# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 02 07_S47
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

expense and thereby fell ever deeper into debt, their creditors at last took from them all their possessions; later their entire line died out as well, and their great, splendid ancestral castle became a desolate ruin.

Only in a single matter under negotiation — namely, the right of calling to church and school offices at the Church of St. Andrew in Eisleben — did the efforts of Luther and Jonas lead to a settlement with the Counts of Mansfeld, one that continued to be observed as a rule for a long time afterward. (L. W. XXI, 261ff.)

At that time Luther also read through the Mansfeld church order drawn up by the superintendent Dr. C. Guttel, and approved it. Not quite two days before his end, Luther still composed an order for the churches, schools, and hospitals in Eisleben, by which he secured a decent maintenance for church and school workers. This, without doubt Luther's last piece of writing, has not yet appeared in print. So tirelessly, even to the end of his pilgrimage, was Luther concerned for the welfare of churches and schools! During his stay in Eisleben he also ordained, according to apostolic custom, two preachers to the holy preaching office; he did this on Septuagesima Sunday, February 14, following the public communion in which he himself had taken part.

(To be continued.)

Luther and Calvin Regarding Their Doctrine of the Holy Supper.
At the same time a continuation of the "Answer to the Latest Defense of the Union."*)
(Continued.)

II.

Did Luther, Even Before His Death, Approve of Calvin's Particular Doctrine?

Whenever false believers have been rebuked during his lifetime, for their corruptions of pure doctrine, by a faithful servant of God held in esteem throughout Christendom, they have very often, once death had closed the mouth of such a witness to the truth forever, come forward with the disclosure either that he had, in the face of death, retracted the harsh judgments he had pronounced against them in life, or that information had been obtained — whether through papers he left in writing, or through other declarations confidentially made to certain persons and now made public — from which it appeared that what the faithful servant of God had written against them had by no means been so seriously meant. The Reformed, the Evangelicals, and others have not infrequently made use of this stratagem in regard to Luther.

*) May readers not take it amiss that we keep returning again and again to Mr. Nollau's little book. It deserves special attention because it contains a fairly complete overview of the errors and prejudices with which the so-called "believers" of our time commonly console and occupy themselves in regard to Luther and the Lutheran Church.

47

That the like might happen to him, Luther himself feared, as we can see from the declaration we shared in the previous issue, page 1, column 3. In an account of the mortal distress into which Luther once fell in the year 1527, Bugenhagen likewise writes that Luther, in the face of death, had said: "Because the world takes delight and pleasure in lies, many will say (after my death): I recanted my teaching before my end; I therefore earnestly desire that you be witnesses of my confession of faith." Bugenhagen further reports that Luther had added: "Many blame me for being too harsh and vehement when I write against the papists, the factious spirits, etc., and rebuke their false doctrine, godless conduct, and hypocrisy. Yes, I have at times been vehement, and have dealt harshly with my adversaries, yet in such a way that I have never regretted it." Justus Jonas, who was likewise an eyewitness and earwitness at the time, further notes that Luther then also cried out with a sigh: "Oh, what a terrible business the fanatics, the despisers of the sacrament, the Anabaptists, and other sects will make of it after my death! Yet I comfort myself with this, that Christ is stronger than Satan and all his hosts; yes, he is the Lord."

From this the dear reader can see that Luther, in his mortal distress, not only did not regret his vehement writing against the false teachers, but that he was in fact troubled precisely by the thought that he might not be able to continue the struggle he had begun against them and bring it, by God's grace, to a good end. Luther had a good conscience in his struggle; he knew that he was fighting for the truth, and that in doing so he was driven not by his own spirit but by God's. His pure zeal therefore withstood the testing fire of temptation even in mortal distress.

Nowadays there are indeed many who call themselves Lutheran and who write and speak against the fanatics, Methodists, and others, even though they themselves are unconverted, have no true faith, bear no divine conviction of the truth in their hearts, and therefore in their attacks do not seek only God's honor and their neighbor's salvation. A false spirit drives them in their struggle against the fanatics; they have in this an evil, branded conscience; that is to say, they reject the Methodists and other zealous sects because they themselves remain in the sluggishness of their flesh and do not wish to be converted; they reject fanatical zeal because they also hate true zeal and earnestness in Christianity. Such fighters are the first to fall in with the fanatics once their conscience awakens; though called Lutherans, they have never submitted themselves to the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and yet have wanted to fight for the Word of the Spirit (Psalm 50:16–22). Now if God once uncovers their hypocrisy and their unconverted state, they do not think that the fault lay with themselves, but shift the blame onto the Lutheran doctrine and church, within which they remained without ever being awakened; hence those who formerly fought most zealously against the sects fall most easily to them. When we hear of such people that, even in their hour of death, tormented by anguish of conscience, they recant everything they had spoken and written against the Methodists and others, this does not surprise us. They are warning examples, admonishing everyone who would take a stand against error and falsehood first to let his own unconverted and lying heart be converted and changed by grace; for if one blind man tries to lead another, both will finally fall into the pit. Matthew 15:14. Luther was no such blind leader of the blind. He could say with St. Paul: "We also renounce the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." 2 Corinthians 4:2. He was therefore also joyfully ready in his death to appear before Christ's judgment seat with what he had confessed in his life.

What Luther had, however, foreseen came to pass, as has been said. Nineteen years after his own death and five years after Melanchthon's, namely in the year 1565, several Heidelberg Reformed theologians — among them also the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism — published the following story: "When Dr. Luther wished to make his last journey to Eisleben, Philip Melanchthon came the day before to the Doctor's lodging in the monastery, and, having noticed after various conversation that Luther was in good spirits and cheerful, he began to speak with him about the matter of the Lord's Supper, in such a way that he related several sayings of the ancient teachers and, among other things, said to him: Dear Doctor, I have now for several years diligently searched the writings of the ancient Christian teachers concerning this matter, and truly, the Zurich doctrine of the Supper agrees better with them than does our own. Whereupon Luther was silent for a little while, but afterward