Methinks that this seemeth to be a cross between Prince Valiant and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I doth look forward to the movie version:
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Andrew wroteon January 4, 2010 at 11:04pm
To the Reader
ALTHOUGH I do not rank myself amongst the most
Learned and Eloquent; yet (shunning the Stain of In
gratitude, and moved by Fidelity and Piety;) I cannot
but think myself obliged, (would to God my Ability to
do it, were equal to my good Will!) to defend my
Mother, the Spouse of Christ: Which, though it be a
Subject more copiously handled by others ; nevertheless
I account it as much my own Duty, as his who is the
most learned, by my utmost Endeavours, to defend the
Church, and to oppose myself to the poisonous Shafts of
the Enemy that fights against her : Which this Juncture
of Time, and the present State of Things, require at my
Hand. For before, when none did assault, it was not
necessary to resist; but now when the Enemy, (and the
most wicked Enemy imaginable,) is risen up, who, by
the Instigation of the Devil, under Pretext of Charity,
and stimulated by Anger and Hatred, spews out the
Poison of Vipers against the Church, and Catholic
Faith; it is necessary that every Servant of Christ, of
what Age, Sex, or Order soever, should rise against this
common Enemy of the Christian Faith; that those,
whose Power avails not, yet may testify their good Will
by their cheerful Endeavours.
It is now therefore convenient, that we arm ourselves
with a two-fold Armour : the one Celestial, and the other
Terrestrial. With a celestial Armour; That he, who,
by a feigned and dissembled Charity, destroys others,
and perishes himself, being gained by true Charity,
may also gain others ; and that he who fights by a false
Doctrine, may be conquered by true Doctrine
With a
terrestrial; that, if he be so obstinately malicious, as to
neglect holy Councils, and despise God ‘s Reproofs, he
may be constrained by due Punishments; that he who
will not do Good, may leave off doing Mischief;* and
he that did Harm by the Word of Malice, may do Good
by the Example, of his Punishments. What Plague so
pernicious did ever invade the Flock of Christ? What
Serpent so venemous has crept in, as he who writ of the
Babylonian Captivity of the Church; who wrests Holy
Scripture by his own Sense, against the Sacraments of
Christ; abolishes the ecclesiastical Rites and Cere
monies left by the Fathers; undervalues the holy and
antient Interpreters of Scripture, unless they concur
with his Sentiments ; calls the most Holy See of Rome,
Babylon, and the Pope s Authority, Tyranny; esteems
the most wholesome Decrees of the Universal Church
to be Captivity; and turns the Name of the most Holy
Bishop of Rome, to that of Antichrist ? O that detest
able Trumpeter of Pride, Calumnies and Schisms!
What an infernal Wolf is he, who seeks to disperse the
Flock of Christ ?f What a great Member of the Devil
is he,:): who endeavours to tear the Christian Members of
Christ from their Head ?
How infectious is his Soul, who revives these detest
able Opinions and buried Schisms; adds new ones to
the old, brings to Light (Cerberus-like, from Hell) the
Heresies which ought to lie in eternal Darkness; and
esteems himself worthy to govern all Things by his own
Word, opposed against the Judgments of all the
Antients; nay also to ruin the Church of God! Of
whose Malice I know not what to say. For I think
neither Tongue nor Pen can express the Greatness of it.
Wherefore, before I exhort, pray, and beseech, through
the Name of Christ (which we will profess) all Chris
tians, who are willing to look upon, and read Luther s
Works, especially the Babylonian Captivity, (if he be
Author of it) to do it warily, and very judicially ; that,
as Virgil said, lie gathered Gold out of the Dross of
Ennius; so they may also gather good Things out of
Evil : And if any Thing please them, let them not be so
taken with it, as to suck the Poison with the Honey;
for it is better to want both, than to swallow both. To
hinder which, I wish the Author may Repent, be con
verted, and live;* and, in Imitation of St. Augustine,
(whose Rule he professed) correct his Books, filled with
Malice, and revoke his Errors. If Luther refuses this,
it will shortly come to pass, if Christian Princes do
their Duty, that these Errors, and himself,
if he perseveres therein, may be burned in the Fire. In the mean
while, we thought it fit to discover to the Readers some
chief Heads or Chapters in the Babylonian Captivity,
which have the most Venom in them, by which it will
appear, very clearly, with what exulcerated Mind he
began this Work ; pretending the public Good, but writ
ing Nothing but malicious Inventions.
We need not seek any foreign Testimonies for
proving what we have said; for Luther (fearing that
any one should go up and down in Search of such,) dis
covers himself, and his Mind, of his own Accord, in his
very Beginning. For who should doubt of what he
aimed at, when he reads this one Sentence of his ?
*Ezech. xxxiii. 11.
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