as it is said also in Psalm cxxiv, "Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth now and for ever." [Ps. 125:2][71] CHAPTER VII THE SEVENTH IMAGE THE SUPERNAL BLESSING, OR THE BLESSING ABOVE US I do not now speak of the eternal blessings of Heaven, which the blessed enjoy in the perfect vision of God; or father, I do speak of them in faith, and in so far as they some within our comprehension. For this seventh image is Jesus Christ, the King of glory, rising from the dead; even as, in His Passion and death. He formed the seventh image of evils.[72] Here there is nothing at all of evil; for "Christ, being risen from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." [Rom. 6:9] Here is that furnace of love and fire of God in Zion; [Isa. 31:9] as Isaiah saith. For Christ is not only born unto us, but He is also given unto us. [Isa. 9:6] Therefore, His resurrection, and all that He wrought by it, are mine, and, as the Apostle exults in exuberant joy, "how hath [73] He not also, with Him, given us all things?" But what is it that He hath wrought by His resurrection? Why, He hath destroyed sin and brought righteousness to light, abolished death and restored life, conquered hell and bestowed on us everlasting glory. These are such inestimably precious blessings that the mind of man dare scarce believe that they have become ours; as it was with Jacob, in Genesis xlv, who, when he heard that his son Joseph was ruler in Egypt, was like one awakened out of deep slumber, and believed them not, until, after telling him all the words of Joseph, they showed him the wagons that Joseph had sent. [Gen 45:26 ff.] So difficult, indeed, would it be for us to believe that in Christ such great blessings have been conferred on us unworthy creatures, did He not teach us to believe it, with many words, and by the evidence of our own experience; even as He manifested Himself to His disciples[74] in divers appearances. [Acts 1:3] Such are our "Joseph's wagons." This is indeed a most godly "wagon," that He is made unto us of God righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, and wisdom; [1 Cor. 1:30] as the Apostle saith in I. Corinthians i. For, I am a sinner; yet am I drawn in His righteousness, which is given me. I am unclean; but His holiness is my sanctification, in which I pleasurably tide. I am an ignorant fool; but His wisdom carries me forward. I have deserved condemnation; but I am set free by His redemption, a wagon in which I sit secure. So that a Christian, if he but believe it, may boast of the merits of Christ and all His blessings, even as if he had won them all himself. So truly are they his own, that he may even dare to look boldly forward to the judgment of God, unbearable though it be. So great a thing is faith, such blessings does it bring us, such glorious sons of God does it make us. For we cannot be sons without inheriting our Father's goods. Let the Christian say, then, with full confidence: "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,[75] which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." [1 Cor. 15:55 ff.] That is to say, the law makes us sinners, and sin makes us guilty of death. Who hath conquered these twain? Was it our righteousness, or our life? Nay: it was Jesus Christ, rising from the dead, condemning sin and death, bestowing on us His merits, and holding His hand over us. And now it is well with us, we keep the law, and vanquish sin and death. For all which be honor, praise, and thanksgiving unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
This, then, is the highest image of all, in which we are lifted up, not only above our evils, but above our blessings as well, and are set down amid strange blessings, brought together by another's labor; whereas we formerly lay among evils, heaped up by another's sin,[76] and added to by our own. We are set down, I say, in Christ's righteousness, with which He Himself is righteous; because we cling to that righteousness by which He is well pleasing to God, intercedes for us as our Mediator, and gives Himself wholly to be our own, as our High-Priest and Protector. Therefore, as it is impossible that Christ, with His righteousness, should not please God, so it is impossible that we should not please Him. Hence it comes that a Christian is almighty, lord of all,[77] having all things, and doing all things, wholly without sin. And even if he have sins, they can in no wise harm him, but are forgiven for the sake of the inexhaustible righteousness of Christ that swalloweth up all sins, on which our faith relies, firmly trusting that He is such a Christ unto us as we have described. But if any one does not believe this, he hears the tale with deaf ears,[78] and does not know Christ, and understands neither what blessings He hath nor how they may be enjoyed.
