Spiritualism and Rationalism in Dutch Collegiant Thought: New Evidence from William Ames’s...

Lias 40/2 (2013) 105-175. doi: 10.2143/LIAS.40.2.3019237© 2013 by Lias. All rights reserved.

SPIRITUALISM AND RATIONALISMIN DUTCH COLLEGIANT THOUGHT:

NEW EVIDENCE FROM WILLIAM AMES’S MYSTERIES�OF�THE�KINGDOM�OF�GOD (1661),

WITH A TRANSLATION

JO VAN CAUTER AND LAURA REDIEHS

Abstract

In 1661, the Quaker William Ames wrote his De�Verborgentheden�van�het�Rijcke�Godts�(Mysteries�of�the�Kingdom�of�God). This work is mentioned on the title page of a more famous work, Het�Licht�op�den�Kandelaar�(The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick), written in 1662 by the Dutch Collegiant Pieter Balling, a friend of the philosopher Spinoza, and translated into English a year later. Balling’s work is regarded as an important statement of a stage of Collegiant thought, of special interest because of the apparent influences from Spinoza. But this same work was also considered by the Quakers to be a good account of their own theory of knowledge, according to Rufus Jones and Richard Pop-kin. Some early Quaker sources even listed the author as Ames himself. The confusion resulted from the title page, which references the separate work Mysteries�of�the�King-dom�of�God as authored by Ames. The English translation offered here not only makes the work available to English-speaking scholars, but also occasions a new and close comparison of the Mysteries�and the Candlestick, examining the concept of the ‘inward light’ in relation to rationalism in circles of Quakers and Collegiants.

Key words: Balling – Ames – Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) – Collegiants – The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick

Introduction

Initially it would appear that the Dutch Collegiant movement and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were very similar and had much in common. Indeed, the year 1662 might have represented a moment of convergence between the two groups, exemplified by The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick,1 a work written

* The authors wish to thank Ann W. Upton, Special Collections Librarian and Quaker Bibli-ographer at Haverford College, for providing us with a copy of Ames’ De�Verborgentheden�van�het�Rijcke�Godts.�Further thanks are due to the comments of two referees.

1 Originally published anonymously as Het�Licht�op�den�Kandelaar, 1662, and translated into English by Benjamin Furly in 1663. Two slightly different versions of this work in English are available: as a pamphlet published by Quaker Universalist Fellowship, 1992 (2005 electronic ver-sion: http://universalistfriends.org/pdf/candle.pdf, accessed 5 December 2012), and the version

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106 J. VAN CAUTER AND L. REDIEHS

by Pieter Balling, a Collegiant author strongly influenced by both the Quaker William Ames and the philosopher Baruch Spinoza. This work presents an unu-sual epistemology of ‘inner light’, distinguishable both from the rationalism and empiricism that are commonly thought of as the predominant theories of knowl-edge of this time in European thought.

Yet, the Candlestick is taken by some scholars to represent the Collegiants’ shifting to the more rationalist philosophy that they did eventually accept. The reason for this interpretation is that scholars have focused on identifying the influences of Spinoza on this work. A translation of De�verborgentheden�van�het�Rijcke�Gods�(hereafter to be referred to as Mysteries�of�the�Kingdom�of�God),2 written in 1661 by the Quaker William Ames, now makes it possible for English-speaking scholars also to examine the Quaker influence on the Candle-stick. The reason English-speaking scholars may be interested in this compari-son is detailed in what follows. In sum, this comparison reveals, contrary to previous scholarship, that the epistemology offered by the Candlestick more closely resembles the distinctive Quaker epistemology than Spinoza’s own later rationalism.

Historical Background

The Dutch Collegiant movement, part of the radical branch of the second refor-mation (not to be confused with the Dutch orthodox Calvinist Nadere�Reforma-tie�or Further Reformation), started around 1620 in Holland, as an offshoot of the Dutch Arminian tradition. The Collegiants met without preachers in ‘col-leges’ (informal gatherings for religious education) to pray, read the Bible, and freely discuss religious matters. They did not formally establish themselves as a church, but gathered as groups of seekers from various religious traditions sepa-rately from their churches to discuss theological and philosophical ideas.3

available as an Appendix to W. Sewel, The�History� of� the�Rise,� Increase,� and�Progress� of� the�Christian�People�called�Quakers,�London: J. Sowle, 1722. Balling’s text has been republished in Dutch in W.N.A. Klever, ‘De Spinozistische prediking van Pieter Balling. Uitgave van “Het licht op den kandelaar” met biografische inleiding en commentaar’, Doopsgezinde� Bijdragen, N.S. vol. 14, 1988, pp. 55-85.

2 This work apparently has never before been translated into English. It was part of a debate between Quakers in Holland and Collegiants.

3 A.C. Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason:�the�Dutch�Collegiants�in�the�Early�Enlightenment, Prince-ton, 1991, p. 37; S. Zijlstra, Om�de�ware� gemeente� en� de� oude�gronden:�geschiedenis� van�de�dopersen� in�de�Nederlanden�1531-1675, Hilversum, 2000, pp. 403-404; J. S. Preus, ‘The Bible and Religion in the Century of Genius: Part I: Religion on the Margins: Conversos and colle-giants’, Religion,�vol 28, 1998, pp. 3-14 (9).

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WILLIAM AMES’S MYSTERIES�OF�THE�KINGDOM�OF�GOD 107

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) started around 1652 in England. The Quakers too were part of the radical branch of the second reformation, claiming that ‘Christ has come to teach his people Himself’.4 In their church services, they rejected the usual liturgy and they did not hire preachers, regard-ing everyone as a minister. In what they called ‘Meetings for Worship,’ they gathered to wait on the spirit, seeking direct divine inspiration. Anyone who felt moved to speak (male or female) was free to speak.5

In 1653, some Quakers went to Holland to share their message, and were quickly drawn to the Collegiants because of the shared features of their faith and practice: the lack of appointed preachers, the practice of ‘free prophecy,’and the belief in the Light Within.6 William Ames arrived in Holland in 1656 and quickly became recognised as an important Quaker leader.7

Ames’s Mysteries�of� the�Kingdom�of�God was written in 1661 as part of a debate with Galenus Abrahamsz de Haan, who was a Mennonite pastor and

4 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason (as in n. 3), p. 90. 5 H. Barbour, The�Quakers�in�Puritan�England, New Haven, 1964, pp. 31-32 and 99-126. 6 R. B. Evenhuis, Ook�dat�was�Amsterdam, vol. 3:�De�kerk�der�hervorming� in�de� tweede�

helft� van� de� zeventiende� eeuw:�nabloei� en� inzinking, Baarn, 1971, p. 327. Initially, the early Quakers faced relentless opposition from officials and churchmen. Because of their systematic attempts to disturb and take over Reformed worship services, and their refusal to take off hats before magistrates or observe other social niceties, they soon became known as disturbers of peace and social order. Notwithstanding persecution in the early years – penalties of fines, banishment and imprisonment were a common occurrence – the Netherlands became an impor-tant seat of Quaker teaching and printing. See K.L. Sprunger, Dutch�Puritanism:�A�History�of�English�and�Scottish�Churches�of� the�Netherlands�in�the�Sixteenth�and�Seventeenth�Centuries, Leiden, 1982, pp. 350-352.

7 William Ames went to the Netherlands as part of the Quaker mission to share their message more widely. Initially, this mission was interpreted in the context of Millenarian beliefs shared by many other groups of the time as well. According to Popkin, ‘the Quakers, like other Millenarians of the time, were convinced this great event in Christian eschatology would occur in 1656’. Prepa-ration for this event included the need to facilitate the reconversion of the Jews to Christianity. See R.H. Popkin, ‘Spinoza’s Relations with the Quakers in Amsterdam’, Quaker� History, vol. 73:1, 1984, pp. 14-28 (17). It was in this context that William Ames and another Quaker, Samuel Fisher, met Spinoza: they needed someone to translate some Quaker writings into Hebrew, and it is highly likely that it was Spinoza who was the translator. See Evenhuis, Ook�dat�was�Amsterdam�(as in n. 6), p. 339 and R.H. Popkin, ‘Introduction’ to Spinoza’s�Earliest�Publication?�The�Hebrew�Translation�of�Margaret�Fell’s�‘A�Loving�Salutation�to�the�Seed�of�Abraham�among�the�Jews,�wherever�they�are�scattered�up�and�down�upon�the�Face�of�the�Earth’, Assen, 1987. For more on millenarianism in seventeenth-century Amsterdam see E.G.E. van der Wall, ‘The Amster-dam Millenarian Petrus Serrarius (1600-1669) and the Anglo-Dutch Circle of Philo-Judaists’, in: J. van den Berg and E.G.E. van der Wall, eds, Jewish-Christian� Relations� in� the� Seventeenth�Century:�Studies�and�Documents, Dordrecht, 1988, pp. 73-94.

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important Collegiant leader.8 Details of this debate are discussed below. It seems that Galenus did not directly respond to this pamphlet. Meanwhile, other Quak-ers and Collegiants participated in the pamphlet debate as well, and the next major response seems to be the famous Light�upon� the�Candlestick, published anonymously, originally, but now thought to have been written by Pieter Balling, a Collegiant who was close friends with Galenus.9

Collegiant scholar Andrew Fix claims that The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick is the most discussed work written by a Dutch Collegiant author. It seems to show influences of Cartesian thought, and the fact that Pieter Balling was close friends with the philosopher Baruch Spinoza gives considerable credibility to this hypothesis. Spinoza published his Principles�of�Cartesian�Philosophy, at least in part, for the benefit of his Collegiant friends.10 The Principles�of�Cartesian�Phi-losophy was written in 1662, published in 1663, and then was translated from Latin into Dutch by Balling in 1664.11 Because Spinoza was working on this work at the same time that Balling wrote The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick, it is likely that they discussed Cartesian philosophy together, which influenced Balling in his work.12 Popkin argues that Balling’s work ‘contains striking Spinozistic terms and ideas as the basis for rational mysticism’, and sees this

8 Galenus Abrahamsz, Mennonite preacher, Collegiant, physician and alchemist, was a central figure in Amsterdam intellectual life. He played a pivotal role in what became popularly known as the ‘War of Lambs’ (see note 21). Biographical information on Galenus can be found in H.W. Meihuizen, Galenus�Abrahamsz.�1622-1706,�Strijder� voor� een�onbeperkte� verdraagzaam-heid�en�verdediger�van�het�doperse�spiritualisme, Haarlem, 1954; M. de Baar, ‘Ik�moet�spreken’.�Het� spiritueel� leiderschap� van�Antoinette�Bourignon� (1616-1680), PhD thesis, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2004 and R. Lambour, ‘De alchemische wereld van Galenus Abrahamsz (1622-1706)’, Doopsgezinde�bijdragen, N.S. vol. 31, 2005, pp. 93-182.

9 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 199, n. 34; R.H. Popkin, ‘Spinoza and Samuel Fisher’,�Philos-ophia, vol. 15, 1985, pp. 219-236 (232).

10 The work originally was dictated to one of the students he worked with in his capacity as a professional tutor. Spinoza was instructing the student, Johannes Caesarius, in Cartesian philoso-phy, and Spinoza’s Amsterdam friends encouraged him to publish the work. However, Spinoza confided to Oldenburg that he saw the publication of his Principles mainly as an ideal test case to assess the desirability of an eventual publication of his own philosophical work: ‘Perhaps as a result there will be some men holding high positions in my country who will want to see other of my writing which I acknowledge as my own, and so will arrange that I can make them available to the public without risk of trouble’. See S. Shirley, tr., M.L. Morgan, ed., Spinoza:�Complete�Works, Cambridge, 2002, pp. 792-793.

11 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 193.12 According to Meinsma, Spinoza joined the Amsterdam Collegiants at some point in 1654

or at the beginning of 1655. See K.O. Meinsma, Spinoza�en�zijn�kring:�Historisch-kritische�stu-diën�over�Hollandsche�vrijgeesten, Den Haag, 1896, p. 102. In all likelihood, Spinoza already was in close contact with Balling before his excommunication in 1656. See S. Nadler, Spinoza:�A�life, Cambridge, 2001, p. 141; Fix, Prophecy� and� Reason, p. 200 and Popkin, ‘Introduction’ to Spinoza’s�Earliest�Publication?�(as in n. 7), p. 5.

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Spinozistic influence as an important indication of Spinoza’s interest in, and even involvement with, Collegiant and Quaker mysticism.13

Not only is The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick of interest to scholars of Colle-giant and Spinozistic thought, it has also long interested Quaker scholars. Rufus Jones, for instance, notes that this work

was very quickly discovered by the Quakers, who immediately recognised it as ‘bone of their bone’, and circulated it as a Quaker Tract. It was translated into English in 1663 by B. F. (Benjamin Furley, a Quaker merchant of Colchester, then living in Rotterdam), who published it with the curious title page: ‘The Light upon the Can-dlestick. Serving for Observation of the Principal things in the Book called, The Mystery [sic] of the Kingdom of God, &c. Against several Professors, Treated of, and written by Will Ames. Printed in Low Dutch for the Author, 1662, and translated into English by B. F.’.14

William Hull similarly notes:

Benjamin Furly, an Anglo-Dutch Friend of Rotterdam […] translated from the Dutch into English a book that bore so strong a resemblance to Quakerism that its author-ship was ascribed to William Ames. This was ‘The Light upon the Candlestick’.15

He further notes:

The quotation marks and punctuation in the Dutch title above left it uncertain whether William Ames was the author of the ‘Light on the Candlestick’, or of ‘The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God’, or of both. Willem Sewel (‘History’, preface to both Eng-lish and Dutch editions) believed that this ambiguity was intentional, and that the true author of ‘The Light upon the Candlestick’ designed it to be ascribed to William Ames, who was undoubtedly the author of ‘The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God’ (apparently not published in English, but in Dutch [...]). This belief of Sewel’s was based on the fact that the name of William Ames alone appeared upon the title-page, in capital letters below the titles of both books, and that no printer’s name or place of publication was added, but only ‘Printed for the Author 1662’.16

Sewel thought that the author was either Pieter Balling or Adam Boreel (both Collegiants); Fix and other scholars today believe it was Pieter Balling, with Adam Boreel possibly responsible for translating the work into Latin.17 But we

13 Popkin, ‘Spinoza and Samuel Fisher’ (as in n. 9), p. 232.14 R. Jones, Spiritual Reformers�in�the�16th�and�17th�Centuries, London, 1914, p. 128.15 W.I. Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism�in�Amsterdam�1655-1665, Swarthmore, PA, 1938, p. 214.16 Ibid., p. 215, n. 444.17 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 199, n34; Klever, ‘De Spinozistische prediking van Pieter

Balling’ (as in n. 1), pp. 55-56; R.H. Popkin, ‘Spinoza and the Three�Imposters’, in: E. Curley

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can see from the passages quoted above that initially there was confusion about the authorship of The�Light�upon� the�Candlestick. A close reading of the title page, however, strongly suggests that the originally anonymous author only claimed to have been influenced by a different work by William Ames: The�Mysteries�of�the�Kingdom�of�God.

Kingdon Swayne and Sally Rickerman, writing about The� Light� upon� the�Candlestick, and summarising some of the scholarship about this piece by Rich-ard Popkin, Michael Signer, and Rufus Jones, end their own essay with these words:

We may hope that some future scholar will solve the major remaining puzzle pre-sented by The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick: who decided to put William Ames’s name to Peter Balling’s work, and why?18

Now we can answer this question: It was not that someone decided to put Ames’s name to Balling’s work, but that the title page was describing (and acknowledging) the influence of William Ames’s work, Mysteries�of�the�King-dom�of�God on The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick. The translation of ‘Mysteries’ into English now allows English-speaking scholars to compare the two works directly themselves.

The Pamphlet Debate between the Collegiants and Quakers

Initially the Quakers and the Dutch Collegiants were interested in each other, but differences in their respective points of view especially asserted themselves in 1660, when Collegiant Adam Boreel and Quaker John Higgins argued with one another during a joint meeting between Quakers and Collegiants in Pieter Serrarius’s house in Amsterdam, and the pamphlet debate emerged around this same time.19 Quaker scholar William Hull and Collegiant scholar Andrew Fix both discuss this pamphlet debate.

Hull claims that the debate started with a work co-authored by Galenus Abrahamsz and David Spruyt entitled ‘Nineteen Articles’, 1657.20 Fix says the

and P.F. Moreau, eds,�Spinoza:�Issues�and�Directions:� the�Proceedings�of� the�Chicago�Spinoza�Conference, Leiden, 1990, pp. 347-358 (350); R. Iliffe, ‘“Jesus Nazarenus Legislator”: Adam Boreel’s defence of Christianity’, in: S. Berti and F. Charles-Daubertn with R.H. Popkin, eds, Heterodoxy,� Spinozism,� and�Free�Thought� in�Early-Eighteenth-Century�Europe.� Studies� on� the�Traité�des�Trois�Imposteurs, Dordrecht, 1996, pp. 375-396 (382, n. 20).

18 S. Rickerman and S. Kingdon, ‘Preface’ and ‘Epilogue’ to The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick, Quaker Universalist Fellowship, 1992 (2005 electronic version), p. 27, http://universalistfriends.org/pdf/candle.pdf, accessed 5 December 2012.

19 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 196.20 Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism�(as in n. 15), p. 233.

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pamphlet war began with a publication by Ames entitled Het�Licht� dat� in� de�duisternis�schijnt�beweesen�den�weg�tot�God�te�zijn (‘The light that shines in the darkness proven to be the way to God’) (1660), which attacks article XVI of ‘Nineteen Articles’.21 Article XVI claimed that all churches were separated from divine inspiration. Ames objected to the idea of establishing churches without divine inspiration, and questioned whether anyone could really say that all churches were hopelessly corrupt.22 He did not agree that God is radically sepa-rated from the world. Like other Quakers, Ames thought that God remains con-nected to humans through the Inward Light. This Inward Light, present in eve-ryone, was a source of divine inspiration when properly discerned. By rejecting ecclesiastical authority and grounding their faith directly on corporately discern-ing the guidance of the Light or Christ within, the Quakers felt that they were reclaiming ‘primitive Christianity’23 and were thereby able to avoid the corrupt-ing influences that other churches suffered.

Galenus responded with a pamphlet entitled Drie�vragen (‘Three questions’) in 1660, which in turn elicited Ames’s De�verborgentheden�van�het�Rijcke�Gods in 1661,24 which is the text offered in translation here.25 While Fix translates this

21 Galenus was a lay preacher in the Mennonite Church (‘the Lamb congregation’), and was very effective, but became controversial as his congregation grappled with differences with other Mennonite churches. Galenus, in his own growing frustration, found good connection with Col-legiants, but his involvement with the Collegiants created further controversy within his church (Fix, Prophecy� and�Reason, pp. 94-99). He argued that although the true church was built by Christ, it did not last: it became corrupted with Constantine’s alliance of the church with secular power: this doctrine of a ‘world unholy’ contrasted sharply with the traditional providential world-view. His writings to Mennonite church officials (Nineteen�Articles and further explanations of those nineteen articles) became important statements of the Collegiant response to the Protestant Reformation. ‘Galenus urged that Christians should not themselves attempt to reform the corrupt church, but rather they should wait for Christ to do so in the millennium’ (ibid., p. 100). Clinging tightly to the authority of existing churches might delay Christ’s return to earth, since existing churches are corrupt. What humans can do in the interim is come together to encourage each other in improving their own religious lives within this corrupt world, to prepare for the millennium and perhaps attain salvation (ibid., pp. 100-101). Enduring disputes between the so-called Lamists – followers of Galenus – and the more conservative faction of his congregation – soon to be known as the Zonists – resulted in a large-scale Mennonite schism around 1664. In 1663 Galenus himself was charged by his opponents with the crime of Socianism, but he was acquitted by the court of Holland. For more on the ‘War of Lambs’ or ‘lammerenkrijgh’ (1655-1664), see Meihuizen, Galenus�Abrahamsz.(as in n. 8), pp. 54-85, 65-68 and 82-83; Zijlstra, Om�de�ware�gemeente�en�de�oude�gronden (as in n. 3), pp. 417-421; Evenhuis, Ook�dat�was�Amsterdam, pp. 105-110.

22 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 196.23 William Penn was later to express this idea in his ‘Primitive Christianity Revived’, first

published in 1696.24 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 197.25 Hull’s account here is a bit different, suggesting that while ‘Mysteries’ was a general

response to Galenus, it was not his (only) response to ‘Three Questions’. Also, there were other

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title, ‘The hidden things of God’s kingdom’, and does not describe its contents, it can also be translated, ‘Mysteries of the Kingdom of God’, the phrasing that appears on the original English title page of the Candlestick.

According to Hull, this work ‘was answered, not by Abrahamsz, but by one of his ardent supporters, Petrus Serrarius’,26 in his work ‘The Destruction (or Trampling upon) of the Holy City’.27 Hull describes this dispute: ‘The chief question at issue in this controversy, as revealed by the subtitle of the last pam-phlet, was the claim made by the Quakers, and denied by the Collegiants, that the former had restored the primitive Christian community’. Hull then notesthat Ames replied on pages 6-9 of his ‘Light that shines in the darkness’, focus-ing on the first two pages of Serrarius’s pamphlet.28

Fix describes the sequence after Mysteries (or ‘Hidden Things’) a little dif-ferently: he says there followed several replies by other Collegiants, including three works by Serrarius in 1661,29 and then adds that ‘Balling published his important work, Het� Licht� op� den� Kandelaar in 1662’.30 Here Fix seems to imply that Balling’s work is intended as a refutation of Ames, but the phrasing of the English title page, the fact that it was a Quaker who translated it into English (Benjamin Furly), and the additional fact that it was circulated widely among the Quakers and was received with great interest suggest that it was not taken by the Quakers as a refutation at all.

