Luther. Grisar Hartmann
Lehre,” p. 22: “We learn nothing of the dispute then going on between the Conventuals and the Observantines, the laxer and stricter exponents of the monastic Rule; and yet Luther may have experienced their differences in his own person; his second removal from Erfurt to Wittenberg in 1511 was perhaps a disciplinary act, because he and Lang stood on the side of Staupitz and against the Erfurt Council. Probably Luther went to Rome about this very matter.” Concerning his removal and journey to Rome, see above, pp. 29, 38. We learn, it is true, no details about the dispute between the monasteries, and this is perhaps what Braun means; but its continuance is, to my mind, apparent from Luther’s statements, as well as from the leading part he took against the Observantines. Ficker (“Luthers Vorlesung über den Römerbrief,” 1908, p. xcvii.) only mentions the Observantines cursorily, saying that Luther did not seem much attached to them. Hering (“Theolog. Studien und Kritiken,” 1877, p. 627) offers little of interest.
[128] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 61.
[129] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 155.
[130] Ibid., 4, p. 312. Note “bonitas fidei” (= Christian righteousness), “veritas fidei” (= Christian truth), “iustitiæ fidei substantia” (= essence of Christian righteousness).
[131] Ibid., 4, p. 122.
[132] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 4, p. 675; 1, p. 44.
[133] Köstlin, “Martin Luther,” 1², p. 125. In the 5th edition by Köstlin and Kawerau (vol. i., p. 122) the disapproving comment of Köstlin’s was suppressed.
[134] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 423.
[135] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 424.
[136] Ibid., p. 425.
[137] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 42, where he explains Psalm iv. 1 (Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus iustitiæ meæ) as follows and underlines same (his grandson Johann Ernst Luther has added in the margin: “Locus illustris de iustificatione”): “Vide quam vera et pia est ista confessio, quæ nihil sibi de meritis arrogat. Non enim ait ‘cum multa fecissem, vel opere, ore aut aliquo meo membro meruissem,’ ut intelligas, eum nullam iustitiam allegare, nullum meritum iactare, nullam dignitatem ostentare, sed nudam et solam misericordiam Dei et benignitatem gratuitam extollere, quæ nihil in eo invenit.”
[138] Cp. ibid., 3, pp. 172, 288, 355, 439, 514; and 4, p. 19, etc. Hunzinger, who quotes these and other passages, says: “He warns much against our own works and desire to gain merit” (“Luther und die deutsche Mystik,” in “Neue kirchl. Zeitschrift,” 19, 1908, Hft. 11, pp. 972-88, p. 978).
[139] Weim. ed., 3, p. 537 ff. on Psalm lxxvi.
[140] Ibid., p. 549: “Inde et mihi [psalmus lxxvi.] difficilis, quia extra compunctionem sum et loquor de compunctione”; in such matters one must be able “intus sentire”; “igitur quia meæ compunctionis practica non possum, declarabo eum [psalmum] ad exemplum et ex practica B. Augustini (‘Confess.,’ 1, 8).”
[141] “Werke,” Weim. ed., 3, p. 331 f.
[142] Ibid., 4, p. 78.
[143] Ibid., 4, p. 306 f.
[144] Ibid., p. 312.
[145] Ibid., 3, p. 541. “Non in viribus nostris et iustitiis operemur, sed opera Dei discamus operari ... Eruditus [psalmi auctor] concludit, opera Dei non esse, nisi quæ Deus in nobis operetur. Quare iustitiæ et opera nostra coram eo nihil sunt, ideoque opera exterioris iustitiæ non sunt opera Dei,” p. 542: “Omnia ista (Ps. lvi. 13) dicuntur contra superbos et iustos apud se, qui meditantur, quomodo sua opera statuant et suas adinventiones exerceant.” He therefore blames them: “Foris ambulant in carne et carnali iustitia,” etc. Cp. ibid., 4, p. 281 against “proprietarii iustitiæ” who, in exchange for good works, have taken out righteousness on lease.
[146] Weim. ed., 4, p. 443. Cp. ibid., 3, pp. 174, 178, where Romans i. 17, “Iustitia Dei revelatur in eo [evangelio],” is quoted with the correct traditional meaning.
[147] Ibid., 4, p. 383. The passage reminds one of the “esto peccator et pecca fortiter,” which will be referred to later. It reads: “Æquum est infirmari secundum carnem, ut inhabitet in nobis virtus Christi (2 Cor. xii. 9) in homine interiori. Æquum est iniustos et peccatores fieri, ut iustificetur Deus in sermonibus suis (Ps. l. 6): quia non venit iustos vocare sed peccatores (Matt. ix. 13), id est ut iustitia nostra agnoscatur nihil esse nisi peccatum et pannus menstruatæ (Is. lxiv. 6), ac sic potius iustitia Christi regnet in nobis, dum per ipsum et in ipso confidimus salvari, non ex nobis, ne auferamus ei nomen, quod est Jhesus, id est Salvator.”
[148] Cp. Weim. ed., 3, pp. 290, 284.
[149] Ibid., p. 172.
[150] Ibid., 3, p. 320 ff.; 4, p. 300 ff., 312.
[151] Ibid., 4, p. 325.
[152] Weim. ed., p. 343: “omnes sumus massa perditionis et debitores mortis æternæ.”
[153] Ibid., p. 354.
[154] Cp. ibid., 4, p. 207.
[155] Ibid., p. 497.
[156] Ibid., p. 383.
[157] Ibid., p. 211.