Luther: When the devil comes to tempt and harass you . . . indulge some sin in hatred of the evil spirit and to torment him

Here's an obscure Luther comment found on various web pages:

“When the devil comes to tempt and harass you . . . indulge some sin in hatred of the evil spirit and to torment him . . . otherwise we are beaten if we are too nervously sensitive about guarding against sin . . . I tell you, we must put all the Ten Commandments, with which the devil tempts and plagues us so greatly, out of sight and out of mind.” (Table Talk in De Wette, 5.188; De Wette was a Protestant scholar who collected the most significant sayings of Luther in several volumes)

This quote can be found on various Internet discussion boards, as well as web pages like Martin Luther the Bare Truth Unfolded. It has been cited on-line at least since the 1990's. Typically, the quote is used to demonstrate Luther was an antinomian. Originally it appears to have entered cyberspace as an example of Luther's "foolish rhetoric" (from a version of a web page no longer extant).

Documentation

The documentation given is "Table Talk in De Wette, 5.188; De Wette was a Protestant scholar who collected the most significant sayings of Luther in several volumes." This is actually complicated fallacious documentation.

"De Wette was a Protestant scholar who collected the most significant sayings of Luther in several volumes" appears to be original to something Father William Most wrote in regard to a snippet of this same Luther quote. Someone else must've cut-and-pasted this tidbit about de Wette and amended it to the quote under scrutiny. In one of his articles, Most cites a number of Luther quotes and concludes "We must remove the Decalogue [ten commandments] out of sight and heart. :" (De Wette, 4, p. 188. cited in P. F. O'Hare, The Facts about Luther, Rockford, 1987, p. 311. De Wette was a protestant scholar who collected the most significant sayings of Luther in several volumes). He also places the same quote and comment here, referring his readers again to Father O'Hare's The Facts About Luther (this appears to be his main source for his quotes). Father Most says also, "O'Hare seems to have worked carefully, and gives exact references for everything. Yet it is important to check things against the standard editions. The last five items have not yet been checked, hard to find a copy of De Wette." Contrary to Most's confidence in Father O'Hare, such is not the case as has been demonstrated here a number of times.

Dr. Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette was a Protestant scholar and he did collect "significant sayings of Luther" but these were not the infamous Table Talk statements as the quote in question asserts. In Luther studies, de Wette is known for putting together a collection of Luther's letters, so this aspect of the documentation, "Table Talk in De Wette" is fallacious.  Even if the Table Talk is dropped, the documentation is still bogus.  "De Wette, 5.188" appears to be referring to the fifth volume of Luther's letters, page 188.  This is a short letter Luther wrote in 1539 to Justus Jonas and has nothing to do with the quote being cited.

The quote in question is actually a truncated version of an extended Luther citation provided by O'Hare (probably introduced into cyberspace by this old webpage). There we find that the quote comes from a 1530 letter written to Jerome Weller, "a former pupil of Luther's and one of the table companions who took notes for the 'Table-Talk,''' so there's the Table Talk connection. O'Hare cites Luther writing:

Poor Jerome Weller, you have temptations; they must be overcome. When the devil comes to tempt and harass you with thoughts of the kind you allude to, have recourse at once to conversation, drink more freely, be jocose and playful and even indulge some sin in hatred of the evil spirit and to torment him, to leave him no room to make us over-zealous about the merest trifles; otherwise we are beaten if we are too nervously sensitive about guarding against sin. If the devil says to you, 'Will you not stop drinking, answer him: I will drink all the more because you forbid it; I will drink great draughts in the name and to the honor of Jesus Christ.' Imitate me. I never drink so well, I never eat so much, I never enjoy myself so well at table as when I am vexing the devil who is prepared to mock and harass me. Oh, that I could paint sin in a fair light, so as to mock at the devil and make him see that I acknowledge no sin and am not conscious of having committed any  I tell you, we must put all the Ten Commandments, with which the devil tempts and plagues us so greatly, out of sight and out of mind. If the devil upbraids us with our sins and declares us to be deserving of death and hell, then we must say: 'I confess that I have merited death and hell,' but what then? Are you for that reason to be damned eternally? By no means. I know One Who suffered and made satisfaction for me, viz., Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where He is, there also I shall be." (De Wette, I V. i88.)

