31 At Luther's funeral (1546) CR XI, 726–34
31 At Luther's funeral (1546)
CR XI, 726–34
Oration on occasion of the funeral of Doctor Martin Luther (given by Melanchthon on the twenty-second of February)1
Although amidst this public mourning my voice is choked by grief and tears, nevertheless something had to be said amidst such a numerous attendance – not, as it was done by the pagans, in praise of the deceased, but rather in order to admonish this assembly about the wonderful guidance and the perils of the Church, so that they may ponder which things they need to be distressed about, for which things they need to strive in particular, and towards which examples they need to direct their life. For although impious men believe, amidst such disorder in life, that everything is brought about at random and by chance, nevertheless, strengthened by God's testimonies, let us sever the Church from the impious multitude. Let us acknowledge that it is truly guided and preserved by divine providence; let us contemplate properly its state, recognise its true governors and consider their career, and choose appropriate leaders and teachers, and let us follow and revere them piously. One needs to think and speak of these great things every time the reverend Doctor Martin Luther, our dearest father and teacher, is mentioned. Although many impious men hated him most bitterly, let us, who know that he was a minister of the Gospel called forth by divine providence, love and esteem him, and collect evidence that his teaching does not consist of mutinous beliefs spread by blind impulse, as the Epicureans judge it, but a demonstration of the will and the true veneration of God, an explanation of the Holy Scriptures and a proclamation of the word of God, that is, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, although in the orations given on such an occasion much is usually said about the private honours of those who are praised, I shall nevertheless leave out that part of the oration and speak only about the most important topic, that is, his office within the Church. For thus worthy minds will always judge: if he explained a teaching that was beneficial and necessary for the Church, God must be thanked for calling him forth; and
1 Luther died on 18 February 1546. This oration by Melanchthon was by far the most influential oration on Luther. Melanchthon's criticism of Luther's personality was toned down in the printed edition, compared to the oration Melanchthon actually delivered on 22 February. For an excellent analysis of this oration, see James Michael Weiss, ‘Erasmus at Luther's Funeral: Melanchthon's Commemorations of Luther in 1546’, Sixteenth Century Journal 16 (1985), 91–114.
his labours, faith, constancy and other virtues must be praised; and his memory must be most dear to all who are good.
Therefore, let this be the beginning of our oration. As Paul says [Colossians 3:1], the Son of God is seated at the right hand of the eternal Father, and He bestows blessings upon men, that is, the word of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. In order to impart these He calls forth prophets, the Apostles, teachers and ministers – and He chooses them from this our assembly, that is, the assembly of those who study – who read, listen to and love the prophetic and Apostolic writings. Nor does He call only those to that warfare who have customary power, but often He wages war against them through teachers chosen from other ranks. It is a pleasant and useful sight to behold the Church of all ages, and to contemplate the goodness of God who has repeatedly sent salutary teachers in a continuous sequence in such a way that – similar to the line of battle – as the first ones died, others soon stepped into their footsteps.
The sequence of the first fathers is well known: Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah and Shem; while the latter was still alive and living in the vicinity of the Sodomires, when already the tribes had forgotten the teaching of Noah and Shem and worshipped idols indiscriminately, Abraham was called forth to be Shem's companion and his associate in that greatest task, in propagating the true teaching. He was followed by Isaac, Jacob and Joseph who kindled the light of the true teaching in all of Egypt, which was then the most prosperous realm in all the world. Then followed Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elias, Elijah whom Isaiah heard; Jeremiah heard Isaiah, Daniel heard Jeremiah and Zachariah Daniel. Then Ezra and Onias. After the latter, the Maccabees. Then Simeon, Zachariah, John the Baptist, Christ and the Apostles. It is of use to contemplate this continuous sequence which is an evident testimony of the presence of God in the Church.
After the Apostles there follows a multitude which, although it was weaker, is nevertheless honoured with God's testimonies: Polycarp, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil, Augustine, Prosper, Maximus, Hugo, Bernard, Taulerus and some others. Although this last dotage of the world is more obscure, God nevertheless always preserved some remnants. And it is clear that a more brilliant light of the Gospel was lit by the voice of Luther.
Therefore he is to be included in that most beautiful multitude of excellent men whom God sent to unite and restore the Church, and whom we should understand to be the distinguished flower of humankind. Solon, Themistocles, Scipio, Augustus and the like were by all means great men
who established or ruled great empires; nevertheless they are by far inferior to our leaders – Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul, Augustine and Luther. It behoves us in the Church to understand these distinctions.
