Useful instruction to a tempted mind.
Addressee, date, and source
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 fellow-combatant.
Mülheim, the 17th of February, 1737.
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.
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.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdi-thii-114 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.