# The Second Letter From Bartholomeus Panten, Being An Instruction From The Word Of The Lord, To All Lovers Of The Truth; Together With A Brief Account Of His Examination.

16th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: THE SECOND LETTER FROM BARTHOLOMEUS PANTEN, BEING AN INSTRUCTION FROM THE WORD OF THE LORD, TO ALL LOVERS OF THE TRUTH; TOGETHER WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HIS EXAMINATION.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

As the lily among thorns, so is my love, etc. Canticles 2:2.

Christ Jesus teaches us, Matt. 5:10–12: “Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness’
sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.” Hence let us be patient, and rejoice in it,
and bless them that curse us, and pray for them
that despitefully use and persecute us; that we may
be the children of our Father which is in heaven,
who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye? do not
even the publicans the same? Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Vs. 44–48.

Thus, my dear friends, let us show common love
(charity), and also brotherly love, according to
Peter’s teaching. 2 Pet. 1:7. And also according
to the teaching of Paul: “Let us do good unto all
men, especially unto them who are of the household
of faith.” Gal. 6:10. And; “See that none render
evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that
which is good, both among yourselves, and to all
men.” 1 Thess. 5:15. Again, Peter also teaches
us: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing:
but contrariwise, blessing; knowing that ye are
thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let
him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that
they speak no guile: let him eschew evil and do
good: let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the
eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his
ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the
Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he
that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which
is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake,
happy are ye; and be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts. But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busybody
in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him
glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come
1027
that judgment must begin at the house of God: and
if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and
the sinner appear? 1 Pet. 3:9–15; 4:15–18.

Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the
will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to
him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. V. 19.
And let us look unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before
him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin. Heb. 12:2–4. And
Peter also says: Christ suffered for us in the flesh,
and left us an example, that we should follow his
steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not
again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
1 Pet. 2:21–23.

Hence, dear friends, if we want to be of his servants,
we must serve the Lord according to his divine
will and demands. That is, we must suffer and bear
here, and not resist; else we should live to ourselves,
and not to the Lord, and so doing we should
not follow the footsteps of Christ, for we must bless,
and not curse, them that persecute us. As Paul
teaches us: Provide things honest in the sight of all
men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live
peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:
for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,
saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing
thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Rom. 12:17–21.

Hence, my dear friends, and all those that seek
their salvation, learn from this to know the sheep
from wolves, the doves from hawks. For Christ
sent out his own like sheep in the midst of wolves,
and admonished them, to be wise as serpents and
simple as doves. Matt. 10:16. For all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. 2 Tim. 3:12,13.

But when I told it to our persecutors, they said
that they also had been persecuted; whereupon I
told them, that they only suffered persecution when
they were too weak and feeble; but when they had
the ascendancy again, they were persecutors themselves,
and took our goods, and tormented and
threatened us, so that there is fulfilled the prophesy
of Esdras: “They shall be like mad-men, sparing
none, but still spoiling and destroying those that
fear the Lord. For they shall waste and take away
their goods, and cast them out of their houses.
Then shall they be known who are my chosen; and
they shall be tried as gold in the fire.” 2 Esdras
16:71–73. Also Christ says: “These things have
I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended.
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the
time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think
that he doeth God service. And these things will
they do unto you, because they have not known the
Father, nor me. But these things have I told you,
that when the time shall come, ye may remember
that I told you of them.” John 16:1–4.

But, my dear friends, the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us; for ear hath not
heard, nor eye seen, what God has prepared for
them that love him; for the righteous shall live forever;
the Lord is their reward, and the care of them
is with the Most High; therefore they shall receive
a glorious kingdom and a beautiful crown from the
Lord’s hand. Wis. 5:15,16. Hence let us with the
eyes of the spirit look at the beautiful promises, and
with Moses rather choose to suffer affliction with the
children of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season; for he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward, and esteemed the reproach of Christ
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Hebrews
11:25,26.

Herewith, my dear friends, I will commend you
to the Lord, and to the rich word of his grace; that
thereby you may in this time grow up, blossom, be
fruitful and flourishing. By me,

Bartholomeus Panten.

The following are some controversies which we
prisoners had with the Jesuits. I have written them
briefly, according to the best of my recollection; for
to write them word for word would be impossible.
If we could have been together, I could have written
a little more fully, for quite a number of days
have passed, since it took place. Again, for proof
they quote much from Augustin, and other of their
teachers, and also assert that they have existed so
long. They know not or will not know, that they
have possessed the earth for a long time with deceit,
violence and tyranny, kept down the untarnished
truth, and instead of the truth believed lies, as Paul
declares how that God sends strong delusions, because
they received not the love of the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness: Read 2 Thess. 2. There
it is written of the man of sin and the son of perdition,
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshiped.

