Full Text for The Story of the German Bible, part 1 (Text)

arnurnr~tu UJ4rnlngtrul !lnut41y Continuing LEHRE UNO ~EHRE MAGAZIN FUER EV.-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. V April, 1934 No.4 CONTENTS P age Die rechte NItte in der Liturgie und Ordnung des Gottes- dienstes. L. Fuerbringer. . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . • • • . . . • . . • • . • 257 The Story of the German Bible. P. 1-:. Krctzmann . • • • • • • • •• 265 A Defense of Luther against Edgar A. Mowrer. Thea. Buenger .••••••• 296 Predigtstudie ueber 2 Tim. 2. 8-13. T. La.t5ch ••••••••• 305 Sermons and Outlines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 313 Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches . . .. 322 Book Review. - Literatur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 329 Bin Predlger mua. moot alleln wridm, &00 duJ er die Schafe untenrel8e, wle lie rechte 0hristeD sollen rein, IODdem ancb daneben den Woelfen wehr_, duJ lie die Behafe nlcbt angreifen und mit faJacher Lehre verfuehren und Irrtum eln· fuehren. - Lulh r . Es 1st keln DIDg, du die Leute meIIr bel der Klrche behaelt denn die gute Predlgt. - Apologie, Art. ~. If the trumpet gin an I1DCertatn 8OUDcl, who shall prepare himaelf to the battle, lOor. lJ, 8. P ublished for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. The Story of the German Bible. 265 The Story of the German Bible. A Contribution to the Quadricentennial of Luther's Translation. I. The First Contact of German People with the Gospel. Among the many remarkable books which were produced during the golden age of Latin literature there is none which in point of interest and appeal exceeds the little book of forty-six short chapters written by Tacitus and entitled De Ge1'mania (an account of the country of Germany). In this book he gives. the general boundaries of the country inhabited by the Germanic tribes; he describes the physical and mental characteristics of these strange Northern people, the sources of their wealth, their military equipment and prowess, the influence and sacred chamcter of their women, their gods and their modes of worship, their assemblies, councils, and magistrates, their marriage customs and the training of their children, their fu- neral customs, and many other interesting features of the various tribes and their manner of living. It is this country, as described by Tacitus, to which our attention is first directed in considering the story of the German Bible. It was at the end of the first century a country which extended from the Vosges Mountains in the southwest to the great Russian steppes in the east, from the Alps to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. At that time the many tribes enumerated by Tacitus were roughly divided into two large groups - the West Germanic tribes, with the Teutons, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Longobards as larger subdivisions, and the East Germanic tribes, which consisted chiefly of the Goths and the Scandinavians. Ooncerning the members of all these tribes the Roman historians are unanimous in stating that they were a splendid race of people, with large and powerful bodies, blue eyes, and blond hail', which often fell to their shoulders in heavy waves. They were a martial people, well versed in the arts of war, in which the young men wore exercised from the days of their adolescence. When the Oimbri and the Teutons, between 113 and 102 B. 0., instituted their campaign against Rome, it took the ablest generals of Italy to effect their overthrow, and the very names of the barbarian invaders were sufficient to fill the hearts of the inhabitants of the Italian cities with fear. According to tho unanimous verdict of Roman writers, the Ger- manic tribes excelled in many of the social virtues, having only onc grievous vice to mar their reputation, namely, that of gambling, with which was often associated that of drinking to excess. Their pantheon was associated with the powers of nature, chiefly with the sun and the earth. Their chief god was Wotan, or Odin, he who governed the world and controlled the fate of men; he it was who 266 The Story of the German Bible. granted victory to the valiant warriors and received the heroes that fell in battle into the great hall of heaven, his Valhalla. Wotan's wife was known as Frigga, his companion in controlling the destinies of the world and its inhabitants. She was in particular the protectress of the home and the hearth and the defender of matrons. Wotan's son was known as Donal', or Thor, he who rode the clouds and directed the lightning, the god both of fertility and of peaceful pursuit. The third great male god of the Germanic pantheon was Ziu, or Tyr, the one-armed god of battle, whose chief function consisted in carrying out the commands of Wotan. The goddess of love was known as Freya. The motherly divinity, the special goddess of earth, was N erthus, she who personally supervised the annual revival of the earth to bring forth its fruit. The mythology of the Germanic tribes, as it grew up around these chief gods and goddesses and the many lesser divinities and spirits, is extremely fascinating, so that it has become the subject of many poetical and musical masterpieces, from the earliest days to the last century, when the German composer 'Vaguer used its material for his great cycle of musical dramas. At the beginning of the second century after Ohrist the tribes in contact with Roman civilization were naturally those along the Rhine. Germania Inferior (Lower Germany) was west of the Lower Rhine, now a part of the Netherlands and of Belgium, while Germania Superior (Upper Germany) was farther up the river and on both sides, including quite a few rather respectable towns. The numerous evidences of the Roman occupation along the Rhine offer some of the most fruitful sources of archeological investigation concerning the contact between the Roman cohorts and the Germanic tribes, also on the other side of the so-called limes, or boundary zone. If we add to this the fairly extensive historical information, we may well draw interesting conclusions as to the mutual influence between the proud Romans and the equally proud Germanic peoples. Among the tribes chiefly concerned were the Triboci, whose chief city was called by the Romans Argentoratum (now Strassburg), the Nemetes, whose chief city was Noviomagus (now Speyer); the Vangiones, in whose territory were located Bormetomagus (now Worms) and Mogontiacum (now Mainz); and the Ubii, with Oolonia Agrippina (now Koeln or Oologne) as their metropolis. The very proximity of these tribes to centers of Roman culture and influence would naturally have a tendency to shape their thinking to a degree. But to this incidental contact must be added the more permanent influence which was exerted by young men of the Germanic tribes under Roman control who were enlisted under the banner of the empire as soldiers. It is stated that the Italic cohort stationed at Oaesarea (Acts 10, 1) often had Teutonic soldiers in its ranks, and an ancient tradition would even make the captain of the soldiers under The Story of the German Bible. 267 the cross of Jesus a member of some Germanic tribe. We may say that it is more than conjecture to state that Roman soldiers who had embraced Ohristianity returned to the home of their fathers in the country along the Rhine and made known the truth which they had learned in the capital city or in some barracks of the praetorian guard in the various provinces of the great empire. More than incidental contacts would be furnished also by the traveling merchants who visited not only the border cities, but under favorable circumstances penetrated far into the country beyond the Rhine, visiting the homes of many of the proud chieftains of Germanic tribes. Still mOre important and significant, however, is another factor, namely, the contact with the Ohristian centers of Gaul and the mig· sionary activities which were conducted by the first congregations along the Rhone. Even if we do not credit the tradition which declares that mission-work in Southern Gaul was begun in the days of Paul, we have positive historical proof of the fact that the Gospel was brought to the valley of the Rhone by the middle of the second century, for Irenaeus, Bishop of Lugdunum (Lyons), was the suc- cessor of Pothinus in the year 178, having been distinguished as presbyter of the congregation even before his elevation to the office of bishop, which he administered till the beginning of the third cen- tury. That Irenaeus was not merely a theologian of the first rank, but also a practical churchman with a great interest in missionary effort appears, for example, from the fact that he learned Oeltic in order to preach to the heathen in the vicinity of Lyons in their mother tongue. And the fact that the congregation of this city is known in history for the martyrdoms of 177 A. D. marks it as one which was zealous for the extension of the Ohurch of Jesus Ohrist. Now, a glance at the map will show that the valley of the Rhone would offer a fine opportunity for communication with the northern country and down the valley of the Rhine. No matter how far these conjectures are in keeping with actual historical facts, the early accounts of some of the border cities in- dicate that Ohristianity was brought here at a fairly early date. Of Mainz (Mayence, Oastellum Mogontiacum) the old legend says the Apostle Paul himself came there in 58 A. D., with Orescens and Luke, with whose assistance he established mission-work in the city and neighborhood. The first reasonably certain evidence concerning a bishopric in this city places it before the middle of the fifth century. Ooncerning Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum) the early accounts have it that the Gospel was brought here by Lucius and N arcissuB in the second and third centuries. The name of its first bishop was Zosimus, at the beginning of the fourth century. With regard to KosIn (Oologne, Oolonia Agrippina) it is certain that it had a Ohris- tian congregation before the beginning' of the fourth century, and its 268 The Story of the German Bible. importance was recognized throughout the following centuries, be- ginning with the conversion of Ohlodwig. The city of Trier (Treves, Augusta Trevirorum) is likewise known as the seat of a very early bishopric, and there is some reason for assuming that Strassburg (Strataburgum) also had a Ohristian congregation before the end of the fourth century. In Lower Germany, Tongerll was evidently the seat of a bishop at an early age, for one is mentioned for the year 315, and it seems that Materllus of Oologne was the founder of this diocese. That the preaching of the Gospel was well established in some of these centers of population before the beginning of the fourth cen- tury is evident from the records of the Oouncil of ArIes, in Southern Gaul, held in 314 A. D. Among the signatures affixed to some of the resolutions passed by this council aTe some of men not only from York, London, and Lincoln, in Great Britain, but also of Bishop Jl.t[atcrnus and Deacon }.IIacrinus of Oologne and of Bishop Agroecius and EXOTcist Felix of Treve". This affords evidence enough that the Gospel had gotten a foothold in the border provinces, that Ohris- tianity was known in these remote sections of the Roman Empire even before tho edict of Oonstantine the Great which acknowledged the Ohristian religion as the official religion and before the first great church council at Nicea, in 325. Whether the Gospel at this time was widely known among the natives of the country surrounding the cities named or whether it was restricted chiefly to the Roman soldiers and civil officers cannot be determined at this time, since reliable historical evidence is not available. For the same reason it would practically be an idle specula- tion whether preaching was ever done in the language of the native Germanic tribes before the Oouncil of Nicea. Up to the present time no evidence to that effect has been submitted on the basis of either historical or archeological sources. II. Ulfilas and the First Germanic Translation of the Bible. Among the East Germanic tribes referred to above there was also the mighty nation of the Goths, which for a time occupied choice sections of Europe from the Oaspian Sea to the Baltic Sea. The western section of this great nation, known as the Visigoths, was located along the Vistula River, from wheTe they gradually, during the migration of nations, moved in a southeasterly direction, toward the Oarpathians and along the Dnieper River. Their first clash with the Romans occurred in 251 in Moesia, where the Roman emperor Decius fell in battle. At the end of the sixth decade of the third century they undertook a campaign against the lower Balkan Peninsula and also against the provinces of Asia Minor, until they were dispersed by Olaudius II in 269. The Story of the German Bible. 