my books to perish thereafter.... Most willingly I will leave the
honor of greater things to others, and not at all will I be ashamed of
preaching and writing German to the untaught laity."

Since Luther had dedicated the afore-mentioned Tessaradecas
consolatoria to the reigning Prince, he now, probably on Spalatin's
recommendation, dedicated the Treatise on Good Works to his brother
John, who afterward, in 1525, succeeded Frederick in the Electorate.
There was probably good reason for dedicating the book to a member of
the reigning house. Princes have reason to take a special interest in
the fact that preaching on good works should occur within their realm,
for the safety and sane development of their kingdom depend largely
upon the cultivation of morality on the part of their subjects. Time
and again the papal church had commended herself to princes and
statesmen by her emphatic teaching of good works. Luther, on the other
hand, had been accused--like the Apostle Paul before him (Rom. 3
31)--that the zealous performance of good works had abated, that the
bonds of discipline had slackened and that, as a necessary consequence,
lawlessness and shameless immorality were being promoted by his
doctrine of justification by faith alone. Before 1517 the rumor had
already spread that Luther intended to do away with good works. Duke
George of Saxony had received no good impression from a sermon Luther
had delivered at Dresden, because he feared the consequences which
Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone might have upon the
morals of the masses. Under these circumstances it would not have been
surprising if a member of the Electoral house should harbor like
scruples, especially since the full comprehension of Luther's preaching
on good works depended on an evangelical understanding of faith, as
deep as was Luther's own. The Middle Ages had differentiated between
fides informis, a formless faith, and fides formata or informata, a
formed or ornate faith. The former was held to be a knowledge without
any life or effect, the latter to be identical with love for, as they
said, love which proves itself and is effective in good works must be
added to the formless faith, as its complement and its content, well
pleasing to God. In Luther's time every one who was seriously
interested in religious questions was reared under the influence of
these ideas.

Now, since Luther had opposed the doctrine of justification by love and