# A Letter From Jan Gerrits To The Lutheran Preacher.

16th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: A LETTER FROM JAN GERRITS TO THE LUTHERAN PREACHER.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

My much beloved good friend, herewith I will bid
you adieu, for after this I hope to dispute with, or
write against, neither you nor any other man; for
Paul says: Avoid contentions, or profane babblings,
and unprofitable disputations; for they will increase
unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as
doth a canker. Tit. 3:9; 2 Tim. 2:16,17. Hence
I want to be delivered also of you, and that my
soul may rest in peace with God. Farewell always.

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See, my good friend, here are the arms and weapons
of my faith, and this, in part, briefly shown.
Behold, with these, and no other, whether of iron
or steel, spear or sword, will I attack the kingdom
of antichrist; for spirit must be overcome with spirit,
and flesh with carnal weapons. Hence I say with
the apostle: The weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty before God to the pulling down
of everything that exalteth itself against the truth;
for we wrestle not only against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of this world, against spirits of wickedness
under heaven. 2 Cor. 10:4,5; Eph. 6:12. Hence
all Christians must put on the armor of God, that
they may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil; and also be ready in every respect. Hence
Peter says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast
in the faith.” 1 Pet. 5:8,9. This is our weapon,
with which we are satisfied.

In the first place, a Christian does not know war,
but must patiently bear all that comes upon him, for
the Lord’s sake; for Christ taught his disciples only
love for their enemies. Moreover, he forbade them,
when they asked him: “Lord, wilt thou that we
command fire to come down from heaven, and consume
this people?” “No,” he said, “ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are of.” Matt. 9:54,55.
Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.
When he suffered he threatened not. 1 Pet. 2:23.
These examples we follow with all diligence, according
to our feeble ability, commending our souls to
the mercy of God, as the faithful Creator. From
this you may see or understand, what kind of people
we are, and what spirit we have.

See, my good friend, with these weapons and
arms I will meet you, as a little and unrenowned
David, meeting the great Goliath and presumptuous
champion who mocked and reviled the army of God,
and relied upon his own strength, even as you now
trust in your learning, and are proud of the name
“Rabbi,” and because of the great reputation and
renown of your understanding, might and power,
you begin to say with Goliath: “Am I a dog, that
thou comest to me with staves? I can and will give
thy flesh unto the fowls of the air to eat.” 1 Samuel
17:43. Thus spoke Goliath, and you no less; for
you say that without strength I am deceived and
dead. Yes, my friend, I am well aware, that I and
those like me are always looked upon by you as
little and unlearned.

Behold, by your presumptuousness you have
brought it so far, that I dare boldly step forth with
my sling and stone, and say to you, as to Goliath,
the champion and defender of the Philistines: Behold,
thou hast come out to me, relying on thy
spear and shield; but I come to thee from confidence
in God, in the name of the God of Israel, and
will give thy flesh this day unto the fowls of the
air to eat, and slay thee with thine own sword,
namely with your own writing or disputation, which
serves me to overcome you, not by the spirit of the
universities, but by the word and power of God,
and this in Dutch, my mother tongue, to the greater
glory of God, and to your shame. And the dumb
ass shall cause your madness to be manifest; you
Balaam have beaten me, poor ass, so long until I
spake by the power of God. Num. 22:28. You Goliath
have so long reviled and defied me and the
army of Israel, that I slay you with your own sword,
which I should not have done, had you not snapped
with such sharp teeth, and flourished your pen so
boldly; how could I let this pass. Now, if I receive
no thanks for it, as I presume will be the case, you
may blame yourself for it, for one cannot be silent
and speak the words of God.

O men, men, it were well for you, that like Gamaliel
you would leave the people of God in peace;
for if this work is of men, it will come to naught,
but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it; hence,
take good heed, lest you run against the sword
of the Lord, and be found even to fight against God.
Persecute Jesus of Nazareth no longer, and leave
Israel unmolested. Acts 5:34, etc.; 9.

To come now to the purport and beginning of
your letter, which you sent me in order to instruct
me in all the arguments and intelligence pertaining
to the faith, I find that you greet me in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. To
this I reply: Since you boast of being a Christian,
and regard me as a reprobate and unbeliever, and
as laboring under a false opinion, therefore I say
that you are wrong in writing thus, for John says:
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine,
receive him not into your house, neither greet
him; for he that greeteth him is partaker of his
evil deeds. 2 John 10,11. And Paul says that if any
man that is called a brother be nevertheless a fornicator
or the like, he, as also an unbeliever, shall
not inherit the kingdom of God. Hence, since they
cannot inherit the kingdom of God, we are not to
eat bread with them, for the destruction of their
flesh, that they may consider from whence they are
fallen. 1 Cor. 5.

