De consolatione ethnica et christiana, censura theologica

Therefore, to the whole mourning Church, faith inculcates these and similar things: "But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me, etc." Isa. 49:14ff.

To individual believers, faith never ceases to sing promises of this kind from God: "I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb. 13:5–6. Psalm 56:9: "This I know, for God is for me." Psalm 55:22: "Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

Furthermore, since faith is the knowledge by which we embrace with firm assent the whole doctrine delivered by God to the Church, and in this also the promise of reconciliation, to use the words of the blessed Melanchthon: it seeks from there the most ample material for consolations, as is clear from the following.

3. Now, indeed, we understand through faith what God has done from the beginning of the world and still does for our consolation.

Through faith we understand and rejoice that we were created by God and are preserved by Him; and that without His propitious nod, not even a hair falls from our heads; that He alone humbles and exalts us; strikes and heals.

Through faith we understand that Jesus Christ was sent into this world and given to us by the Father so that He might be our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Since we have been elected, called, and justified in Christ, and since all kinds of spiritual goods overflow from His fullness into us, and they can never be snatched away from us, there is no reason why we should be overly affected and pine away on account of the loss of earthly goods or other troubles.

Through faith we understand and rejoice that we are sanctified, illuminated, governed, and sealed by the Paraclete Spirit for the day of our redemption. Whence a copious material of consolation returns to us, which I leave for the pious to estimate.