Note 588 — Chapter XVII

Passages tallying with the “Esto peccator” are to be found elsewhere in Luther’s writings. Cp. for instance his letter of 1516 (vol. i., p. 88 f.) to Spenlein, where he says: “Cave, ne aliquando ad tantam puritatem aspires, ut peccator tibi videri nolis, imo esse. Christus enim nonnisi in peccatoribus habitat.... Igitur nonnisi in illo pacem invenies.” In “Opp. lat. var.,” 1, p. 236 seq., it is likewise explained why one must be a great sinner; he insists that “credenti omnia sunt auctore Christo possibilia” and condemns strongly “affectus propriæ iustitiæ,” until he arrives at the paradox, “Ideo est peccatum, ut in peccatis apti ad spem simus” (p. 239). In perfect harmony with such early statements is the letter he wrote towards the end of his life to Spalatin when the latter was sunk in melancholy; here he says: “Nimis tener hactenus fuisti peccator.... Iunge te nobis veris magnis et duris peccatoribus”; he must, so Christ speaking through Luther tells him, hold alone to faith in the Divine mercy. August 21, 1544, “Briefe,” ed. De Wette, 5, p. 680.