In the second place, you call me your brother.
Why am I your brother, seeing we differ in faith?
Is it because we are all created of God the Father?
I say no to this; for if we were brethren according
to the spirit, and according to the doctrine of Christ
and the apostles, we must be in one faith and practice,
and be led by one spirit, which, however, is
far from being the case; for the brotherhood must
spring out of the heavenly regeneration, through
the hearing of the divine word, from the earthly into
the heavenly. This brotherhood is not ascribed to
unbelievers, nor does it originate in carnal descent,
as Paul clearly indicates, when he says: “Be not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness? and
what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part
hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” etc.
2 Cor. 6:14, etc. For the brotherhood consists in
this: Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit;
to abide in one hope of the calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism. Eph. 4:3. Mark, you are satisfied
with your baptism, whether administered by the
midwife, or by confirmation, and the like; not considering
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that God would dwell above all, and in us
all, through his word.

Since, then, you are so contrary to me, and I to
you, in faith, doctrine, life and spirit, why do you
call me brother, I ask you once more? Or, if I am
a heretic and a renegade from the truth, why do you
not avoid me, after I have been admonished once
or twice? for this is commanded by the Scriptures.
But alas! you do not obey the divinely inspired
Scriptures, but choose them unto your own destruction.
2 Pet. 3:16.

In the third place, I find in your deceptive letter
of instruction, that I am accused and decried only
with reference to error and misapprehension regarding
baptism, no other articles being mentioned.
What shall I say to this? Are all your gods an
abomination to you? and is it all over with your
false doctrine and church usages? I think not; you
are too fond of deceitful gain. But I well know your
intention; you think that when you shall have deprived
me of one, you will also get the rest, according
to what you yourself said in Delft. O what a
brother you are to me, fine, indeed, in appearance!
But my Teacher and Master Christ Jesus has warned
me against you, to “be wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves.” Matt. 10:16. Yes, you are such
a brother to me, as the old, lying prophet, who deceived
the man of God by his lies; for God had
commanded the man of God to prophesy against
the altar, and to eat no bread, nor drink water at
that place, until he should have returned into his
own country. But the seed of the serpent, the old
prophet, said: “Eat bread with me, and drink
water.” The man of God answered: “God has forbidden
me this.” But the deceiver said: “I am
also a prophet of the Lord, as thou art, and the
Lord spake to me, that you should eat bread here,
and drink water.” Then the man of God went in
with him, and transgressed the commandment of
the Lord; wherefore, in punishment of his disobedience,
he was slain by a lion on the way. 1 Kings 13.

This example is a great terror to my soul; for
after deception, and transgression of the word of
the Lord, he sends lions, dragons and bears, that
they may get dominion of my soul, and kill it; for
if my faith were feeble and wavering, I should be
overcome and certainly be killed, but the anchor
of my faith is steadfast.

In the fourth place, I come to your unreasonable
or willful stupidity, that you want to maintain your
infant baptism by the circumcision of the law, or
Israel’s sign of the covenant. For Paul says that
circumcision (which you understand to be a figure
of baptism), is made without hands, in the spirit,
for the putting off of the sinful flesh; whose praise
is not of men,—as was done with the hand on Israel—but
of God. Col. 2:11; Rom. 2:29. Now, is
your infant baptism in the spirit, without hands,
and this for the putting off of the sinful flesh, and
for sin which they have not yet committed? For to
put off the sinful is this, as Paul says: “Mortify
your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
adultery, uncleanness, lasciviousness, evil
concupiscence;” see, whether this can be understood
as having reference to your children.

And through your infant baptism you cause it
that we are called Anabaptists, though we do not
baptize, nor are baptized, twice, but once, and this
according to the truth, and pursuant to the command
and practice of the apostles; and with this
we are well satisfied.