I further inform you, that they have assailed me,
and would have liked to bring me back to their doctrine.
I would have liked to show them by the parable
of the tares of the field (Matt. 13:24) that it is
unbecoming and contrary to the doctrine of Christ,
and also contrary to common love and propriety
that any one should be apprehended for his faith (of
misapprehension of the holy Scriptures), spoiled of
their goods, tortured or put to death; and I partly
presented to them the declaration of Christ, that the
Father of the household commanded his servants,
that they should permit the tares and the wheat to
grow up together until the harvest, which is the end
of the world, according to Christ’s own declaration.
But they said: Jam marces est, that is: “It is now
harvest.” I said: “The harvest is the end of the
world; and the reapers are the angels;” adding: “You
assume the service of angels.”

1028

They wanted to excuse themselves with the authorities;
but I warned them, seeing that they were
the teachers and preachers of the authorities; that
our blood should be required at their hands, if they
teach the authorities this, and encourage, constrain
or counsel them thereto, as they do according to
my understanding, for it is contrary to the doctrine
of Christ, and the command of God. When his
servants asked him, whether they should root it
out, he told them: Nay, lest while ye gather up the
tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. But
they want to be wiser, and to rule over Christ;
whereby they show that they are antichrist, that is,
contrary to Christ and his doctrine. For if they
were true Christians, and disciples of Christ, the
bride, yea sheep, doves and members of Christ, or
branches on the vine, they would not persecute or
inflict suffering upon any one, but would rather
suffer and bear persecution. “But evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:12,13.

Again, we also had a controversy concerning baptism
with the same Jesuits, and also with the Dean
of St. John’s and their pastor, who defended infant
baptism and considered it necessary for salvation.
But I quoted to them divers Scriptures, that baptism
pertains to believers, and that it is not enough, that
the faith is confessed with the mouth, but that it
must also be apprehended with the heart, as Philip
said to the eunuch. Acts 8:37. “If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest.” I also told them
that Philip preached the word of God to those
of Samaria, and when they believed Philip (who
preached to them of the kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ), they were baptized both men
and women. And Michiel quoted the Scripture
from the Acts of the Apostles, in the second chapter:
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when
they heard this, they were pricked in their heart;
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren what shall we do? Then Peter said
unto, them, Repent. Thereupon one of them said:
What is it, to repent? That is: Be sorry for your
sins, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the
same chapter it is also written: And with many other
words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Then they
that gladly received his word were baptized: and the
same day there were added to them about three
thousand souls.

And the Dean of St. John’s, and the pastor
of the same church, when we talked with them,
made a long speech from John 3, where Christ declares:
Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God. I said that he had spoken
that to the adult; but he would claim, that it was
spoken of every one, of children as well as adults;
and wanted to conclude from it, that infants that
died without baptism were lost, which is untrue, for
the kingdom of God belongs to infants, according
to Christ’s own promise; and the words which
Christ speaks to Nicodemus do not concern infants,
but only those that have ears to hear, and hearts to
understand. But they insisted: Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. And they thought that water
baptism constitutes the new birth, and that infants
are thus regenerated; which is a great misapprehension;
for, according to Peter’s words, it is as he
says in his first epistle: “Purifying your souls in
obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned
love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently; being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”
1 Pet. 1:22,23. And James says: “Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth, that we
should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
James 1:18. And John says: “Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” 1 John
5:1. Christ also says: “That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be
born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every
one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3:6–8. Behold,
thus, the new birth is effected by receiving
the word of God; for the old man and his works
must be put off, and the new man put on, and this
is no child’s work. This I have added here as an
explanation to you of the new birth.