So whoever originally put this quote together ignored the context, historical setting, and created this chimera we find bouncing around cyberspace. At least Patrick O'Hare got the documentation right: "De Wette, I V. 188." This refers to page 188 in the fourth volume of Luther's letters. The section on Page 188 O'Hare is citing reads:

This is the concluding section of a letter to Jerome Weller. This letter is not available in the English edition of Luther's Works. It has though been cited either in full or partially in a number of books. The letter itself has quite a polemical history, cited by numerous Roman Catholic sources, as well as even being cited by PBS. The translation below comes from W.H.T. Dau, Luther examined and reexamined: a review of Catholic criticism and a plea for revaluation (Concordia Pub. House, 1917), pp. 119-122. Another translation can be found here. Dau dates the letter "sometime in July." Others date the letter to November. Hartmann Grisar goes with July and points out, "In the older reprints the letter was erroneously put at a later date" [source]. The letter can also be found in WA BR 5:518-520.


Context

Grace and peace in Christ.

My dearest Jerome, you must firmly believe that your affliction is of the devil, and that you are plagued in this manner because you believe in Christ. For you see that the most wrathful enemies of the Gospel, as, for instance, Eck, Zwingli, and others, are suffered to be at ease and happy. All of us who are Christians must have the devil for our adversary and enemy, as Peter says: 'Your adversary, the devil, goeth about,' etc., 1 Pet. 5, 8. Dearest Jerome, you must rejoice over these onslaughts of the devil, because they are a sure sign that you have a gracious and merciful God. You will say: This affliction is more grievous than I can bear; you fear that you will be overcome and vanquished, so that you are driven to blasphemy and despair. I know these tricks of Satan: if he cannot overcome the person whom he afflicts at the first onset, he seeks to exhaust and weaken him by incessantly attacking him, in order that the person may succumb and acknowledge himself beaten. Accordingly, whenever this affliction befalls you, beware lest you enter into an argument with the devil, or muse upon these death-dealing thoughts. For this means nothing else than to yield to the devil and succumb to him. You must rather take pains to treat these thoughts which the devil instills in you with the severest contempt. In afflictions and conflicts of this kind contempt is the best and easiest way for overcoming the devil. Make up your mind to laugh at your adversary, and find some one whom you can engage in a conversation. You must by all means avoid being alone, for then the devil will make his strongest effort to catch you; he lies in wait for you when you are alone. In a case like this the devil is overcome by scorning and despising him, not by opposing him and arguing with him. My dear Jerome, you must engage in merry talk and games with my wife and the rest, so as to defeat these devilish thoughts, and you must be intent on being cheerful. This affliction is more necessary to you than food and drink. I shall relate to you what happened to me when I was about your age. When I entered the cloister, it happened that at first I always walked about sad and melancholy, and could not shake off my sadness. Accordingly, I sought counsel and confessed to Dr. Staupitz, --I am glad to mention this man's name. I opened my heart to him, telling him with what horrid and terrible thoughts I was being visited. He said in reply: Martin, you do not know how useful and necessary this affliction is to you; for God does not exercise you thus without a purpose. You will see that He will employ you as His servant to accomplish great things by you. This came true. For I became a great doctor--I may justly say this of myself--; but at the time when I was suffering these afflictions I would never have believed that this could come to pass. No doubt, that is what is going to happen to you: you will become a great man. In the mean time be careful to keep a brave and stout heart, and impress on your mind this thought that such remarks which fall from the lips chiefly of learned and great men contain a prediction and prophecy. I remember well how a certain party whom I was comforting for the loss of his son said to me: Martin, you will see, you will become a great man. I often remembered this remark, for, as I said, such remarks contain a prediction and a prophecy. Therefore, be cheerful and brave, and cast these exceedingly terrifying thoughts entirely from you. Whenever the devil worries you with these thoughts, seek the company of men at once, or drink somewhat more liberally, jest and play some jolly prank, or do anything exhilarating. Occasionally a person must drink somewhat more liberally, engage in plays, and jests, or even commit some little sin from hatred and contempt of the devil, so as to leave him no room for raising scruples in our conscience about the most trifling matters. For when we are overanxious and careful for fear that we may be doing wrong in any matter, we shall be conquered. Accordingly, if the devil should say to you: By all means, do not drink! you must tell him: Just because you forbid it, I shall drink, and that, liberally. In this manner you must always do the contrary of what Satan forbids. When I drink my wine unmixed, prattle with the greatest unconcern, eat more frequently, do you think that I have any other reason for doing these things than to scorn and spite the devil who has attempted to spite and scorn me? Would God I could commit some real brave sin to ridicule the devil, that he might see that I acknowledge no sin and am not conscious of having committed any. We must put the whole law entirely out of our eyes and hearts,--we, I say, whom the devil thus assails and torments. Whenever the devil charges us with our sins and pronounces us guilty of death and hell, we ought to say to him: I admit that I deserve death and hell; what, then, will happen to me? Why, you will be eternally damned! By no means; for I know One who has suffered and made satisfaction for me. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where He abides, there will I also abide."

