Letters · Erster Band · Theil II (1773)

On the happiness of God's call and the love-drawing of God, and how to give it room.

Bd I · Th II · Brief 12 · Der zwölfte Brief

Addressee — N. N. (open direction; plural "Vielgeliebte" / ihr / euch → a circle of newly-awakened souls). Not identified (1773-only).
Date — Undated in the print (no dateline; subscription only). No year attested.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1773 first edition (Theil II, pp. 35–36), in normalized GS 1845 orthography, collated against the 1845 Gesammelte Schriften (Bd 8) and Hartman's 1819 reprint. All public-domain.

The Twelfth Letter.

On the happiness of God's call and the love-drawing of God, and how to give it room.

N. N.

You are happy, dearly beloved, that God calls you out of the world to Himself, and moves you so that you would gladly be given up to Him. Infinitely happy will you be, with all God's children, when you follow — with your whole heart, and constantly — Him who calls you so faithfully; and from now on, out of love to Jesus, do the very thing that we shall, in a little while, have to do upon the deathbed: namely, close our eyes to all that is visible and temporal.

It does indeed seem hard to us, because we do not know God and the essential, invisible good: but mark only, with me, upon your inward part — there the friendly, all-delighting God is near, who chastens, draws, and entices us through His tender love in Jesus; give only, with me, this working of love room and a free hand; love Him who loves you so much, in childlike simplicity — and this love will teach you, lead you, and make the hardest things bearable, light, and truly a delight. Which, from the heart, is the prayer and wish of

Your affectionate friend in the Lord.

❦

German

Der zwölfte Brief.

Von dem Glücke des Rufs und Liebes-Zugs GOttes, und wie demselben Raum zu geben.

N. N. Ihr seyd glücklich, Vielgeliebte, daß euch GOtt von der Welt zu sich berufet, und euch beweget, daß ihr Ihm gerne wollet ergeben seyn.

— 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 short, glad letter to a circle of newly-awakened souls — no rebuke, no heavy counsel, just congratulation and encouragement. Its subject is the gentlest of Tersteegen's themes: the "love-drawing" (Liebes-Zug) of God — the inward pull by which God calls a soul out of the world — and the one thing asked of us, which is simply to give it room.

Its argument. "You are happy… that God calls you out of the world to Himself, and moves you so that you would gladly be given up to Him." The happiness becomes "infinite" if we follow "with the whole heart, and constantly," and begin now, "out of love to Jesus," to do the very thing death will require anyway — "close our eyes to all that is visible and temporal." Why does it feel hard? Only "because we do not know God and the essential, invisible good." The remedy is not effort but attention: "mark only upon your inward part — there the friendly, all-delighting God is near, who chastens, draws, and entices us through His tender love in Jesus." So the whole counsel is receptive: "give this working of love room and a free hand; love Him who loves you so much, in childlike simplicity" — and love itself "will teach you, lead you, and make the hardest things bearable, light, and truly a delight."

A few words and echoes.

"God calls you out of the world to Himself… draws… entices us through His tender love." John 6:44 ("no man can come to me, except the Father… draw him") and John 12:32 ("I… will draw all men unto me") — the Liebes-Zug, the drawing of love; with Jeremiah 31:3 / Hosea 11:4, "with lovingkindness have I drawn thee… with bands of love."
"Close our eyes to all that is visible and temporal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 — "we look not at the things which are seen… for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." To do now, from love, what death will do by force.
"Mark upon your inward part — there God is near." Deuteronomy 30:14 / Romans 10:8 ("the word is nigh thee… in thy heart") and Luke 17:21 ("the kingdom of God is within you").
"Who chastens, draws, and entices." The three motions of grace together: Hebrews 12:6 ("whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth") folded into the drawing and the enticing — discipline is itself a form of the love-drawing.
"Love Him who loves you so much." 1 John 4:19 — "we love him, because he first loved us." Our love is only the answer given room.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Erster Band, II. Theil, Brief 12 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-012.html.

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