Therefore, if we considered it aright and with attentive hearts, this image alone would suffice to fill us with so great comfort that we should not only not grieve over our evils, [Rom. 5:3] but even glory in our tribulations, nay, scarcely feel them, for the joy that we have in Christ. In which glorying may Christ Himself instruct us, our Lord and God, blessed for evermore. Amen. [Rom. 9:5] EPILOGUE With these prattlings of mine, Most Illustrious Prince, in token of my willingness to serve your Lordship to the best of my poor ability, I commend myself to your Illustrious Lordship, being ready to bring a worthier offering, if ever my mental powers shall equal my desires. For I shall always remain a debtor to every neighbor of mine, but most of all to your Lordship, whom may our Lord Jesus Christ, in His merciful kindness, long preserve to us, and at last by a blessed death take home to Himself. Amen.
Your Most Illustrious Lordship's Intercessor, Brother Martin Luther, _Augustinian at Wittenberg._ FOOTNOTES [1] Written by Luther for the last edition of 1535.
[2] Compare to the Preface to the Complete Works (1545), page 11 of this volume.
[3] _Antilogistae_; the hunters of contradictions and inconsistencies in Luther's writings, such as John Faber, who published, in 1530, his _Antilogiarum Mart. Lutheri Babylonia._ Compare also reference in preceding note.
[4] As over against Christ and the saints in His train, the devil and his followers are represented here, as frequently in Luther, under the figure of a dragon with a scaly tail.
[5] Omitted, through on oversight, from the Latin _editio princeps_. See Introduction, p. 105.
[6] On the political influence of Frederick, as a factor in the German Reformation, see Hermelink, _Reformation und Gegenreformation_ (Krüger's _Handbuch der Kirchengeschicte_, 3. Teil), p. 67.
[7] _Tessaradecas_.
[8] See Introduction, pp. 106 f.
[9] In the body of the work Luther places (6) between (3) and (4).
[10] A reminiscence of Luther's childhood?
[11] Luther has particular reference to the Elector's high rank.
[12] Luther follows the Vulgate numbering of the Psalms, which differs from the Hebrew (and the English and German). As far as Ps. 8 both agree; but the Vulgate (following the Greek version) counts Ps. 9 and 10 as one, thus dropping behind one in the numbering. But it divides Ps. 147 into two; vv. 1-11 being counted as Ps. 146, and vv. 12-20 as Ps. 147; and so both versions agree again from Ps. 148 to 150.
[13] Job calls it a "warfare" (militia).
[14] Luther harks back to his discussion of this point in the Preface, p. 113.
[15] Particular reference to the Elector.
[16] See pp. 147 ff.
[18] Vulgate reading.
[19] See pp. 149 f.
[20] From the Vulgate.
[21] Luther is probably thinking of his own experience, when, near Erfurt, he came near bleeding to death from an injury to his ankle. See Köstlin-Kawerau, _Martin Luther_, I, 44.
[22] Luther no longer held this view of "satisfaction" in 1535. See also pp. 150 and 161.
[23] Luther is thinking here specifically of the Elector.
[24] He means the communion of saints. See next chapter.
[25] According to the Vulgate (Douay Version).
[28] Luther might have considerably revised this whole paragraph.
[29] This seems to refer to the writers of the Holy Scriptures.
[30] A reference to the threefold baptism, commonly accepted, viz., (1) _fluminia_, (2) _flaminis_, (3) _sanguinis_; that is, (1) the Sacrament of baptism, (2) the baptism of the Spirit, or repentance, (3) the baptism of blood, or martyrdom. Cf. PRE3, XIX, 414.
[31] Frederick the Wise was a pious collector of relics, having 5005 of them in the Castle Church at Wittenberg. They had something to do with Luther's choice of October 31st as the date of the posting of the XCV Theses. See Introduction to the Theses, p. 16 of this volume, note 1.
[32] Cf. Letter to George Leiffer, 15 April, 1516. See M. A. Cueriz, _The Letters of M. Luther_, p. 7.
[33] i. e., The sign of the cross.
[34] As much as, "We are in for a bad hour," and, "A good hour is worth a bad hour."
[35] See p. 134.
[36] In this passage "Wisdom" is the subject.
