Page:Thirty-five years of Luther research.djvu/11



HESE essays make no further pretensions than to afford a comprehensive survey of the immense amount of work done in the field of Luther research since 1883, and thus to serve as a reliable guide through the wealth of Luther literature for any one anxious to examine the whole or to subject this or that phase to intensive study. Since these essays were not to develop into a ponderous volume the author was ofttimes forced to content himself with the mere mention of certain studies instead of detailing their results and outlining the reasons for the same. The chapters: Luther and the Scriptures, Luther and the German Language, and Luther and England, have not appeared in the Lutheran Church Review, but have been written especially for the book-edition; and the chapter, "Rome's Procedure Against Luther," is much enlarged, and many minor additions have taken place.

After the plan for this work had already been sketched and certain sections finished the splendid essay by Kawerau, "Fuenfundzwanzig Jahre Lutherforschung," published in "Theologische Studien und Kritiken," 1908, came under the author's notice. The occasional use of this is herewith gratefully acknowledged.

Though it is a fundamental principle of all scientific work, not to quote anything which has not been personally examined, the wealth of the literary material in question and the remoteness of the author's place of residence from many of the literary treasures, precluded the