Reply to Martin Micron: Forty-five Unscriptural Confessions

First. We do not read in the Scriptures, that Mary, who was a natural daughter of the impure and sinful flesh of Adam, was without sin and pure, as Micron confessed before us all, at the discussion, or:

Secondly. That such pure, innocent, spotless and blessed fruit, as was Christ Jesus, was born of such impure, sinful flesh, guilty of death, as was the flesh of Mary, since she was a daughter of the impure seed of Adam, as Micron says, or:

Thirdly. That Adam had two seeds, of which the one was holy and pure, as was Christ, and the other sinful and impure, as we are; as must be concluded from the doctrine of Micron, or:

Fourthly. That Christ was born of the Father, from eternity, that he was seated separate from the Father, and outside of the Father, from eternity, as Micron and Herman confessed before us all, or:

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Eleventhly. That the Word, or the eternal Son of God, without mother (I write it according to their foundation), thus united himself with a son of man, without father; that he accepted, or took on the same, that he dwelt therein, and thus became one person and son, as is the foundation and doctrine of our opponents, or:

Twelfthly. That there were two sons in Christ, as was heard, of which one was visible, passive, and earthly—the other invisible, impassive, and heavenly, as is the foundation and doctrine of our opponents, or:

Thirteenthly. That the divine nature thus united itself with the human nature (whereby he means, two perfect sons) into one person, which he so often repeats, or:

Fourteenthly. That such a union of God’s Son and Mary’s son, as Micron says, should be compared to the union of the body and soul of man, or:

Fifteenthly. That such a divided, double, earthly and heavenly, righteous and unrighteous, pure and impure Christ was promised by the prophets, and preached by the apostles, as Micron says, without any truth, or:

Sixteenthly. That Christ was God and man in such a sense as Micron teaches, or:

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Eighteenthly. That the Son of God is called the son of man, and the son of man is called the Son of God, by reason of such union, as our opponents assert, without any Scripture, or:

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Twentieth. That the flesh of Christ was sinful, and guilty of death, as John A’Lasco (with whom Micron agrees) blasphemously teaches, or:

Twenty-first. That the word, which from the beginning was God, thus took its tabernacle, tent, or dwelling in our flesh, as John A’Lasco philosophizes, or:

Twenty-second. That the Son of God thus covered his divinity with humanity, so long as he was upon earth, as John A’Lasco writes, or:

Twenty-third. That the one who had transgressed, also, had to requite it in his nature, as is the foundation of our opponents, or:

Twenty-fourth. That the Son of God fulfilled the law and reconciled the Father in our flesh, as is the foundation of our opponents, or:

Twenty-fifth. That we could not have partaken, unto salvation, of his heavenly and spiritual attributes, such as his life, holiness, righteousness, merits, &c., if Christ had not had our human nature, form and substance, as Micron writes, or:

Twenty-sixth. That the son of man, who is confessed to be the Son of God by Peter, by John the Baptist, by the angel and by all the Scriptures, said in any part of Scripture: No, I am not the Son of God, but he that dwelleth in me whom you do not see, is the Son of God, and for his sake I am called his Son, as is the doctrine of our opponents, or:

Twenty-seventh. That the angel Gabriel told Mary that such a divided son would be conceived in her, Luke 2: 28, as Micron garbles it, or:

Twenty-eighth. That Christ Jesus was not God’s Son, according to his most holy humanity, as well as according to his eternal divinity, as our opponents teach, or:

Twenty-ninth. That the man Christ was of earth and was called heavenly, only, on account of some honorable attributes as Micron writes, or:

Thirtieth. That the flesh and blood of the seed of Adam, as our opponents say, that the flesh of Christ is the true bread of life, on account of some divine attributes as they garble the word of Christ, Jn. 6: 51, or:

Thirty-first. That Abraham and Isaac were called the autores or origin, in the Scriptures, that it should not be attributed to strange men, as Micron says, without the Scriptures, or:

Thirty-second. That Christ took on him our sinful form as John A’Lasco says, Phil. 2: 7, or:

Thirty-third. That Christ took on him the seed of Abraham, as Micron garbles the text of Heb. 2: 16, or:

Thirty-fourth. That Christ partook of the flesh and blood of the children by generation, as our opponents garble or falsely explain the text, Heb. 2: 14, or:

