Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chronology 1521–1528
- Bibliographical note
- 1 Thomas Müntzer, The Prague Protest
- 2 Thomas Müntzer, Sermon to the Princes (or An Exposition of the Second Chapter of Daniel)
- 3 Andreas Karlstadt, Letter from the Community of Orlamunde to the People of Allstedt
- 4 Conrad Grebel, Letter to Thomas Müntzer
- 5 Andreas Karlstadt, Whether One Should Proceed Slowly
- 6 Thomas Müntzer, A Highly Provoked Defense
- 7 Felix Manz, Protest and Defense
- 8 Anonymous, To the Assembly of the Common Peasantry
- 9 Hans Denck, On the Law of God
- 10 Hans Hut, On the Mystery of Baptism
- 11 Michael Sattler, The Schleitheim Articles
- 12 Balthasar Hubmaier, On the Sword
- 13 Hans Hergot, On the New Transformation of the Christian Life
- Appendices: Programs of the Peasants' War
- Biographical notes
- Index of subjects
- Index of proper names
- Index of biblical references
- Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
3 - Andreas Karlstadt, Letter from the Community of Orlamunde to the People of Allstedt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chronology 1521–1528
- Bibliographical note
- 1 Thomas Müntzer, The Prague Protest
- 2 Thomas Müntzer, Sermon to the Princes (or An Exposition of the Second Chapter of Daniel)
- 3 Andreas Karlstadt, Letter from the Community of Orlamunde to the People of Allstedt
- 4 Conrad Grebel, Letter to Thomas Müntzer
- 5 Andreas Karlstadt, Whether One Should Proceed Slowly
- 6 Thomas Müntzer, A Highly Provoked Defense
- 7 Felix Manz, Protest and Defense
- 8 Anonymous, To the Assembly of the Common Peasantry
- 9 Hans Denck, On the Law of God
- 10 Hans Hut, On the Mystery of Baptism
- 11 Michael Sattler, The Schleitheim Articles
- 12 Balthasar Hubmaier, On the Sword
- 13 Hans Hergot, On the New Transformation of the Christian Life
- Appendices: Programs of the Peasants' War
- Biographical notes
- Index of subjects
- Index of proper names
- Index of biblical references
- Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
Summary
A letter from the community of Orlamünde to the people of Allstedt concerning how one should fight in a Christian way.
Divine peace through Christ, our lord. Dear brothers, we have read carefully the letter which you sent us, and we have perceived the reason why you wrote it, which is the violent persecution of Christians in your surroundings. With this letter we are complying with your request to write you a reply to what you wrote. In brotherly fidelity we do not want to conceal from you that we cannot help you with armed resistance (if we have understood your letter correctly). We have not been commanded to do this, for Christ ordered Peter to sheath his sword [Mt. 26:52] and would not permit him to fight for him, because the time and the hour of his suffering were near. Thus, when the time and the hour arrive that we must suffer for the sake of divine justice, let us not reach for knives and spears and drive out the eternal will of the father with our own violence, for daily we pray [Mt. 6:10], “Thy will be done.” If you want to be armed against your enemies, dress yourself in the strong, steel-like and unconquerable armor of faith, about which St. Paul writes to the Ephesians in chapter 6[:13–17]. Then you will conquer your enemies vigorously and destroy them, so that they will not harm even a single hair on your head.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Radical Reformation , pp. 33 - 35Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991