It was this ‘mystery’ which prompted our decision to translate Ames’s piece, apparently for the first time, into English. This is important because at least no English-speaking scholars of Quakerism appear to have examined and compared

writings and there was another author in between ‘Three Questions’ and ‘Mysteries’. See Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, p. 233.

26 Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, p. 233.27 Dutch title: ‘De� Vertredinge� Des� Heyligen� Stadts,� ofte� een� klaer� bewijs� van� ’t� Verval

der� Eerste� Apostolische� Gemeente,� gestalt� tot� Antwoort� op� de� drie� Vragen� diesaegaende� aen�Dr.��Galenus�en�David�Spruyt�uytgegeven’, Amsterdam, 1659.

28 Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, p. 234.29 These are the other works Fix mentions: Higgens wrote Eenige�waerdige�ende�gewichtige�

aenmerckiingen�voor�Galenus�Abrahamsz.�ende�Adam�Boreel (‘Some worthy and weighty remarks for Galenus Abrahamsz. and Adam Boreel’) in 1660. Pieter Serrarius published three works in 1661: De�ware� weg� tot� God (‘The true way to God’), 23� vragen� aen�William� Ames� en� John��Higgins (‘Twenty-three questions to William Ames and John Higgins’), and Een�antwoordt�op�eenige�aenmerckingen�door�John�Higgins (‘An answer to some remarks by John Higgins’). See Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 197.

30 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 197. Hull does not list The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick as part of his lengthier account of the pamphlet wars (Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, pp. 232-237). Instead, he discusses it separately, pointing out its resonances with Quakerism, noting that while the style is more philosophical than Ames’ writings, the substance echoes Ames (ibid., pp. 214-216).

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it directly with Balling’s The�Light�upon� the�Candlestick, apart from the brief and apparently overlooked comment by Hull mentioned in a footnote above.

Significantly, it seems that Galenus did not participate further in this debate; nor did Ames respond any more to Balling. The last contribution to the pamphlet debate by Ames which Fix mentions was Het�waere�licht�beschermt (‘The true light defended’) in 1661: still before The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick appeared. Ames died in 1662.31 Fix does not note or comment on the fact that Galenus and Ames failed to respond to one another after this stage of the debate. Instead, Fix looks to the continuation of the debate by other participants as an indication that the tension between the two groups intensified. Eventually, the concept of the Light Within was rationalised (that is, equated to the faculty of reason) by the Collegiants, until finally the Collegiants adopted secular rationalism (by around 1690), blending with the philosophical views that were then becom-ing dominant, until the Collegiant movement finally dissolved in 1787.

It is possible that the reason Galenus did not respond any longer to Ames was that he found Ames convincing. Furthermore, he may have taken Balling’s work as a defense of Ames, and perhaps himself agreed. It is also possible that Ames did not respond to Balling because he did not regard Balling’s work as a refuta-tion of his own work, but instead an affirmation of his own point of view. Sewel, who knew Ames,32 in fact agrees with this latter point: ‘That he [Ames] approved the Contents of the Book [The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick] I know; but I know also that it never proceeded from his Pen’.33 The question then is whether Balling’s piece is a refutation of Ames, or a synthesis of Ames with Cartesian influences from Spinoza. The value of this translation of Ames’s work is that English speaking scholars can now directly compare the two works to answer this question. Indeed, the influence of Ames seems substantial.

Summary of Mysteries of the Kingdom of God

The major points of contention in the context of the larger debate between the Collegiants and the Quakers concerned the exact nature of the Inward Light and the relative priority of the Bible versus the Inward Light. The Collegiants argued that the Bible ought to have priority, while the Quakers contended that the Bible could only be properly understood when read with the illumination of the Light

31 Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, p. 65.32 Sewel and Ames knew each other. Ames had been the one who converted Sewel’s parents

to Quakerism. See Hull, The�Rise�of�Quakerism, p. 24.33 Sewel, The�History�(as in n. 1), preface.

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Within.34 Ames’ ‘Mysteries’ engages this discussion by providing a series of counterarguments to various issues posed by the Collegiant Galenus. The text opens with a preface in which Ames presents the reader with a general statement of the Quaker position, thus providing a foundation for the more specific and detailed discussion which follows in the nine ‘differences’.

In order to destroy the power and habits of sin that have corrupted humans since the Fall, God sent His Son – ‘Christ, the Word of God, Life and Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world’ – so that all people could believe and be guided through his eternal Spirit. Ames contends that only through recognition of Christ’s Inward Light can humankind once again culti-vate good desires (goede�begeerte) towards God, and commence the work of sanctification and rebirth; he also claims that John was sent to testify to this. By convincing people to direct themselves to the living power of the inward Christ, Quakers deliver the true apostolic message. Like the original servants of the Lord, they labor with words and sacred writings to lead people to Christ, and make manifest the Light of Christ already present within. However, similar to the opposition early Christians confronted, Quakers face hostility from self-pro-fessed ‘believers’ who are ignorant of the true divine message. Men like Galenus mistakenly search for Christ in a literal reading of Scripture, hence advocating a form of religion that prevents them and others from accessing the Kingdom of God. Mysteries has been written to expose the deficiencies of these literal exer-cises; only by first embracing inner Christ, the Light to which Scripture testifies, can the sacred writings fulfill their function as a source of spiritual truth.

Ames begins his more detailed exposition with a refutation of Galenus’ claim that the part of man’s soul that is uniquely human is weighed down by bad desires and sin and is ‘outside of God’ (The�First�Difference). The Quakers did not have such a negative view of human nature. Ames argues that the Spirit which differentiates humans from animals is essentially good, and is of God, and in fact was already in God prior to the existence of humankind. God then blew into humans this breath of life, by which humans can live and walk in His

34 For an insightful discussion of the shared features between Quakerism and other spiritualist traditions, see Jones, Spiritual Reformers� (as in n. 14). He discusses H. Denck, J. Buenderlin, C. Entfelder, S. Franck, C. Schwenckfeld, S. Castello, D. Volckertsz Coornhert and the Dutch Collegiants, V. Weigel, J. Boehme, J. Everard, G. Randall, F. Rous, B. Whichcote, J. Smith, and T. Traherne and the spiritual poets of the seventeenth century. Jones’s overall conclusion is that there was a loose ‘movement’ of spiritualism, characterized by these thinkers, but that it was the Quakers who adopted an organizational structure that allowed this particular version of Christian-ity to endure (emphasizing inner light even above the Bible). See also O.W. Heick, ‘The Theology of the “Inner light”’, in: J.L. Neve, ed., A�History�of�Christian�Thought:�Volume�Two,�History�of�Protestant�Theology, Philadelphia, 1946, pp. 38-49.

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image. The cause of humans’ corruption thus cannot be attributed to this Spirit. Ames invokes the metaphor of the serpent as symbolizing the possibility that humans can be tempted to move outside of God’s power and away from the Light. The source of evil is thus not that there are evil beings or that human nature is inherently corrupted. Instead, the source of evil is the possibility of being tempted to step outside of God and set oneself against God. Although the Spirit that originated from God remained unpolluted, the serpent is symbolic of how it happens that so many do not live according to the guidance of the Inward Light. The serpent, so to speak, succeeded in corrupting the ‘earthly part’ of humans. Despite the temptation and rule of darkness since the fall, the unblem-ished core of goodness in all human beings is only hidden and not destroyed. Ames compares our ability to rediscover this goodness – by accepting the union with the Divine instead of the Tempter – with the great mystery of the pure virgin who, through abstinence and devotion to God, refused temptation and thus gave birth to the Inward Christ. This transformation that accompanies unity with the divine, however, can only be initiated when individuals actively resist the temptations of earthly power and choose to align instead with God. Thus, Ames’s assertion that the spiritual part of the soul that comes from God is free from corruption does not entail that all will necessarily be sanctified, as Galenus had objected (The�Second�Difference).

Ames’s Third�Difference posits ‘the light and virtue of the Son of God’ as ‘the first principle of religion’, in contrast to Galenus’s claim that the sinfulness of human nature is ‘the first principle’. Galenus starts with the corruption of human nature, arguing from this starting point that God’s saving grace, through Christ, is always necessary to achieve salvation. Ames contends that only the Light of Christ can reveal our sinful nature to ourselves, and show us how to walk again in the goodness and power of God. This refutes Galenus’s claim that the sinfulness of human nature itself is the first cause of religion, as we first need the Light of Christ to reveal it, suggesting that the true first cause of reli-gion is the Light of Christ within each person.

The Fourth� Difference follows a similar line of argument. According to Galenus, Christ will only come to enlighten people after they have made the choice to ‘arise from the dead’. Ames responds by questioning how people can know and wish to seek enlightenment or know how to do so if the Light of Christ is not already within them to offer such insight and guidance.35 For this

35 This point of discussion between Ames and Galenus brings to mind the old debate concern-ing the role of the will and intellect in salvation. Many theologians of the Reformation, mainly influenced by Augustine, defended the precedence of the will over the intellect in God concerning

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reason, according to Ames, men like Galenus can only be said to embrace a religion veiled in darkness and without foundation, to which the numerous quar-rels and debates testify. Since only the Light of Christ itself can show the way, by denying that this Light is already present, they necessarily look for answers in places where none are to be found. They blindly cling to a set of external rules, keeping themselves and others in darkness.

The Fifth�Difference contrasts Galenus’s belief that ‘the external ear’ can ‘hear the voice of God’ with Ames’s distinction between the so-called external and internal ear. He contends that humans’ external ear is the same as that of beasts, created by God, but not ‘of God’, and thus not suitable for hearing God’s Word (since God is ‘a Spirit pure and eternal’). In order to hear the voice of God, the Light of Christ must cultivate humans’ spiritual ear. While many rely on their external ear to hear God’s eternal Word, this transient ear does not allow one to understand or grasp the matters of God’s Spirit. Ames provides the example of the Jews, who have Scripture, are acquainted with the teachings of Christ and his Apostles, yet fail to grasp the truths contained therein.

In what follows, Ames further elaborates on the central thesis that Scripture cannot be properly understood without illumination by the Light of Christ. While many claim that Scripture is the Word of God, they fail to see thatthe letter in itself is dead; i.e., the Word of God to which they testify is not the Word that Scripture reveals. Scripture is a set of words which testifies that Christ is the living and active Word of God (The�Sixth�Difference). Consequently, the Rule provided by Scripture is the general one of coming to the true Spirit of God. According to Ames, it is for this reason that Galenus is mistaken to assume that a blind, mechanical adherence to Scripture’s Rule will automatically lead one on the path to salvation (The� Seventh� Difference). Moreover, Galenus’s assertion that Scripture first ought to educate the conscience of humans in order for it to be able to receive Christ’s illumination is rejected on similar grounds. To believe in Scripture without first believing in the primacy of the Light is to

the order of creation and salvation. See J. Lössl, ‘Intellect with a (divine) purpose: Augustine on the will’, in: T. Pink and M.W.F. Stone, eds, The�Will�and�Human�Action:�From�Antiquity�to�the�Present�Day, London, 2004, p. 54. For more on the question concerning the relationship between intellect and will in Augustine, see, for instance, J. Pelikan, The�Christian�Tradition:�A�History�of�the�Development�of�Doctrine,�5 vols, 1975-1991; vol. I:�The�Emergence�of�the�Catholic�Tradition�(100-600), Chicago, 1971, pp. 294-307 and E. Stump, ‘Augustine on Free Will’, in: E. Stump and N. Kretzmann, eds, The�Cambridge�Companion� to� Augustine, Cambridge, 2001, pp. 124-147.It should be noted that for the Quakers emphasis was primarily on redemption of the world from suffering and injustice, rather than personal salvation. They were eager for humans to turn to God, but this was so they could join in the work of helping bring God’s Kingdom to earth. Above all, they desired union with the divine in order to help fulfill God’s purpose on earth.

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be woefully mistaken. Indeed, it is the active and living Word of God that inspired the Prophets and Apostles to bring forth Scripture. True worship is the operation of the Spirit within, not a ‘self-righteousness of the letter’ (The�Eighth�Difference).

Ames’s final disagreement with Galenus deals with God’s condemnation of the Pagans. Galenus had argued that those who do not have Scripture could still come to the knowledge of God through the Creation. Although they had access to Truth, they failed to perceive it in creation outside of them. Ames remarks that all people are born with the Light of Christ. God’s wrath is directed at those who deny the Truth present within, and this applies to Pagans and all human-kind. Furthermore, by placing the source of enlightenment in mortal creatures, Galenus places the Creation above the Creator. Ames maintains that spiritual enlightenment, as well as knowledge of God and the Creation, is possible only through the operation of Christ’s Light. Thus, the Light Within is the Corner-stone of the true religion.

Philosophical Significance

Read in comparison with Mysteries, The�Light�upon�the�Candlestick can now be interpreted to represent a brief moment of convergence between Quaker and Collegiant theories of knowledge. Fix describes the overall trajectory of Colle-giant thought in three stages. The first is a ‘spiritualist’ understanding of the Inward Light (the Inward Light is a faculty of divine inspiration); the second stage is a shift to a ‘rationalisation’ of the Inward Light (equating the Inward Light with the light of reason, where reason itself is seen as a gift from God); and the third stage is the acceptance of secular philosophical rationalism (a full de-spiritualising of the light of reason). Fix defines ‘spiritualism’ as the belief in the Inward Light as inspiration from God, providing religious knowledge that surpasses that provided by unaided human intellect.36 This understanding ofthe Inward Light is very similar to the view held by the Quakers. Several of the early Quakers distinguished the Inward Light from human rationality,37 and oth-ers described the epistemological function of the Inward Light using sensory analogies,38 making the implicit theory of knowledge an experiential one which can be described as an expanded form of empiricism (that is, a version of

36 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 187.37 Isaac Penington, George Fox, James Nayler, and Thomas Lawson are some of the Quakers

who cautioned their readers against excessive reliance on human reason.38 George Keith and Robert Barclay used sensory analogies to describe the (epistemological)

function of the Light Within, emphasising that the sensory language was meant metaphorically, not literally.

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empiricism not limited to the five external senses plus the kinds of internal senses described by Locke and Hume, but also including the experience of rela-tionship to the divine).39

At the time of the publication of the Mysteries and the Candlestick, the Inward Light was not yet fully ‘rationalised’ in Collegiant thought, although Fix argues that the Candlestick represents a movement in this direction.40 The first step towards this rationalisation of the Inward Light in fact was Galenus’s own weakening of its spiritual power. Galenus made a distinction between heerlijk-making (extraordinary) divine inspiration and heiligmaking (salvational) divine inspiration, where the first includes the power to convert others and purify the church, but the second does not carry these powers but only at best can effect one’s own personal salvation. Galenus regarded the heerlijkmaking gift as only having been present in the early days of Christianity. It was then lost when the Christian church was corrupted by Constantine’s alliance of the church with secular power. Galenus believed that only the heiligmaking gift was present after Constantine.41 While the Quakers did not use this terminology, it is implicit from their writings of this time that they did believe in the stronger form of divine inspiration. The Mysteries in fact shows that this was one of the pointsof dispute between Ames and Galenus.

If Fix were correct that the Candlestick represented an attempted Collegiant refutation of Ames, borrowing Cartesian and Spinozistic rationalist terminology to shift the meaning of the Inward Light away from its spiritualist roots and towards equating it with the ‘light of reason’, then it would be clear that the Candlestick belongs to Fix’s second stage of Collegiant thought. But Fix himself notes that the word ‘reason’ does not in fact appear in the Candlestick. Balling clearly sides with Ames on asserting the priority of the Inward Light over bibli-cal authority, and thus disagrees with Galenus. But since the Inward Light is never explicitly equated with reason, and Balling echoes arguments offered by Ames, Fix’s conclusion that Balling really means to be asserting the priority of reason above scripture is doubtful.

Other scholars, in agreement with the influential line taken by Fix, draw attention to Balling’s use and definition of the ‘Light’ presented in the Candle-stick. According to Jonathan Israel, it is very likely that Balling deliberately uses the concept in an ambiguous way ‘to denote either the light of pure reason or a

39 J. Dudiak and L. Rediehs, ‘Quakers, Philosophy, and Truth’, in: S.W. Angell and P. Dandelion, eds, Oxford�Handbook�of�Quaker�Studies, Oxford, 2013, pp. 507-519.

40 Fix, Prophecy�and�Reason, p. 199.41 Ibid., p. 102.

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Spiritualist inner guidance ensuing from mystical union with God’.42 Israel, however, confirms that the Candlestick is ‘widely mistaken for a Quaker tract’.43 Although Balling’s concept of the ‘true light’ is ‘well clothed in spiritual terms’, for Israel it ultimately refers to the clear and distinct knowledge of the Carte-sians.44 We find a similar approach in Klever. He points out that the text con-tains several ‘evangelical’ words or concepts, yet concludes that for Balling himself these always retain ‘a purely naturalistic or secular meaning’.45 Israel and Klever both call attention to Balling’s important, explicit definition of the ‘Light’ as ‘a clear and distinct knowledge of truth in the understanding of every man, by which he is so convinced of the Being and Quality of things, that he cannot possibly doubt thereof’.46 The clear Cartesian undertone of this defini-tion, as well as Balling’s addition that his own use of the concept primarily has ‘a natural signification’ gives strong support for more secularist readings of the Candlestick. However, immediately preceding this definition, Balling also stresses that it ultimately does not matter what one calls this principle: ‘it’s all one to us whether ye call it, Christ,� the�Spirit,� the�Word, &c. seeing these all denote but one and the same thing’.47 Consequently, it seems premature to inter-pret the Candlestick as a rejection of the ‘Inward Light’ of the Quakers. Indeed, as Rienk Vermij points out, in the Candlestick, ‘the spiritualist idea of direct illumination by the Holy Ghost and the Cartesian idea of natural reason as an infallible gateway to truth become virtually indistinguishable’.48

Moreover, the Candlestick completely lacks the suspicious, often conde-scending tone many of Balling’s contemporaries directed against the views of the Dutch Quakers. Lodewijk Meyer’s short digression on Quakerism in his Philosophia�S.�Scripturae�Interpres nicely exemplifies this point.49 He observes, perhaps not without a hint of irony, that:

42 J. Israel, Radical� Enlightenment:� Philosophy� and� the�Making� of� Modernity� 1650-1750, Oxford, 2001, p. 171, n. 60.

43 Ibid., p. 170, n. 60. 44 Ibid., p. 344.45 W.N.A. Klever, Mannen� rond� Spinoza,� 1650-1700:� Presentatie� van� een� emanciperende�

generatie, Hilversum, 1997, p. 21.46 The� Light� upon� the�Candlestick, Quaker Universalist Fellowship, 1992 (2005 electronic

version), http://universalistfriends.org/pdf/candle.pdf, accessed 5 December 2012.47 Ibid.48 R. Vermij, ‘The light of nature and the allegorisation of science on Dutch frontispieces

around 1700’, in: E. Jorink and B. Ramakers, eds, Art�and�Science�in�the�Early�Modern�Nether-lands, Zwolle, 2011, pp. 208-237 (228).

49 With the publication of the Interpres� in 1666, Meyer, another intimate member of the Spinoza circle, elicited a host of theological and philosophical refutations and condemnations. He

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the theologians of today quite properly reject the absurdities of the Quakers about the light and the spirit, and also their internal illuminations. For the Quakers exalt their own spirit above the Holy Scriptures, and they boast in extravagant terms that they trample underfoot all reason.50

While Balling’s use of ‘true light’ in the Candlestick undoubtedly leaves open the way for rationalist readings of this concept, a condemnation of the kind we find in Meyer is totally absent. Indeed, the Candlestick, according to Van Bunge, leaves room for a wide range of Cartesian, Spinozistic, and purely spiritual inter-pretations; an openness that corresponds to the spirit of reconciliation and toler-ance found also in Balling’s Verdediging (1663) and Nader�verdediging�van�de�regering�der�Doopsgezinde�Gemeente (1664).51 In fact, by comparing the Mys-teries with the Candlestick, we now also see that some of the phrases in the Candlestick formerly thought to represent rationalist thought are in fact bor-rowed directly from the Mysteries and thus have more of a Quaker (spiritualist) sense than a Cartesian (rationalist) one.52 This translation of the Mysteriesnow enables other scholars to compare the two works and draw their own conclusions.

The Mysteries�of�the�Kingdom�of�God can also be meaningfully read in isola-tion from the debate, offering one momentary articulation of the Quaker perspective on human nature, the workings of the Inward Light, and the episte-mological priority of the Inward Light over the Bible.

argued that in order for Christianity to overcome disruptive theological disputes and sectarian quarrels, philosophy, and only philosophy, should assume the task of Biblical exegesis. The Inter-pres, together with Spinoza’s Tractatus�theologico-politicus, Hobbes’ Leviathan and the Socinian collection Bibliotheca�Fratrum�Polonorum would be banned by the Court of Holland in 1674. See W. Van Bunge, introduction to Adriaan�Koerbagh, A�Light�Shining�in�Dark�Places, to�Illuminate�the�Main�Questions�of Theology�and�Religion, Leiden, 2011, p. 6.

50 L. Meyer,�Philosophy�as�the�Interpreter�of�Holy�Scripture�(1666), S. Shirley, tr., L.C. Rice and F. Pastijn, eds, Milwaukee, 2005, p. 200.

