Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

How one must serve God without seeing, in faith.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 35 · Der fünfunddreißigste Brief

Addressee — To Anna Christina Spieker, Wittenhaus. Salutation "Sehr liebe Schwester!" — not Rule B (no herzlich geliebte; no compound Herzliebe / Herzgeliebte; house form of Th III 138 "Sehr liebe Freundin und Schwester!" → "Very dear sister!"). Body du / dir / dich / dein / deine / deiner → you/your. Standalone Dein on the close → Your. No God-apostrophe.
Date — Mülheim, 29 October 1758.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 87–88), 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 Thirty-fifth Letter.

How one must serve God without seeing, in faith.

Very dear sister!

I almost wonder that you say: you have not seen me so long, since I yet still often see you, although not with bodily eyes: Yet because you are now in the dark, you cannot see God either, though He is quite near to you. Believe then, because you cannot see, and honor, worship, love and serve God even so heartily, as if you saw and enjoyed His nearness and all-sufficiency in the inmost; for God is unchangeably the same. Let your mind remain only also unchangeably the same, to will to please Him and to will to content Him! So long as you have this mind, so long you really content Him; and that is enough. In the blessed eternity we shall see and taste our fill of God. Here is the time of suffering and of faith from love to Him who has loved us.

Hold out only of good courage, dear sister! At last it will go well, and after the sad Good Friday a joyful Easter-day will follow. Believe meanwhile to your comfort, that God is near you, and that He sees you suffer, and that I also will not forget you with God. I remain through grace

Your Mülheim, weak fellow-brother. the 29th of October, 1758.

❦

German

Der fünfunddreißigste Brief.

wie man ohne Sehen im Glauben GOtt dienen müsse.

Sehr liebe Schwester!

Ich wundere mich fast, daß du sagst: du habest mich so lang nicht gesehen, da ich dich doch noch oft sehe, obgleich nicht mit leiblichen Augen: Doch weil du jetzt im Dunklen bist, so kanst du auch GOtt nicht sehen, ob er dir gleich ganz nahe ist.

— 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. An October letter of the 29th, 1758, from Mülheim to Anna Christina Spieker at Wittenhaus. He almost wonders that she says she has not seen him so long, since he yet still often sees her, though not with bodily eyes. Because she is now in the dark she cannot see God either, though He is quite near. She is to believe then, and honor, worship, love and serve God even so heartily as if she saw and enjoyed His nearness. God is unchangeably the same — so let her mind be. So long as she has this mind she really contents Him, and that is enough. Here is the time of suffering and of faith. Hold out of good courage: after the sad Good Friday a joyful Easter-day will follow. Mülheim, the 29th of October, 1758.

Without seeing, in faith. He almost wonders that she says she has not seen him so long, since he yet still often sees her, although not with bodily eyes. Yet because she is now in the dark, she cannot see God either, though He is quite near to her. She is to believe then, because she cannot see, and honor, worship, love and serve God even so heartily, as if she saw and enjoyed His nearness and all-sufficiency in the inmost; for God is unchangeably the same. Let her mind remain only also unchangeably the same, to will to please Him and to will to content Him. So long as she has this mind, so long she really contents Him; and that is enough. In the blessed eternity we shall see and taste our fill of God. Here is the time of suffering and of faith from love to Him who has loved us.

Good Friday, and Easter-day. Hold out only of good courage, dear sister. At last it will go well, and after the sad Good Friday a joyful Easter-day will follow. Believe meanwhile to her comfort, that God is near her, and that He sees her suffer, and that he also will not forget her with God. Mülheim, the 29th of October, 1758.

A few words and echoes.

without seeing, in faith. to serve God so is the whole of this letter. (wie man ohne Sehen im Glauben GOtt dienen müsse.)
I still often see you. not with bodily eyes; she had said she had not seen him so long.
in the dark. because she is now in darkness she cannot see God either, though He is quite near.
Believe then. because you cannot see. Honor, worship, love and serve Him even so heartily as if you saw.
His nearness and all-sufficiency. Nahheit und Allgenugsamkeit — as if seen and enjoyed in the inmost.
God is unchangeably the same. so let the mind remain unchangeably the same, to will to please Him.
so long as you have this mind. so long you really content Him; and that is enough.
see and taste our fill of God. in the blessed eternity; here is the time of suffering and of faith.
Him who has loved us. the love from which this faith is. (Eph. 2:4)
Hold out of good courage. after the sad Good Friday a joyful Easter-day will follow.
God is near you. and He sees you suffer; and I will not forget you with God.
Your / Mülheim, weak fellow-brother. the 29th of October, 1758.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 35 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-035.html.

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