Confession of the Triune, Eternal and True God

“For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” First Corinthians 3, verse 11.

Menno Simon wishes all his beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord grace and peace, an unbroken, pure and firm faith, unfeigned brotherly love, a sure and living hope, and a God-pleasing, blameless walk, confession and life, from God our heavenly Father, through his beloved Son, Christ Jesus, in the power of his Holy Spirit. Amen.

We know, dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, that we are condemned by the whole world to water, fire and sword for the testimony of Christ and of our consciences, and that we are made a spectacle and regarded as the offscouring of all mankind. Besides this, we also know that the true Prince of Peace, the blessed Christ Jesus, has summoned and taken us into the house of peace through the word of peace, and that he has given and left his followers such a glorious sign by which we shall know them to be his disciples, namely, love. Therefore it is reasonable and Christian that we, poor, outcast bearers of the cross, should be united in the perfect bonds of true love, and that we should cling together as the members of one body: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit,” First Corinthians 12, verse 13. But now we see plainly how the prince of darkness, who was a murderer from the beginning, seeks with all diligence to disturb this same peace in the house of God, to tear this bond in two, and so to make the dear gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, our cross and confession, and all the Christian fellowships hateful to many, and so to destroy it entirely, John 8, verse 44. Since his sharp attacks are so well known to us, it is necessary always to be on guard, to repent, to seek one another in true Christian love, to revive what has been corrupted, and to cure and make healthy what is diseased with the oil of the divine word. For during the last four years, alas, Christian love and peace have greatly decreased with some, because of much harmful reproaching and disputing about the unspeakable depths of the divinity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, and also about angels and devils, and about the ban; and this has always been the case wherever such disputes held sway. May the Lord not count it as sin against those who have used the ban. I see this plainly, and I have been troubled not a little by some about this matter; and I naturally hate such reproaching and disputing, for in these fifteen years I have never found any use in it, because I love peace and unity, which are in keeping with the word of God, more than my own life. I trust that I am not lying, for because of this my heart is very much troubled, mournful and afflicted, indeed, more than I can write.

Would to God that I could, at the cost of my life’s blood, help all afflicted consciences and lead them to God; for I love nothing more on earth, nor do I seek anything before God, than the glory of my Lord Jesus Christ and the everlasting salvation of my beloved brothers. And therefore, at the risk of my poor, diseased body, I have placed at your disposal and service my firm faith and confession of the eternal, triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as taken from the sure word of God. With it I will live and die unwaveringly before my God, and with it I will appear in his grace on the day of judgment, trusting by this to make the noble and desirable peace and unity in Christ pleasant and precious to many, and to restore love.

Brothers, there has been enough disputing, reproaching and complaining against one another. I think it is time to rebuff the disturbers of the peace, and wholeheartedly to seek scriptural peace and unity. But I desire no peace outside of Christ. I earnestly desire and pray all my beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord to read, hear and understand this admonishing confession of mine without any partisan bitterness or spite toward God-fearing, pure hearts, as I have written it in purity of heart, as before God, in Christ Jesus, without hatred or malice. I do not doubt that if you do this, brothers (I mean the unpeaceable and troubled ones), unrest, dispute and disunion will withdraw far from the mountain of the Lord’s peace, and peace, love and unity will again take their place.

I sincerely desire that it may be so read and taken to heart that the almighty, eternal Father, with his blessed Son, Christ Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit, may remain unchanged in their true, divine being, and that the afflicted, mournful, wavering consciences may find help, comfort and strength. May the beloved Father grant his grace. Amen.

We believe and confess with the Holy Scriptures that there is one only, eternal and true God, who is a Spirit. One God, who created heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Such a God that heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. Whose throne is heaven and the earth his footstool; who measures “the waters in the hollow of his hand;” who spans the heavens; who comprehends the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance; who is as high as heaven, deeper than hell, lower than the earth and broader than the sea; “Who alone has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach; whom no man has seen, nor can see;” who is an almighty, powerful and all-ruling King in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; whose strength, hand and power no one can withstand. A “God of gods, and a Lord of lords;” there is none like him, but he is a mighty, holy, terrible, praiseworthy, wonderful and consuming fire, whose kingdom, power, dominion, majesty and glory are eternal and shall endure forever. And besides this one only, eternal, living, almighty, all-ruling God and Lord we know no other. And since he is a Spirit so great, terrible and invisible, he is also inexpressible, incomprehensible and indescribable, as may be gathered and understood from the following Scriptures: Deuteronomy 4, verse 35; Deuteronomy 6, verse 4; Deuteronomy 7, verse 6; Deuteronomy 10, verse 17; Deuteronomy 32, verse 39; John 4, verse 24; John 1, verse 18; Genesis 1, verse 1; Psalm 33, verse 6; Colossians 1, verse 16; Isaiah 43, verse 11; Isaiah 44, verse 6; Isaiah 48, verse 13; Isaiah 40, verse 12; Job 11, verse 8; First Timothy 6, verse 16; Ecclesiastes 1, verse 7; Matthew 11, verse 27; Revelation 17, verse 14; Revelation 19, verse 16; Hebrews 12, verse 29; Hebrews 1, verses 8 and 10.