269 The ways of God's providence and mercy are surely strange; for we are told by the great historian Philostorgios that during the campaign of the Goths in Oappadocia in 264 some Ohristians of Slldagolthina, near the city of Parnassus, on the River Halys, were led away as captives by the invaders. Among these Ohristian cap- tives were the grandparents of a man who played a very important part in the Ohristianizing of the Goths; for the mother of Ulfilas (Wulfila, Urphilas = Little Wolf) was a Oappadocian, and a Ohris- tian, while his father was a member of the Gothic tribe. It surely speaks well for the strength of his mother's Ohristian character that Ulfilas, who was born about 310 A. D. (311 and 313 are also given by some writers), evidently was brought up by her as a Ohristian. vVe know that he was a lector, or reader of lessons in the church services, in his younger years; he was made bishop when he was thirty years old. His chief biographer writes that Ulfilas met the ancient teacher Eusebius of Nicomedia at the occasion of an embassy of the Gothic tribe at the emperor'" court. His consecration as bishop took place in the year 341 at a synod in Antioch. Some writers state that he was not a metropolitan, or city bishop, but merely a chorepiscopus, or rural bishop. No matter which report is true, it is clear that Ulfilas was a missionary bishop (episcopus in partibus infideZiurn), the first one of this rank in the Gothic country, on the farther side of the Danube. It seems that Ulfilas now was bishop of a congregation, in addi- tion to his work as missionary, for about seven years. After this the heathen chief of one of the Gothic settlements compelled him and his congregation to cross the Danube and to settle in Roman territory, where Emperor Oonstantius granted them some land at Plevna, near Nicopolis, in Moesia. Here Ulfilas performed his life-work, being bishop for at least another thirty-three years, part of the time also a iudex, or judge. It is reported that he visited a council held in Oonstantinople in 360, where he signed the confession of the Ohurch. During the next decades he suffered much from persecutions, espe- cially in 369 and 372. It seems that he joined the ranks of the Arians, since the Goths were during the next century very strong defenders of the heresy of Arius. But even so he was ready to discuss the difficulty in doctrine with the orthodox party, for it was due to his influence that a council was called to convene in Oonstantinople in 382. It is said that his death occurred during this council, shortly after he had made his confession of the orthodox faith. There is little value, in the present short history of the Germanic Bible, in discussing at length the doctrinal position of the great "Apostle of the Goths." It is true that Eusebius of Nicomedia, who consecrated him, was a strong defender of Arius, even if he did not share the latter's denial of the deity of Ohrist to its full extent, and 270 The Story of the German Bible. therefore Uliilas may have shared the position of his older friend. According to a creed which is ascribed to him by Auxentius, he be- lieved in subordinationism, that is, the opinion that the Son is subor- dinate to the Father; and not only this, but that the Holy Ghost is subordinate to the Son: "not God, not Lord, not on the same plane with the faithful servant Ohrist, rather subordinate to Him." How- ever, Ulfilas evidently was not a strong defender of Arianism, and reliable reports indicate that he finally subscribed a confession of the truth. In his translation of the Bible into the Gothic language the passage Phil. 2, 6 is ambiguous. All this, however, does not detract from the glory which rightly is given to Ulfilas as the translator of the Bible into the language of the Goths, the first Germanic translation of the Scriptures. The beginning of this stupendous undertaking is associated with the con- version of Fritigern, a Visigoth chieftain, although ffi:filas may have made a translation of certain sections even before that event. It was not an easy thing to attempt. The Gothti at this time had no real written language, although the runic script of the Scandinavians, with whom they had originally been associated as East Germanic tribes, was known among them. Since Ulfilas required a language that could really be used to express the manifold truths of the Bible, he invented a written alphabet consisting of Greek, Latin, and runic letters, with a total of twenty-four signs. He evidently began with the gospels, as is concluded from their peculiar Uniformity of style. According to the statement of Philostorgios, ffifilas did not translate, at least not for public use, the four Books of the Kings (1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings), because he feared that they might inflame the martial spirit of the Gothic people. Oertain fragments containing parts of these books are said to have been discovered. Ul:filas was eminently fitted for the work of translator since his office of lector in public services years before had made it necessary for him to provide a word explanation of the Greek text in use in the churches. A sufficient number of texts was always available, since the position of Ulfilas was tributary to the see of Oonstantinople, where one or more versions of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, were in use, and where plenty of copies of the New Testament could readily be obtained. Quite naturally, the work of UI:filas shows numerous loan words and semantic borrowings, that is, formation of words in the new lang'uage based upon the words in the original. In order to make his translation complete, the translator in such cases "often attempted to express the idea by using a native word or combination of words, at times in word-for-word translations, at other times more freely by native circumlocutions. These semantic hOrI'owings represent largely ideas that have not previously found The Story of the German Bible. 271 adequate expression in the native language, and this probably ac- counts for the large number of compounds in this type of words."l) The Gothic translation furnished by Ulfilas soon became widely known, especially on account of the strength of the nation and the growing menace of the various Germanic tribes to the Roman Empire. But the inherent merits of the rendering cannot be denied, un- doubtedly a factor which caused it to become widespread in a very short time. Ohrysostom reports that he took part in a service in Oonstantinople, in 398/9, in which a Gothic sermon was delivered and the lessons were read in Gothic. The Gothic Bible was in use for several centuries, and its influence is almost incalculable in the his- tory of Germanic translations. Among the manuscripts which have been made as copies of the translation of Ulfilas there are some of world renown. The Silver Oodex (Oodex Argenteus) is a manuscript of the fifth or sixth cen- tury, written on purple-colored parchment, in silver and gold letters, with splendid illumination. Of the original 330 pages only 187 have been preserved. The manuscript is in the library of the university at Upsala, Sweden, and contains the gospels. The Oodex Gissensis was found in an Egyptian village in the neighborhood of the ancient city of Antinoe. It consists of a double leaf of parchment, with a fragment of the gospels in Gothic and Latin. All the other manu- scripts are treasures of the monastery of Bobbio, in Liguria. There is the Oodex Oa.rolinus, consisting of four leaves with fragments of the Epistle to the Romans. The Oodices of Ambrose, now transferred to Milan, have a total of 120 readable pages in one section, which contain fragments of the Pauline letters. A second section or manu- script has 154 pages; here Romans and Philemon are missing, but Second Oorinthians is complete. A third section or manuscript con- tains fragments from Matthew and a fourth fragments from Nehe- miah, the only Old Testament section that has come down to us in manuscript form. Of course, all available copies of the translation have been care- fully collated, studied, and published by various scholars, such as Streitberg, Balg, and Braune. Most large universities in America and abroad offer courses in Gothic, especially in connection with com- parative philology of the Germanic languages. The interest attaching to this study is not merely archeological or linguistic, but also quite practical, since every translation of the Bible is at the same time and in some degree an interpretation, and it is not likely that any lover of the Holy Scriptures will be surfeited by a study of this type. 1) Cpo Kroesch, "Semantic Borrowing in Old English," in Studies in English Philology, 50 ft. 272 The Story of the German Bible. III. The Formal Establishment of Christianity in Germany. As we have seen, there were Ohristian congregations established among certain German tribes, in cities founded by the Romans in the midst of Germanic nations, before the end of the third century. Among these cities Koeln, Mainz, Speier, Augsburg, and Tongern are especially noteworthy. From all that we knew of these congregatiolls, their work was done chiefly, if not exclusively, in the Latin language. It is true that some mission-work was done, for there is an ancient record that Bishop ~i[ateI'l1us of Oologne began the work at Tongern; but Ohristianity was evidently a very weak plant on any part of German soil about the time of the Oouncil of Nicea, in 325. About this time, however, a consecrated missionary appears In history, whose work proved an inspiration to many followers in Western Europe. This was Martin of Tours. Born about 316 in the Roman province of Pannonia as the son of heathen parents, he soon came under the influence of Ohristianity and was baptized at the age of eighteen. For five years he served in the army of Oonstantine, after which time he determined to devote his life to the spread of Ohristianity. A zealous defender of the orthodox truth, he was scourged and imprisoned for reproving the Arian heresies confessed among the Lombards, or Longobards. After being set free, he spent some years as a hermit on the island of Gallinaria, and in 370 he gathered a company of monks about him to establish a monastery near Poitiers. The next year he was made Archbishop of Tours. He organized his diocese along the lines of the monastic system and in- spired many young men with his zeal. Martin's evangelical activity met with great success, especially since he laid his plans with almost military exactness. His disciples went out into every part of Gaul, also into the northern section, among the Germanic tribes. He was an eminently practical man, who adhered to a simple faith resting upon the confession of the Triune God and Jesus as the Hedeemer of the world. His influence was felt for centuries after his death, and even to-day his memory is revered throughout France. He died about 400, at Oandes. November 11 is the day devoted to his memory, and it is for this- reason that Luther, who was baptized on November 11, received the l1ame Martin. One of the interesting stories told of Martin of Tours is that which relates that he cut the one mantle which he possessed into two pieces in order to provide a poorman with some covering against the cold. It was almost a century later that the fame of Martin played an important r6le in the further spread of Ohristianity among a Ger- manic tribe. The Frankish kirig Ohlodwig, who in 486 had broken the last remnant of Roman power in Gaul, was, in 493, married to Ohlotilde, daughter of the Burgundian king Ohilperich. The Bur- gundian princess exerted all her powers to win her husband fOT the The Story of the German BIble. 