in october 2012 newsletter...by david brickner, executive director
(note: God keeps using this newsletter which i get from leidy church to speak deeply to me. i have been moved to actually not prayer concerns in my journal and to even consider going to moody institute in chicago for a seminar in evangelism which is a prerequisite (maybe?) for joining their broadside (big, dealing-with-current-events 'tracts') sorties.
(webster says, 'a rapid movement of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers...sally forth; in jfj reality it is an intense period of time given to handing out broadsides and seeking to get contact info from those who are interested to talk more...)
called 'behold your God campaigns of wherever it is planned to happen. ie. behold your God new york.
i probably will never do it but it has become one of the strongest pulls...most close thing to a 'call of God' that is in my life now. each month it is a high point to, from a great distance, interact with this group of believers and what God is doing in and through them!
'loyal to whom?'
'my friend and coleague, jhan moskowitz,
(note: the jews for Jesus north amerian director who was suddenly called home to be with the Lord on september 5.2012.)
has a one word answer for those who ask,
'what is the most difficult obstacle facing a jewish person considering Christ?
he says,
"lovalty.
he then adds,
'loyalty is a virtue, but when employed in the service of a lie, it ceases to be a virtue.
jhan has put his finger on a very important factor in jewish evangelism, but he has also articulated an intriguing ethical dilemma.
loyalty can be defined as faithfulness or devotion that produces active commitment to a cause person or institution. author eric felten describes loyalty as the 'vexing virtue' because loyalties have a way of conflicting with one another.
loyalty can indeed be a virtue, bu always in relationship to its object. it is entirely possible to be loyal to the wrong things or people. it is also possible to be loyal to the right things or people, but in the wrong way.
in the jewish community, loyalty to the jewish people and to one's jewish identity is considered one of the highest, if not the highest, value. this creates a real problem because any jew who is committed to Jesus as the messiah is viewed as being disloyal in the highest degree-as though we had associated ourselves with holocaust deniers and haters of the state of israel. most jewish people find it extremely uncomfortable to contemplate such disloyalty in the process of a spiritual search.
it is much easier to avoid any real consideration of who Jesus is, because even to investigate the subject can be seen as an act of disloyalty. but that kind of lobyaly to one's jewish identity helps perpetuate a lie: you can't be jewish and believe in Jesus, and therefore Jesus cannot be the jewish messiah.
the odd thing is, so many jews who become followers of Jesus actually become more loyal to their jewish identity, to the jewish people and to the state of israel than they might have been previously. i have often met jewish people who, upon coming to faith in Christ, develop a deeper love for their jewish heritage, and a longing to be more closely associated with their own people.
yet many jewish community leaders and even some family members of those jews who come to believe in Jesus accuse us of extreme disloyalty. at times, so much abuse is heaped upon the jewish believer in Jesus that, in truth, it might seem to undermine any reasonable expectation for loyalty. but this is not a new phenomenon.
the first jewish followers of Jesus had to address the loyalty dilemma head on.
how did the do it?
they recognized and acted upon a clear HIERARCHY OF LOYALTIES.
this is evident in their response to jewish authorities who 'commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus' acts 4.18
'but peter and john answered and said to them,
'whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. acts 4.19-20
it wasn't that those first jewish believes chose to be disloyal to their community, but rather they had to prioritize their loyalties appropriately. they had an overarching devotion to God above all. next was an unwavering commitment to the truth- to what they had both seen and heard. these loyalties did not replace their loyalty to the jewish people, but rather they defined how that loyalty could or could not be demonstrated. peter and john put the onus on the religious leaders to draw their own conclusions regarding this hierarchy of loyalties.
'you judge if we should listen to you more than God,
they told the jewish leadership, appealing to what the leaders should have understood from their own faith.
t
the decision those early jewish believers took to risk their community's displeasure became a hinge of history, a turning point from which there would be no going back. it would cost them their standing in the jewish community, favor with friends and family and ultimately many of them would have to leave their homes. (acts 8.1). but their commitment also led to the expansion of the church from a jerusalem based community to a worldwide movement.
loyalty is not just a feeling. living by its principles exacts consequences that we may not enjoy, but the results can have eternal significance.
we need to be able to see the challenges before us and make the same kinds of judgments as the apostles did. we need to understand where commitment to God and to the truth will take us, and devote ourselves to lives of loyalty despite the consequences.
it is increasingly difficult for the child of god to hold to a biblical worldview without being misunderstood and marginalized, if not excoriated and penalized. if you dare to point out that societal norms do not align with boundaries god has set, chances are, no matter how respectfully you state your view or decline to endorse things that violate your conscience, you will be branded a bigot and/or a hater. you might be a student, you might be a business owner-whoever you are, you'll find that living a life that is loyal to godly principles will cost you something.
true loyalty is never blind obedience to convention, a 'going along to get along'. it is obedience to the dictates of conscience as informed by the revelation of god's holy word under the guidance of the Spirit. loyalty to god and to His word never requires disloyalty to one's conscience or even to the people we love. but loyalty to God and His word will require us to make difficult decisions that could be perceived as disloyalty. just as people are often confused between tolerate and affirmation, so many mistakenly view loyalty as upholding the status quo.
think about it. when we ask people to consider trusting Christ, we are asking them to reevaluate their loyalties, and that includes examining certain assumptions. we are not asking them to reevaluate whether they are loyal, but how they prioritize their loyalty and how those priorities will afect their choices.
for jewish people, that reevaluation means facing the real possibility that they and their family and ancestors have been wrong for 2000 years. that is a lot to ask! most jewish people, consciously or not, have to decide whether they are willing to face that possibility before they can even begin to see who Jesus is.
when i am speaking to someone about this momentous decision i often ask,
'IF THE BIBLE IS TRUE AND JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, ARE YOU WILLING TO FIND THAT OUT AND FOLLOW HIM REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES?
many people have admitted to me that they don't want to know if it is true. this is sad, but at least they are being honest. they may be closer to the truth than others who insist they want to know but aren't really willing to take the risk.
it is easy to confuse a virtue with the appearance of a virtue. many people will do what is necessary to be considered loving or loyal.
but what if actually being loving and loyal meant people we care about would see us as unloving and disloyal?
is it really the virtue we want or the affirmation that goes along with the appearance of virtue?
many people don't realize that God and truth have taken a back seat in their loyalties, often for the sake of appearing to others in a good light.
the same applies to us as we seek to follow the lord with our whole hears in a world that will surely test our commitments. are we willing to place our loyalty to messiah Jesus and to His word above all else? let's be honest and thoughtful about our answer. WE ALL NEED GOD'S GRACE TO KEEP OUR HEARTS LOYAL AND FIXED ON HIM.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
10.9.2010 VAUDOIS VII - THE PIEDMONTESE EASTER, OR THE MASSACRES OF 1655
taken from 'the israel of the alps', history of the waldenses by alexis muston, vol. 1
337.1...'all the means hitherto employed to destroy the vaudois having proved insufficient, others were devised; for the avowed object of the Propaganda, officially established at turin (by the roman church), and extended over the whole of piedmont, was the extirpation of heretics. whatever might be the reasons to which recourse was had for the institution or justification of the violent proceedings now to be considered, this avowed object was their real cause.
charles emmanuel II was a prince of much clemency and goodness and with much that was noble in his character. the vau allowed themselves to be drawn into unaccustomed murmurings and even reprehensible doings, under the excitement of a system of incessant provocations and wrongs to which they were subjected unknown to their sovereign, by the jesuits, the capuchins and the Propaganda. but again it must be said, that neither the intentions of the duke, nor the doings of the vau, were the cause of the massacres of 1655. the spirit of popery alone excited that storm. but how was the duke induced to favour it?
it has already been said, that the council de propaganda fide et extirpandis haereticis was composed of the highest personages of the court. its meetings were held in the palace of the archbishop of turin. other councils established in the provinces sent in their reports to it. these reports were invariably hostile to the vau. their immemorial residence at saint john, at briqueras, at bubiano and at campillon, was represented as if they had made new encroachments; their appeals to their ancient privileges as acts of resistance to the recent decrees of gastaldo, himself a member of this council. other reports, founded upon these, were presented to the sovereign by ministers who also formed part of this council of extirpation and of death.
it is a fact honourable to the duke of savoy, that he did not consent at that time to adopt any new measure more severe than preceding ones, but confined himself solely to giving gastaldo orders that the edict of 15th may, 1650, should be put into execution-an edict which indeed had, since that time, been suspended and legally abrogated by late ratifications of the ancient privileges, but which was still valid as to certain reserved articles, and was far exceeded by the pressing and almost universal demands of the public fanaticism, then clamouring for the complete annihilation of the vau. as to the military operations which followed, the duke had the responsibility of them without directing them and we shall soon also see by what combinations of insidious and perfidious intrigues both the inhabitants of the valleys and the duke of savoy were deceived. the former fell by thousands in a frightful carnage; the latter was rejected by indignant europe from amongst the number of civilized princes; and the cause of all this was rome-alone remaining barbarous, persecuting and savage, in the midst of civilization.
gastaldo, the duke's special lieutenant in the vau valleys, having been ordered to see that the people complied with the requirements of the edict of 15th may, 1650, issued, on the 25th of january, 1655, an edict, bearing that all protestant heads of families settled in the communes of lucerna and lucernette, fenil and campillon, bubiano and briqueras, st. segont, st. john and la tour, should remove to the communes of bobi, villar, angrogna and rora-the only communes of the valley in which his royal highness was disposed to tolerate their religion-and that within the space of three days, under pain of death and confiscation of goods. moreover, they were bound to sell their lands within the twenty days following, at least unless they would consent to become catholics. finally, it was ordained that the catholic worship should be celebrated in all the protestant communes, whilst the vau were prohibited from offering any molestation; and the penalty of death was denounced against any one who should dissuade a protestant from becoming a catholic. all these provisions show plainly enough in what spirit and under what influence this edict was conceived.
gastaldo, however, who was authorized by his instructions to banish all the vau families resident within the prohibited communes, confined himself to demanding, in the first instance, the removal of their heads. the vau obeyed. all the heads of families against whom these requirements were directed retired into the higher parts of the valley. a petition was addressed to the sovereign. he seemed disposed to clemency. the count christopher of lucerna interceded for the oppressed people.
'i would willingly allow them to reside at st. john and at la tour..if they, on their part, would consent to retire from the other localities nearer to the plain, for their adversaries will not leave me in peace without having obtained some satisfaction.
meanwhile, the propaganda bestirred itself. in place of the duke's being told that the vau were perfectly ready to obey, he was told that they were in a state of rebellion, and had already assassinated the priest of fenil. their deputies arrived at turin, and we not received. the court remitted them to the council of the propaganda, saying that they would have to deal with it. this council likewise refused to receive them on account of their being protestants and ordained them to have their petition presented by a popish procurator. they chose one named gibelino, who was introduced into the hall of deliberation. the council was sitting, the archbishop presiding; and the humble procurator of the vau was obliged to present their petition on his knees. the reply of the council was, that they must send other deputies, authorized to make suitable engagements in name of all the people.
these new representatives arrived at turin on the 12th of february, but their mandate bore that they should subscribe nothing contrary to the concessions or priileges of their constituents. they wer
moderation of language sometimes proceeds from hardness of heart. perverse sentiments permit a man to be more master of himsef than generous sentiments do. it will soon appear that these observations are not incorrect in reference to the marquis of pianesse, whose conduct has suggested them. he had, moreover, studied in the school of jesuitism and its atrocities sanctioned the course which he pursued-perfidious but polished-cruel but devout-shrinking from no means of attaining an object. ..
at last, in the beginning of april, 1655, a third vau deputation, composed of two deputies only, repaired to turin, furnished with a general mandate by which
they were authorized to
accept all the conditions which it might please his royal highness to impose,
provided always that their liberty of conscience was untouched;
and, in the event of its being menaced,
they wer to demand,
in name of all their brethren,
permission to retire from the dominions of his royal highness.
this was to state the question courageously and unambiguously.
it did not shrink from its difficulties.
the answer must needs be decisive.
the marquis of pianesse was commissioned to make it. after some delays he fixed a day for an audience. it was the 17th of april, 1655.
the deputies proceeded to the palace;
they were told to come back at a later hour.
they came back;
his excellency was not yet visible.
they presented themselves a third time,
and were put off a day or two.
'what can be the meaning of this? said the deputies, full of impatience and anxiety.
they were but too soon informed.
on the evening previous to the day which had been assigned to them for an audience, namely, on the 16th of april, at nightfall the marquis of pianesse had quitted turin to join the armed force which awaited him on the road to the vau valleys; and next day, whilst the commissioners, men of candour and integrity, were confidently waiting to see him at his mansion, pianesse, in whom jesuitism
(note: the practice of casuistry, equivocation and craft)
had extinguished at once nobility of blood and the honor of the soldier, was already on the verge of their country, at the head of troops intended for the extermination of their people.
these troops were numerous. besides those which were already quartered in the district, there was the regiment of grancey, commanded by the first captain, dupeitbourg, quartered at pignerol. there were also the regiment of the city, commanded by galeazzo; that of chablais, commanded by the prince of montafon and that of st. damian, commanded by an officer of that name. the marquis of pianesse had the general command of all the assembled forces.
on the 17th of april, he sent a messenger to la tour to require the vau to provide lodging and entertainment for 800 infantry, and 300 cavalry, whose cantonment in their commune had been appointed by his royal highness.
'how can his royal highness command us to find lodging for his soldiers, in a place where, by his last edict, we ourselves are prohibited from dwelling, replied the vau.
'then why are you here?, retorted the messenger.