This one only, eternal, omnipotent, unspeakable, invisible, inexpressible and indescribable God we believe and confess with the Scriptures to be the eternal, incomprehensible Father, with his eternal, incomprehensible Son, and with his eternal, incomprehensible Holy Spirit. The Father we believe and confess to be a true Father, the Son a true Son, and the Holy Spirit a true Holy Spirit; not carnal and comprehensible, but spiritual and incomprehensible, for Christ says, “God is a Spirit.” Since God is such a Spirit, as it is written, we also believe and confess of the divine begetting by the heavenly Father, and of his begotten Son, Christ Jesus (brothers, understand my writing well), that they are spiritual and incomprehensible, as is also the Father who begat them; for like begets like. This cannot be disputed, Matthew 3, verse 17; Matthew 28, verses 18 and 19; Mark 1, verses 7 and 11; Luke 3, verse 16; John 14, verse 9; John 15, verse 26; First Corinthians 12, verse 11. And this same incomprehensible, inexpressible, spiritual, eternal, divine Being, which is begotten of the Father before every creature, divine and incomprehensible, we believe and confess to be Christ Jesus, the first and only begotten Son of God, “the firstborn of every creature,” the eternal Wisdom, the power of God, the everlasting Light, the eternal Truth, the everlasting Life, John 14, verse 6, the eternal Word, John 1, verse 1. Do not understand this as a literal word; for it is divine and spiritual, and not carnal and literal. A literal word is only a passing breeze, contained in the letter, beginning and ceasing; and then Christ Jesus, before his incarnation, would have had to be a literal word. O, no! But he is the eternal, wise, almighty, holy, true, living and incomprehensible Word, which was with God in the beginning, and was God (mark this), by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made that was made, and which will endure forever. And therefore he says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Again, John the Baptist says, “After me comes one who was before me,” John 1, verses 1 and 15; John 3, verse 36; John 8, verse 12; Luke 7, verses 29 and 35; First Corinthians 1, verse 9; Hebrews 1, verse 2. Indeed, he had this glory of the divine being with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. He did not think it robbery to be equal with God, his Father. Therefore we confess with John the Baptist, Nathaniel, Martha and Peter that he is the Son of the living God, John, chapter 1; John, chapter 17; Philippians, chapter 2; Matthew 16, verse 16; John 11, verse 27; John 9, verse 37; John 6, verse 69.

Dearly beloved brothers, understand me rightly. He is the eternal Wisdom, the eternal Power. For as we believe and confess that the Father was from eternity and will remain eternally, indeed, that he is the First and the Last, so we may also freely believe and confess that his wisdom, his power, his light, his truth, his life, his Word, Christ Jesus, has been eternally with him, in him and by him; indeed, that he is the Alpha and Omega. Otherwise we must admit that this begotten, incomprehensible, true, divine being, Christ Jesus (whom the fathers have called a person), through whom the eternal Father has made all things, has had a beginning like a creature; which all true Christians recognize and regard as a terrible blasphemy, curse and abomination. May the gracious, beloved Father always protect and uphold all his beloved children in the right and true confession of his beloved Son Jesus Christ.