273 orthodox Ohristian religion, and the stories of ::i1:artin of Tours proved a very powerful instrument in her efforts. The result was that Chlodwig was baptized on Christmas Day of the year 496 by Bishop Remigius of lleims, who addressed to him the well-known words: "Bow thy head in humility, proud Sigambrian; reverence henceforth what thou hast burned, burn what thou hast reverenced."2) It was this king whose name appears in the stOl·y of Fridald, or Fridalin, the "first apostle of the Alemannians." This zealous mis- sionary, who was a native of either Ireland or Scotland, was ever in the forefront in the battle against paganism. It was about the end of the fifth century that he landed in Gaul, through whose length and breadth he journeyed until he came to thc home of Hilary of old, Pictavium, or Poitiers. Here he remained long enough to restore, with the aid of King Ohlodwig, the burial-place of Hilary, and to convert the Arian bishop of the city and his congregation to Trini- tarian orthodoxy. He then turned northward to find an island within Ll18 boundaries of Alemannia surrounded by the waters of the Rhine. He began his search in Alsace, then journoyed up the Hhine to Switzerland. Finally he was shown an island above Basel, near Banctio (Saeckingen), which he succeeded in acquiring with the aid of the Frankish court. Here a village soon arose, in spite of the op- position of the natives, with its Ohurch of St. Hilary, and here Fridolin completed his life-work, dying about 511. Another century went by without headway in the work of mis- sions. But then came a long period of intensive activity in Ohris- tianizing German land8, many of the missionaries coming over from the British Isles, especially from Ireland, which was for centuries like a garden of God in bringing forth the choicest fruits. About 543 there was born in I"einster, Ireland, a boy who was destined to become one of the most learned and eloquent missionaries of all times. His name was Calumban. ~While he was still a youth, he became interested in missions, and he soon made this study the goal of all his interests with all the intensity of a nature filled with the love of Ohrist. Having gained twelve young men as his disciples and assistants, he set out for France, where he proceeded to the Vosges Mountains, whose inhabitants were as yet without the Gospel. He founded the monasteries of .Angrey, Luxeuil, and Fontaines, to be the ecclesiastical and educational centers of his missionary activities. .At the same time he was fearless in denouncing the vices prevalent at the Bur- gundian court. This led to his expulsion from France. He fled to Italy, only to encounter new difficulties. For when he charged Pope Boniface and the general council with departing from the faith of the 2) This story has lately been discredited, and the baptism of Chlodwig is placed in 507. 18 274 The Story of the German Bible. apostles, he was again forced to flee. Going to Metz, he proceeded from there to Mainz and then up the Rhine to the Suevi and Alemanni, to whom he desired to preach the Gospel. Ooming to the Lake of Zurich, he chose Tuggen as the basis of his operations. He met with so much opposition that he made little headway. Finally he went on to Bregenz, on Lake Oonstance, where there were still traces of earlier missionary activity. But he again had to flee, due to the enmity of King Thierry of Burgundy. He journeyed to Italy and was there given a piece of land called Bobbio. Here he erected his celebrated abbey, which was for centuries a center of learning and a stronghold of orthodoxy. Here he also died, on N ovem- ber 21, 615. Among the foremost of the twelve disciples who accompanied Oolumban to France was Gallus, born in Ireland about the year 560. He worked by the side of his master with untiring energy, sharing all the difficulties and hardships of the life of a fearless confessor. In 610 Gallus followed Oolumban to Bregenz, where they found an old church, dating back to the time when the Romans had occupied the country. The duty of preaching the Gospel of Ohrist to the pagans, who were using the old churcp.-building for their corrupt practises, was given to Gallus. With intense zeal and notable success he com- bated the pagan superstitions of the Alemanni of the neighborhood. When Oolumban had to flee, in 612, Gallus was prevented from ac- companying him. He remained in Switzerland to regain his health. But he could not remain idle. Pushing farther into the wilderness, with only a deacon as his companion, he selected a site and founded the church and the monastery of St. Gall, from which place the Word of God was carried out into all parts of the Swiss mountains. The school of St. Gall became a very famous seat of learning for a number of centuries, and its library was as renowned as that of Bobbio. Gallus died at the age of ninety-five years, and his body was laid to rest in the monastery which he had founded. Another pathfinder in the early work of missions in Germany was Kilian, who, like Oolumban and Gallus, hailed from Ireland, being born there about the year 644. Driven by a spirit of piety and a love for study, he entered monastic life in his native country. After some time he made a journey to Rome, on which he passed through Thuringia, then almost wholly pagan. He conceived the idea of devoting himself to the conversion of these heathen, and, with the consent of the Pope, he and his associates began to preach in Wuerzburg. Mter the work was here established, Kilian and two of his colaborers extended their activity over an ever-increasing area in East Franconia and Thuringia. He even succeeded in converting Duke Gozbert, thus opening the way for the complete Ohristianiza- tion of the two countries. But his fearless, uncompromising attitude The Story of the German Bible. 275 on matters of ethics as well as those of doctrine brought misfortune upon him and his work. He provoked the enmity of Geilenna, Gozbert's wife, who had formerly been the wife of Gozbert's brother, since he insisted that the duke must be separated' from her. On this account Kilian was, at Geilenna's instigation, murdered in cold blood. But his work lived after him, so that he received the name "Apostle of Franconia." His work was later continued by Boniface. The neighboring country of Bavaria was also visited by the mercy of God during the seventh century, the chief missionary in this case being Emeran. He was born of a noble family in Aquitania, a part of France. He received a good education and was consecrated as priest. He is said to have been Bishop of Poitiers during the first half of the seventh century. During this episcopal incumbency he worked out a plan according to which he might bring the Gospel to ancient Pannonia, the modern Roumania. But he was persuaded, almost by force, to remain in Bavaria, under the protection of Duke Theodo. This was in 649. Three years later, when he was about to set out on a journey to Rome, he was murdered by Lambert, son of the Duke of Egendorf, because Uta, the duke's daughter, falsely accused him of having violated her honor. But his innocence was established beyond a doubt, and so he received an honorable burial. And not only that, but his tomb became the religious center of the Ohurch in Bavaria, and the 22d of September, the date of his murder, was designated to St. Emeran's Day. The next man whose name must be placed on the honor roll of missionaries to German soil is lVillibrord, who was born about 658 in Northumberland, England. He was trained in one of the fine monastic schools of England, and in 678 he went to Ireland in order to study under St. Egbert. It was in this year that an opening was made for mission-work among the Friesians, the northern neighbors of the Franks. Attempts to Ohristianize this tribe had been made by Lothair and Dagobert between 620 and 639. A mission had also been undertaken by the Bishop of Koeln. But the success of this work was short-lived, for after the death of Dagobert the Friesians relapsed into paganism, and the churches were destroyed. Other missionaries from England tried to introduce the Gospel anew. Wilfred came from Yorkshire and gained favor among the Friesians. King Aldgild gave him permission to preach and to baptize, and he is said to have gained many thousands for the Ohristian faith. The successor of Aldgild, however, proved unfriendly toward the Ohristian religion, considering it as one of the means to bring the country under the c0ntrol of the Franks. In 678 the southern part of Friesia actually came into the power of the Franks, and so a door was opened to Willibrord for the preach- ing of the Gospel. In 692 he received the so-called apostolic authoriza- 276 The Story of the German Bible. tion for his work, and his success about this time was so great that he was elected bishop of this diocese. He was then sent to Rome for consecration. Later he founded the monastery of Utrecht, where he intended to train recruits for further missionary work. After that he seems to have been engaged in founding congregations, till his success encouraged him to enter lands under Frankish control. In 706 he founded the monastery atEchternach, in the diocese of Treves, and another at Suestern, in the diocese of Mastricht, in 714. Radbod, successor to King Aldgild of Friesia, finally regained the territory taken by the Franks. Unfriendly as he was toward Ohristianity, he commanded that the priests be hunted out and the churches destroyed. In place of the Ohristian churches he erected heathen temples. It seemed that the entire work of Willibrord would be destroyed. But Radbod died in 719, and his successor, the younger Aldgild, made peace and opened his country to the Gospel once more. 