Reply to Martin Micron: That God the Father Is the True Father of the Whole Christ

Micron writes at some places, “That the son of man had no father, or near father.” He often said so at the time of the discussion, too. Something which is so diametrically opposed to all Scripture that one must be astounded and ashamed thereat.

Since he so indiscreetly denies the Father of Christ Jesus, according to his humanity—therefore, I trust I will show to the reader, who is the Father of Christ, by a number of scriptural references and by their power that he must say, if he be not entirely given up, that Micron and the learned, by their writings, have lamentably deceived him, and that they have taught nothing but an anti-christian foundation.

Thus spake the angel of the Most High to Mary, when she wondered how this should be, as she knew not a man: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” Luke 1: 35.

Which plain Scripture Micron has obscured by his infernal smoke, saying, “The angel meant to say to Mary, that her child should not be man, only (he means of her flesh), but also truly God, and his Son, according to his eternal, divine being.” Not a single word did the angel say to that effect; nor did he make such a division in Christ, as does Micron. But the angel merely made it known that she should conceive, and that the fruit should be the Son of God, and that God should be the Father of the child. Behold, thus Micron breaks the testimony of the holy angel, which he, at God’s command, bore to Mary from high heaven, that the holy thing which should be born of her, should be the Son of God.

Again, the heavenly Father himself testifies of Christ Jesus, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him,” Matt. 17: 5; Mark 9: 7; Luke 9: 35. Here the Father proclaims him to be his beloved Son, without any division. And Micron says that he is not.

Again, Christ said unto the blind man, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee,” Jn. 9: 35. Here the palpable, visible Christ, who, according to the foundation of Micron, was only the son of man, confesses himself to be the Son of God, without any division; and Micron says that he is not. Again, at another place Christ says, “What and if ye shall see the son of man (mark, he says the son of man) ascend up where he was before?” Jn. 6: 62. Here Christ himself confesses that the son of man was from heaven; and Micron says that he was of earth, and that he is called heavenly, on account of some virtues, as if Christ was a nominal Christ and not a Christ in truth.

Again, when Christ asked his disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am?” (mark, he asks about the son of man). Then Peter said, “Thou art the Christ (without a division), the Son of the living God,” Matt. 16: 16, &c.; and Micron says that the son of man was not the Son of God.

Again, John the Baptist says, “He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God,” Jn. 1: 33. Here John confesses the visible Christ (who, according to our opponent’s foundation, was only the son of man), to be the Son of God; and Micron writes that he is not.

Again, the centurion, on Golgotha said, “Truly, this man (mark, he says, this man) was the Son of God,” Mark 15: 39; and Micron says, he is not. Paul says, “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,” Gal. 4: 4; and Micron writes, God sent forth his Son, who came of a woman. At another place, Paul writes, “He that spared not his own Son,” Rom. 8: 32. Mark, he says, His own Son, and we are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Rom. 5: 10. John says, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 Jn. 1: 7. At another place, “He (God) sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins,” 1 Jn. 4: 10, which reconciliation, according to Micron’s false doctrine, is not brought about by the blood of the Son of God, as John and Paul teach, but by the blood of the son of man, who, according to Micron, had no father, as has often been heard.

Kind reader, if you closely observe it you will find more than sixty instances in the New Testament where Christ Jesus confesses God the heavenly Father to be his Father, and himself to be his Son. And from the beginning to the end, you will not find anything about such a division and union as our opponents teach, neither in Christ’s words, nor in those of any of the holy apostles or evangelists.

Micron writes at more than one place, “If God, the Father, is the Father of the man Christ, then he must have also had flesh and blood.” From which it is manifest, first, that he does not allow the crucified Christ a Father. Whereby the angel of God, the Father, and the Son, themselves, also John the Baptist, Peter, John, Paul, Nathaniel, Martha, and the whole Scriptures are made bare-faced liars and false witnesses, by him, Luke 1: 31; Matt. 17: 5; Jn. 9: 36; 1: 33; 3: 16; Matt. 16: 16. For they have repeatedly confessed him to be the true Son of the true and living God.

