Luther on the weakness of his own faith, his doubts, his utter misery, and the shortcomings of his life. His attitude towards prayer; prayer mingled with imprecation; his threatened prayer against dishonest brewers. Christian joy and peace. Preparation for the sacraments. Mortification and self-conquest. Mediocrity as the aim of ethics. Lack of zeal for the salvation of all men; disregard for missionary work. Luther in his home; minor disappointments _pages_ 200-217
4. THE TABLE-TALK AND THE FIRST NOTES OF THE SAME.
Luther’s evening conversations at Wittenberg recorded by his friends; utility of the notes they left; Walch, Kroker and others on the authority of these notes. Excerpts from the Table-Talk: The pith of the new religion, viz. confidence in Christ. Catholic practices and institutions described: The Mass, fasting, confession, the religious life. Praises heaped on the Table-Talk by Luther’s early disciples. Luther himself responsible for the foulness of the language. Pommer’s way of dealing with the devil. Filthy references to the Pope; unseemly comparisons; “_adorabunt nostra stercora_.” Such language by no means confined to the Table-Talk; a few quotations from Luther’s “Wider das Bapstum zu Rom.” An excuse alleged, viz. that such language was then quite usual. Sir Thomas More’s protest. A modern defender of Luther. The real explanation of Luther’s unrestraint _pages_ 217-241
On the imperative necessity of marriage; the irresistibility of the natural impulse; the world full of adulterers? The “miracle” of voluntary and chaste celibacy. Luther’s animus against Popish celibacy. His loosening of the marriage-bond. Cases in which marriage is annulled. Meaning of the words “If the wife refuse, then let the maid come.” A modern secularist’s appeal to Luther’s principles. Polygamy. Luther, after some hesitation, comes to tolerate polygamy, but makes it a matter of the _forum internum_. The opinions of Catholic theologians. “Secret marriages” and concubinage; what those have to do who are forbidden by law to contract marriage. Denial of the sacramental character of matrimony. Luther’s tone in speaking of things sexual; a letter to Spalatin; regret expressed for offensive manner of speech; odious comparisons contained in his “Vom Schem Hamphoras” (against the Jews) and “Wider Hans Worst” (against the Catholics); improper anecdotes; Luther, like Abraham, “the father of a great people,” viz. of the children of all the monks and nuns who discarded their vows _pages_ 241-273