'we are here on our business, said they,
but we have removed our residence to within the appointed limits.
the messenger therefore returned without having accomplished anything. towards evening, the marquis of pianesse, after having passed, without resistance, the line of briqueras, feni, campillon, bubiano, and st. john, from which the vau had retire, arrive under the walls of la tour with the regiments of the city and of st. damian.
it may readily be supposed that his concentration of troops upon the valleys,
the avowed designs of the propaganda,
the high position of those who were engaged in its course,
the general excitement of popular fanaticism,
the warnings of their friends and
the threats of their adversaries,
must have revealed to the vau, clearly enough, the hostile intentions entertained against them.
they know not, however, how far it was necessary for them to be upon their guard,
or how far they might trust to the good faith of their sovereign.
no official prosecution had been directed against them;
they had obeyed the edict of the 25th of january,
whilst they protested against it,
and had sent deputies for the purpose of obtaining its revocation;
and these commissioners were still at turin.
on the one hand the vau could not overlook the violent projects of the propaganda, but on the other there was room for doubt if the duke of savoy would become the instrument and accomplice of that body.
what were they to do?
they betook themselves to prayer;
they consulted their pastors;
they wrote to geneva;
the general voice recommended them to take measures of self-defence;
but uncertainty as to the future prevented the concerting of any plan.
they perceived that a storm was coming;
but could they foresee the extent of the calamities with which they were to be overwhelmed?
if they had foreseen them,
all hesitation would have disappeared,
and the vigour of an unanimous resistance would have proved itself equal to the maintenance of their despised rights.
but in indecision and ignorance-desirous of obeying the commands of their sovereign, which enjoined them to provide quarters for troops-made anxious, and with good reason, by seeing at the head of these troops, one of the leaders of the propaganda, who had vowed their destruction-neither daring to comply with confidence nor to resist with vigour, they took only half measures, insufficient on either view of the case. janavel alone had, in the month of february, raised a small company of resolute defenders, in the anticipation, which events too well justified, that the anterior measures already adopted were only the prelude to a terrible persecution. but he was then regarded by his compatriots as too exclusive and too violent.
it has just been stated that the marquis of pianesse had appeared on the 17th of april, at evening, under the walls of la tour. it was a saturday, there was fine moonlight-the whole army of the duke of savoy halted in the plain, which extends from les appiots to pra la fera and les eyrals. the commander in chief caused the vau to be summoned to provide quarters. they being only some 300 or 400 in the town, replied that
it was impossible for them to furnish quarters,
that no preparation had been made, and
that they requested time to reflect and to consider the matter.
delay was absolutely refused-
they were told that they must immediately receive the troops;
and , in case of refusal, the troops would seize by force the posts demanded.
hereupon the vau entrenched themselves behind bastions erected in haste.
the entrance of la tour, opposite to the bridge of angrogna, was closed with barricades.
this barrier arrested the enemy, and was thickly covered with defenders.
it was near ten oclock at night.
the marguis of pianesse caused the attack to be commenced,
the vau made a valiant resistance.
after three hours' fighting the assailants had still obtained no advantage.
but towards on oclock in the morning, count amadeus of lucerna, who knew the locality, put himself at the head of the regiment de villa, commanded by galeazzo;
and whilst the rest of the troops continued to give employment to the besieged, this regiment turned the town on the side of the pelis,
ascended by the the meadows and gardens which extend upon that side,
and,following the steps of its guide, penetrated to the centre of la tour, in the street of les bruns, and assailed the defenders of the barricade in the rear.
the vau now abandoned the barricade, wheeled about, forced their way through the ranks of these new comers, who vainly pursued after them and retired to the heights.
about two oclock in the morning the catholics being victorious and masters of the place, repaired in a body to the church of the mission, sung the te deum laudamus and exclaimed on all hands,
hurrah for the holy roman church!
and hurrah for the holy faith!
and woe to the barbets! (this name of barbets, given in derision to the vau, is probably derived from that of their pastors, anciently called barbas.)
in this affair the vau had only three killed and a few wounded. about 5 oclock in the morning the marquis of pianesse arrived, with all his nobility, and took his quarters in the mission buildings.
it was then sunday morning-palm sunday, the beginning of holy week.the spirit of antichrist burned to signalize these christian festivals by a grand massacre of christians. on that same sunday, there3e3fore, immediately after mass, the catholic soldiers, conducted by mario, the commandant of bagnola, set out by way of worldly deversion, or by way of preparation for the approaching easter, to give chase to the heretics; that is to say, to kill, by shooting with their muskets, all the vau whom they met, hiding themselves in order to take them by surprise, and burning the houses whose owners they had but to flight or killed.
in the evening additional troops still arrived. on monday, the 19th, the army, according to leger's account, already consisted of nearly 15,000 men. it was no longer possible to doubt that the old project of the extermination of the vau, so long cherished, matured and loudly avowed by the more zealous representatives of the romish church, was at last to be put in execution. it was thus that popery prepared to celebrate the easter of 1655.
the vau, beholding from the heights of angrogna and le taillaret, the devastation and conflagration which were already spread over the plain, took measures of defence. they placed sentinels at the advanced points, and defensive parties at the most important passes. but they were ill armed and ill organized; besides they could not believe in the perfidies of which they became the victims.
on the morning after palm sunday (monday, the 19th of april 1655) the troops of the marquis of pianesse attacked these poor moutaineers, at once by the heights of la tour, saint john, angrogna, and briqueras. the vau contented themselves with defending their positions.
they were one against a hundred;
but a powerful aid sustained them-
their confidence in God.
all these attacks were repulsed:
the enemy could not drive them from one of their entrenchments. the campaign began, therefore, with a victory on their side. could they foresee that it was to terminate in such great calamities?
on tuessday, the 20th..only two attacks were made-the one directed against the vau of st. john, entrenched at castellus, the other against those of taillaret. both resulted, a second time, in the success of the vau. the first was repulsed, with great success, by captain jayer. the second was not less fatal to the assailants; for the vau lost only two men, in an action in which they killed fifty of their enemies. leger, who relates these particulars, was himself in that engagement.
the marquis of pianesse-seeing the considerable forces at his disposal give way as before a superior force in attacking these advantageous and well guarded posts.though it necessary to have recourse to means which but too often proved successful against the vau, because they were ingnorant of the way of using them; but which have never been more skillfully employed than in the church of rome, and have contributed to it a part of its poser. he had recourse to perfidy. on the morning of the following day..the 21st, two hours before sunrise, he sent to all the entrenchments of the vau, clarions and heralds, to inform them that he was ready to receive deputies, in order to treat of an accommodation, in name of his royal highness the duke of savoy.
the deputies of all the communes of the valley repaired to his presence;
he welcomed them graciously,
conversed with them till mid day,
gave them an excellent dinner,
testified the best disposition towards the vau, and
assured them that it had never been his intention to disquiet them in any way.
gastaldo's edict, he added (that of the 25th of jan.), had reference only to those dwelling in the low country, who must, indeed, be contented to return to the mountains; but as to the communes of the upper valleys they had positively nothing to fear.
he seemed much vexed at the excesseds which his soldiers had already committed;
laaid the blame upon the difficulty of causing discipline to be observed by so great a number of troops; expressed his fear of not being able to restrain them and his desire to send them away; and
spole of the embarrassment which their number caused him, and
of the advantage which there would be in scattering them.
'you may render a service to your country and to me, he added in conclusion, by engaging your respective communes, each to receive and to lodge only one of the regiments which have been sent hither. by thus receiving them without resistance, not only will the localities which shall receive them be secure from all violence, but it may be also that the prince, touched with this proof of conficence, will display less rigour in the exclusion pronounced against the towns of the plain.
the deputies promised to exert themselves, as much as they could, in favour of so good a design. leger and janavel opposed to it a vain but inflexible resistance. the communes consented to receive the soldiers of the marquis of pianesse; and that very evening they took possession of all the passes, installed themselves in all the hamlets; and, in spite of the formal order to conduct themselves with prudence, did not even wait until next day without massacring a few heretics.
it was this which betrayed them. in their eagerness to obtain possession of the strongest positions of our mountains, whilst two regiments pursued the ordinary route of villar and bobi, and a third that of angrogna, a special detachment began to ascend the hills of cham la rama and of coste roussine, in order to arrive sooner at pra du tour. this detachment, on its way, set fire to the scattered houses of le taillaret; the smoke was seen and the cries of the fugitives and shouts of the persecutors were heard from the colette of rora, on which a fire was immediately kindled as a signal of distress. it was immediately perceived from all the heights of angrogna, whicher the greater part of the refugees from the plain had retired, who had been compelled to quit bubiano, campillon, etc, in consequence of the edict of gastaldo of 25th feb. the people of angrogna themselves, also, soon saw the rapid march of the invading detachment, which, directing its course towards the pra du tour, triumphantly descended by the slope of the mountain. ther soon appeared, besides, near the gates of angrogna and the pausa dei morts, the regiment of grancey, which alone had been expected. then, perceiving the treachery, they kindled in their turn their signal of distress, and the cries-
'to perouse! to perouse! to the vachere!
every one save himself!
there are the traitors!
God help us!
let us fly!-
were raised, and ran along, spreading like an electric flame over the vast flank of these mountains, from which the men, in a condition to carry arms, retired in haste to the heights of the vachere and thence by the valley of pramol, to those of perouse and pragela, which then appertained to france.
on the side of bobi the alarm was less prompt, for the regiments of bagnola and petitbourg (of which the former was to be quartered at bobi and the latter at le villar) arrived peaceably by the ordinary road. apprehension was excited when the soldiers, instead of remaining at bobi, were seenato ascend to sarcena and ville neuve; victims had already been slaughtered as they came, but the knowledge of these isolated murders could not spread and the officers everywhere manifested an intention to maintain a severe discipline amongst their troops.
even at angrogna, where they found only some women, old men and children-feeble guardians of their deserted houses-they at first abstained from any excess. de pianesse contented himself with taking up his position there, and giving rest to his troops, without seeming to think of remaining in the place more than two or three days, according to the terms of his agreement with the deputioes. thus seeking to gain the confidence of the vau women and children, these new comers persuaded them to recall their husbands and brothers who had taken flight, protesting that no harm would be done to them. some of them came back, to their cost...
from the head of the valley downwards, in villages and hamlets, on the highways and rocks, the propaganda, by the help of the bad faith which its church authorizes, had now introduced its soldiers or posted its assassins. accordingly the vaeil was raised. on saturday, easter eve (24th april, 1655), at four oclock in the morning, the signal for a general massacre of the va was given to these..troops, from the summit of the castle of la tour.
the soldiers, appized beforehand, had risen early; they were fresh and active; they had slept under the roofs of those whose throats they were to cut. those whom the vau had received, lodged and fed with such confidence, who ought to have protected them were now at the same moment throughout the whole valley, and with the same fanaticism, transformed into base assassins, rome carries off the palm for conversins of this kind.
and now, how can we give an idea of the horrors which ensued?
it would be necessary to be able, with one glance, to include at once the whole country,
to penetrate into all apartments,
to be present at all executions,
to distinguish in this vast voice of anguish and desolation,
each particular cry of a heart or of a living being torn in pieces.
little children, leger says, were torn from the arms of their mothers,
dashed against the rocks, and
cast carelessly away.
the sick or the aged,
both men and women,
were either burned in their houses,
or hacked in pieces;
or mutilated,
half mudered, and
flayed alive,
they were exposed in a dying state to the heat of the sun,
or to flames,
or to ferocious beasts;
others were tied,
in a state of nakedness,
into the form of balls,
the head bettween the laegs,
and in this state were rolled down the precipices.
some of them,
torn and bruised by the rocks from which they had rebounded,
remained suspended from some projecting rock
or the branch of some tree,
and still groaned forty eight hours afterwards.
women and young girls were violated,
empaled,
set up naked upon pikes at the corners of the roads,
buried alive,
roasted upon lances,
and cut in pieces by these soldiers of the faith
as by cannibals:
then, after the massacre, the children which had survived it, and were found wandering in the woods,
were carried away;
or children were forcibly taken from what remained of their afflicted family,
to be conveyed into the dwellings of these butchers,
and into monasteries,,
like lambs taken to the slaughter house;
and finally, the massacre and the removeal of children were succeeded by conflagration
the monks, the propagandists, and the zealous catholics running from house to house with resinous torches or incendiary projectiles and ravaging, in the midst of the fires, these villages now filled with corpeses.
'two of the most infuriated of these fire raisers, says a work of the period,
were a priest and a monk of the order of st francis, who marched about, escorted by troops; and if there was any hidden cottage which hd not fallen into their hands on the firs occasion, they might be seen repassing on the morrow; and to finish their work the priest had only to discharge his carabine, loaded with an artificial fire, which stuck to the walls.
let the reader imagine these mad wretches running about amongst the burning houses, urging on the carnage and destruction, and these mountains resounding with the fall of ruins, of avalanches, of rocks and of living bodies cast down the precipices!
such was the frightful, unparalleled, unprecedented scene which was then presented in these regions of despair.
