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The Burning of Brother Henry (A Letter of Consolation from Martin Luther)
Martin Luther, Preacher at Wittenberg, to all beloved and elect friends of God in Christ at Bremen.
Grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Most dearly beloved in Christ: Having gathered from trustworthy and upright witnesses the true history of the martyrdom of your evangelist, the blessed Friar Henry, I was unwilling that it should remain hidden or be but imperfectly known. I have resolved to publish it, therefore, to the praise and glory of divine grace, which has in these days been so abundantly bestowed upon us condemned, lost, and unworthy sinners that we not only have, hear, and read the pure Word of God and see it rise, as the sun in his brightness, upon many lands, but also perceive and experience how the Spirit of God is confirming and establishing this Word with mighty and heroic deeds, as He has been wont to do from the beginning. Above all, He has given us brave and bold hearts, so that in many places both preachers and hearers are daily being added to the number of the saints, some shedding their blood, others being cast into prison, still others driven into exile, and all enduring the shame of the cross of Christ. Now hath appeared again the form of a true Christian life, terrible indeed with suffering and persecution in the world’s eyes, but precious and well pleasing in the sight of God; as it is said in the Psalter, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,” and again in Psalm 72:14, “Precious shall their blood be in His sight.”
Of these your Henry Zutphen doth verily outshine all, who endured so shameful a martyrdom in Dithmarschen for the sake of the Word of God, and mightily sealed the Gospel with his blood. Howbeit John and Henry of Brussels, the first martyrs of all, became likewise two bright and shining lights through their good death, being offered as a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. With them belong also Caspar Tauber burned at Vienna, and George the bookseller in Hungary. I have heard recently of still another who was burned at Prague in Bohemia for leaving his order of impure chastity and entering the divine estate of matrimony, the order of pure chastity. These and their like will drown in their blood the papacy with its god the devil; they will also preserve the Word of God in its truth and purity from the unclean profaners, the new false prophets, who are nowadays bestirring themselves and breaking forth everywhere. For it is certain that God is suffering them to die and pour out their blood in these days when divers heresies and schisms are arising, in order through them to admonish us and to bear witness that this doctrine, which they taught and kept and for which they shed their blood, is indeed the true doctrine and confers the true Spirit; even as aforetime the holy martyrs died for the sake of the Gospel and sealed and certified it unto us with their blood.
No such glory was ever obtained by those who have misled the world with their doctrines of works, human righteousness, and free will. For such doctrines the devil puts no one to death; he suffers their adherents gladly, nay he grants them great riches and the honor and power of this world, so that they are at peace and lead a pleasant life. Even though they died for those doctrines, they would be no martyrs of God, but their own and the devil’s martyrs. The very heathen have endured death for their temporal rights, goods, and honor; as St. Paul says, in Romans 5:7, that peradventure some one might die for a good thing (that is, for things the world counts good, such as riches, honor, and power), but for a righteous thing one will scarcely die. But to die for the Word of God and for faith, that is a precious, fine, and noble death, possible only to the Spirit and sons of God. To endure such a death is to die for the unrighteous and even for those who put us to death, and to intercede for them in dying; as Christ did according to Isaiah, “And made intercession for the transgressors.” Hence we read of no instance of a Christian dying for the doctrine of free will and of works, nor for anything else than the Word of God.
Forasmuch, then, as our merciful Lord has so graciously visited you at Bremen, and has drawn very near to you and given you through this same Henry so plain and tangible a demonstration of His Spirit and power, I have thought fit to write down for you and to publish the narrative of his sufferings, in order to admonish you in Christ not to mourn, nor to speak ill of his murderers, but rather to rejoice and to thank and praise God, who has made you meet to behold and possess these His wonders and gifts of grace. As for those murderers, they have already suffered retribution enough and more than enough, having so horribly stained their hands with innocent blood, and heaped up such great and terrible guilt in the sight of God, that there is far more reason to weep and lament for them than for the blessed Henry, and to pray that not they alone but the whole land of Dithmarschen may be converted and come to the knowledge of the truth.
This fruit of Henry’s martyrdom is the more confidently to be expected, since many in that land are already turning eagerly to the Gospel and regret this murder committed among them. For God, who permitted the blessed Henry to suffer in that place, verily intends not only to punish the ungodly, if they do not repent, but to turn this murder into a blessing to many in that land and to bring them thereby to eternal life. I pray you, in the name of God, to take a hearts interest in the dear folk at Dithmarschen, and to show them all friendly comfort and aid, so that they too may come over to our side. For I hear that many are incensed beyond measure at the monks for bringing this outrage upon their land. That is a good spark, kindled by God; it will surely spread into a fine flame, if you treat it with kind and gentle spirit, so that it be not quenched.
I commend to you your preacher, Jacob Propst, together with the other preachers, whom may God strengthen with you all, and grant you grace to hold fast the doctrine sealed with Henry’s blood, and to follow cheerfully, should God require it, in his footsteps. Amen.
All our brethren in Christ salute you. Pray for us. The grace of God be with you. Amen
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