51 W. Van Bunge, ‘Balling, Pieter’, Biografisch�lexicon�voor�de�geschiedenis�van�het�Neder-lands�protestantisme, vol. 4, pp. 24-25, http://www.historici.nl/retroboeken/blnp/#page=0&size=800&accessor=accessor_index&source=1, accessed 25 December 2013. Both works are contribu-tions to the above mentioned ‘War of Lambs’, in which Balling sided with Galenus. Dutch titles: Verdediging� van� de� regering� der�Doopsgezinde�Gemeente,� die�men� de� vereenigde�Vlamingen,�Vriezen,� en� Hoogduytsche� noemt,� binnen� Amsterdam,� zijnde� een� wederlegging� van� het� zoo�genoemde�Noodwendig�Bericht,�&c., Amsterdam: Jan Rieuwertsz, 1663 and Nader�Verdediging�van�de�Regering�der�Doopsgezinde�Gemeente,�die�men�de�vereenigde�Hoogduytsche,�Vriezen�en�Vlamingen�noemt,� binnen�Amsterdam,� zijnde� een�Wederlegging�van�d’Antwoort�op�de�Verdedi-ging,�&c., Amsterdam: Jan Rieuwertsz, 1664. Both works are discussed more fully in Klever, ‘De Spinozistische prediking van Pieter Balling’, pp. 57-58.

52 These points are discussed in full in L. Rediehs, ‘Candlestick Mysteries’, Quaker�Studies vol 18:2, 2014, forthcoming.

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The manuscript we used was from the Haverford College Library Quaker Collection (Haverford, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.), call number BX 7730 .B97 S72, pp. 344-355. It is part of a bound collection of 65 Quaker works written in or translated into Dutch: this collection is autographed by William Sewel and so possibly was created, or selected, by Sewel himself. The tract is described by Joseph Smith in his Descriptive Catalogue of Friends Books (1867) as one of several by Ames ‘in the Dutch Language, and which it is believed have never been translated into English.’ Smith’s work is considered the best bibliographic guide for Quaker books.

The manuscript has a proliferation of italicized passages and often alternates Gothic and Roman letter types. In order to improve readability and consistency, it has been thought advisable not to always incorporate these stylistic variations into the transcription offered below. Where it is clear that the italics are to indi-cate the text is quoting, we have introduced quotation marks to the translation. In addition, paragraph divisions (numerals in parenthesis) have been added to the original text. Our aim throughout has been to follow as closely as possible the original while at the same time attempting to produce clear and readable English tools.

[email protected] University

[email protected]. Lawrence University

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De VERBORGENTHEDEN

van het RijckeGODTS,1

Ende de werckinge/ leydinge en bestieringe van Godts Geest verklaert/ in tegen-stellinge van de letterlijcke oeffeningen voorgestelt als de ware Godtsdienst/ door Galenus Abrahamsz ende door sijn aenhangers ende toestemmers gelooft.

Waer in getoont wordt, dat de Soone Godts dewelcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de werelt komt, dien is die de ware begeerte in den mensch verweckt, ende de wedergeboorte, heyligmaeckinge en saligheyt door sijn Geest in den mensch werckt, ende dat is de gerechtigheydt die God aengenaem is, maer de letterlijcke oeffeningen, ende de eygen gererchtighden der menschen sijn Godt niet aengenaem.

Niet�dat�wy�van�ons�selven�bequaem�zijn�yet�te�dencken,�als�uyt�ons�selven,�maer�onse�bequaemheyt�is�uyt�Godt,�die�ons�oock�bequaem�gemaeckt�heeft,�om�te�zijn�Dienaers� des�Nieuwen� Testaments,� niet� der� letter,�maer� des�Geests,� want� de�letter�doodt,�maer�de�Geest�maeckt�levendigh,�2 Cor. 3:5,6.

Door William Ames.

Gedruckt door den Autheur in Amsterdam den 17. dagh der 11. maent 1661.

1 From a bound collection of Quaker works in Dutch, obtained from Haverford College Library, Special Collections, call number BX 7730.B97 S72, pp. 344-355.

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TheMYSTERIES

of the Kingdomof GOD;

And the working, rule and government of God’s Spirit explained, contrary to the literal exercises proposed as the true religion, as is believed by Galenus Abra-hamsz and by his followers and adherents.1

In which is shown, that the Son of God, who enlightens every man that comes into the world, is he who begets the true desire in man; and that the rebirth, sanctification, and salvation in man works through his Spirit2; and that this is the justice which is pleasing to God; but the literal exercises, and the people’s own versions of justice, are not pleasing to God.

Not�that�we�are�sufficient�of�ourselves�to�think�any�thing�as�of�ourselves;�but�our�sufficiency� is�of�God;�Who�also�hath�made�us�able�ministers�of� the�new�testa-ment;�not�of�the�letter,�but�of�the�spirit:�for�the�letter�killeth,�but�the�spirit�giveth�life,�2 Cor. 3: 5, 6.3

By William Ames.

Printed by the author in Amsterdam, the 17th of the twelfth month, 1661

1 Ames’s De�Verborgentheden�van�het�Rijcke�God’s is mentioned on the title page of Balling’s The�Light�Upon�the�Candlestick. In his 1663 English edition, Benjamin Furly translates verbor-gentheden as ‘mysteries’.�Although verborgenheyt could also be translated as ‘hidden thing’,we have chosen to follow Furly and systematically translate this as ‘mystery’.

2 The Dutch Geest�could either be translated as ‘Spirit’ or ‘Mind’. However, since Ames very likely did not intend to equate the Spirit of God with the light of reason, we saw no reason to deviate from traditional Quaker terminology. Hence, Geest�is systematically translated as ‘Spirit’.

3 The bible citation found on the title page of Ames’s De�Verborgentheden� van�het�Rijcke�God’s is from the 1637 Dutch Authorized Version or Statenvertaling. For the English translation we have relied on the ‘English Authorized Version’ or King�James�Bible (Pure Cambridge).

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Tot den Leser.

(1) God is de Fonteyn des eeuwigen levens en deughde, van welcke den mensch verdoolt en vervreemt is, ende soo verdorven, dat al de gedachten en genegent-heden sijns herten altoos quaet zijn, nochtans is hy den mensch die Godt gemaeckt hadde, maer een vervallen ende verdorven mensch, hy was goet gemaeckt, maer is nu verdorven, soo dat sijne gedachten, woorden en daeden, geduurigh quaet zijn, hy is sonder goede gedachten, sonder goede genegent-heden, en sonder goede daeden, hy kan niets doen ’t welck goed is, en welbe-haegelijck tot Godt van hem selve, in die gevallen stant.

(2) Daerom heeft de oneyndelijck Fonteyn der wijsheyt en liefde sich self ver-breyt, ende is uytgevloeyt in sijn Soon, om yeder mensch te verlichten die in de werelt komt, op dat door het Licht, welck het leven is, welck in de duysternis schijnt, ende yeder mensch verlicht, wederom goede begeertens soude geteelt worden in den gevallen mensch, na de fonteyn van welcke hy gedoolt is.

(3) Den mensch alsoo verlooren hebbende, alles dat goedt is, en alles dat by Godt aengenaem is, door sijn overtreedingen, hebbende geen gesontheydt aen hem gelaten, van de kruyn des hoofts, tot den sool des voets, hy heeft niet soo veel als een goede begeerte tot Godt, tot dat het opgeweckt wort door het licht van den Soone Godts, welcke het Leven is, ende yeder mensch verlicht, &c. alhoewel de menschen daer van verdoolt zijn.

(4) En dit is het licht dat in de duysternis schijnt, ende openbaert en verdoemt, en bestraft de wercken, woorden en gedachten der duysternis, in de conscientien van al het menschelijcke gedachte, ende soo, door openbaren, bestraffen en ver-doemen, de wercken, woorden en gedachten der menschen in haer gevallen staet, en door hem te laten sien dat hy van Godt vervreemt is, soo verweckt ofte veroorsaeckt hy goede begeerten in den mensch uyt den goeden aerdt, naer den levendigen Godt, an aldus begint hy het werck der wedergeboorte, en soo begint de nieuwe scheppinge door hem, welcke het begin is der scheppinge Godts, in ware begeerte en verlangen te teelen in den mensch (daer geen en waren) na de levendigen Godt.

(5) Ende het selve Licht dat openbaer maeckt, overtuyght en verdoemt de sonden in de conscientien aller menschen, teelt de goede begeerten in de menschen om verlost te zijn van dat, waerom sy veroordeelt zijn, en dit is het Licht, tot welcke alle menschen hare gemoederen behooren te keeren, en Johannis was gesonden om hier van te getuygen, op dat door hem alle menschen soude gelooven.

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To the reader

(1) God is the Fountain of eternal life and virtue, from which man is divorced and estranged, and so depraved, that all his thoughts and affections of heart are troubled all the time; still this is the man that God had created, but a fallen and wicked man, although created good, now corrupted in such a manner that his thoughts, words and actions are constantly impure; he is without good thoughts, without good affections, and without good deeds. He is unable to do what is good and what is pleasing to God, in this fallen condition.

(2) For this reason the endless Fountain of wisdom and love has dispersed itself, and emanated in his Son, to enlighten every man that comes into the world; so that through the light – which is life, shines into darkness, and illuminates every man – good desires would be cultivated again in the fallen man, from the foun-tain from which he strayed.

(3) Man in this way having lost all that is good and all which is pleasing to God, by his violations, has left himself with no well-being; from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he does not have even a single good desire towards God, until this is excited by the light of God’s son – the light which is life, and enlightens every man, &c. – even though this has been lost to the people.

(4) And this is the light that shines into darkness, that reveals, redeems and punishes the workings, words and thoughts of darkness in the conscience of all human thought; and so, by revealing, punishing and redeeming the workings, words and thoughts of man in his fallen state, and by showing him that he has strayed from God, he brings forth out of man’s good nature good desires for the living God. Thus he starts the work of the rebirth; through him the new creation begins, which is the beginning of the godly creation, to excite in man true desires and longings (since there were none) for the living God.

(5) And the same Light that reveals, persuades and condemns the sins in the conscience of all people, plants in the people the good desires to become free of those things whereby they were convicted; and this is the Light to which all people should direct their attentions; and John was sent to testify to this, because through him all people would believe.

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(6) En de waerachtige Dienstknechten des Heere, in het nieuw en eeuwigh Ver-bondt, arbeyden in een heyligh leve, met woorden ende Schriften, om de volc-keren te keeren van de duysternis tot het Licht, van de macht des Satans tot Godt, de Joode keerende van haer uytwendige letterlijcke wercken, en de Hey-denen van hare stomme afgoden, tot Jesus Christus het Woort Godts, Leven en Licht, welcke yeder mensch, verlicht die in de werelt komt, op dat alle men-schen door hem soude mogen gelooven, en ontfangen de vergevinge der sonden door het geloof in sijn naem.

(7) En gelijck de Dienstknechten des Heere van outs arbeyden (door veele ver-druckingen) om het volck te keere tot Jesus Christus, Godts Woort, leven, en licht, dat yeder mensch verlicht die in de werelt komt, en gebruyckten de Schrif-ten van Mosus en de Propheten, om de menschen te overtuygen om tot Godt in Christo Jesu te keeren, om te ontfangen, te volgen, en geleydt te werden, door den eeuwigen Geest, door den selfden wedergebooren geheylight en gesuyvert te werden, even alsoo doen wy mede, geloovende alles dat Moses en de Pro-pheten getuyghden.

(8) Maer als die welcke de Schriftuer doen beleden, de Dienstknechten Godts wederstonden, (welcke arbeyden met woorden en schriften door den Geest Godts, om het volck te keeren tot Christi Jesu, Godts Woordt welck een yeder mensch verlicht, &c.) ende verwachten het leven in de schriften, en waren toor-nigh of ongeduldigh tegens die gene die door den Geest Godts geleydt en geleert waren, door welcke sy arbeyden met woorden ende schriften, (en alsoo gebruy-ckten sy de Schriftuer) om het volck tot Christus het licht te keeren ofte te trec-ken, alsoo is het nu, dat de praters van de Schriftuer ongeduldigh ofte toornigh tegens ons zijn, om dat wy arbeyden met woorden en de Schriften, om de men-schen te keeren tot Christus het Licht, welcke yeder mensch verlicht, &c. en de sy seggen dat wy de menschen niet behooren te wijsen tot het licht dat yeder mensch verlicht, maer tot de schriften welcke in klare naeckte woorden is soo veel als te seggen, dat wy het volck niet behooren te wijsen tot Jesus Christus welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt: maer tot de schriften, alhoewel de ware dienstknechten Godts, de schriften gebruyckten om het volck te overtuygen en op te wecken om tot Christus te keeren, welcke het waerachtige Licht is, welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de werelt komt, het leven en de substantie van welcke de Schriftuer getuyght, maer dese maecken gebruyck van de schriften, gelijck de Jooden deeden, niet om te keeren tot Christus die het waerachtige Licht is, &c. Maer tot de schriften en wederstaen sulcke welcke de schriften gebruyken om de menschen tot Christus te wijsen die het Licht is, van welcke de Schriftuer getuyght.

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(6) And the true Servants of the Lord in the new and eternal Covenant work in holy obedience with words and Writings, to lead the people from the darkness to the Light, from the power of Satan to God; the Jew away from his external and literal workings, the Pagan from his stupid idols, towards Jesus Christ the Word of God, Life and Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world, so all people could believe through him and receive absolution of sins by the faith in his name.

(7) And in the same manner as the Servants of the Lord from long ago worked (through much oppression) to convert the people to Jesus Christ – God’s Word, Life and Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world – and used the writings of Moses and the Prophets in order to convince the people to direct themselves to God in Jesus Christ, to enable them to receive, to follow and to be guided through the eternal Spirit, to become sanctified and purified through the same rebirth, we do the same, believing everything that Moses and the prophets testified.

(8) But like they who enforced Scripture, opposed the Servants of God (who work with words and writings through the Spirit of God, to guide the people to Jesus Christ, the word of God that enlightens every man, &c.), and expected to find life in the literal writings, and were wrathful or impatient against those guided and learned by the Spirit of God, through which they worked with words and Scripture (because in this way they used Scripture) to guide or convert the people to Christ the light; in the same way now the speakers of the Scripture are impatient or wrathful against us, because we labor with words and Scripture to turn the people to Christ, the Light that enlightens every man &c.; and they say we ought not to lead the people to the light that enlightens every man, but to Scripture that states in clear and bare words that we ought not to lead the people to Jesus Christ, who enlightens every man that comes into the world, but to the Scriptures; notwithstanding the true servants of God used Scripture to convince the people and to make them rejoice in their turning to Christ, who is the truthful Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world, the life and substance affirmed in Scripture; but they use Scripture, just as the Jews did, not to turn to Christ who is the genuine Light, &c.; they direct themselves to Scripture and oppose those that use Scripture to lead the people to Christ, who is the Light of which Scripture testifies.

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(9) Ende gelijck als de Jooden het eeuwige leven meenden te vinden in de schriften door haere letterlijcke wercken, soo seggen desen, dat wy de menschen niet moeten wijsen tot het Licht: maer tot de Schriftuer en belasten haer te doen dat sy verstaen van de schriften, en dan sou Christus daer na tot haer komen, ende aldus keeren sy de volkeren, van Christus (welcke het waerachtige Licht is dat yeder mensch verlicht) om na Christus te sien ofte verwachten in haer letter-lijcke wercken, gelijck de Joden deeden, sy keeren van het Licht, om na ’t licht te sien in een andere wegh dan daer hy in verschijnt, en dit is de reede waerom de Joden en dese (al sijn sy yverigh ende sommige dencken dat sy rijck zijn) hem niet vinden.

(10) Ende in dit werck heeft Galenus Abrahamsz. hem gedragen als een Voor-vechter, door sijn steenen des aenstoots te werpen voor de hongerige om haer van het Licht te houden, gelijck oock blijkt door sijn drie vragen aen ons uyt gegeven, welcke be-antwoort sijn in een Boeck genaemt het Licht dat in de duysternisse schijnt, bewesen den wegh tot Godt te zijn, over een komende met de rest die hy gesproocken heeft, dat in dit naervolgende wederleydt is. Hij vraeght: Waer�ergens�blijckt�in�de Schriften�des�Ouden�en�des�Nieuwen�Testa-ments,�dat�eenigh�Apostel,�Propheet,�ofte�Leerder,�als�Gezanten�van�Godt,� tot�dien�eynde�van�Godt�gesonden,�tot�het�volck�in�de�Naem�Gods�spreeckende,�op�soodanigen�wijs�heeft�gesproken,�&c.�(gelijck�nu�ter�tijdt�van�U.L.�Geschiet)�ghy�hebt� een� licht� in�U.L.�welcke� Licht� is�Christus,�&c.� keert� u� selven� in� tot� dat�Licht,�dat�sal�U.L.�alles�leeren,�ende�ulieden�van�sonde�vry�maecken.�En in sijn tweede vraegh: Of�sy�niet�in�tegendeel�als�gesante�Godts�wetten�hebben�overge-levert�om�te�hooren�en�te�leesen,�&c.�En sijn derde vraegh is: Volgens�dien�of�het� niet� behoorlijck� is,� de�menschen� te�wijsen� tot� de� boecken�Mose,� ende�der�Propheten,� tot� de� beschreevene� ende� leeringen�des�Heeren� Jesu,� ende� sijnder�Apostelen,�dat�se�die�hooren,�om�aldan,�na�hare�conscientien�daer�uyt�wel�sullen�onderwesen�zijn,�naeuw�te�letten.

(11) Ende hij seyde dat wy niet konde bewijsen dat de Apostelen het volck tot sulck een Licht wesen, van welcke wy getuygen, ende hy seyde de menschen moeten geweesen worden tot de Schrifte, merckt niet tot het licht, (want dit brenght hy in tegenstellinge van onse leere) ende soo niet tot Christus (want hy is het waerachtige Licht, dat yeder mensch verlicht die in de werelt komt) maer tot de Schriften, ende de letterlijcke wercklijckheyt van dien, ende indien hy een recht oogh open hadde, soo sou hy sien dat Christus Jesus het waerachtigh Licht is, welcke yeder mensch verlicht, &c. en alsoo bekennen dat de eenige saeck, waerom de Apostelen waren gesonden, was om het volck te wijsen tot Christus

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(9) And just as the Jews expected to find eternal life in Scripture through their literal workings, these (men) say that we ought not to point the people to the Light, but to Scripture, and order the people to act according to their understand-ing of the writings claiming that Christ will come afterwards; in this way they turn the people away from Christ (who is the genuine Light that enlightens every man) by making them see or expect Christ in his literal workings; just as the Jews did, they turn away from the Light, to look for the Light in another place than where it reveals itself; and this is the reason why the Jews and these people (although they are diligent and some think they are fortunate) cannot find it.

(10) And in this work Galenus Abrahamsz has showed himself an Advocate, taking offense at the hungry and keeping them away from the Light; something also apparent from his three questions directed at us, which were answered in a book named ‘The Light that shines into darkness, proven to be the way to God’, and fully in accordance with the rest he had spoken, and which is refuted in the following. He asks, “Where�in�the�writings�of�the�Old�and�New�Testaments�is�it�shown�that�an�Apostle,�Prophet�or�Teacher,�as�messengers�of�God,�for�this�pur-pose�sent�by�God,�and�talking�to�the�people�in�the�name�of�God,�has�spoken�in�such�a�manner,�&c.�(as�happening�now�in�your�time.),�‘you�have�a�light�within�you�which� is�Christ,�&c..�Turn� yourself� to� that� light,� so� you�will� learn� every-thing,�and� free�yourself�of�sin’.”�And in his second question he asks, “If� they�not�on�the�contrary�as�messengers�have�handed�down�God’s� laws�to�be�heard�and�read,�&c.”�And his third question is,�“If�it�is�furthermore�not�appropriate�to�guide�the�people�to�the�books�of�Moses�and�the�Prophets,�to�the�writings�and�teachings� of� the�Lord� Jesus,� and� to� those� of� his�Apostles;�making� the� people�hear�these,�so�thereafter,�when�their�conscience�has�been�taught�by�them,�things�will�be�observed�more�attentively.”�

(11) And he said that we were unable to prove that the Apostles guided the people to the kind of Light of which we spoke, and that people ought to be directed to Scripture, but not to the Light (because this he states in opposition to our teaching); so likewise not to Christ (because he is the truthful Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world) but to Scripture, and its literal reality; but if he had his eyes open properly he would see that Jesus Christ is the genuine Light that enlightens every man &c.; he would then confess thatthe only reason why the Apostles were sent was to lead the people to Christ, the Word of God, who is the light and enlightens every man, &c.; and if he would

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Godts Woordt, welcke het licht is, dat yeder mensch verlicht, &c. ende indien tot Christus, dan tot het Licht door welcke sy verlicht zijn, alsoo in den Geest te wandelen, want het vleesch is niet nut, het is den Geest die levendigh maeckt, ende het leven is in den Geest, ende is het Licht der menschen.

