too many concessions to Pope, councils and the like. God give us His grace ! Amen.
591. LUTHER TO OECOLAMPADIUS, AT BASLE.
Enders, iv, 163. Wittenberg, June 20, 1523.
In addition to the references on Oecolampadius, supra, Vol. I, p. 163, ungedruckten Brief en. In Fesigabe H, Grauert, 1910, pp. 221-232.
Grace and peace in Christ. First of all I must beg of you, my dear Oecolampadius, that you will not set it down to in- gratitude or neglect that I have not written you until now, for I have had no letters from you since you shook oflF St. Bridget.* At the same time I thought that after Christ strengthened your heart by the power of so great a spirit that, conquering superstition and freeing yourself from the yoke of Satan, you had become too great a man for me to hope that you would write to me, or for me to support with letters of my own. Certainly we have heartily approved your spirit and the great thing you have done, and Philip * never stops his daily praise of you to me, and takes unusual pleasure in his recol- lections of you.
The Lord strengthen you in your purpose to lecture on Isaiah, though correspondents have told me that it does not please Erasmus. Do not let his displeasure trouble you. What Erasmus thinks, or pretends to think, in judging things spirit- ual, is abundantly shown by his books, from the first to the last. I note the pricks he gives me now and then, but as he does it without openly declaring himself my foe, I act as though I were unaware of his sly attacks, though I tmderstand him better than he thinks. He has done what he was called to do ; he has brought us from godless studies to a knowledge of the languages; perhaps he will die with Moses in the plains of Moab, for he does not go forward to the better studies — those that pertain to godliness.* I greatly wish he would stop commenting on the Holy Scriptures and writing his Para- phrases, for he is not equal to this task ; he takes up the time
^ While preaching at Angsburg, in t520» Oecolampadias entered the Order of St. Bridget, but left it in February, 1522.
'A month earlier (May, 21), Melanchthon had urged Oecolampadius to leare Basle and come to Wittenberg (C.R., i, 615).
- This passage excited Erasmus* indignation. Cf, infra, no. 597.
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