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 its good works, he was in danger of being misunderstood
by strangers, as though he held the bare knowledge and assent to
be sufficient for justification, and such preaching would indeed
have led to frivolity and disorderly conduct. But even apart from
the question whether or not the brother of the Elector was
disturbed by such scruples, Luther must have welcomed the
opportunity, when the summons came to him, to dedicate his book
Of Good Works to a member of the Electoral house. At any rate the
book could serve to acquaint him with the thoughts of his
much-abused pastor and professor at Wittenberg, for never before
had Luther expressed himself on the important question of good
works in such a fundamental, thorough and profound way.

2. The Contents of the Work. -- A perusal of the contents shows
that the book, in the course of its production, attained a