We also spake with the Jesuits, and with others,
about the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in
which we did not agree, for they said that he had
flesh and blood from Mary. And I said that he is
the Son of God, who was born of the virgin Mary,
since she had known no man: and I also said, that
Paul says: For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his
life. Rom. 5:10. And in the Acts of the Apostles
it is written: “Unto you first God, having raised
up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning
away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts
3:26. And John says in his first epistle: The blood
of Jesus Christ his Son, and not the blood of Mary.
1 John 1:7. The apostle Paul also says to the Corinthians:
“The first man is of the earth, earthy;
the second man is the Lord from heaven.” 1 Corinthians
15:47. And in the gospel we read: “He
that cometh from above is above all; he that is of
the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth; he
that cometh from heaven is above all. And what
he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no
man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received
his testimony, hath set his seal that God is true.”
John 3:31–33. And unto the Hebrews it is written:
“Wherefore, when he cometh into the world,
he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me.” Heb. 10:5.
And Matt. 1:20 it is written: “Joseph, thou son of
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife;
for that which is received (conceived) in her is of
the Holy Ghost,” That which she received (mark
well) did not come from her; else it would be of the
1029
earth, as was Mary, and as are all the children of
Adam. Not that we had all these words with them,
but that you might the better understand the foundation
of our faith. The others used many more words
than are put here, but I have not remembered them
all. They asserted that he was of the natural seed of
David. Thereupon we confess that he came forth
from the seed of David, and that he is of the house of
David, and born of the virgin Mary, through the
power and operation of the Holy Ghost; for Mary
herself was astonished at this work, when she received
the message from the angel, and said to the
angel: “How shall this be seeing I know not a man?”
And the angel answered and said unto her, the
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.” Luke 1:34,35. In John
it is written: “I am the living bread which came
down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 6:51. Mark well here, whence this bread,
which he calls his flesh, came, whether it came from
Mary, who was of the earth, or whether it came
from heaven? We say with Christ: From heaven,
and not from the earth, of which Mary was.

Again, I also inform you, that we spoke some
concerning the Lord’s Supper and the breaking of
the bread, with the Dean of St. John’s and their
pastor, and their view was, that Christ’s flesh and
blood were in their sacrament. Thereupon Michiel
said: “If this was so, then they would be eating
flesh on Fridays; which they took amiss, and said
that it was not eaten like other flesh. And Kalleken
said from John 6: “The flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life.” And I quoted to them the declaration
of Paul, 1 Cor. 11:26: “As often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew forth the
Lord’s death till he come.” “Hence he is certainly
not there,” said I. They said that he was everywhere;
and there stood ink on the table at which
we sat, and they, or one of them, said that he was
in the ink. And one among them had a pen in his
hand and said: “He is in the pen.” One of them
also said that he was in hell. It did certainly seem,
according to their saying, that God was everywhere;
and I said: “Into a malicious soul wisdom shall not
enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin;
for the Holy Spirit flees from the froward. Wisdom
1:4,5. And there were many other words said,
concerning their images and idols and their view
was: That they might be made and set up, but that
they might not be worshiped, and that if there
were any one that did this, he should be reproved,
as they said; and after this manner they spoke.
I said to the Jesuits: “If candles are lighted or
placed before them, and they are carried upon the
shoulders, is that not honoring and serving them?”
And I said: “The gods of the heathen are of silver
and gold, and the work of men’s hands; they have
ears, but hear not; they have eyes, but they see
not.” Ps. 115:4–6. One of them, when he heard
this, wanted to say, that they did not have any; but
upon maturely considering the matter, they had
some of silver and gold. And there was still more
said about it between Michiel and them; but what I
said I have remembered best.

Herewith adieu for this time; farewell; read with
understanding, and keep it secret for the present,
that the lords may not get to hear of it. By me,

Bartholomeus Panten.





---

Page: http://history.truechristian.church/stories/mm-the-second-letter-from-bartholomeus-panten-being-an-instruction-from-the-word-of-the-lord-to-all-lovers-of-the-truth-tog/

[Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+The+Second+Letter+From+Bartholomeus+Panten%2C+Being+An+Instruction+From+The+Word+Of+The+Lord%2C+To+All+Lovers+Of+The+Truth%3B+Together+With+A+Brief+Account+Of+His+Examination.&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AThe+Second+Letter+From+Bartholomeus+Panten%2C+Being+An+Instruction+From+The+Word+Of+The+Lord%2C+To+All+Lovers+Of+The+Truth%3B+Together+With+A+Brief+Account+Of+His+Examination.%0A%0APage%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fstories%2Fmm-the-second-letter-from-bartholomeus-panten-being-an-instruction-from-the-word-of-the-lord-to-all-lovers-of-the-truth-tog%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+mm-the-second-letter-from-bartholomeus-panten-being-an-instruction-from-the-word-of-the-lord-to-all-lovers-of-the-truth-tog%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+16th+century+%28source+section%29%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)