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Gerhard'S Sacred Meditations. Translated from the Latin by ... C. W. Heisler 1896 [Leather Bound]
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden leaf printing on spine. This book is printed in black & white, Sewing binding for longer life, where the book block is actually sewn (smythe sewn/section sewn) with thread before binding which results in a more durable type of binding. Reprinted in 2022 with the help of original edition published long back 1896. As this book is reprinted from a very old book, there could be some missing or flawed pages. Resized as per current standards. We expect that you will understand our compulsion with such books. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume. 314 Gerhard's sacred meditations. Translated from the Latin by ... C. W. Heisler Gerhard, Johann
314 pages, Leather Bound
Published January 1, 2022
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About the author
Johann Gerhard
216 books13 followersJohann Gerhard was a Lutheran church leader and Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy.
At the age of fourteen, during a dangerous illness, he came under the personal influence of Johann Arndt, author of Das wahre Christenthum, and resolved to study for the church. He entered the University of Wittenberg in 1599, and studied philosophy and theology. A relative then persuaded him to change his subject, and he studied medicine for two years. In 1603, he resumed his theological reading at Jena, and in the following year received a new impulse from J.W. Winckelmann and Balthasar Mentzer at Marburg. He graduated in 1605 and began to give lectures at Jena, then in 1606 he accepted the invitation of John Casimir, Duke of Coburg, to the superintendency of Heldburg, today Bad Colberg-Heldburg, and mastership of the gymnasium; soon afterwards he became general superintendent of the duchy, in which capacity he was engaged in the practical work of ecclesiastical organization until 1616, when he became the senior theological professor at Jena, where the remainder of his life was spent.
Here, with Johann Major and Johann Himmel, he formed the "Trias Johannea." Though still comparatively young, Gerhard was already regarded as the greatest living theologian of Protestant Germany; in the "disputations" of the period he was always protagonist, and his advice was sought on all public and domestic questions touching on religion or morals. During his lifetime he received repeated calls to almost every university in Germany (e.g. Giessen, Altdorf, Helmstedt, Jena, Wittenberg), as well as to Uppsala in Sweden. He died in Jena.
His writings are numerous, alike in exegetical, polemical, dogmatic and practical theology. To the first category belong the Commentarius in harmoniam historiae evangelicae de passione Christi (1617), the Comment, super priorem D. Petri epistolam (1641), and also his commentaries on Genesis (1637) and on Deuteronomy (1658). Of a controversial character are the Confessio Catholica (1633–1637), an extensive work which seeks to prove the evangelical and catholic character of the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession from the writings of approved Roman Catholic authors; and the Loci communes theologici (1610–1622), his principal contribution, in which Lutheranism is expounded "nervose, solide et copiose," in fact with a fulness of learning, a force of logic and a minuteness of detail that had never before been approached.
The Meditationes sacrae (1606), a work expressly devoted to the uses of Christian edification, has been frequently reprinted in Latin and has been translated into most of the European languages, including Greek.
At the age of fourteen, during a dangerous illness, he came under the personal influence of Johann Arndt, author of Das wahre Christenthum, and resolved to study for the church. He entered the University of Wittenberg in 1599, and studied philosophy and theology. A relative then persuaded him to change his subject, and he studied medicine for two years. In 1603, he resumed his theological reading at Jena, and in the following year received a new impulse from J.W. Winckelmann and Balthasar Mentzer at Marburg. He graduated in 1605 and began to give lectures at Jena, then in 1606 he accepted the invitation of John Casimir, Duke of Coburg, to the superintendency of Heldburg, today Bad Colberg-Heldburg, and mastership of the gymnasium; soon afterwards he became general superintendent of the duchy, in which capacity he was engaged in the practical work of ecclesiastical organization until 1616, when he became the senior theological professor at Jena, where the remainder of his life was spent.
Here, with Johann Major and Johann Himmel, he formed the "Trias Johannea." Though still comparatively young, Gerhard was already regarded as the greatest living theologian of Protestant Germany; in the "disputations" of the period he was always protagonist, and his advice was sought on all public and domestic questions touching on religion or morals. During his lifetime he received repeated calls to almost every university in Germany (e.g. Giessen, Altdorf, Helmstedt, Jena, Wittenberg), as well as to Uppsala in Sweden. He died in Jena.
His writings are numerous, alike in exegetical, polemical, dogmatic and practical theology. To the first category belong the Commentarius in harmoniam historiae evangelicae de passione Christi (1617), the Comment, super priorem D. Petri epistolam (1641), and also his commentaries on Genesis (1637) and on Deuteronomy (1658). Of a controversial character are the Confessio Catholica (1633–1637), an extensive work which seeks to prove the evangelical and catholic character of the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession from the writings of approved Roman Catholic authors; and the Loci communes theologici (1610–1622), his principal contribution, in which Lutheranism is expounded "nervose, solide et copiose," in fact with a fulness of learning, a force of logic and a minuteness of detail that had never before been approached.
The Meditationes sacrae (1606), a work expressly devoted to the uses of Christian edification, has been frequently reprinted in Latin and has been translated into most of the European languages, including Greek.
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December 7, 2024
On account of my friend Emma I will attempt to give an actual review of this book.
As quoted in the introduction, "Gerhard is the third in that series of Lutheran theologians in which there is no fourth." This statement is certainly justified in this work. Despite his youth at the time of writing, St. Gerhard demonstrates a deep understanding of God's Word as it pertains to sin, death, Christ, the sacraments, and eternal life. His skillful prose carries you equally to repentance and joy over the seriousness of our sin as contrasted with the blessed and glorious hope of resurrection that we have through the merit of Jesus Christ alone.
