Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

Instruction how we may be delivered from the wretched I through grace.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 6 · Der sechste Brief

Addressee — To Johann Engelbert Evertsen, Barmen. Salutation "Herzlich geliebter Bruder!" — Rule B (herzlich geliebter → "dearly beloved brother"). Body du / dir / dich (the brother) → you/your. No God-apostrophe. No standalone Dein on this close (print dateline only; incipit Dein Angenehmes is the brother's letter).
Date — Mülheim, 9 December 1753.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 16–17), in normalized GS 1845 house orthography, collated against the 1798/99 second edition (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). All rendered words come from public-domain prints.

The Sixth Letter.

Instruction how we may be delivered from the wretched I through grace.

Dearly beloved brother!

Your agreeable letter I receive just now. That the wretched I is not yet dead in you and in others there, I well believe. It would be grace before God, and a joy to me, if each one truly knew his I, confessed it, and gave the crucifying, putting-to-death grace and providence due room and a free hand over and in himself: O! how gladly would I then contribute what is mine, to encourage you and others to hold out long-suffering and with courage under such sufferings. O! the poison of our own life has pierced us more, and more deeply, than a man would believe: In others we can see it and perceive it; in ourselves, however, only very late and not without grace. Did we know what a hell awaits this self-life in that world, we would here gladly suffer all with God, and give all creatures leave to crucify us, and be able to love these our crucifiers in all sincerity, inasmuch as they help to further our greatest good.

So then do not you also grow weary, my brother; let humble trust in God in Christ be your strength. Dealings and converse with other souls serve indeed also toward the discovery, and (if one conducts himself as is due) toward the weakening and destruction of our own life.

Farewell! greet those who are to be greeted.

Mülheim, the 9th of December, 1753.

❦

German

Der sechste Brief.

Anweisung wie wir von dem unseligen ICH durch Gnade mögen erlöset werden.

Herzlich geliebter Bruder!

Dein Angenehmes erhalte jetzt. Daß das unselige Ich bei dir und bei anderen daselbst noch nicht todt ist, glaube ich wohl.

— 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 December letter of the 9th, 1753, from Mülheim to Johann Engelbert Evertsen in Barmen. The brother's agreeable letter has just come. The wretched I is not yet dead in him, nor in the others there. If each would know his I, confess it, and give the crucifying grace room and a free hand — how gladly would he then contribute his part, to encourage them to hold out. The poison of our own life has gone deeper than a man would believe. We see it in others; in ourselves, only late, and not without grace. Did they know what hell awaits this self-life, they would gladly suffer all here, and love even those who crucify them. So then do not grow weary. Let humble trust in God in Christ be the strength. Mülheim, the 9th of December, 1753.

The wretched I, and a free hand. The letter's first look is at the I that is not yet dead. Grace would be, that each one know it, confess it, and give the crucifying, putting-to-death grace and providence due room and a free hand over and in himself. Then he would gladly contribute what is his, to encourage the brother and the others to hold out long-suffering and with courage under such sufferings. The poison of own-life has pierced more deeply than anyone would believe: visible in others, late in ourselves, and not without grace. If they knew the hell that awaits this self-life in that world, they would here gladly suffer all with God, give all creatures leave to crucify them, and love their crucifiers in earnest — who only help to further the greatest good.

Do not grow weary. So then, do not you also grow weary. Humble trust in God in Christ is to be the strength. Dealings with other souls serve the discovery, and, if one conducts himself as is due, the weakening and destruction of own-life. Farewell; greet those who are to be greeted. The printed edition keeps this counsel and this close. The manuscript had more: a long word to the two brothers about the souls there, and a French signature. The print does not. Mülheim, the 9th of December, 1753.

A few words and echoes.

the wretched I. das unselige Ich — not yet dead in him, nor in the others there.
room and a free hand. Raum und freie Hand — given to the crucifying, putting-to-death grace, over and in himself.
the poison of our own life. das Gift des eigenen Lebens — deeper than a man would believe; seen in others, late in ourselves.
self-life. Selbst-Leben — a hell awaits it in that world. (Rom. 14:7–8; Gal. 2:20)
give creatures leave to crucify us. and love even these our crucifiers; they help to further the greatest good. (Gal. 5:24)
do not grow weary. So werde dann auch du nicht müde — humble trust in God in Christ the strength.
dealings with other souls. they serve the discovery, and the weakening, of own-life.
greet those who are to be greeted. the short close; the print keeps no more.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 6 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-006.html.

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