To Philip Melanchthon letter 10 - Martin Luther

TO PHILIP MELANCHTHON

Luther speaks of his father’s death. June 5, 1530.

Grace and peace in Christ! In my last I complained, my Philip, of you returning a messenger empty handed to me, and two have come since — Appel, and now the driver with the Coburg game. And so many of you there who have usually a mania for writing! I do not know if it be carelessness, or if you are displeased with me, for you know in my solitude how I long for letters, as in a dry and parched land. We hear the Emperor has ordered the Augsburg people to dismiss the hired soldiers and remove the barricades. Argula von Staufen told me of the magnificent reception the Elector of Bavaria gave the Emperor in Munich, there being plays and entertainments an his honor. From Nurnberg I hear the Papists wish to prevent him visiting Augsburg. If this be true, then it shows God’s hatred towards them in not answering our prayers for them. Hans Reinecke writes that my beloved father, old Hans Luther, died at one on Sabbath morning. This death has cast me into deep grief, not only because he was my father, but because it was through his deep love to me that my Creator endowed me with all I am and have, and although consoled to learn that he fell asleep softly in Christ Jesus, strong in faith, yet his loss has caused a deep wound in my heart. Thus are the righteous taken away from the evil to come and enter into rest. I am now heir to the name, being the eldest Luther in the family, so it behemoth me to follow him into Christ’s kingdom, who gave him unto us.

I am too sad to write more today, and it is only right to mourn such a father, who by the sweat of his brow made me what I am. But I rejoiced that he lived to behold the light of the truth. Amen.

Greet all our friends. MARTIN LUTHER .