Secondly, it is manifest that all such writing is not of the living Fount of the Holy Ghost; nor of an enlightened, firm, believing heart which, without all wavering, trusts, with Joshua and Caleb, in the power and true promise of the Almighty God; but that it is solely of human wisdom and an unbelieving, carnal heart, which can not judge but according to nature; and yet, through excessive blindness, destroys the ordinances of this same nature, which God established in the first creation.

Kind reader, take heed! The Almighty power of God, the ineffable miracle of his divine love, and the undeceiving, sure word of his eternal truth should avail more than the blind intellect of our corrupted nature, if we would rightly learn to know Christ, and follow and obey his holy word.

The dead body of Adam, created of the dust, by the breath of God, became a living soul, Gen. 1: 27, and the water gushed forth from the rock, Ex. 17: 6. Yet the earth, from which the living Adam was made, was no living soul, neither was the rock from which the water flowed for Israel to drink, the ingredients of water. If they should now say that this was done by the power of God, by supernatural means, as is the case, too, then I would reply again: Thus was also brought about the miraculous incarnation of Jesus Christ, in Mary, by the omnipotence of God by which he can do any thing he pleases, as the angel says, “The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;” for with God nothing is impossible, Luke 1: 35.

I entertain the opinion that all those who believe, in power and in truth, that God was able, in the beginning, to create heaven, earth and sea, and the fullness thereof, by his mighty word, and now, by the same word, rules, disposes and maintains all this; and who believe that he is able to raise Adam and all his descendants, at the end, by the same power, from the dust, and reclaim them from the undermost parts of the earth and the depths of the sea, and place them before the sight of his majesty, will also believe that this same God had the power to send his ineffable, eternal word from heaven and to let it become, by the power of his Holy Spirit, a true, passive, mortal man, in Mary, as John says, “The Word was made flesh,” Jn. 1: 14. I repeat it, in Mary, for in the Father, or in heaven, before he was conceived, he was not flesh. This I have often confessed in plain language, and thoroughly proved by the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this he is not ashamed so to garble my words as if I should have said that the Word was flesh in the Father, or in heaven. Something which I can say with a good conscience never to have thought of in all my life.

I do not see what difference there can be between the spirit of our opponents and the spirit of the Pharisees and of the false prophets. For as they always garbled the words of the pious prophets and of the Lord Christ, and were always intent upon making them disreputable, and thus, out of mere hatred and envy of the truth, make way with them by violence, falsehood and wrong; thus these, out of mere hatred and envy of the truth, deal with me, old, afflicted man; for, alas, they have portrayed me all through their book, in such colors, that I do not see how they could have depicted Behemoth and Beelzebub in more unpleasant colors than they have depicted me; notwithstanding that, I have never in my life, wished them any harm and much less done them any; but have shown them all christian faithfulness and discretion by giving them good counsel in their need, as the love which is of God teaches all true christians to do. Yet, however, they have written this lying, infamous and slanderous falsehood against me, undeservedly, as thanks for my faithfulness, whereby they cause me to be tenfold more obnoxious in all countries than I was before. And this for no other reason in fact, than that we confess Christ Jesus to be the true Son of the true and living God, with the angel Gabriel, with the Father, with Christ himself, with John the Baptist, with Peter, and with all the Scriptures, and that we, in our weakness, would gladly hear and follow his word, commandments, prohibitions, ordinances and unblamable example, that we might thus be saved by his grace, which our opponents utterly hate and oppose. For they publicly avow that the son of man, whom we confess to be the Son of God, according to the Scriptures, was not the Son of God. They contradict his express ordinance of baptism, which he taught and commanded us with his own mouth, whereby all the regenerated, believing children of God submissively testify before Christ and his church that they are prepared and willing to follow his holy word and divine will, unto death.

Beloved, do observe what abomination and poisonous draught it is which they pour out for you from the Babylonian cup! True and immutable remains the testimony of the Father: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” Matt. 3: 17; 17: 5; Mark 1: 11; 9: 7; Luke 9: 35; 2 Pet. 1; 17.