'iV"illibrord returned to Utrecht and repaired the damages done there. He was joined by vVinfried, or Bonifacius, of whom we shaH presently hear more, and the two labored with great success until the death of Willibrord, about 739, at the age of eighty-one. He was buried in the abbey of Echternaeh, where he died, and was canonized almost im- mediately after his death. We now come to the last great missionary who labored on Ger- man soil, in the western part of what is now the German Republic. This was Winfried, or Bonifacius, often called the "Apostlc of Ger- rnany," althoiJgh one deplorcs the fact that he was almost entirely under the domination of the Rom8n See. Winfried was horn in Devonshire, England, in 680, his parents being people of distinction. He also received his clerical education in England, and his tact and prudence, together witll his practical ability along executive lines, gave him a high standing in his community. His interest in mis8ion- work was m:oused when he heard vVillibrord speak of its victories while the latter was on a visit to the British Isles. In spite of the entreaties of the Archbishop of Oanterbury, vVinfried in 716 sailed for the Oontinent with three companions. Somewhat later he proceeded to Rome to gain the Pope's sanction for his proposed mission-work. Pope Gregory II received him kindly, found him orthodox, and readily sanctioned his mission. In this way was Winfried's relation to the Pope established, and it became one of the great motives of his career. As Winfried, now commonly known as Boniface, returned from Rome, he first of all hastened to Friesia, where he spent three years in assisting the aged Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht. Following the army of Karl Martel as far as Trier, he turned aside into Thuringia and then to Ressia, where he labored with good success. In 723 he was called to Rome, where the Pope made him Bishop Regionarius of Germany. It was at this The Story of the German Bible. 277 time that Boniface took the oath of obedience to Rome, by which 11e pledgcd himself, in an almost repulsive manner, to be guided in everything by the Pope. In 725 Boniface was in ThUTingia. Finding the soil very difficult to work, he sent a call for aid to England, which was so successful that more than a score of able assistants were rushed to his aid. Among these were also some women, who were to do mission-work among the members of their own sex. In 732 a new Pope mounted the papal throne, who lost no time in sending a delegation to Boniface to praise and encoUTagc him in his work. He was made archbishop and thereby knit more closely than ever to the Roman See. In the same year Karl Martel defeated thc :Mohammedan hordes, thereby saving EUTope for Ohristianity. In 738 Boniface was made papal legate of all Germany. He now reorganized Germany with dioceses of his own naming. He threw his influence in favor of the Pope also in the Gallican OhUTch. He succeeded in conquering two bishops who were opposed to papal power, so that in the end his authority was supreme. The redeeming feature in the character of Boniface was his active interest in missions. In 753 he made Lullus his successor, while he sailed down the Rhine with fifty men in order to do mission- work among the Friesians. Two years later, in June of the year 755, Boniface was conducting a meeting near the shores of the Zuyder Zee, when an armed host of pagans sUTrounded him. After com- manding 11is young men not to offer resistance, he pillowed his head on a volume of the holy gospels and awaited the blow which ended his life. Thus was brought to a close the life of the most prominent churchman of the eighth centUTY and one of the greatest directors of missions in the entire history of the Ohurch. The foundation of missions in Germany had now been laid. It remained for the super- structure to be erected. IV. The First Translations of Parts of the Bible in Germany. There are no translations of the Bible or of prll'ts of the Bible into Germanic languages extant of the first centuries of the Ohristian era except that made by Ulfilas for the Gothic people. One may con- jecture of course, on the basis of occasional remarks, such as that of missionary methods pursued near Lugdul1um (Lyons), in Gaul, that parts of the Scriptures were rendered into the vernacular at an early date to meet the needs of the natives who were brought into contact with the Gospel, even though most of such contacts may have been made through the medium of the Latin tongue. The c.omparatively small number of congregations of which we have records before the Oouncil of Nicea does not encourage such conjectures to any large extent. 278 The Story of the German Bible. But during the missionary expansion movement undertaken be- tween the days of Martin of Tours, about the middle of the fourth century, and Boniface, who died just after the middle of the eighth century, a large part of the work was done in the vernacular, at least by way of teaching the converts the fundamentals of the Ohris- tian religion. One would expect efforts along the line of translating to adhere fairly closely to the immediate needs of the work. These were associated, for one thing, with the work of the lector in public services, who would want to add a few words in the vernacular as he read the lessons of the day in Latin. This had been done even in the Jewish synagogs, especially in the countries of the Dispersion, where many of the hearers might not be familial' with the language in which the lessons were officially read, and it is said to have been the custom which suggested his entire translation of the Bible to Ulfilas. In the second place, the work of instructing the barbarians for baptism and church-membership required at least some use of the vernacular, chiefly by way of teaching the Lord's Prayer and the Creed in the language of the candidates. It is just along these two lines that the first attempts at render- ing parts of Scripture in the vernacular were made. From St. Paul in Carinthia came an interesting manuscript, two leaves of i.l gospel codex of the sixth to seventh century, with an interlinear translation in Old High German, written in the eighth century. A few verses from the Gospel of the Nativity of Ohrist, Luke 2, 1-10, will show the nature of this translation. We place the text in parallel columns: Exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto. Et peperit filium suum primogeni- tum et pannis eum involvit et recH- navit eum in praesepio. Uz keane keehuuit fone kheisure eruuirdikemu (the modern ehrwur- digern). Pal' (= gebar, bore) ehindh ira eristporanaz, lachanum (= La- ken) inen piuuant, kesazte inan in parnin (in ehripiun). Even without a technical knowledge of Old High German one can follow the text with little difficulty, noting at the same time the number of loan words from the Latin, many of which have been retained to this day. Another interesting document, one which shows, at least in part, what part of a catechism text was required at St. Gall, in Switzer- land, in the eighth century. The Lord's Prayer, or Pater Noster, reads in this rendering:- Fater unseel', tIm pist in himile, uuihi namun dinan, qhueme l'ihhi din, uuel'de uuillo diin, so in himile, sosa in erdu. prooth unseel' emezzihic kip uns hiutu, oblaz uns sculdi unseero, so uuir oblazem uns sculdikem, enti ni unsih firleiti in khorullka, uzzer losi unsih fona ubile. And the Apostolic Creed is just as interesting:- Kilaubu in kot fater almahticun, kiscaft himiles enti erda. Ellti in Jesum Christ sun sinan ainacun, Ullseran truhtin, del' inphangan ist fona uuihemu keiste, kiporan fona Mariun macadi euuikeru, kimartrot in kiuual- tiu Pilates, in crueu pislagan, tot enti picl'apan, stehic in uuizzi, in drittin The Story of the German Bible. 279 take erstoont fona totem, stehic in himil, sizit az zesuun cotes fateres al- mahtikin, dhana chuumftic ist sonen qhuekhe enti tote. Kilaubu in uuihan keist, in uuiha khirihhlln catholica, uuihe1'o kemeinitha, urlaz suntikero, fleiskes urstodali, in liip euuikan, amen. Here again even a cursory comparison of the various parts of the translation will convince one that the rendering is one of real merit, and that in spite of the fact that the translator was evidently handicapped by a lack of terms to express in German the words of the original Latin. But the most valuable of these early documents is a translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, known as the Monsee-Vienna Frag- ments. It was made at the beginning of the ninth century under the auspices of the Archbishop of Cologne, who was also abbot of the monastery at Monsee. When the monastery was discontinued, in 1786, its library was taken to Vienna, where this gospel manuscript has been studied by a number of scholars, notably by Endlicher and Hoffmann, by Massmann, and by Hench. The last-named published the results of his studies in an edition of 1891 entitled "The Monsee Fragments, newly collated text with introduction, notes, grammatical treatise and exhaustive glossary, and a photolithographic facsimile." This edition contains also other manuscripts of Monsee, but its most interesting sections are the fragments of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Prof. W. Walther (Die deutsche Bibeluebersetzung des Mittelalters, 434 ff.), who places the translation into the eighth century, has some interesting remarks on content and language of the manuscript. It is a bilingual production, the Latin text being on the left side, the German on the right side, that is, on the next leaf. The translator was rather bold in his rendering of the Latin, for it was evidently his intention to offer not only idiomatic, but also beautiful German. He had some difficulty on account of the many participles in the Latin text. Sometimes he solved the difficulty in a very agreeable way, then again he followed the original almost slavishly. On the whole, however, the result is very satisfactory. We offer a few sec- tions of the translation, with occasional explanatory remarks. Matt. 12, 1-8: In deru ziti fuor Jesus in restitage (rest days, Sab- baths) after satim (durch die Saat, through the standing grain), sine iun- garun auh uuaran hungrage (hungrig, hungry), bigunnun raufen diu ahar (Ahren, ears) enti ezan. Pharisera dhuo daz gasehante quuatun imo: "See dine gungirun tuoant daz sie ni mozun tuoan in feratagum (Feier- tagen, festival days)." Enti aer quuat im (quoth to them) : "Inu ni larut i1' huuaz David teta, duo inan hungarta enti dea mit imo uuarun? Hueo aer gene (ging, went) in daz gotes hus enti az uuizodbroth (Gesetzbrot, Schaubrot, showbread) daz er ezan ni muosa noh dea mit imo uuarun nibu dea einun euurta (Waechter des Gesetzes, Priester). Odho ni larut er in euu (Gesetz, law) daz dem uuehhatagum (Wochentagen, Sabattagen, Sab- baths) dea euurta in demo temple bismizant (beschmitzen, bef/,ecken, pro- fane) restitac enti sint doh anu lastar (Laster, vices, faults) 1" Ih sagem iu auh daz meor ist hear danne tempel. Ibu ir auh uuistit huaz ist "arm- haerzin uuillu enti nalles gelatar (Steuer, Abgabe, gift, sacrifice)" neo ni geschadot ir dem unscolom (unschuldig, innocent). Truhtin (Herr, lord) ist gauuisso (gewisz, surely) mannes sunu ioh restitaga. 