'and let it not be said, adds the historian leger,
that i exaggerate things upon account of the persecutions which i myself personally have endured; i have travelled from one neighborhookd to another to collect the authentic testimonies of the survivors, who deponed what things they had seen before two notaries who accompanied me.
in some places fathers had seen their children town through the midst by strength of men's arms,
or cut through with swaords;
in other places mothers had seen their daughters forced or murdered in their presence.
doughters had witnessed the mutilation of the living bodies of their fathers;
brothers had seen the mouths of their brothers filled with powder,
to which the persecutors set fire,
making the head fly in pieces;
pregnant women had been ripped up,
and the fruit of their womb had been seen taken living from their bowels.
what shall i say?
o my God! the pen falls from my hands.
dead bodies lay scattered about or were planted upon stakes;
portions of children,
torn in quarters,
had been flung into the middle of the road;
brains were plastered against the rocks;
trunks of human bodies were to be seen destitute of arms and limbs,
or bodies were to be seen destitute of arms and limbs,
or bodies half flayed,
or with the eyes torn out of the head,
or the nails torn off the toes;
others were fastened to trees with the chest opened,
and without heart or lungs;
here might be seen bodies of women still more horribly mutilated;
there graves scarcely fille up,
where the earth still seemed to give forth the groans of the unhappy victims who had been buried alive;
everywhere misery, terror, desolation, and death!
these are the things which i can tell!
the universal destruction of the vau houses by fire followed the massacre of their inhabitants.
in many hamlets, the witness of the martyrs proceeds, not one single cottage remained standing, so that the beautiful valley of lucerna then presented only the aspect of a burning furnace, where cries, which became more and more unfrequent, attested that a people had lived!
leger adds after this a long series of notarial depositions, giving the particulars of martyrdoms of which there had been eywitnesses, the horrors which were committed in the face of the sun, the names of the victims, and the vauntings of their butchers. i shall not copy thhe representation of these frightful scenes. why shoud we stay to contemplate individual maryrdoms when we see an entire people suffer martyrdom at once?
all these noble and courageous persons, thus put to dath, migh have saved their lieve by abjuring their religion; and the torments inflicted upon many of them were still prolonged in prison without making them yield. then years, twenty years afterwards, there were still in the galleys of the sovereign, galley slaves who were martyrs. in the dugeons of villefanche and of turin there were forgotten victims whose tortures, firmness and joyful death, heaven alone could know.
however, there were also numerous abjurations in the vau valleys. originating, as they did, under the impression of terror and despair, every one can appreciate their value. a deed obtained by violence is considered as null in law. will it be so before the supreme tribunal? it is not for us to resolve that question, but rather to render homage to those who have persevered with unshaken fidenlity in the manifestation of their faith.
poor michelin of bobi (whose son was then pastor at angrogna), after being treated in a way the most ignominious and painful that can be imagined, having survived these sufferings, was cast into the prisons of turin. all means possible were employed to make him abjure, but all without success. one day there descended into his dungeon tow ministers of his own church, the one named peter gros, and the other francis aghit. did they come to encourage him or to partake his sufferings? ...they came, driven on by the hideous hand of popery, to persuade the prisoner also to follow their example, and to abjure his religion. the surprise which poor michelin felt was so cruel, the shock so great, and the wound so deep, that it caused his death. these two pastors afterwards returned to the protestant church, but the old man of bobi had not made his religion a garment...he had made it his life..
other prisoners also died, rather than abjure. james and david prins of le villar, of the hamlet of la baudena, were committed to the prisons of lucerna; and there, says leger, they having resisted all solicitations to apostasy, with which they were plied by the monks
'their arms were flayed from the shoulder to the elbow, the skin being cut into stripes, which were left attached by the upper end and which thus rested loosely on the quick flesh; the rest of the arm was flayed in the same manner, from the elbow to the hands and their thighs down to the knee, as also their legs, from where the garter is tied to the ancle; and in this state they were left to die.
these stripes of skin, to remain hanging in this way, must have been torn off and raised from the flesh from their lower extremity upwards...
'i cannot refrain from remarking here, adds the historian, that there were six brothers of these princes, and that they had married six sisters, and all of them had numbers of children and that they lived together without having ever made any division of their property and without the slightest discord having ever been observed in that family. it was composed of more than forty persons, each of whom had his own department of labour; some in the work of the vineyards and cultivation of the fields-others in the care of the meadows, or in that of the flocks. the eldest of the brothers and his wife, who was also the eldest of the sisters, were like the father and mother of the whole family.
yet these patriarchal scenes,so worthy of respect, so beautiful, so simple, and so christian...(were destroyed)...
it was from the steeple of a catholic church that the signal of st. bartholemew's day was given
(note: a massacre of over 3000 huguenots (a member of the reformed or calvinistic communion of france in the 16th and 17th centuries) in paris, instigated by catherine demedicis and begun on st. bartholomews's) day, august 24, 1572, which resulted in up to 70,000 huguenots' deaths)
it was from the minsters
(a church actually or originally connected with a monastic establishment: any large or important church, as a cathedral)
of palermo that the sicilian vespers
(a general massacre of the french in sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on easter monday, 1282) sounded;
it was from an edifice which bore the name of the virgin mary
(the fort of la tour was named the fort of saint mary)
that the signal was given for the piedmontese easter, the frightful celebration of which filled the vau valleys with tears and blood.
many persons, even amongst those who had been chosen to serve as the instruments of this work of extermination, reprobated it with horror and refused to have any part in it. of this number was the first captain of the regiment of grancey, m. du petitbourg, of whom we have already spoken. when he knew to what employment his troops were destined, he refused to conduct them to that disgraceful massacre, and resigned his command. the court of savoy having caused a sort of apology to be afterwards written, in which all the odium of these events was cast upon the leaders of the french army, the commandant, du petitbourg, published a declaration, by which he disclaimed all participation in the barbarities committed, and at the same time attested the reality of them in a manner which puts it beyond all doubt, and with extracts made without alteration from this document, i ..conclude this chapter.
'i, the seigneur du petitbourg, first captain of the regiment of grancey, in command of the regiment, having been ordered by the prince thomas to go to join the marquis of pianesse, and to receive orders from him at la tour,...i have been witness of many deeds of great violence and extreme cruelty, committed by the outlaws of piedmont
(notes: outlaws and volunteers of every condition had been invited to the standard. the irish assassins, driven from their native country by cromwell and received in piedmont, distinguished themselves by their savage ferocity in these cruel massacres.)
and by the soldiers, on persons of every age, sex and condition, whom i saw massacred, dismembered, hanged, burned, and violated; and of many frightful conflagrations...i saw the order that every one must be killed. as for his(the marquis of pianesse's) protesting that no one was ever touched except in battle, nor the least outrage committed against persons unable to bear arms, i maintain that this is not the case, and that i with my own eyes saw men murdered in cold blood and women, aged men, and little children miserably put to death...
so that i positively affirm and protest before God that none of the cruelties above mentioned were executed by my orders; on the contrary, seeing that i could do nothing to prevent them, i was constrained to retire, and to renounce the command of the regiment, that i might not be present at such wicked actions.-done at pignerol, this 27th of november, 1655. signed, du petitbourg
(this declaration was made and signed before witnesses..)
i must now proceed to relate how the vau were enabled to recover from such an extermination. (see VAUDOIS VIII) ezekiel saw the dry bones restored to life by the breath of the Lord and becoming a people; and if we see a people die who are animated by the Spirit of God, it can only be to obtain a life more perfect and more happy than this earthly life. but the vau were to recover possession of their country...
337.1...'all the means hitherto employed to destroy the vaudois having proved insufficient, others were devised; for the avowed object of the Propaganda, officially established at turin (by the roman church), and extended over the whole of piedmont, was the extirpation of heretics. whatever might be the reasons to which recourse was had for the institution or justification of the violent proceedings now to be considered, this avowed object was their real cause.
charles emmanuel II was a prince of much clemency and goodness and with much that was noble in his character. the vau allowed themselves to be drawn into unaccustomed murmurings and even reprehensible doings, under the excitement of a system of incessant provocations and wrongs to which they were subjected unknown to their sovereign, by the jesuits, the capuchins and the Propaganda. but again it must be said, that neither the intentions of the duke, nor the doings of the vau, were the cause of the massacres of 1655. the spirit of popery alone excited that storm. but how was the duke induced to favour it?
it has already been said, that the council de propaganda fide et extirpandis haereticis was composed of the highest personages of the court. its meetings were held in the palace of the archbishop of turin. other councils established in the provinces sent in their reports to it. these reports were invariably hostile to the vau. their immemorial residence at saint john, at briqueras, at bubiano and at campillon, was represented as if they had made new encroachments; their appeals to their ancient privileges as acts of resistance to the recent decrees of gastaldo, himself a member of this council. other reports, founded upon these, were presented to the sovereign by ministers who also formed part of this council of extirpation and of death.
it is a fact honourable to the duke of savoy, that he did not consent at that time to adopt any new measure more severe than preceding ones, but confined himself solely to giving gastaldo orders that the edict of 15th may, 1650, should be put into execution-an edict which indeed had, since that time, been suspended and legally abrogated by late ratifications of the ancient privileges, but which was still valid as to certain reserved articles, and was far exceeded by the pressing and almost universal demands of the public fanaticism, then clamouring for the complete annihilation of the vau. as to the military operations which followed, the duke had the responsibility of them without directing them and we shall soon also see by what combinations of insidious and perfidious intrigues both the inhabitants of the valleys and the duke of savoy were deceived. the former fell by thousands in a frightful carnage; the latter was rejected by indignant europe from amongst the number of civilized princes; and the cause of all this was rome-alone remaining barbarous, persecuting and savage, in the midst of civilization.
gastaldo, the duke's special lieutenant in the vau valleys, having been ordered to see that the people complied with the requirements of the edict of 15th may, 1650, issued, on the 25th of january, 1655, an edict, bearing that all protestant heads of families settled in the communes of lucerna and lucernette, fenil and campillon, bubiano and briqueras, st. segont, st. john and la tour, should remove to the communes of bobi, villar, angrogna and rora-the only communes of the valley in which his royal highness was disposed to tolerate their religion-and that within the space of three days, under pain of death and confiscation of goods. moreover, they were bound to sell their lands within the twenty days following, at least unless they would consent to become catholics. finally, it was ordained that the catholic worship should be celebrated in all the protestant communes, whilst the vau were prohibited from offering any molestation; and the penalty of death was denounced against any one who should dissuade a protestant from becoming a catholic. all these provisions show plainly enough in what spirit and under what influence this edict was conceived.
gastaldo, however, who was authorized by his instructions to banish all the vau families resident within the prohibited communes, confined himself to demanding, in the first instance, the removal of their heads. the vau obeyed. all the heads of families against whom these requirements were directed retired into the higher parts of the valley. a petition was addressed to the sovereign. he seemed disposed to clemency. the count christopher of lucerna interceded for the oppressed people.
'i would willingly allow them to reside at st. john and at la tour..if they, on their part, would consent to retire from the other localities nearer to the plain, for their adversaries will not leave me in peace without having obtained some satisfaction.
meanwhile, the propaganda bestirred itself. in place of the duke's being told that the vau were perfectly ready to obey, he was told that they were in a state of rebellion, and had already assassinated the priest of fenil. their deputies arrived at turin, and we not received. the court remitted them to the council of the propaganda, saying that they would have to deal with it. this council likewise refused to receive them on account of their being protestants and ordained them to have their petition presented by a popish procurator. they chose one named gibelino, who was introduced into the hall of deliberation. the council was sitting, the archbishop presiding; and the humble procurator of the vau was obliged to present their petition on his knees. the reply of the council was, that they must send other deputies, authorized to make suitable engagements in name of all the people.
these new representatives arrived at turin on the 12th of february, but their mandate bore that they should subscribe nothing contrary to the concessions or priileges of their constituents. they wer
moderation of language sometimes proceeds from hardness of heart. perverse sentiments permit a man to be more master of himsef than generous sentiments do. it will soon appear that these observations are not incorrect in reference to the marquis of pianesse, whose conduct has suggested them. he had, moreover, studied in the school of jesuitism and its atrocities sanctioned the course which he pursued-perfidious but polished-cruel but devout-shrinking from no means of attaining an object. ..
at last, in the beginning of april, 1655, a third vau deputation, composed of two deputies only, repaired to turin, furnished with a general mandate by which
they were authorized to
accept all the conditions which it might please his royal highness to impose,
provided always that their liberty of conscience was untouched;
and, in the event of its being menaced,
they wer to demand,
in name of all their brethren,
permission to retire from the dominions of his royal highness.
this was to state the question courageously and unambiguously.
it did not shrink from its difficulties.
the answer must needs be decisive.
the marquis of pianesse was commissioned to make it. after some delays he fixed a day for an audience. it was the 17th of april, 1655.
the deputies proceeded to the palace;
they were told to come back at a later hour.
they came back;
his excellency was not yet visible.
they presented themselves a third time,
and were put off a day or two.
'what can be the meaning of this? said the deputies, full of impatience and anxiety.
they were but too soon informed.
on the evening previous to the day which had been assigned to them for an audience, namely, on the 16th of april, at nightfall the marquis of pianesse had quitted turin to join the armed force which awaited him on the road to the vau valleys; and next day, whilst the commissioners, men of candour and integrity, were confidently waiting to see him at his mansion, pianesse, in whom jesuitism
(note: the practice of casuistry, equivocation and craft)
had extinguished at once nobility of blood and the honor of the soldier, was already on the verge of their country, at the head of troops intended for the extermination of their people.
these troops were numerous. besides those which were already quartered in the district, there was the regiment of grancey, commanded by the first captain, dupeitbourg, quartered at pignerol. there were also the regiment of the city, commanded by galeazzo; that of chablais, commanded by the prince of montafon and that of st. damian, commanded by an officer of that name. the marquis of pianesse had the general command of all the assembled forces.
on the 17th of april, he sent a messenger to la tour to require the vau to provide lodging and entertainment for 800 infantry, and 300 cavalry, whose cantonment in their commune had been appointed by his royal highness.
'how can his royal highness command us to find lodging for his soldiers, in a place where, by his last edict, we ourselves are prohibited from dwelling, replied the vau.
'then why are you here?, retorted the messenger.