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You have heard that God, the Father, is a true Father of the whole Christ, and that the whole Christ is the true Son of God, his Father. We will now show you, by the grace of the Lord, by virtue of the holy, divine Scriptures, what kind of divine substance, matter, seed, or being it was of which this same Son of God and Mary was brought forth, that you may confess and see the clearness of the human birth of Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures, through the smoke of the bottomless pit, cleared away by the power of the strong word and scattered by the breeze of the Holy Ghost.

Thus John teaches us, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” “And the Word (which was in the beginning) was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth,” Jn. 1.

Behold, dear reader, here John shows us as a true witness of the truth, the divine being of the man Christ, the ineffable, eternal Word.

If you would have an immutable, true and firm foundation of faith, and the true sense of these words of John, and not be deceived by the lying seed of the old serpent, nor be robbed of your Savior by the subtle deceit of anti-christ, you must well observe and hold to these facts.

First, that God the Father is confessed to be the true Father of his Son Christ, by the Scriptures, Matt. 3: 17; 16: 16; 17: 5; Luke 1: 31; Jn. 1: 45; 3: 16; 5: 22.

Secondly, that Christ Jesus is confessed to be the true Son of God, his Father, by all the Scriptures, Matt. 3: 17; 14: 33; 16: 16; 17: 5; Mark 1: 11; 9: 7: 15: 39; Luke 2: 48; Jn. 9: 37.

As it is plain that God the heavenly Father is a true Father of Christ, his Son, and that Christ is a true Son of God, his Father, as is testified all through the Scriptures; therefore it is sure and manifest that we should leave the testimony of John unglozed and unbroken, where he says, “The word was made flesh.” For since Christ is God’s true Son, and God the Father, Christ’s true Father, the Father must also have had his ineffable Word, by which all things were made that are made, as was heard.

If our opponents should say, “That the Word was Spirit from the beginning, and could therefore not become flesh,” then you may answer, first, If the Word could not become flesh, as you say, the power of the Father is made less and his arm is shortened, by which he can do anything he pleases; and the angel bore a false testimony to Mary, when he said that there is nothing impossible with God, Luke 1: 37.

Secondly, you may answer: If the Word was not made flesh, as you say, then all the Scriptures deceive us, which testify and teach, without any division, union, or exception as to nature, sons or persons, that Christ Jesus is God’s Son, and that God is his Father, as was said.

Thirdly, you may answer: If the Word was not made flesh, as you say, then the Holy Scriptures testify falsely, that he is of heaven and not of earth, Jn. 3: 31; 8: 23; Eph. 4: 10, that he came forth from the Father, Jn. 16: 28, that he is the bread and Lord from heaven, Jn. 6: 35; 1 Cor. 15: 47, that he is the Alpha and Omega, Rev. 1: 8; 22: 13, and other like Scriptures.

Fourthly, you may answer: If the Word could not become flesh, as you say, then one or the other of you must be wrong. Either you who say that he could not become flesh, or John, who says that he was made flesh, as was heard.

If they should further say, that the Word put on, by generation, of Mary’s seed, as they actually do, you may answer then thus: First, Then we desire that you show to us where this is written in the Scriptures or else we say, that it is the flattering and falsehood of the old serpent, and not the Lord’s truth.

Secondly, you answer: By such acceptation you rob the Father of his Son, and the Son of his Father. You divide Christ into two parts, into good and evil, into righteous and unrighteous, into heavenly and earthly. You point us to a sinful creature and an impure offering. You idolize the earthly and sinful flesh of Adam. You make all the pious witnesses of Christ, such as John the Baptist, Peter, &c., false and lying, and yourselves anti-christ; and make the Scriptures contradictory.

Thirdly, you may answer: Becoming is becoming, and putting on is putting on; nor will it be found otherwise in the Scriptures. Thus when Christ became twelve years of age, he did become twelve years of age, counting from the time of his human birth. Christ became a curse, Gal. 3: 13. He became such, so as to be hung between two murderers, on the cross, Matt. 27: 38; Mark 15: 27; Luke 23: 32. Water was made wine, and it was made, John 2: 9; Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt, and she did become one, Gen. 19: 26. For becoming I say, is becoming, and cannot be explained in any part of the Scriptures as meaning putting on.

