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Martin Luther's Seal
The first thing
expressed in my seal is a cross, black, within the heart to put me in
mind that faith in Christ crucified saves us. "For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness."
Now,
although the
cross is black, mortified, and intended to cause pain, yet it does not
change the color of the heart, does not destroy nature — i.e., does
not kill, but keeps alive. "For the just shall live by faith," — by
faith in the Savior.
But this heart is fixed upon the center of
a white rose, to show that faith causes joy, consolation and
peace.
The rose is white, not red, because white is the ideal color of all
angels and blessed spirits.
This rose, moreover, is fixed in a
sky-colored ground, to denote that such joy of faith in the spirit is
but an earnest and beginning of heavenly joy to come, as anticipated
and held by hope, though not yet revealed.
And around this
ground base is a golden ring, to signify that such bliss in heaven is
endless, and more precious than all joys and treasures, since gold is
the best and most precious metal. Christ, our dear Lord, He will
give
grace unto eternal life.
While a
professor at Whittenberg,
Luther devised this seal which he declared was meant to be "expressive
of his theology." This explanation is the gist of a letter
written to
his friend, Herr Spengler, town clerk of Nurenberg.
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