Thirty-fifth. That God was manifested in our flesh, as our opponents explain the Scripture of Paul, 2 Tim. 3: 5, or:

Thirty-sixth. That Christ dwelt in our flesh by generation, as our opponents explain, 1 Jn. 2: 4, or:

Thirty-seventh. That we are to compare to purity the most holy flesh of Christ with the cleanness of the animals which were declared clean, as Micron compared Acts 10: 15, or:

Thirty-eighth. That the most holy flesh of Christ Jesus was flesh of our impure, sinful flesh, as our opponents make the poor people believe, or:

Thirty-ninth. That Christ would be the Immanuel in our flesh as our opponents claim, or:

Fortieth. That Christ and we, are brethren on account of the flesh, as Micron teaches the unrepentant, ignorant world, without the truth, or:

Forty-first. That the children of the devil, such as liars, haters, murderers, adulterers of the Scriptures, blasphemers, &c., are Christ’s brethren and sisters as well as the children of God, as we must conclude from the teachings of our opponents, or:

Forty-second. That the Son of God united himself with human nature, that is, with a man of the flesh of Mary, and that he ascended with such flesh, as Micron unscripturally garbles Eph. 4: 10, or:

Forty-third. That our flesh is seated at the right hand of the Father, as is the doctrine of our opponents, or:

Forty-fourth. That Christ is our Head, and we, his body, members and brethren, on account of the flesh, as we must understand it from the teachings and foundation of our opponents, or:

Forty-fifth. That a man of the impure, sinful seed of Adam is our Advocate, Mediator, Reconciler and High Priest with God the Father; and, that with him we should worship, honor and serve him as the true and living God, as our opponents teach.

Here, observe, kind reader, that the whole foundation and belief of our opponents concerning this article is built upon mere carnal wisdom, philosophy, explanation, glozings, adulteration and garbled Scriptures whereby they make it appear as if their anti-christian doctrine was the doctrine of the Son of God, and whereby they cause themselves to be called the true teachers, and us the deceivers, by the world who, alas, are little versed in divine matters. But how they will stand at the coming of Christ, before his impartial judgment seat, I fear most of them will find out too late.

I will now point out to you, by the grace of the Lord, the inconsistencies that must follow from their doctrine and faith, in such clearness that you can see that their doctrine is not of the Fountain of the eternal Wisdom, as Micron dares boast, without any truth, but that it is exhaled from the abyss by the locusts of Apollyon. Take heed.

First, it follows incontrovertibly from their doctrine and faith that there are two sons in Christ, of which one was the impassive, eternal Son of God, without mother, and the other the son of Mary or the son of man, without father. And whether or not such doctrine and faith is not an inconsistency, I will leave you to judge according to the Scriptures.

Secondly, it follows incontrovertibly that there are two persons in Christ; for where there are two actual sons there must be two persons. Or else the one must have taken unto him the other, and by the fictitious union quite absorbed the other. If this can not be called an inconsistency you may judge according to the Scriptures.

Thirdly, it follows incontrovertibly that the eating, drinking, sighing, weeping, passive, dying and crucified Christ Jesus was not the Son of God, notwithstanding he is confessed by all the Scriptures to be the first and only begotten, own Son of God; for, they say that he had no Father. You may judge by the Scriptures whether this may not be called a blasphemous inconsistency and denial of the Son of God.

Fourthly, it follows incontrovertibly that they utter a falsehood as often as they call the man Christ, the Son of God; for how can he be a Son of God according to their doctrine? for they publicly write and verbally confess that he was not of God but of Mary. You may judge according to the Scriptures whether this is not a blasphemous inconsistency, which is not conformable to the true God who deals according to truth, and does not use idle names.

Fifthly, it follows incontrovertibly that it is a divided Christ, who became a Savior, and Jesus Christ, of God and man, of the heavenly and earthly, of the pure and impure, of the righteous and unrighteous, of the good and evil, and of the blessed and accursed, as was once heard above. You may judge by the Scriptures whether this may not, also, rightly be called an inconsistency.

Sixthly, it follows incontrovertibly that the eternal expiatory offering, once offered for all the world, is not the spotless lamb which the Scriptures confess him to be, but an impure, sinful, and accursed man of the impure, sinful and accursed flesh and seed of Adam. You may judge by the Scriptures whether this is not an abominable, blasphemous inconsistency.