Beloved brothers in the Lord, we believe and confess that this same eternal, wise, almighty, holy, true, living and incomprehensible Word, Christ Jesus, which was with God in the beginning and which was God, incomprehensible, born of the incomprehensible Father before every creature, has in the fullness of time become, according to the unchangeable purpose and true promise of the Father, a true, visible, hungry, thirsty and mortal man, capable of suffering, in Mary, the pure virgin, through the working and overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and so was born of her. Indeed, we believe that he was like us in all things except sin; that he grew up as other men do; and that at the appointed time he was baptized and entered upon his ministry, the office of grace and love, which was laid upon him by the Father and which he obediently fulfilled; that he blotted out the handwriting, that is, the law, that was against us; and that at last, through the eternal Spirit of his heavenly Father, he offered himself in this his human flesh, nature and weakness, in which he also sighed, wept and prayed to the Father, and sweated water and blood, and so purified our hearts from the deadly works, that we should serve the true and living God. And all who believe in him have received through him grace, mercy, forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And by means of his precious blood, which in his great love he offered and shed for us poor sinners on the cross, according to the good pleasure of the Father, he has thus become our only and eternal High Priest, Reconciler, Mercy Seat, Mediator and Advocate with God his Father. For as God, the almighty Father, had created Adam and Eve through his almighty Word, Christ Jesus, so he also willed to restore them again by the same Word and make them pious, when they had been seduced by the serpent, together with all their descendants, so that we should give the praise of our salvation to no one in heaven or on earth except the only and eternal Father, through Christ Jesus, and that through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. This is enough about the incarnation, Matthew 1, verses 16 and 25; Matthew 5, verse 4; Mark 15, verse 37; Luke 2, verses 7 and 40; Luke 22, verse 67; Luke 23, verse 46; John 15, verses 9 and 10; John 12, verse 13; John 11, verse 26; Philippians 2, verses 5 and 7; Colossians 2, verses 14 and 12; Colossians 1, verses 13 and 16; Hebrews 3, verse 2; Ephesians 2, verse 12; Ephesians 1, verse 7; Romans 8, verse 32; Romans 3, verses 24 and 25; Romans 5, verses 11 and 12; Isaiah 53, verse 12; First Peter 1, verse 19; Revelation 1, verse 8; Second Corinthians 5, verse 14. [Note 1]

Further, beloved brothers, we believe and confess Christ Jesus to be the true God with the Father; and this because of the divine glory, works and attributes which are found in him in such abundance, as may be clearly gathered and understood from the following Scriptures. Tell me, beloved, is it not the only and true God who has made heaven and earth, and whose kingdom shall endure forever? Without doubt, yes. Paul says, “To the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. And, You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands,” Hebrews 1, verses 8, 9 and 10.

Is it not the only God who alone is “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” and who reigns in heaven and on earth? Most assuredly. And the Spirit says in Revelation that Christ is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Christ himself says, “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” Paul says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” Philippians 2, verse 10.

Is it not the only God who says, “I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he”? Isaiah 41, verse 4. And Christ says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” And, “Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that lives and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore,” Revelation 1, verses 8, 17 and 18.

Is not this the only God who “tries the hearts and reins”? Without doubt it is. Christ says, “All the churches shall know that I am he who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to every one of you according to your works,” Revelation 2, verse 23. [Note 2]

Is it not the only God whom alone we should serve and worship? Yes. Christ says, “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” Of serving him Paul says, “He that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God,” and, “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ,” Romans 14, verse 18; First Corinthians 4, verse 1.

Paul was a servant of Christ, as may be seen generally at the beginning of all his epistles. Of his worship Luke says that when Christ had ascended to heaven they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem. Stephen also, in his last prayer, says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Paul also says, “Let all the angels of God worship him;” and the murderer on the cross, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Acts 7, verse 58; Hebrews 1, verse 6; Luke 23, verse 42; Luke 24, verse 52. Is it not the only God who is true, and every man a liar? Oh, yes. The prophet says, “There was not any deceit in his mouth.” Christ himself says, “I am the truth;” “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth,” Psalm 116, verse 11; Romans 3, verse 4; Isaiah 53, verse 9; John 14, verse 6; John 18, verse 37.

Can anyone forgive sins and bestow everlasting life except the only and eternal God? O, no! Christ says, “Know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins;” and to the sinful woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” “I give to them eternal life,” Psalm 103, verse 3; Matthew 9, verse 6; Luke 7, verse 48; John 10, verse 28.

Should we believe in anyone but the only God alone? Not at all. For Christ says, “He that believes on me has everlasting life.” “You believe in God, believe also in me,” John 6, verse 47; John 14, verse 1.

Is it not the only God who is the judge of all the world, who will raise the dead and sit in judgment at the last day? Assuredly, yes. And Christ says, “For as the Father raises up the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he will.” “He was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead;” and at his coming he will judge and pass sentence, John 5, verse 21; Acts 10, verse 42; Matthew 25, verses 31 to 46.

See, beloved brothers: the throne of Christ is an eternal throne; the Scriptures are not ashamed to confess him to be God; and they also testify that he founded heaven and earth, that he has all power in heaven and on earth, that he is the first and the last, that he searches the hearts and reins, that we should serve and worship him, that he is the truth, that he forgives sin and bestows eternal life, that we must believe in him, and that at the last day he will raise us from the dead and judge us, as has been said. So it cannot be disputed that Christ Jesus, with his Father, must also be the true God; for God gives his glory to no other, and these are all glories, powers and attributes which belong to no one in heaven or on earth except the only, eternal and true God alone. All who are taught by God must fully admit and confess this.

