Publishers’ Preface

“The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of judgment; the law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” Psalm 37, verses 30 and 31.

“Remember those who have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” Hebrews 13, verse 7. [Note 1]

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by JOHN F. FUNK & BROTHER, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

The writings of a good man, when read with an unbiased mind and with a sincere desire to be profited and instructed, are always beneficial to those who read them; for “of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” and “a good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, brings forth good things.”

Such writings may be the means of doing much good among people, especially in these times of worldly conformity. These are times in which there is such great opposition to the cross of Christ; in which people love ease and pleasure, and make many devices to avoid the self-denying principles of the religion of Jesus, and hope to gain the crown of life in some other way than the one in which he himself walked and which he pointed out to all his true followers; in which mankind is so much given over to the pursuit of the perishable things of this world, to honor, wealth and power, and is so deeply sunk in sin and unrighteousness; in which error and deception are so widespread that on every side we hear the cry, “Look, here is Christ,” and, “Look, he is there,” so that at times it seems almost impossible for those who are not firmly established in the faith to keep themselves unmoved and remain unshaken in the midst of this “crooked and perverse generation.”

We believe that these works of the zealous and pious Menno are well suited to promote living Christian piety. In them he protests so powerfully against the prevailing corruptions of the times, both in the church and in the ordinary walks of life, in high places and in low, or wherever they are found; and he insists with such uncompromising firmness and devotion on the absolute necessity of a true and sincere change of heart through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, and of a new life, a pious and holy walk which delights in good works, follows the footsteps of Jesus in love, humility and meekness, is a light in the world, and labors for the glory of God and the salvation of all people. We believe these works are well suited to strengthen and confirm the faith of believers; to encourage and cheer the weary pilgrim on his journey toward Zion; to instruct us and teach us clearer views of duty; to set before us the true character of the truly penitent child of God, what he must do and how he must live to become an heir of the kingdom above; to show what the church and all believers should be; to warn the impenitent; to expose erroneous views; to teach sinners the way of life and admonish them to turn from their evil ways, to flee from the wrath to come, and to seek the Lord while he may be found. And believing this, we have felt that these writings should be placed before the public in English, so that all who understand this language may have the opportunity to read and examine them for themselves.

These works were originally written in the Dutch language, and only a portion of them has been translated before into the English and German languages. Therefore the greater part of the book will be entirely new to most readers of the present day. And since the church bearing the name of Menno has now spread so far that it has become a body of considerable importance, and many of its members know the English language much better than the German, it is fitting that the complete works should be published in English, so that those who profess the same faith as Menno may enjoy the benefit of his labors even at this distant day.

For these reasons we have undertaken the hard and laborious task of translating the entire work from the original Holland or Dutch language, including all his writings, as far as they are known, except those which he himself rejects and which he mentions in his article on the Ban or Excommunication.

In the translation we have followed the edition of his works published in the Dutch language by John VanVeen in Amsterdam, in Holland, in 1681.

The first part of the writings of Menno Simon, except for the “Account of the severe persecutions of Menno Simon,” and so on, and several letters in the latter part of the volume, was translated earlier into the German language and published in several editions; and from the German translation it was translated again into the English language by I. Daniel Rupp, and published by Elias Barr & Co., in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1863. This translation has been followed in part in the present work, though the whole of it was diligently compared with the original Dutch, revised and corrected.

The work has required a great deal of time, care, labor and expense. The original work was written in a very old style of language, and for that reason many passages were difficult to understand. But the translators have worked faithfully, and by comparing such passages with different editions of the work, and by using whatever other means they could command, we feel assured that we can offer our readers a reasonably correct translation of the works of Menno.

We have found a few places where neither the English nor the German editions published earlier were entirely correct, and this will account for some differences which the reader may notice on comparing the different translations. There may still possibly be some passages which could be greatly improved. But without boasting of anything that we have, humbly, in the fear of the Lord, sought to accomplish, we believe that as the result of our labors we are able to present to the reader a book which gives a very correct expression of the writings of Menno in the English language.

And if by the publication of this work we may be instrumental in doing good to the souls of others; if by it the cause of Christ is advanced and the faith of believers confirmed; if by it a single soul may be saved and God glorified, then we shall feel that our labor has not been in vain.

May God bless the work; may it be the means of doing much good; indeed, through it may many souls be converted and brought from the darkness of sin and error to the glorious light of the gospel of truth. May God be glorified and honored, and mankind humbled and brought to Jesus. This is the prayer and sincere desire of your humble servants,

The Publishers.