If they would still follow their intellect and say, “If the Word is become flesh, it has lost its first being by the change,” you might answer, first: John has taught us that it was made flesh, and he has not said a word further, as to how or to what extent it was changed; something that you, inquisitive ones, want to know and hear of us, without any Scripture.

Secondly, you might answer: Adam was made a living soul, 1 Cor. 15: 45; yet he remained dust, for the Lord said unto him, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, Gen. 3: 19.

Thirdly, you might reply: We ought to believe sincerely, and not intellectually comprehend. For Paul says, that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Heb. 11: 1.

Fourthly, you might reply: Paul says, That he is God, and Christ says that he is a Spirit. Zophar the Naamathite says, “It is as high as heaven; deeper than hell; longer than the earth; and broader than the sea,” Job 11: 8, 9. And the prophet says, that he comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, Isa. 40: 12; also, “saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,” Isa. 66: 1. There is no man born of Adam who is so intellectual and wise that he can measure this God and Spirit, or comprehend his being, therefore it would be well for them to abandon their high, soaring intellect to search such ineffable profundity, to humbly bow themselves under the word of the Lord, and to ponder on the saying of Solomon, “It is not good to eat much honey; so for men to search their own glory is not glory,” Prov. 25: 27. Read also Syrach 3: 21.

Kind reader, if intellect were to avail in this ineffable, deep matter, and not the Scriptures, then I would ask them an intellectual question concerning their faith, of which they could scarcely extricate themselves. It would be this: Whether or not they believe that the Almighty, ineffable Word, of which heaven and earth are full, Wis. 18: 15, and which is also, the eternal wisdom and power of the Almighty, eternal Father, has placed itself out and out in such concreto sanguine, as Micron calls it at one place, as is his doctrine now? I presume they will leave the question unanswered. For if they say that it was therein, out and out, then they make a Father who has separated his word, wisdom and power from himself, and placed it outside of himself. And if they say that it was not all therein, then they make their own foundation untrue and false; for they say and teach that the Son of God (which is God’s eternal Word, wisdom and power) has put on the son of man or of Mary, and that he has united himself therewith into one person.

Therefore I repeat that it would be well for them to leave such ineffable profundity unsearched, to stay under the clouds, and not to soar above heaven, with their earthly, ignorant intellect; for, I presume that when they have measured the height of the heavens and the depth of the abyss, have weighed the mountains and enumerated the drops of rain, then they will give me an intelligent answer, and explain how this thing is, about which I asked concerning their faith, foundation and doctrine. And therefore I say that I do not at all charge my mind with this incomprehensible miracle, but adduce the word of the Lord, whereby I am plainly taught that Mary, the Lord’s mother, conceived the Almighty, eternal Word of the Father (by which all things were made that are made), by faith, Luke 1: 31, and that the same, by the great power and operation of his Almighty, eternal Spirit, became a true, visible, palpable, passive, mortal, pure and holy man, not of her, but in her, above the comprehension of all mankind. And thus he who was already the first-born of every creature, and, also, according to his human form, the first and only begotten, true Son of God, was supernaturally born unto God, his Father, of Mary, according to the flesh, as Isaac was naturally born unto Abraham, by Sarah; Solomon unto David, by Bath-sheba, and John the Baptist unto Zacharias, by Elisabeth, Gen. 21; 2 Sam. 12: 24; Luke 1: 12; which first and only begotten, true Son of God became also, according to the promise, a son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David on account of his mother (but in the genealogy of Christ, Joseph’s son, Matt. 1: 16; Luke 3: 23), who graciously fulfilled the spiritual law which no flesh of Adam could fulfill, for all of the descendants of Adam, in perfect righteousness, Rom. 8: 2; and who innocently trod the wine press of bitter death, Isa. 63: 3; Rev. 19: 15, to whom the law and all the prophets point, and in whom all the glorious promises of the inexpressibly great grace and love of God are fulfilled. And thus, after he had done the service of his divine love he again ascended up where he was before, Jn. 6: 62. He has all power in heaven and upon earth, Matt. 28: 18, and is, through faith in his blood, our only and eternal Propitiator, Reconciler, High Priest, Mediator, Advocate, and Peace-maker with God, his Father, Rom. 3: 25; Jn. 4: 25; 1 Tim. 2: 5; 1 Jn. 2: 1.

