Heshusius on Justification: a translation (Part 2 of 2) (A BTL Book)

      This concludes from Part 1, publishing a work of the great Reformation Lutheran theologian Heshusius. — This theologian was highly admired by Walther for he gave a strong defense (Wehre) of the Lutheran Doctrine of Justification. In this post, we publish an unpolished DeepL translation of the full book, so that one can follow the full progression of Heshusius's theme. 

Some Excerpts: 

p. 4: "Such examples of apostasy have occurred much in the church in all ages, and are therefore set before us by prophets and apostles, that we… remember that more of it happened before."

8: "These terrible examples should serve as a warning to all righteous, God-fearing hearts; for first of all they remind us that we should be…not relying on our intellect, learning, gifts, and steadfastness."

10: "…some are embracing the Calvinistic fancies, that some are assenting to the presumptuous synergists."

12: "…all Christians…should fortify the articles of faith in the foundation of their hearts with Holy Scripture,… that man, without all merit and worthiness, solely by the grace and mercy of God, for the sake of the mediator Jesus Christ, who hath purchased for us with his blood, righteousness and salvation."

13: "…Scriptures have shown the right foundation of this main doctrine." [Justification <—> Scriptures]

14: "when this principal point is darkened,…it is difficult for any article of Christian faith to remain pure."

15: "So the Council of Trent curses: 'If any man say that men are justified by faith alone… let him be accursed." [No, Vatican II did not renounce the Council of Trent. See here, here  [WB], here [AT], here.]

327: Thus also the scholastic theologians Scotus, Occam, Thomas Aquinas,…have given more heed to philosophy than to the Holy Scriptures."

The Ten Sermons, their sub-sections

1. How to understand the words: law, sin, righteousness, justify, grace and faith.
2. How the doctrine of the justification of the sinner before God can be summarized in several main points.
3. 1. Of the causes of our justification. 2. And what difference there is between our doctrine of justification and that of the papists.
4. That we are justified by faith alone.
5. Proof that we are justified before God by grace without merit, for the sake of Jesus Christ, through faith alone. — The first reason, Of the office of the Law. — The second reason: Of the inability of human nature.
6. The third reason: The promise of grace. — The fourth reason: of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
7. The fifth reason. Testimony of the Holy Spirit together with experience. — The sixth reason. To God alone belongs all the glory of blessedness. (218) — The seventh reason. Passages of Scripture on justification. (225) — The eighth reason. Examples of justification. (239)
8. The ninth reason: The profession of the Gentiles. — The tenth reason: That faith is a pure gift of God. (264) — The eleventh reason: Parables. (268) — The twelfth reason: the eternal providence. (280)
9. Through which heretics, and how, the doctrine of the righteousness of faith has been falsified, and through which faithful teachers God has awakened against it, and through them has preserved the unadulterated truth. — Testimony of the Fathers: (313) Ambrose, Augustine, (317), Epiphanius (320), Anselm (322), Jerome (323), Primasius (325), Theodoretus, Chrysostom (326)
10. Refutation of the papal errors, so that they may think to obtain righteousness before God from the works of the law.

When I read Heshusius, it seems that I am reading Walther and Pieper.  Heshusius was a Lutheran, yes, he was a "Missourian!" —  My apologies for the errors and gibberish of Latin phrases that still remain to be polished in the following translation. However it is quite readable for anyone who, as Walther says,  "desires something for their soul's salvation." Translation by BTL using DeepL; highlighting and hyperlinks added:

A DOCX downloadable file is available >>  HERE  <<; German OCR'd text here)

      A side note may be added.  Prof. David Scaer (Pro Ecclesia 14 (2005) p. 143-60) and his protégé Pastor Martin Noland (PhD thesis, Union Seminary; Lutheran Clarion Sept. 2016, p. 3) want to claim that the teaching of the "Testimony of the Holy Spirit" was likely an influence from Calvin's teaching, but Heshusius is an early Lutheran theologian who explicitly taught it (Sermon #5) and yet was a strong defender against Calvinism. Could it be that Heshusius is strong on the Doctrine of Justification and… Scaer and Noland are not?