Luther, Melanchthon and Justus Jonas to the City of Amberg; Wittenberg, 30 November 1538 (Stadtarchiv Amberg, KuRS 256 [Ref. 352])

After the mayor and council of the city of Amberg had accepted the personnel proposal, Martin Luther (1483–1546), Justus Jonas (1497–1560) and Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560) had contacted the preacher Andreas Hügel. They had told him that he should “take himself to Amberg”, and he had agreed to do so.

The writers of the letter emphasise once again the advantages of Hügel: “He has a rightly good understanding and is of life and manners rather splendid, and he is also reasonable and well-behaved in his actions”. In addition, the reformers considered him to be “God-fearing, faithful and efficient”. It was now up to the mayor and council of the city of Amberg, after seeing and hearing Hügel, to decide whether they wanted to give the preaching office to him.

Thereafter they ask the addressees of the letter to keep to the path they have undertaken and to plant and promote the right teaching “with seriousness”. Thereby, they refer to Holy Scripture, “Whoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my heavenly Father. But he who denies me before men, I will also deny him before my heavenly Father” (Mt 10:32–33).

The letter was signed by Luther, Jonas and Melanchthon. On the back of the letter, the mayor and council of the city of Amberg are mentioned as addressees. According to a note from the town clerk, Hügel brought the letter with him to Amberg for identification.

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