Conclusion
This letter is one of three letters typically used by Rome's defenders (and others) to prove Luther was an antinomian. W.H.T. Dau provides the contexts for all three letters.  Dau concludes his analysis of these letters with pertinent observations that suffice to demonstrate the quote was not only taken out of its historical context by O'Hare, but also placed in its online truncated form haphazzardly:

When Luther advises Weller to drink somewhat more liberally, that does not mean that Luther advises Weller to get drunk. This, however, is exactly what Luther is made to say by his Catholic critics. They make no effort to understand the situation as it confronted Luther, but pounce upon a remark that can easily be understood to convey an offensive meaning. Neither does what Luther says about his own drinking mean that he ever got drunk… Luther's remarks about jesting, merry plays, and jolly pranks in which he would have Weller engage are likewise vitiated by the Catholic insinuation that he advises indecent frivolities, yea, immoralities. Why, all the merriment which he urges upon Weller is to take place in Luther's home and family circle, in the presence of Luther's wife and children, in the presence of Weller's little pupil Hans, who at that time was about four years old. The friends of the family members of the Faculty at the University, ministers, students who either stayed at Luther's home, like Weller, or frequently visited there, are also included in this circle whose company Weller is urged to seek. Imagine a young man coming into this circle drunk, or half drunk, and disporting himself hilariously before the company! We believe that not even all Catholics can be made to believe the insinuations of their writers against Luther when all the facts in the case are presented to them. [source]

In Luther's remarks about sinning to spite the devil we have always heard an echo from his life at the cloister. One's judgment about the monastic life is somewhat mitigated when one hears how Dr. Staupitz and the brethren in the convent at Erfurt would occasionally speak to Luther about the latter's sins. Staupitz called them "Puppensuenden." It is not easy to render this term by a shortand apt English term; "peccadillo" would come near the meaning. A child playing with a doll will treat it as if it were a human being, will dress it, talk to it, and pretend to receive answers from it, etc. That is the way, good Catholics were telling Luther, he was treating his sins. His sins were no real sins, or he had magnified their sinfulness out of all proportion. This same advice Luther hands on to another who was becoming a hypochondriac as he had been. When the mind is in a morbid state it imagines faults, errors, sins, where there are none. The melancholy person in his self-scrutiny becomes an intolerant tyrant to himself. He will flay his poor soul for trifles as if they were the blackest crimes. In such moments the devil is very busy about the victim of gloom and despair. Luther has diagnosed the case of Weller with the skill of a nervous specialist. He counsels Weller not to judge himself according to the devil's prompting, and, in order to break Satan's thrall over him, to wrench himself free from his false notions of what is sinful. In offering this advice, Luther uses such expressions as: "Sin, commit sin," but the whole context shows that he advises Weller to do that which is in itself not sinful, but looks like sin to Weller in his present condition. When Luther declares he would like to commit a real brave sin himself as a taunt to the devil, he adds: "Would that I could!" That means, that, as a matter of fact, he could not do it and did not do it, because it was wrong. What bold immoral act did Weller commit in consequence of Luther's advice? What immoralities are there in Luther's own life? Luther's letters did not convey the meaning to his morbid young friend that Catholic writers think and claim they did. [source]

Addendum
A humorous example of the documentation of this quote can be found in Shoebat.com's article, Martin Luther the Bare Truth Unfolded. They actually cite the same quote twice (a long version and a short version) giving two different references:  

“When the devil comes to tempt and harass you . . . indulge some sin in hatred of the evil spirit and to torment him . . . otherwise we are beaten if we are too nervously sensitive about guarding against sin . . . I tell you, we must put all the Ten Commandments, with which the devil tempts and plagues us so greatly, out of sight and out of mind.” (Table Talk in De Wette, 5.188; De Wette was a Protestant scholar who collected the most significant sayings of Luther in several volumes)

“We must remove the Decalogue out of sight and heart” (De Wette, 4.188)