280 The Story of tile German Bible. Matt. 13, 44-50: Galih ist himilo rihhi gaberge (Schatz, treasure) gaborganemo (gebm·gen, hidden, safe) in acchre. So danne man diz findit enti gabirgit iz cuti des mcndcnto (treuen, rejoice) gengit enti forchaufit (vel-kautet, sells) al so huuaz so aer habet enti gachaufit den acchar. Auh ist galihsam (gleioh, like) himilo rihhe demo suohhenti ist guote mari- greoza (from Latin margarita, pearl), gene enti forchaufta al daz aer hapta enti gachaufta den. Auh ist galih himilo rihhi seginun (from Latin sagenfJ" }I'ischnetz) in seu gasezziteru (gesetzt, cast), enti allero fischunllo (kinds of fish) gahuuelihhes samnotin (sammelten, gathered). So diu danllC fol uuarth, uz ardullsau (hemusziehen, draw out), euti dea bi stade (Gestade, shore) siczentun aruuelitun (erwiihlten, select) dea guotun in iro faz, dea ubilum auuar uurphun uz (warten sic aus, cast them out). So uuidit in demo galidontin enti uueralti (from Latin in consummatione saec1lli, when, at the end of the world, it will be dissected) : quemant angila enti arschei- dallt (scheiden, divide) dea ubilun fone mittem dem rehtuuisigom (das Recht wissend, gerecht, just), cnti lecchcnt (legend, placing) dea in fyurcs ovan, dar uuidit uuoft (Heulen, howling) enti zano gagrim (KniTschen, gnashing) . Matt. 28, 16-20: Enti einlifi sine jungirnn fuOl·un (fuhl-en, jour- neyed) in Galilea in den berc, dar im Jesus kapot. Enti so si inan gasahun, lmigun (knien, kneel) za imo; einhuuelihhe danne iro ni foltruetun (voll tm1~en, to have full confidence). Enti gene duo Jesus nahor, sprah za im, quad (quoth): forgeban ist mil' alles kaunalt in himile enti en aerdu. Faret nu enti leret aIlo deota (Menge, Volk, people), taufente sie in nemin fateres enti sunes enti heilages gheistes. Leret sie kahaltan al so huuaz so ih iu g'aboot. enti see ih bim mit iu eo gatago (Tage, days) untaz en· tunge (Endung, ending or end) uneralti. One could add many more sections to these interesting excerpts, but the examples given will suffice to give a good idea of the character of this work. Undoubtedly further attempts were made, and we may constantly expect scholars to find further material in the field of early translations of the Bible into some German dialect. This would be altogether analogous to the condition in England, where partial trans- lations and poetical paraphrases of Biblical books were found as early as the seventh and eighth centuries, while the Venerable Bede, about the beginning of the eighth century, even translated the entire Gospel according to St. John into Anglo-Saxon. v. Tatian's Gospel Harmony in the First German Rendering. As we continue our examination of early documents connected with the story of the Bible ill various Germanic translations, we find one of unusual interest, namely an Old High-German rendering of the first harmony of the gospels of which we know, the so-called Diatessaron of Tatian. Tatian was a writer of the second century. He was born in Assyria and grew up in heatl10nism. The splendid training in Greek literature and philosophy which he received was not able to satisfy his longing· for the truth. But about the year 150 he met the Chris- tian apologist and teacher Justin in Rome, whose pupil he became. He entered whole-heartedly into the study of the Christian religion and justified his step in a special document, A W o1'd to the GTce7cs. It is unfortunate that he later became interested in two fanatical and The Story of the German Bible. 281 heretical errors, that of the Encratites and that of the Gnostics, and that he took a prominent part in spreading these false notions in Eastern Syria. Nevertheless, the harmony of the fOUT gospels (dia tessaron) which he compiled about this time is of great value for the study of the New Testament, not only on account of the text itself which it contains, but also on account of testimony for the existence of four acknowledged gospels. The Diates8aron of Tatian was written in either Greek or Syriac and soon became widely known in the East. But its importance was recognized also in the West, so that a Latin translation was made under the direction of Victor of Capua, about 546 A. D. The manu- script of Victor was brought to Fulda, the famous German abbey founded in 744 by Sturm, a disciple of Boniface. This abbey, in the territorY,: of the present Hesse-Nassau, became a center of ecclesiastical art, including also many fine manuscripts, the copying of which was in itself a fine art. It was during the time when Rabanus Maurus, himself an outstanding theologian and educator of the Middle Ages, was abbot of Fulda (822--842) that the German translation of Tatian's harmony was made, for its date has been quite definitely placed at 825. In this connection we may say that it is interesting to know how ancient manuscripts and documents were preserved and dis- tributed during the Middle Ages, before the invention of the printing- press. J\iIost of the credit in this department of learning goes to the monasteries, especially such as were founded by men interested in learning and its propagation. Among the rules laid down by some ot the founders of great monasteries, like Cassiodorus and Benedict, we find the following: "Idleness is the foe of the soul; therefore all the brethren ... are to be engaged at certain hours with sac-red reading. . .. He who does not labor in the ground with his plow should write on parchment with his fingers." Among the monasteries that stood at the head of an institutions in preserving ancient manu- scripts, were Bruttii, Vivaria, Bobbio, St. Gall, Monte Cassino, Tournai, Fulda, Lorsch, Reichenau, Hirschau, Weissenburg, and Hersfeld. The so-called scriptorium of monasteries of this type was an in- tere'sting room. It was furnished with the necessary desks and racks, in some cases also with candelabra, although the rules of many institutions would not permit any light but that of the sun, since there was always danger that some of the fine manuscripts would be damaged by candle drippings. Some of the finest single copies of precious manuscripts were made by skilful writers, who often spent years of tireless labor in producing the magnificent copies of illumi- nated manuscripts which we still admire. But books for general use were produced by a number of copyists working together, one acting 282 The Story of the German Bible. as a reader or precentor, the others copying at his dictation. The protocalligraphist, or precentor, was in charge of desks and book- racks, ink, parchment, pens and penknives, and other paraphernalia. The bibliothecarius divided the work and also took care of corrections at the close of the session. The writers themselves were simply designated as scriptores or librarii. The antiquar'ii were chiefly en- gaged in the copying of the classical documents, the notarii in that of legal documents, and the illuminatores furnished the beautiful initial letters and the vignettes. The production of a single book was a task of large proportions and explains in part the small number of volumes in many of the monasteries. The writing was done almost exclusively in black, but the page was frequently bordered with red, gold, or some other bright color, while many beautiful illustrations were inserted by artistic monks. The best writers in the scriptoria of the various monasteries worked six hours every day. And the rules regarding the finished product were exceedingly strict, especially concerning plain copyists' errors. Small wonder that a writer of St. Gall made a notation on the margin of his manuscript: "One who does not know the art of writing may think that it is not strenuous; but although only these fingers are holding the pen, the entire body becomcs tired." Yet the prevailing spirit among the copyists was one of devotion, together with a feeling of responsibility. Not only the monks, but the nuns as well were engaged in the copying of manuscripts, and there is an account of a certain Diemudis of Wessobrunn, who copied more than thirty volumes, including many missals, lectionaries, and even entire Bibles. Nor is this all that might be said of the monasteries and their scriptoria, for it must not be forgotten that many monasteries became the centers of schools extending over an entire district or province. The monastery schools were necessarily the first beneficiaries of the work of writing done in the institutions. But by this same token the universities, many of which grew out of monastery schools, benefited by the work of the monks in preserving the learning of the past. Mechanical as much of the learning was, it cannot be denied that we have products of a very high rank among the writings of the Middle Ages. Among these writings by no means the least in value is the Old High-German translation of Tatian's Diatessaron, made in Fulda about 825 by a scholar whose name, unfortunately, has not been preserved. The German scholar Sievers believes that a number of men made the translation, which was afterward revised and unified in the copies which have come down to us. Professor Walther, on the other hand, holds the opinion that we are dealing with the work of only one man. The latter opinion seems to be borne out by certain The Story of the German Bible. 283 peculiarities, showing, for example, that the translator was fairly sure of his German idiom and did not often follow the construction of the Latin. He is particularly independent in his use of conjunctions, which offer quite a problem in the Latin. As stated above, the work of Tatian is a harmony of the four gospels, but not by a merging of the texts from the four documents, rather by a selection of parts from the gospels showing progressive steps in the history of the Savior. The first paragraph is the prolog from Luke, chap. 1, 1-4, followed by the first part of the prolog of John, chap. 1, 1-5. Then we have the story of John the Baptist's birth, then of the birth and childhood of Jesus, according to Luke. After that the author used parts of the gospels as he needed them for his purpose, although he omitted some sections which were damaging to his later Gnostic views. A few paragraphs from various parts of the translation may prove of interest. Luke 1, 1-4: Bithiu uuanta (for that reason, because) manage (rnanche, some, certain ones) ziIotun (zielten, aimed to, intended tD) or din on saga (saying) thio in uns gifulta (erfucllt, fulfilled, came to pass) sint rahhono (Sache, Angelegenheit, matter) so uns saltun (berichten, gave an account of) thei thar fon aneginne selbon gisahun inti ambahta (Diener, servants) uuarun uuortes, ----' uuas mir gisehan (visum est mihi, it seemed to me) gifolgentemo (der ich gefolgt war, verfolgt hatte, who had fol- lowed up the information) fon aneginne aHem, gernlihho (8orgfaeltig, carefully) after antreitu (Ordnung, order) thir scriben, thu bezzisto Theo- phile, thaz thu forstantes thero uuorto (Ve1"stand der Worte, understand- ing of the words), fon them thu gilerit bist, uuar. John 1, 1-5: In aneginne uuas uuort inti thaz uuort uuas mit gote inti got selbo uuas thaz uuort. Thaz uuas in anaginne mit gote. Alliu thuruh thaz vvurdun gitan (getan, done) into uzzan (aussen, ohne, with- out) sin ni uuas uuiht (nothing was) gitanes thaz thar gitan uuas. Thaz uuas in imo lib ( Leben, life) into thaz lib uuas lioht manno. Inti thaz lioht in finstarnessin (darknesses) liuhta inti finstarnessi thaz ni begriffun (ergriffen, accepted). Luke 2, 1-7: Uuard tho gitan in then tagun, framquam (hervor- karn, ausging, forth came) gibot fon themo aluualten (all-ruling) keisure, thaz gehrievit (in Briefe e-in,qetragen, entered into lists) vvurdi al these umhiuuerft (o1'bis t61"m1'Um,Welt, world). Thaz gescrib (soriptum, cen- sus) iz eristen uuard gitan in Syriu fon themo graven Cyrine, inti fuorun (fuhren, journeyed) alle, thaz hiiahin (bejahen, confess, state) thionost (Dienst, service, compliance) iogiuuelih in sinero burgi. Fuor tho Joseph fon Galileu fon theru burgi thiu hiez Nazareth in Judeno lant inti in Davides burg, thiu uuas ginemnit (bena.mt, named) Bethleem, hithiu uuanta her uuas fon huse inti hiuuiske (family) Davides, thaz her giiahi (er- klaeren, declare, report) sam an mit Mariun imo gimahaltero gimahhun (verlobtes Gernahl, betrothed wife) so scaffaneru (s() sohaffend, en~ellgend, being pregnant). Tho sie thar uuarum, vvurdum taga gifulte (crfuellt, fulfilled), thaz siu bari (gebneren, bear, bring forth), inti gibar ira sun eristboranon inti biuuant (wound) inan mit tuochum inti gilegita inan in crippea, bithiu uuanta im ni uuas ander stat (and61'e Staette, another place) in themo gasthuse. Matt. 28, 16-20: Einlif (elf, eleven) jungoron giengun in Galileam in then berg thar in ther heilant gimarcota (angezeigt, marked), inti gisehenti inan betotun (anbeteten, prayed to Him) inan, sume giuuesso 284 The Story of the German Bible. (certain ones) zuuehotun (zweifelien, were in doubt). Inti sprah in zuo quedenti (speaking to them): gigeban ist al giuualt mil' in himile inti in erdu. Get in alla uueralt, praedigot evangelium aHera gisoefti ( Ge- schoepf, creature) inti leret aile thiota (Le1tte, people), toufenti sie in namen fater inti Bnnes inti thes heilagen geistes, leret zi hihaltanne (hal- ten, hold, observe) allie so nnelichiu (whatsoever) si ih iu gebot. Inti seun (see ye!) ih bin mit in