'we are here on our business, said they,
but we have removed our residence to within the appointed limits.
the messenger therefore returned without having accomplished anything. towards evening, the marquis of pianesse, after having passed, without resistance, the line of briqueras, feni, campillon, bubiano, and st. john, from which the vau had retire, arrive under the walls of la tour with the regiments of the city and of st. damian.
it may readily be supposed that his concentration of troops upon the valleys,
the avowed designs of the propaganda,
the high position of those who were engaged in its course,
the general excitement of popular fanaticism,
the warnings of their friends and
the threats of their adversaries,
must have revealed to the vau, clearly enough, the hostile intentions entertained against them.
they know not, however, how far it was necessary for them to be upon their guard,
or how far they might trust to the good faith of their sovereign.
no official prosecution had been directed against them;
they had obeyed the edict of the 25th of january,
whilst they protested against it,
and had sent deputies for the purpose of obtaining its revocation;
and these commissioners were still at turin.
on the one hand the vau could not overlook the violent projects of the propaganda, but on the other there was room for doubt if the duke of savoy would become the instrument and accomplice of that body.
what were they to do?
they betook themselves to prayer;
they consulted their pastors;
they wrote to geneva;
the general voice recommended them to take measures of self-defence;
but uncertainty as to the future prevented the concerting of any plan.
they perceived that a storm was coming;
but could they foresee the extent of the calamities with which they were to be overwhelmed?
if they had foreseen them,
all hesitation would have disappeared,
and the vigour of an unanimous resistance would have proved itself equal to the maintenance of their despised rights.
but in indecision and ignorance-desirous of obeying the commands of their sovereign, which enjoined them to provide quarters for troops-made anxious, and with good reason, by seeing at the head of these troops, one of the leaders of the propaganda, who had vowed their destruction-neither daring to comply with confidence nor to resist with vigour, they took only half measures, insufficient on either view of the case. janavel alone had, in the month of february, raised a small company of resolute defenders, in the anticipation, which events too well justified, that the anterior measures already adopted were only the prelude to a terrible persecution. but he was then regarded by his compatriots as too exclusive and too violent.
it has just been stated that the marquis of pianesse had appeared on the 17th of april, at evening, under the walls of la tour. it was a saturday, there was fine moonlight-the whole army of the duke of savoy halted in the plain, which extends from les appiots to pra la fera and les eyrals. the commander in chief caused the vau to be summoned to provide quarters. they being only some 300 or 400 in the town, replied that
it was impossible for them to furnish quarters,
that no preparation had been made, and
that they requested time to reflect and to consider the matter.
delay was absolutely refused-
they were told that they must immediately receive the troops;
and , in case of refusal, the troops would seize by force the posts demanded.
hereupon the vau entrenched themselves behind bastions erected in haste.
the entrance of la tour, opposite to the bridge of angrogna, was closed with barricades.
this barrier arrested the enemy, and was thickly covered with defenders.
it was near ten oclock at night.
the marguis of pianesse caused the attack to be commenced,
the vau made a valiant resistance.
after three hours' fighting the assailants had still obtained no advantage.
but towards on oclock in the morning, count amadeus of lucerna, who knew the locality, put himself at the head of the regiment de villa, commanded by galeazzo;
and whilst the rest of the troops continued to give employment to the besieged, this regiment turned the town on the side of the pelis,
ascended by the the meadows and gardens which extend upon that side,
and,following the steps of its guide, penetrated to the centre of la tour, in the street of les bruns, and assailed the defenders of the barricade in the rear.
the vau now abandoned the barricade, wheeled about, forced their way through the ranks of these new comers, who vainly pursued after them and retired to the heights.
about two oclock in the morning the catholics being victorious and masters of the place, repaired in a body to the church of the mission, sung the te deum laudamus and exclaimed on all hands,
hurrah for the holy roman church!
and hurrah for the holy faith!
and woe to the barbets! (this name of barbets, given in derision to the vau, is probably derived from that of their pastors, anciently called barbas.)
in this affair the vau had only three killed and a few wounded. about 5 oclock in the morning the marquis of pianesse arrived, with all his nobility, and took his quarters in the mission buildings.
it was then sunday morning-palm sunday, the beginning of holy week.the spirit of antichrist burned to signalize these christian festivals by a grand massacre of christians. on that same sunday, there3e3fore, immediately after mass, the catholic soldiers, conducted by mario, the commandant of bagnola, set out by way of worldly deversion, or by way of preparation for the approaching easter, to give chase to the heretics; that is to say, to kill, by shooting with their muskets, all the vau whom they met, hiding themselves in order to take them by surprise, and burning the houses whose owners they had but to flight or killed.
in the evening additional troops still arrived. on monday, the 19th, the army, according to leger's account, already consisted of nearly 15,000 men. it was no longer possible to doubt that the old project of the extermination of the vau, so long cherished, matured and loudly avowed by the more zealous representatives of the romish church, was at last to be put in execution. it was thus that popery prepared to celebrate the easter of 1655.
the vau, beholding from the heights of angrogna and le taillaret, the devastation and conflagration which were already spread over the plain, took measures of defence. they placed sentinels at the advanced points, and defensive parties at the most important passes. but they were ill armed and ill organized; besides they could not believe in the perfidies of which they became the victims.
on the morning after palm sunday (monday, the 19th of april 1655) the troops of the marquis of pianesse attacked these poor moutaineers, at once by the heights of la tour, saint john, angrogna, and briqueras. the vau contented themselves with defending their positions.
they were one against a hundred;
but a powerful aid sustained them-
their confidence in God.
all these attacks were repulsed:
the enemy could not drive them from one of their entrenchments. the campaign began, therefore, with a victory on their side. could they foresee that it was to terminate in such great calamities?
on tuessday, the 20th..only two attacks were made-the one directed against the vau of st. john, entrenched at castellus, the other against those of taillaret. both resulted, a second time, in the success of the vau. the first was repulsed, with great success, by captain jayer. the second was not less fatal to the assailants; for the vau lost only two men, in an action in which they killed fifty of their enemies. leger, who relates these particulars, was himself in that engagement.
the marquis of pianesse-seeing the considerable forces at his disposal give way as before a superior force in attacking these advantageous and well guarded posts.though it necessary to have recourse to means which but too often proved successful against the vau, because they were ingnorant of the way of using them; but which have never been more skillfully employed than in the church of rome, and have contributed to it a part of its poser. he had recourse to perfidy. on the morning of the following day..the 21st, two hours before sunrise, he sent to all the entrenchments of the vau, clarions and heralds, to inform them that he was ready to receive deputies, in order to treat of an accommodation, in name of his royal highness the duke of savoy.
the deputies of all the communes of the valley repaired to his presence;
he welcomed them graciously,
conversed with them till mid day,
gave them an excellent dinner,
testified the best disposition towards the vau, and
assured them that it had never been his intention to disquiet them in any way.
gastaldo's edict, he added (that of the 25th of jan.), had reference only to those dwelling in the low country, who must, indeed, be contented to return to the mountains; but as to the communes of the upper valleys they had positively nothing to fear.
he seemed much vexed at the excesseds which his soldiers had already committed;
laaid the blame upon the difficulty of causing discipline to be observed by so great a number of troops; expressed his fear of not being able to restrain them and his desire to send them away; and
spole of the embarrassment which their number caused him, and
of the advantage which there would be in scattering them.
'you may render a service to your country and to me, he added in conclusion, by engaging your respective communes, each to receive and to lodge only one of the regiments which have been sent hither. by thus receiving them without resistance, not only will the localities which shall receive them be secure from all violence, but it may be also that the prince, touched with this proof of conficence, will display less rigour in the exclusion pronounced against the towns of the plain.
the deputies promised to exert themselves, as much as they could, in favour of so good a design. leger and janavel opposed to it a vain but inflexible resistance. the communes consented to receive the soldiers of the marquis of pianesse; and that very evening they took possession of all the passes, installed themselves in all the hamlets; and, in spite of the formal order to conduct themselves with prudence, did not even wait until next day without massacring a few heretics.
it was this which betrayed them. in their eagerness to obtain possession of the strongest positions of our mountains, whilst two regiments pursued the ordinary route of villar and bobi, and a third that of angrogna, a special detachment began to ascend the hills of cham la rama and of coste roussine, in order to arrive sooner at pra du tour. this detachment, on its way, set fire to the scattered houses of le taillaret; the smoke was seen and the cries of the fugitives and shouts of the persecutors were heard from the colette of rora, on which a fire was immediately kindled as a signal of distress. it was immediately perceived from all the heights of angrogna, whicher the greater part of the refugees from the plain had retired, who had been compelled to quit bubiano, campillon, etc, in consequence of the edict of gastaldo of 25th feb. the people of angrogna themselves, also, soon saw the rapid march of the invading detachment, which, directing its course towards the pra du tour, triumphantly descended by the slope of the mountain. ther soon appeared, besides, near the gates of angrogna and the pausa dei morts, the regiment of grancey, which alone had been expected. then, perceiving the treachery, they kindled in their turn their signal of distress, and the cries-
'to perouse! to perouse! to the vachere!
every one save himself!
there are the traitors!
God help us!
let us fly!-
were raised, and ran along, spreading like an electric flame over the vast flank of these mountains, from which the men, in a condition to carry arms, retired in haste to the heights of the vachere and thence by the valley of pramol, to those of perouse and pragela, which then appertained to france.
on the side of bobi the alarm was less prompt, for the regiments of bagnola and petitbourg (of which the former was to be quartered at bobi and the latter at le villar) arrived peaceably by the ordinary road. apprehension was excited when the soldiers, instead of remaining at bobi, were seenato ascend to sarcena and ville neuve; victims had already been slaughtered as they came, but the knowledge of these isolated murders could not spread and the officers everywhere manifested an intention to maintain a severe discipline amongst their troops.
even at angrogna, where they found only some women, old men and children-feeble guardians of their deserted houses-they at first abstained from any excess. de pianesse contented himself with taking up his position there, and giving rest to his troops, without seeming to think of remaining in the place more than two or three days, according to the terms of his agreement with the deputioes. thus seeking to gain the confidence of the vau women and children, these new comers persuaded them to recall their husbands and brothers who had taken flight, protesting that no harm would be done to them. some of them came back, to their cost...
from the head of the valley downwards, in villages and hamlets, on the highways and rocks, the propaganda, by the help of the bad faith which its church authorizes, had now introduced its soldiers or posted its assassins. accordingly the vaeil was raised. on saturday, easter eve (24th april, 1655), at four oclock in the morning, the signal for a general massacre of the va was given to these..troops, from the summit of the castle of la tour.
the soldiers, appized beforehand, had risen early; they were fresh and active; they had slept under the roofs of those whose throats they were to cut. those whom the vau had received, lodged and fed with such confidence, who ought to have protected them were now at the same moment throughout the whole valley, and with the same fanaticism, transformed into base assassins, rome carries off the palm for conversins of this kind.
and now, how can we give an idea of the horrors which ensued?
it would be necessary to be able, with one glance, to include at once the whole country,
to penetrate into all apartments,
to be present at all executions,
to distinguish in this vast voice of anguish and desolation,
each particular cry of a heart or of a living being torn in pieces.
little children, leger says, were torn from the arms of their mothers,
dashed against the rocks, and
cast carelessly away.
the sick or the aged,
both men and women,
were either burned in their houses,
or hacked in pieces;
or mutilated,
half mudered, and
flayed alive,
they were exposed in a dying state to the heat of the sun,
or to flames,
or to ferocious beasts;
others were tied,
in a state of nakedness,
into the form of balls,
the head bettween the laegs,
and in this state were rolled down the precipices.
some of them,
torn and bruised by the rocks from which they had rebounded,
remained suspended from some projecting rock
or the branch of some tree,
and still groaned forty eight hours afterwards.
women and young girls were violated,
empaled,
set up naked upon pikes at the corners of the roads,
buried alive,
roasted upon lances,
and cut in pieces by these soldiers of the faith
as by cannibals:
then, after the massacre, the children which had survived it, and were found wandering in the woods,
were carried away;
or children were forcibly taken from what remained of their afflicted family,
to be conveyed into the dwellings of these butchers,
and into monasteries,,
like lambs taken to the slaughter house;
and finally, the massacre and the removeal of children were succeeded by conflagration
the monks, the propagandists, and the zealous catholics running from house to house with resinous torches or incendiary projectiles and ravaging, in the midst of the fires, these villages now filled with corpeses.
'two of the most infuriated of these fire raisers, says a work of the period,
were a priest and a monk of the order of st francis, who marched about, escorted by troops; and if there was any hidden cottage which hd not fallen into their hands on the firs occasion, they might be seen repassing on the morrow; and to finish their work the priest had only to discharge his carabine, loaded with an artificial fire, which stuck to the walls.
let the reader imagine these mad wretches running about amongst the burning houses, urging on the carnage and destruction, and these mountains resounding with the fall of ruins, of avalanches, of rocks and of living bodies cast down the precipices!
such was the frightful, unparalleled, unprecedented scene which was then presented in these regions of despair.
