Martin Luther RUPP & BENJAMIN DREWERY E. G. .DOCUMENTS ^^ ^rODERN HISTORY MARTIN LUTHER edited by E. G. Rupp DixieProfessor ofEcclesiasticalHistory, University ofCambridge anc Benjamin Drewery Bishop Fraser Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, University ofManchester New York • St. Martin's Press @ E. G.Rupp and BenjaminDrewery 1970 First published in the United States ofAmerica in 1970 by St. Martin's Press, Inc. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York First published in Great Britain by Edward Arnold (Pubhshers) Ltd Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 79-124955 PrintedinGreatBritainby Robert Cunninghamand SonsLtd.,Alva CONTENTS Abbreviations x Preface xi Acknowledgements xii PART THE YOUNG LUTHER I: A Birth, Childhood, Early Life i 1-4 Fragments ofAutobiography i 5 Dedication to his Father ofDe Votis Monasticis Indicium 2 B Luther the Monk 3 1-4 Luther's own Account ofhis Monastic Life 4 5 Luther's 'Breakthrough': from theAutobiographical Fragment, March 1545 5 C Luther's Public and Academic Life, 1509-15; The Theses of April 1517 7 1 ToJolin Braun, 17 March 1509 8 2 To George Spenlein, Augustinian in Memmingen, 7 April 1516 8 3 ToJohn Lang, Prior at Erfurt, 26 October 1516 9 4 ToJohn Lang, 18 May 1517 9 5 ToJohn Staupitz, 30 May 1518 10 PART THE INDULGENCE CONTROVERSY II: D The Controversy ii 1 The Theory ofIndulgences: from the Bull Unigenitus ofPope Clement VI, 27January 1343 13 2 The First Application ofIndulgences to Souls in Purgatory: from the Bull Salvator Noster ofPope Sixtus IV, 3 August 1476 14 3 The Instructio Summaria ofAlbert ofMainz 14 VI CONTENTS 4 To Albert ofMainz, 31 October 1517 17 5 The Ninety-five Theses, October 1517 19 6 To Christopher Scheurl, 5 March 1517 25 7 ToJohn Sylvius Egranus at Zwickau, 24 March 1518 26 E The 'Theology of the Cross' 27 I The Heidelberg Disputation, April 1518: Extracts from the Theses and their Proofs 27 F The Encounter with Cajetan at Augsburg, October 1518 30 1 To George Spalatin, Augsburg, 10 October 1518 30 2 To Andrew Karlstadt at Wittenberg, 14 October 1518 31 3 The Pope's Political Difficulties: Pope Leo X to George Spalatin, 24 October 1518 32 G The Leipzig Disputation,June-July 1519 33 1 Peter Mosellanus toJulius Pflug, 7 December 1519 34 2 The Condemnation ofLuther from the Bull Exsiirge : Domine ofPope Leo X, 15June 1520 36 3 To Spalatin (between 12 and 18 February 1520) 40 H The Manifestos of 1520 41 1 To the Christian Nobility ofthe German Nation 42 2 On the Babyhnish Captivity ofthe Church 47 3 Concerning Christian Liberty 50 4 Aleander to Cardinal de Medici, 8 February 1521 54 5 Aleander to the Vice-Chancellor Cardinal de Medici at Rome, 17 April 1521 55 I The Diet of Worms, April 1521 57 1 Luther's Answer before the Emperor and the Diet of Worms, 18 April 1521 58 2 The Edict ofWorms, May 1521 61 Luther's Condemnation and Excommunication 62 J 1 The Bull Decet Romanum: the Condemnation and Excommunication ofMartin Luther, the Heretic, and his Followers,January 1521 63 2 To Spalatin, 14 May 1521: the Aftermath ofWorms and Luther's 'Kidnapping' 68 1 CONTENTS Vll PART THE PRISONER OF THE WARTBURG III: K Luther's 'Captivity' 70 I To Albert, Archbishop and Elector ofMainz, I December 1521 70 L Luther's Health AND Writings: The Zwickau Prophets 71 1 To Melanchthon, 13 July 1521 72 2 To Melanchthon, i August 1521 73 3 To Spalatin, 15 August 1521 73 4 ToJohn Lang, Augustinian, 18 December 1521 74 5 To Melanchthon, 13January 1522 75 M Karlstadt and Wittenberg Radicalism 79 1 To the Elector Frederick ofSaxony, 5 March 1522 80 2 FromJohn Kessler's 5^6Wfl, 1540 82 3 To Spalatin, 30 March 1522 86 4 To Spalatin, 4July 1522 87 5 On Translating: An Open Letter, 1530 87 6 Introduction to the Old Testament, 1545 (1523) 91 7 Preface to the Psalter, 153 92 8 Preface to the New Testament, 1545 (1522) 93 9 Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, 1522 95 10 Preface to the Epistle ofSaintJames, 1545 (1522) 97 11 Preface to the Revelation ofSaintJohn, 1522 98 12 Preface to the Revelation ofSaintJohn, 1545 99 PART THE WATERSHED IV: N The Wittenberg Sermons, 1522 100 1 Extracts from the Wittenberg Sermons, 1522 100 2 Ordinance for a Common Chest at Leisnig, 1523 102 3 On the Appointment ofMinisters, November 1523 104 4 Secular Authority: To what extent it should be obeyed 107 5 ToJohn QEcolampadius, 20June 1524 112 6 To the Christians at Strassburg in Opposition to the Fanatic Spirit 113 7 Against the Heavenly Prophets, 1525 118 O The Peasant War 1,19 I Thomas Miintzer to his followers in Allstcdt, 27 April 1525 120 Vm CONTENTS 2 Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, May 1525 121 3 To Riihel, 23 May 1525 126 4 To Leonard Koppe ofTorgau, 17June 1525 126 5 To Desiderius Erasmus at Basel, (?) 