Martyrs 17: Uebelacker & a Leipzig Ringsmith- not obscurity but a glorious crown

      This continues from Part 16 (Table of Contents in Part 1a and Part 1b) publishing the book of Hermann Fick on the martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.  —  Part 17 presents the essay on two little known citizens of Leipzig, but today they are honored in this blog post for the blessed memory of all Christianity.

Some highlighting added hyperlinks added for reference.

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The Martyrs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church

by C.J. Hermann Fick
(tr. by BackToLuther)

XVII.

Uebelacker and a Leipzig Ringschmidt. [2019-03-22 fix link]

"For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Romans. 8:36

As long as the Church of God lives in this world, she struggles under the holy cross.  It should not surprise us therefore that the true Church outwardly appeared at the time of the Reformation in so pitiful shape and our fellow believers were then so fiercely hated and persecuted by the world and the anti-Christian Roman Babylon.  Their Cross was a Holy Cross; for God Himself laid it on them according His ways and benevolence, if an inscrutable will; they carried it steadfastly to the glory of God: for God's sake they were dead.  Yes, their cross is a sign that they belong to the true Church of the Lord Jesus, whom their sufferings were similar to.

Only a little is known of the following two dear martyrs.  May these small details be all the more dear to us.  In 1525 Duke George of Saxony continued to rage cruelly against the Lutherans in Leipzig.  After he had returned from the campaign against the rebellious peasants, he let two citizens in the market be beheaded publicly, because their Lutheran books were found and they were also known for the pure doctrine of the Gospel.  One was called Uebelacker, and the other was a ringsmith.

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Annotations.

17. From C. G. Hofmann's ausführliche  Reformations-Historie der Stadt und Universität Leipzig. Leipzig 1739 p. 185.

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Duke George

Duke George is one of the most infamous men who ever lived on the earth... infamous for his terrorizing of the Gospel and its adherents.  We moderns look at so-called "terrorism" today, beheadings etc., but these are minor when compared to the rage of Duke George.  Luther never denied the Duke's authority in civil matters, but called him out for his devilish hatred of the evangelical truth.

In the next Part 18 is the account of Johann Reichel.