So I will close for this time. I have hurriedly entreated your Graces to deal seriously with such disturbance and extravagances, so that in this matter we act only according to the Word of God, as is fitting for Christians. Only thus can we eliminate the causes of sedition, to which the mob is otherwise all too much inclined. For they are not Christians who want to go beyond the Word and to use violence, but are not ready to suffer much else, even if they boast of being full and overfull with ten holy spirits. The mercy of God eternally strengthen and preserve your Graces. Your Graces' obedient, MARTIN LUTHER
LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS AT STRASSBURG IN OPPOSITION TO THE FANATIC SPIRIT Translated by Conrad Bergendoff When Karlstadt was expelled from Saxony at the end of summer in 1524 he visited Strassburg, probably in October, and as soon as his writings were printed in Switzerland they quickly found their way to this city. The differences between Luther and Karlstadt gave rise to questioning and uncertainty among the preachers and people of Strassburg. In November the evangelical preachers, probably under the leadership of Bucer, wrote a formal letter to Luther, describing their difficulties and seeking help. They wanted
Luther to give a dispassionate statement concerning the presence of Christ in the sacrament of the altar, the validity of infant baptism, and the use of images in worship, Evidently Karlstadt had won adherents and in order to quiet disturbances the preachers wanted biblical confirmation of Luther's position against Luther had meanwhile obtained copies of the eight books which Karlstadt had written and had printed despite the censor's prohibition. He found these so contradictory to his own teachings that he did not attempt to give the Strassburg preachers a detailed refutation. Instead he promised to treat fully of these differences in a longer work, which came from his pen under the title of Against the Heavenly Prophets.
For the moment he only wanted the Strassburgers to realize the errors of Karlstadt, and to counsel them to hold to the Word. Dissensions would of course arise, but they were meant to drive Christians closer to the Word. Luther was confident that his teachings were based on the Word, while Karlstadt was pursuing notions born of his own fancy.
The Strassburgers wrote to Zwingli at the same time that they asked Luther's guidance. Zwingli's reply came earlier, and seems to have won greater favor than Luther's, especially in the matter of the interpretation of the sacrament of the altar.
Luther's reply was sent from Wittenberg about December 17. In February of 1525 a printed edition of the letter was circulating in Strassburg. The text of the translation is that of a Wittenberg edition which is the basis of the text in WA 15, 391–397.
LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS AT STRASSBURG IN OPPOSITION TO THE FANATIC SPIRIT by Martin Luther Martin Luther, humble churchman and evangelist at Wittenberg, to the very beloved friends of God, all the Christians at Strassburg.
Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear sirs and brethren. I greatly rejoice and thank God the Father of mercy for the riches of his grace bestowed upon you, in that he has called you into his wonderful light and let you come into the participation of all the treasures of his Son, Jesus Christ. Now through his salutary Word you can recognize and acknowledge with joyful hearts the true Father, who has redeemed us from the iron furnace of Egyptian sin and death and brought us into the broad, secure, free and veritable Promised Land.
See to it that you do not forget what you previously were, lest you appropriate to yourselves this great grace and mercy without gratitude, as some already have done and fallen again under God's wrath.
Remain steadfast, exercise yourselves and increase daily in this knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ (for - 29 such is the right road to salvation which will not deceive you). Make it an aim to be of one mind and show brotherly love to each other by your deeds. Thereby your faith will prove itself true, instead of being false, worthless, and idle, and the enemy which has been expelled will not return to find the house empty and swept clean and enter with seven evil spirits, so that the last condition will be worse than the first [Luke
If on this account you are reviled or persecuted, you are blessed. If they have called the lord of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they do to the children of the household [Matt. 10:24, 25]. A servant is not to fare better than his master. And what does it matter if pitiful men who like smoke vanish away [Cf. Ps. 37:20] revile you, if you can be assured that myriads of angels in heaven as well as God himself rejoice over you, and with all creatures render thanks and praise for you? All of which your faith and good conscience in the Holy Spirit experience and testify, if indeed you rightly believe and have
Christ so that he truly lives and reigns in you. For these sufferings only serve to enrich and foster our blessedness.
But it is perilous when dissension, sects, and errors arise among Christians, for these deprive consciences of such a comforting knowledge, lead to error, and unconsciously turn the spirit from inward grace toward external things and works. Such was the work of false apostles and, after them, of many different kinds of heretics and now, finally, of the pope. It is of greatest importance that we be on our guard. For if our gospel is the true gospel, as I am convinced and have no doubt that it is, then it must naturally follow that it will be attacked, persecuted, and tested from both sides. On the left the opponents will show open contempt and hate, on the right our own will be guilty of dissension and party spirit.
"For," says Paul, "there must be factions among you in order that those who have stood the test among you may be recognized" [I Cor. 11:19]. Christ finds not only Caiaphas among his enemies, but also Judas among his friends.
Knowing this, we must be equipped and armed as people who surely must expect at any moment to meet both kinds of attack. We cannot be at all surprised or frightened if dissension arises among us.
Instead we must confidently say to ourselves, "So it will and must be," and pray God to be with us and keep us on the right path. For, as Moses said, God tests us to know whether or not we depend on him with all our heart [Deut. 8:2; 13:3]. This I say because I have learned how new prophets are appearing in various regions, and, as some of you have written to me, because Dr. Karlstadt has started disturbance among you with his fanaticism in the matter of the sacrament, images,1 and baptism. This he has also done elsewhere, and he blames me for his banishment.
