Martyrs 1b: Foreword, Listing; "We cannot forget"

[2019-03-22: updated broken Google Books links; 2018-10-07: updated broken links to vol. 1 pages; 2017-12-10: links to Vol. 2 pages in Archive.org added – see table & links below in red]
This continues from Part 1a (Table of Contents in Part 1a) publishing the book of Pastor Hermann Fick of the old (German) Missouri Synod regarding the martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In this Part 1b, I translate Fick's Foreword and Table of Contents with its listing of martyrs. – One quote (among many) to justify this effort:

We want to renew the memory of our dear Evangelical Lutheran martyrs among us, after the example of the old church and after the example of our father [Martin Luther]. –  C.J. Hermann Fick

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The Martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church

by C.J. Hermann Fick

Volume 1 – translation by BackToLuther

Foreword.

A Christian does not forget his beloved dead, he erects monuments for them and looks forward to the hope of a blessed reunion in eternal life. So the Church does not forget its beloved dead. In her heart lives and rules essentially only Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, her Lord and Savior.  She remembers her great heroes, teachers and witnesses which God had raised for her salvation; she commemorates the holy Apostles which the LORD has decorated her with like a crown of stars (Rev. 12:1), and the man of God, Dr. Martin Luther, who has again proclaimed to us the doctrine of the holy apostles purely and clearly.

With special love the Christian Church has always celebrated the memory of her holy martyrs. They are her favorites. That's why we want to renew the memory of our dear Evangelical Lutheran martyrs among us, after the example of the old church and after the example of our father. They are the children of our church, born of her pure and unadulterated Word and Sacrament, baptized with us into one body and all made to drink into one Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13. They have testified the same doctrine that we confess, and sealed the same with their blood; they are our brothers, and although they now triumph with Christ, their Head, in heaven [page IV], so we are still with them through Christ in the most intimate communion in which we are members, and hope that once we are with them, and with all those of blessed memory, we will see and praise the Lord.

Therefore, we cannot forget them, any more than we our church and the Jerusalem that is from above which is the freewoman and mother of us all, (Gal. 4:22, 26) can ever forget. Indeed the Antichrist sought them out, not satisfied to take the life from them, but also to eradicate even their memory; but we do not want the names, suffering and confessions of our dear martyrs to pass into the dust and oblivion, but to strengthen us thereby to the same faithfulness and constancy, and much more so that as we see the Day of Judgment approach and we soon perhaps face the same struggles before then.  For this purpose may the Lord, who looketh on the lowly, also bless all dear readers by this little work undertaken in great weakness, to the glory of His name's sake.    Amen.

C. J. Hermann Fick,

Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation

of Bethlehem Church.

Bremen, near St. Louis, Mo.

March 1. 1854

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Contents of Volume 1.

German and Dutch martyrs.

   I. Caspar Tauber.......................... 1

  II. Wolfgang Schuch ....................... 5

 III. Peter Spengler ........................ 9

  IV. John Heuglin ......................... 12

   V. Leonhard V. Kaiser. .................. 16

  VI. Widow Wendelmut ...................... 29

 VII. Georgius Schärer of Salvelden. ....... 34

VIII. William of Zwolle .................... 38

  IX. Maria and Ursula von Becken........... 43

   X. Two German Craftsmen. ................ 47

  XI. Adolph Clarenbach and Peter Flysteden. 49

 XII. Heinrich Voes and Johannes Esch. ..... 97 (from Walther!)

XIII. Lambert Thorn. ...................... lll

 XIV. Johann Herrgett. .................... 114

  XV. Nicolaus of Antwerp. ................ 115

 XVI. Matthias Waibel. .................... 117

XVII. Uebelacker and a Leipzig Ringsmith....135

XVIII. Johann Reichel ...................... 136

 XIX. George Winkler .......................137

  XX. Heinrich .............................142

 XXI. The Magdeburg school children. ...... 144 (& controversial hymn)

Spanish martyrs.

XXII. Juan Diaz a, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, App 145

XXIII. Francisco San Roman. a, b, c, d...... 172

XXIV. Auto da fé in Valladolid. 24a, 24b... 186

Italian martyrs.

 XXV. Giovanni Mollio Montalcino. ......... l93

XXVI. Faventino Fanino. ................... 212

XXVII. The carnage of Montalto. ............ 226

Volume 2.

French Martyrs.