'and let it not be said, adds the historian leger,
that i exaggerate things upon account of the persecutions which i myself personally have endured; i have travelled from one neighborhookd to another to collect the authentic testimonies of the survivors, who deponed what things they had seen before two notaries who accompanied me.
in some places fathers had seen their children town through the midst by strength of men's arms,
or cut through with swaords;
in other places mothers had seen their daughters forced or murdered in their presence.
doughters had witnessed the mutilation of the living bodies of their fathers;
brothers had seen the mouths of their brothers filled with powder,
to which the persecutors set fire,
making the head fly in pieces;
pregnant women had been ripped up,
and the fruit of their womb had been seen taken living from their bowels.
what shall i say?
o my God! the pen falls from my hands.
dead bodies lay scattered about or were planted upon stakes;
portions of children,
torn in quarters,
had been flung into the middle of the road;
brains were plastered against the rocks;
trunks of human bodies were to be seen destitute of arms and limbs,
or bodies were to be seen destitute of arms and limbs,
or bodies half flayed,
or with the eyes torn out of the head,
or the nails torn off the toes;
others were fastened to trees with the chest opened,
and without heart or lungs;
here might be seen bodies of women still more horribly mutilated;
there graves scarcely fille up,
where the earth still seemed to give forth the groans of the unhappy victims who had been buried alive;
everywhere misery, terror, desolation, and death!
these are the things which i can tell!
the universal destruction of the vau houses by fire followed the massacre of their inhabitants.
in many hamlets, the witness of the martyrs proceeds, not one single cottage remained standing, so that the beautiful valley of lucerna then presented only the aspect of a burning furnace, where cries, which became more and more unfrequent, attested that a people had lived!
leger adds after this a long series of notarial depositions, giving the particulars of martyrdoms of which there had been eywitnesses, the horrors which were committed in the face of the sun, the names of the victims, and the vauntings of their butchers. i shall not copy thhe representation of these frightful scenes. why shoud we stay to contemplate individual maryrdoms when we see an entire people suffer martyrdom at once?
all these noble and courageous persons, thus put to dath, migh have saved their lieve by abjuring their religion; and the torments inflicted upon many of them were still prolonged in prison without making them yield. then years, twenty years afterwards, there were still in the galleys of the sovereign, galley slaves who were martyrs. in the dugeons of villefanche and of turin there were forgotten victims whose tortures, firmness and joyful death, heaven alone could know.
however, there were also numerous abjurations in the vau valleys. originating, as they did, under the impression of terror and despair, every one can appreciate their value. a deed obtained by violence is considered as null in law. will it be so before the supreme tribunal? it is not for us to resolve that question, but rather to render homage to those who have persevered with unshaken fidenlity in the manifestation of their faith.
poor michelin of bobi (whose son was then pastor at angrogna), after being treated in a way the most ignominious and painful that can be imagined, having survived these sufferings, was cast into the prisons of turin. all means possible were employed to make him abjure, but all without success. one day there descended into his dungeon tow ministers of his own church, the one named peter gros, and the other francis aghit. did they come to encourage him or to partake his sufferings? ...they came, driven on by the hideous hand of popery, to persuade the prisoner also to follow their example, and to abjure his religion. the surprise which poor michelin felt was so cruel, the shock so great, and the wound so deep, that it caused his death. these two pastors afterwards returned to the protestant church, but the old man of bobi had not made his religion a garment...he had made it his life..
other prisoners also died, rather than abjure. james and david prins of le villar, of the hamlet of la baudena, were committed to the prisons of lucerna; and there, says leger, they having resisted all solicitations to apostasy, with which they were plied by the monks
'their arms were flayed from the shoulder to the elbow, the skin being cut into stripes, which were left attached by the upper end and which thus rested loosely on the quick flesh; the rest of the arm was flayed in the same manner, from the elbow to the hands and their thighs down to the knee, as also their legs, from where the garter is tied to the ancle; and in this state they were left to die.
these stripes of skin, to remain hanging in this way, must have been torn off and raised from the flesh from their lower extremity upwards...
'i cannot refrain from remarking here, adds the historian, that there were six brothers of these princes, and that they had married six sisters, and all of them had numbers of children and that they lived together without having ever made any division of their property and without the slightest discord having ever been observed in that family. it was composed of more than forty persons, each of whom had his own department of labour; some in the work of the vineyards and cultivation of the fields-others in the care of the meadows, or in that of the flocks. the eldest of the brothers and his wife, who was also the eldest of the sisters, were like the father and mother of the whole family.
yet these patriarchal scenes,so worthy of respect, so beautiful, so simple, and so christian...(were destroyed)...
it was from the steeple of a catholic church that the signal of st. bartholemew's day was given
(note: a massacre of over 3000 huguenots (a member of the reformed or calvinistic communion of france in the 16th and 17th centuries) in paris, instigated by catherine demedicis and begun on st. bartholomews's) day, august 24, 1572, which resulted in up to 70,000 huguenots' deaths)
it was from the minsters
(a church actually or originally connected with a monastic establishment: any large or important church, as a cathedral)
of palermo that the sicilian vespers
(a general massacre of the french in sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on easter monday, 1282) sounded;
it was from an edifice which bore the name of the virgin mary
(the fort of la tour was named the fort of saint mary)
that the signal was given for the piedmontese easter, the frightful celebration of which filled the vau valleys with tears and blood.
many persons, even amongst those who had been chosen to serve as the instruments of this work of extermination, reprobated it with horror and refused to have any part in it. of this number was the first captain of the regiment of grancey, m. du petitbourg, of whom we have already spoken. when he knew to what employment his troops were destined, he refused to conduct them to that disgraceful massacre, and resigned his command. the court of savoy having caused a sort of apology to be afterwards written, in which all the odium of these events was cast upon the leaders of the french army, the commandant, du petitbourg, published a declaration, by which he disclaimed all participation in the barbarities committed, and at the same time attested the reality of them in a manner which puts it beyond all doubt, and with extracts made without alteration from this document, i ..conclude this chapter.
'i, the seigneur du petitbourg, first captain of the regiment of grancey, in command of the regiment, having been ordered by the prince thomas to go to join the marquis of pianesse, and to receive orders from him at la tour,...i have been witness of many deeds of great violence and extreme cruelty, committed by the outlaws of piedmont
(notes: outlaws and volunteers of every condition had been invited to the standard. the irish assassins, driven from their native country by cromwell and received in piedmont, distinguished themselves by their savage ferocity in these cruel massacres.)
and by the soldiers, on persons of every age, sex and condition, whom i saw massacred, dismembered, hanged, burned, and violated; and of many frightful conflagrations...i saw the order that every one must be killed. as for his(the marquis of pianesse's) protesting that no one was ever touched except in battle, nor the least outrage committed against persons unable to bear arms, i maintain that this is not the case, and that i with my own eyes saw men murdered in cold blood and women, aged men, and little children miserably put to death...
so that i positively affirm and protest before God that none of the cruelties above mentioned were executed by my orders; on the contrary, seeing that i could do nothing to prevent them, i was constrained to retire, and to renounce the command of the regiment, that i might not be present at such wicked actions.-done at pignerol, this 27th of november, 1655. signed, du petitbourg
(this declaration was made and signed before witnesses..)
i must now proceed to relate how the vau were enabled to recover from such an extermination. (see VAUDOIS VIII) ezekiel saw the dry bones restored to life by the breath of the Lord and becoming a people; and if we see a people die who are animated by the Spirit of God, it can only be to obtain a life more perfect and more happy than this earthly life. but the vau were to recover possession of their country...
Monday, October 8, 2012
10.8.2012 LUTHER XIII - LAST WORDS
238.1...'God's revelation is veiled, concealed in the human word and becomes ours only through the Holy Spirit. this a man experiences in temptation, anfechtung. the securi et fortunati, who regard themselves as safe and happy, read the bible as a human book, but the anfectung teaches us to note the word.
'God wills that through the scriptures we learn to know Christ in the Spirit.
but how does he accomplish this?
he casts you into poverty, shame, disrepute, hunger, thirst and a stricken conscience.
if there was ever a man who was driven to understand the bible by his own need, it was L.
whoever wishes to understand scripture
'must a good many times have striven and fought with sin and death,
or have boxed and wrestled with the devil,' he says.
two days before his death, feb. 16.1546, L wrote a few abrupt sentences, which comprise his spiritual testament.
here are the last words his pen put on paper:
'no one can understand vergil in his shepherd poems and peasant songs, if he has not himself been a shepherd or a peasant for five years. cicero's letters cannot be understood, i contend by anyone who has not been seasoned for twenty years in political affairs.
no one should think that he has tasted holy scripture adequately if he has not, with the prophets,led the congregations for a century.
so tremendous is the miracle of john the baptist, of Christ, of the apostles.
do not attempt to imitate this divine aeneas journey, but bow reverently over his tracks.
we are beggars.
that is true.
these words sum up the experience of a whole lifetime of association with the bible. no document can be understood from its exterior. even from within, its meaning is opened only to one who is spiritually related to the author. if even the life of a peasant has its secrets, how much more the work of a statesman? whoever wishes to enter truly into their writings must be willing to live their lives for five or twenty years thus saturating himself in that particular world. much greater is the mystery of the bible. one does not learn to know it by studying the bible as an abstract document, without fellowship with the prophets and apostles, the baptist and the Christ. no theoretical knowledge, however necessary it may be in itself, unlocks this treasure. here a man must be grafted into the life of the Spirit and the congregation, where the truth of the faith is experienced. our lives are too short, too small, ever to complete the task. this man, who had occupied himself day and night with the book for decades, warns us just before his death:
do not attempt to follow god's way through the world ,
but bow reverently over the marks left by His holy feet.
we are beggars. that is true. but there is a god who opens his hand.
'God wills that through the scriptures we learn to know Christ in the Spirit.
but how does he accomplish this?
he casts you into poverty, shame, disrepute, hunger, thirst and a stricken conscience.
if there was ever a man who was driven to understand the bible by his own need, it was L.
whoever wishes to understand scripture
'must a good many times have striven and fought with sin and death,
or have boxed and wrestled with the devil,' he says.
two days before his death, feb. 16.1546, L wrote a few abrupt sentences, which comprise his spiritual testament.
here are the last words his pen put on paper:
'no one can understand vergil in his shepherd poems and peasant songs, if he has not himself been a shepherd or a peasant for five years. cicero's letters cannot be understood, i contend by anyone who has not been seasoned for twenty years in political affairs.
no one should think that he has tasted holy scripture adequately if he has not, with the prophets,led the congregations for a century.
so tremendous is the miracle of john the baptist, of Christ, of the apostles.
do not attempt to imitate this divine aeneas journey, but bow reverently over his tracks.
we are beggars.
that is true.
these words sum up the experience of a whole lifetime of association with the bible. no document can be understood from its exterior. even from within, its meaning is opened only to one who is spiritually related to the author. if even the life of a peasant has its secrets, how much more the work of a statesman? whoever wishes to enter truly into their writings must be willing to live their lives for five or twenty years thus saturating himself in that particular world. much greater is the mystery of the bible. one does not learn to know it by studying the bible as an abstract document, without fellowship with the prophets and apostles, the baptist and the Christ. no theoretical knowledge, however necessary it may be in itself, unlocks this treasure. here a man must be grafted into the life of the Spirit and the congregation, where the truth of the faith is experienced. our lives are too short, too small, ever to complete the task. this man, who had occupied himself day and night with the book for decades, warns us just before his death:
do not attempt to follow god's way through the world ,
but bow reverently over the marks left by His holy feet.
we are beggars. that is true. but there is a god who opens his hand.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
10.7.2012 LUTHER XII - RELATION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS
213.1...'the manner in which L conceives the way Christ is concealed in the old testament requires further elaboration. we have already seen that in the preface to the books of moses, he designates the old as a 'law book' and the new, a 'book of grace', although he hastens to add that the former includes a proclamation of grace and the latter, many commandments. the supreme art of the theologian, 'the treasure of the true scribe' consists, in the reformer's opinion, in his ability to distinguish correctly between law and gospel, between God's demand and his promise. he repeats this constantly, so that at the end of his life he could say to his students,
'by this time you should understand this.
this distinction, in his judgment, urns straight through the bible. a very significant passage in this connection is found in his 'advents-postille:
'there is no book in the bible which does not contain both. everywhere God has placed law and promise side by side.
through the law He teaches us what must be done;
through the promise, how we can do it.
that we refer to the new testament as gospel, more than we do the remainder of the bible, is because it was written after Christ's coming and therefore after the divine promise, which before that time had been hidden in scripture, had been fulfilled and publicly proclaimed, through preaching. pay careful attention to this distinction no matter which book you may be reading, whether in the old or in the new testament.
whatever contains promises is a book of the gospel;
where commandments are found, we have a book of law.
since, however, in the new testament promises form the principal content, as commandments do in the old, the one may be designated as gospel and the other as law.
even when the scripture is law, it points to Christ. this is true of the old testament also. the purpose of the law of the old testament-in so far as it is not restricted to the temporary ceremonial and national needs of the jewish people but, radically heightened by Chris, concerns itself with ethical-religious demands that are universal-is precisely to overwhelm us. IT TEACHES US TO KNOW THAT WE CAN NEVER FULFIL ITS DEMANDS IN OUR OWN POWER, AND THUS DRIVES US TO CHRIST AND HIS SALVATION. the bible as a whole, as both gospel and law, witnesses of Him in whose cross is revealed the unity of God's dual work, the strange work of His judgment and the true work of his grace. it proclaims Christ, in whom God both kills and makes alive. for this reason, the gospel, though concealed, is always present when the law is preached. where 'the office of moses, the office of sin and death' is, there the help of God's grace in His Son is near at hand.
'even the law cannot be understood without Christ, because no one knows what it intends and how it can be fulfilled.
therefore the old testament, even as law, already points to Christ.
still more must be said. the old testament does not merely desire to point us to Christ through the harsh medium of the law, but is itself a witness to Christ, since it is already full of divine promises. l finds the proclamation concerning Christ in the prophets and psalms, in the well known messianic references in the historical books, and where not! in His great love, he discovers footprints of His beloved everywhere, some real and some hoped for.
significant and characteristic is, for instance, his exposition of psalm 90, which occupies a prominent place in L's preaching. on the one hand, he sees this song as typically a psalm of moses, the man of the law. moses here shows us a man who does not perceive how profoundly sin and God's wrath are interwoven with death. in this psalm he is 'mosissimus', servant of the law par excellence. on the other hand, there exists no psalm as Christological as this. the manner in which moses here prays in the face of death is a remarkable proclamation of Christ, who delivers us from death. in the personal relationship of God to man, as this is expressed in the introduction to the ten commandments ('I am the Lord YOUR God') and in this prayer of moses, we are already given victory over death-and this is to say, here is Christ with His gospel of resurrection. because of this L can say in his preface to the psalter that we can find in the psalms an image of Christ's death, resurrection, and coming kingdom.