(12) Maer eylaes! De menschen zijn soo ontaert van Christus, dat even gelijck de Joden van Christus seyden dat hy de Christus niet en was, ende haer weder-stonden die hem beleden de Christus te zijn, so is het nu, alhoewel de Schriftuur getuyght, dat Christus het Licht is dat yeder mensch verlicht, die in de werelt komt, (nochtans seggen sy (van welcke Galenus Abrahamsz. een is) dat het Licht�waer�door� een� yegelijck�mensch� verlicht� is,� het�Licht�Christi� niet� en� is,�gylieden�moet�Christus�in�ofte�door�de�Schriftuur�soecken,�ende aldus sluyten sy het Koninckrijck Godts, soo dat sy niet ingaen nochte willen niet toe laten die souden, en de predikers des volcks doen het volck doolen: maer de handt des Heere is uytgestreckt om saligh te maecken die waerlijck gelooven, ende de Apostel uytdrucklijck seyde, die den Geest Christi niet en hebben komen hem niet toe, ende seyde dat sy haer selven ondersoecken soude, ende vraeghde haer of sy selver niet en wisten dat Jesus Christus in haer was, ten sy dat sy verwor-pen waren, en of sy niet en wisten dat Godt in haer woonde, &c. ) nochtans is dese G.A. soo blindt, ende onweetende van de waerheyt der Schrift, dat hy vraeght in sijn eerste vrage, waer dat ergens blijckt, dat eenigh Apostel, &c. tot het volck heeft gesproocken in de name Godes, ghy hebt een licht in u welcke licht is Christus, &c. even als hy niet en wist, ’t welcke ick al geloove.

W.A.

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turn to Christ, then also to the light by which every man is enlightened, he would then walk in the Spirit, because the flesh is weak, it is the Spirit that gives life and life is in the Spirit, it is the Spirit that is the life of man.

(12) But alas! People are so alienated from Christ, that in the same way as the Jews said that Christ was not the Christ, and opposed those who honored him as being the Christ, things are today; although Scripture testifies that Christ is the Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world; still they say (of which Galenus Abrahamsz is one) that the�Light�that�makes�every�man�enlight-ened,�is�not�the�light�of�Christ,�that�people�should�search�for�Christ�in�or�through�Scripture;�and in this manner they close the kingdom of God, so they cannot enter nor would be allowed into if they wanted, and the preachers of men make the people go astray. But the hand of the Lord is extended to give salvation to those who truly believe, and the Apostle explicitly said that they who do not have the Spirit cannot ever attain it, and said that they had to investigate it for themselves, and asked if they did not know that Christ was within themselves, unless they were cast out, and if they did not know that God resides within them, &c.; nevertheless this G.A. is so blind and unknowing of the truth of Scripture, that he asks in his first question where it is found that a certain Apostle, &c. has spoken to the people in the name of God, “you have a light within you which is Christ, &c.”; as if he did not know, something I actually believe.

W.A.

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(13) Den W.A. verklaert hadde (gevraeght zijnde door G.A.) het begin/ fonda-ment ende somma van sijn Leere/ hoe dat Christus het waerachtige Licht is/ dat een yegelick mensch verlicht die in de wereldt komt; ende dat de ziel niet en wordt opgeweckt/ als door Christus die het Licht is/ &c. soo vraeghden W.A./ G.A./ of hy daer yets tegens hadde; soo seyde G.A. neen: (Nochtans heeft hy in der daedt hiert tegens getwist/ als hier na blijckt:) Maer hy vraeghde noch eenige vragen/ waer op W.A. antwoorden; soo woude G.A. verder gaen met vragen; dan seyde W.A. ick sal u oock een vraegh doen: Wat is de ziel? Soo antwoorde G.A. dat hy de mensch aenmerckten te bestaen in lichaem/ ziel ende geest: Ende hy stelden een ziel die natuurlijck/ ofte dierlijcke lusten hadde; maer van die ziel sou hy nu niet spreken seyde hy; maer van die ziel/ welcke onder de lusten ende sonden verdruckt lagh; van welcke hy seyde met dese woorden: Die is uyt Godt: Maer hy wou die liever den Geest noemen/ seyde hy: Ende hy bekende aen W.A. die ziel ofte geest het leben der menschen te zijn/ &c. ende die de menschen doet verscheelen van de beesten: Ende Gal. A. seyde vorder van die ziel ofte geest/ dien hy bekende uyt Godt te zijn/ dat die de versoecker ende sonden toestemden ofte dede: Ende W.A. seyde het tegendeel/ als vorder blijckt/ by ’t naervolgende.

(14) Antwoort. Het is groote blindtheydt/ te seggen/ Dat den geest des men-schen/ welcke uyt Godt is/ (want soo waren sijn eygen woorden/) door welcke de mensch van de beesten verscheelt/ de sonde toestemt/ ofte in de versoeckinge gaet/ ofte met den Satan vereenight: Want den geest/ die een mensch van een beest doet verscheelen/ was in Godt/ al eerder den mensch was: (a) Want Godt blies in den mensch den adem des levens/ ende alsoo wierdt den mensch tot een levendige ziel; ende dien adem des levens was in Godt/ al eer den mensch was; ende dat is het daer de doot over geheerst heeft/ alhoewel het niet en heeft gesondight nae den gelijckheydt van Adams overtredinge: (b) Ende dit is de aerdt/ welcke alleen bequaem is/ het zaedt des levens te ontfangen/ (c) Ende desen geest keert wederom tot Godt diese gaf/ (d) van wien hy uyt quam.2

(15) In den beginne schiep Godt Hemel ende Aerde/ ende alle dingen daer in; ende den mensch boven alle andere creature/ schiep hy in sijn eygen beelt/ &c. ende hy blies in den mensch den adem des levens/ door welcke hy wierdt tot een levendige ziel; ende sijn leven was in den Soon/ de Kracht/ het Woordt des Levens/ door welcke alle dingen gemaeckt sijn: (e) ende in de Kracht/ het Woordt des Levens/ door welcke hy gemaeckt was/ was hy bewoogen ende

2 (a) Gen. 2.7; (b) Rom. 5.14.; (c) Matth. 13.23; (d) Pred. 12.7.

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(13) William Ames had declared (being asked by G.A.) the beginning, founda-tion and summa of his teaching, how Christ is the actual light that enlightens every man that comes into the world, and that the soul in no way becomes revived than by Christ who is the light, etc. So W.A. asked G.A. if he had any-thing against this, G.A. answered no. (Nonetheless he surely had argued against this, as the following will show.) But he also posed some other questions which were answered by W.A.; in this way G.A. wanted to continue asking questions, until W.A. said he himself wanted to pose a question, “what is the soul?” G.A. replied that he saw man as constitutive of body, soul and spirit. And he posited a soul that has natural or bestial desires, but said he did not want to speak of that soul at that moment; but of that soul which was weighed down by desires and sins, he spoke these words, “It�is�outside�of�God”. But he said he preferred to call it the spirit. And he confessed to W.A. this soul or spirit to be the life of men, etc., and that it differentiates men from the beasts. And G. A. further said about this soul or spirit, which he confessed to be outside of God, that it permits and realizes temptation and sins. And W.A. said the opposite, as is shown by the following.

(14) Answer. It is great blindness to say that the spirit of men that is outside of God (since these were his own words), and differentiates man from animal, agrees with sin, goes into temptation or reunites with Satan. This because the spirit that differentiates man from an animal was already in God, before mankind even existed; because God blew in man a breath of life, who in this way became a living soul, and this breath of life was in God, before mankind even existed (a); and this spirit and life of man which originated from God was reigned over by death, although it never sinned in the way of Adam’s violation (b); and this is the earth, that is only capable of receiving the seed of life (c); and this spirit returns again to God who gave it, and from whom it originated (d).4

(15) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and all things in it; more than any other creature, God created man in his own image, etc., and he blew in man a breath of life who in this way became a living soul; and his life was in the Son, the Power, the Word of Life, by which all things are made (e). And in the Power, the Word of Life, by which he was made, he was moved and carried around by the movement of Power, in which he lived; in this way he

4 (a) Genesis 2:7; (b) Romans 5:14; (c) Matthew 13:23; (d) Ecclesiastes 12:7.

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gedragen/ door de beweeginge der Kracht/ in welcke hy leefde; ende alsoo droegh hy het beeldt van den onverderflijcken Godt/ welcke hem gemaeckt hadde: Ende hy moest niet bewegen/ wandelen/ nochte doen; maer gelijck als de kracht hem bewoogh ofte leyde; tot welcke kracht de mensch/ die Godt gemaeckt hadde/ moest onderdanigh zijn/ ende moest buyten dien niet wercken/ ende in dese stant het leven der menschen/ welcke de eeuwige Kracht in hem blies/ (welcke hem in der daedt deedt van de beesten verscheelen/) door welcke hy tot een levendige ziel wierdt; was niet gevangen/ verborgen/ ofte verdruckt; maer (den mensch) was in de heerlijcke vryheydt/ in de kracht/ van welcke het voort quam/ door welcke de geschapen mensch was bewoogen/ ende buyten dewelcke hy niet en moest doen.3

(16) Maer de slangh was listiger als alle de beesten des veldts/ welcke de Heere Godt gemaeckt hadde/ ende hy bleef niet in de Kracht/ nochte in de waerheydt/ nochte in sijn eerste woonplaets/ (f) maer beweeghde van sich selven/ buyten de Kracht/ in welcke alles beweegen moest/ ende niets moest buyten dien bewee-gen; ende alsoo sprack hy van sich selven/ ende alsoo sprack hy een logen; ende dese listige slange was de eerste die van de Kracht uytgingh/ door welcke alle dingen gemaeckt zijn; ende hy bewoogh van sich selven/ ende sprack van sich selve/ sonder de beweeginge van de Kracht/ ende buyten de waerheydt; in vyandtschap tegen het leven ende Kracht/ door welcke alle dingen gemaeckt waren.4 Soo de slange in de vyandtschap eerst zijnde/ buyten de Kracht/ door welcke alle dingen gemaeckt waren/ soo socht hy/ Door sijn listigheydt den mensch van de Kracht te trecken/ in welcke hy stont; op dat hy (te weten de slange) soude regeeren in den mensch/ boven de Kracht welcke hem maeckten/ ende door welcke de mensch leefde/ en beweeghde/ (g) om den mensch (welcke den adem des levens van Godt ontfangen had/ op dat hy mochte leven in de Kracht Godts/) te leyden/ onderdanigh te zijn/ ende te wercken in der slangen kracht/ tegens Godt/ de kracht die den mensch gemaeckt hadde/ om te verdruc-ken/ vangen/ bedecken/ ende het leven uyt te blusschen welcke den mensch van Godt ontfangen hadde/ in welcke den mensch eenighheyt met Godt hadde/ op dat hy alsoo den mensch mochte vervreemden van Godt.5

(17) Ende door de versoeckinge trock hy het gemoedt uyt; hy lockten het gesicht uyt/ (na een ander saeck als Godes Kracht/ gelijck sijne Dienaers nu oock doen)

3 (e) Joh. I.4 (f) Jude vers 6.5 (g) Hand. cap. 17 vers 28.

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carried the image of the incorruptible God, who had created him. And he did not have to move, walk, nor do, but only follow the way the Power moved or placed him. A Power, created by God, to which man needed to be submissive, and outside of this had no other commitments; and in this state the life of men – that was breathed into them by the eternal Power (and by which he indeed was dif-ferentiated from the animals) by which he became a living soul – was not cap-tured, hidden or oppressed; but (man) was in the majestic freedom, in the Power from which it originated, by which the created man was moved, and outside of this had no other obligations.5�

(16) But the serpent was more cunning than any other animal of the field made by the Lord God, and did not stay in the Power, nor in the truth, nor in his first residence (f), but moved by himself, outside the Power wherein everything should have moved, and nothing should have moved outside; and in this way he spoke by himself, and in this way he spoke a lie; and this cunning serpent was the first that moved outside of the Power, by which all things are made, and he moved by himself, and he spoke by himself, without the movement of the Power, and outside the truth, in hostility against life and the Power by which all things were made.6 So the serpent, in hostility being the first outside the Power by which all things were made, intended, relying on his cunningness, to pull man away from the Power, in which he stood; so he (the serpent) could rule the people, above the Power which made them, and by which man lived and moved (g); in order that man (who received the breath of life from God, so he could live in the Power of God) be misled, be submissive and work in the power of the serpent against God – the Power that had made man – to suppress, catch, cover, and extinguish the life that man had received from God, in which man had unity with God, so he in this way could alienate people from God.7

(17) And by means of temptation he stirred up the spirits; he lured the attention away (at another thing than God’s Power, in the same way as his Servants are

5 (e) John 1.6 (f) Jude verse 6.7 (g) Acts 17:28.

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van de Kracht in welcke de mensch leefden/ buyten welcke hy niet en behoorde te bewegen: ende het gemoet uytgetrokken zijnde; het gesicht uytgelokt zijnde (door den listigen slange den Versoecker/) van het suyvere leven ende Kracht/ door welcke sy leefden/ ende buyten welcke sy niet behoorden beweeght te hebben: soo quam de begeerte op (geteelt zijnde door den Versoecker in ’t aert-sche deel/ (welcke het leven ontvingh/ ende moest de Kracht onderdanigh geweest zijn/ ende moest buyten de Kracht niet beweeght hebben/ ende de quade begeerte quam niet uyt het leven door welcken sy leefden/) nae de vrucht van de boom der kennisse/ welcke den Heere Godt verboden hadde (ende aldaer soecken de Dienaers des Satans/ de menschen tot op desen dagh te houden/) ende de begeerte na de verboden vrucht quam niet op uyt den geest welcke van Godt quam/ door welcke de menschen leefden:

(18) Maer de begeerten geteelt zijnde in het geschapen ofte aerdtsche deel/ welck leven van Godt ontfingh/ daer aen hatte de Slangh/ dat was ende is sijn grondt ende aerdt/ tot welcken hy ingingh/ en zaeyden sijn zaet van wederspan-nigheydt ende ongeloof/ ende daer sit hy ende regeert tot op desen dagh/ (in den natuurlijcken mensch) buyten Godts Kracht/ tegens Godt/ ende boven het leven ofte geest des menschen/ dewelcke van Godt voort quam/ door welcke den men-sch leeft/ soo/ het leven des menschen ’t welck van Godt voort quam; de onsterf-felicke ziel ofte Geest/ door welcke de mensch leefde/ ende van de beesten verscheelde/ ontfingh hem niet/ dat ontfingh sijn zaet niet/ al was het daer door bedeckt/ gevangen ende verdruckt: Maer den aerdtschen mensch/ welcke een begin hadt/ (want de Geest welcke van Godt komt/ door welcke de mensch leeft/ is in sich selven sonder begin/ ende onsterffelijck) ende het leven ontfingh/ was door de versoecker van de kracht en ’t leven uytgelockt/ door welcke hy leefde/ soo die Geest/ leven ofte ziel/ die uyt Godt quam/ ontfingh hem niet: Maer den mensch dien Godt gemaeckt hadde/ die door dien geest/ leven ofte ziel leefde/ die ontfingh hem/ ende was door hem bedrogen/ soo die geest die van Godt quam/ ende het leven gaf/ was niet door hem verontreynight: Maer dien mensch welcke goet gemaeckt was/ ende het leven ontfingh/ ende leefde door den geest welcke van God quam/ was door hem verontreynight ende bevleckt.

(19) De Satan aldus ingegaen zijnde in de eerste mensch/ den aerdtschen men-sch/ soo was de kracht/ welcke de mensch gemaeckt hadde/ verborgen; den adem des geests des levens/ ofte ziel des menschen/ welcke uyt Godt voort-quam/ was verborgen/ de aerdtsche ofte natuerlicken mensch (welcke onderwor-pen moeste zijn) tot welcke de Satan in gingh/ ende in welcke hy geseten is/ was van de onderdanigheydt in de ongehoorzame macht uytgetrocken in vyantschap

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also doing now) from the Power in which man lived, outside of which he should not have moved. And the spirits being stirred up, the attention being lured away (by the cunning serpent of the Tempter) from the pure life and Power – through which they lived, and outside of which they shouldn’t have moved – desire came up (being cultivated by the Tempter in the earthly part) (which received the life, and if it had been submissive to the Power, if it had not moved outside of the Power, the sinful desire would not have come forth into their lives) for the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which the Lord God had forbidden (and at that place the Servants of Satan are trying to keep the people until this day); and the desire for the forbidden fruit did not arise out of the spirit that came from God, by which the people lived.

(18) But the desires being cultivated in the created or earthly part – that received life from God – in this the Serpent took part, that was and is his ground and nature, into which he entered, sowing his seed of insubordination and unbelief; and there he sits and rules until this day (in the natural man) outside God’s power, against God, and over the life or spirit of the people, which came from God, through whom man lives; in this manner, the life of man which originated from God, the immortal soul or spirit by which man lived and differed from the animals, did not receive him, did not receive his seed, as if it was covered, trapped and suppressed. But the earthly man, who has a beginning (although the spirit that comes from God, by which man lives, is in itself without beginning and immortal) and received life, was lured away by the tempter from the Power and the life, through which he lived, so that this spirit, life or soul, that came out of God, did not receive him. But the man who was created by God, who by means of the spirit, life or soul lived, received Him, was betrayed by the Ser-pent; so this spirit that came from God, and gave life, was not polluted by Him. But that man who was created good, and received life, and lived through the spirit that came from God, was polluted and soiled by the Serpent.

(19) Satan thus having entered the first man, the earthly man, the Power – which had made man – was hidden; the breath of the spirit of life, or the soul of the people that originated from God, was hidden; the earthly or natural man (who should have been submissive) to whom Satan addressed himself, and wherein he settles, was pulled away from obedience into the disobedient power, in hostility against the spirit which came from God, through which man (even though he is

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tot den Geest welcke van God quam/ door welcke de mensch (al is hy onge-hoorsaem) noch leeft; ende het swaert des Heeren keerde tegens hem/ ende hy verloor de kracht door welcke hy leefde/ ende door welcke hy bewoogh/ ende van schaemte bedeckt was/ (alhoewel hy naeckt was) ende was also vervult/ soo dat hem niets ontbrack/ ende doen hy die verlooren hadde/ doen waren sijn oogen geopent/ (welcke Galenus seyde dat het hare uytwendige oogen waren/ ende dat die doen eerst geopent wierden; maer de wijse van herten mogen oor-deelen) doen sagh hy dat hy naeckt was sonder decksel/ doen sagh hy dat hy bedrogen was/ ende was voor de Kracht beschaemt die hem gemaeckt hadde.

(20) Nochtans deselfde/ door welcke de mensch voor de overtredinge leefde/ is het leven der menschen nu; ende de adem des levens/ ofte geest/ welcke van Godt voort quam welcke hem deedt van de beesten verscheelen/ ende hem bequaem maeckten om in de Kracht ende tegenwoordigheydt Godts te wande-len/ is de selfde/ door welcke de mensch nu bequaem is/ den Sone Godts te ontfangen: Maer doen heerschten de Kracht/ ende het leven was openbaer/ ende de heerlijckheydt scheen voort/ ende het sieraet der heyligheyt was niet bedeckt: Maer nu heerscht de Vorst der duysternis in het gemoedt; de menschen zijn vyanden tot Godt/ in hare gemoederen/ geworden/ ende dese duysternis bedeckt de natien/ ende die verblindt hare gemoederen/ soo dae het leven verborgen is/ ende de vruchten der gerechtigheydt/ in welcke de levendige ziel verheughden/ zijn uytgeroeyt: Ende de wercken des doodts/ ofte de doodt wercken/ zijn voort-gebracht; maer nochtans blijft daer yets/ over welck de dood/ geheerscht heeft/ welcke niet en heeft gesondight na de gelijckheyt van Adams overtredinge/ al hebben alle menschen gesondight/ over dewelck de doot geheerscht heeft; noch-tans dit heeft niet gesondight/ ende nochtans heeft de doot daer over geheerscht/ ende door de doot ende duysternis/ is het van de menschen verborgen/ die de macht des doots onderdanigh zijn; nochtans is het den geest ende het leven der menschen/ (door welcke den mensch leeft ende van de beesten verscheelt) wel-cke van Godt voortquam/ welcke het zaet der ongerechtigheyt niet ontfanght nochte stemt de sonde niet toe/ al heeft de doot daer over geheerscht.

(21) Ende dit is den goeden aerdt/ welcke het Goddelijcke zaet ontfanght/ ende hier uyt wort Godts Soon voortgebracht (hier is een groote verborgenheyt ver-klaert: indien ghylieden ooren hebt om te hooren) dit is de suyvere maeght/ dewelcke haer selve niet en heeft bevleckt/ sy heeft het saet der ongerechtigheyt niet ontfangen/ nochte haer met de Versoecker vereenight/ al is’t dat sy door de macht des Draecks (die over haer geheerscht heeft) in de woestijne verdreven is geweest; nochtans heeft sy het zaet des slanghs geen plaets in haer gegeven/

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disobedient) still lives; and the sword of the Lord turned against him, and he lost the Power through which he lived, and through which he moved, and by which he was free of shame (even though he was naked) and kept away from it in such a manner that he did not lack anything; and when he lost it, his eyes were opened (of which Galenus said it were his external eyes, that they were opened first, but let the wise of heart be the judge of this), then he saw that he was naked without cover, that he was betrayed, and unfulfilled by the Power that had made him.

(20) However, the life of the people now is the same as the life of man before the violation; and the breath of life or spirit – which originated from God and differentiated him from the animals, and made him capable of walking in the Power and presence of God – is the same by which man is capable now of receiving the Son of God. But in those days the Power ruled, and everybody had life, and the gloriousness shined, and the jewel of holiness was uncovered. But now the Lord of darkness rules the spirits (of men), people have become ene-mies of God, in their feelings, and this darkness covers the nation, it blinds their feelings, in such a way that life is hidden and the fruits of justice – in which the living soul rejoiced – are extinguished. And the workings of death, or death’s workings are brought forth; but nonetheless something remains – over which death had its reign – that did not sin in the way of Adam’s violation; although all people who have been reigned over by death, have sinned; nonetheless this did not sin, although death had its reign there; and through death and darkness, it has been hidden from the people, who are submissive to the power of death; it is the spirit and life of man (by which man lives and differs from the animals) which originated from God, that does not receive the seed of injustice, nor accepts sin, although it has been reigned over by death.