Seventhly, it incontrovertibly follows that, as the holy apostle Thomas confessed the crucified, visible Christ to be his Lord and God, and, as all Scripture testifies that he is our Reconciler, Mediator, Advocate, High Priest, Savior, and Deliverer, and if he were a man of Adam’s impure seed, as our opponents assert, then it is manifest that an earthly, impure, sinful and accursed creature, of the earthly, impure, sinful and accursed flesh of Adam is our Reconciler, Mediator, Advocate, High Priest, Savior, Deliverer, Lord and God. You may judge by the Scriptures whether this may not, also, be called a blasphemous inconsistency and anti-christian abomination.

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Tenthly, it incontrovertibly follows that if the man Christ were of the unclean, sinful flesh of Adam, as is the foundation of our opponents, that one of two things must be true, either that the Scriptures do not rightly teach us, or that all are idolaters who worship, honor, thank and serve such an earthly, sinful and accursed Christ, as our opponents teach and advocate without the Scriptures; for they say, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,” Matt. 4: 10; Deut. 6: 13. The prophet, also says, I will give my praise to none other. And it is clear that one does not worship our Savior Christ any less than he does the Father himself. You may judge according to the Scriptures whether this is not also an idolatrous inconsistency and an infamous blasphemy.

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Twelfthly, it incontrovertibly follows, if I understand the writing of Micron, that the eternal Word became the Spirit of man, and that it only took on itself a tabernacle of Mary’s flesh. For, as I think, he alleges Peter for such a purpose, and says he was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, 1 Pet. 3: 18.

If he understands the Spirit of Christ as being the Spirit which he commended to the Father, as also, being the immortal Son of God with which, according to his doctrine, he was united, then Peter did not write enough by merely saying “quickened by the Spirit,” and not, “as also by the immortal Son of God with which he was united.” Mark what I say.

And if he understand it as solely having reference to the Spirit of Christ, and not, also, to the immortal Son, as he confesses him to be, then the Son of God must have become, according to his doctrine, a spirit of man; or else I do not know for what purpose he adduces this Scripture. You may judge by it whether this is not an abominable inconsistency, and blind-folding of the poor, ignorant world.

Thirteenthly, it incontrovertibly follows, if the doctrine of the learned is right, that the Almighty Word, whereby heaven and earth were replenished, must have united itself with such a small body of the flesh of Mary, and thus sighed, wept, ate, drank, suffered and died with it and lay dead in the grave; or else it must have merely sheltered in Christ’s Spirit, and thus, at death, departed therewith, and at the resurrection again united therewith, the second time, Wis. 18: 15. You may judge by the Scriptures, whether this may not rightfully be called a wonderful inconsistency.

Fourteenthly, it incontrovertibly follows that if the word or the eternal Son of God thus took on him such a man of Mary’s flesh and blood, and united himself therewith into one person and son, as our opponents, by their philosophy pretend, then, God the Father, was not the true Father of Christ, Mary not the true mother, Christ not a true Son; and all the Scriptures are thereby denied, which confess Christ to be the first and only begotten, true Son of God, without any distinction between divine or human, between spirit and flesh, invisible and visible, immortal and mortal, as we have clearly explained above and shall still further explain below, by virtue of the word of the Lord. You may, in the fear of God, judge by the Scriptures whether this can not be rightfully called a blasphemous inconsistency, and a direct denial of both Father and Son.

Behold, chosen readers, it is such an unscriptural, divided, unclean, sinful and earthly Savior and Christ which our opponents teach and point to by their anti-christian, covert, garbled, mysterious and obscure reasonings of human wisdom. I place before you, in plain and clear words the mirror of their deceit. If you will, you may clearly see how lamentably you are deceived by them.

Inasmuch, then, as their doctrine and faith is nothing in fact but anti-christian deceit, and the temptation of the old serpent, for it is all taking unto, uniting two into one, divine and human nature, honorable virtues and the like whatever we read or hear from them, of which we find nothing in Scripture; and as they make these assertions and adorn them with many broken Scriptures, glozings and false explanations; therefore I say, first, in Micron’s own language, that all they philosophize and teach avails us nothing, since it is not according to Scripture. And secondly, in the language of holy Paul, it is anathema, since it is a strange gospel of which not a single word is taught in the Scriptures, neither by the prophets, nor by Christ, nor by any of his apostles, in such a sense as our opponents teach it. Take heed.