Then, what great and true things have been brought to light by Luther, which show that his career is to be praised? For many complain that he has thrown the Church into disorder and spread inextricable quarrels. I reply here that such is the governing of the Church. When the Holy Spirit reproves the world, discord arises because of the obstinacy of the impious, and the fault lies with those who do not want to listen to the Son of God, of whom the heavenly Father said: ‘Hear Him’ [Matthew 17:5]. Luther brought to light the true and necessary doctrine. For it is evident that there was the thickest and most impenetrable darkness in the doctrine on penitence. Having dispersed that, he showed what is true penitence, what is the haven and what is the firm consolation for the mind greatly terrified by the idea of the wrath of God. He explained Paul's teaching that says that man is justified by faith. He showed the distinction between the Law and the Gospel – the justice of the Holy Spirit and that of the state. He also showed the true invocation of God, and called back the Church from its pagan madness which pretends to invoke God, even though minds overwhelmed by Academic doubts flee God. He commanded that the invocation be made with faith and a good conscience, and he brought us to the one Mediator, the Son of God who is seated at the right hand of the eternal Father, and who intercedes for us; he did not bring us to statues or dead men, as impious men in their terrible madness invoke statues and dead men.
He also showed other true duties pleasing to God, and he adorned and defended civic life as it has never been adorned and defended by anyone else's writings. Furthermore he distinguished between necessary tasks and the childish drilling of human ceremonies and the rites and laws that hinder the true invocation of God. And in order that the illustrious heavenly doctrine be transmitted to posterity, he translated into German the prophetic and Apostolic writings, with such clarity that his translation brings more light for the reader than most commentaries.
He himself also added many explanations of which Erasmus, too, used to declare that they surpassed by far all the existing explanations. And just as it is written about those who erected Jerusalem that with the one hand they built it and with the other they held the sword, so he struggled with the enemies of the true doctrine, and at the same time he composed
explanations full of the heavenly teaching and brought support to the conscience of many by pious advice.
Since a great part of doctrine is set beyond the ken of men, such as the doctrine on the forgiveness of sins and on faith, one needs to acknowledge that he was instructed by God; and many among us saw the distress among those whom he taught that it needs to be acknowledged by faith that we are received and heard by God.
Therefore always and for all eternity worthy minds will praise the gifts that God has given to the Church through Luther. And first they will thank God. Then they will declare that they also owe much to man's own labours, even though godless men, who mock the entire Church, judge that these virtuous actions (katorthōmata) are a silly game or madness.
Neither have quarrels been set in motion, nor – as some say falsely – has the apple of strife2 been thrown at the Church, nor have the riddles of the sphinx (sphingos) been set forth. For to the sound-minded and pious, and those who do not judge in bad faith, it is easy to see, by comparing opinions, what agrees with heavenly doctrine and what does not. Indeed, there is no doubt that in the minds of all the pious these questions have already been decided. For, since God willed Himself and His will to be beheld in the prophetic and Apostolic language in which He disclosed Himself, one must not assume that this language is obscure, like the leaves of the Sibyl.3 These fly away whirling, the sport of the rapid winds.
However, some who are not evil have nevertheless complained that Luther was harsher than he needed to be. I do not argue for either side, but I reply with words that Erasmus often said: ‘Because of the greatness of its diseases God gave this final age a severe physician.’ Since He had called forth such a great instrument against the proud and impudent enemies of truth – as He said to Jeremiah: ‘Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth … I have set thee over the nations … to throw down, to build’ [Jeremiah 1:9–10] – and He had wanted to oppose them with that Gorgo,4 so to speak, they dispute with God in vain. God neither rules the Church by human counsel, nor does He want His instruments to be utterly similar. But it is common that mediocre and moderate intellects approve less of
2 In German, Zankapfel referring to the apple which the goddess of discord, Eris, tossed into the assembly of Gods. A competition over this apple which had an inscription ‘to the fairest’, led to the judgement of Paris, and to the ruin of Troy.
3 Sibyl wrote her oracles on leaves, which were disturbed in her cave by a wind: see Virgil, Aeneid, III.444–50.
4 For Gorgo, see note 16, oration 30, p. 253.
more passionate impulses, be they good or bad. Aristides saw Themistocles undertake great things with a prodigious impulse of his mind and conduct them successfully; but although he rejoiced in the success of the state, he nevertheless strove to call back Themistocles' excited mind from that course.
