(37) What does thy Knowledge avail thee, thou Opposer of Christ, that thou knowest how to speak of the Kingdom of Or stir up. Heaven, of the Suffering and Death of Christ, and of the New- Birth in Christ, when thou art without it, sticking merely in the History? Shall not thy Knowledge be a Witness against thee, which shall judge thee? or wilt thou say, Thou art not the Antichrist of Babel? Surely thou art the Hypocrite, and thou fattenest thy evil Beast yet more and more, and thou art the Devourer in the Revelation of John. Thou dwellest not only at Rome, but thou hast possessed the Breadth of the Earth. I have seen thee in the Spirit, and therefore it is that I write of thee, thou Wonder of the World, of Heaven, and of Hell.

(100) O! thou blind World, with thy forged Masses for Souls, such as thy Blessing is, such thou art thyself; thou dost all for Money; if nothing be given thee, thou wilt keep no Solemnity or Procession. If thou wilt pray for thy Neighbor's Soul, do so whilst it is between Heaven and Hell, in the Body of this World, then thou mayest effect somewhat; and it is very pleasing [and acceptable] to God, that thou desirest to be one Body in Christ; and thou helpest the Necessity [or Want] of thy Fellow -member, to bring him into God; it is the Pleasure and Will of God, that one [helps] to bear the Burden of another, and to be saved in one brotherly Love, and in one Body.

(5) The foolish - thinking in their heart that if they confess, "We are Christians," in word only (but) not with power, while giving themselves over to ignorance, to a human death, not knowing where they are going nor who Christ is, thinking that they will live, when they are (really) in error - hasten towards the principalities and authorities. They fall into their clutches because of the ignorance that is in them. For (if) only words which bear testimony were effecting salvation, the whole world would endure this thing and would be saved. But it is in this way that they drew error to themselves. ... ... (3 lines unrecoverable) ... they do not know that they will destroy themselves. If the Father were to desire a human sacrifice, he would become vainglorious.

(50) But if thou perseverest in thy bestial Form till the End, and dost then stand and givest God good Words, that he shall receive thy Beast into Heaven, whereas there is no Faith in thee at all, and thy Faith is nothing else but an historical Knowledge of God, which [History] the Devils also know very well; then thou art not fastened to the Band of Jesus Christ, and thy Soul continues to be a Worm and a Beast, and it bears not the Image of God; and when it departs from the Body, it continues in the eternal Fire, and never more reaches the Gate of the Breaking-through. The earnest Gate of the Purgatory.

(30) How will you then (O antichristian Fools) bind us to your Art, that we should turn away from the Heart of God, to behold your invented Fables and Fopperies? Whereas in your Wisdom of this World you are but Fools, as Adam also was when he drew away his Spirit from the Heart of God. The same Ignominy must our dear Lord Christ bear upon his Shoulders. Or do you think again, that we are mad? Truly our Folly will be set before your Eyes at the last Judgment, and to that we appeal.

(42) O thou blind Mind, with thy Might and Stateliness, full of Wickedness and devilish fierce Wrath, [wilt thou know where thou art after that thy Body perishes?] Thou art even with all the Devils, in the Abyss of Hell, if thou dost not turn, and by earnest unfained Sorrow and Repentance for thy Abominations, enter into the angelical Footsteps, that the Saviour and Treader upon the Serpent of fierce Wrath, Wickedness, Lying, and Deceit, may meet thee, and embrace thee in his Arms, and [that thou] mayest be new-born in him, and be yielded up into the Bosom of the chaste Virgin, and become an Angel; or else thou art in the eternal Death, in the eternal Darkness, and canst not in all Eternity reach the Kingdom of God any more.

(35) Hearken, thou antichristian Scorner; it is not enough for thee to stand and say, I have the true Ground of the Knowledge [that leads] to the Kingdom of Heaven. I have found the true Religion, and condemnest every one that has not thy Knowledge, or does not consent to thy Opinion; thou sayest, Such a one is nothing else but confound the Sheep with thy Fierceness, and causest them to offend, and to calumniate those whom neither thou nor they know, as the Ephesians did by Paul. Dost thou suppose that thou hast hunted away the Wolf by this means? Or hast thou not rather generated a Heap of young scornful Wolves, which howl and yell, and every one would devour, and yet know not where the evil Beast is, nor especially that most evil Beast of all, which generated them? O blind Babel, the Kingdom of Christ does not consist herein, but the abominable Antichrist of Confusion in Babel.

(15) Thus Man in Flesh and Blood judges, and when the Devil understands it, how soon is he there watching, as a Cat watches for a Mouse, saying, O! who can tell, whether that be true or no, which thou teachest, thou hast not seen it; neither has any come from the Dead, and told it thee. There are many dead, that have taught just as thou dost; and yet does not the World stand in its old Course, at one Time as at another? They were counted Fools, and so art thou, and after thee again Things will be still as they were before. To what Purpose then is thy Care and Pains?