allen tagon unzan enti uueralti. From these few excerpts it is evident that, in certain sections of Germany at least, some rather successful efforts· to offer the Gospel in the language of the people were made. Although the translation is occasionally laborious, chiefly because the translators followed the Latin copy too slavishly, yet the main facts of the Gospel-story were correctly set forth, and one may well believe that many a heart was won for Ohrist by the narrative of His life and death as presented by faithful pastors in their parish sermons and in the courses of instruction offered for membership in the Ohurch. VI. Alliterative Poetry and the Old Saxon "HeHand." In our story of the evangelization of the various German tribes we have heard of the Visigoths, the tribes along the Hhine, the Alemanni, the Suevi, the Burgundians, the Franks, the Friesians, and others. By the middle of the eighth century, when the death of Boniface occurred, all of what is now Northern France, the Nether lands and Belgium, Switzerland, and most of Western and Southwestern Germany had received the Gospel, so that probably the majority of the natives of these sections were at least nominally Ohristians. The sons of Oharles :Martel, Pepin the Short and Oarloman, had actively supported Boniface in his missionary labors, so that the Frankish Ohurch at any rate was fully established. Oharlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, born in 742, became ruler, together with his brother Oarloman, in ·768 and sole ruler of the Frankish kingdom three years later. In 774 he defeated Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and incorporated that kingdom into his own. This is commonly considered the beginning of Oharlemagne's empire. Even before this success came to him, however, Oharlemagne felt obliged to take up arms against a German tribe which seriously threatened his northeastern frontier, namely, the Saxons. Their country at that time extended from the mouths of the Elbe southward to Thuringia and westward nearly to the Rhine. They had refused to become Ohristians, preferring their old idols Odin and Thor. When a Ohristian missionary, Libuinus, endeavored to convert the Saxons by declaring God's vengeance against their paganism, they were so provoked that they expelled him from their country, burned the church erected at Daventer, and massacred the Ohristian converts. Oharlemagne was a good and wise monarch, and his efforts in behalf of good government and education are rightly acknowledged The Story of the German Bible. 285 m history. But he failed to realize that the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom. One of his slogans was: "Every person in the empire a Christian," and he acted according to this slogan with relent- less severity. Four wars he waged against the Saxons, including numerous campaigns. In each case the superiority of Charlemagne's forces compelled the Saxons to make peace, but they did not yield from conviction. This state of intermittent warfare lasted for fifteen years, beginning with 771 A. D. Finally, after the Saxon conscripts in the army of Charles had massacred many of the Frankish soldiers, the king constituted a terrible examp1e, for he devastated the Saxon territory and caused four thousand five hundred Saxons to be put to death. It was then that Witukind (Wittekind, Witikind), the great Saxon chief, swore fealty to the Frankish monarch, received Chris- tian baptism, and he and his people embraced Christianity. Bishoprics, monasteries, and churches rapidly sprang up in the country of the Saxons. Eight bishoprics were established in the course of the next decades, namely, Osnabrueck, Minden, Verden, Bremen, l'aderborn, Muenster, Halberstadt, and Hildesheim. Oharlemagne had accom- plished, at least outwardly, what he had stated in a message to the Pope: "It is my duty to defend the Ohurch of Christ everywhere on earth, outwardly against the onslaughts of the heathen and desolation of unbelievers by force of arms, and inwardly to strengthen it by the acknowledgment of the Catholic faith. Your duty, on the other hand, Holiest Fathel', is to aid our cause with uplifted hands, as Moses did, that through your intercession by the gracious will of God the Ohris- tian C11llrch triumph everywhere over the enemies of His name, and thus the name of Jesus Christ our Lord will be glorified in all the world." The military force of Charles had conquered - outwardly, but there was as yet little inner conviction. It remained for his suc- cessors, chiefly Louis Le Debol1l1aire (814---840), to apply other means for winning' the souls of the Saxons for Christianity. This was done chiefly through an alliterative poem on the New Testament, whiqh was produced about 830. Poetry of this type had apparently 1)een in usc among Germanic tribes for over a century, both on the Oontinent and in England. The account of the poet C aedmon, as preserved by the Venerable Bede, gives us the beginning of the first Biblical poem of this kind, from about the year 670 A. D. The first lines read: - Nu we Benion herigeun heofonrices '\TeaI'd, Meotodes meahte ond his modgethanc, weorc WuldoI'faedeI' swu be wUl1dra gewhaes, ece drihten or ol1stealde. He aerest seeop eorthan bearnum he of on to h1'ofe halig Seyppend; tha midrlengeard moncynnes W card eee Drihten aefter teode firum foldan, Frea aelmihtig. 286 The Story of the German Bible. Which would be in modern English: - Now we shall praise the Ward of the heavenly kingdom, The might of the Lord and the thoughts of His mind, The work of the glorious Father, as it was a marvel, The everlasting Lord, created [at] the beginning [began to create]. He first created for the children of earth Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator; The midde-earth the Ward of mankind, The eternal Lord, afterward made, The land of men, the almighty Lord. In Germany we have, as some of the outstanding productions of this type, the Hildebrandslied, a fragment of the eighth century, which begins with the lines: - Ik gihorta dat seggen dat sih urhettun aenon muotin, Hiltibrant enti Hadubrant untar herium tuem sunufatarungo . . .; in English:- I heard that said, That as battlers battled in single combat, Hiltibrant and Hadubrant, between two armies, Son and father ... ; also the Ludwigslied, of the ninth century (Louis III, 881), which begins: - Einan kuning uueiz ih Heizsit her Hluduig, Ther gerno gode thionot: Ih uueiz her imos lonot . . . in English:- I know a king, His name is Ludwig, Who gladly serves God; I know He will reward him for it. It was this type of song which was chosen for a translation of the New Testament into Old Saxon by the bards of Louis Le Debon- naire. .And it was not an exact translation so much as a poetical rendering along the broad epical lines of the early heroic poetry_ Approximately six thousand double lines of the H eliand have been preserved. In addition, there seem to have been two prologs, which have been ascribed to different authors. A version of the Old Testa- ment, which is referred to by Matthias Flacius, has since been lost. Many parts of the Heliand, as it has been preserved, are of outstand- ing power and beauty and will well repay a more thorough study. The name of the poem was taken from chapter 6, line 443 of the entire poem. The following sections of the poem, with English t.ranslation, are offered to characterize the production and convey at least a little of its epic power. Here is a part of the story of the Nativity: - Tho ward managun kuth obar thesa widun werold, wardos antfundun, thea thaI' ehu-skalkos uta warun, weros an wahtu, wiggeo gomean, fehas after felda: gisahun fiinistri an twe telatan an lufte, endi quam lioht godes The Story of the German Bible. wanum thurh thiu wolkan, endi thea wardos thar bifeng an them felda. Sie wurdun an forhtun tho, thea man an ira moda, gisahun that mahtigna godes engil kuman, the im tegegnes sprak, het that im thea wardos wiht ni antdredin 287 ledes fon them liohta: "ik skal iu", quad he, "liobora thing swido warliko willeon seggean. kudean kraft mikiL Nu is Krist giboran, an thesero selbun naht, salig harn godes, an thero Davides hurg, drohtin the godo; that is mendislo manno kunneas, allaro firiho fruma! ThaI' gi imi fidan mugun an Bethlema-hurg, barno rikiost; hebbiad that te tekna, that ik iu gitellian mag warun wordun, that he thaI' biwundan ligid, that kind an enera kribbiun, thoh he si kuning obar aI, erdun endi himiles, endi obar eldeo barn, weroldes waldand-" In English: - Then it became known to many Over this wide world, servants found it out, Hostlers that were outside, Men on watch, horse-servants, Of the cattle in the fields; they saw the darkness part, (Divide) in the air, and the light of God came Bright through the clouds, and it shone about The herdsmen there in the fields. They were then in fears, The men in their minds; they saw there the mighty .Angel of God come, who spoke to them; He bade the herdsmcn not to fcar any Harm from the light. "I shall," said he, "tell you more welcome things, Most truly gladly, with pleasure .Announce a great wonder. Now is Christ born, In this very night, the blessed Son of God, In the city of David, the good Lord; That is joy for mankind, to all people delight! There you may find Him, In the city of Bethlehem, the richest of children; Have this for a sign, which I may tell you With true words, that He there lies wrapped The Child in a manger, although He is King over all, Earth and heaven, and over the children of men, The Ruler of the world." And here is the Lord's Pr'ayer as given in the Heliand:- "Than gi god willena," quad he, "weI' os mit iuwon wordun wflldflnd grotean, allero kuningo kraftigostan, than quedad gi, so ik iu leriu: Fadar is usa, firiho barno, the is an them hohon himilo rikea, gewihid 8i thin namo wordu gehwiliku! Kuma us to thin kraftag riki! Werda thin willeo obar thesa werold alla, so sama an erda, so thaI' uppa ist an them hohon himilo rikea! Gef us dago gihwilikes rad, drohtin the godo, thina helaga helpa! endi ala t us, hebenes ward, man agora men-skuldio, al so wi odrun mannun doan. Ne lat us farledean leda wihti so ford an iro willeon, so wi wirdige sind; ak help us widar allun ubilon dadiun!" 288 The Story of the German Bible. In English:- "'When ye will," said He, "The people, with your words greet God, the Ruling One, The mightiest of all kings, then say, as I teach you: Father of ours, of the children of men, That art in the high kingdom of heaven, Hallowed be Thy name with each word! To us come Thy powerful kingdom! Thy will be done over all this world, The same on earth as there above In the high heaven-kingdom! Give us every day, good Lord, what we need, Thy holy help! And forgive us, Guardian of heaven, Our many trespasses, as we do also to other men. Do not let evil spirits tempt us Away after their will, if we be worthy of that; But help us against all evil deeds!" Thus was the whole Gospel-story cast into chapters or sections~ all in the same rhythmical alliterative verse, well adapted for the chanting of the bards, as they went from village to village, from castle to castle. It was a method akin to that which made the Easter and Ohristmas plays so successful two centuries later, not only on the Oontinent, but also in England. VII. "Otfrid's Gospel-Book" and Other Medieval Versions. While the author (01' authors) of the Heliand, who evidently were trained in the school of Fulda, wrote in the alliterative form of the old Germanic poetry, also with a keen insight into, and a power- ful sympathy with, the customs and viewpoints of the people, another form of poetry was introduccd in the western part of the Germanic territory, a form which was destined to exert a powerful influence upon later developments in this field. Among the monasteries which were prominent in promoting learning during the early Middle Ages was that of "\Veissenburg, in the old Franconian country west of the Rhine. It was here that a man by the name of Otfrid was born, about 790, whose importance in the field of German literature is rightly emphasized. He studied in Fulda under Rhabanus Maurus and later in St. Gall. Returning to Weissenburg, he became presbyter and also teacher at the monastery school. He was a scholar of unusual ability, with a decided talent for languages, including the German, although he refers to it as "a lan- guage incapable of culturc and discipline" (lingtta incuUa et in- disciplinllbilis). Yet Otfrid took this difficult medium of communica- tion, at the earnest solicitation of some of his friends, "thaz wiT K riste slmgen in unsel'e Zungen;' and produced a poem, consisting of a harmony of the gospels, known as Krist, which, with all its pedantic peculiarities, is rightly considered a literary masterpiece, incidentally being a source of information on customs and morals The Story of the German Bible. 