L clearly sees Christ's work in the old covenant proclaimed also in the 'types' of the priesthood and cult, as well as in the experiences of the people of israel. high priest, sacrifices, and tabernacle are all 'figures' which point to Christ.
he criticizes the romanists sharply for applying the 'figure' of aaron to the pope.
'Christ is the man to whom all this must be applied.
here L stands in the direct line of tradition, especially that of the epistle to the hebrews. in some other respects, particularly in regard to its teaching concerning repentance, L had strong objections to this epistle. heb. 6.4-6 as well as 10.26 and 12.17, always remain einen harten knoten, a lump difficult to digest. as a result, he regards this work as nonapostolic and suggests that its author might be apollos. yet so far as its interpretation of the old testament types of Christ's priestly ministry is concerned, L regards this epistle highly. it contains almost enough to clarify all of the figures of moses' books.
the entire history of israel may be applied to the church of Christ. this may not be done in a 'physical', external, and legalistic manner, as the roman theologians do, but in a spiritual way by which the fulfilment is visible only to the eye of faith.
'that which the old testament has in physical and visible matters, is in the new testament a spiritual and inner thing, which one cannot see but can possess only in faith. thus the physical gathering of the people of israel points to the spiritual assembling of the christian people in faith.
because of this the psalter, even including the imprecatory psalms, can serve as the prayer book of the christian church.
'it is clear that everything the people of israel in earlier days suffered physically at the hands of their enemies and neighbors prefigures the suffering that the church of Christ must continually endure from its enemies and neighbors, ie. from false brethren, teachers and heretics. therefore these psalms and prayers continue to be valid for us, under the very same names and titles and we may pry them against our enemies, as they did against theirs.
222.top...'in His preaching, Jesus Himself has taught us how we are to interpret the old testament. to his word,
'as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up' john 3.14, L adds:
'the Lord teaches us here how to take proper hold on moses and all the prophets, showing that moses in all his actions points to Christ. this means that Christ is the point in the circle fro which the entire circle is drawn. whoever is attached to Him belongs also in the ring. for He is the middle point of the circle and all the events of holy scripture-when they are rightly understood-point to Christ.
therefore,
'i wish to know nothing in scripture but Christ and him crucified.
L sees the revelation of God in Christ not so much as a point of perspective from which everything radiates, but truly as the middle point around which everything turns in concentric circles. the use of such expressions as 'figure' and 'prefiguring' do not mean that he regards the revelation of god in the old and new testament as a lower and higher step in the helsgeschichte (salvation history), so that Christ is present in the first only in anticipation, whereas He is actually present in the second. Christ Himself was already present under the old covenant. the God of israel is the triune God. therefore Christ is not merely prophesied about, but He is truly present as under the covering of the law or in the veiled gospel promises, the voice of god is heard. in the messianic prophecies He is therefore present in a double sense: as the hidden speaker and as the one whose coming in the flesh is foretold. in a very special manner L saw Christ present in a concealed fashion, in such old testament 'sacramental signs' as circumcision, the rainbow and the rock from which the people drank. this was not only the result of His liking for illustrations, but also of the view that was of such great significance for the whole of His theology, that god clothes Himself in representations and signs when He reveals Himself to man.
the concrete manner in which L can speak of the real presence of Christ in both the words and signs of the old covenant is shown in the following quotation:
'from this it follows with powerful and inexpressible force that the god who led the people of israel out of egypt and through the red sea, who guided them in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, who fed them with heavenly bread and performed all the other miracles moses describes in his books, who also brought them to the land of canaan, where he gave them kings and priests and all manner of things, is no other God than Jesus of nazareth, son of the virgin mary, whom we christians call our God and Lord...He it is, who on mount sinai gave the ten commandments to moses and said,
'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of egypt, out of the house of bondage. you shall have no other gods before Me.
yes, Jesus the nazarene who died on the cross for us, is that God who in the first commandment says,
'I am the Lord your God.
if the jews and mohammedans should hear that, how they would rage! nevertheless it is true and will remain true; those who do not believe it will tremble and burn everlastingly.
he can also reverse this and call the Christ of the new testament by the name of Jahweh as he does in his 'mighty fortress',
dost ask, who is this?
Christ Jesus it is,
of sabaoth Lord,
and there's none other God;
he holds the field forever.
in an altogether original and often crass manner, L has thus sought to make clear both the distinctiveness and the unity of the two testaments. the new testament was already present in the very midst of the old testament age. it is certainly bound to the historical appearing of Jesus Christ, but He was already present, though concealed, in the earlier dispensation. the patriarchs and prophets believed in Him, not merely as the one who was to come, but as the Christ who was already present. for this reason, L could without hesitation call moses, the patriarchs, and the prophets christians.
'by this time you should understand this.
this distinction, in his judgment, urns straight through the bible. a very significant passage in this connection is found in his 'advents-postille:
'there is no book in the bible which does not contain both. everywhere God has placed law and promise side by side.
through the law He teaches us what must be done;
through the promise, how we can do it.
that we refer to the new testament as gospel, more than we do the remainder of the bible, is because it was written after Christ's coming and therefore after the divine promise, which before that time had been hidden in scripture, had been fulfilled and publicly proclaimed, through preaching. pay careful attention to this distinction no matter which book you may be reading, whether in the old or in the new testament.
whatever contains promises is a book of the gospel;
where commandments are found, we have a book of law.
since, however, in the new testament promises form the principal content, as commandments do in the old, the one may be designated as gospel and the other as law.
even when the scripture is law, it points to Christ. this is true of the old testament also. the purpose of the law of the old testament-in so far as it is not restricted to the temporary ceremonial and national needs of the jewish people but, radically heightened by Chris, concerns itself with ethical-religious demands that are universal-is precisely to overwhelm us. IT TEACHES US TO KNOW THAT WE CAN NEVER FULFIL ITS DEMANDS IN OUR OWN POWER, AND THUS DRIVES US TO CHRIST AND HIS SALVATION. the bible as a whole, as both gospel and law, witnesses of Him in whose cross is revealed the unity of God's dual work, the strange work of His judgment and the true work of his grace. it proclaims Christ, in whom God both kills and makes alive. for this reason, the gospel, though concealed, is always present when the law is preached. where 'the office of moses, the office of sin and death' is, there the help of God's grace in His Son is near at hand.
'even the law cannot be understood without Christ, because no one knows what it intends and how it can be fulfilled.
therefore the old testament, even as law, already points to Christ.
still more must be said. the old testament does not merely desire to point us to Christ through the harsh medium of the law, but is itself a witness to Christ, since it is already full of divine promises. l finds the proclamation concerning Christ in the prophets and psalms, in the well known messianic references in the historical books, and where not! in His great love, he discovers footprints of His beloved everywhere, some real and some hoped for.
significant and characteristic is, for instance, his exposition of psalm 90, which occupies a prominent place in L's preaching. on the one hand, he sees this song as typically a psalm of moses, the man of the law. moses here shows us a man who does not perceive how profoundly sin and God's wrath are interwoven with death. in this psalm he is 'mosissimus', servant of the law par excellence. on the other hand, there exists no psalm as Christological as this. the manner in which moses here prays in the face of death is a remarkable proclamation of Christ, who delivers us from death. in the personal relationship of God to man, as this is expressed in the introduction to the ten commandments ('I am the Lord YOUR God') and in this prayer of moses, we are already given victory over death-and this is to say, here is Christ with His gospel of resurrection. because of this L can say in his preface to the psalter that we can find in the psalms an image of Christ's death, resurrection, and coming kingdom.
L clearly sees Christ's work in the old covenant proclaimed also in the 'types' of the priesthood and cult, as well as in the experiences of the people of israel. high priest, sacrifices, and tabernacle are all 'figures' which point to Christ.
he criticizes the romanists sharply for applying the 'figure' of aaron to the pope.
'Christ is the man to whom all this must be applied.
here L stands in the direct line of tradition, especially that of the epistle to the hebrews. in some other respects, particularly in regard to its teaching concerning repentance, L had strong objections to this epistle. heb. 6.4-6 as well as 10.26 and 12.17, always remain einen harten knoten, a lump difficult to digest. as a result, he regards this work as nonapostolic and suggests that its author might be apollos. yet so far as its interpretation of the old testament types of Christ's priestly ministry is concerned, L regards this epistle highly. it contains almost enough to clarify all of the figures of moses' books.
the entire history of israel may be applied to the church of Christ. this may not be done in a 'physical', external, and legalistic manner, as the roman theologians do, but in a spiritual way by which the fulfilment is visible only to the eye of faith.
'that which the old testament has in physical and visible matters, is in the new testament a spiritual and inner thing, which one cannot see but can possess only in faith. thus the physical gathering of the people of israel points to the spiritual assembling of the christian people in faith.
because of this the psalter, even including the imprecatory psalms, can serve as the prayer book of the christian church.
'it is clear that everything the people of israel in earlier days suffered physically at the hands of their enemies and neighbors prefigures the suffering that the church of Christ must continually endure from its enemies and neighbors, ie. from false brethren, teachers and heretics. therefore these psalms and prayers continue to be valid for us, under the very same names and titles and we may pry them against our enemies, as they did against theirs.
222.top...'in His preaching, Jesus Himself has taught us how we are to interpret the old testament. to his word,
'as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up' john 3.14, L adds:
'the Lord teaches us here how to take proper hold on moses and all the prophets, showing that moses in all his actions points to Christ. this means that Christ is the point in the circle fro which the entire circle is drawn. whoever is attached to Him belongs also in the ring. for He is the middle point of the circle and all the events of holy scripture-when they are rightly understood-point to Christ.
therefore,
'i wish to know nothing in scripture but Christ and him crucified.
L sees the revelation of God in Christ not so much as a point of perspective from which everything radiates, but truly as the middle point around which everything turns in concentric circles. the use of such expressions as 'figure' and 'prefiguring' do not mean that he regards the revelation of god in the old and new testament as a lower and higher step in the helsgeschichte (salvation history), so that Christ is present in the first only in anticipation, whereas He is actually present in the second. Christ Himself was already present under the old covenant. the God of israel is the triune God. therefore Christ is not merely prophesied about, but He is truly present as under the covering of the law or in the veiled gospel promises, the voice of god is heard. in the messianic prophecies He is therefore present in a double sense: as the hidden speaker and as the one whose coming in the flesh is foretold. in a very special manner L saw Christ present in a concealed fashion, in such old testament 'sacramental signs' as circumcision, the rainbow and the rock from which the people drank. this was not only the result of His liking for illustrations, but also of the view that was of such great significance for the whole of His theology, that god clothes Himself in representations and signs when He reveals Himself to man.
the concrete manner in which L can speak of the real presence of Christ in both the words and signs of the old covenant is shown in the following quotation:
'from this it follows with powerful and inexpressible force that the god who led the people of israel out of egypt and through the red sea, who guided them in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, who fed them with heavenly bread and performed all the other miracles moses describes in his books, who also brought them to the land of canaan, where he gave them kings and priests and all manner of things, is no other God than Jesus of nazareth, son of the virgin mary, whom we christians call our God and Lord...He it is, who on mount sinai gave the ten commandments to moses and said,
'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of egypt, out of the house of bondage. you shall have no other gods before Me.
yes, Jesus the nazarene who died on the cross for us, is that God who in the first commandment says,
'I am the Lord your God.
if the jews and mohammedans should hear that, how they would rage! nevertheless it is true and will remain true; those who do not believe it will tremble and burn everlastingly.
he can also reverse this and call the Christ of the new testament by the name of Jahweh as he does in his 'mighty fortress',
dost ask, who is this?
Christ Jesus it is,
of sabaoth Lord,
and there's none other God;
he holds the field forever.
in an altogether original and often crass manner, L has thus sought to make clear both the distinctiveness and the unity of the two testaments. the new testament was already present in the very midst of the old testament age. it is certainly bound to the historical appearing of Jesus Christ, but He was already present, though concealed, in the earlier dispensation. the patriarchs and prophets believed in Him, not merely as the one who was to come, but as the Christ who was already present. for this reason, L could without hesitation call moses, the patriarchs, and the prophets christians.
10.7.2012 LUTHER XI - PROPHETS, OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT
human reason regards the prophetic books as unimportant, finding in them little of value. this is especially true of mr. smart-aleck, who knows the holy scriptures by heart and has them at his fingertips. out of the great wealth of his spirit, he concludes that the prophecies are only vain and idle babble. a consequence of this is that we no longer have a clear view of the lives and works of the prophets, paying attention only to their words and histories. this should not surprise us, since in our day God's word is despised, even though daily the signs and events of the coming of Christ's kingdom are set clearly before our eyes. how much more would that be the case if the history and acts of God were to cease! in similar fashion the children of israel despised God and His word, even though they had before their eyes the heavenly bread, the fiery pillar and the bright cloud and even the priesthood and kingdom, etc.
'therfore we christians should not be such shameful, tiresome and thankless smart-alecks, but read and use the prophets with earnestness and profit. for the first thing they do, through their witness, is to proclaim the kingdom of Christ, in which we now live and in which all those who have believed in Christ have lived and will continue to live to the end of the world.
'it is a powerful comfort and a comforting power for us that we have such strong and ancient witnesses for our christian life. through them we find confident certainty that through our christian faith we stand in a right relationship to God, in contrast to all impure, false and human holiness and sectarian movements. the latter often appear important and have many followers, while the christian faith, on the other hand, brings with it the cross, so that there are but few who accept it. a weak heart could easily be offended by this and fall into serious temptation, as is the case with many in our time by reason of the turks, the papists and other sectarian groups, which give us great offense.