[37] In the _Sanctus_.
[38] See p. 118.
[39] Luther quotes a verse from Ps. 106, which sums up the contents of Ps. 78.
[40] Luther uses _sensualitas_ the first time, and _sensus_ the second.
[41] See p.115.
[42] _The Confessions of St. Augustine_, Book IX, chapter 1.
[43] Luther is probably thinking of the sin of suicide.
[44] From the Vulgate (Douay Version).
[45] Namely, the hope of the passing evil and the coming of good things. See above.
[46] The last two passages read thus in the Vulgate.
[47] See p. 122.
[49] Thus the Vulgate.
[52] See pp. 123 ff.
[53] _The Confessions of St. Augustine_, Book I, chap. vi.
[54] Thus the Vulgate.
[55] _Comm. in Ps. xxxix, No. 27_.
[56] Book VIII, chap. xi.
[57] See p. 152.
[58] See pp. 126 ff.
[59] See pp. 126 ff.
[60] _Gregor. dialogorum libri iv_, containing number of examples of the terrible end of the wicked.
[61] One of the passages Luther did not care to correct. Compare p. 127, note.
[62] Luther here unites the mythological figures of chimaera and alren.
[63] An Italian saint whose festival is observed on February 5th, whose worship flourishes especially in South Italy and Sicily, and whose historical existence is doubtful.
[64] See pp. 133 ff.
[65] Luther has mistaken the chapter.
[66] For the various interpretations of the "communion of the saints" among mediæval theologians, See Reinh. Seeberg, _Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte_, 1st ed., vol. ii, p.127, note. Luther in the _Sermon von dem hochwürdigen Sacrament des heiligen wahren Leichnams Christi_ (1519), still accepts the phrase as meaning the participation in the Sacrament, and through it the participation in "the spiritual possessions of Christ and His saints." In our treatise, it is taken as the definition of "the holy Catholic Church," in the sense of a communion with the saints. In _The Papacy at Rome_ (later in the same year), it becomes the communion or community (consisting of saints, or believers; as a _Gemeinde oder Sammlung._ Compare the classical passage in the _Large Catechism_ (1529): "nicht _Gemenschaft_, sondern _Gemeine_."
[68] Changed to "Christian" in the Catechisms (1529), although the Latin translations retain _catholocism_.
[69] The Apostle does not say, "one cup."
[70] The translation here follows the reading of the _Jena Ed. (huc feratur intuitus)_, as against that of the _Weimar_ and _Erl. Edd. (huc foratur intutus)._ [71] Thus the Vulgate.
[72] See pp. 137 ff.
[73] Vulgate.
[74] Namely, after His resurrection.
[75] Compare the different form of this verse on p. 112.
[76] He means the sin of Adam.
[77] The germ of _The Liberty of a Christian Man_ (1520).
A TREATISE ON GOOD WORKS, TOGETHER WITH THE LETTER OF DEDICATION 1520 INTRODUCTION 1. The Occasion of the Work.--Luther did not impose himself as a reformer upon the Church. In the course of a conscientious performance of the duties of his office, to which he had been regularly and divinely called, and without any urging on his part, he attained to this position by inward necessity. In 1515 he received his appointment as the standing substitute for the sickly city pastor, Simon Heinse, from the city council of Wittenberg. Before this time he was obliged to preach only occasionally in the convent, apart from his activity as teacher in the University and convent. Through this appointment he was in duty bound, by divine and human right, to lead and direct the congregation at Wittenberg on the true way to life, and it would have been a denial of the knowledge of salvation which God had led him to acquire, by way of ardent inner struggles, if he had led the congregation on any other way than the one God had revealed to him in His Word. He could not deny before the congregation which had been intrusted to his care, what up to this time he had taught with ever increasing clearness in his lectures at the University--for in the lectures on the Psalms, which he began to deliver in 1513, he declares his conviction that faith alone justifies, as can be seen from the complete manuscript, published since 1885, and with still greater clearness from his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (1515-1516), which is accessible since 1908; nor what he had urged as spiritual adviser of his convent brethren when in deep distress--compare the charming letter to Georg Spenlein, dated April 8, 1516,[1] Luther's first literary works to Appear in print were also occasioned by the work of his calling and of his office in the Wittenberg congregation. He had no other object in view than to edify his congregation and to lead it to Christ when, in 1517, he published his first independent work, the _Explanation of the Seven Penitential Psalms_. On Oct 31 of the same year he published his _95 Theses against Indulgences_. These were indeed intended as