In the fifth place, I will tell you our confession
and practice, to show you that our baptism originates
not in an opinion, but in the command of the
most high God. After this, I hope to write against
or dispute with neither you nor any one else, as said
before; for great, presumptuous wisdom, I have not,
but an assured heart and a firm faith in my ground.
Listen to this brief statement: Touching circumcision,
I confess that it was a token of Abraham’s
covenant, to him and to all his seed (Gen. 17:9):
and also the entering into Israel, the church of God.
The external circumcision of Israel was a figure of
the future, inward circumcision of Christ, as may
clearly be understood from the spirit of the New
Testament, even as Paul says that that is not circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh; but circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
the letter, or law; whose praise is not of men, but
of God. Rom. 2:28,29. Nor are you those who
are circumcised in Christ, with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the sinful flesh.
Col. 2:11. Further, what people are they who are
buried with him through baptism? Listen, I pray
you: Are you risen? through what? Through faith.
What faith? What faith have the sponsors, through
which God works, as you people understand it?
Mark here, no infants; but such as believe and understand.
And this you put forth as your strongest
argument. O friend, do not willfully kick against
the goad; or it will be hard for you to speak against
God, and to drive his word and truth from you so
stoutly. For, if you claim outward circumcision to
be a figure of baptism, well, then, who makes you
pedobaptists so presumptuous that you baptize infants
before the eighth day? And why do you baptize
female children? for, under the law, these were
not circumcised; from which it would follow that
female children are not to be baptized; for truth is
consistent.

You are at an end with your figures of baptism;
but we have a better explanation concerning the
figures of baptism, and Paul and Peter shall help
us keep it by their spirit and testimony. Peter says
that the entrance through the water into Noah’s ark
signifies to us baptism. Gen. 7:7; 1 Pet. 3:20,21.
He who dares deny this, may also contradict us,
who are little and unlearned in their estimation, yet
are taught of God. Matt. 11:25.

Our second witness with regard to the figures
of baptism is the great apostle Paul, who declared
the counsel of God. Acts 20:27. He says that the
exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, their
passage through the Red Sea, and that they were
baptized under the pillar of cloud, through Moses,
was a figure, and for our instruction. Ex. 14:22;
1 Cor. 10:1. But we, who are of the substance in
the spirit and the New Testament, confess a clear
ordinance, doctrine and command of God, and then
the rule, practice and the clear examples of the
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apostles, regarding baptism; this is explanation
enough for us.

The command of Christ is: “Go ye into all the
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature;
teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark
16:15,16; Matt. 28:19,20. [Baptism is,] in the
first place, a grave of sin, an entering in the church
of God, a putting on of Christ, a fleeing from the
wrath of God, a washing of regeneration, and the
seal of a good conscience or assurance toward God;
and he that rejects this rejects the counsel of God.
The practice of the apostles was this: “If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Romans
6:4; Gal. 3:27; Tit. 3:5; 1 Pet. 3:21; Luke 7:30;
Acts 8:37.

The following was written by Jan Gerritts,
although it is not contained in the first edition.

Thus they were first asked. If you also ask the
brethren this, and they say yes, it is well; for the
apostles baptized upon faith and not otherwise. For
if the eunuch had said: I cannot believe, Philip
would not have baptized him. But he said: I believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Acts 8:37. This is my faith, too, and nothing
else. Again, when the multitude at Jerusalem
heard Peter’s exhortation, they were alarmed, and
asked: “What shall we do?” Hear the good advice:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost.” And they that gladly received
the word were baptized. Acts 2:37, Do your infants
also do thus? then you are the old foundation;
for other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Jesus Christ, his word and example.
The jailer rejoiced with all his house that he had
become a believer. Acts 16:34. Are your infants
also believers? then it is well. Peter preached in the
house of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian
band, and the Holy Ghost fell on the Gentiles as
well as on the Jews. Acts 10:44,45. Were there
also infants present, on whom the Holy Ghost fell?
And this is what I asked you before we parted,
when the servant came to spread the table, and you
said: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
this with reference to infant baptism. I then asked
what became of the Spirit, but you gave me no reply.
For John says: The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh. John 3:8. Do
children feel the Holy Spirit? Nicodemus was a
carnal man, and experienced nothing concerning
the Spirit of God; hence Christ referred him to a
child as we find stated, Matthew 18:3. To be born
again through the water from carnality into the
Spirit is as Christ himself says, John 3:5. “Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.” A man, what else does this signify,
than, he that is carnally minded, as the aforesaid
Nicodemus; for to be carnally minded is death;
it does not mean children, for they do not feel it.
But to be spiritual is life and peace, as Paul testifies.
And to the Galatians he says: If ye be led of the
Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like. But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law. Gal. 5:18. As also
Peter says: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and
all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil
speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk
of the word, that ye may grow thereby”. 1 Peter
2:1,2. Thus do also; lay aside the great conceitedness
and presumptuousness of your heart, and build
yourself up, a lively stone in the house of God, a
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. These sacrifices
are the works of righteousness, and not human inventions,
reason, or ordinances of outward sacrifices.
Behold, with this consciousness we go on, or, this
assurance is sufficient and valuable enough to us, to
forsake property and life for Christ’s sake, which is
far from being the case with you people. In short,
we do not seal the epistle of Christ before it is written;
we do not sow before the field is well plowed with
the Spirit and word of God; we do not sail, before
we have favorable weather and wind; but you would
have the child of the mother before it has been borne
its proper time. But we can well wait till it has been
borne its proper time and is brought forth by the
mother. Who can forbear to speak of what everybody
sees? And thus we recognize baptism in the
Scriptures as a command of the Lord, and a certain
clear practice of the apostles. Moreover, we also
clearly see, what cause baptism has, why it is administered,
what benefits it brings, to what people it is
adapted, and what other name it has in the Scriptures.
It is, in the first place, a grave of sin, an entering
into the church of God, a putting on of Christ,
a fleeing from the wrath of God, a washing of regeneration,
and the seal of a good conscience toward
God. And he that forsakes or rejects this forsakes
and rejects the counsel and word of God.