(21) And this is the good nature that receives the Divine seed, and from here God’s Son originates, (here a great mystery is revealed, if you people have ears to hear); this is the pure virgin, who has not defiled herself; she did not receive the seed of injustice, nor united herself with the Tempter, even though by the power of the Dragon that ruled over her, she was driven away in the desert; still she did not open herself for the seed of the serpent, nor is her heart soiled with adultery, but she saves her virginity until her Beloved comes; if then he plants

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nochte haer herte is niet met overspel bevleckt/ maer sy bewaert hare Maegh-dom tot dat haer Beminde komt/ als dan plant hy sijn zaet in haer/ dewelcke sich niet vereenight met de Hoer/ nochte niet en gaet in het bedt der bevleckte/ ende dit is de Maeght welcke den Soon voortbrenght (de verborgenheyt die van ouderdommen en geslachten is verborgen geweest/ Christus inwendigh de hoop der heerlijckheydt) den Soone Godts/ de onsterffelijcke geboorte/ de erfgenaem van het koninckrijck dat sonder eynde is/ in welcke hy haer als dan verblijt/ ende gaer droefheydt vergeet/ welcke sy geleeden heeft in de dagen haerder verdruc-kingen/ met welcke de macht des doodts haer verdruckte/ doen sy was als een verlaten weduwe.

(22) Ende daer is een aerdt tot welcke de Slangh inginck/ welcke sijn zaedt ontfingh/ ende brenght vruchten der ongerechtigheyt voort/ en desen aerdt is vervloeckt met de Slangh die ’t besit/ ende de vruchten van dien/ ende desen aerdt is van de aerde aerdsch/ ende niet van den Hemel niet uyt God/ maer in het begin door Godt goedt gemaeckt/ maer is quaet geworden door van God te hoereeren/ ende het verderfelijcken zaedt des Slanghs te ontfangen/ ende desen aerdt ontfanght ofte behout het zaedt des eeuwigen levens niet/ ende dit is de natuurlijcken aerdt dewelcke door de Slangh bevleckt is/ ende in welcke hy heerscht/ ende sijn besittinge vast houdt/ ende dit is de natuurlijcken mensch/ die de dingen des Geest Godts niet begrijpt.

Het tweede Verschil.

(23) Doen Galenus hoorde dat W.A. het tegendeel stelden ende seyde/ dat die voorschreven ziel ofte Geest die uyt Godt is/ de sonde niet toestemde/ soo seyde hy tot de omstanders: Siet wat ongerijmtheydt uyt dese Engelse haer stellinge volgen sou, want soo de ziel of de Geest de sonden niet toe en stemt, dan kanse niet verdoemt worden, ende dan moeten nootzaeklijck alle menschen saligh worden, waer op W.A. seyde: ick ontken u besluyt. Gelijck ook verder blijckt door het naervolgende.

(24) Antw. Alhoewel de ziel ofte Geest die uyt Godt is (door welcke den men-sch leeft/ welcke de goede aert is/ in welcke het zaet des levens is gesaeyt) niet en sondight/ soo volght nochtans geensins nootsaeckelijck/ dat daerom alle men-schen soude moeten saligh worden/ want alhoewel dien geest ofte onsterffelijcke ziel door welcke den mensch leeft/ &c. uyt Godt is (gelijck G.A. selfs seyde) niet en sondight/ nochtans/ de vyandt der onsterffelijcke ziel in het gemoet heer-schende/ zijnde geseeten in het natuurlijcke deel (welcke leefde door het leven/

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his seed in her, he who does not mingle with the Whore, nor enters the bed of defilement; and this is the Virgin that brings forth the Son (a mystery that has been hidden from ages and generations, inward Christ, the hope of magnifi-cence), the Son of God, the immortal birth, the inheritor of the Kingdom that is without end, in which she rejoices herself, and forgets her sadness which she suffered during the days of her oppression, when the power of death oppressed her, and she was like an abandoned widow.

(22) And there is a nature into which the Serpent entered, that received his seed and brings forth fruit of injustice, and this nature is cursed with the Serpent who possesses it and his fruits; and this nature is from the earthly nature, not from the Heavens nor out of God; although in the beginning made good by God, it has become impure by being unfaithful towards God, and by receiving the depraved seed of the Serpent; and this nature does not receive nor keep the seed of eternal life, and this is the natural nature that has been contaminated by the Serpent, in which he rules, and guards his possessions; and this is the natural man, who does not understand the matters of God.

The second difference.

(23) When Galenus heard that W.A. claimed the opposite, and said that the aforementioned soul of spirit that comes from God does not accept sin, he addressed the bystanders, “behold what absurdities would follow from the prop-osition of this Englishman, because when the soul or Spirit would not accept sin, it could never become damned, and all people would necessarily become sancti-fied”; to which W.A. responded, “I deny your conclusion”; as the following will also make clear.

(24) Answer. Although the soul or spirit that comes from God (by which man lives, which is the good nature, in which the seed of life has entered) does not sin, this in no way necessarily entails that all people therefore would become sanctified; because although the spirit or immortal soul by which man lives, etc. – and comes from God (as G.A. even said) – does not sin, still, the enemy of the immortal soul that rules the spirits of men, being seated in the natural part (that lived because of the life, breath, spirit, or immortal soul) makes war, and

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adem/ geest/ ofte onsterffelijcke ziel/) soo voert hy krijgh/ en soeckt/ te verdrij-ven/ te bedecken/ vangen/ verblinden/ en uyt te blussen/ ende te verslinden/ yeder aessemingh ende begeerte: welcke van den geest/ leven ofte ziel/ (door welcke den mensch leeft ende verscheelt van de beesten) oprijst/ na de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ daer die uyt quam/ ende hierom is den toorn Gods tegens den naturelijcken mensch/ welcke onderdaenigh is/ in sijn gemoet/ wil/ begeer-tens/ genegentheden en lusten/ tot den Duyvel/ dien onsterffelijcken ziels vyandt/ door welcke hy geleydt wordt in de vleeselijcke lusten/ die tegens de ziel strij-den: maer Godts toorn is niet tegens dien geest/ ziel/ asem/ ofte leven der men-schen/ dewelcke uyt hem selve voort quam/ welcke als voorschreven gevangen is/ &c. door de gedachten/ woorden/ voornemens/ en daden/ van het naturelijcke deel/ (welcke leeft door de geest/ ofte leve/ etc. welcke uyt Godt is/ en de men-sch doet verscheelen van de beesten) welcke door de Slangh beheerst/ bestiert/ ende geregeert wordt/ ende op dat deel/ ziel/ leven ofte natuer/ welcke sondight/ ofte de sonde toestemt/ blijft den toorne Godts/ en de het is een onrechtvaerdige stellinge/ te seggen/ dat de ziel leven ofte geest des mensche die uyt Godt is, de sonde doet ofte toestemt.

Volght het derde Verschil.

(25) Galenus stelde dat de geest des menschen/ welcke uyt Godt is/ ende de sonden soo wel toestemt als de gerechtigheyt (na sijn seggen) dat/ dat het eerste beginsel der Godsdienst is, en niet het Licht Christi, want dat komt daer na eerst/ seyde hy: Antw. Gelijck als de Slangh door de versoeckingen/ genegentheden opweckt in het naturelijcke ofte aertsche deel/ (welcke hy besmet heeft) naer dat/ dat ver-derft/ welcke den Heere Godt verbooden heeft/ (als yeder een magh voelen in sijn eygen besonder) alsoo teelt ende verweckt den Sone Godts/ (die yeder men-sch verlicht waer door de sonden worden ge-openbaert en bestraft in de cons-cientie) goede genegentheden op/ uyt de goede aerdt/ geest/ ofte onsterffelijcke ziel/ welcke uyt Godt quam/ (door welcke den mensch leeft/ en van de beesten verscheelt) na den levendigen Godt/ de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ uyt welcke dien quam/ soo gelijck als de verdurven aertschen natuer die van de aerde is (door de beweeginge des Slanghs) lustet ende begeert na aertsche dingen/ alsoo dien aert/ geest/ ziel ofte natuer/ welcke van boven is (gereyckt/ geraeckt ende getrocken zijnde) door het licht van den eeuwigen Soone Godts/ die een yege-lijck mensch verlicht/ etc. (belast/ verdruckt en bedroeft zijnde/ door de aertsche verderffelijcke natuer/ in welcke de Satan heerst) asemt/ begeert ende dorst na den levendigen Godt/ de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ vanwelcke het uyt quam.

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searches to drive away, cover, catch, blind, extinguish and devour every breath and desire that rises up from the spirit, life or soul (by which man lives and dif-fers from the animal) near the fountain of eternal life, where it originated from; and for this reason God is wrathful against the natural man who is submissive – in his mind, will, desire, affections and lusts – towards the Devil; his immortal soul burns, by which he is guided to the carnal desires that battle against the soul. But God’s wrath is not directed at that spirit, soul, breath or life of men, that originated from himself, that is, as aforementioned, imprisoned by the thoughts, words, intentions and actions of the natural part (which lives because of the Spirit, or life, etc. which are from God), which are controlled, ruled, and reigned over by the Serpent; and at that part, soul, life or nature, that sins or accepts sin, God’s wrath stays directed; and it is an unjust thesis to say, that the soul, life or spirit of man that is from God, sins or accepts sin.

Thereupon the third difference.

(25) Galenus said that the spirit of men, which is outside of God, and accepts sins as well as justice (so he says) is the first principle of religion, and not the Light of Christ, because that follows immediately thereafter he said.

Answer. In the same way as the Serpent through temptations excites affections in the natural or earthly part (which he has contaminated) for that which depraves, and has been forbidden by the Lord God (as everyone can experience in his own case), the Son of God sows and creates (who enlightens every man, and as a result sins are revealed and punished in the conscience) good affections out of the good nature, spirit, or immortal soul, which came from God (by which man lives and differs from the animal), for the living God, the fountain of eter-nal life, out of which he came; in the same way as the depraved earthly nature that is of the earth (by the movement of the Serpent) lusts and desires for earthly things, the nature, spirit, soul or constitution, which is from above – (being reached, touched and pulled) by the light of the eternal Son of God, who enlight-ens every man, etc. (burdened, oppressed, and being saddened, by the earthly deprived nature, in which Satan reigns) – breathes desire and thirst for the living God, the fountain of eternal life, out of which it came.

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(26) Ende gelijck als daer geen begeerte in den mensch was/ na dat/ welcke den Heere Godt verboodt/ terwijl de mensch stont in de Kracht Godts (alhoewel de gront doen in den mensch was/ in welcke de begeertens wierden geteelt) tot dat door de versoeckingen des Slanghs begeertens waren geteelt/ na het geene wel-cke den Heer Godt verbooden heeft/ alsoo/ de doodt heerschende en de Slangh heerschappe hebbende/ in den geschapen aerdschen natuurlijcken mensch (wel-cke goet geschapen was) aldaer blijft hy vasthoudende/ en daer zijn geen gene-gentheden in den mensch na den levendigen Godt/ of sy moeten geteelt zijn door het licht ende deught des Soons Godts/ die yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt; alhoewel daer een goede aert is/ uyt welcke hy begeerten teelt/ na de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ daerom is dat gene welcke met de sonde ver-eenight heeft/ het beginsel van de ware Godsdienst niet/ (want hy die de macht des doodts heeft/ woont aldaer tot dat den Sone Godts hem uytwerpt) maer Jesus Christus de Saligmaecker ende Verlosser/ is de eerste beweegende oorsaeck/ beginner/ leyder/ kracht/ wercker/ ende voleynder (in syn volck) van de waer-achtige Godsdienst/ ende de aenbiddinge Godts/ in geest ende waerheydt/ ende sonder hem konnen wy niet doen.

(27) Ende die natuur welcke het zaet des Slanghs ontfangen heeft/ is sijn macht onderworpen/ van Godt en sijn kracht vervreemt/ ende treckt na het aerdtsche/ ende niet na Godt/ nochte het en kan Godts Wet niet onderdanigh zijn/ nochte de dingen des Geests Godts begrijpen (want daer in heerscht den Satan/ ende heeft daer macht over/ tot dat hy uyt geworpen wordt) daerom kan dat het begin der waren Godsdienst niet zijn; want dat is een valsche leer/ ende dat is oock een valsche leer te seggen/ dat de ziel ofte geest welcke uyt Godt is/ (door wel-cke de mensch leeft) de versoeckinge des Satans ontfanght/ ofte met hem ver-eenight ofte toestemt/ ende het is een valsche leer te leeren dat yemandt Godt recht dienen kan/ ofte yets doen kan in order tot de waerachtigen Godsdienst/ eer Jesus Christus den Soon des levendigen Godts/ (in welcke de waerachtige aenbidders zijn/ ende buyten hem en is geen waerachtige Godsdienst) haer ver-licht/ ende die leere is tegen de leere Christi/ welcke seyde: sonder my kent ghy niet goets doen.

(28) Ende een yeder begeerte na Godt is eerst geteelt door het licht en deught van den Sone Godts/ die een yegelijck mensch/ verlicht die in de wereld komt. De blinde konnen Godt niet recht dienen/ ten sy hy haer eerst leydt/ ende hare oogen open doet/ ende alle menschen van nature sijn verblindt/ de doode konnen hem niet hooren/ daerom konnen sy sijn sin niet verstaen om hem recht te die-nen/ tot dat sy haer ooren ontstopt/ op dat sy de stem des Soons Godts souden

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(26) And in the same way as there was no desire in man for that which the Lord God forbade, while he stood in the Power of God (even though in man then was present the soil, in which the desires were cultivated), until by the temptations of the Serpent desires were cultivated for that which the Lord God had forbid-den, the reign of death and the dominion of the Serpent, in the created earthly natural man (who was created good) remains, and there are no affections in man for the living God, unless they are harvested by the light and virtue of the Son of God, who enlightens every man that comes into the world; although there is a good nature, out of which he cultivates desires for the fountain of eternal life, this does not mean that that which has unified with sin is the first principle of true religion (because he who has the power of death, lives there until the Son of God casts him out); but Jesus Christ the Sanctifier and Saviour, is the first moving cause, initiator, leader, power, worker, accomplisher (in his people) of the true Religion and the worship of God, in spirit and truth; and without him we cannot attain it.

(27) And the nature that has received the seed of the Serpent is submissive to his power, alienates from God and his power, moves towards the earthly and not to God, nor can be submissive to God’s law, nor can understand the matters of God’s Spirit (because in that nature Satan reigns and has his rule, until he is cast out); for this reason it cannot be the beginning of the true Religion because this is a false teaching; and it is also a false teaching to say that the soul or spirit which comes from God (by which man lives) receives the temptation of Satan, or unites or agrees with him; and it is a false teaching to state that somebody can serve God’s justice, or can do something in commandment for the true Reli-gion, before Jesus Christ the Son of the living God (within which the true admir-ers are, and outside of him no true Religion is) enlightens him; and this teaching is against the teaching of Christ, that says, “without me thou cannot do good”.

(28) And every desire towards God is first cultivated by the light and virtue of the Son of God, who enlightens every man that comes into the world. The blind cannot do justice to God, unless he first leads him, and opens his eyes; and all people by nature are blinded, the dead cannot hear him, for this reason they are unable to understand the way to do him justice, until they unplug their ears, so they could hear the voice of God’s son; and all people are deaf by nature. The

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hooren/ ende alle menschen zijn van nature doof: De doode konnen hem niet loven nochte recht dienen/ eer dat hy haer opweckt/ ende alle menschen van nature sijn doodt in de sonde ende overtreedinge; daerom konnen sy Godt niet recht dienen eer Christus komt/ de kracht van welcke de Schrift getuyght/ om de blinde oogen te openen/ de doode ooren te ontstoppen/ ende de dooden op te wecken/ die doodt zijn in de sonde ende overtreedingen; op dat de doode/ en de doove/ sijn stem mogen horen/ om sijn wil te verstaen/ ende op dat de blinde hem sien soude/ die sy behooren te volgen/ in dien te volgen de waerachtige Godsdienst is ofte bestaet.

(29) Het is het licht en deught des Soons Godts die een yegelijck mensch ver-licht/ die in de wereld komt/ ’t welck goede genegentheden in den menschen naer Godt/ de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ teelt; want het licht openbaert tot den mensch in sijn conscientie/ de ongereynigheydt sijner wegen/ ende de quade genegentheden van sijn eygen verdurve natuur/ in welcke de Satan heerscht/ ende het toont hem het gebreck van heyligheyt/ gerechtigheyt/ vreede/ ende waerheydt van welcken hy verdwaelt is/ ende door dit middel/ door dat selve eeuwige licht/ ende deught/ sijn en worde de goede begeertens uyt de goede aert de onsterffelijcke ziel/ welcke verborgen is geweest/ geteelt/ (door welcke de mensch leeft) na den levendigen Godt/ de fonteyn des eeuwigen levens/ heylig-heyt/ gerechtigheyt/ ende waerheydt (welcke de mensch/ die in de overtreedinge is/ mist ofte ontbreeckt/) ende tegens de begeerten des vleesches/ de natuurlijc-ken quaden aerdt/ in welcke den Satan heerscht/ ende dit souden de lieden in haer selven voelen/ indien sy naeuw op het Licht merckte/ welcke de sondein de conscientien openbaer maeckt/ ende soo veel niet na de verboode vrucht sochte/ soeckende haer selven te versadigen met de kennis welcke sy vergaderen in de aertsche verdurven natuur/ in welcke den duyvel heerscht.

(30) Het gemoet alsoo tot het Licht gekeert zijnde/ welcke de verdurve natuur/ in welcke de Satan heerscht/ bestraft/ met de vruchten ende beweegingen van dien/ hier komt dan den mensch geleyt te zijn door het licht des Soons Godts/ welcke een yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ tegen de begeerten/ lusten/ beweegingen/ wil/ ende genegentheden sijns vleesches/ ofte natuurlijcke ofte aertsche deel/ in welcke den Satan heerscht: maer tot voldoeninge van die begeerte/ genegentheden/ ende dorstingen/ welcke door het licht ende deught des Soons Godt opgeweckt zijn/ uyt de goeden aerdt/ onsterffelijcken ziel/ leven/ ofte Geest des menschen/ welcke uyt Godt voort quam/ door welcke den mensch leeft/ ende van de beesten verscheelt/ ende alsoo komt het eeuwige woort/ het zaet/ ende Soone Godts/ in den goeden aerdt ontfangen te worden/ welcken aerd

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dead cannot praise him nor do him justice until he excites them; and all people by nature are dead in sin and violation; for this reason they are unable to do justice to God until the arrival of Christ, the power of which Scripture testifies, to open the eyes of the blind, to unplug the deadened ears, and to revive the dead, who are dead in sin and violation; so the deaf, and the dead, may hear his voice, to comprehend his will; so the blind would see him, whom he is supposed to follow; in following him the true Religion exists.

(29) It is the light and virtue of the Son of God – that enlightens every man that comes into the world – that cultivates in men good desires towards God, the fountain of eternal life; because the life reveals in the conscience of man,the impurity of his ways, the soiled desires of his own withered nature – in which Satan rules – and it shows him the lack of holiness, justice, peace and truth of which he lost track; and by these means, by the same eternal light and virtue, the good desires are cultivated out of the good nature of the immortal soul – which has been hidden (and by which man lives) – for the living God, the fountain of eternal life, holiness, justice, and truth (which man who is in viola-tion misses or lacks), and against the desires of the flesh, the natural impure nature in which Satan rules; and this people would feel in themselves if they would pay close attention to the Light, which reveals the sins in the conscience, and if they would not look so much for the forbidden fruit, looking to satisfy themselves with the knowledge they gather in the earthly deprived nature, in which the devil rules.

(30) The mind thus being pointed at the Light – which punishes the withered nature, in which Satan rules with its fruits and movements – here then appears the man directed by the light of the Son of God – that enlightens every man that comes into the world – against the desires, lusts, movements, will, and affections of his flesh, against the natural or earthly part, in which Satan rules, but towards the satisfaction of the desires, affections, thirsts, which are excited by the light and virtue of the Son of God, out of the good nature, immortal soul, life or Spirit of the people, who came out of God, by which man lives and differs from the animals; and thus the eternal word, the seed, and the Son of God becomes wel-comed in the good nature, a nature or constitution that never brings forth impure fruits; and thus the lonely and abandoned becomes visited, and the thirsty nature

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ofte natuur/ noyt quade vruchten voortbracht/ ende alsoo wordt de eensamen ende verlaten besocht/ ende de dorstige aerdt gewatert met de stroomen des levendigen waters/ ende alsoo komt den Sone Godts/ gebooren ende voortge-bracht te worden uyt den reyne Maeght/ welcke door overspel niet is bevleckt.

(31) Ach/ dat menschen ooren hadden om te hooren/ ende herten om te verstaen de verborgenheyt van Godts Rijck; want mijn mondt is in wijsheyt geopent/ ende mijn lippen sullen kennis verklaren/ ende mijn pen sal schrijven van de verborgentheden des Rijcks Godts/ op dat haer verstanden souden geopent wor-den/ ende hare gemoederen tot de Fonteyne des Eeuwigen Levens onderwesen zijn/.