289 of the day. The strength of his composition is in its lyric beauty and in the fairly comprehensive presentation of the doctrine of justification. His genuine humility, as one of the fruits of this knowl- edge, appears in the prayer which he places at the beginning of his poem, after the introduction and the preceding dedicatory sections. Homesickness for heaven is the governing impulse of the quiet monk of Weissenburg, who places his talents in the service of the Lord and disregards honor before men. Otfrid's harmony, the Krist, was composed in five books, written approximately 854 to 868, in the Franconian dialect. The three dedicatory sections are written in acrostic form, the first being ad- dressed to Louis the German (Ludouuico orientalium regnorum regi sit salus aeterna), the second to Bishop Solomon (Salomoni episcopo Otfridus) , and the third to Hartmut and Werinbert, two monks of St. Gall (Otjrid1lS Uuizanburgensis monachus Hartmuate et Uerin- berto Sancti Galli monasterii monachis). Then follows a prolog, or preface, explaining the reason for writing the poem, and the invoca- tion of the writer to the Lord. A feature of the poem are the spir- itual or mystical sections explaining the Gospel-story in keeping with the demand of the day for a three- or fourfold interpretation of the text. The following sections will give an idea of the work done by Otfrid in presenting the Gospel-story in rhymed verse. In his in- troduction, or prolog, he writes, after explaining why he composed this book in German: - Nu uuilI ih scriban unser hell, euangeliono deil, so uuir nu hiar bigunnun in frenkisga zungun, Thaz sie ni uuesen eino thes selben adeilo, ni man in iro gizungi Kristes lob sungi, 10h er ouh iro uuorto gilobot uuerde harto, ther sie zimo holeta, zi giloubon sinen ladota; in English: - Now 1 want to write of our salvation, a selection from the gospels As we now begin it here in the Frankish dialect, That they might not be alone having no part in them, That no one in their language sing the praise of Christ, That also in their ~words He be praised strongly, That He bring them to Him, invite them to faith in Him. The first lines of Otfrid's invocation read:- Vuola, druhtin min, ia bin ih scale thin! in English: 19 thia arm a muatel' min, eigan thiu ist si thin! Fingar thinan dua anan mund minan, theni ouh hand thina in thia zungun mina; Hail, my Lord! Always am 1 Thy servant. This poor mother of mine, Thine own maid she is. Thy finger place upon my mouth, Stretch out Thy hand to my tongue. 290 The Story of the German Bible. From the story of the Wise Men:- Thie buachara ouh tho thare gisamanota er Bare, sie uuas er fragenti, uuar Krist giboran uurti; Er sprah zen euuarton selben theBen uuorton, gab armer ioh ther richo antuurti gilicho, Thiu burg nantun se sar, infestiz datun alauuar mit uuorton then er thie aUun forasagon zaltun ... ; in English: The scribes he there gathered eagerly; He was asking them where Christ should be born. He spoke to the priests with these same words, And poor man and rich gave the same answer. They named the city definitely; they most certainly stated In words which before the ancient ones in prophesying had told .... There is no information as to the influence exerted by this great Gospel poem, but there can be no doubt as to its being a monument of the early German literature, one which will repay careful study even to-day. Beside this poetical version of the gospels there were quite a few translations of parts of the Bible at a fairly early date, beside the German Psalters, which will be considered in a special section. Pro- fessor Walther discusses a total of nine translations of the gospels, of which we have referred to the Monsee-Vienna Fragments and the Tatian Harmony. There is a fragment, of which parts were found in Munich and in Vienna, which contains directions for chanting the text in services. Switzerland boasts a complete translation of the four gospels in the Alemanuic dialect; there is also a Psalter belong- ing to this version. It belongs to the period before 1400. There is a harmony of the gospels in Munich which has been placed before 1343, the language of which shows the work of a master. Other versions of the gospels are those of a parchment codex of the monas- tery at Melk, of a similar manuscript found at Kassel and placed about the middle of the fourteenth century, and of a manuscript with the Gospel of St. John and the Gospel of St. Matthew, which is preserved at Munich. But this part of our study would not be complete without a reference to the translations of individual books which have been found, especially of the Song of Songs and of the Apocalypse. The most notable example of the former group is a paraphrase of the Song of Songs made by Williram, who died in 1085 as the abbot of Ebers- berg in Bavaria, after having received his training in Fulda and served in his office for almost four decades. The form of Williram's work is that which offers a translation of individual sentences, fol- lowed by a short exposition. This is his rendering of chap. 1,2.3: - Cusser mih mit cuase sines mundes. Uuanta bezzer sint dine spunne demo uuine, sie stinchente mit den bezzesten salbon. Din namo ist uzge- gozzenaz ole. Vone diu minnont dih die iunkfrouuon. The Story of the German Bible. 291 And chap. 5, 2: - lh slafon, min hel'za uuachot. Mir becnuodelet mines uuines stimma: Intuo mir, min suester, min fruentin, min tuba, min scona, uuanta min hoibet ist fol toiuues unte mine Iocca fol dew nahttroffon. The interest in Williram's paraphrase was so great that many copies were made, a large number of which have been preserved to this day. In general the copyist made few changes in his translation and explanation, except by way of some additional point found in some Ohurch Father; for Williram followed the exposition of Haimo of Halberstadt, Bede, Gregory the Great, and Alcuin, while others thought more highly of other men. A few renderings of the Song of Songs, which may have been inspired by Williram's work, show some very distinctive features, as they were intended in particular for the use of monks or of nuns; for in the latter case the authors were not satisfied with setting forth the meaning of the poem as an allegory picturing the relation between Ohrist and the Ohurch, but extended the thought to emphasize the adoration of Mary. Of the Revelation of St. John there are four notable translations, of which two are at Maihingen in Bavaria, one in Augsburg, and one in Vienna, all of them apparently dating from about the middle of the fifteenth century or somewhat later. In the manuscript of Augs- burg, chap. 1,4. 8 reads as follows:- Johannes Siben kirchen die da sind in asia dem lannde, gnad sey iich vnd fride von dem d' da ist gewesen vnd kiinftig ist, vnd von den siben gaisten die in angesihte seins thrones sind. . .. leh bin alpha vnd 0 spricht vnsz h're got, der ist vnd was vnd kiinftig ist almechttig. At this point reference may be made to Gospel harmonies and epistolaries, such as the Beheim Evangelienbuch. In the thirteenth century a translation of a Latin Gospel harmony was made in Cologne by the Dominicans. It spread over the whole of the province Teutonia, into Holland, Switzerland, Swabia, Bavaria, and also into Middle and Low Germany. As early as the first half of the fourteenth century it reached the diocese of Magdeburg. Now, in this same district a translation of the four gospels had been made, probably at the be- ginning of the fourteenth century. Before 1343 this translation was revised with the help of the harmony originating among the Domini- cans at Oologne. Likewise before 1343 an Evangeliar must have been made by the Dominicans from the translation, and this was then united with an Epistolar of another origin to form a complete Plenar. The revised copy of the gospel translation was copied for the hermit Matthias Beheim at Halle in 1343, while the new Plenar was translated into Low German in 1390 and the harmony united with the above-mentioned Epistolar. This seems to have wandered westward, and from it the Uffenbach manuscript was made in 1411. (Maurer, Studien zur Mitteldeutschen Bibeluebersetzung vor Luther.) 292 The Story of the German Bible. We finally refer to translations of the Old Testament, of which eleven have been preserved in a more or less complete form, namely, the so-called "Wenzelbibel" in Vienna; a manuscript in Munich; one in Maihingen, dated 1437; one in N uernberg, dated 1437--43; one in Nikolsburg, dated 1456; one in Weimar, dated 1458; one in Vienna, the date not being given, because the manuscript is defective; a second one in Munich, dated 1463; a third in Munich, of the same year; another in Maihingen, dated 1472; and one in Gotha. Of these the most noted translation is the "Wenzelbibel," of the last half of the fourteenth century, between 1389 and 1400. It is divided into six volumes: 1. Foreword, the Pentateuch, and Joshua; 2. Judges, Ruth, Kings; 3. First and Second Ohronicles, Prayer of Manasse, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobith, Judith 1,1-'7; 4. Isaiah, with introduc- tion, Jeremiah, with introduction, Lamentations, Judith, Esther, Job, with introduction; 5. Psalter, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus Sirach, Prayer of Solomon; 6. Isaiah, with introduction, Jeremiah, with introduction, Baruch, with in- troduction, Ezekiel. At the beginning of the Preface there is a short prayer: - o Got du hertzen liebes gut, Ozu dir hebit sich mein mut Vnd rufet dich gutlichen an, vVenne nyemant wol geschaffen kan. The story of the "vVenzelbibel" is almost romantic. The work was done by Martin Rotlev under the auspices of King Wenzel and his wife, for there is a short dedicatory poem, which reads: - Wer nv diser schrifte hort, Wi! lesen vnd ir suzen wort Del' schol nv dancken dem vrumen, Von dem ditz gestift ist kvmen, Dem hochgebornen kvnig wenzlab vein Vnd del' durchluchtigisten kvniginne sein. Den dicz durch gotis wirdikeit Frvmet aller cristenheit. Got gebe in dorumbe czu lone Des edlen himelriches crone. Amen. As a specimen of the translation the following verses from Gen. 24, 12 ff. will suffice:- Do sprache er, Got herre meines Hren abrahames kvm heute mil' en- kegen des bitte ieh dieh, vnd tu dein barmhertzichheit mit meinem herr en abrahamen. Sich ieh stee bei disem bronne des wassel's. Und del' tochter die in del' stat wonen die geen heraus wasser zu schepfen. Dorumbe die iunkvrowe zu del' ich sprechc neige deinen krug das ich trinke, vnd sie ant- worte, Trincke nicht alleine, sunder auch den cameln wil ich geben trincken. It should be noted with regard to this Bible that the illustrations, like the text, are of unusual merit, many of them being real works of art, which may be placed beside the best examples of medieval manuscript work. The Story of the German Bible. 