Know ye then- sin, death, devil, and everything that assails me- that you are missing the mark. I am not one of those who are afraid of you. For Christ, my dear Lord, has presented to me that triumph and victory of his by which you were laid low. And from this very gift of His I derive my name and am called a Christian. There is no other reason. My sin and death hung about His neck on Good Friday, but on the day of Easter they had completely disappeared. This victory He has bestowed on me. This is why I do not worry about you.Source: Easter sermon, 1530, Mark 16:1-8 (What Luther Says, 3881)
Years ago chatting with skyman in #ProsApologian he noted that he couldn't track down the quote of an alleged prophecy of Jan Huss about Luther. Skyman wasn't sure if the alleged prophecy dated back to the time of Luther and back to Huss.
ReplyDeleteApparently, and according to the following book (written 1832), Luther was aware of the prophecy and applied it to himself..
Here's a variation of the prophecy:
"This day you roast a goose ("Huss" means "Goose" in the Bohemian language); but an hundred years hence you shall hear a swan sing ("Luther" means "swan" in German), that you shall not roast."
Here's a quote of what appears to be Luther's applying it to himself...
"In God's name and calling, I will tread upon the lion and adder, and trample the young lion and dragon under foot. This shall commence during my life, and be accomplished after my death. St. John Huss prophesied of me, writing out of prison to Bohemia: 'Now shall they roast a good' (for Huss means a goose), 'but an hundred years hence shall they hear a swan sing, that they shall be forced to endure.' So must it be, God willing."
Here are links to the book titled:
The Suppressed Evidence:
Or, Proofs of the Miraculous Faith and Experience of the Church of Christ In All Ages
It contains interesting footnotes
see pages 72-75
http://books.google.com/books?id=5B0PAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Proofs+of+the+Miraculous+Faith+and+Experience
or
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1ot9y/suppressed_evidence/index.htm
Also, I wonder if there's any truth to the following...
"The evening before October 31, 1517, the Elector Frederick of Saxony had a dream which was recorded by his brother, Duke John. The dream, in short, is about a monk who wrote on the church door of Wittenberg with a pen so large that it reached to Rome. The more those in authority tried to break the pen, the stronger it became. When asked how the pen got so strong, the monk replied "The pen belonged to an old goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old." The Elector was unsure exactly what the dream meant, but believed he had an interpretation which he thought may be accurate. The very morning he shared his dream, Martin Luther was posting his theses."
http://www.lutheranpress.com/swan.htm
"..."Luther" means "swan" in German"
ReplyDeleteGerman for swan is schwan. Pronounced as in english but with a shh at the start.
Luther in english means a thing you scrub with... a device to wash oneself. :o). (loofah.. geddit)
Where did you get these translations from?
It is entirely possible that Huss was summarising the zeitgeist of the time, people were getting fed up with church corruption.
De zwarte schaap (dutch not german)
I've not looked into the facts about the prophecy- I assume I'd probably look the same places you would, now with google books and all the Internet resources.
ReplyDelete