Page:Thirty-five years of Luther research.djvu/40

18 debate with Agricola and against the antinomistic doctrine he advocated.

Concerning Luther's homiletical work it can be said that, thanks especially to G. Buchwald's happy discoveries, a huge mass of manuscripts consisting of copies of Luther's sermons has been piled up. Buchwald16 already in 1884 has given us the sermons which Luther preached at Koburg in 1530, and in 1884-1885 the sermons from the year 1528, 1529 and 1537. Then in 1888 eleven sermons from 1539, and finally in 1905 those from 1537-1540, as Aurifaber had them, from a manuscript in Heidelberg. In the Weimar edition there are 22 large volumes filled solely with sermons, and in 10 further volumes sermons constitute more or less the bulk of their contents. It is wonderful how in these Luther gradually assumes gigantic proportions as a preacher. On the other hand, we may also say with Kawerau that the copies of these sermons, with their promiscuous use of the German and Latin — a defect due to the scribes — and with their abbreviations and unsatisfactory references, do not make the best of reading. One can also readily admit that the loss would not have been unsustainable, if some of these copies had perished. But, because most of the sermons, given into print by the hands of his pupils, show a much revised form, it is of great value that, through these copies, we approach very closely to the sermons just as Luther spoke them. They also contain many a helpful hint concerning contemporaneous history and personal reminiscences of Luther.

We are now also enabled to see more clearly into Luther's catechetical work. It was Buchwald again who made accessible a multitude of manuscripts pertaining to this field. It is of special note that he published