Nor do I deny that now and then the more violent impulses go amiss; for amidst this weakness of nature no one is utterly without blemish. However, if there is still someone who is as the ancients described Hercules, Cimon and others – unadorned, but for the most part, good (akompsos men, alla ta megista agathos) [Plutarch, Lift of Cimon IV.4] – he is a good man and worthy of praise. And if he serves properly as a soldier in the Church, as Paul says, keeping his faith and good conscience, he pleases God and is to be revered by us.
We know that Luther was such a man. For he both steadfastly defended the purity of doctrine and kept the integrity of his conscience. Moreover, who is there who knew him who does not know with how much humanity he was endowed, how great his kindness was in gatherings with friends and how little disputatious or quarrelsome he was? And nevertheless everything had an added gravity, as there needs to be in such a man, for in that ‘a character without deceit, and a courteous mouth’ (apseudes ēthos, euprosēgoros stoma).
Or rather everything was, according to Paul, most true (hosa alēthē), honest (hosa semna), just (hosa dikaia), pure (hosa hagna), lovely (hosa prosphilē) and of good repute (hosa euphēma), so that it is evident that his harshness was zeal (zēlou) for truth, and not for ambition (eritheias) or harshness [Philippians 4:8]. All of us, and many outside, are witnesses to these things: if I undertook a laudation of the man regarding the rest of his life which he led, until the age of sixty-three, in the greatest and harshest study of piety and all good things and arts, what a distinguished and splendid oration could I have! Never were any doubtful desires noticed in him, nor any quarrelsome counsels; rather he was the one who advised, several times, that weapons should be laid down; he did not mingle affairs of the Church with any cunning for the increase of his power or that of his followers. I reckon that this wisdom and virtue is such that it should not appear that it was possible to obtain it by mere human diligence; but it is also necessary for the mind to be curbed by divine providence, in particular those that are severe, excellent and passionate – and the facts show Luther to have been utterly so.
What shall I say of his other virtues? Often I myself came upon him as, in tears, he said his prayers for the entire Church. For almost daily he took a certain time for reciting the Psalms, with which he mingled his prayers, lamenting and weeping; and often he said that he was angry with those who – either from ignorance or because of their interest – say that it is sufficient to pray only with lamentation. He said that the forms of prayer are prescribed to us by divine counsel so that the saying of prayers rouse the mind; indeed so that the voice also acknowledge whom we invoke as God.
In like manner, when many weighty decisions on public dangers often came to pass, we noticed that he was endowed with prodigious strength of spirit, not in the least timid (psophodeē) or ever weakened by any fears. For he relied on the sacred anchor, as it is called, that is, the help of God, and he did not allow his faith to be driven out.
Otherwise he was also of such keenness of mind that in obscure matters he alone saw best of all what would be useful. Nor was he, as many believe, negligent in considering the state or in comprehending the wishes of others, but he both knew the state and accurately perceived the frame of mind and wishes of all those with whom he lived. And although the power of his intellect was most sharp, he nevertheless read most avidly ancient and recent ecclesiastical writings and all works of history, relating their examples to the present business with outstanding dexterity.
Certainly eternal monuments exist of his eloquence, in which without doubt he was equal to those in whom one considers the power of oratory to have been greatest.
We justly grieve for our own sake that such a man – endowed with the greatest powers of intellect, versed in doctrine, trained by long practice, adorned with many outstanding and heroic virtues, chosen by God for the renewal of the Church, and who furthermore embraced us all in his fatherly heart – has been called from among us. For we closely resemble orphans who have lost an outstanding and faithful father. But since it is necessary to obey God, let us nevertheless not allow the memory of his virtues and services to perish among us. For Luther himself, however, let us rejoice that he is already in the friendly and most sweet fellowship of God and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the prophets and Apostles, a fellowship which he always sought and longed for. There he not only hears that the labours he endured in spreading the Gospel are esteemed by the sign of God and the testimonies of the entire heavenly Church, but – having already been led forth from his mortal body as from a prison, and
entered into a much more erudite school – he beholds nearby the essence of God, the two natures joined in the Son, and the whole purpose of the created and redeemed Church. These greatest things which he pondered in faith here when they were hidden and set forth in brief prophecies, he now sees before his eyes, and is now filled with the greatest joy and is already thanking God ardently with all his heart for such a great favour.