(48) Christ said, “He that believeth not,” or will not or cannot believe, “shall be damned.” It is so of a truth; for a man, while he is in this present time, hath not knowledge; and he cannot attain unto it, unless he first believe. And he who would know before he believeth, cometh never to true knowledge. We speak not here of the articles of the Christian faith, for every one believeth them, and they are common to every Christian man, whether he be sinful or saved, good or wicked; and they must be believed in the first place, for without that, one cannot come to know them. But we are speaking of a certain Truth which it is possible to know by experience, but which ye must believe in, before that ye know it by experience, else ye will never come to know it truly. This is the faith of which Christ speaketh in that saying of His.

(30) O no: But the Devil, who is a Cause of the Wrathfulness. Adam was made good out of the pure Element, but the Longing [Desire or Lust] of the Devil deceived him, so that he went into the Spirit of this World. 3 1. And now it cannot be otherwise, the two Kingdoms wrestle one with another in the Children of Men; the one is the Kingdom of Christ, [generated] through the new Birth into Paradise; that (in this World) is miserable and contemned, there are not many that desire it, for it has mere Scorn and Contempt from the Devil and his Followers; it consists in Righteousness and Truth, and that is not valued in this World, and therefore it must lie at the rich Man's Door with poor Lazarus, and at his Feet. If any do but let it appear that they are the Children of God, then the Devil will away with them presently, or else will put them to such Scorn and Disgrace, that they cannot be known; that so the Devil may continue to be the great Prince upon Earth, and that the World may not learn to know him.

(37) Therefore, according to our Knowledge, we will set down an Explanation of the Fall of Man, which is very perfectly manifested, and appears in the Light of the Day, and i convinces us. And we have no Need of the Fooleries of the Antichrist, who with the Blood and Death of Christ does but seek his own Covetousness, Pride, and Voluptuousness, and draws the Vail of Moses before our Eyes, that we should not see through the Tables that were graven through [through] Joshua or Jesus, into the promised Land of Paradise; that he may only sit and ride upon his horrible and devouring Beast of Covetousness and Pride, which [Beast] is become so very great and strong, that it shadows the Circuit of the Earth, and rules so wonderfully over Mountains and Valleys, with his Fierceness; which [Beast] yet shall be broken by the Lily without Hands. At which the [People or] Nations shall wonder, and say; How art thou, O terrible and great Might [and Power,] founded upon so weak and loose a Ground!

(33) O thou confounded Babel, go out from Antichrist, and come (with a penitent Heart and Mind) before thy merciful Brother, and Saviour of all Men; he will more readily hear thee, than thou come to him. Step only out of this wicked Babel into a new Birth, and be not so much in Love with the Kingdom of this World; thou art but a mere Guest and Stranger in it. What avails thee, thy i transitory Honour [from Men,] which scarce lasts one Moment? Thou shalt indeed get much greater [surpassing] Joy and Honour in the new Regeneration, where the holy Souls in the Heaven, and the Angels will rejoice with thee. Consider what Joy and Gladness thou wilt stir up thereby in the Heart of Jesus Christ, where then instantly the precious Talent (the Holy Ghost) will be given thee, and thou wilt get the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that thou thyself mayest open it. Or dost thou think it is not true? Do but seek and try with an earnest Mind, and thou wilt find Wonders indeed; thou thyself shalt know, [understand,] and (without any Doubt at all) assuredly see in thy Mind, out of what School this is wrote.

(29) For there are but two Kingdoms that stir in thee; the one is the Kingdom of God, wherein Christ is, which desires to have thee; and the other is the Kingdom of Hell, wherein the Devil is, which desires also to have thee. Now there must be striving here in the poor Soul, for it stands in the Midst. Christ offers it the new Garment, and the Devil presents the Garment of Sinfulness to it. And when thou hast but the least Thought or Inclination towards God, [and Goodness,] that thou wouldst fain enter into true Repentance, then truly that Thought is not from thy own self, but the Love of God draws thee, and invites thee; and the noble Virgin of God calls thee thereby, and thou shouldst only come, and not neglect it. And so truly when (in such a Way) thy great Sins come before thee, and hold thee back (so that thy Heart many Times receives no Comfort) this is the Devil' staying of thee, who casts into thy Thought, that God will not hear thee, thou art yet in too great Sins, he will let no Comfort come into thy Soul, he lays the sinful Kingdom of this World over it; but be not discouraged, he is thy Enemy. It is written, If your Sins were as red as Blood, if you turn, they shall be as Wool, white as Snow: Also, As true as I live, I have no Pleasure in the Death of a poor Sinner, but that he should turn and live.