We will now, by the grace of the Lord, present to view, in the first place, the foundation of the confession and doctrine of our opponents, concerning this article, together with its proper contents, fruits, end, and promise, and, in the second place, the foundation of our confession together with its proper contents, fruits, end, and promise, that you may, by such comparison in black and white, the more readily guard against the deceit of the old serpent, and find the sure and firm foundation of truth, and believe and follow it, with a sure conscience, without any fear.

Honorable reader, take heed. The following is the whole contents, conclusion, sense, explanation, foundation and meaning of the faith and doctrine of our opponents, concerning the incarnation of our Lord, whereby they, by their human wisdom and the cunning of the old serpent, proclaim that all the glorious promises concerning Christ, the Son of God, contained in Moses and the prophets, such as, of grace, mercy, remission of our sins, peace of conscience, reconciliation, and life eternal, are concluded, in the unclean, sinful flesh of Adam, which they call clean although they confess that it is of him without any Scripture.

They confess publicly (witness their own confession), that there are two Sons in Christ; of which the one is the Son of God, from everlasting, without mother, and impassive; and the other, the son of Mary, or the son of man, without father, and passive. Which two sons, they say (but without Scripture), are united into one; so that the man, Christ, who visibly walked, ate, drank, sighed, wept, and hung on the cross, and who cried to his Father: “Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit,” and who lay in the tomb three days, was not the Son of God.

They make the Holy of holies, the ever blessed Christ Jesus, a sinful and accursed man; [one of their number asks publicly: If Christ were holy, why was he adjudged unto death by the judgment of the Father, on account of sin?] and say that he partook of sinful flesh, that he might be tempted and be subject to, or guilty of death. They place their salvation in an earthly, sinful creature of the unclean, sinful seed of Adam, and make Christ Jesus not alone of the sinful and accursed flesh of Adam, Abraham and David, but also, a gentile of the gentiles, namely, a Syrian of the daughters of Bethuel and Laban, Gen. 24; 29: 18, a Canaanite of Rahab, a Moabite of Ruth, Matt. 1: 5, and an Ammonite of the mother of Rehoboam, of the son of Solomon, 1 Kin. 14: 21.

They make a creature of the unclean, sinful flesh and seed of Adam, their seat of grace, and sin-offering, their High Priest, Mediator, Advocate, Intercessor, and Reconciler, and falsely call him the Son of God. I say falsely; for they publicly confess that he had no father. Call them their Lord and God, still, they say and write that he is of earth, and not of heaven. They worship, honor and serve him as they do the Father himself. Oh, abomination!

They garble and break the Scriptures, because they do not believe the testimony of John, that the Word was made flesh. They adulterate the plain confession of the angel of God, concerning the Father and the Son himself, of John the Baptist, of Peter and of all the apostles, of Paul, and of all the Scriptures, which unanimously testify that the conceived, born, suffering, whole Christ, outwardly and inwardly, visible and invisible is inseperable, the first and only begotten Son of God.

They break and contradict the whole gospel and the precious epistle of John in which he testifies more than sixty times that Christ confessed himself to be the Son of God and confessed God to be his Father. Also, frequently, that he went forth from the Father, that he was sent and came from heaven.

They garble and profane the Holy Scriptures quite lamentably, heap one abominable flattery and fictitious explanation upon another. Christ, say they, has taken on himself our human nature of Mary; then, there are two sons and natures combined into one person and Son. Now the Son of God has put on the flesh and blood of Mary, dwelt therein, placed his tabernacle or tent therein.

One of their learned writes, “That the Son of God has brought all his attributes to the son of man.” Another writes, “That the man Christ was God’s adoptivus filius, that is, the adopted and well-pleasing Son of God.” Still another, “That the one nature in Christ was quite divine, and the other half divine and half human.” Some write, “That the divine nature also suffered.” Others write and say, “That he only suffered in his human nature and not in his divine nature. Micron says, “That Mary’s blood became in her, our flesh; that Christ’s flesh is of our flesh, and that, notwithstanding he is of earth, and of Adam’s seed, he is still called heavenly, on account of certain virtues,” and other like anathematic words and self-conceited glozings and abominations, of which not a word is found in the Scriptures.