(32) Ende het gemoedt door het Licht des Soons Godts/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ bestiert zijnde/ alsdan de Soon/ het Kindt/ het Lam/ de nieuwe geboorte/ welcke uyt Godt geboren is/ komt uyt de Heyligen aerdt op/ door de reyne Maeght voortgebracht: (Want wie sal een reyne geven uyt een onreyne? niet een/ Job 14.4.) welcke krijgh voert in gerechigheyt tegens de Slangh en sijn zaet/ (welcke de aerde) het aerdtsche deel ofte natuur; de bevleckten vervloeckten aerdt/ tegens welcke Godts toorn is/ besit/ ende bindt den stercken man/ ende neemt sijn wapenen wegh/ ende werpt hem uyt/ kruysigt het vleesch met de begeerten ende lusten/ ende verlost het schepsel wederom (welcke de macht des doots onderworpen was/ ende alsoo onder Godts toorn) van de macht des duyvels/ ende wascht ende suyvert hem van bevleckinge/ ende alsoo komt den Sone Godts (tot welcke de Heerschappy toebehoort) Koninck/ Heer/ ende Regeerder te zijn/ over den geheelen mensch.

Het vierde Verschil.

(33) G.A. seyde/ Dat de menschen eerst moesten ontwaecken, ende dan uyt den dooden opstaen, ende dat Christus daer na den menschen eerst quam te verlichten.Antw. Moet Christus haer niet eerst opwecken/ ende haer levendigh maken/ hoe sullen sy anders opstaen uyt den dooden? Ende indien Christus haer eerst leven moet geven/ dan moet hy haer Licht geven/ want het leven is het Licht der men-schen: konnen de dooden sonder leven ofte licht opstaen? Dan mogen sy opstaen eer Christus komt ende haer Licht ende leven geeft/ Maer indien de dooden sonder ’t leven niet en konnen opstaen/ dan is die Leere valsch; want Christus moet eerst komen en haer leven geven/ welck leven is het Licht der menschen: ende het is een valsch argument sulcks te besluyten/ omdat hy seydt:

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watered with the streams of the living waters; and thus comes the Son of God, to be born and raised out of the pure Virgin, who is unblemished by adultery.

(31) Ah, if people only had ears to hear, and hearts to understand the mystery of God’s Kingdom; because my mouth is opened with wisdom, my lips will explain knowledge, and my pen will write of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, so that their minds would be opened and their spirits educated towards the Fountain of Eternal Life.

(32) And the spirits of men are being guided by the Light of the Son of God – that enlightens every man that comes into the world – when the Son, the Child, the Lamb, the new birth – who is born out of God – comes forth out of the Holy nature – created by the Virgin (Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one. Job 14.4.) – that battles a just war against the Serpent and his seed (which possesses the earth, the earthly part or nature, the defiled cursed nature, against which God’s wrath is directed) and finds the rebellious man, takes his weapons away, and delivers once more the creature (which was submissive to the power of death, and thus to God’s wrath) from the power of the devil, and washes and purifies him from defilement; and thus the Son of God comes (to whom the dominion belongs) to be King, Lord, and Ruler, over the entire man.

The fourth difference.

(33) G.A. said that people should first awake, and then arise from the dead, and that only afterwards Christ will come to enlighten the people.

Answer. If Christ would not awake them first, make them alive, how would they otherwise resurrect from the dead? And if Christ needs to give them life first, then he has to give them Light, because the life is the Light of men; can the dead resurrect without life and light? If so, then they can rise before Christ comes and gives them Light and life. But if the dead cannot rise without the life, then this teaching is false, because Christ should come first and give them life, the life which is the Light of men; and it is a false argument to conclude this, because he said, “Awake, arise, etc., and Christ will shine over you,” that they for this

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Ontwaeckt/ staet op/ &c. ende Christus sal over u lichten/ dat sy daerom door Christus niet verlicht zijn eer dat sy van den doot opstaen/ door een Licht dat haer roept ende opweckt; want tot haer/ welcke door sijn Licht/ Kracht ende Leven/ ontwaecken/ ende van den doode opstaen/ geeft hy Licht/ Kracht en Leven/ gelijck geschreven is/ Tot hem die heeft sal gegeven werden/ &c. ende alsoo is de Schriftuer niet te min waerachtig: Christus geeft haer Licht/ na dat sy ontwaeckt ende opgeweckt zijn/ hoewel sy ontwaeckt en van den doot opge-weckt zijn door sijn Licht/ Kracht/ verschijninge ende deught/ tot welcke alle macht gegeven is/ Christus Jesus/ in welcke alleen de Kracht is om te ontwaec-ken/ ende de dooden op te wecken/ ende ten sy hy ons opweckt/ konnen wy van den doode niet op staen/ Want sonder hem konnen wy niet doen.

(34) Ende G. Abrahamsz Leere is beschadigende/ want het streckt om de gemoe-deren des volcks van het Licht af te trecken/ (ende om haer ongeloovigh te maecken dat dat het Licht Christi is waer mede sy verlicht zijn/) om in de duys-ternis te wercken/ ende soo Godt met doove wercken te dienen; want indien een mensch Godt recht kan dienen/ eer Christus hem verlicht heeft (gelijck sijn Leere is) is dan al sijn Godtsdienst niet in de duysternis? Ende van soodanigen geeft Christus dese getuygenis/ Dat sy niet en weten waer sy henen gaen/ ende dit is op hem ende de soodanige vervult/ gelijck als blijckt door haer twist/ onenigheden ende verwarde Disputatien/ die sy oock tegens malkanderen heb-ben/ &c. ende door haer listigheyt en wereltsche gestudeertheyt doen sy het volck gelooven/ dat/ dat/ welcke in der daet het Licht des Soons Godt is (welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ ende in de duysternis schijnt) het Licht Christi niet en is/ ende alsoo bedriegen sy de menschen/ ende houden haer van in het Licht gelooven/ welcke in der daedt het Licht Christi is; ende sy leeren haer een gedaente der Godtsalighheyt/ (welcke in uytterlijcke wercken bestaet) na de letter op te nemen/ terwijle sy in de duysternis zijn/ eer dat sy tot Christus het Licht komen/ ende alsoo leyden sy haer van de wegh in welcke Godt sijn Geest geeft/ om den Geest te soecken in een wegh daer sy die noyt verkrijgen konnen/ ende alsoo komen vele met de letterlijcke kennis opgeblazen te zijn/ ende meenen (ofte seggen/ ofte sijn geergert door haer die het tegendeel seggen) dat sy den Geest hebben/ ende dat sy daer door bestiert zijn/ ende noch-tans versaecken sy dat het Licht welcke een yeder mensch verlicht/ (door welcke alle menschen gelooven souden) het Licht Christi is.

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reason will not be enlightened by Christ before they arise from the dead, by a Light that calls and revives them; and it is a false argument because to them – who through his Light, Power and Life awake and resurrect from the dead – he gives Light, Power and Life, as it is written, “because he who has, will be given,” etc., and thus Scripture is nevertheless truthful. Christ gives them Light, after they are awakened and revived, although they are awoken and revived from the dead by his Light, Power, coming and virtue, to which all power is given, Jesus Christ, only in whom the Power resides to awake and revive the dead; and unless he revives us, we are unable to rise from the dead, because without him we cannot do so.

(34) And G. Abrahamszs’s Teaching is damaged because it intends to pull the spirits of men away from the Light (and make them unbelieving of the Light of Christ which enlightens them), to make them work in darkness, and in this way serve God with mute labors; because if a man can do justice to God before Christ has enlightened (as his Teaching says), is his Religion then not in dark-ness? And of such people Christ gives this testimony, that they do not know where to go; and this applies to Galenus and such people, as this appears from quarrel, disagreements and confused Disputations which they also have against each other, etc.; and by their cunningness and worldly scholarship they make the people believe that that which is indeed the Light of the Son of God (that enlightens every man that comes into the world, and shines into darkness) is not the Light of Christ; and in this way they betray the people and keep them away from believing in the Light, which indeed is the Light of Christ; and they teach them a form of Godgloriness (which consists of external labors) to be followed to the letter, while they are in darkness until they come to Christ the Light; and thus they lead them away from the path in which God gives his Spirit, to search for the Spirit in a path where they are unable to ever obtain it; and thus many come being conceited with the literal knowledge, and believe (or say, or are annoyed by those who state the opposite) that they possess the Spirit, and that they are governed by it; however they neglect that the Light that enlightens every man (through which all people should believe) is the Light of Christ.

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Het vijfde Verschil.

(35) G.A. wou bewijsen dat het uytwendige oor de stemme Godts konde hooren.Antw. Godt is een Geest suyver ende eeuwigh/ wiens stem het uytwendige oor niet bequaem is te hooren: Ende daer zijn vele menschen die uytwendige ooren hebben/ ende nochtans geen ooren hebben om te hooren wat den Geest (welcke Godt is) seydt: Daerom seyde Christus/ Die ooren hebben om te hooren/ die hoort/ &c. ende hy seyde uytdruckelijck/ Ghy keunt niet hooren om dat ghy uyt Godt niet en zijt alhoewel hy tot haer uytwendigh gehoor sprack/ nochtans kon-den sy sijn woort niet hooren/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren: Nu/ het uytwendigh oor en gehoor/ hoewel door Godt geschapen/ (gelijck het gehoor en oor van een beest is) nochtans is het uyt Godt niet/ maer het vergaet metter tijdt: Die uyt Godt niet en is kan Godts woordt niet hooren. Het uytwendige oor is niet uyt Godt/ maer uyt de aerde/ ende daerom kan dat Godts Woort niet hooren; ende gelijck als het doen was daer Christus tot de Joden sprack/ wiens woorden sy met hare utywendige ooren hoorden/ nochtans soo konden sy sijn woordt niet hooren/ begrijpen nochte verstaen/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren: Ende alhoewel een stem van den hemel quam/ ende een geluyt gaf tot het uytwendige oor/ nochtans soo sy niet een ander oor hebben/ een inwendigh ende Geestelijck oor/ geopent om de stemme Godts te hooren/ soo hoorende/ hooren sy niet (gelijck de Joden) om dat sy uyt Godt niet en zijn; ende alsoo getuygen wy dat de Schriftuer waerachtig is/ welcke seydt: Die uyt Godt niet en is/ kan sijn woort niet hooren/ &c. ende den natuurlijcken mensch begrijpt de dingen des Geests Godt niet/ &c. ende die gene die het tegendeel soecken te bewijsen/ zijn Dwaelgeesten; maer die een oor om te hooren heeft/ laet die hooren; ende alsoo besluyte ick/ Dat niemant de stemme Godts hooren kan/ verder als een inwen-digh geestelijck oor in hem geopent is (door de salighmakende genade Godts/ die alle menschen verscheenen is) om te hooren: Daerom seyt de Schrift/ Die een oor heeft om te hooren/ die hoore/ maer die uyt Godt niet en is/ hoort Godts woordt niet/ al sou een stem van Godt/ een geluyt tot het uytwendige oor geven: Ende de Joden hoorden de Schrift met hare uytwendige ooren (welcke men Godts woordt noemt) en Christus en sijne Apostelen: Maer hoorende/ hoorden sy niet/ &c. begrepen nochte verstonden Gods woort niet/ (al waren sy yverigh na de letter) om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren/ ende sy natuerlijck zijnde/ kon-den de dingen des Geests Godts niet begrijpen/ gelijck de Schrift getuygt/ alsoo het uytwendige gehoor (welcke de menschen met de beesten gemeen hebben) is het gehoor niet welcke de stem ofte woort Godts hoort/ gelijck als blijckt: want Christus sprak tot de Joden/ (Godt sprack in hem) nochtans konden sy sijn woort niet hooren/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren/ ende sy hadden de stemme Godts

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The fifth difference.

(35) G.A. wanted to prove that the external ear could hear the voice of God.Answer. God is a Spirit pure and eternal, whose voice the external ear is unable to hear. And there are many people who have external ears, yet who do not have ears to hear what the Spirit (which is God) says. For this reason Christ said, “he who has ears to hear, hears” &c., and he explicitly said, “thou cannot hear because thou art not of God”; although he spoke to their external ear, yet they could not hear his word, because they were not of God. Now, the external ear and hearing, although created by God (in the same way as the hearing andear of a beast), is not of God, but decays with time. He who is not of God cannot hear God’s word. The external ear is not of God, but of the earth, and for this reason it cannot hear God’s word; and the same it was when Christ spoke to the Jews, whose words they heard with their external ears, yet they were unable to hear, understand or grasp his word because they were not of God. And although a voice came from the heavens and gave a sound to the external ear, yet since they do not have another ear – an internal and Spiritual ear, opened to hear the voice of God – although hearing, they did not hear (like the Jews) because they are not of God; and thus we testify that Scripture is truthful, saying, “he who is not of God, cannot hear his word, etc.”; and the natural man does not under-stand the matters of God’s Spirit, etc.; and they who seek to prove the contrary are Wanderspirits; but they who have ears to hear, make yourself hear; and thus I conclude that nobody can hear the voice of God, unless an internal spiritual ear is opened within them (by the sanctifying grace of God that appeared to all people) in order to hear; for this reason Scripture says, “he who has ears to hear, hears”; but he who is not of God, does not hear God’s word, even if a voice of God would give a sound to the external ear. And the Jews with their external ears heard Scripture (which is called God’s word) and the teachings of Christ and his Apostles. But although hearing, they did not hear, etc., nor understood or grasped God’s word (although they were diligent to the letter) because they were not of God, and they were natural, so they could not understand the matters of the Spirit of God, as Scripture testifies; thus the external hearing (that man has in common with the beasts) is not the hearing that hears the voice or word of God, as the following shows, because Christ spoke to the Jews (God spoke within them) yet they were unable to hear his word, because they were not of God, and they never heard God’s voice nor saw his appearance. But the internal spiritual ear (without which man is unable to hear God’s word or voice, even though he hears a sound with his external ear) is that ear, which is of God, and hears God’s word. And in order to open that ear God sent his Son – who

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noyt gehoort/ nochte sijn gedaente gesien: Maer het inwendigh Geestelijcke oor (sonder welcke den mensch het woort ofte stemme Godts niet hooren kan/ al hoort hy een geluyt met sijn uytwendigh oor) is dat oor/ welcke uyt Godt is/ ende Godts woort hoort: Ende om dat oor te openen/ heeft Godt sijn Soon gesonden/ die yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ op dat door het Licht des Soons Godts het dode oor soude geopent zijn (een geestelijck gehoor geteelt) om Godts woordt te hooren/ ende een verstant van Godt te ontfangen; ende die gene die het volck van het licht des Soons Godts keeren/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht/ die in de wereld komt/ die keerten haer van het gene waer door het geestelijck gehoor geteelt wort/ ende het geestelijck gesicht gegeven wort/ ende den mensch geestelijck maeckt; ende alsoo houden sy haer in blintheyt/ doofheyt/ en in haer natuerlijcken stant/ soo dat sy de dingen van Godts Geest niet hooren/ verstaen/ sien nochte begrijpen konnen.

(36) Ende soo yemant nu mochte vragen/ wat ick meen door het woordt ofte de stemme Godts niet te hooren? Ick antwoort/ ick meen in waerheydt even gelijck Jesus Christus/ die de fonteyn der waerheydt is/ meenden/ doen hy seyde/ ghy kont mijn woort niet hooren/ om dat ghy uyt Godt niet en zijt/ die uyt Godt is hoort sijn woort/ die uyt God niet en is/ hoort Godts woort niet/ ende die gene tot welcke hy sprack hadden uytwendige ooren/ om hem de woorden te hooren spreecken/ nochtans hoorende hoorden sy lieden niet/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren/ soo het oor welcke sy hadde (merckt sy hadden uytwendige ooren) konde Godts Woort niet hooren; maer een oor most ge-opent zijn/ in een aert welcke uyt Godt is/ anders konnen sy Godts Woort niet hooren/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en zijn/ ende dat is een vervloeckte leere/ dewelcke het volck afleydt van het licht des Soons Godts/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ (sonder welcke de doode ooren niet en worden ge-opent) ende haer wijs maecken dat sy de stem/ woort/ ofte sin Godts hooren/ begrijpen/ ofte verstaen/ als sy de Schrift hooren ofte leesen/ ende haer so brengen tot een nabootsinge van dien/ wanneer sy de stem ofte het Woort Godts noyt en hebben gehoort/ gelijck als de Joden (die de letter nabootsen) die de Schrift hadden/ ende wat meer is/ Christus/ ende sijne Apostelen/ spraecken tot haer/ nochtans konde sy lieden sijn woort niet hooren/ om dat sy uyt Godt niet en waren.

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enlightens every man that comes into the world – because through the Light of the Son of God the dead ear would be opened (a spiritual hearing cultivated) to hear God’s word, and receive an understanding of God; and they who lead the people away from the Light of the Son of God – that enlightens every man that comes into the world – turn them away from that through which the spiritual hearing is cultivated, the spiritual sight is given, and that which makes man spiritual; and thus they keep them in blindness, deafness, and in their natural state, so they are unable to hear, understand or grasp the matters of God’s Spirit.

(36) And should anyone now ask what I mean by not hearing the word nor voice of God, I answer that I mean in truth – just as Jesus Christ, who is the fountain of truth, meant when he said, “thou cannot hear my word, because thou art not of God” – that he who is of God hears his word, and he who is not of God does not hear God’s word, and that those to whom he spoke had external ears, to hear him speak the words; I mean that although hearing, those people did not hear, because they were not of God; thus the ear they possessed (note they had exter-nal ears) was unable to hear God’s Word; yet an ear should be opened, in a nature which is of God, otherwise they cannot hear God’s Word, because they are not of God; and it is a cursed Teaching that leads the people away from the Light of the Son of God – that enlightens every man that comes into the world (without which the dead ears are not opened) – and makes them believe that they hear, understand or grasp the voice, word or meaning of God when they hear or read Scripture, and in this way leads them to an imitation of Scripture, when they never even heard the voice or Word of God, like the Jews (who imitate the letter) who have Scripture; and what is more, Christ and his Apostles spoke to them, yet those people could not hear his word, because they were not of God.

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Het Seste Verschil.

(37) G.A. seyde/ De Schriftuer is het woordt Godts.Antw. De Schriftuer getuyght/ Dat Christus het Woordt Godts is/ ende de Schrif-ten getuygen van hem: Maer de Schriftuer is Godts woort niet van welcke die getuygen; door het Woort was de wereld gemaeckt/ ende niet door de Schriften/ want de Schriftuer was doen niet: Het Woort is levendigh ende krachtigh/ het wederbaert ende maekt levendigh/ maer de Schriftuer niet: Door het Woort is alles gedragen/ &c. maer niet door de Schriften; het Woort is de Name Christi/ en sijnen Naem wert genoemt het Woort Godts/ (a) welcke naem de Schriftuer de letter/ dewelcke in sich selve doodt is/ niet toebehoort.6

(38) Ende sijn eenigh bewijs dat hy by bracht/ was Marc. 7.10:13. alwaer niet en is geseyt gelijck als hy voor gaf/ dat de Schriftuer het woordt Godts is; maer aldaer wort verhaelt/ dat Christus seyde/ Mosis heeft geseght/ * Eert Vader en Moeder/ &c. *Ende Galenus seyde/ Dat ick miste/ om dat ick seyde/ dat Godts Woordt in Mosis was/ welcke dese woorden sprack: ende hier in heeft hy Chris-tus tegen gesproken/ welcke seyde/ Mosis heeft geseght/ &c. Ende Christus toonde haer dat sy het tegendeel deden/ ende daerom seyde hy/ Ghy maeckt Godts Woordt krachteloos (van welcke de Schriftuer getuyght) ende alsoo bracht hy de woorden/ welcke de Joden geloofden/ om haer te overtuygen dat sy Godts Woordt krachteloos maeckten/ van welcke de woorden getuygen; want wy seg-gen oock/ Dat die gene welcke tegens de getuygenis der Schriftuer wandelen/ (de woorden welcke van het Woort getuygen) Godts Woordt krachteloos maec-ken/ van welcke de woorden getuygen: Maer het is een valsch besluyt/ daerom te seggen/ Dat de Schriftuer Godts Woort is/ Maer het zijn woorden/ getuygende van het Woort; welcke Woort sy lieden krachteloos maecken/ die tegens de getuygenis der Schriftuer leeren ofte doen/ gelijck als die gene Godt tot een loogenaer maeckten/ die het getuygenis niet en gelooven/ welcke sy van sijn Soon gegeven heeft.7

6 (a) Openb. 19.13. 7 I. Joan. 5.10. Joan. I. tot vers 9.

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The sixth difference.

(37) G.A. said Scripture is the word of God. Answer. Scripture testifies that Christ is the Word of God, and Scripture testifies of him. But Scripture is not the word of God of which they testify; through the Word the world was created, and not through Scripture, because Scripture then did not exist. The Word is living and powerful, it regenerates and makes alive, but not Scripture. Everything is carried by the Word, etc., but not by Scripture; the Word is the Name of Christ, and his Name is called the Word of God (a), a name that does not belong to Scripture because the letter in itself is dead.8

(38) And the only proof he added was Mark 7:10-13, which does not say what he claimed it says, namely that Scripture is the Word of God. Instead there it is told that Christ said, that Moses had said, “honor thy Father and Mother, etc.” And Galenus said that I erred because I said that God’s Word was in Moses, who spoke these aforementioned words; and in this Galenus contradicted Christ, who said, “Moses has said, etc.”; and Christ showed that the Jews did the oppo-site, and therefore said that they make God’s Word (of which Scripture testifies) powerless; and thus he brought the words, which the Jews believed, to convince them that they made God’s Word – of which the words testify – powerless; for this reason we also say that they who walk against the testimony of Scripture (the words which testify of the Word) make God’s Word – of which the words testify – powerless. Yet it is a false conclusion to therefore say that Scripture is God’s Word. But the Scripture is a set of words that testify to the Word; the Word that those people who teach or act against the testimony of Scripture make powerless, in the same way as those who make God a liar, and do not believe the testimony that he has given of his Son.9

8 (a) Revelation 19:13. 9 1 John 5:10, 1 John until verse 9.

