Page:Thirty-five years of Luther research.djvu/65

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New Editions of Luther's Works
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tions, and notations and literary notes, are correct and satisfactory. There only remains the wish that these volumes will find a ready sale and will be really studied. They should receive the place of honor in every parsonage of our English-speaking Church and should not be missed in any city library. The preface of the Braunschweig-Berlin edition concludes with the following words: "Thus we have undertaken in common labor, German people, to place your Luther into your hands, so that you might learn to know, prize and love him; so that you may take inspiration from his writings, that are imbued with the Holy Spirit, to keep the faith, children, even as your forefathers kept the faith, when you hear the great hero of the faith speak of those things that made him strong and fearless. Learn to know your Luther, not covered with political halo, not the commanding figure, hewn out of solid granite, but Luther as he worked and lived, in his greatness and in his weakness, in his zealousness and in his overzealousness, in his wisdom and his abruptness. Thus allow his word to touch you, if it admonishes you and urges you on, if it strikes you and raises you, if it shows you the reflection of yourself, as you once were, as you are now, and how you shall be, if you but remain true to your German mind and German nature." If you substitute the word "Lutheran" for the word "German," it will also serve literally for this new English edition of Luther.