In the sixth place, as regards this, that I spoke
tartly and insolently to you, I answer: Behold, my
Lord and Master, taught me nothing else, when he
says: Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. Matt. 7:15. Seeing you came to me with
so fair an appearance, to slay my soul, as you indeed
boasted, why then should I not speak or write the
truth? For what do you but seek to devour or tear
me, to entice a poor sheep away from Christ’s pasture.
No, no! God the chief Shepherd preserve me
from this. No one shall pluck them out of his hand,
but if one goes out himself, then the case is different.
Yet, you have been assiduous, and struck your sharp
fangs into my soul; and yet you call me brother.
Hence I call you a wolf in sheep’s clothing; however,
be converted and become a lamb. O friend,
what have you come to?

658

In the seventh place, you strewed sweet roses and
down before my feet, and made the bank slippery
that I might glide off, saying: Mind not what those
who deceived you without the Scriptures will say.
Yet see, is this without the Scriptures? Just as if I
had relied upon the fair words of men. No, no; had
it depended on fair speeches, you would have laid
enough snares for me; your works constantly testify
to this. See, my good friend, I think that this is
enough for you, namely, my own faith and confession;
and I pray you, not so to damn and condemn
little infants, and this for Adam’s transgression, lest
you be condemned and damned; since Christ, by
his death, has redeemed us therefrom, as was stated
when I was with you; for Paul says: “As by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the
free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life.” Rom. 5:18. John says; “Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29, [Paul says] to the Galatians: “Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.” Galatians
3:13. And to the Ephesians: “That he abolished
in his flesh the enmity, on the cross.” Moreover,
he has promised them his kingdom, when he
says: Suffer little children to come unto me . . .
for of such is the kingdom of God. And he received
them, blessed them, laid his hands on them, and
said: Except ye receive the kingdom of God as a
little child, you shall not enter therein. Mark 10:14
to 16; Luke 18:16,17; Matt. 19:14,15. Now when
he says, of such, there is no difference, even as Paul
says; that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.
But you separate them, and say that it is only
spoken to Jewish children, as though they were Jewish
children, I replied that you should prove this to
me by the Gospel; but you could not do it, and
gave me no answer. For Christ showed his divine
miracles on the children of the Gentiles as well
as on those of the Jews, as, for instance, on the
Gentile woman and the centurion’s servant; and he
gives this testimony concerning the centurion, that
he has not found so great faith in Israel. And
enough other such examples.

Finally, I beg you to make the best allowance for
my simple writing, for it is rustic work. If I had received
better talents from God, I should indeed desire
to do better; but now I thank him for what he
does give me. Farewell.

Below there was written: I, Jan Gerritts Ketelaer
van Tessel, confess but one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one Spirit, and one Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in us all. I come
quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man
take thy crown. Yea, the Lord Jesus comes.
Ephesians 4:4–5; Rev. 3:11.





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