Is it not a pity, nay, a horrible thing, to wade in such pure, limpid waters, with such filthy feet, and thus to obscure the precious and bright sun of righteousness with such infernal exhalations of the anti-christian doctrine? Rev. 9: 2. And that for no other reason than that they do not trust the testimony of John and of the angel; do not believe the Almighty power of the Father, judge every thing according to nature and not according to the Scriptures, and attribute more to Mary than belongs to a true mother, according to the ordinance and word of the Lord.

From which it incontrovertibly follows, and is manifest, according to the doctrine and testimony of John, that they, alas, have neither the Father, nor the Son; “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father,” 1 Jn. 2: 23, that the wrath of God abides on them, and that they shall not see life; for they do not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God; that they must die in their sins; for they do not believe that it is he, Jn. 8: 24; that they do not vanquish the world, that they are not in God, nor God in them; for they do not confess that Jesus is the Son of God, 1 Jn. 4: 3. Oh! how well it would be if these poor people would take heed, rightly confess Christ, the Son of God, and give him his due praise and honor.

Our foundation and faith is, and that, according to the Scriptures, in power and truth, that the whole Christ Jesus, visible and invisible, outwardly and inwardly, mortal and immortal, is the first and only begotten Son of God, Heb. 1: 6; Jn. 1: 14; 3: 18; 1 Jn. 4: 10, as the angel, John the Baptist, the apostles and all the Scriptures confess him to be; that he is the ineffable, eternal word, by which all things are created, ineffably come from heaven, and that, by the power of the Holy Ghost he became man in Mary, the virgin, who was promised to a man of the house and generation of David, named Joseph, above all human understanding, and that, according to this flesh he was generated in her, and in due time born of her, an only, undivided person, Son, and Christ, God’s true and natural Son, by virtue of his origin; and Mary’s supernatural son, by virtue of his conception, I say, supernatural; for it was not brought about by the will of man; who was promised that he should be born of the generation of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and David; as it also happened; that he is, also, by reason of his mother, Joseph’s wife, called in the Scriptures the righteous branch of David, a rod out of the stem of Jesse, the fruit of the loins of David, represented by the literal Solomon; that he is the Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, our Immanuel, our God, The Lord Our Righteousness, The Wisdom of God, the Lord of David, the Strong and Mighty God, who in the beginning founded the earth, and made the heavens; our new and spiritual Solomon, seated upon the new spiritual throne in the new and spiritual kingdom and reign of David; God’s true Son, I say, by reason of his Father; Abraham and David’s son, by reason of his mother; an only, undivided Son of God and Mary, gone forth from the Father, come down from heaven; conceived in Mary, born of her, a true man, like unto us, poor children of Adam, in all things except sin; that he hungered and ate, thirsted and drank, tired and rested; that he was made in the likeness of men; that he has fulfilled the law for us; that he sought the lost sheep; taught the kingdom of God, and that he confirmed his sending by miracles; and that he, at last died the bitter death, innocently, for us who were guilty (when we were yet ungodly and enemies); that he has thus purchased, sanctified and cleansed us by his own blood, and not by the blood of another; that he has reconciled us with God, our Father, nay, made us kings and priests; that he was delivered and resurrected from the bonds of death, and ascended to his Father, where he was before, and that, by his precious innocent blood, he became our only and eternal High Priest, Intercessor, Mediator, Advocate and Reconciler, with God his Father; that he is our Lord and God, whom we, in our weakness, should honor and praise because of his ineffable love and merits, even as we honor the Father himself, Gen. 1: 1; Ps. 33: 6; Jn. 1: 3; 3: 13; 8: 23; 16: 28; 1 Cor. 15: 47; Eph. 4: 10; Matt. 1: 20; Luke 1: 23; Jn. 1: 14; Rom. 1: 3; Gal. 4: 4; Luke 1: 30; Gen. 12: 3; 18: 18; 22: 18; 26: 4; 28: 14; 49: 10; 2 Sam. 7: 12; Rom. 1: 3; 9: 5; Matt. 1: 18; Luke 2: 7; 3: 23; 2 Tim. 2: 8; Jer. 23: 6; 33: 16; Isa. 11: 1; 1 Kin. 5: 5; Ps. 89: 37; Matt. 1: 16; Luke 3: 23; Acts 2: 30; Isa. 9: 6; 7: 14; Matt. 1: 23; Isa. 40: 3; Jer. 23: 6; 33: 16; Prov. 8: 12; Bar. 3: 36; Ps. 110: 1; 24: 8; Heb. 1: 10; Isa. 9: 5; Luke 1: 28; Jn. 16: 28; 6: 32; Eph. 4: 10; Matt. 1: 18; Luke 1: 31; Jn. 1: 14; Luke 2: 7; Gal. 4: 4; Heb. 2: 14; 4: 15; Jn. 4: 6; Phil. 2: 7; Matt. 5: 17; Rom. 8: 3; Eph. 2: 13; Col. 2: 13; Ezek. 34: 23; Matt. 18: 11; 4: 17; Jn. 2: 11; Rom. 5: 8; 1 Jn. 1: 7; 1 Pet. 1: 19; Heb. 9: 12; Eph. 2: 15; Col. 1: 20; 1 Pet. 2: 9; Rev. 1: 6; 5: 10; Matt. 28: 6; Mark 16: 6; Luke 24: 6; Jn. 20; Eph. 1: 20; Mark 16: 19; Acts 1; Jn. 6: 62; Rom. 3: 25; Heb. 3: 1; 5: 1; 6: 20; 7: 24; 8: 1; 9: 11; 10: 11; Rom. 8: 27; Heb. 7: 25; 1 Tim. 2: 5; 1 Jn. 2: 1; Heb. 9: 11; 12: 24; Jn. 20: 28; 5: 22.