I would recommend reading this slowly, maybe one meditation per day, as opposed to what I did which is speed-read it in a time crunch before I had to return it to the library. St. Gerhard absolutely roasted me with this one: "Nothing is more fatal to godliness than procrastination."
Here are some quotes to show you the general flavor of his writing:
- "Whenever I mediate upon the suffering of my Lord, I cannot but venture a great deal in respect to the love of God and his forbearance toward my sins. He bends His head to kiss me; He extends His arms to embrace me; He opens His hands to bestow gifts upon me; He opens His side that I may behold His heart glowing with love for me; He is lifted up from the earth that He may draw all men unto Himself; His wounds are livid with grief, yet gleaming with love; and in those open wounds we must seek for the secret of His heart." (P. 40)
- "Marvelous is the goodness of our Saviour, that He not only assumed our human nature in His incarnation, and carried it with Him to His throne of heavenly glory, but that He also gives us His own body and blood to nourish our souls unto eternal life." (p. 98)
- "Nor does Christ simply speak the word of comfort to our souls, He also takes up His abode in us; He feeds our souls not with heavenly manna, but, what is far better, with His own blessed self." (p. 104)
- "When incense was offered to the Lord, at the dedication of Solomon's temple, the glory of the Lord filled the temple; thus if thou dost offer unto God the incense of prayer and supplication, the Holy Spirit will fill with His glory the temple of thy heart." (p. 120)
- "Meditate, O devout soul, upon the worthiness of the Church, and take heed lest thou do anything unworthy of her. The Church is thy spiritual mother; take care that thou despise not her voice as she speaks to thee." (p. 127)
- "O most merciful God, who by the holy angels hast led us through this wilderness, grant that through them also we may be led into the glory of Thy heavenly kingdom." (p. 149)
- "[The devil] himself entices us to the commission of sin, and then takes delight in accusing us before God's tribunal." (p. 150)
- "A quiet conscience is the very beginning of eternal life; thou wilt more truly rejoice in the hardships of life with a good conscience than amidst all its pleasures with a guilty one." (p. 190)
- "This life is indeed more like death, for day by day we are dying, since every day we live is for us one day less of life. It is filled with painful regrets for the past, with trying labors in the present, and with dismal fears for the future." (p. 217)
- "If I should seek for some grounds of salvation, however small, in myself, I would certainly be obliged to doubt of my salvation; but as I am justified solely for Christ's sake, so my hopes of salvation are grounded only in Him....Surely He who hath led me out of the very shadow of death into His marvelous light and liberty, will not allow me to be forced back into the awful darkness that formerly enveloped my soul." (p. 244)
based
As quoted in the introduction, "Gerhard is the third in that series of Lutheran theologians in which there is no fourth." This statement is certainly justified in this work. Despite his youth at the time of writing, St. Gerhard demonstrates a deep understanding of God's Word as it pertains to sin, death, Christ, the sacraments, and eternal life. His skillful prose carries you equally to repentance and joy over the seriousness of our sin as contrasted with the blessed and glorious hope of resurrection that we have through the merit of Jesus Christ alone.
I would recommend reading this slowly, maybe one meditation per day, as opposed to what I did which is speed-read it in a time crunch before I had to return it to the library. St. Gerhard absolutely roasted me with this one: "Nothing is more fatal to godliness than procrastination."
Here are some quotes to show you the general flavor of his writing:
- "Whenever I mediate upon the suffering of my Lord, I cannot but venture a great deal in respect to the love of God and his forbearance toward my sins. He bends His head to kiss me; He extends His arms to embrace me; He opens His hands to bestow gifts upon me; He opens His side that I may behold His heart glowing with love for me; He is lifted up from the earth that He may draw all men unto Himself; His wounds are livid with grief, yet gleaming with love; and in those open wounds we must seek for the secret of His heart." (P. 40)
- "Marvelous is the goodness of our Saviour, that He not only assumed our human nature in His incarnation, and carried it with Him to His throne of heavenly glory, but that He also gives us His own body and blood to nourish our souls unto eternal life." (p. 98)
- "Nor does Christ simply speak the word of comfort to our souls, He also takes up His abode in us; He feeds our souls not with heavenly manna, but, what is far better, with His own blessed self." (p. 104)
- "When incense was offered to the Lord, at the dedication of Solomon's temple, the glory of the Lord filled the temple; thus if thou dost offer unto God the incense of prayer and supplication, the Holy Spirit will fill with His glory the temple of thy heart." (p. 120)
- "Meditate, O devout soul, upon the worthiness of the Church, and take heed lest thou do anything unworthy of her. The Church is thy spiritual mother; take care that thou despise not her voice as she speaks to thee." (p. 127)
- "O most merciful God, who by the holy angels hast led us through this wilderness, grant that through them also we may be led into the glory of Thy heavenly kingdom." (p. 149)
- "[The devil] himself entices us to the commission of sin, and then takes delight in accusing us before God's tribunal." (p. 150)
- "A quiet conscience is the very beginning of eternal life; thou wilt more truly rejoice in the hardships of life with a good conscience than amidst all its pleasures with a guilty one." (p. 190)
- "This life is indeed more like death, for day by day we are dying, since every day we live is for us one day less of life. It is filled with painful regrets for the past, with trying labors in the present, and with dismal fears for the future." (p. 217)
- "If I should seek for some grounds of salvation, however small, in myself, I would certainly be obliged to doubt of my salvation; but as I am justified solely for Christ's sake, so my hopes of salvation are grounded only in Him....Surely He who hath led me out of the very shadow of death into His marvelous light and liberty, will not allow me to be forced back into the awful darkness that formerly enveloped my soul." (p. 244)
based
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