Sechs Bücher vom wahren Christenthum. Paradies-Gärtlein

and philological subjects to other students privately with laudable diligence and profit. Regarding Basel in particular, he was placed there in charge of a Polish baron, where a peculiar danger also befell him; he unexpectedly fell into the Rhine, where he would have remained if he had not been rescued by God's gracious providence through his subordinate, who grabbed him by the hair and pulled him out again. Because he had, from his youth through the grace of the Holy Spirit, a special inclination, desire, and love for the Holy Scriptures and the preaching office, and directed all his studies alongside dear prayer and constant possible diligence toward the single purpose of how he might fruitfully serve God in heaven and His church here on earth with the Word, he also increased in such studies by means of divine help to such an extent that he surpassed others far, as the work itself shows, and as his spiritual, educational, and comforting writings published in open print clearly testify.

3. After he had prepared himself in such a manner for the holy work of the Lord, the Lord also opened a door for him; which happened in 1583, in the 28th year of his age, when he was called by Mr. Joachim Ernst, Prince of Anhalt, to the holy preaching office, and ordained on the 30th of October of the same year at Bernburg, in the Principality of Anhalt. In the same year, he also entered the state of holy matrimony with Miss Anna Wagner. And when he had taught the Word of God for seven years in Ballenstedt in his fatherland and Badersleben OCR: Baderborn according to the Holy Scriptures, and also the unaltered Augsburg Confession and Formula of Concord, purely and clearly, he was removed from his office by the dissenting party This likely refers to the Reformed or Crypto-Calvinist influence in Anhalt at the time, whose opinion he neither could nor would agree with. While he thus had to leave the Principality in the light of day, God the Lord arranged it quite fittingly that two vocations calls to ministry happened for him, one to Mansfeld and the other to Quedlinburg. The one to Quedlinburg proceeded, where he was a preacher at St. Nicholas in the New Town for nine years. From there, in 1599, he was called to Braunschweig to the Old Town, to St. Martin's Church, and taught there for ten and a half years. When he published his first book of True Christianity in 1605, it was received by many with great pleasure and highly praised here and there. However, such words of praise and the exemplary conduct of Mr. Arndt awakened a hatred and envy against him among the contrary and fleshly-minded; so much so that various preachers in Braunschweig did not hesitate to accuse him of many kinds of suspicion, heresy, and erroneous doctrine, and to warn the people in the confessional as well as in public sermons to guard themselves against Arndt's poison and teaching. Yet he sought nothing else than to bring people to a living, active faith and to an actual following of the life of Christ, and to present himself as an edifying model of a righteous Christian walk. For this purpose, in 1608, at the urgent request of many, he released the promised three following books

of True Christianity, which he had previously sent to the late Mr. Dr. Johann Gerhard (who always held Mr. Johann Arndt and his writings in high regard) in Jena for review, and afterwards permitted for printing.

4. Because it was very restless in Braunschweig, and even greater unrest and distress were to be feared, and precisely then in 1608 the call and pastorate to Eisleben was understood to be without any doubt from a special providence of God, he preferred to live in peace rather than unrest. Therefore, he accepted the same and went to Eisleben in the name of God, where he was Pastor and Assessor of the Consistory for two and a half years. He would likely have remained there if the call to the General Superintendency of the Principality of Lüneburg had not come in 1611. This he could not refuse, as a divine call, but finally accepted after sufficient consideration. He also had other various calls to distinguished places, such as to Nordhausen in 1594, to the County of Schwarzburg as Superintendent in 1597, to Halberstadt in 1605, to Grüningen in 1607, and similarly to Weissenfels as Superintendent in 1609. Also to Magdeburg as cathedral preacher, and to Hamburg; all of which he declined with appropriate modesty, wanting to remain gladly in those places where he was at the time, and being unwilling to change unless moved by significant and unavoidable causes.

5. Meanwhile, in whichever congregations he

was appointed by divine providence, he left behind everywhere this immortal fame: that he conducted his holy office with special diligence, faithfulness, care, foresight, wisdom, and good order. He both maintained pure and unadulterated doctrine and presented himself as a model for an edifying Christian walk. Yet he was not satisfied to most diligently edify his entrusted congregations according to the great gifts bestowed by God in preaching, but he also endeavored to serve others in writings. Therefore, he prepared an explanation of the Psalter, a Postilla collection of sermons, four books of True Christianity, the Little Garden of Paradise, and more besides, which are so edifying and spiritual that they are used and read until now with desire and great benefit by many, both learned and unlearned.

6. Regarding his life course: He was gifted with all the virtues and gifts of a faithful shepherd of souls, a righteous servant and follower of Christ. With him was a thorough scholarship, a high treasure of living knowledge of God and his Savior, and a constant purity in the Evangelical truth, which he well defended in sermons and writings. In him was found the true Theologia theology, which is not a mere artificial mouth-chatter original: "Maul-Geschwäze" or a technical, quarrelsome disputing, but a constant searching in Holy Scripture, a deep-hearted knowledge of God and his Savior, joined with a divine and powerful enlightenment...