Besides this, beloved brothers, we believe and confess Christ Jesus, with his heavenly Father, to be truly God, and that because of the plain testimony of the holy prophets, evangelists and apostles, as we may learn from the following Scriptures and also from some other texts. Isaiah says, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9, verse 6. Again, “Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him! Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young,” Isaiah 40, verses 9 to 11. Read also Ezekiel 34, verse 11.

Jeremiah says, “Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness,” Jeremiah 23, verses 5 and 6; Jeremiah 33, verse 15.

Micah says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” Micah 5, verse 2. Read also Hebrews 7, verses 3 and 4; Isaiah 44, verse 6; Revelation 1, verse 8; Revelation 22, verse 13. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John 1, verse 1. The Lord said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God! Jesus says to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,” John 20, verses 27 to 29.

Paul says, “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood;” “Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.” Again, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,” Acts 20, verse 28; Romans 9, verse 5; Second Corinthians 5, verse 19. Read also John, chapter 14; Colossians, chapter 22; First Timothy, chapter 3. Again, “Who, being in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,” Philippians 2, verse 6. [Note 3]

John says, “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life,” First John 5, verse 20. Besides this, read the whole gospel of John, and First Corinthians 10, verse 15; Ephesians, chapter 4; Hebrews 1, verse 3; Hebrews, chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13; and by the grace of God you will find a sure and firm foundation.

See, faithful brothers, here you have the incomprehensible birth of Christ, his divine glory, works and power, and a number of precious and plain testimonies of the holy prophets, evangelists and apostles, all of whom, with an invincible power, testify to and point out so clearly the true, unspeakable divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am convinced and do not doubt in the least that a pious, humble, God-fearing conscience will be satisfied with this and will not search into this incomprehensible depth any further. And if anyone desires to search and dispute further, I prophesy to him that he will surely search and dispute all his lifetime and yet never have a settled mind or a firm foundation. Therefore, beloved brothers, be warned. Watch and beware.

As we have now pointed out and made known our faith and confession of the true divinity of Jesus Christ, so we will now also, by the grace of God, set forth in a few words our faith and confession of the Holy Spirit. Let the God-fearing judge. We believe and confess the Holy Spirit to be a true, real, or personal Holy Spirit, and that in a divine way, even as the Father is a true Father and the Son a true Son. This Holy Spirit is a mystery to all mankind, incomprehensible, inexpressible and indescribable (as we have shown above of the Father and the Son); divine, with his divine attributes, going forth from the Father through the Son, although he always remains with God and in God, and is never separated from the being of the Father and the Son. And the reason we confess him to be such a true and real Holy Spirit is that the Scriptures compel us to it. For he descended upon Christ at his baptism in the bodily shape of a dove, and appeared to the apostles as cloven tongues like fire; we are baptized in his name as well as in the name of the Father and of the Son; through him the prophets prophesied, performed miracles and works, had dreams and saw visions; for he is a distributor of the gifts of God, and that according to his will. Mark this well. He moved Zachariah, the son of Barachiah; he moved John the Baptist while he was still in his mother’s womb; and he said to Simeon “that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” “The Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul.” And to Peter, “Behold, three men seek you.” He guides us into all truth; he justifies us; he cleanses, sanctifies, pacifies, consoles, reproves, cheers and assures us; he testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God. All who believe in Christ receive this Spirit; Paul admonishes us not to grieve him. Whoever sins against this Spirit (says Christ), it shall not be forgiven him. David prayed that God might not take this Spirit from him; for all who do not have this Spirit are not Christ’s, Acts 2, verse 26; Luke 3, verse 22; John 1, verse 33; Acts 2, verse 3; Zechariah 7, verse 12; Jude, verse 14; Joel 2, verse 29; Second Corinthians 12, verse 4; Luke 2, verse 25; Acts 13, verse 2; Acts 10, verse 19; John 14, verse 26; John 15, verse 26; Ephesians 4, verse 30; Romans 8, verse 16; Matthew 8, verse 13; Psalm 51, verse 11; Romans 8, verse 9. Indeed, my brothers, from these plain Scriptures, testimonies and references, and a great many other texts which are too lengthy to mention and which may be found in abundance in the Scriptures and read, we believe the Holy Spirit to be the true, essential Holy Spirit of God, who adorns us with his heavenly and divine gifts, and through his inspirations, according to the good pleasure of the Father, frees us from sin, makes us cheerful, peaceful and pious, satisfies our hearts and minds, and makes them holy in Christ Jesus. And so we believe and confess before God, before his angels, before all our brothers and before all the world, that these three names, workings and powers, namely, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (which the fathers called three persons, by which they meant the three true, divine beings), are one incomprehensible, indescribable, almighty, holy, only, eternal and sovereign God, as John says, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” Read also Matthew 28, verse 18; Mark 1, verse 8; Luke 3, verse 8; John 14, verse 16; John 15, verse 26; First Corinthians 12, verse 11. And although they are three, yet in godhead, will, power and working they are one, and can no more be separated from each other than the sun, its brightness and its warmth; for the one cannot exist without the other; yet they are incomprehensible, from the incomprehensible Father, even as the brightness and heat are from the sun. The one must exist with the other, or else the whole Godhead is denied; for all that the Father does, and has done from the beginning, he works through his Son, in the power of his holy and eternal Spirit. This Son does not work without the Father and the Holy Spirit. Neither does the Holy Spirit do anything without the Father and the Son. Therefore the one must remain with the other, or else there must be an imperfect God; for if we deny the divinity of Christ or the true existence of the Holy Spirit, then we invent and picture to ourselves a God who is without wisdom, power, light, life, truth and word, and without the Holy Spirit. [Note 4]

