Note 1346 — Chapter XXXIX · END OF LUTHER’S LIFE

Köstlin-Kawerau, 2, p. 570. The text is embodied in the German Table-Talk, Erl. ed., 62, p. 240. See in vol. iii., p. 39 ff. some further utterances of Luther’s on the marriages in question. The allusion above to “the paternal consent that follows” is probably to be understood as referring to the unlawfulness of any subsequent ratification by the parents. Such in any case was Luther’s view: “In his eyes the secret betrothals were sinful, even when the consent was obtained afterwards, nay actually invalid,” Kawerau, 2, p. 570. After Luther’s “victory” in 1545 it was, however, decided that such marriages should be null and void until the parents gave their consent, or until the Consistories had determined whether the parents’ refusal was based on valid, important or sufficient grounds.