Letters · Erster Band · Theil II (1773)

Useful instruction to a tempted mind.

Bd I · Th II · Brief 114 · Der hundertundvierzehnte Brief

Addressee — An eine Freundin und Schwester — "Geliebte Freundin und Schwester!", a woman, intimate du; has living parents ("Grüße deinen Vater und Mutter"). Not further identified (1773-only); possibly the same "Freundin und Schwester" as Brief 115 (adjacent, same salutation). Intimate du → English you.
Date — Mülheim, 17 Feb. 1737 (dateline in the print).
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1773 first edition (Theil II, pp. 341–342), in normalized GS 1845 orthography, collated against the 1845 Gesammelte Schriften (Bd 8) and Hartman's 1819 reprint. All public-domain.

The Hundred-and-Fourteenth Letter.

Useful instruction to a tempted mind.

Beloved friend and sister!

It is good that you disclose that former temptation too; it would have been far better, had it happened sooner. The great sufferings you have had under it show that you have not deliberately offended God therein. Meanwhile, one must not too exactly search out and inspect the past temptations, nor the present. A general, sincere will not to want to offend God is, at such a time, enough. Give yourself over to God most inwardly, and with denial of all that is dearest to you. The inner nakedness bear gladly for His sake. But because nature might sometimes mix itself in besides, make use now and then of the childlike, gentle acts of faith, as I lately said, and remind yourself of God, too, now and then under the work, in such a manner. Be faithful to God in all things. But should you once stumble, or be brought into disquiet over your former sins, then humble yourself childlike in Jesus' Name; but give no room to any doubtful-minded thought. What you have once sincerely confessed, that forget, and sink yourself into Jesus, in whom forgiveness and salvation are overflowing. Greet your father and mother, also N. and the rest of the acquaintances. Remain

Your

Mülheim, the 17th of February, 1737. — fellow-combatant.

❦

German

Der hundertundvierzehnte Brief.

Nützlicher Unterricht an ein angefochtenes Gemüth.

Geliebte Freundin und Schwester!

Es ist gut, daß du jene vorige Anfechtung auch entdeckest; es wäre weit besser gewesen, wanns ehender geschehen wäre. Die große Leiden, so du darunter gehabt, zeigen an, daß du GOtt nicht vorsetzlich darin beleidiget hast.

— 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, steadying note to a "beloved friend and sister" who has finally confided an old temptation that had long troubled her. Tersteegen's whole aim is to keep her from turning the disclosure into fresh self-torment.

Its argument. First, reassurance: that she suffered so much under the temptation is itself the proof "that you have not deliberately offended God." Then the counsel — pure Tersteegen — against morbid self-examination: "one must not too exactly search out and inspect the past temptations, nor the present," for "a general, sincere will not to offend God is, at such a time, enough." Give yourself to God, "bear the inner nakedness gladly for His sake," and when nature intrudes, fall back on "the childlike, gentle acts of faith." And if she stumbles again or is thrown into disquiet over old sins, the rule is the same: "humble yourself childlike in Jesus' Name, but give no room to any doubtful-minded thought." The close is the heart of it — a word of evangelical release: "What you have once sincerely confessed, that forget, and sink yourself into Jesus, in whom forgiveness and salvation are overflowing." He signs, as a soldier to a soldier, "fellow-combatant."

A few words and echoes.

"A tempted mind" (angefochtenes Gemüth). Anfechtung is the pietist word for spiritual assault — the trials, doubts, and accusations that besiege a soul; the letter is a manual for bearing them.
"Humble yourself childlike." 1 Peter 5:6 — "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God."
"Give no room to any doubtful-minded thought." James 1:6–8 — the "wavering… double minded" one; Tersteegen tells her not to entertain the accusing, second-guessing thought at all.
"Sink yourself into Jesus, in whom forgiveness and salvation are overflowing." Ephesians 1:7 / Colossians 1:14 ("in whom we have redemption… the forgiveness of sins") with Romans 5:20 ("grace did much more abound") — the settled evangelical ground: once confessed, the sin is to be forgotten, drowned in an overflowing forgiveness.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Erster Band, II. Theil, Brief 114 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-114.html.

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