Behold, thus the most high, most gracious, and most merciful God and Father retains his glory, praise and honor through his blessed, eternal Word and Son; and not through the unclean, sinful flesh of Adam, as our opponents teach and pretend.

Mark, now, beloved reader, how our opponents are deceived in this matter by their earthly, carnal intellect which would explain this miracle, not according to the Scriptures, but according to the laws of nature, and therefore, do not believe that the Almighty God had the power to let his eternal Word become flesh, and a true man; for which reason they have depicted me in such unbecoming colors, although these poor souls are doubly what they would make us to be, namely, false teachers, and perverse heretics. For they say and teach without any Scriptures, that the man Christ who died for us, was not the Son of God, and that he had no Father; and we say that he is God’s Son, and that God is his Father, according to all Scripture.

They say and teach, without any Scripture, “That the Word has put on a whole man of Mary’s flesh and seed;” and we say and teach, according to the plain testimony of John, That the Word was made flesh, not of Mary, but in Mary.

They teach, “That there are two different persons and sons, one divine, the other human, in the one Christ,” without Scripture; and we say that there is but one undivided person and Son, according to the Scriptures.

They say and teach, “That the visible Christ was earthly, of the earth,” without the Scriptures; and we say and teach that he is heavenly, of heaven, according to the Scriptures.

They say and teach, “That he is pure of impure Adam,” without Scripture; and we say and teach that he is pure of the pure God, according to the Scriptures.

They point us to an “accursed, sinful offering,” without Scripture; and we point to a spotless, innocent offering, according to the Scriptures.

They worship an Adamitic flesh, contrary to all Scripture; and we, the Almighty, eternal Word which became man by the infinite power of God, according to the Scriptures.

In short, they place their whole salvation in the unclean, sinful seed of Adam, that is, in a man, who, according to their fabulous writing, and contrary to the word and ordinance of God, was generated from the seed or blood of Mary, without father; and we, in the Almighty, eternal Word, which became man in the fullness of time, by which all things are made, ruled, and have their being, forever, which was from everlasting the eternal wisdom, power and glory of God, his Father, one with God, his eternal Father and the eternal Holy Ghost, blessed forever, Amen.

Invincible and firm remains the word: “The word was made flesh,” Jn. 1: 14; 1 Jn. 1: 1. O, merciful, gracious Lord, enlighten the eyes of all the blind, that they may see thy heavenly brightness and rightly confess the majesty of thy honor, Amen. Dear Lord, Amen.

Honorable reader, here you have our fundamental explanation and plain reply to the untrue, and partial narration, and anti-christian, false doctrine concerning Jesus Christ the Son of God by Micron and Herman, wherewith I am now and at all times willing and ready to appear before God and his angels, before friend and foe, and before the whole world, unto water, fire, sword, and before the coming judgment.

I would pray you all, reasonable readers, through Jesus, as if before God, to reflect earnestly what kind of spirits and people they are who have written the “Narration” and its appendix and articles concerning us, as they have kept quite silent about the beneficence so faithfully shown them in their need; nor said anything about the distinct confessions which they made, as above stated, whereby they had already lost the whole point in discussion, as also, that they were frequently so puzzled that they knew not what to say, and as they have not written a single, discreet word about me in their whole book; and from the beginning of the discussion to the end of their writing, they have only studied and aimed how they might most expertly defame me, and thus make our doctrine, which is the pure doctrine of Christ, a stench to many.

In several instances they have lamentably garbled and misinterpreted my words; have added to, or subtracted therefrom, and changed the meaning of their own. The order of the discussion they have changed, made many unscriptural glozings, adulterated the Holy Scriptures, made false witnesses of the Father himself and his blessed Son, of the angel of the Lord, of John the Baptist, of all the evangelists, apostles and of all the Scriptures, as may be seen.