'here the prophets come to our aid. even peter has testified (I pet. 1.11-12) that the prophets were not serving themselves in the things which were revealed to them, but us. it was us, he says, that they were serving. they have so served us through their prophesying that everyone who would live in Christ's kingdom can know that he must first suffer many things before he comes to glory and that he must govern his life by this fact. in this way we can be sure of two things:
first, that the great glory of Christ's kingdom is certainly ours and will come;
and also, that first we must experience
cross, shame, misery, contempt, and every kind of suffering for Christ's sake.
may we therefore not be overcome by impatience, unbelief, or skepticism concerning the future glory, which is to be so great that even the angels desire to see it.
'in addition, the prophets reveal to us many wonderful examples of men who have experienced the meaning of the first commandment. they picture this so masterfully, through word and example, that we might be powerfully moved to the fear of God and to faith, as well as to remain steadfast therein. for beside their prophecy of Christ's kingdom, they have nothing other than strong illustrations of the way in which God enforces His first commandment with strength and severity. thus to read and hear the prophets is nothing else but to read and hear how God threatens the godless, who are self-assured and proud and if threatening is not enough He comes upon them with punishments, pestilence, famine, war, until they are all destroyed. in this way He demonstrates the threat of the first commandment. but He comforts those who fear God, when they find themselves in every kind of need, and comes to them with help and counsel, through all kinds of wonders and signs, against the power of the devil and the world. thus He also demonstrates the comfort of the first commandment.
'by such sermons and illustrations our beloved prophets serve us richly, in order that we should not be offended when we see the pride and self assurance with which the godless despise God's word and note how they pay no attention to His threats, as though God were a weakling. for in the prophets we see that, finally, it has never gone well with one who despised God's threatenings, even though he was the mightiest of emperors and kings or the holiest and most scholarly of men under the sun. on the other hand, we also see that no one is ever forsaken who has dared to entrust himself to the comforts and promises of God, even though he be the most miserable sinner and poverty stricken beggar who has ever lived upon earth, yes, even if he be a murdered abel or a swallowed jonah. in this way the prophets prove that God abides by His first commandment, that he is a gracious Father to the poor and believing, and that no one is too insignificant or despised of Him but also on the other hand, that He is an angry judge of the godless and the proud and that no one is too great, too mighty, too wise, too holy for Him, even though he be emperor, pope, turk, or the devil himself...
'therfore we christians should not be such shameful, tiresome and thankless smart-alecks, but read and use the prophets with earnestness and profit. for the first thing they do, through their witness, is to proclaim the kingdom of Christ, in which we now live and in which all those who have believed in Christ have lived and will continue to live to the end of the world.
'it is a powerful comfort and a comforting power for us that we have such strong and ancient witnesses for our christian life. through them we find confident certainty that through our christian faith we stand in a right relationship to God, in contrast to all impure, false and human holiness and sectarian movements. the latter often appear important and have many followers, while the christian faith, on the other hand, brings with it the cross, so that there are but few who accept it. a weak heart could easily be offended by this and fall into serious temptation, as is the case with many in our time by reason of the turks, the papists and other sectarian groups, which give us great offense.
'here the prophets come to our aid. even peter has testified (I pet. 1.11-12) that the prophets were not serving themselves in the things which were revealed to them, but us. it was us, he says, that they were serving. they have so served us through their prophesying that everyone who would live in Christ's kingdom can know that he must first suffer many things before he comes to glory and that he must govern his life by this fact. in this way we can be sure of two things:
first, that the great glory of Christ's kingdom is certainly ours and will come;
and also, that first we must experience
cross, shame, misery, contempt, and every kind of suffering for Christ's sake.
may we therefore not be overcome by impatience, unbelief, or skepticism concerning the future glory, which is to be so great that even the angels desire to see it.
'in addition, the prophets reveal to us many wonderful examples of men who have experienced the meaning of the first commandment. they picture this so masterfully, through word and example, that we might be powerfully moved to the fear of God and to faith, as well as to remain steadfast therein. for beside their prophecy of Christ's kingdom, they have nothing other than strong illustrations of the way in which God enforces His first commandment with strength and severity. thus to read and hear the prophets is nothing else but to read and hear how God threatens the godless, who are self-assured and proud and if threatening is not enough He comes upon them with punishments, pestilence, famine, war, until they are all destroyed. in this way He demonstrates the threat of the first commandment. but He comforts those who fear God, when they find themselves in every kind of need, and comes to them with help and counsel, through all kinds of wonders and signs, against the power of the devil and the world. thus He also demonstrates the comfort of the first commandment.
'by such sermons and illustrations our beloved prophets serve us richly, in order that we should not be offended when we see the pride and self assurance with which the godless despise God's word and note how they pay no attention to His threats, as though God were a weakling. for in the prophets we see that, finally, it has never gone well with one who despised God's threatenings, even though he was the mightiest of emperors and kings or the holiest and most scholarly of men under the sun. on the other hand, we also see that no one is ever forsaken who has dared to entrust himself to the comforts and promises of God, even though he be the most miserable sinner and poverty stricken beggar who has ever lived upon earth, yes, even if he be a murdered abel or a swallowed jonah. in this way the prophets prove that God abides by His first commandment, that he is a gracious Father to the poor and believing, and that no one is too insignificant or despised of Him but also on the other hand, that He is an angry judge of the godless and the proud and that no one is too great, too mighty, too wise, too holy for Him, even though he be emperor, pope, turk, or the devil himself...
Saturday, October 6, 2012
10.6.2012 LUTHER X - THE PSALTER
....in his spiritual life l had experienced the thunder of the law. he heard this echo in the psalms, but he also heard the soft whisper of God's grace. so the psalter remained throughout the whole of his life the most direct word of God, tested in his own need and deliverance. with its supplications and songs of deliverance, it was his companion in all strife and joy.
151.2...'in the edition of 1524 he wrote a short preface, which begins thus:
'the hebrew language is so rich that no other can compare with it.
it possesses many words for singing, praising, glorifying, honoring, rejoicing, sorrowing, etc., for which we have but one. especially in sacred and divine matters is it rich in words.
it has at least ten names with which to name God, whereas we have only one word.
it may therefore rightly be called a holy tongues.
he mentions a number of expressions that repeatedly occur in the psalter such as 'mercy and truth' (which he translates as 'goodness and fatihfulness'), 'righteousness and judgment'. he would have been glad to translate the latter more freely also, had he dared to break away entirely from the letter of the original text, since, in his judgment, God's 'judgment' and 'righteousness' point to the judgment of the law and the righteousness given through faith.
in 1528 he substituted for this preface the one which has become famous for its description of the psalms as 'the prayer book of all the saints', which we here reprint in translation in full.
'many of the holy fathers have praised and loved the psalter above all other parts of the scripture. indeed the work itself gives sufficient praise to its master. nevertheless we must express our own praise and thanks for this book.
'in former years many books have been distributed-legends of the saints, histories of the passion, books of examples and histories-and the world has been so full of them, that as the result the psalter was unknown and unread. scarcely a single psalm was rightly understood. nevertheless it gave off such a wonderful and precious fragrance that all pious hearts drew devotion and power from its oft uncomprehended words and loved this booklet.
i am convinced however that there has never been a better book of examples or legends of the saints than the psalter, or that there ever can be one. if one would wish to select the best from all the examples, legends and histories and to preserve them in the best way, he could do no better than to take the existing psalter. for here we find not what one or two saints have done, but what the head of all the saints has Himself done and what all saints continue to do-their attitude toward God, toward their friends and enemies, how they bear danger and suffering. and in addition, it contains every kind of divine salutary teaching and commandment.
even for this alone the psalter ought to be beloved and precious to us, because it so clearly promises Christ's death and resurrection, and typifies his kingdom and the nature and task of all christendom. it might therefore well be called a bible in brief, i which everything that is in the bible is summed up briefly and attractively, as in a fine little handbook. i think that the Holy Spirit wanted to take the trouble to edit a brief bible and an example book of the whole of christendom and all saints. thus he who cannot read the entire bible would, in one little book, have a virtually complete summary of it.
in addition the psalter has a wonderful and unique quality. other books say much concerning the works of the saints, but report few of their words. in this respect the psalter is exemplary. from this comes its sweet fragrance, that one reads not merely of the works done by the saints, but also their words, how they spoke with God and prayed and continue to speak and pray. when we compare other books of legends and examples with the psalter, we find therein only dumb saints, while the psalter puts us in contact with genuine, bold and living saints.
if we compare him with one who can speak, a dumb man is scarcely more than one half dead. man possesses no greater or nobler attribute than speech, since it is this which distinguishes him from the animals, other than his shape of other qualities. a skillful artisan can cause a block of wood to take on the form of a man. and an animal can see, hear, smell, sing, walk, stand, eat, drink, fast, thirst, and suffer from hunger, cold and a rough bed, as much as any man.
'it must be added that the psalter does not merely preserve for us the simple, everyday speech of the saints, but their very best words, which with great earnestness they spoke in prayer to god about the most vital subjects. in this way, it presents to us not merely their words concerning their action but it reveals also that lies in their hearts and in the most secret treasure of their souls. thus we can see the source and origin of their words and deeds as we look into their hearts. we can determine what they have thought and how they felt in every kind of situation, in danger and need. the legends and examples, because they concern themselves only with the works and miracles of the saints, do not and cannot do this. yet i cannot know the real state of a man's heart merely by seeing or hearing of his many admirable deeds.
'now, i would much rather hear a saint speak than to see the things he does. even more gladly would i cherish the opportunity to look into his heart, into the treasure of his soul. and this it is which the psalter gives us so rightly in respect to the saints, that we can know with certainty the attitude of their hearts and the words which they used toward God and all men.
'for a man's heart is like a ship on a wild sea, driven back and forth by storms from every quarter of the heavens. here it is overwhelmed with fear and the concern of approaching disaster; there regret and sadness storm in, because of present difficulties. here blows the soft breeze of hope and of confident expectation of future happiness; from the other side we feel the winds of security and joy because of our present possession. such stormy winds teach a man to speak earnestly, to open his heart that its very depths might be revealed. for he who sits in fear and need speaks very differently of disaster than one who lives in joy. similarly, he who lives in joy speaks and sings very differently concerning happiness than one who is clutched by fear. it does not come from the heart, we are accustomed to say, when a sad man laughs or a glad man weeps, that is to say, the depths of his heart are not revealed and do not rise to the surface.
'and is this not precisely the greatest thing in the psalter, this earnest speech amidst every variety of storm in life? where does one find finer things said concerning joy than are contained in the psalms of praise and thanksgiving? there you are granted a glimpse into the heart of all the saints, as into a beautiful and pleasant garden, yes, as into heaven itself. there you see the splendid and attractive blossoms, blooming with every kind and thankful thought toward God for His benefits. on the other hand, where do you find deeper and sadder words, full of penitence, than in the psalms of lamentation? here again you look into the heart of all saints, but it is as into death, yes, as into hell. how dark and gloomy it is there, where the view of all things is veiled by the wrath of God. when the psalm writers speak of their fear and hope, they express themselves in such a way that no artist would be able to improve upon it, more could cicero or any other orator equal them.
'as we said, the very best thing in the psalms is that they so speak to God and with God that double earnestness and life reign in their words. usually when one speaks to others about such things, his words do not come so directly from the heart. as a result there is not as much fire, life, and tension in them. this is the reason the psalter is the booklet of all saints and that everyone, no matter what his circumstances, finds psalms and words that fit his situation and his needs as though they were composed especially for him. he himself not say it better, nor could he find or desire more adequate words..
'this is precisely so wonderful because the man who notes with joy that the words fit his situation thereby receives the assurance that he abides in the communion of saints and that all the saints have undergone an experience like his, since they sing the same song as he. we experience this particularly when the same words, with which they called upon god, are used by us in our prayers to Him. of course, this must be done in faith, since a godless man will not be inspired by them.
'in conclusion, the psalter offers us a safe and secure guide when we follow in the procession of the saints; following them, as we go our way, we need fear no evil. the examples and legends of the dumb saints, of which i have spoken, relate many kinds of works which we are not able to imitate. they tell also of many other works which it would be dangerous to imitate, since they often result in divisions and disturbances. these lead us away from the true communion of saints and tear it apart. but the psalter keeps you in the communion of saints, away from sects, for it teaches you to be so minded and to think and speak as have the saints-in joy, fear, hope, and sorrow.
'in short, if you would see the holy christian church pictured in living color and form, as in a small portrait, pick up the psalter. there you have a fine, bright and clear mirror that will show you what christendom is. yes, you will even find yourself in it, for it is the true 'know yourself' and, above all, God Himself and all His creatures.
'let us be careful, therefore, to thank God for this inexpressible gift. let us receive and use it with energy and determination. let us exercise ourselves therein to the praise and honor of God, lest we through our ingratitude earn His punishment. how people in the earlier period of darkness would have regarded it as a treasure to have been able rightly to understand even one psalm and to read or hear it in understandable german. yet they did not have that privilege. but now blessed are the eyes that see what we see and the ears that hear what we hear. but let us be careful-for already we see it happening-that it does not go with us as with the jews in the wilderness, who said of the heavenly bread,
'we loathe this worthless food.
let us remember that we are further told that they were punished and died, so that the same thing does not happen to us.
'to this may the Father of all mercy and grace help us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be praise and thanks, honor and glory for this german psalter, and for all His innumerable, unutterable benefits to all eternity. amen.
