III
LETTER TO JOHN STAUPITZ ACCOMPANYING THE "RESOLUTIONS" TO THE XCV THESES
1518
To his Reverend and Dear Father
JOHN STAUPITZ,
Professor of Sacred Theology, Vicar of the Augustinian Order,
Brother Martin Luther,
his pupil,
sendeth greeting.
I remember, dear Father, that once, among those pleasant and wholesome talks of thine, with which the Lord Jesus ofttimes gives me wondrous consolation, the word poenitentia[1] was mentioned. We were moved with pity for many consciences, and for those tormentors who teach, with rules innumerable and unbearable, what they call a modus confitendi.[2] Then we heard
- ↑ "Penitence," "repentance," "penance," are all translations of this word. See above, p. 29, note 1.
- ↑ The modus confitendi, or "way of confession" is the teaching of what sins are to be confessed to the priest and how they are to be confessed. The subject is discussed fully by Luther in his Discussion of Confession, below, pp. 81–102.
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