Sechs Bücher vom wahren Christenthum. Paradies-Gärtlein

The Chancellor of Altenburg, Dr. GERSTENBERGER, easily holds a place among the supporters of the work, for whom the first book is so pleasing that he is also possessed by a desire for the remaining ones original Latin: "facile locum obtinet Cancellarius Altenburgensis, D. GERSTENBERGERUS, cui primus liber ita placet, ut reliquorum etiam desiderio teneatur.".

(†) This is evidenced by a letter written on January 29, 1608, found in the Apologia for Arndt original: "Apologet. Arnd.", page 22.

(††) The learned Mr. Tentzel intends to prove that these were published by Gerhard himself, based on various letters said to be present in the Princely Library at Gotha, in the Monthly Conversations original: "monatl. Unterred." of the year 1690, page 1130.

§. 14. It was not, however, the purpose of the author to treat all articles of faith of the entire theology in a systematic order. Instead, his intention was primarily directed toward promoting the right knowledge of our corruption and the benefits of JESUS Christ. He intended to awaken the reader to both grasp evangelical goods through faith and to demonstrate the fruits of faith in life. This purpose is presented more fully in the author's own preface. As the blessed Dr. Spener noted in his sermons on Arndt’s True Christianity, pages 5 and 6, the content of the entire book consists of the following main and fundamental doctrines:

1. That Christ is everything to us, and we must have our salvation from him. However, we must not only accept Christ as he was given for us, whereby his righteousness is imputed to us, but also how he is in us, dwells in us, and must work all things. He is not only our High Priest, who represents us with his sacrifice and prayer, but also our Prophet, whose teaching and example we follow, and our King, whom we must obey.

2. That human nature is so corrupt that it cannot help itself, nor do the least thing toward it. Therefore, all natural powers are capable of nothing good, and no work that comes from them can actually please God.

3. That for our salvation, Wiedergeburt rebirth or regeneration and the creation of a new nature in us are absolutely necessary. We must first become different people before we can act differently. For this reason, a Buße repentance must come first. This is not a cold or lukewarm work, but such a powerful work of God where he first kills the heart through earnest regret, sorrow, and true knowledge of sins before it can be made alive through faith. This repentance, as long as we still carry the flesh upon us, must be constantly continued in the crucifixion of the same, its lusts, and its desires. This cannot happen by pampering the flesh.

4. That faith on our part is indeed the only means of Rechtfertigung justification and salvation. One must not mix one’s works and the gifts of the new life into justification. Instead, one must clearly distinguish the righteousness of faith from the righteousness of life This is the foundation of our entire Christian religion. Only the perfect merit of JESUS Christ, apprehended through

faith, is valid before God. However, this must be a true, righteous faith which daily purifies, changes, and improves the heart. Therefore, true Christianity consists in the demonstration of a true, living, and active faith through righteous godliness and the fruits of righteousness.

5. That all Christian virtues are children of faith. They must grow and sprout from faith. Consequently, they cannot be separated from faith as their origin if they are to be true, living, Christian virtues sprouted from God and from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all works of the law that a person does out of his flesh and his own strength, and which do not flow from faith, are not true good works. For this reason, a Christian’s chief concern must be how the good tree of faith is first planted in him, so that it may afterward bring forth good fruit.

6. That the most important thing in all of Christianity is not the outward but the inward, because God looks at the heart. Therefore, both faith and all virtues are internal. Works that occur outwardly, if they were not first in the heart, are only hypocrisy and an abomination to God. Therefore, all worship must primarily take place in the inner man. Where it has first begun in the heart and spirit, it also breaks out into the external, and then the external is also pleasing to God for the sake of the internal.

7. That true divine knowledge

comes from the divine Word. This does not mean that we contemplate it by our own powers, which would only create a literal knowledge and mere science. Instead, Christ and the Holy Spirit himself must enlighten us through the Word and be our teacher, otherwise we come to no living knowledge. Therefore, whoever wishes to come to this enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and living knowledge must also let such a Spirit work true repentance within him. Otherwise, he will never come to the true light of faith, according to Ephesians 5:14.

§. 15. Every person who has read his writings can be convinced that no vain desire for fame moved the blessed Arndt to publish this book. Throughout his writings, nothing but childlike humility and lowliness of mind shines forth. This humility went so far that he initially could not even resolve to publish the three remaining books. Much less did an unseemly itch to bring new doctrines onto the path drive him to this. He not only constantly referred to the Symbolischen Bücher Symbolic Books or Creeds of the Evangelical Church, and especially the unaltered Augsburg Confession the primary Lutheran confession of faith, and wanted all his books to be judged and understood according to the same, as he testifies at the end of his first preface; he also specifically and boldly contradicted various errors and sectarian opinions, and refuted them on every occasion in his Gospel Postill a book of sermons or commentaries. One can see this unadulterated mind of his most clearly from his double testament...