There he learns why the Son of God is called the word and image (logos kai eikōn) of the eternal Father, and in which way the Holy Spirit is the bond of mutual love, not only between the Father and the Son, but also between Them and the Church. He had grasped the first elements and rudiments of that doctrine in this mortal life, and he often used to speak most weightily and wisely about these highest things – about distinguishing between true and false invocation, about the true knowledge of God through understanding the divine revelations, and about distinguishing the true God from imaginary deities.
Many in this assembly heard him once expound the saying: ‘you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man’ [John 1:51]. On that occasion he first enjoined the listeners to fasten in their hearts this immense consolation which confirms that heaven is open, that is, it is opened for us towards God, that for those who take refuge with the Son the restraints of divine wrath are removed, that God is already dwelling close to us, and that by invoking Him we are received, guided and saved by Him.
He admonished us that this ordinance of God – which godless men clamour is fanciful – is to be set against human doubt and the fears which deter fleeing minds so that they dare all the less to invoke God, and do not rest in God. Furthermore, he said that the angels ascending and descending in Christ's body were the preachers of the Gospel who first, led by Christ, ascend to God and receive from Him the light of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. After that they descend, however; that is, they perform the ministry of teaching among men.
He also added the explanation that even these heavenly spirits themselves, whom we usually call angels, in beholding the Son, are instructed and gladdened in that wonderful joining of the two natures; and that, since they are the Lord's soldiers in the defence of the Church, they are, so to speak, ruled by His hand.
Now he himself is a spectator of all these best things, and just as before he ascended and descended among the preachers of the Gospel, led by
Christ, so now he sees the angels being sent by Him, and together with them he delights in the contemplation of divine wisdom and the divine works.
We remember with what great pleasure he used to recount the polity, the councils, the perils and the liberation of the prophets, and with what great erudition he used to compare all the ages of the Church, in order to express his unique and burning desire to meet these most excellent men. Now he is embracing them, and rejoicing in listening and speaking to them face to face. They are now gladly greeting their fellow student (symphoitētēn), and together thanking God who unites and preserves the Church.
Let us therefore not doubt that Luther himself is happy. However, let us be distressed about our loss; and although it is necessary to obey the will of God – since He called him there – we should realise that God willed it, too, that we keep the memory of his virtues and services. Let us then perform this duty. Let us acknowledge that he was a salutary instrument of God, and let us study his teaching assiduously. Let us also imitate the virtues necessary to us for the benefit of our mediocrity: fear of God, faith and ardour in praying, integrity in the ministry, morality, diligence in avoiding quarrelsome counsel and desire to learn. And just as one needs to think often and much about the other pious leaders of the Church whose histories have come down to us, such as Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Paul, so let us also often consider this man's teaching and career, and let us add to this thanksgiving and praise – which it behoves us to utter now in this assembly as well. Therefore, say it with me with true piety of the heart.
We thank you, all-powerful God, eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of your Church, together with your coeternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who are wise, good, compassionate, a true judge, strong and most generous, for uniting to your Son the inheritance from humankind, for protecting the ministry of the Gospel and for having renewed it now through Luther. We pray with ardent prayers that you will continue to protect and guide the Church and seal up in us the true doctrine – just as Isaiah asks of his disciples – and kindle our minds by your Holy Spirit, so that we may invoke you properly and guide our behaviour piously.
Furthermore, since the death of great leaders often announces hardship for posterity, we beseech you, and all those to whom the office of teaching is entrusted, to think of the dangers of the world. In some parts the Turks are roaming, in others other enemies are threatening with civil wars, and
everywhere the wantonness of people's minds is great which – particularly since they no longer fear Luther's criticism – corrupts with greater audacity the properly taught doctrine.
In order that God may avert these evils, let us be more diligent in guiding our behaviour and studies, and let us always keep this sentence imprinted in our hearts, that as long as we keep, take heed of, study and love the pure teaching of the Gospel, we will have a home with God, and the Church, as the Son of God said: ‘If anyone loves me, he will preserve my word, and my Father will love him, we will come to him and make our home with him.’ Let us encourage ourselves with this great promise to study the heavenly doctrine, and let us realise that humankind and the states are preserved for the sake of the Church, and let us perceive with our minds that future eternity to which God has called us. Certainly He did not disclose Himself in vain by such clear testimonies, nor did He send His Son in vain, but He truly loves, and cares for, those who praise these gifts. I have spoken.