controversial theses for theologians, but at the same time it is well known that Luther was moved by his duty toward his congregation to declare his position in this matter and to put in issue the whole question as to the right and wrong of indulgences by means of his theses. His sermon _Of Indulgences and Grace_, occasioned by Tetzel's attack and delivered in the latter part of March, 1515, as well as his sermon _Of Penitence_, delivered about the same time, were also intended for his congregation. Before his congregation (Sept., 1516-Feb., 1517) he delivered the _Sermons on the Ten Commandments_, which were published in 1518, and the _Sermons on the Lord's Prayer_, which were also published in 1518 by Agricola. Though Luther in the same year published a series of controversial writings, which were occasioned by attacks from outside sources, viz., the _Resolutiones disputationis de virtute indulgentiarum_, _the Asterisci adversus obeliscos Joh. Eccii_, and the _Ad dialogum Silv. Prieriatis responsio_, still he never was diverted by this necessary rebuttal from his paramount duty, the edification of the congregation. The autumn of the year 1518, when he was confronted with Cajetan, as well as the whole year of 1519, when he held his disputations with Eck, etc, were replete with disquietude and pressing labors; still Luther served his congregation with a whole series of writings during this time, and only regretted that he was not entirely at its disposal. Of such writings we mention: Explanation of the Lord's Prayer for the simple Laity (an elaboration of the sermons of 1517); Brief Explanation of the Ten Commandments; Instruction concerning certain Articles, which might be ascribed and imputed to him by his adversaries; Brief Instruction how to Confess; Of Meditation on the Sacred Passion of Christ; Of Twofold Righteousness; Of the Matrimonial Estate; Brief Form to understand and to pray the Lord's Prayer; Explanation of the Lord's Prayer "vor sich und hinter sich"; Of Prayer and Processions in Rogation Week; Of Usury; Of the Sacrament of Penitence; Of Preparation for Death; Of the Sacrament of Baptism; Of the Sacrament of the Sacred Body; Of Excommunication. With but few exceptions these writings all speared in print in the year 1519, and again it was the congregation which Luther sought primarily to serve. If the bounds of his congregation spread ever wider beyond Wittenberg, so that his writings found a surprisingly ready sale, even afar, that was not Luther's fault. Even the _Tessaradecas consolatoria_,[2] written in 1519 and printed in 1530, a book of consolation, which was originally intended for the sick Elector of Saxony, was written by him only upon solicitation from outside sources.
To this circle of writings the treatise _Of Good Works_ also belongs. Though the incentive for its composition came from George Spalatin, court-preacher to the Elector, who reminded Luther of a promise he had given, still Luther was willing to undertake it only when he recalled that in a previous sermon to his congregation he occasionally had made a similar promise to deliver a sermon on good works;[3] and when Luther actually commenced the composition he had nothing else in view but the preparation of a sermon for his congregation on this important topic.
But while the work was in progress the material so accumulated that it far outgrew the bounds of a sermon for his congregation. On March 25. he wrote to Spatatin that it would become a whole booklet instead of a sermon; on May 5. he again emphasizes the growth of the material; on May 13. he speaks of its completion at an early date, and on June 8. he could send Melanchthon a printed copy. It was entitled: _Von den gutenwerckenn: D. M. L. Vuittenherg_. On the last page it bore the printer's mark: _Getruck zu Wittenberg bey dem iungen Melchior Lotther. Im Tausent funfhundert vnud zweynitzsgen Jar_. It filled not less than 58 leaves, quarto. In spite of its volume, however, the intention of the book for the congregation remained, now however, not only for the narrow circle of the Wittenberg congregation, but for the Christian layman in general. In the dedicatory preface Luther lays the greatest stress upon this, for he writes: "Though I know of a great many, and must hear it daily, who think lightly of my poverty and say that I write only small Sexternlein (tracts of small volume) and German sermons for the untaught laity, I will not permit that to move me. Would to God that during my life I had served but one layman for his betterment with all my powers; it would be sufficient for me, I would thank God and suffer all my books to perish thereafter...Most willingly I will leave the honor of greater things to others, and not at all will I be ashamed of preaching and writing German to the untaught laity."
