Martin Luther on why believing in justification by faith alone is a matter of the highest art and skill.
Translations
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Meditations 2.2
A new translation and commentary on Meditations 2.2.
The Church in the World, Militant and Wave-Tossed: Hemmingsen on Luke 5
Yesterday's Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, according to the traditional Western lectionary, was Luke 5:1-11: And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,2 And saw two...
“Judge Not”: Niels Hemmingsen on Judgment and Mercy in Luke 6
Yesterday's Gospel reading, according to the traditional Western lectionary, was Luke 6:36-42: 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye...
“All the Men and Women Merely Players”: An Epigram of Palladas
A student once called me "vaguely pagan," which I did NOT appreciate. However. While I've shared several epigrams from Book 1 of the Greek Anthology here, today I give to you an epigram from Book 10--and, unlike the others, this one comes from a pagan, not a...
“The Devil Is Not Dead”: Luther on the Necessity of Galatians (Updated)
Last time, we looked at a comment Luther makes in his preface to the 1535 Galatians commentary. Below, as he warms up for the commentary itself, he explains why he is commenting on Galatians again, since he had already done so in 1519. Significantly, the reason is not...
From Faith to Faith: Exitus-Reditus in Luther’s Galatians Preface
Martin Luther begins the preface to his 1535 Galatians commentary by saying, more or less, "Wow, I cannot BELIEVE how verbose I was in the lectures that form the basis for this commentary. Like, way over the top; SOMEBODY SHUT ME UP!" Maybe they've been heavily...
The Soul’s Bloody Doorposts: A Greek Epigram on the Passover
I haven't posted a verse translation On Here in a while (since April 25th, in fact), and am trying to get back into it. So I have one for today, again from the first book of the Greek Anthology (1.57). The poem is a nice example of figural reading, taking the...
Scrutinize Majesty and Be Crushed by Glory: Reason and the Trinity
Yesterday was the Feast of the Trinity, for which the traditional Gospel text comes from John 3:1-15. For this post, I've translated a brief passage from Niels Hemmingsen's Postil sermon on this text that, in the course of discussing the divine Persons, deals with the...
“You Shall Not Murder”: Johannes Brenz on the Killing of Children
Abortion--which is a euphemism for "killing one's own offspring"--has been in the news again, and with it the usual moral confusions, including among Christians. Thus one learns that one must support a litany of government services if one is really to be "pro-life."...