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Het Sevende Verschil.

(39) G.A. seyde/ Dat de Schriftuer den Regel is/ uyt welcke men moet weten/ wat men doen en laten moet &c. Den regel der gene die de Schriften uytgaven/ was in den Geest Godts/ welcken Geest haer Regeerder was/ gelijck ook de Schriftuur overvloedigh getuyght/ maer gelijck de slange wijsheyt/ gewent/ gekeert ende gedraeyt heeft in alle eeuwen/ om de waerheydt te verdonckeren/ om de menschen also van het hee-relijcke Licht des Evangeliums af te houden/ om haer listighlijck in eygen gerechtigheydt ofte letterlijcke oeffeningh te leyden/ daer in het leven te soec-ken/ soo doet hy noch/ ick sal dierhalven een exempel tot de conscientien der gener voor stellen/ die naer Godt waerlijck hongeren/ en dorsten/ maer weet dit eerst/ dat al is’t dat een naturelijck mensch/ de letter der Schrift na doet/ (ende dat in eenyder voor Godt) (b) als de Joden deden/ ende alsoo een gedaente der Godtsaligheyt/ ofte vertoogh van heyligheyt bekomen/ dat sulcks hem niet gees-telijck en maeckt; want het is den Geest Godts/ door wederbaren ende heyligh-maeckinge/ &c. welcke den mensch geestelijck maeckt/ ende hy en volght den rechten regel niet/ door welcke sijn natuur mochte verandert zijn van vleeselijck tot geestelijck/ al is ’t dat hy de letter na doet/ ende meent dat hy Godt/ soo doende/ dient; want die den Geest Christi niet en hebben/ ende niet en weten dat Christus in haer is/ hooren hem niet toe/ maer zijn verworpen:8

(40) Maer indien sy gekomen zijn een mate van Christi Geest in haer te kennen/ welcke sy kennen moeten/ ofte anders hooren sy hem niet toe/ nochte wandelen naer den rechten regel niet/ al doen sy de letter naer/ ende in groote perijckel/ noodt/ verdruckinge ende beproevinge zijnde/ (gelijck als dickmaels beurt/ voor-namentlijck die Godt vreesen) ende geerne wilde verlost zijn/ maer niet weten welcke wegh te keeren/ omcingelt zijnde met beproevingen/ verdruckingen/ ende perijckelen; waer dan sullen soodanighe een regel ofte uytkomst vinden/ om haer daer uyt te leyden/ en te behouden? Mogelijck sult ghy antwoorden/ De Schrift seydt: Die verdruckt is laet hem bidden/ &c. wel/ Maer om wat sullen sy bidden? Ghy mooght seggen/ Om wijsheyt/ kennis/ kracht/ raedt/ &c. om de perijckelen te ontkomen; wel dan/ indien Godt haer gebedt antwoort (gelijck hy doet die gene die in’t geloof bidden) ende haer de wijsheyt/ kennis/ kracht/ raedt/ &c. geeft/ om welcke sy gebeden hebben/ moeten sy dan die wijsheyt/ kennis/ kracht/ en raet niet volgen/ welcke Godt haer tegenwoordigh geeft/ om haer uyt de noodt te helpen: Ende is dit niet den regel welcke men behoort te

8 (b) Rom. 10. tot vers 8.

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The seventh difference.

(39) G.A. said that Scripture is the Rule on the basis of which one should know what to do, and what not to do etc.Answer. The rule that Scripture gave forth, was in the Spirit of God, the Spirit that was its Ruler, as Scripture also abundantly testifies; but in the way the ser-pent wisdom revolved, turned and swerved in all centuries, to hide the truth, so to keep the people away from the majestic Light of the Gospel, to cunningly lead them into their own version of justice or literal exercises, to make them search for life there, it still does today; I will give of this an example to the conscience of those that truly hunger and thirst for God; but know this first, that even if a natural man observes the letter of Scripture (and this in a diligence for God) (b) like the Jews did, and thus obtains an appearance of Godliness or dis-play of blissfulness, that this does not make him spiritual; because it is the Spirit of God, by rebirth and sanctification, etc., that makes man spiritual; and he does not follow the right rule by which his nature could be changed from carnal to spiritual, even if he follows the letter and believes that he in this way serves God; because they who do not have the Spirit of Christ, and do not know that Christ is in them, do not belong to him, but are cast out.10

(40) But if they have come to know a measure of Christ’s Spirit within them – which they ought to know, otherwise they do not belong to him – then they do not walk in the right rule, even if they follow the letter; and being in great danger, distress, oppression and ordeal (as happens often, especially with those who fear God), and eager for redemption, but not knowing which way to turn, being surrounded with devastations, oppressions and dangers, where then will such people find a rule or way out to lead them out of there and keep them safe? Possibly you would answer that Scripture says, “he who is oppressed let him pray,” etc. But for what shall they pray? You could answer, “for wisdom, knowledge, power, advice, etc., so to evade danger”. Well then, if God answers their prayer (as he does with those who pray in the belief) and gives them the wisdom, knowledge, power, advice, etc. for which they have prayed, should they then not follow that wisdom, knowledge, power and advice which God presently gives them, in order to save them from distress? And is this not the rule that people are supposed to follow in order to avoid danger? And is this not

10 (b) Romans 10 until verse 8.

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volgen/ om de perijckel te ontkomen? Ende is dit den regel ende leyder niet (boven de Schriftuer) welcke alle menschen behoorden te volgen? wat dunckt u? Maer indien G.A. dit niet en weet/ maer de Schrift voor den regel stelt/ wy weten ’t al/ en daerom prijsen wy den Heer.

Het Achtste Verschil.

(41) G.A. seyde/ Men moet de menschen tot de Schrift wijsen/ ende niet eerst tot het Licht.Antw. En waerom niet tot Christus/ die het Licht is/ van welcke de Schrift getuyght? welcke den mensch eerst het verstant opent/ eer hy de Schrift verstaen kan; sonder dewelcke de dingen Godts niet konnen begrepen ofte verstaen wor-den; want den natuurlijcken mensch begrijpt se niet: ende sonder Christus/ het Licht/ konnen wy niets doen/ dat Godt behaeghlijck is;

(42) Ende hy aldien men tot de Schrift moeste gewesen zijn/ en niet eerst tot Christus; het Licht/ van welcke de Schrift getuyght/ (want daer in bestaet het verschil) om haere conscientien te verlichten/ ende te onderwijsen; aengesien den natuurlijcken mensch de dingen des Geests Godts niet begrijpt/ wat sal haer dan een recht verstant van de Schriften geven? De Schriften der Heyligen zijn waerachtigh/ ende waren uytgegeven om gelesen/ verstaen ende gelooft te wor-den: Maer indien die gelooft worden te zijn/ dat sy niet en zijn: te weten/ het Licht/ Fondament/ Regel ende Woordt Godts/ &c. soo toonen sy lieden haer onwetentheyt/ van Jesus Christus/ die het Licht is/ (in welcke de Regel is) het Fondament/ ende het Woordt Godts/ &c. ende soodanige stellen de Schrift in sijn plaets/ van welcke die getuyght: Ende sy alsoo op de Schrift siende/ meenende die het Licht te zijn; soo zijn sy van het waerachtige Licht vervreemt/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de werelt komt/ en de sonden in hare eygen gewetens openbaert; en op de Schrift/ als op het Fondament en’t Woort Godts siende/ &c. soo zijn sy van het Woordt Godts/ welcke in den beginne was/ &c. vervreemt/ ende van het Fondament/ op welcke de Propheten/ en Apostelen gebouwt waren/ voor en al eer sy de Schriftuer uyt gaven; ende alsoo mogen sy lieden (na dat haer naestigheydt in de letter is) letter-wijs worden/ gelijck als de Joden oock waren/ (die Christus ter doodt brachten) ende op de kennis voeden/ ende een gedaente der Godtsaligheyt van de letter opnemen/ (welcke van Christus getuygt/) volgens haer kennisse/ ende nochtans alsoo onwetende zijn van Christus het waerachtige Licht/ Fondament/ en Woordt Godts/ van welcke de Schrift getuyght/ als de Joden waren/ die Christus ter doodt overleverden; ende soodanigen Leer is meest over een komende met de verdurven natuur der

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the rule and leader (above Scripture) which all people are supposed to follow? What do you think? But if G.A. does not know this, and instead places Scripture above the rule, we on the contrary already do know, and for this reason praise the Lord.

The eighth difference.

(41) G.A. said people ought to be directed first to Scripture, and not to the Light.

Answer. And why not to Christ, who is the Light, of which Scripture testifies? Who opens the people’s understanding, before they can comprehend Scripture; without which the matters of God cannot be understood or grasped, because a natural man does not understand them; and without Christ, the Light, we cannot do anything that is pleasing to God.

(42) And if they would be directed to Scripture, and not first to Christ – the Light of which Scripture testifies (because in this lies the difference) – to enlighten and teach their conscience, since the natural man does not understand the matters of God’s Spirit, what will then give them a right understanding of Scripture? The Scriptures of the Saints are truthful and were given out to be read, understood and believed. But if they are believed, in such a manner that they – namely the Light, Foundation, Rule and Word of God, etc. – are not, then these people show their ignorance of Jesus Christ, who is the Light (in which the Rule is), the foundation, and the Word of God, etc.; and so they put Scripture in the place of whom Scripture testifies. And when they in this way are looking to Scripture, believing it to be the Light, they are alienated of the truthful Light, that enlightens every man that comes into the world and reveals the sins in their own conscience. And when they look to Scripture as being the foundation and Word of God, they are alienated from the Word of God – which was in the beginning, etc. – and from the Foundation which inspired the Prophets and Apostles before they brought forth the Scriptures; and so those people (their industriousness being in the letter) may become letter-wise – like the Jews (who killed Christ) also were – may nurture on the knowledge and take up a form of Godliness of the letter (the letter which testifies of Christ) according to their own knowledge, yet will still be as ignorant of Christ – the truthful Light, Founda-tion, and Word of God of which Scripture testifies – as the Jews were, who delivered him to his death; and such a Teaching is mostly in accordance with the depraved nature of those people who are eager to know, in order to be nur-tured with knowledge, until they finally become conceited; yet these people hate

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menschen/ die weet-gierigh zijn/ om met kennis gevoedt te zijn/ tot dat sy opge-blazen worden; maer haten het Licht/ het kruys/ de Kracht Godts/ welcke de vyantschap doodet ende wederbaert/ ende heylight: maer de gedaente/ schaduw en schijn/ houden sy vast.

(43) Ende nademael ick gehoort hebbe dat G.A. seyde/ Dat men het licht volgen moet/ &c. het welck een schijn maeckt voor sommige slechte eenvoudige/ als of wy niet recht en dede tegens hem te verkondigen/ soo hy alsoo spreeckt/ ende het licht vermaent te volgen: Daerom sal ick den Leser soecken te doen ver-staen/ dat sijne meninge ofte ooghmerck anders is als de onze/ gelijck uyt sijn eyge woorden blijckt/ in sijn derde vraegh/ door my geantwoort/ in een Boeck/ genaemt/ Het�Licht� dat� in� de� duysternisse� schijnt, &c. welcke hy geschreven heeft als volght. Volgens�dien�of�het�niet�behoorlijck�is,�De�menschen�te�wijsen�tot� de� Boecken� Mose,� ende� der� Propheten;� tot� de� beschrevene� Wetten� ende�Leeringen�des�Heeren�Jesu,�ende�sijner�Apostelen,�datse�die�hooren,�om�alsdan,�na�hare�conscientien,�daer�uyt�wel�sullen�onderwesen�zijn,�op�het�licht�van�hare�conscientien� naeuw� te� letten. Alwaer uyt blijckt/ dat sijn meeninge is/ dat de opinie ofte meeninge/ ofte ’t verstant welcke de mensch van de Schrift vat/ (uyt welcke hare conscientien niet wel konnen onderwesen zijn/ sonder/ of door het Licht Christi/ van welcke de Schrift getuyght) het licht haerder conscientien is/ ’t welcke sy volgen moeten/ eer Christus haer verlicht/ ende dat daer na het Licht Christi haer eerst komt te verlichten/ gelijck uyt sijn eygen woorden blij-ckt/ in een andere plaets van dit Boeck: Ende dese Leere oordeelen wy verderf-felijck ende bedriegelijck te zijn/ om tot de Schrift te wijsen/ daer door verlicht te zijn; en niet tot dat Licht/ waer mede sy lieden alreede eerst verlicht zijn/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht: Maer die wederstaen/ welcke zulcks doen/ Want die den Geest Christi niet en hebben/ die en komen hem niet toe; maer zijn natuurlijck/ ende en konnen de dingen des Geests Godts niet begrijpen/ ende konnen daerom de Schriftuer niet verstaen/ welcke van de dingen Godts spreeckt/ ende het gene dat soodanige van de Schriftuer bevatten/ is maer hare onseeckere meeninge ofte opinie; want sy kennen hem niet/ van welcke de Schriften getuy-gen/ Want hare gemoederen zijn van Christi Licht afgekeert/ (door welcke sy/ ende alle menschen verlicht worden; welcke de sonde in de conscientien open-baer maeckt/ welcke Licht sy behoorden te volgen:) want sy willen licht buyten soecken; ende alsoo komen sy een gedaente te verkrijgen/ ende zijn nochtans onwetende van de Kracht; ende hare gemoederen alsoo tot de letter/ ende letter-lijcke oeffeningen/ ofte eyge gerechtigheydt gekeert zijnde/ ende niet tot het Licht van welcke de letter getuyght/ soo de verdurve natuur/ dewelcke op de letterlijcke kennis voedet/ bekomt een gedaente in eygen gerechtigheyt/ en daer

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the Light, the cross, the Power of God, which sanctifies and destroys and engages the hostility; but the appearance, shadow and semblance they always retain.

(43) And after hearing that G.A. said that people ought to follow the light, etc. – something that may cause confusion in some wrong, simple minds, as if we had no right to proclaim against him when he in this way speaks, and tells people to follow the light – I request the reader to understand that his opinion and intention differs from ours, as is evident from his own words, in his third question answered by me in a book named ‘The Light that shines into darkness’,11 which he wrote as following, “If�it�is�according�to�him�not�appropriate,�to�guide�the�people�to�the�books�of�Moses�and�the�Prophets,�to�the�writings�and�teachings�of� the�Lord�Jesus,�and�to�those�of�his�Apostles;�making�the�people�hear�these,�so� thereafter,�when� their� conscience� has� been� taught� by� them,� things�will� be�observed� more� attentively”. Which makes clear that his opinion is, that the opinion, view, or understanding that man has from Scripture (out of which their conscience cannot be taught well, without, or through the Light of Christ, of which Scripture testifies) is the light of their conscience, which they are sup-posed to follow until Christ enlightens it, that thereafter the Light of Christ will enlighten them, as is evident from his own words in another place of this book. And this Teaching we judge to be depraved and deceptive, that points to Scrip-ture and claims to be enlightened by it, yet not to that Light, by which they are enlightened first, which enlightens every man. But we oppose those who act so, because they who do not have the Spirit of Christ cannot attain it, but are natu-ral, and cannot understand the matters of God’s Spirit, and for this reason cannot understand Scripture, that speaks of the matters of God; and the things that such people understand of Scripture are only a doubtful meaning and opinion, because they do not know him of which Scripture testifies, because their spirits are directed away from Christ’s Light (by which they and all people are enlightened, that reveals the sins in the conscience, the Light that they ought to follow), because they want to find light outside; and in this way they obtain an appear-ance, although they are ignorant of the Power; and their spirits thus being directed towards the letter, and the literal exercises, or their own version of justice, and not to the Light of which the letter testifies, the depraved nature, the one that nurtures the literal knowledge, obtains an appearance of justice; and in

11 Dutch Title: William Ames, Het�Ligt�dat�in�de�duisternisse�schijnt,�beweesen�den�Weg�tot�God�te�sijn, Amsterdam, 1660.

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in schijnen sy heyligh/ gelijck de Joden deden/ ende alsoo hare gemoederen uytsiende/ ende niet na het waerachtig Licht/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht/ &c. Daerom konnen sy sijn verschijninge niet meer verstaen ofte begrijpen/ als de Joden/ doen sy onder haer verscheen/ maer zijn verworpene/ Christus in haer niet kennende; ende soodanige verachten ons/ om dat wy de lieden tot het wae-rachtige Licht wijsen/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereldt komt/ gelijck de Schrift getuyght.

(44) Maer wy gelooven in Godts Woordt/ het Licht/ welcke yeder mensch ver-licht/ &c. welcke Licht het leven is/ welcke in Godt was/ door welck de wereldt gemaeckt is; Christus Jesus het Eeuwige Woordt/ welcke in de volheydt des tijds is vleesch geworden/ &c. van welck de Schrift getuyght; Ende dit is hy/ tot welcke wy het volck wijsen/ om leven en saligheydt; ende om dese oorsaeck lijden wy de wederspreeckinge der letter-wijse/ die haer letterlijcke oeffeningen ende eygen gerechtigheydt opsetten/ ende alsoo heyligh daer mede schijnen/ maer seggen/ Dat wy de menschen niet behooren tot het Licht te keeren/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht/ maer tot de Schrift.

(45) Ende nademael hy vraeght/ in sijn eerste vraegh/ (siet die in de Voor-reden van dit boecksken;) van welcke vraegh hy schijnt te besluyten/ Dat onse Leere niet recht en is: Ende alhoewel die beantwoordt is/ in voorgemelde boeck/ wel-cke door hem niet is wederleydt; nochtans/ nademael hy niet op houdt deselve argumenten te gebruycken/ sal ick daer noch wat op antwoorden.

(46) Den Apostel getuyght/ Dat het Leven/ welcke in Godt was/ het Licht der menschen is/ welck Licht in de duysternisse schijnt/ al begrijpt de duysternis dat selve niet; (ende de duysternis is in den mensch/) ende dat is het waerachtige Licht/ welck yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt: Ende Johannis was gesonden/ om van dat Licht te getuygen/ op dat sy alle door hem gelooven sou-den. (Merckt/) Het Leven/ welcke in Godt was/ is het Licht welck in de duys-ternis schijnt/ ende yeder mensch verlicht/ die in de wereld komt: Johannis was gesonden/ om van dit Licht te getuygen/ welcke in Godt is/ ende in de duysternis schijnt/ (de duysternis is in de menschen) ende een yegelick mensch verlicht/ &c. op dat sy alle door hem gelooven souden: Ende Paulus seyde/ Dat hy geson-den was/ om van de duysternis tot het Licht te keeren/ van de macht des Satans tot Godt/ ende het Licht/ van welcke sy gesonden waren/ te getuygen: ende om het volck toe keeren/ is het leven/ ’t welcke in Godt was/ welcke het Licht der menschen is/ ende in de duysternisse schijnt/ ende yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt/ op dat sy alle door hem gelooven souden/ daerom moet

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this they appear holy, as the Jews also did, and to this they direct their spirits, and not to the truthful Light, which enlightens every man, etc. For this reason they cannot understand or conceive his coming – like the Jews, when he appeared amongst them – but are outcasts, not knowing Christ within them; and they despise us, because we lead the people to the truthful Light, which enlightens every man that comes into the world, as Scripture testifies.

(44) But we believe in God’s Word, the Light, which enlightens every man that comes into the world, etc., the Light that is life, that was in God, by which the world was created, Jesus Christ the eternal Word, who when the fullness of time had come became flesh, etc., of which Scripture testifies. And it is him to whom we direct the people for life and salvation; and for this reason we oppose the letter-wise, who instate their literal exercises and their own version of justice and because of this appear holy, but say that we ought not to lead to people to the Light, which enlightens every man, but to Scripture.

(45) And after he asked in his first question (see this in the preface of this book), out of which he seemed to conclude that our Teaching is not right, and although this has been answered in the aforementioned book, and has not been refuted by him, nonetheless, since he does not stop using the same arguments, I will answer to this some more.

(46) The Apostle testifies that the Life, which was in God, is the Light of the people, the Light that shines into darkness, even though darkness itself does not understand this (and darkness is in man); and this is the truthful Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world. And John was sent to testify of this Light, so all through him should believe. (Note) the Life, which was in God, is the Light that shines into darkness, and enlightens every man that comes into the world. John was sent to testify of this Light, which was in God, shinesinto darkness (the darkness is in man) and enlightens every man, etc., so all through him should believe. And Paul said that he was sent to turn from dark-ness to the Light, from the power of Satan to God, and to testify to the Light by which they were sent; and to turn the people, there is the life, which was in God, which is the Light of the people, and shines into darkness, and enlightens every man that comes into the world, so all through him should believe; for this reason it should necessarily follow that if the Apostles did what they were sent for, they testified of this, and directed the people to a Light (that shines into darkness, a

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nootsaeckelijck volgen/ Dat indien de Apostelen gedaen hebben/ ’t geene waer toe sy gesonden waren/ soo getuygen sie van/ ende keerden het volck tot een Licht/ (welck in de duysternis schijnt/ welcke duysternis in de menschen is) door welcke de menschen waren verlicht/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht/ die in de wereldt komt; soo hier is sijn ongefondeert argument (’t welck eenige/ als de Papegaeijen van hem geleert hebben) met de wortel uytgeroeyt.