151.2...'in the edition of 1524 he wrote a short preface, which begins thus:
'the hebrew language is so rich that no other can compare with it.
it possesses many words for singing, praising, glorifying, honoring, rejoicing, sorrowing, etc., for which we have but one. especially in sacred and divine matters is it rich in words.
it has at least ten names with which to name God, whereas we have only one word.
it may therefore rightly be called a holy tongues.
he mentions a number of expressions that repeatedly occur in the psalter such as 'mercy and truth' (which he translates as 'goodness and fatihfulness'), 'righteousness and judgment'. he would have been glad to translate the latter more freely also, had he dared to break away entirely from the letter of the original text, since, in his judgment, God's 'judgment' and 'righteousness' point to the judgment of the law and the righteousness given through faith.
in 1528 he substituted for this preface the one which has become famous for its description of the psalms as 'the prayer book of all the saints', which we here reprint in translation in full.
'many of the holy fathers have praised and loved the psalter above all other parts of the scripture. indeed the work itself gives sufficient praise to its master. nevertheless we must express our own praise and thanks for this book.
'in former years many books have been distributed-legends of the saints, histories of the passion, books of examples and histories-and the world has been so full of them, that as the result the psalter was unknown and unread. scarcely a single psalm was rightly understood. nevertheless it gave off such a wonderful and precious fragrance that all pious hearts drew devotion and power from its oft uncomprehended words and loved this booklet.
i am convinced however that there has never been a better book of examples or legends of the saints than the psalter, or that there ever can be one. if one would wish to select the best from all the examples, legends and histories and to preserve them in the best way, he could do no better than to take the existing psalter. for here we find not what one or two saints have done, but what the head of all the saints has Himself done and what all saints continue to do-their attitude toward God, toward their friends and enemies, how they bear danger and suffering. and in addition, it contains every kind of divine salutary teaching and commandment.
even for this alone the psalter ought to be beloved and precious to us, because it so clearly promises Christ's death and resurrection, and typifies his kingdom and the nature and task of all christendom. it might therefore well be called a bible in brief, i which everything that is in the bible is summed up briefly and attractively, as in a fine little handbook. i think that the Holy Spirit wanted to take the trouble to edit a brief bible and an example book of the whole of christendom and all saints. thus he who cannot read the entire bible would, in one little book, have a virtually complete summary of it.
in addition the psalter has a wonderful and unique quality. other books say much concerning the works of the saints, but report few of their words. in this respect the psalter is exemplary. from this comes its sweet fragrance, that one reads not merely of the works done by the saints, but also their words, how they spoke with God and prayed and continue to speak and pray. when we compare other books of legends and examples with the psalter, we find therein only dumb saints, while the psalter puts us in contact with genuine, bold and living saints.
if we compare him with one who can speak, a dumb man is scarcely more than one half dead. man possesses no greater or nobler attribute than speech, since it is this which distinguishes him from the animals, other than his shape of other qualities. a skillful artisan can cause a block of wood to take on the form of a man. and an animal can see, hear, smell, sing, walk, stand, eat, drink, fast, thirst, and suffer from hunger, cold and a rough bed, as much as any man.
'it must be added that the psalter does not merely preserve for us the simple, everyday speech of the saints, but their very best words, which with great earnestness they spoke in prayer to god about the most vital subjects. in this way, it presents to us not merely their words concerning their action but it reveals also that lies in their hearts and in the most secret treasure of their souls. thus we can see the source and origin of their words and deeds as we look into their hearts. we can determine what they have thought and how they felt in every kind of situation, in danger and need. the legends and examples, because they concern themselves only with the works and miracles of the saints, do not and cannot do this. yet i cannot know the real state of a man's heart merely by seeing or hearing of his many admirable deeds.
'now, i would much rather hear a saint speak than to see the things he does. even more gladly would i cherish the opportunity to look into his heart, into the treasure of his soul. and this it is which the psalter gives us so rightly in respect to the saints, that we can know with certainty the attitude of their hearts and the words which they used toward God and all men.
'for a man's heart is like a ship on a wild sea, driven back and forth by storms from every quarter of the heavens. here it is overwhelmed with fear and the concern of approaching disaster; there regret and sadness storm in, because of present difficulties. here blows the soft breeze of hope and of confident expectation of future happiness; from the other side we feel the winds of security and joy because of our present possession. such stormy winds teach a man to speak earnestly, to open his heart that its very depths might be revealed. for he who sits in fear and need speaks very differently of disaster than one who lives in joy. similarly, he who lives in joy speaks and sings very differently concerning happiness than one who is clutched by fear. it does not come from the heart, we are accustomed to say, when a sad man laughs or a glad man weeps, that is to say, the depths of his heart are not revealed and do not rise to the surface.
'and is this not precisely the greatest thing in the psalter, this earnest speech amidst every variety of storm in life? where does one find finer things said concerning joy than are contained in the psalms of praise and thanksgiving? there you are granted a glimpse into the heart of all the saints, as into a beautiful and pleasant garden, yes, as into heaven itself. there you see the splendid and attractive blossoms, blooming with every kind and thankful thought toward God for His benefits. on the other hand, where do you find deeper and sadder words, full of penitence, than in the psalms of lamentation? here again you look into the heart of all saints, but it is as into death, yes, as into hell. how dark and gloomy it is there, where the view of all things is veiled by the wrath of God. when the psalm writers speak of their fear and hope, they express themselves in such a way that no artist would be able to improve upon it, more could cicero or any other orator equal them.
'as we said, the very best thing in the psalms is that they so speak to God and with God that double earnestness and life reign in their words. usually when one speaks to others about such things, his words do not come so directly from the heart. as a result there is not as much fire, life, and tension in them. this is the reason the psalter is the booklet of all saints and that everyone, no matter what his circumstances, finds psalms and words that fit his situation and his needs as though they were composed especially for him. he himself not say it better, nor could he find or desire more adequate words..
'this is precisely so wonderful because the man who notes with joy that the words fit his situation thereby receives the assurance that he abides in the communion of saints and that all the saints have undergone an experience like his, since they sing the same song as he. we experience this particularly when the same words, with which they called upon god, are used by us in our prayers to Him. of course, this must be done in faith, since a godless man will not be inspired by them.
'in conclusion, the psalter offers us a safe and secure guide when we follow in the procession of the saints; following them, as we go our way, we need fear no evil. the examples and legends of the dumb saints, of which i have spoken, relate many kinds of works which we are not able to imitate. they tell also of many other works which it would be dangerous to imitate, since they often result in divisions and disturbances. these lead us away from the true communion of saints and tear it apart. but the psalter keeps you in the communion of saints, away from sects, for it teaches you to be so minded and to think and speak as have the saints-in joy, fear, hope, and sorrow.
'in short, if you would see the holy christian church pictured in living color and form, as in a small portrait, pick up the psalter. there you have a fine, bright and clear mirror that will show you what christendom is. yes, you will even find yourself in it, for it is the true 'know yourself' and, above all, God Himself and all His creatures.
'let us be careful, therefore, to thank God for this inexpressible gift. let us receive and use it with energy and determination. let us exercise ourselves therein to the praise and honor of God, lest we through our ingratitude earn His punishment. how people in the earlier period of darkness would have regarded it as a treasure to have been able rightly to understand even one psalm and to read or hear it in understandable german. yet they did not have that privilege. but now blessed are the eyes that see what we see and the ears that hear what we hear. but let us be careful-for already we see it happening-that it does not go with us as with the jews in the wilderness, who said of the heavenly bread,
'we loathe this worthless food.
let us remember that we are further told that they were punished and died, so that the same thing does not happen to us.
'to this may the Father of all mercy and grace help us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be praise and thanks, honor and glory for this german psalter, and for all His innumerable, unutterable benefits to all eternity. amen.
10.6.2012 LUTHER IX - CANON
...writings..acknowledged as canonical by the ancient church..
110.last..'in his investigations of these matters, it came to L's attention that from early days there had been opposition to hebrews, james, jude and revelation. he himself thought he found in these same writings expressions that seemed difficult to bring into harmony with evangelical truth. in some cases they seemed to lack what was, in his eyes, the most important truth. for these reasons he placed these four books at the end of the new testament. in his table of contents he divided them from the rest by a small space and did not carry through the numbering of the books.
the sequence of the later books is then:
epistle to timothy
to titus
to philemon
of peter
epistles of john
epistle to the hebrews
epistle of james
of jude
revelation of john
in his prefaces L explained this treatment. here he points out that the last four books had from early times been evaluated differently from the others. he also defined his objections to their contents.
especially well known is the fact that he valued the epistle of james less highly than others. i use the comparative 'less highly' deliberately, since it accurately reproduces his judgment. as early as in the 'resolutiones' of the leipzig disputation, he had noted his opinion that the style of this letter lacked 'apostolic majesty' and that it could in no way be compared with those of paul. by 1520 he is convinced that this epistle is not genuine. his preface to james begins thus:
'even though this epistle of james was rejected in the ancient church,
i nevertheless prize it.
i hold in its favor that it is a good letter,
because it proclaims no human doctrines and powerfully asserts the law of God.
with this he justifies his acceptance of the letter, but to make clear why he did not place it on an equality with other new testament writings he adds this:
'if i must speak my mind, then i will do it-although i will not quarrel with anyone who thinks differently-but for myself i cannot regard this letter as the writing of an apostle...therefore i cannot account this letter as one of the rechte hauptbucher....'
113.2...'what does L mean by the rechte haupt bucher of which he here speaks? he gives us a key to this expression in an appendix to his preface to the gospels, entitled, 'which are the best and noblest books of the new testament'.
it reads,
'from all that i have said to this point, you can determine who you must judge the different books and how you can determine which are the best. i would name the gospel of john, the letters of pau, in particular that to the romans, and the first epistle of peter, for these form the true core and marrow of the new testament. therefore we may rightly call these the most significant books and advise every christian to read these first and most often, until through repeated reading he becomes as familiar with them as with his daily bread.
'for in these books one does not find much written concerning the actions and miracles of Christ.
on the other hand, there is here set forth, in masterly fashion, how faith in Christ conquers sin, death and hell and gives us life, righteousness, and salvation. and that is the true gospel, as you have heard.
if i should have to give up either the actions or the preaching of Christ, then i should prefer to retain His preaching. for the works, by themselves, could not help me-it is His words which give life, just as He Himself said (john 6.63). since john speaks relatively little concerning Christ's deeds, by much of his preaching, while the other three evangelists write much about His work and less about His words, john's gospel stands as the glorious and principal gospel, greatly to be preferred and highly to be regarded above the others. so also we must place the letters of paul and of peter high above the gospels of matthew, mark and luke.
'to summarize:
the gospel of john and his first epistle, the letters of pau and especially those to the romans, galatians and ephesians, together with the first epistle of peter are the books which reveal Christ to you and teach everything you need for your salvation. with these you would have all that is necessary, even though you were never to see another book or hear another sermon. for this reason the epistle of james, compared to these which i have named, is truly an epistle of straw, for he has not retained the full gospel. but more of this...
110.last..'in his investigations of these matters, it came to L's attention that from early days there had been opposition to hebrews, james, jude and revelation. he himself thought he found in these same writings expressions that seemed difficult to bring into harmony with evangelical truth. in some cases they seemed to lack what was, in his eyes, the most important truth. for these reasons he placed these four books at the end of the new testament. in his table of contents he divided them from the rest by a small space and did not carry through the numbering of the books.
the sequence of the later books is then:
epistle to timothy
to titus
to philemon
of peter
epistles of john
epistle to the hebrews
epistle of james
of jude
revelation of john
in his prefaces L explained this treatment. here he points out that the last four books had from early times been evaluated differently from the others. he also defined his objections to their contents.
especially well known is the fact that he valued the epistle of james less highly than others. i use the comparative 'less highly' deliberately, since it accurately reproduces his judgment. as early as in the 'resolutiones' of the leipzig disputation, he had noted his opinion that the style of this letter lacked 'apostolic majesty' and that it could in no way be compared with those of paul. by 1520 he is convinced that this epistle is not genuine. his preface to james begins thus:
'even though this epistle of james was rejected in the ancient church,
i nevertheless prize it.
i hold in its favor that it is a good letter,
because it proclaims no human doctrines and powerfully asserts the law of God.
with this he justifies his acceptance of the letter, but to make clear why he did not place it on an equality with other new testament writings he adds this:
'if i must speak my mind, then i will do it-although i will not quarrel with anyone who thinks differently-but for myself i cannot regard this letter as the writing of an apostle...therefore i cannot account this letter as one of the rechte hauptbucher....'
113.2...'what does L mean by the rechte haupt bucher of which he here speaks? he gives us a key to this expression in an appendix to his preface to the gospels, entitled, 'which are the best and noblest books of the new testament'.
it reads,
'from all that i have said to this point, you can determine who you must judge the different books and how you can determine which are the best. i would name the gospel of john, the letters of pau, in particular that to the romans, and the first epistle of peter, for these form the true core and marrow of the new testament. therefore we may rightly call these the most significant books and advise every christian to read these first and most often, until through repeated reading he becomes as familiar with them as with his daily bread.
'for in these books one does not find much written concerning the actions and miracles of Christ.
on the other hand, there is here set forth, in masterly fashion, how faith in Christ conquers sin, death and hell and gives us life, righteousness, and salvation. and that is the true gospel, as you have heard.
if i should have to give up either the actions or the preaching of Christ, then i should prefer to retain His preaching. for the works, by themselves, could not help me-it is His words which give life, just as He Himself said (john 6.63). since john speaks relatively little concerning Christ's deeds, by much of his preaching, while the other three evangelists write much about His work and less about His words, john's gospel stands as the glorious and principal gospel, greatly to be preferred and highly to be regarded above the others. so also we must place the letters of paul and of peter high above the gospels of matthew, mark and luke.
'to summarize:
the gospel of john and his first epistle, the letters of pau and especially those to the romans, galatians and ephesians, together with the first epistle of peter are the books which reveal Christ to you and teach everything you need for your salvation. with these you would have all that is necessary, even though you were never to see another book or hear another sermon. for this reason the epistle of james, compared to these which i have named, is truly an epistle of straw, for he has not retained the full gospel. but more of this...
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