Last week, I had the privilege of speaking with the Revs. Joseph and Jesse Schlie on The Didymus Podcast. Twin brothers, pastors, and 2019 graduates of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, their podcast takes on various cliches that are commonly heard in our corner of Christendom, such as “Closed Communion is unloving,” “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in Jesus,” or, most recently, “That’s Too Catholic” (Part 1).

Here goes. The entire video collection (four videos) of this year's Oktoberfest in Kewanee has been provided by Mr. Gene Wilken, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.

“Usury and avarice have burst in like a flood and have been made lawful … [and yet] are contrary to God.” (SA Preface 12)

As mentioned in the previous part of our series, Luther took his 1519 Short Sermon on Usury and reworked it into a much-expanded sermon, published early the following year and now known as his Long Sermon on Usury (LW 45:273–310). Four years later, this sermon was revised once more and published together with his extensive treatise on trade, translated in the American Edition under the title Trade and Usury. Before turning to this text, however, it is necessary to outline certain events that transpired between 1519 and 1524.