XXVIII. The congregation in Meaux ........... 1

  XXIX. Jacques Pavanne .................... 16

   XXX. The Hermit of Livry. ............... 18

  XXXI. Denis de Rieux. .................... 19

 XXXII. Etienne Poulliot. .................. 20

XXXXIII. Sanctin Nivet. ..................... 21

 XXXIV. Jean le Clerc. ..................... 23

  XXXV. Louis de Berquin. .................. 26

 XXXVI. Aymond de la Voye. ................. 33

XXXVII. Jean de Caturce. ................... 44

XXXVIII. Constantin and three other martyrs.. 48

XXXXIX. Etienne Brun. ...................... 49

    XL. The Bookseller of Avignon. ......... 52

English martyrs.

   XLI. Thomas Bilney. ..................... 55

  XLII. Robert Barnes, William Jerome (73)

and Th. Gerrard (p 77)........... 64

 XLIII. Rowland Taylor. .................... 79

Scottish martyrs.

  XLIV. Patrick Hamilton. ................... 97 (TQ article, Book)

   XLV. Henry Forrest. ..................... 103

  XLVI. Norman Gourlay and David Straiton. . 105

 XLVII. Thomas Forrest. From Wilhelm Fick. . 108

XLVIII. Jerome Russell & Alexander Kennedy . 112

  XLIX. Hellen Stirke. From Wilhelm Fick. .. 115

     L. Richard Byfield. ................... 119

    LI. George Wishart. .................... 121

Chiefly of German and Czech martyrs.

   LII. Gilius von der Banner. ........ 141

  LIII. Jayme Enzinas. ................ 142

   LIV. Jacob Chobard. ................ 144

    LV. Wilhelmus de St. Martino. ..... 145

   LVI. Kogler. ....................... 148

  LVII. The congregation in Metz. ..... 151

 LVIII. Jean Chatelain. ............... 154

   LIX. Johann Bissendorf ............. 161

    LX. Johannes Gott-Treu Felßner. ... 163

   LXI. Ambrose. ...................... 167

  LXII. Christoph Peschek. ............ 171

Spread of the Reformation. ............. 173

1. Germany. ...................... 174

2. Netherlands. .................. 179

3. France. ....................... 183

4. England. ...................... 185

5. Scotland. ..................... 187

6. Poland. ....................... 187 (Gdoc)

7. Hungary. ...................... 188

8. Italy. ........................ 191

9. Spain. ........................ 194

10. America. ..................... 203

Conclusion. ............................ 204

================   List updated Dec. 10, 2017   ==============

      Will we in our lifetime face the same struggles as these martyrs, as Pastor Fick suggests?  – As a replacement to the world's message that "Yes, there is a Santa Claus", I propose the following:

Yes, there is an Anti-Christ who not only spiritually murders souls, but spills their blood.

      There is little doubt that I will need to make corrections to the above listing (spelling, etc), and I will give notice of these by changing the date.  (If anyone wants to send valid corrections to the above list, send me an email.)

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Notice on Volume 2, new download:

I have discovered that there is no current full copy of Volume 2 on the Internet, only a small portion. What is labeled as "Volume 2" on Google Books (and Bayerische Staatsbibliothek) is actually only the first installment of a series that made up "Volume 2". So I am providing a download link for my scanned copy:

Volume 2, Die Märtyrer der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche =>  here  <= (14 MB b/w)
or ====>  here  <==== (Archive 159 MB color 400dpi)

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A thought occurred to me as I read about the horrific "blood and guts" nature of Heinrich von Zuetphen's martyrdom in the last post. Our modern season of horror called "Halloween" should also be celebrated by true Lutherans. They should each year read another account of a Lutheran martyr for their spiritual pleasure!... not just for the "blood and guts" horror, but for the faithfulness of these martyrs to the truth of the Gospel!  Yes, parents should read these stories to their young children!... Someone might say "That's too scary" or "That's too horrific for such tender ears" or "That's too sensationalistic". But not Luther, who said these martyrs are...

...precious and noble in God’s eyes, as the Psalter says [Psalm 116:15]: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” and again in Ps. 71 [Psalm 72:14]: “Precious shall their blood be in his sight.”

Do we call what God calls "precious" too scary?... too sensationalistic? ... too horrific?   If so, then it would be evident what we think of God's Word.  The same holds true for the many striking stories especially in the Old Testament.

In the next Part 1c, I will begin the actual content of Fick's book, on the martyr Caspar Tauber.