The Gruber Rare Books Collection and Other Rare Books
Luther's Works
Publications by Luther 1523
Letters of Luther
Gruber 165 Letter of Luther to Count Mansfeld, 1523 Does not appear in inventory. In plexiglass Lakeside mount.
Gruber 189 Four page letter by Luther in German 1523
Gruber 97 Ursach, und anttwortt das iunkgfrawe kloster gotlich v'lassen muge. Doctor Martin Luther. Wittemberg MDXXIII. Wittenberg: Cranach & Döring, 1523. Aland 378; Benzing 1561; WA 11.387-400. Ursache und Antwort dass Jungfrauen Klöster göttlich verlassen mögen 1523. Click to enlarge thumbnail.
A Congregation's Right to Judge all Teaching
Gruber 145 Das eyn Christliche versamlung odder gemeyne: recht un macht habe: alle lere tzu urteylen und lerer zo beruffen, eyn und abzusetzen, Grund und ursach aus er schrifft. Wittemberg MDXXIII. Wittemberg: Cranach & Döring, [May]1523. Note on title page dated 1722. (That a Christian Assembly or Congregation has the Right and Power to Judge all Teaching and to Call, Appoint, and Dismiss Teachers, Established and Proven by Scripture, 1523). Aland 406; Benzing 1569; WA 11.401-416; Luther's Works 39:301-314.Dass ein christliche Versammlung oder Gemeine Recht und Macht habe, all Lehre zu urteilen.
Luther wrote this treatise at the request of the small town of Leisnig, located in electoral Saxony. on the river Mulde.
"No bishop ought to appoint [a parish minister] without the consent, choice, and call of the congregation." The congregation, Luther maintained, is competent to call and depose ministers. Soon, however, Luther acquiesced in the development of a regionally centralized church system.
"Everyone who is baptized may exercise the office of the word, which belongs to the individual Christian as well as to the Christian community....Luther emphasized in this treatise and throughout his life that the doctrine of the common priesthood of all believers should be the theological basis for a proper understanding of the role and authority of the pastor who is called to be the 'priest of priests.'" Luther's Works 39:304.
Gruber 146 Uon Anbeten des Sacraments des heyligen leychnams Christi. Mart. Luther. Wittemberg. Anno MDXXIII. Wittenberg: Johann Rhau-Grunenberg, 1523. Benzing 1582; WA 11.417-456; Luther's Works, 36:269-305. The Adoration of the Sacrament. Von Anbeten des Sakraments des heiligen Leichnams Christi 1523. Click to enlarge thumbnail.
This essay is addressed to the Bohemian Brethren, whom Luther called Waldenses or Picards. It is based on a sermon Luther preached on January 4, 1523. Luther's mild tone in addressing the Brethren contrasts with the tone of his words about Karlstadt and the Zwingians.
The Order of Worship for a Congregation
Gruber 151a Von ordenung gottis dienst ynn der gemeyne. Doctor Martin Luther. Wittemberg MDXXIII. Wittenberg: Cranach & Döring, 1523. (Concerning the Order of Public Worship). Also Maywood collection? Aland 258; Benzing 1615; WA 12:35-37; Luther's Works, 53:7-14; Lull,303-316. Von Ordnung Gottesdienst in der Gemeine 1523. Click to enlarge thumbnail.
In the early 1520s both Karlstadt and Müntzer tried their hands at revising the church's liturgy. In 1523 Luther wrote to the little town of Leisnig, proposing evangelical principles for worship on Sundays and weekdays. Preaching of the Word of God was to be central. Luther also provided for daily Matins and Vespers. In Wittenberg these weekday services began on March 23, 1523.
Ordinance of a Common Chest (for Care of the Poor)
Gruber 150 Ordenug eyns gemeynen kastens. Radschlag wie die geystlichen gutter zu handeln sind. Martinus Luther. MDXXIII. Wittenberg: Cranach & Döring, 1523. (Preface to an Ordinance of a Common Chest) Aland 241; Benzing 1607; WA 12:11-30; Luther's Works 45:161-194. Ordnung eines gemeinen Kastens 1523. Click to enlarge thumbnail.
Luther here commends the town of Leisnig for having created an ordinance for the care of the poor. Luther's attack on the monastic system had helped to aggravate the problem of poor relief. The monasteries had been the leading institution for social welfare work. When the cloisters emptied, many monks, trained for no other work, swelled the ranks of the poor. Princes and cities seized the monastic properties and endowments; Luther insisted--but with very limited success--that they should devote these revenues to the care of the poor.
The Gruber Collection was assembled by L. Franklin Gruber, President of Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, Maywood, Illinois.
Annotation prepared by Ralph W Klein