Brothers, understand all this in a divine and spiritual sense, and not in a human or carnal manner! Then you will be satisfied with the plain, clear and simple testimony of the prophets, evangelists and apostles concerning this deep mystery. Let everyone see to it with fear and trembling, lest he put his hand into the consuming fire.

Heartily beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, mark the following well. The eternal God is such a great and terrible God, as you have read; Christ was born of the Father in this way, as has been said, and the attributes of God abound so richly in Christ; the prophets, evangelists and apostles so strongly declare, preach and teach him as God; and the Scriptures so abundantly teach and testify of the Holy Spirit, and confess that the eternal Father, with his eternal Son and Holy Spirit, in their divine state, power, glory and sovereignty, are unspeakable, inexpressible and incomprehensible, as may be plainly understood from the Scriptures cited (for it is all Spirit and God, and therefore beyond human understanding). Therefore I pray, admonish and entreat all my beloved brothers and companions in Christ Jesus, with all that men can pray, not to allow or consent to flatterings, innovations or human explanations concerning this incomprehensible majesty, no matter from whom they come; always fearing, you who seek God, with all your powers, lest by such high-flying thoughts and human conjecture you mistake the unspeakable God, who makes all human wisdom that is contrary to him foolishness; lest through your vain searching and pondering of such unfathomable matters you fall into his hands and are consumed by the fire of his wrath.

Brothers, for my part I confess that I would rather die than believe, and teach to my brothers, a single word or letter concerning the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (see, before God I do not lie) that differs from the express, testifying word of God, which points this out and teaches it so clearly through the prophets, evangelists and apostles.

O my pious, God-fearing, faithful brothers, let us all, one with another, be of this mind; then the ruined cities may be rebuilt, the strong may remain firm, the wavering may be strengthened again, and so peace, love and unity may be restored. I know certainly and truly that if anyone wants to go further than we testify and admonish here from the word of God, he will fall into error, or climb too high, or swerve from side to side; he will miss the right course and will act no more wisely than one who would try to pour or confine the river Rhine or Meuse in a quart bottle. But those who abide simply and humbly by the word of God, the testified prophetic, evangelical and apostolic word, and firmly believe it, although they neither do nor can fully comprehend it, and who guard themselves against all human investigation, disputing, flattering, explanations, twisting and conjecture in these incomprehensible depths, will stand firm in all temptations by the grace of God, and will walk all their lives before their God with penitent and cheerful minds. I sincerely wish that all the brothers were of one mind with me in this respect; for I have been at enmity with human sophistry and flattery for fifteen years, and I still am. I expect to remain so, and by the help of God to take heed not to offer the blood of the Lord with leaven; but I desire solely to enter into the sanctuary of God, that is, into his holy church, with the unleavened bread of the pure word of God, spread over with the oil of the Holy Spirit.

O brothers, if all who are called brothers were of this mind with me, how soon the sad, afflicted hearts would find comfort and cheerfulness, and the divided, restless minds unity and peace! O Lord Jesus, have mercy on your poor, afflicted sheep, and let every hungry and thirsty soul find your green pastures and clear waters. Amen.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, receive this with the same mind with which I have written it to you; read it plainly to all the brothers, and understand it in a Christian manner; and beware, beware, indeed, BEWARE of all disputing, discord and division. This I desire from my inmost soul, for the Lord’s sake. The sincere, evangelical peace be with all my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Amen.

MENNO SIMON.

September 9th, in the year 1550.