15 April 1524 127 6 From De Servo Arhitrio, 'On the Will as Unfree', 1525. The 'Internal' and 'External' Clarity ofScripture 129 PART V: FROM LUTHER TO LUTHERANISM, 1526-1535 P The Eucharistic Controversy and the Marburg Colloquy 132 1 That these words ofChrist, 'This is my body,' etc., still stand firm against the fanatics, 1527 132 2 Philip ofHesse to Zwingli, 22 April 1529 135 3 From Bullinger's Account ofMarburg, October 1529 135 4 To Katherine Luther at Wittenberg, 4 October 1529 136 5 To Nicholas Gerbel at Strassburg, 4 October 1529 137 6 Zwingli to Vadian, 20 October 1529 137 Q Luther's Two Catechisms 139 1 Luther's Short Catechism,July 1529 139 2 A Hymn ofLuther 142 3 To Lewis Senfel at Munich, 4 October 1530 143 4 Luther on Dancing 144 5 Luther on Cicero 144 R The Augsburg Confession 144 1 The Augsburg Confession, 1530 145 2 To Melanchthon, 22 April 1530 148 3 To His Wife and Household, 28 April 1530 149 4 To Dr Gregory Briick at Augsburg, 5 August 1530 149 5 ToJerome Weller, Summer 1530 150 6 A Sermon on Keeping Children at School, 1530 151 7 To Hans Luther at Wittenberg, 19June 1530 153 8 To Caspar Miiller at Mansfeld, 19January 1536 154 PART VI: THE LAST DECADE S Historical Background 155 I Luther's Second Will, 6January 1542 155 CONTENTS IX T Luther's Illnesses 156 1 ToJustusJonas at Wittenberg, 14 February 1537 157 2 From the Note-book ofVeit Dietrich, Luther's Former Amanuensis 157 3 To Melanchthon at Schmalkalden, 27 February 1537 158 4 To Katherine Luther at Wittenberg, 27 February 1537 159 5 ToJustusJonas at Brunswick, 8 April 1538 159 6 To Wolfgang Sieberger, Luther's weak-minded Servant, (Complaint ofthe birds in the Wittenberg wood to Luther) (no date) 159 7 Luther's Trousers 160 8 ToJerome Weller at Freiburg, 8 September 1540 161 9 To KatherineJonas at Halle, 26 March 1542 161 10 The Death ofMagdalene Luther, September 1542 162 U The Bigamy of Philip of Hesse 162 1 To Philip, Landgrave ofHesse, at Schmalkalden, 10 April 1540 163 2 To Antony Lauterbach at Pirna, 2June 1540 163 3 ToJohn Frederick, Elector ofSaxony, 10June 1540 164 V Luther's Doctrine of the Church 166 1 On the Councils andthe Church, 1539 167 2 To His Wife, Katherine, 6 February 1546 169 3 To Katherine, 7 February 1546 170 4 To Katherine, 10 February 1546 171 5 To Katherine, 14 February 1546 172 6 Luther'sAutobiographical Fragment, March IS45 173 Booksforfurther reading 180 ABBREVIATIONS IV.A. WeimarerAusgahe{i^Z^-) W.A.,Br.W, WeimarerAusgabe, Briefwechsel W.A., T.R. WiemarerAusgabe, Tischreden Philad. Edn. Works of Martin Luther, edited by H. E. Jacobs(Holman,andCastlePress,Philadelphia, 1931-2; Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1943) Amer. Edn. Luther's Works (55 vols.) edited byJ. Pelikan and H. Lehmann (Fortress Press, Philadel- J. phia, 1943-) Smith,LifeandLetters The Life andLettersofMartin Luther, edited by Preserved Smith (Murray, 191 1) Smith, Correspondence Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, I, edited by Preserved Smith (Phila- delphia, 191 3) Currie The Letters ofMartin Luther, edited by Mar- garet A. Currie (Macmillan, 1908) Scheel Dokumente zu Luthers Entwickhmg (bis 1519), edited by Otto Scheel Hillerbrand TheReformation inItsOwn Words, H.J. Hiller- brand (S.C.M. Press, 1964) Kidd, Doc. Documents lUustrative ofthe Continental Refor- mation, edited by B.J. Kidd (Oxford, 191 1) Rupp andDrewery De ServoArbitrio edited by E. G. Rupp et ah. Library ofChristian Classics, XII (S.C.M. and Westminster Press, 1970) Wace andBuchheim Luther'sPrimary Works, editedbyHenryWace and Carl A. Buchheim (Murray, 1883) Note: an asterisk (*) after the reference at the foot ofa document indi- cates a translation by the present editors.