symbolical writings of the Lutheran Church, will become famous.  Mr. Roberts was not so bold as to embrace Lutheranism among the sponsors of his polygamous cult; he only spoke of Luther.  He was wise.  And now, what does Luther say on the subject of polygamy?  We pass by, as unworthy of note, Luther’s humorous remarks made in a spirit of banter to his wife, that he would marry another wife.  Only ill-will can find in this friendly jest an evidence of Luther’s polygamous propensities.

Serious references to this matter occur in Luther’s remarks on the practise of polygamy among the Israelites.  The Mosaic account of Abraham’s relation to Agar, the two marriages of Jacob, the regulations regarding women who had become captives in war, the harems of the kings of Judah and Israel,—­all these Biblical records, which have perplexed many a student of the Bible, necessarily interested Luther as a theologian and expounder of the Scriptures.  Every reader of the Bible has to form an opinion on these matters.  Polygamous thoughts, therefore, did not originate in the lustful mind of Luther, but statements on the subject of polygamy were demanded of him as a religious teacher.  He held that the polygamous relations which the Bible notes among the Israelites, even among saintly members of this people, must be explained either on the ground of a special dispensation of God for which we do not know the reason, or they must be regarded in the same light as Christ regarded the divorces among the Jews of His day, namely, as things which God permits among men because of their hardness of heart, and in order to prevent greater evils. (3, 1556.) This view determined Luther’s attitude toward Carlstadt, after this turbulent spirit had quitted Wittenberg and gone to Orlamuende, where he advocated, amongst other things, the introduction of polygamy.  Inasmuch as Carlstadt did not mean to enforce his strange reforms by arms, as Muenzer and the peasants were doing, Luther inclined to condone his views on polygamy.  He evidently regards this matter as a matter of public policy, like prostitution, which every community and commonwealth must regulate by such statutes as can be devised, “because of the hardness of men’s hearts.”  Luther has frequently propounded this perfectly sound view regarding the life and conduct of non-Christians:  since these people do not acknowledge the laws of God as binding, it matters little what practises they adopt.  All that can be done to keep the animal impulses in them somewhat in check is to fix certain limits by means of civil laws beyond which their license may not go.  For their rejection of God’s laws they will have to answer to their future Judge.