#1796-To Andreas Osiander in Nuernberg

To Herr Andreas Osiander, preacher in Nuernberg.
Grace and peace in the LOrd! You ask, my dear Osiander, about the baptism of the children who have not yet come out of the mother's body so I am happy to give my opinion but without impairing your opinion. I have forbidden our wives to baptize a child that is not yet born. Several have cultivated the habit of baptizing the fruit when scarcely the part of the hair is showing. However, why then not baptize over the body of the mother likewise or the body of the mother herself? I have commanded that one should assist the birthing ones with prayers.However the baptism by wives of child who is danger of coming into the world because of weakness I consider good (gueltig?) but it nevertheless should be brought to the church for public prayers for the same and the laying on of hands of the servants of the church to be publicly acknowledged as a good baptism by the witness of the Church. I cannot condemn (the text is corrupt here and Editors puzzle over the seeeming contradiction with the previous letter)a conditional baptism if one has doubts about the certainty of a privately obtained baptism; it is different if there is no doubt. I write very briefly since I am suffering in the head and my hands tremble. You pray for me and be it right well with you in Christ always.Given on the 13th May Anno 1531. Your Martin Luther.
NOTES: The Editors in view of the letter to Link have substituted "Inconditionalem"for "" Conditionalem " thinking that ML made a mistake because he wasn't well. He wasn't well when he wrote to Link the day before either. It doesn't make sense that "it should be otherwise if there is no doubt." If there was no doubt how could there have been a conditional baptism to follow? This is a good reminder that a great many of the letters we are translating from German were originally in Latin and translated into German.
I couldn't think of a better word than impaired for "beeintrachtigen" but seems to mean that ML doesn't want Osiander to change his opinion because of ML's. Does this give you a headache and make your hands tremble?