Page:Works of Martin Luther, with introductions and notes, Volume 1.djvu/89

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INTRODUCTION

The Confitendi Ratio is the culmination of a series of tracts published by Luther after the memorable October 31st, 1517, and before his final breach with Rome.^[1] In them is clearly traceable the progress that he was making in dealing with the practical problems offered by the confessional, and which had started the mighty conflict in which he was engaged. They open to us an insight into his own conscientious efforts during the period, when, as a penitent, he was himself endeavoring to meet every requirement which the Church imposed, in order to secure the assurance of the forgiveness of sins, as well as to present the questions which as a father confessor and spiritual adviser he asked those who were under his pastoral care. First of all, we find, therefore, tables of duties and sins, reminding us of the lists of cardinal sins and cardinal virtues in which Roman Catholic books abound. The main effort here is to promote the most searching self-examination and the most complete enumeration of the details of sins, since, from the Mediæval standpoint, the completeness of the absolution is proportioned to the exhaustiveness of the confession. Although the first of these briefer tracts closes with its note of warning that the value of the confession is not to be estimated by the enumeration of details, but that it rests solely in the resort that is had

↑ 1. Decem Praecepta Wittebergensi praedicata populo, 1518, Erl. Ed., op. ex. lat., I, 218. A series of sermons entering into most minute analyses of sins.
2. Die zehen Gebote Gottes mit einer kurzen Auslegung ihrer Erfüllung und Uebertretung, Weimar Ed., I, 247 ff; Erl. Ed., XXXVI, 145-154. Reduces contents of the sermons to a few pages. A brief handbook for use in the confessional, first printed in tabular form, giving a very condensed exposition of each commandment, followed by a catalogue of sins prohibited and virtues enjoined. Written a month before the publication of the Theses, and published the next year.
3. Instructio pro confessione peccatorum abbrevianda secundum decalogum. Latin form of the above, published shortly after the original. Erl. Ed., op. ex. lat., XII, 219-230.
4. Kurze Unterweisung wie man beichten soll, Weimar Ed., II, 57 ff; Erl. Ed., XXI, 245-253, prepared by request of Spalatin, first in Latin, and then translated, Köstlin thinks by Spalatin, into German. Published 1518. Contains eight introductory propositions, followed by lists of sins against each commandment.
5. Confitendi Ratio, published in 1520, a re-elaboration by Luther of the preceding German treatise. Weimar Ed., VI, 159-169; Erl. Ed., IV, 152-170; St. Louis Ed., XIX, 786-806.

[1] 1. Decem Praecepta Wittebergensi praedicata populo, 1518, Erl. Ed., op. ex. lat., I, 218. A series of sermons entering into most minute analyses of sins.
2. Die zehen Gebote Gottes mit einer kurzen Auslegung ihrer Erfüllung und Uebertretung, Weimar Ed., I, 247 ff; Erl. Ed., XXXVI, 145-154. Reduces contents of the sermons to a few pages. A brief handbook for use in the confessional, first printed in tabular form, giving a very condensed exposition of each commandment, followed by a catalogue of sins prohibited and virtues enjoined. Written a month before the publication of the Theses, and published the next year.
3. Instructio pro confessione peccatorum abbrevianda secundum decalogum. Latin form of the above, published shortly after the original. Erl. Ed., op. ex. lat., XII, 219-230.
4. Kurze Unterweisung wie man beichten soll, Weimar Ed., II, 57 ff; Erl. Ed., XXI, 245-253, prepared by request of Spalatin, first in Latin, and then translated, Köstlin thinks by Spalatin, into German. Published 1518. Contains eight introductory propositions, followed by lists of sins against each commandment.
5. Confitendi Ratio, published in 1520, a re-elaboration by Luther of the preceding German treatise. Weimar Ed., VI, 159-169; Erl. Ed., IV, 152-170; St. Louis Ed., XIX, 786-806.

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