(75) xThey make no Intercession for thee, neither does it avail any Thing; for thou must be regenerated anew, through earnest Sorrow and Repentance; thou must light down from off thy Beast, and must go on Foot with Christ over the Brook Kedron, into his Sufferings and Death; and through him thou must rise again out of his Grave; thou thyself must come to this. Another cannot save thee; thou must enter into the Birth of Jesus Christ, and with him be conceived by the Holy Ghost; thy Soul must in the Word, and in the new Man Christ, in the [one eternal] Element, be born [or brought forth] out of the four Elements into the Water of the Element of eternal Life; thy antichristian feigned Fables help thee not; for it is said, Such Belief as People have, such a God also they have to bless them.

(62) Thus behold, thou false Oppresser of Christ, and Author of all Uproars, Mischief, and Disturbance upon Earth, how many ignorant silly People are there under this thy reproachful Blaspheming, which thou many Times causest to lay Aspersions upon a holy Soul? Behold, now if that persecuted Soul shall cry to God for Deliverance, then it all comes to be a Substance, 1 and an Essence before God. And now if those poor Souls many Times (which thus ignorantly have slandered a holy Soul) come before God, and would fain be saved, then if Christ now had not taken all these false Reproaches and Aspersions upon him, and reconciled his Father in himself with his Love, where would you poor Sinners abide? Therefore Christ commands us to forgive Or in Remembrance before God. [others,] as his Father in him has forgiven us; if we do not so, the same Measure that we meet to others, we shall have measured to us. The Gate of a poor Sinner.

(49) O thou Knave, if thou bringest not another Man than such to it, stay away from the Testament of Christ; thou art but art in such a Way; thy Prayer is false, it comes not from the Bottom of the Heart; thy Heart desires only the Pleasures of this World, and the a Driver receives thy Prayer, he is thy God; therefore consider what thou dost.

(72) O how have all the Prophets written of thee, and yet thou knowest not thyself; thou ridest so upon thy fat pampered Beast, and that Riding pleases thee so well, that thou wilt rather go to the Devil into the Abyss of Hell, than that thou wilt light off thy Beast. What shall become of thee then, thou blind Babel? Do but light off from thy great ugly Beast, [which indeed is] thy Might, Pomp, State, and Pride. Behold! thy Bridegroom comes, and reaches forth his Hand to thee, and would lead thee out of Babel.

(30) Thou boastest that thou hast the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and yet thyself is in the Abyss; thy Heart hangs on thy Keys, and not on the Heart of God, thou hast the Keys of the Chest of Gold, and not of the Breaking through, by Confidence in God; thou makest many iLaws, and yet thyself keepest none, and thy i Law is to as much Purpose as the Tower of Babel, which should have reached to Heaven, and thy Laws reach to Heaven as much as that did. 3 1. Thou prayest before God, but in thy wolfish Beast; the Spirit of this World (and not God) receives thy Prayers; for thy Heart is a Devourer, and enters into the Devourer; thou desirest not earnestly to enter into God, but merely with thy historical hypocritical Mouth, and thy Heart presses earnestly into the Spirit of this World; thou desirest only much temporal Goods, Honour, Power, and Authority in this World; and so thereby thou drawest the Region of this World to thee.

(47) How wilt thou receive the holy Body in the Love, if thou art a Devil? Has not the Devil also been an Angel? Why went he away from God? If thy old Man [captivated] in the Wrath be only thy Soul, and no new [Man,] then thy Soul receives the Wrath of God, and thy old Man receives the elementary Bread and Wine. The noble Pearl is not cast before the Swine; indeed the Testament is there, and the a Testator invites thee to it, but thou makest a Mockery of it; he would fain help thee, and thou wilt not.

(19) Let no one suppose, that we may attain to this true light and perfect knowledge, or life of Christ, by much questioning, or by hearsay, or by reading and study, nor yet by high skill and great learning. Yea, so long as a man taketh account of anything which is this or that, whether it be himself, or any other creature; or doeth anything, or frameth a purpose, for the sake of his own likings or desires, or opinions, or ends, he cometh not unto the life of Christ. This hath Christ Himself declared, for He saith: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”23 “He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”24 And if he “hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”25 He meaneth it thus: “He who doth not forsake and part with everything, can never know My eternal truth, nor attain unto My life.” And though this had never been declared unto us, yet the truth herself sayeth it, for it is so of a truth. But so long as a man clingeth unto the elements and fragments of this world (and above all to himself), and holdeth converse with them, and maketh great account of them, he is deceived and blinded, and perceiveth what is good no further than as it is most convenient and pleasant to himself and profitable to his own ends. These he holdeth to be the highest good and loveth above all. Thus he never cometh to the truth.