Now my very dear friends, I am not your pastor. No one has to believe me. Each one is responsible for himself. I can warn every one, I can thwart no one. I hope, too, that you have hitherto learned to know me through my writings so that you would admit that in regard to the gospel, the grace of Christ, the law, faith, love, the cross, human ordinances, our stand toward the papacy, monasticism, and the mass, and the articles of faith which a Christian should know, I have written with such clarity and certainty that I am blameless. Nor, I hope, would you deny that, though I am an unworthy instrument of God, he has helped many through me.
Not a single one of these items has been properly treated by Dr. Karlstadt, for he has not the ability, as I now can see from his writings. Truly, I never imagined, and at the same time was shocked, to see how deeply he still clings to his errors. As I see his course, he pounces on outward things with such violence, as though the whole strength of the Christian enterprise consisted in the destruction of images, the overthrow of the sacrament [of the Lord's Supper] and the hindering of baptism. He would like with such smoke and mist to obscure altogether the sun and light of the gospel and the main articles of Christianity, so that the world might forget everything that we have hitherto taught. Yet he does not come forward to show what in fact is the nature of a true Christian. For it is a mean art, of which any rascal is capable, to destroy images, deny the sacrament, and decry baptism. This never makes any one a Christian. I must say that he is a coarse devil who hurts me but little.
My sincere counsel and warning is that you be circumspect and hold to the single question, what makes a person a Christian? Do not on any account allow any other question or other art to enjoy equal importance. When anyone proposes anything ask him at once, "Friend, will this make one a Christian or not?" If not, it cannot be a matter of major importance which requires earnest consideration. If someone is too weak to do this, let him go slowly and wait until he sees what we or others have to say about it. I have
- 30 hitherto treated fairly and fully of the chief articles of faith. Whoever claims otherwise cannot be a good spirit. I hope that I do no one harm also in the external matters on which these prophets harp so much.
I confess that if Dr. Karlstadt, or anyone else, could have convinced me five years ago that only bread and wine were in the sacrament he would have done me a great service. At that time I suffered such severe conflicts and inner strife and torment that I would gladly have been delivered from them. I realized that at this point I could best resist the papacy. There were two who then wrote me,2 with much more skill than
Dr. Karlstadt has, and who did not torture the Word with their own preconceived notions. But I am a captive and cannot free myself. The text is too powerfully present, and will not allow itself to be torn from its meaning by mere verbiage.
Even if someone in these days might try more persuasively to prove that only bread and wine are present, it would not be necessary that he attack me in bitter spirit—which I, unfortunately, am altogether inclined to do, if I assess the nature of the old Adam in me correctly. But the way Dr. Karlstadt carries on in this question affects me so little that my position is only fortified the more by him. If I had not previously been of this opinion, such loose, lame, empty talk, set forth on the basis of his own reason and idiosyncrasy without scriptural foundation, would lead me to believe first of all that his opinions amount to nothing. This I hope every one will see, as I give my answer. It is hard for me to believe that he can be serious; if so, God must have hardened his heart and blinded him. For if he were in earnest, he would not have thrown in so many ridiculous passages by wilfully manipulating the Greek and Hebrew languages which, as every one well knows, he has not forgotten to do.
I might well endure his uproar against images, since my writings have done more to overthrow images than he ever will do with his storming and fanaticism. But I will not endure any one inciting and driving
Christians to works of this kind, as if one cannot be a Christian without their performance. Nor can we tolerate anyone imprisoning Christian freedom by laws and laying a snare for consciences. For we know that no work can make a Christian, and that such external matters as the use of images and the keeping of the Sabbath are, in the New Testament, as optional as all other ceremonies enjoined by the Law. Paul says,
"We know that 'an idol has no real existence' " [I Cor. 8:4]. If so, why then should the Christian conscience be ensnared and tortured on account of something that has no reality? If it has no existence, let it be of no account, whether it falls or stands, as Paul also says about circumcision [I Cor. 7:19]. But of this we will treat further in our answer.
He blames me for his banishment, and I could endure this if it were true. But this too I will answer in full, if God will. But I am glad that he is out of our land, and I wish he were not among you. It would have been advisable for him to refrain from such an accusation. For I am afraid that clearing myself will mean a severe accusation of him. Beware of the false prophet, whoever can—this is my advice, for no good will come from him. When I met him at Jena3 he almost convinced me, through a writing of his, not to confuse his spirit with the rebellious and murderous spirit of the Allstedtians. But when, on the order of the prince,
I visited his Christians at Orlamünde, I soon found what kind of seed he had sown. I was glad that I wasn't driven out with stones and filth, though some of his people gave me this benediction, "Get out in the name of a thousand devils, and break your neck before you are out of the city." This they have of course covered up beautifully in the book4 they have published about the event. If the ass had horns, that is, if I were prince of Saxony, Dr. Karlstadt would not be banished, unless I had been prevailed upon. Under no circumstances ought he to scorn the indulgence of the princes.
But I pray, dear friends, that you might be wiser than we, even though we have become foolish and have written about our actions. I realize well enough that the devil is only seeking opportunities to have us write and read about ourselves, whether we be pious or wicked, so that the main subject of Christ be passed over in silence and the people be made to gape at novelties. Let each one keep his mind on the straight road, for we need all eternity to learn fully about such matters as law, gospel, faith, the kingdom of Christ, Christian liberty, love, patience, and human ordinances. If meanwhile you aren't destroying images, you will not be guilty of sin. Yes, even if you don't receive the sacrament, you can yet be saved through the Word and faith. The devil has as his main purpose to turn our eyes in this perilous night away from our lamp and lead us off our path by his flying brands and flames.
Ask your evangelists, my dear sirs and brothers, to turn you away from Luther and Karlstadt and direct you always to Christ, but not, as Karlstadt does, only to the work of Christ, wherein Christ is held up as an example,5 which is the least important aspect of Christ, and which makes him comparable to other saints.