[517] “Tagebuch über M. Luther,” by C. Cordatus, ed. by H. Wrampelmeyer, 1883, p. 450: “Etiam in complexus veni coniugis, ut saltem ille pruritus auferret illas cogitationes satanæ.... Laborandum est omnibus modis, ut vehementiore aliquo affectu pellantur.”
[518] “Colloq.,” ed. Bindseil, 2, p. 299. The Halle MS. on which Bindseil bases his work really depends on the statements of Luther’s pupil Lauterbach. Here Luther’s words run: “Quoties meam uxorem complexus sum, nudam contrectavi, ut tantum sathanæ cogitationes illo pruritu pellerem. But all to no purpose, nolebat cedere,” etc.
[519] “Colloquia, meditationes, consolationes, etc. M. Lutheri,” Francof., 1571, 2, p. 225´ (=125´).
[520] As to this, Wrampelmeyer, a Protestant, remarks (p. 451) in his edition of Cordatus’s Diary, mentioned above: “The German ‘Table-Talk,’ which agrees almost entirely with the Latin version, does not, in Erl. ed., 60, p. 110, and Förstemann, 3, p. 122, contain these words, but replaces them by the following: ‘I have frequently made use of various means in order to drive away Satan, but it was of no use.’ It is clear that words so compromising gave offence and that others were substituted instead of those given in the Latin text, which formed the basis of the German ‘Table-Talk.’ According to the Notes of Cordatus, however, Luther’s words appear in quite a different light.” “The words of the Latin ‘Table-Talk’: ‘ut de puella pulchra, avaritia, ebrietate,’ have also been replaced in the German version by more harmless expressions.”
[521] Schlaginhaufen, “Aufzeichnungen,” p. 11.
[522] “Opp.,” Antwerpiæ, 1706, 3, p. 242 seq.; p. 589 seq. Aug. Hardeland (“Gesch. der speziellen Seelsorge in der vorreformatorischen Kirche und der Kirche der Reformation,” Berlin, 1898, p. 261) remarks: “The idea that we must always do the exact opposite of what the devil suggests, is the leading one in Gerson’s Tractate ‘De remediis contra pusillanimitatem.’” He is of opinion that, in advising Weller to sin, Luther was “using this maxim of Gerson’s, and probably only meant: ‘Do not be afraid to do what, from the standpoint of your scrupulosity, appears to be sinful.’” Luther’s advice, however, was not intended for a scrupulous person predisposed to exaggeration or to narrowness of heart, but for all those who despaired of their salvation and were unable to believe in Luther’s doctrine of the forgiveness of sins and in his assurance of salvation. “Cogitationes immanissimæ,” Luther calls Weller’s ideas, “quando diabolus reos (nos) egerit mortis et inferni.... In æternum condemnaberis?” Weller, the disciple, has first to learn: “novi quendam, qui passus est pro me ac satisfecit,” etc.
[523] “Werke,” Erl. ed., 16², p. 254.
[524] Ibid., 50, p. 248.
[525] “Werke,” Erl. ed., 58, p. 360.
[526] Ibid., 51, p. 284.