However, they fill the measure of their predecessors, the false prophets, who, from the beginning, have praised and taught falsehood by hypocrisy, have hated the truth, and upbraided the faithful servants of God, and defamed them; who have taken amiss the faithful service of their love, accused them before lords and princes, have hindered them in the doctrine and true religion, and at last, have taken their lives and confiscated their goods. It is but little to me, that they have thus trampled upon me, and caused me to be a stench to many; for I am aware that I am unworthy of honor, since I am born of Adam, of impure seed, an unworthy sinner; as all those have complained, from the beginning, who were rightly overshadowed by the glory of the Lord. But, the Lord forbid that I am such an unsteady falsifier, and artful rogue, as I am depicted to be by our opponents through the infamous, false, indiscreet and bitter spirit of envy. Many pious people of both the Old and the New Testament had to hear this same thing, with me. Christ promises us a great reward in heaven; for it is done for his name’s sake, Matt. 5: 11; Luke 6: 22. But it pierces my soul night and day that they so lamentably blaspheme the Son of God, adulterate the Scriptures, and so falsely console the poor, unenlightened souls by such open falsehood, and thus encourage and keep them in their accursed blindness. For which reason I was urged to write this reply, to the praise of the Lord, and to your service.

I would, therefore, that you would earnestly consider what a pure, clear and unadulterated foundation of truth we have pointed out to you and to all the world, concerning Christ. And, on the other hand, also, how plainly and convincingly we have discovered and manifested unto you and all reasonable readers the anti-christian foundation and doctrine of our opponents. Whosoever has but half sight may see where the deceit is hidden.

We now and at all times willingly offer, that if they can prove to us by the unbroken and unadulterated Scriptures, that Adam had two kinds of seed, of which one was pure and the other impure, or, that the Scriptures any where call that holy, pure, and heavenly which is unholy, impure and earthly in itself, or, that two sons can be one Son, or, that the Scriptures any where mention such a union, as our opponents falsely pretend, or, that ever any one was the true son of another without his being generated of his substance or seed, or, that God is a God of falsehood, so that he would call the man Christ his Son, without his actually being such, then we will gratefully and diligently reconsider the matter, in all love. Behold, before God, it is the truth that I write. And, in case they cannot do so (something which they surely never can), then our opponents, if they be reasonable men, should acknowledge that they have the impure, deceitful doctrine of anti-christ, and we the wholesome doctrine of Christ; notwithstanding we must hear and suffer so exceedingly much.

Dear reader, if we consider the Scriptures of John the evangelist, we clearly find that the spirit and doctrine of our opponents already existed in his time. For, at that time they denied that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that he was made flesh; something which these, also, often did in their writings and verbal discussion which they had with us. From which it is manifest that it is the roguery and deceit of the old serpent.

I would, therefore, humbly beseech all the godly, pious hearts who sincerely and diligently seek Christ and eternal life, for the Lord’s sake, first, to pray for all of our opponents, both of high and low station in life, learned or unlearned, rich or poor, who ignorantly err, and who are encouraged and consoled in their impenitent, reckless life, by such false teachers and writers as are our opponents, that the merciful, gracious Lord may give them eyes to see his glorious, exalted origin, and rightly confess his truth, that that may not be lost with which they are so dearly bought.

And secondly, pray that the Lord may grant me, and all our fellow laborers of the house of God, together with the whole church, the Spirit of his wisdom; grant that we, by his grace, may remain wholesome in doctrine; steady in faith; ardent in love; quickened in hope; unremittent in the work of the Lord; unblamable in life, and patient in all oppression and tribulation; of which alas, we do not experience a little by the infamous crying and writing of our opponents; that we may set a living example to the world; that many may see our new, christian walk in the truth and examine it, repent, and thus be eternally saved.

I beseech you in the same manner not to leave these our writings idle and hidden, but to send them east, west, north and south, into the hands of all men, and to let many read them, that the bright sun of righteousness which, alas, has been obscured for so many centuries by the smoke of the bottomless pit of the anti-christian, false doctrine, may shine forth with the power of truth, and that our glorious and holy Savior, the first and only begotten, true Son of the Almighty, living God, the ever blessed Jesus Christ, may be rightly confessed by many, in his glory.

To this only and eternal Savior, together with his heavenly Father and Holy Ghost be the praise forever, Amen.

MENNO SIMON.

October 5.