We confess and believe that, as the Almighty, eternal Father, through mere grace and love, has, in the beginning, created Adam and Eve by Christ, his Almighty, eternal word, Gen. 1: 27. He, also, now by pure love and grace, has again raised them and all their seed (since they fell) by the same word, now incarnated by his Almighty power, and that he has again accepted them as his children, Jn. 1: 14, that we may give the eternal honor and praise to God, for his grace, by his Word or Son, and not to the sinful flesh of Adam, of which they are.

And behold, such a confession concerning this matter leaves the whole Scriptures unbroken and unchanged. Not an inconsistent flattery, nor an adulterated Scripture is found, as is, alas, the case with the confession of our opponents.

The Almighty, eternal God alone, retains his glory and honor, by his Word or Son. The Father remains the true Father of the whole Christ, the mother the true mother, and the Son the true Son of both his Father and his mother, which Son is from above and not from beneath, who is from heaven and not of earth; pure of the pure God, an only Son and person, the Potentate and Lord of heaven and of earth, the Savior of all the world, in whom all the present and future promises are fulfilled, and by whom they are given and received. Eternal praise be to his adorable, glorious, and exalted name, Amen.

All those who can thus firmly believe this miraculously high work of the ineffable, great love of God, and who can confess, with Peter and all the Scriptures, that Christ Jesus is the true Son of the true and living God, they have both the Father and the Son, 1 Jn. 2: 23; they vanquish the world; they are in God, and God is in them, 1 Jn. 4: 15; they are freed from the wrath of God, and have eternal life; they acknowledge the severe justice and the merited curse which came upon Adam and all his descendants through Adam’s disobedience. They, therefore, fear God, bury their sins, and turn from evil. They also acknowledge the inexpressible love of God, so richly shown us in Christ Jesus; they enter into newness of life with Christ, Rom. 6: 4; they believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God, Jn. 3: 18.

Honorable reader, take heed. I warn you in sincere and faithful love; for it avails eternal life, or eternal death. If you be not quite blinded you must observe the deceit of Micron by these “Thirty-one differences,” “Forty-five unscriptural confessions, explanations, fictitious glozings, adulterated and garbled Scriptures,” and by these “Fourteen insolvable, blasphemous inconsistencies;” and you must observe that his inconsistencies, together with the foundation of their confessions concerning this matter, which I have faithfully and plainly set forth, are nothing but anti-christian deceit of the old serpent; and that our foundation and faith, on account of which we must, alas, hear and suffer so much, are the firm, immutable, invincible rock and stone of the eternal truth which the holy apostles and prophets, together with all the pious witnesses of God in the primitive, incorrupted church, before the man of sin entered into, and was seated in the temple of God, who cannot bear this foundation, as may be seen, 1 Jn. 2: 22; 4: 3; 2 Jn. 1: 7, confessed with us.

Not a single Scripture is adulterated or broken by us. We make use of no glozing. No inconsistency is the result. It is the plain Scripture and its foundation which we present to the reader, as you may feel and see.

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