(47) Ende de somma van het werck der Apostelen is in de Schrift beschreven; maer alle hare woorden ende argumenten/ welcke sy gebruyckten in’t uytvoeren van haer werck/ zijn niet beschreven; ende nademael getuyght wordt/ dat Jesus Christus het waerachtige Licht is/ dat in de duysternis schijnt/ ende yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt: Ende dat de Apostelen gesonden waren om van dit Licht te getuygen/ ende de lieden te keeren van de duysternis tot Christus/ het Licht: Wat groote onwetenheydt/ ofte onbeschaemtheydt/ is het van sulcke/ die de Schriften toestemmen/ vraeghs-wijse te ontkennen/ dat de Apostelen het volck gewesen hebben tot het Licht/ welcke in de duysternis schijnt/ en yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereld komt: om dat alle hare woorden ende argumen-ten/ welcke sy gebruyckten tot uytvoeringe van haer dienst/ waerom sy gesonden waren/ niet en zijn beschreven. Maer G.A. laet my in u naeste schrijven weten/ indien ghy keunt/ waer oyt Christus ofte sijn Apostelen geseydt hebben/ dat sy gesonden waren om het volck tot de Schriftuer te keeren/ haer regel te zijn (gelijck ghy het hebben wilt) ende niet tot het Licht/ welcke yeder mensch ver-licht/ die in de wereldt komt; ende dat sal alsdan yets ten propoost zijn.

Het negende Verschil.

(48) G.A. seyde/ Dat de Heydenen verlicht waren door de Scheppinge, ende datse veroordeelt, ofte verdoemt waren, om dat sy die niet waergenomen had-den; maer dat sy niet waren verdoemt, om (ofte door) yets dat sy in haer hadden, en hy trock aen/ Rom. I.Antw. Nu/ die oogen hebben om te sien/ konnen sien/ dat het selve Capittel, welcke hy daer aentrock/ tegens hem getuyght; want daer staet/ vs 18. Dat de toorne Godes wordt geopenbaert van den hemel, over alle Godtloosheydt, ende ongerechtigheydt der menschen, die de waerheydt in ongerechtigheydt t’onder-houden. Ende vs 19. Overmidts het gene van Godt kennelijck is, in�haer open-baer is, want Godt heeft het haer geopenbaert; Soo/ sy waren bestraft/ ofte ver-oordeelt/ om dat sy Godtloose zijnde/ hebben de waerheydt, in ongerechtigheydt ondergehouden; ende de ongerechtigheydt was in�hare herten/ gelijck als Chris-tus seydt: Ende ’t gene door welcke sy bestraft/ ofte veroordeelt waren/ was van

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darkness that is in man) by which people were enlightened, that enlightens every man that comes into the world; so here his unfounded argument (that some like parrots learned from him) is eradicated by root.

(47) And the summa of the work of the Apostles is described in the Scripture, but all their words and arguments, which they used in the execution of their work, are not described; and afterwards it has been testified that Jesus Christ is the truthful Light, that shines into darkness, and enlightens every man that comes into the world; and that the Apostles were sent to testify of this Light, and lead the people away from darkness to Christ, the Light. What great ignorance or shamelessness belongs to those, who accept the Scriptures, yet deny in their questions that the apostles directed the people to the Light – that shines into darkness, and enlightens every man that comes into the world – because all their words and arguments, which they used to execute their service, why they were sent for, were not described. But G.A. let me know in your next writing, if you can, where Christ or his Apostles have said that they were sent to turn the people to Scripture, this being their rule (as you would like to have it), and not to the Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world; and this can serve as a proposal.

The ninth difference

(48) G.A. said that the Pagans were enlightened by the Creation, and that they were condemned or doomed because they did not perceive it [in Creation]; he denied that they were doomed because of something they had in them; and he appealed to Rom 1.Answer. Now, they who have eyes to see can see, that the same chapter to which he appeals testifies against him, because it states, verse 18, that, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness, and unrighteousnessof men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness”. And verse 19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them”. Thus, they were punished or condemned because they were godless, kept the truth in unrighteousness; and the unrighteousness was in their hearts, as Christ said. And that by which they were punished or condemned was revealed by heaven, (note) not by the creatures; and the truth which is knowable of God

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den hemel geopenbaert, (merckt) niet van de schepselen: ende dese waerheydt/ welcke van Godt kennelijck is/ was in haer geopenbaert/ want Godt heeft het haer geopenbaert; maer door de ongerechtigheydt, welcke in haer herten was/ was de waerheydt/ (de saeck/ welcke van Godt kennelijck is) in�haer onderge-houden/ gelijck het nu met de menschen is/ die de waerheydt/ welcke in haer is geopenbaert/ waer mede sy verlicht zijn/ niet in erkentenis en houden/ maer door ongeloovigheydt/ ende ongerechtigheydt t’onderhouden/ ende daerom was Godts toorn over haer/ gelijck oock over dese; want dese stellen oock de schep-selen/ in den plaets des Scheppers/ in te seggen/ dat sy door de schepselen ver-licht, ende daerom veroordeelt waren/ maer niet om dat sy yets in�haer hadde; so stellen sy de schepselen (welcke vergaen sullen) in plaets van ’t Licht Christi, de eenige Wetgever/ die yeder mensch verlicht, &c. door welcke ’t inhoudt/ ofte het werck des wets, in de herten der Heydenen geschreven was/ welcke de saeck is/ die van Godt kennelijck is/ welcke hy in haer openbaerde/ hoewel sy het selve door ongerechtigheydt (of door ongeloovigheydt/ welcke oock ongerech-tigh is) onderhielden/ gelijck als dese/ die oock het Licht niet willen in erkente-nis houden (dat van Godt in haer geopenbaert en kennelijck is) ende daerom komt den verkeerden sin. Ende den toorn Godts over haer.

(49) Nu/ de omstandigheyt/ ende het eyndt van G.A. stellingh/ was/ om te toonen/ dat die/ die de Schrift niet en hebben/ komen tot verlichtinge/ ofte kennisse Godes/ door de Scheppinge/ sonder het Licht Christi in�haer; want daerom bracht hy dit van de Scheppinge by: Nu/ uyt naervolgende sal blijcken/ dat niemandt kan komen verlicht te zijn/ noch Godt noch de Schepselen recht te kennen/ son-der het Licht Christi, welcke de waerheydt is/ welcke de Godtloose in ongerech-tigheydt t’onderhouden, al heeft het Godt in haer geopenbaert; want Christus seydt: Niemandt kent den Vader, als den Soon, ende die gene aen wien de Soon hem wil openbaeren; ende sy/ die waerheyt niet achtende/ welcke Godt in�haer had geopenbaert (het gene welcke van hem kennelijck is/) waren sy soo verydelt, dat sy noch Godt/ noch sijne schepselen recht kende/ gelijck als het nu met haer is/ die het Licht Christi niet gelooven/ met welcke sy verlicht zijn, welcke de waerheydt is/ die in�de duysternisse schijnt; ende siet in’t selfde Capittel, hoe verde sie waren/ selfs/ van de kennis der schepselen/ doen sy de waerheyt/ die in haer geopenbaert was/ niet in erkentenis en hielden/ ofte niet en geloofde/ dat het de openbaringe Godts was/ (alhoewel sy hare overleggingen, ofte natuurlijcke wijsheydt hadden/) want sy veranderde de heerlijckheydt des onsterffelijcken Godes, in de gelijckenis eens beeldes, van een verderffelijck mensch, ende van gevogelte, ende van vier-voetige, ende kruypende gedierten; ende de oorsaeck waerom dat sy overgegeven waren/ is/ om dat sy de Waerheydt, Godes openba-ringh in haer/ niet in erkentenis en hielden/ niet geloofde/ nochte achtede;

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was revealed in them, because God revealed it to them; but because of the unrighteousness which was in their hearts, the truth (the matters which are knowable of God) was kept away within them, as it is with people now, who do not acknowledge the truth, which was revealed within them, by which they are enlightened; and for this reason God’s wrath was over them, as it is over these, because they also put the creatures in place of the Creator, by saying that they were enlightened by the creatures; and for this reason were condemned, but not because they had something within them; in this way they put the creatures (who will perish) in place of the Light of Christ – the only Legislator, that enlightens every man, &c. – by which the content or the work of the law was written in the hearts of the Pagans – the matter which is knowable of God, which he revealed within them – although they themselves by unrighteousness (or by unbelief, which is also unrighteous) kept it away, like those who also are unwill-ing to acknowledge the Light (that by God in them was revealed and knowable); and for this reason the wrong way, and the wrath of God was over them.

(49) Now, the circumstance and purpose of G.A.’s thesis was to show that they who do not have Scripture come to enlightenment or knowledge of God by means of the Creation, without the Light of Christ within them; for this reason he added this concerning the Creation. Now, the following will make clear that nobody can become enlightened, nor can know God or the creatures rightly, without the Light of Christ; the Light of Christ which is the truth that the God-less hold in unrighteousness, even though this truth revealed God within them; because Christ said, “nobody knows the Father, like the Son, and the one to whom the Son wants to reveal him”; and they who do not honor the truth which God had revealed in them (something that obviously applies to G.A.), were so arrogant, that they did not know God nor his creatures rightly, in the same way as it is with them who do not believe in the Light of Christ, by which they are enlightened, the Light of Christ which is the truth, that shines into darkness; and see in the same chapter [of Romans] how far they were even from the knowl-edge of the creatures, when they did not acknowledge the truth that was revealed within them, or did not believe that it was God’s revelation (although they had their reflections and natural wisdom), because they changed the magnificenceof the immortal God to the resemblance of an image of a depraved man, and of poultry, and of four-footed ones and crawling vermin; and the reason why they were lost is because they did not acknowledge, nor believe or honor the Truth, God’s revelation within them.

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(50) Nu/ die de schepselen/ als het Licht stellen/ waer door sy eerst waren (ofte moeten zijn) verlicht/ ende seggen/ dat de Heydenen/ veroordeelt waren/ om dat sy het Licht/ welcke van de scheppinge quam/ niet waer namen; ende niet om dat sy een Licht in haer hadde; stellen sy niet de schepselen/ boven/ ofte voor/ den Schepper? welcke seyde/ Dit is de verdoemenis des wereldts, dat het Licht in de wereldt gekomen is, en de menschen hebben de duysternis liever gehadt, als’t Licht, om dat hare wercken quadt zijn; want een yegelick die quaedt doet, haet het Licht; (merckt/ een yegelijck) daerom moet een yegelijck mensch ver-licht zijn/ hoe konnen sy ’t anders haten? Ende en komt tot het Licht niet, op dat sijn wercken niet bestraft en werden: Ende hoe soude een yegelijck die quaedt doet/ weten/ dat het Licht/ die werckinge hadde/ hare daden te bestraffen/ indien sy niet verlicht waren/ met een waerachtige Licht/ door welcke sy hare straffelijcke daden kennen; ende aldus getuyght de Schrift overvloedigh/ dat dit de oorsaeck der verdoemenis is/ ende sal zijn/ om dat sy dat Licht/ van Godt/ in haer geopenbaert/ niet en geloofden/ noch in erkentenis hielden; alsoo is bewe-sen ’t gene Christus/ het waerachtige Licht seyde: sonder my kondt ghy niets (goedts) doen, ende dat/ dat/ het oordeel des wereldts is, dat het Licht in de wereldt gekomen is, &c. de menschen worden de wereldt genoemt/ in de Schrift/ ende in de wereldt is het Licht Christi gekomen, ende dit was ende is haer ver-doemenis, die het niet aennemen/ ende gelooven; ende alsoo na ’t getuygenis der Schrift/ waren sy veroordeelt/ om yets dat sy in haer niet waergenomen hadden; welcke yets anders is/ als de Scheppinge; het is het Licht Christi, welck in de duysternis schijnt, ende yeder mensch verlicht, welcke is Godt over alle gebenedijdt in der eeuwigheydt, ende alsoo behoorde een yegelick/ in hem te gelooven; want die sijn Licht niet en gelooven/ zijn ten besten genomen/ niet beter als de Joden/ die een yver voor Godt hadden/ na de letter/ ende konde van de Messias veel spreecken/ maer doen hy verkondight wierdt/ (die het waerach-tige Licht is/ dat yeder mensch verlicht die in de wereldt komt; ende soo het Licht des wereldts,) ende by haer was/ wouden sy niet gelooven/ dat hy de Messias was, ende also is het nu met dese Secten:

(51) Maer hy seyde/ Ten zy ghy gelooft dat ick ben, (merckt/ dat ick ben) soo sult ghy in uwe sonden sterven; Ende sy vraeghden hem/ Wie zijt ghy? Ende Christus antwoorden/ Die ick u van den begin oock segge; ende hy hadde haer te voren geseydt/ Ick ben het Licht der wereldt, die my volght, sal in de duyster-nis niet blijven, maer sal het Licht des levens hebben: Soo/ door hem alsoo te gelooven/ wierden sy verlost/ van in haer sonden te sterven. Ende leest Johannis I. alwaer door Johannis/ die van Godt gesonden was/ om van’t Licht te getuygen/ wordt beschreven/ wat hy in den beginne was/ op dat sy alle door hem gelooven

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(50) Now, they who posit the creatures as the Light by which they were first (or should be) enlightened, and say that the Pagans were condemned because they did not perceive the Light, that came from the creation, and not because they had a Light within them, do they not place the creatures above or before the Crea-tor? Who said, “this is the damnation of the world, that the Light has come into the world, and the people preferred the darkness above the Light, because their workings are impure, because anyone that does impure things hates the Light (note, everyone, for this reason every man should be enlightened, how could they otherwise hate it?) and they do not come to the Light, because their actions were not punished”? And how could anyone who does impure things know that the Light has the power to punish their actions, if they were not enlightened with a truthful Light by which they know their punishable deeds? And thus Scripture testifies abundantly that this is and shall be the cause of damnation, because they do not believe nor acknowledge the Light of God, in them revealed; thus it is proven what Christ, the truthful Light, said, “without me thou cannot do any-thing (good)” and that, “the judgment of the world is, that the Light has come into the world, &c.” The people are called the world, in Scripture, and into the world has come the Light of Christ, and this was and is their damnation, that they do not accept nor believe this; and thus after the testimony of Scripture they were condemned because of something they did not perceive within them, which is something different than the Creation; it is the Light of Christ – that shines into darkness, and enlightens every man – which is God above all bless-ings in eternity; and thus everyone should believe in him, because they who do not believe the Light are in the best case not better than the Jews, who had a diligence for God, to the letter, and could say much of the Messiah, but when he was announced (he who is the truthful Light, that enlightens every man that comes into the world, and thus the Light of the world) and he was there, they would not believe that he was the Messiah; and the same is now with these Sects.

(51) But he said, “unless you believe that I am, (note, that I am) then you will die for your sins.” And they asked him, “who are you?” And Christ answered, “the one that I also told you from the beginning,” and he had told them before, “I am the Light of the world, they who follow me will not stay in the darkness, but shall have the Light of life”. So, by thus believing him, they were delivered from dying in their sins. And read John 1, whereby John – who was sent from God, to testify to the Light – is described, what he was in the beginning, so all should believe through him. And he said, “this is the truthful Light, that

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souden: Ende hy seyde/ Dat is het waerachtige Licht, dat een yegelijck mensch verlicht, die in de wereldt komt: Soo/ dit is de getuygenis/ gelijck hy van den beginne was/ ende alsoo/ ten sy men gelooft/ dat hy de waerachtige Christus is, die yeder mensch verlicht, die in de wereldt komt, wiens dagh Abraham sagh/ &c. soo sullen sy in haer sonden sterven; volgens sijn getuygenis/ die de waer-heyt selfs is; ende alsoo dese saeck/ van so grooten gewicht is/ Ja de eene/ eerste saeck/ die noodigh is/ welcke is in het Licht te gelooven; laet dierhalven nie-mandt verwondert zijn/ dat hier soo dickmaels van gesproken wordt/ want het valt ons niet verdrietigh/ hoopende/ ende wetende/ dat het tot eenige seker is/ ende sal dienstigh zijn/ voor soodanige/ die de quaede natuur in haer geen vryheydt en geven/ die in vyantschap tegens het Licht is/ ende derhalven het te hooren in geheugenis brengen/ lastigh is; maer het is aengenaem/ voor die gene die in’t Licht soecken te wandelen: Maer die natuur die het lastigh valt/ is’t gene/ dat in de vyandtschap tegens het Licht is/ ende door het Licht sal moeten wijc-ken/ ende derhalven is het daer door niet aengenaem; Daerom siet toe/ dat ghy dien boosen natuur geen plaets en geeft/ die het swaer valt/ van Christus/ het Licht/ te hooren; want indien ghy die plaets in u geeft/ soo geeft ghy den duyvel plaets; ende sommige hier van onwetende zijnde/ door hare voorbarigheydt in eygen wijsheydt/ het Licht niet achtende/ (als het Licht Christi) waer mede sy verlicht zijn/ gelooven niet dat hy het Licht is; ende daerom als hy verkondight wordt/ het Licht te zijn/ dat een yeder mensch verlicht, die in de wereldt komt, verwerpen sy die getuygenis/ gelijck de bouw-lieden van oudts deden, ende dit is den Steen, welcke van de Bouw-lieden verworpen wordt; maer tot ons is hy het Hooft des hoecks geworden, ende het is wonderlijck in onse oogen:

(52) Ende de Joden geloofden/ dat een Messias komen soude/ ende dat/ als hy soude gekomen zijn/ sy hem behoorden te gelooven; maer sy in sijn Licht niet geloovende/ dat yeder mensch verlicht: Doen hy gekomen was/ hebben sy hem niet gekent/ maer seyde/ Dat hy de Messias niet en was/ maer dat hy een duyvel hadde: Even soo/ is het met de menschen in dese dagen; sy gelooven/ dat Chris-tus gekomen is/ als de Joden geloofden/ dat hy komen soude; maer die de Chris-tus is/ ende yeder mensch verlicht, na de getuygenis der Schriftuer/ gelooven sy niet den Christus te zijn/ ende so gelooven sy niet in’t Licht/ dat yeder mensch verlicht/ die in de wereldt komt, ende aldus zijn sy bedrogen; ende by soo verre als de Joden geloofden/ dat de Messias komen soude/ eer hy gekomen was/ waren sy niet bedrogen; ende by soo verre als de genoemde Christenen gelooven/ dat hy gekomen is over 1600 jaren/ ende tot Jerusalem buyten de poort/ gekruyst is/ zijn sy niet bedrogen/ want het is waer: maer hier in waren de Joden bedro-gen/ ende hier in zijn de genoemde Christenen oock bedrogen/ Hem te

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enlightens every man that comes into the world”. So this is the testimony, like it was from the beginning; and unless they believe that he is the truthful Christ – that enlightens every man that comes into the world, whose day Abraham saw, etc. – they shall die in their sins, according to his testimony that is the truth itself; and thus this matter is of the greatest importance. Yes, the only and first matter that is necessary, is believing in the Light; let thus nobody be amazed that of this so often has been spoken, because it does not make us sad, hoping and knowing that it will be certain and of service for those who do not give the impure nature in them any truth; while for those who are in hostility against the Light, bringing this into their memory is troublesome, yet it is pleasant for those who seek to walk in the Light. But that nature for which it is troublesome, is the one that is in hostility against the Light, and will have to yield to the Light, and therefore is troublesome for it. For this reason beware that you do not give a place to the wicked nature, for which it is difficult to hear of Christ, the Light; because when you give it a place within yourself, you accommodate the devil; and some being ignorant of this, by their impetuousness in their own version of wisdom, not considering the Light (as the Light of Christ) by which they are enlightened, do not believe that he is the Light; and for this reason when he is announced, being the Light, that enlightens every man that comes into the world, they dismiss that testimony, like the builders from before did; and this is the stone, which is rejected by the Builders, but to us he has become a headstone, and it is miraculous in our eyes.

(52) And the Jews believed that a Messiah would come, and that when he had come they ought to believe him; but they did not believe in his Light, that enlightens every man. When he had come, they did not know him, but said that he was not the Messiah, but had a devil within him. And so it is with people today, they believe that Christ came, as the Jews believed that he would come; yet he who is the Christ, and enlightens every man according to the testimony of Scripture, by them is not believed to be the Christ; and thus they do not believe in the Light, that enlightens every man that comes into the world, and thus they are betrayed; and as far as the Jews believed that the Messiah would come, were not betrayed before the time that he had come; and as far as the aforementioned Christians believed that he had come over 1600 years ago, and outside the gate of Jerusalem was crucified, are not betrayed, because it is true; but in this the Jews were betrayed, and in this the aforementioned Christians are also betrayed, in denying him to be the Christ of the Light, who is the rightful

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ontkennen de Christus na den Geest te zijn/ die de rechte Geestelijcke Christus is/ het waerachtige Licht/ dat een yeder mensch verlicht, die in de wereldt komt; die in de wereldt was, ende de wereldt heeft hem niet gekent; alsoo is hy in de wereldt nu het Licht der wereldt; maer de wereldt kendt hem niet/ maer ontkent dat het/ het Licht Christi is/ welcke yeder mensch verlicht/ die in de wereld komt/ ende daerom gelooven sy in Christus niet/ al is’t dat sy gelooven/ dat hy gekomen is: ende alsoo verwerpen sy den uytverkoren Steen/ die tot ons is geworden het Hooft des hoecks.

E Y N D E.

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spiritual Christ, the truthful Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world, he who was in the world, and the world did not know him; thus he is in the world the Light of the world, but the world does not know him, but denies that it is the Light of Christ, that enlightens every man that comes into the world; and therefore they did not believe in Christ, although they believed that he has come; and thus they reject the chosen Stone, that to us has become the Cornerstone.

T H E E N D.

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Spiritualism and Rationalism in Dutch Collegiant Thought: New Evidence from William Ames’s...

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