Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

Instruction to a lady who has left the Catholic religion.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 72 · Der zweiundsiebzigste Brief

Addressee — To an unknown lady. Salutation "Madame!" (Antiqua; not N. N.; no Rule B — no herzlich geliebte). Body ihr / euch / euer / eure / eurer / eures (polite Ihr) → you/your. Standalone Euer on the close → Your. geneigter Diener → kind servant. No God-apostrophe.
Date — Mülheim, 22 May 1764.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 173–176), 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 Seventy-second Letter.

Instruction to a lady who has left the Catholic religion.

NB. This letter is translated from the French.

Madame!

Your writing of the 7th of May I have well received: Only your person, your station and character are known to me neither through yourselves, nor through others; and what you report to me of the distressed state of your mind is also framed in quite general expressions.

Because you then, as you say, have left Popery; so do not turn back thither again: And because the Reformed have rejected you, so do not grieve yourselves over it, because God has not therefore rejected you.

God has His children in and outside all parties of Christendom; though one indeed finds in the one party more hindrances, or more means of furtherance, than in the other: But that is not properly the way, Madame, that you must take. A mere change of party or opinion will not give us the saving rest of our souls. The swine remains a swine in the sheep-fold; and the sheep remains a sheep, when one should also, in misfortune, find it in the swine-stall.

Through the change of the heart one becomes from a child of the world and of the devil a child of God. In Jesus Christ, says the apostle Gal. 6. v. 15., neither circumcision nor foreskin avails, but a new creature.

No created, outward and perishable thing can sanctify us, satisfy us, or still the insatiable hunger of our soul's-ground: God alone is sufficient thereto; He can do it, and will do it. He is a Spirit, and as a Spirit most inwardly near to our spirit. He is Love, and as Love He loves us tenderly in Jesus Christ. He draws us to Himself from the clinging to all created things, and also from the clinging to ourselves. Or, to speak according to the Scripture: He draws us to His divine and saving love through the denial of all other things, also of self-love.

See there the way, Madame, that you must take. Every spirit that leads us to this essential of Christianity, that is a good spirit; and, when we yield ourselves to his drawing and his leading, he ensouls us with the life, with those inclinations and virtues of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. This divine Redeemer has acquired and promised us His sanctifying Spirit. But as concerns us, two things mainly lie upon us, when we feel our misery and our shame. The first is, that we pray from the heart, yea continually, that God would forgive us our sins, redeem us from them, and impart to us His grace and Spirit. The other is, to be faithful and attentive, so that one give this Spirit and this grace room in oneself, and follow their workings and instructions.

When you, Madame, continue in this twofold exercise of prayer and of faithfulness in self-denial; I can assure you that God will bless your labor, take possession of your inward part at His time, and bring you faithfully to His inward and eternal union. See, that is the essential in Christianity! Everything else is accidental; of which one leaves standing what offends or hinders one, and on the contrary embraces what can be helpful to one.

Those are, Madame, my thoughts. The little acquaintance with your person and your station, and my weak health, do not permit me to be more extensive, besides I am poorly practiced in the French language: I shall nevertheless not omit to remember you before God, in whom I am

Madame

Your Mülheim, kind servant. the 22nd of May, 1764.

❦

German

Der zweiundsiebzigste Brief.

Unterricht an eine Dame, so die Catholische Religion verlassen.

NB. Dieser Brief ist aus dem Französischen übersezt. Madame!

— 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 May letter of the 22nd, 1764, from Mülheim to an unknown lady. He has well received her writing of the 7th of May; her person, station, and character are known to him neither through herself nor through others; the distress of her mind is framed in quite general expressions. Because she has left the Catholic religion, she is not to turn back; because the Reformed have rejected her, she is not to grieve — God has not rejected her. A mere change of party will not give the saving rest of the soul. The way is the change of the heart: God draws from clinging to created things and to ourselves, through denial, prayer, and faithfulness. The print notes that the letter is translated from the French. Mülheim, the 22nd of May, 1764.

Not a change of party. God has His children in and outside all parties of Christendom; one party may have more hindrances, or more means of furtherance, than another: but that is not properly the way. A mere change of party or opinion will not give the saving rest of the soul. The swine remains a swine in the sheep-fold; the sheep remains a sheep in the swine-stall. Through the change of the heart one becomes from a child of the world and of the devil a child of God. In Christ neither circumcision nor foreskin avails, but a new creature.

Pray, and give the Spirit room. See there the way. God alone is sufficient to still the insatiable hunger of the soul's-ground. He is a Spirit, most inwardly near to our spirit; He is Love, and as Love He loves us tenderly in Jesus Christ. He draws from the clinging to all created things, and also from the clinging to ourselves, through the denial of all other things, also of self-love. Every spirit that leads to this essential of Christianity is a good spirit; when we yield to his drawing, he ensouls us with the life of Jesus Christ. Two things lie upon us when we feel our misery and our shame: that we pray from the heart, continually, that God would forgive, redeem, and impart His grace and Spirit; and that we be faithful and attentive, giving this Spirit and this grace room, following their workings. Continue in this twofold exercise of prayer and of faithfulness in self-denial; God will bless the labor, take possession of the inward part at His time, and bring her to His inward and eternal union. Everything else is accidental. He will remember her before God, though he is poorly practiced in French, and his health and the little acquaintance with her person do not permit him to be more extensive. Mülheim, the 22nd of May, 1764.

A few words and echoes.

your writing of the 7th of May. well received.
your person, your station and character. known neither through yourselves nor through others.
framed in quite general expressions. the distressed state of your mind.
left Popery. do not turn back thither again.
the Reformed have rejected you. God has not therefore rejected you.
in and outside all parties of Christendom. God has His children there.
a mere change of party or opinion. will not give the saving rest of our souls.
the swine remains a swine in the sheep-fold. the sheep remains a sheep in the swine-stall.
the change of the heart. from a child of the world to a child of God.
neither circumcision nor foreskin. but a new creature. (Gal. 6:15)
the insatiable hunger of our soul's-ground. God alone is sufficient thereto.
most inwardly near to our spirit. He is a Spirit.
the clinging to all created things. and also to ourselves.
the denial of all other things, also of self-love.
see there the way. that you must take.
this essential of Christianity. every spirit that leads us to it is a good spirit.
his drawing and his leading. he ensouls us with the life of Jesus Christ.
His sanctifying Spirit. acquired and promised. (John 14:16–17)
pray from the heart, yea continually. that God would forgive, redeem, and impart His grace and Spirit. (Matt. 11:28–29)
faithful and attentive. give this Spirit and this grace room.
twofold exercise of prayer and of faithfulness in self-denial. (Matt. 16:24)
the essential in Christianity. everything else is accidental.
embraces what can be helpful. leaves standing what offends or hinders.
poorly practiced in the French language. this letter is translated from the French.
Mülheim, the 22nd of May, 1764.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 72 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-072.html.

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