293 VIII. Psalteries of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. It was but natural that the Psalter should receive the attention of the translators at a very early date, since it is the prayer-book of the Church Universal and for that reason has always had a special appeal for believers of every class. Of the oldest translation of the Psalms of which we have knowledge, written in the Alemannic dialect, a fragment has been preserved, which places the date of the work into the ninth century. The translation, on the whole, is well done, although based, as were practically all these translations, entirely on the Vulgate. Psalm 130 reads as follows:- Fone tiuuem hereta ce dih (call to Thee), druhtin (Lord). Truhtin, kehori sti=a mina. sin orun diniu anauuartentiu (let Thine ear be at- tending) in sti=a des kebetes mines. Ubi unreht pihaltis (behalten, re- tain to the sinner), truhtin, uuer kestat im (who will stand before Him) ? Danta mittih kenada ist, duruh uuizzud (knowledge, understanding) tinan fardolata dih (bear, endure), druhtin (Latin: et propter legem tuam sus- tinui te, Domtine). Fardolata sela miniu in uuorte sinemo. Uuanta (hoped) sela miniu in truhtine. Fona pihaltidu (beholding) morganlihero (morning-light) uncin ze naht uuane Israhel in truhtine. Danta mit truh- tinan kin ada inti kinuhtsamiu (abundance) mit inan erlosida. Inti her erlosit Israhelan fone allen unrehten (unrighteousnesses) sinen. But the man who gave the greatest impetus to the work of translating the Psalter, so that some twenty-four medieval renderings have been registered, was N otker of St. Gall, commonly called N ot7cer Labeo (ca. 950-1022), to distinguish him from Notker Balbulus, the poet (d. 912), and Notker the physician (d. 975). He was the last of the three N otkers, but by no means the least. He was educated at St. Gall, where he also spent more than forty years as teacher. His outstanding accomplishments in the field of theology, philology, music, mathematics, astronomy, and poetry made him notable even among contemporary scholars of superior ability. N otker himself reports to his bishop on his reason for venturing into the field of philology and undertaking the translation of many of the classics as well as of parts of Scripture. He had found that at least glosses in the vernacular were required if one desired to do justice to his teaching. These glosses soon grew into formal transla- tions, first of the Psalter, then of Augustine, then of various sections of the same nature in the Bible, especially of the Book of Job. The special merit of his work lies in the fact that he was a master of style, that emotion, warmth of expression, and freshness impart an appealing vigor to all his literary work. There is also a good deal of historical value in his glosses, since he touches upon every depart- ment of learning, philosophy, astronomy, economics, natural history, and political history. So great was his mastery of German that he was called Notker Teutonicus after his death, instead of Labeo (the full-lipped one). 294 The Story of the German Bible. As a sample of the work of N otker in the field of Bible-translating we offer his version of Psalm 1 according to the complete manuscript of St. Gall: - Der man ist salig, der in dero argon rat (into the council of the wicked) ne gegieng. Noh an dero sundigon uuege ne stuont. Noh an demo suhtstuole (oathedra pestilentiae, seat of the pestilence) ne saz. Nube (but, on the contrary) der ist salig, tes uuillo an gotes eo (Gesetz, law) ist, unde der dara ana denchet tag unde naht. Unde der gediehet (flourishes) also uuola, so der boum, der bi demo innenten uazzere gesezzet ist, der zitigo (in his time) sinen uuuocher (Ertrag, fruit) gibet. So uuola ne gediehent aber die argen. So ne gediehent sie. Nube sie zefarent (go to pieces) also daz stuppe (stubble) dero erdo, daz ter uuint feruuahet. Bediu ne erstant arge ze dero urteildo. Noh sundige ne sizzent danne in demot rate dero recton. Vuanda got uueiz ten uueg tero rehton. Unde dero argon fart uuirt ferloren. Reference should at least be made to the translations of N otker in the field of catechetics, for his version of the Lord's Prayer with a short explanation is notable for its brevity and clearness. The same may be said for his translation of the Apostolic Oreed, which is here added for the sake of comparison:- Ih keloubo an got, almahtigen fater, skephen himiles unde erdo. Unde an sinen sun, den geuuiehten haltare (ge'lOeihten Erlw,lter, Heiland) einigen unseren herren. Der fone demo heiligen geiste imphangen uuard, fona Maria dero magede geborn uuard. Kenothaftot (in Not gehalten, gefesselt; Latin: pasws est.) pi Pontio Pilato. Unde bi imo an crucem gestafter irstarb unde begraben uuard. Ze hello fuor, an demo dritten tage fone tode irstuont. Ze himile fuor, dar sizzet zu gotes zeseuuun (right hand), des almahtigen fater. Dannan chumftiger ze irteillene, die er danne :!indet lebende aIde tote. Geloubo an den heiligen geist, der fone patre et :!ilio chumet unde sament in ein got ist. Keloubo heiliga dia alIichun samenunga, diu christianitas heizet. Geloubo ze habenne dero heiligon gemeinsami, ablaz sundon. Geloubo des fleiskes urstendida. Geloubo euuigen lib. Amen. Daz tuon ih keunaro. The work of N otker was often copied during the centuries after his death, but it is especially interesting to :find that his translation was revived in the fourteenth century. His version of Psalm 1, 1-3, is here given in the following form: - Der man ist selig, der niht gieng in den rat der argen. Vnd an dem weg der sundigen stund er niht. Vnd an dem stul der suht saz er niht. Sunder der ist saelig des wille an gotes e ist, und der an seiner e trahtet tag vnd naht. Vnd er gedihet als wol als der bovm der pei dem rinnenden wazzer gepflantzet ist. Der sine frucht gibt ze siner zit. Vnd sin blat zeflevzet niht. Vnd alliu div der bovm bringet, div werdent geglukhaftiget. A Psalter from the monastery of Windberg, dated 1181 and now preserved at Munich, is distinguished by the fact that almost every psalm is accompanied by a prayer referring to its contents. In the interlinear translation the Latin word is often reproduced in various synonyms in German. In some instances the explanation grows into several sentences in expository form. Another feature of this Psalter The Story of the German Bible. 295 are the beautiful initial letters, many of them real works of art. This last holds true also of another version of the Psalter of the twelfth century, preserved in Vienna. The initials are exquisitely illuminated, IDsny of them in gold ink. A Psalter which is preserved at the library of Olmuetz contains songs of praise. It is an interlinear version, in which the author dared to set aside the Latin sequence of words and attempt some degree of freedom, as the following specimen from Ps. 115, 6. '7 shows: { Oren haben si vnd niht werden horen. Aures habent et non audient. { nazlocher haben si vnd niht w'den riechen. Nares habent et non odorabunt. { Si haben hende vnd griefen niht. Manus habent et non palpabunt; { si heben fuesse vnd gehent nicht pedes habent et non ambulabunt: { vnd schreien nicht in ire kel. non clamabunt in gutture. A Psalter dating from the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century, which is preserved at Treves, is an interlinear version. The manuscript begins with Ps. 37, 14 and closes with Ps. 144,6. A feature of this translation is the use of the expression unser herre for the Latin Dominus, except in the vocative case. - A Latin Psalter in W olfenbuettel, dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, received a German interlinear version about two centuries later. It seems that some copyist who had several German versions before him tried to combine them into some sort of coherent form, but did not succeed very well. Of the remaining Psalters of the late Middle Ages, Walther writes that they show certain characteristics which place them together in a group. Such features are the extensive use of glosses taken from, or based upon, scholastic writings and occasional references to the Hebrew text. Translators whose names are known are Heinrich von :Muegeln, one of the founders of the Meistersaenger, Heinrich von Hessen, and a scholar of Cannstadt, while the names of some of the editors and printers are Ratdolt, Michel, Huepfuff, and Knoblouch. In one of the Psalters there is a note attached to Ps. 1, 1: - Der auf dem Lehrstuhl der Verderbnisz nicht gesessen hat. In ebraeisch spricht es: Der auf dem Lehrstuhl der Spoetter nieht ge- sessen hat. The following is a sample of the work done by Heinrich von Muegeln; from Psalm 8:- Herre vnser herre wie ze wundern dein nam iet auf aHem erdreich, dein groezz ist auferhaben ueber die himel Aus dem munde der kinde vnd die noeh tuetlent oder saugent hast du dein lob volpraeht durich dem veinde das du zerstoerst den veint vnd den recher. 296 A Defense of Luther against Edgar A. Mowrer. The situation regarding translations of the Bible or of any of its parts into German became rather precarious after 1369, for it was in that year that Oharles IV issued his edict against books on the Holy Scriptures in the German tongue: . . . praesertim cum Laycis utriusque sexus secundum canonicas sanctiones etiam libris vulgaribus quibu8c1tnque de sacra scriptum uti non liceat> ne per maJ,e intelZecta deducantur in haeresin vel errorem (especially since it is not per- mitted to laymen of either sex, according to the canonical sanctions, to use any books on the SaCl'ed Scripture in the common tongue, lest by an evil understanding they be seduced into heresy and error). This edict was actually enforced by the Inquisition. Nevertheless copies of many parts of Scripture and of the whole Bible were made and distributed, as we shall see also in the next chapter. P. E. KRETZMANN. A Defense of Luther against Edgar A. Mowrer. Adolf Hitler's rise and his seizure of autocratic power, the "most portentous phenomenon of the Western World," was recently de- scribed to the American public by the correspondent of the Ohicago Daily News> Edgar A. Mowrer, in his book Germany Puts the Clock Back. Just at the time it appeared in print, Mowrer was awarded the Pulitzer prize by the trustees of the Oolumbia University in recognition of his services as newspaper correspondent. By the Nation he was adjudged one of the men who outstandingly contrib- uted to American public affairs in 1933, "the foremost to combat Hitlerism." In his book as well as in his articles Mowrer writes in- terestingly; he was in close contact with the events he describes, he has a £ne faculty for unearthing news and evaluating it, a keen insight into European affairs, a splendid sense of proportion, and the saving grace of humor; his book may well serve as an introduc- tion to Hitler. Its review also is important to us because it is to many people the source of information about things in Germany. Hitler thought it important, too. Mowrer was invited to leave Berlin, although he was the outstanding foreign correspondent in Germany. He was transferred to Tokyo. Mowrer does not write very much about the relation of Hitlerism to Ohurch and religion; still he does permit himself a digression on Luther, which is one of the most unfounded and bitter attacks on the Reformer that has come to my attention. It is such a gross mis- representation of historical truth that it brought doubts into my mind as to the reliability of Mowrer in other matters. Let me quote the passage from page 201 and the following: - "Protestantism means in Germany Lutheranism. All the pet doctrines of Prussianism are found in the writings of the founder,