(The lines in the middle have an almost poetic quality, so I have marked them as poetic verses, even though this was not done in the original letter. This letter, as are most of them, is to his friend Eberhard Bethge)
My need to spend a quiet Sunday morning in conversation with you is so great, and the thought that a letter could keep you company for a lonely hour is so tempting, that I will write you without even knowing how or where these lines will reach you . . . How and where may we celebrate Christmas together this year?
I wish you success in sharing some of the joy of the season with the soldiers who are with you. For not only is terror contagious, as I experience anew with the people here during every air raid; but also the peace and joy with which we meet every affliction are contagious.
Yes, I believe the strongest authority is established through this kind of attitude—if it is not just a show but is genuine and natural. People seek a firm standard to follow and orient themselves. I know neither one of us is a daredevil, but that has nothing to do with the heart which becomes firm through grace.
By the way, I sense more every day how much my thoughts and feelings are in line with the Old Testament; and I have read much more of the Old Testament than the New Testament in the past months.
Only when one knows the inexpressible character of the name of God,
may one begin to express the name of Jesus Christ;
Only when one so loves this life and this earth that if they are lost all is lost,
may one begin to believe in the resurrection and a new world;
Only when one accepts the valid claim of the Law of God over one’s life,
may one begin to speak of grace;
And only when the wrath and vengeance of God remains a stark reality hanging over one’s enemies,
can something of forgiveness and love for enemies touch our hearts.
Whoever wishes to experience a New Testament quality of life too quickly and directly is, in my opinion, no Christian. You and I have spoken many times of this and every day convinces me that it is right. One can and dare not speak the last word before the next-to-the-last. We live in the next-to-the-last and believe in the last, isn’t it so?
Of course, the consequences of this line of thought are far reaching . . . especially for ethics. Why is it that in the Old Testament lying is done boldly and to the glory of God (I have collected the passages), murder, betrayal, kidnapping, divorcing, even whoring (see the genealogy of Jesus), doubting, cursing and swearing; while in the New Testament there is none of this? A preliminary stage of religion? That’s a very naïve discovery! It is one and the same God! But more about this later, and in person.