Since Luther had dedicated the afore-mentioned _Tessaradecas conolatoria_ to the reigning Prince,[4] he now, probably on Spalatin's recommendation, dedicated the Treatise on Good Works to his brother John, who afterward, in 1525, succeeded Frederick in the Electorate. There was probably good reason for dedicating the book to a member of the reigning house. Princes have reason to take a special interest in the fact that preaching on good works should occur within their realm, for the safety and sane development of their kingdom depend hugely upon the cultivation of morality on the part of their subjects. Time and again the papal church had commended herself to princes and statesmen by her emphatic teaching of good works. Luther, on the other hand, had been accused--like the Apostle Paul before him (Rom. 3:31)--that the zealous performance of good works had abated, that the bonds of discipline had slackened and that, as a necessary consequence, lawlessness and shameless immorality were being promoted by his doctrine of justification by faith alone. Before 1517 the rumor had already spread that Luther intended to do away with good works. Duke George of Saxony had received no good impression from a sermon Luther had delivered at Dresden, because he feared the consequences which Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone might have upon the morals of the masses. Under these circumstances it would not have been surprising if a member of the Electoral house should harbor like scruples, especially since the full comprehension of Luther's preaching on good works depended on an evangelical understanding of faith, as deep as was Luther's own. The Middle Ages had differentiated between _fides informis_, a formless faith, and _fides formata_ or _informata_, a formed or ornate faith. The former was held to be a knowledge without any life or effect, the latter to be identical with love, for, as they said, love which proves itself and is effective in good works must be added to the formless faith, as its complement and its content, well pleasing to God. In Luther's time every one who was seriously interested in religious questions was reared under the influence of these ideas.[5] Now, since Luther had opposed the doctrine of justification by love and its good works, he was in danger of being misunderstood by strangers, as though he held the bare knowledge and assent to be sufficient for justification, and such preaching would indeed have led to frivolity and disorderly conduct. But even apart from the question whether or not the brother of the Elector was disturbed by such scruples, Luther must have welcomed the opportunity, when the summons came to him, to dedicate his book _Of Good Works_ to a member of the Electoral house. At any rate the book could serve to acquaint him with the thoughts of his much-abused pastor and professor at Wittenberg, for never before had Luther expressed himself on the important question of good works in such a fundamental, thorough and profound way.
2. Contents of the Work.--A perusal of the contents shows that the book, in the course of its production, attained a greater length than was originally intended. To this fact it must be attributed that a new numeration of sections begins with the argument on the Third Commandment, and is repeated at every Commandment thereafter, while before this the sections were consecutively numbered. But in spite of this, the plan of the whole is clear and lucid. Evidently the whole treatise is divided into two parts: the first comprising sections 1-17, while the second comprises all the following sections. The first, being fundamental, is the more important part. Luther well knew of the charges made against him that "faith is so highly elevated" and "works are rejected" by him; but he knew, too, that "neither silver, gold and precious stone, nor any other precious thing had experienced so much augmentation and diminution" as had good works "which should all have but one simple goodness, or they are nothing but color, glitter and deception." But especially was he aware of the fact that the Church was urging nothing but the so-called self-elected works, such as "running to the convent, singing, reading, playing the organ, saying the mass, praying matins, vespers, and other hours, founding and ornamenting churches, altars, convents, gathering chimes, jewels, vestments, gems and treasures, going to Rome and to the saints, curtsying and bowing the knees, praying the rosary and the psalter," etc., and that she designated these alone as truly good works, while she represented the faithful performance of the duties of one's calling as a morality of a lower order. For these reasons it is Luther's highest object in this treatise to make it perfectly clear what is the essence of good works. Whenever the essence of good works has been understood, then the accusations against him will quickly collapse.