Jesus our perfect Redeemer and Saviour.
The Thirty-First Letter.
Jesus our perfect Redeemer and Saviour.
Beloved brother!
Were my misery as well known to you as the divine mercy gives me to feel it, it would be no wonder that you take me up in your prayers — unless, indeed, you should utterly abhor me. Meanwhile my God knows what a happiness I account it, that the children of God should yet count a wretched nothing worthy to be held so heartily in their remembrance. I beg therefore once more by this, not to forget your brother, weak in body and in spirit, especially since I am now to journey. To whatever place I may come, I believe not that in my sighs I shall be able to forget you all.
The company of Br. N. and N. would indeed have been dear to me; but I believe they will hardly resolve upon it — not to mention that I shall probably already have departed when you receive this letter, because by reason of my circumstances I dare not wait any longer. So be then all of you my companions in the spirit, together with the Lord Jesus, who is our Head, in whom I wish to remain eternally gathered up with you. Let our soul rejoice in the Lord, that we have in Him such a perfect Redeemer and Saviour! A Redeemer, who not only lays bare to the very ground the fast-entangled bonds of vanity and selfhood, to the confounding of the self-loving heart, but who also, through the power of His resurrection, truly leads the oppressed spirit through all the bonds of death into His new life; a Saviour, in whose sole presence, fruition, and fellowship our eternal spirit, with all its noble powers, is perfectly transfigured, satisfied, stilled, and gladdened, without needing any other, neither in heaven nor on earth.
Ah, dearest souls! To Him should we ever more inwardly and more barely surrender ourselves — turn in unto Him, abide in Him, and in His hidden fellowship still our whole being. In Him can we essentially bless and meet one another, even when we are far parted from each other. This do Thou, Lord Jesus!
German
Der einunddreißigste Brief.
JEsus unser vollkommener Erlöser und Seligmacher.
Lieber Bruder!
Wäre euch mein Elend so bekannt, wie mir's die göttliche Barmherzigkeit zu fühlen gibt, so würde es kein Wunder seyn, daß ihr euch meiner in euren Gebetern annehmet; es sey denn, daß ihr mich gänzlich möchtet verabscheuen: inzwischen weiß es mein GOtt, welch ein Glück ich mir's achte …
— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.
German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. A farewell written on the eve of a journey — Tersteegen must leave before the letter even arrives — that turns from the depths of self-abasement into a burst of praise for Christ. He begins by owning his "misery," calling himself "a wretched nothing," and asking the brother not to forget him in prayer, "especially since I am now to journey." Then, almost mid-breath, the letter lifts: whatever place he comes to, he cannot forget them in his sighs; let them all be his "companions in the spirit," gathered with him in "the Lord Jesus, who is our Head." From there it becomes a hymn to Christ as "such a perfect Redeemer and Saviour" — a Redeemer who lays bare "the fast-entangled bonds of vanity and selfhood," and who, "through the power of His resurrection," leads the oppressed spirit "through all the bonds of death into His new life"; a Saviour in whose "sole presence, fruition, and fellowship" the spirit is "perfectly transfigured, satisfied, stilled, and gladdened," wanting nothing else in heaven or earth. It closes with an appeal to surrender to Him "ever more inwardly and more barely," for in Him friends can "essentially bless and meet one another, even when… far parted."
A few words and echoes.
- A wretched nothing. His self-naming — "a wretched nothing" whom the children of God still count worthy of remembrance — is the register the whole letter rises out of: praise sung from the bottom, not the top.
- Companions in the spirit. Since he cannot be with them in body, he asks to be joined to them inwardly, "in the Lord Jesus, who is our Head" — a fellowship that holds across any distance.
- A perfect Redeemer and Saviour. The letter's refrain, taken from its own heading: Christ as the one who both exposes the soul's hidden bondage and delivers it into new life.
- The power of his resurrection. Echoing Paul's longing to know "the power of His resurrection" — the risen life that draws the spirit up "through all the bonds of death."
- Meeting though far apart. His closing consolation: in Christ, souls "essentially bless and meet one another," even when parted by any distance — the truth that makes the farewell bearable.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thi-031 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.