Divers Examinations Of Reytse Aysess Before The Commissary, Pastors, Priests, Bishops, And Others.

Then we had many words again concerning baptism; his conclusion was, that children which die without baptism are damned forever. Reytse. “And are you not afraid, so dreadfully to condemn the innocent children, when Christ has promised them the kingdom of heaven, so long as they remain in their innocence?” Priest. “No one can enter into the kingdom of heaven, he must first be born of water and of the Spirit; hence children must be baptized, if they are to be saved; the apostles also baptized many households, where certainly there were also children.” Reytse. “So far as the households are concerned, it is written that the house of Stephanas addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, which is certainly not a work of children. 1 Cor. 16:15. And of the house of Cornelius it is written: That when Cornelius, the centurion of Cesarea, had called together his friends and kinsmen into his house, he said among other things to Peter: Thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. And while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? Acts 10:33,44–47. From this you can easily perceive, if you are not entirely struck with blindness, that this is not spoken of children. Again, Paul preached the word of God to the jailer and to all that were in his house, and after they were baptized he rejoiced with all those that were in his house, that he had come to believe in God (Acts 16:34), which is above the understanding of children, for to understand the preaching of the word of God, to believe in it, and to rejoice on account of the faith, this is far from children.” Then they said that there were many other writings that testified with regard to it; but I did not want to receive any writings except the New Testament, which Christ sealed with his precious blood. Then they asked me, whether the children of the heathen and the Turks should also be saved. I said: “Yes, as well as your baptized children.” Then they were greatly astonished, and spoke scornfully to me and damned me. One of the priests sat by me, and asked me how I dared speak such words; he knew that I was damned, as well as he knew that I was sitting by him. I laughingly said: “How could you know it better?” And after many words which we had about infant baptism, I finally said that I believed nothing but what I had confessed. They again asked me, whether I did not believe that our Lord is present in the form of bread. I said: “This I do not believe; for he will not come under your teeth.” I asked the priest whether he believed it. Then he held out his finger and said he believed more certainly that God was in the bread, than he believed that that was his finger. And after other words which we had together, they got some clean paper and asked all the articles of me anew: whether I acknowledged the church of the Mennists as a true church, and how long it was since I had been baptized. I said: About four years. And so on, they asked all the articles of me again. I answered them in the same manner as before, and they noted down everything exactly, to deliver it to the lords. Finally, when all the remarks had been concluded, they produced a letter, which was the sentence which the bishop had concluded over me, in which they damned me as an unbelieving, disobedient and obstinate heretic, and delivered me into the hands of the secular judges. Since he had sufficiently admonished me, and I would not let myself be instructed, he, like Pilate, took water and washed his hands, and also thought that he was clear of my blood; hence I had to expect the sentence, and many other words. Then they told me to go.