To Quirinus: Three Books of Testimonies 3.26–3.58

That it is of little profit to be baptized and to receive the Eucharist unless one advances in deeds and works. In the Epistle of the apostle Paul to the First Corinthians: “Do you not know that those who run in the stadium all run, but only one receives the crown? So run that you may all obtain it. And they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Also there: “Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will say to them: I do not know you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” Also there: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Also the apostle Paul to the Philippians: “Shine as lights in the world.”

That even one who has been baptized loses the grace he has obtained unless he keeps his innocence. In the Gospel according to John: “See, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you.” Also the apostle Paul in First Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone violates the temple of God, God will violate him.” Also in Chronicles: “God is with you while you are with him; if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”

That one who has sinned against God cannot be forgiven in the church. In the Gospel according to Matthew: “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” Also according to Mark: “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and blasphemies; but whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness, but will be guilty of an eternal sin.” Also in the first book of Kingdoms: “If a man sins by offending against a man, they will pray to the Lord for him; but if a man sins against God, who will pray for him?”

On hatred of the Name, foretold beforehand. In the Gospel according to Luke: “And you will be hated by all for my name's sake.” Also according to John: “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you were of the world, the world would love what is its own; but because you are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

That what anyone has vowed to God is to be paid quickly. In Solomon: “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay to pay it.” Also in Deuteronomy: “But if you vow a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be slow to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it will be sin. You shall keep what goes out through your lips, and you shall perform the gift that you have spoken with your mouth.” Also in Psalm 49 [50]: “Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of your trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.” Also in the Acts of the Apostles: “Has Satan filled your heart, that you should lie to the Holy Spirit, when the field was in your own power? You have not lied to men but to God.” Also in Jeremiah: “Cursed is he who does the works of God negligently.”

That he who does not believe is already judged. In the Gospel according to John: “He who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” Also in Psalm 1: “Therefore the ungodly do not rise again in the judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous.”

On the good of virginity and continence. In Genesis: “I will greatly multiply your sorrows and your groanings; in sorrow you shall bear children, and your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “Not all receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made so by men, and there are eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Let him who is able to receive it receive it.” Also according to Luke: “The sons of this world beget and are begotten. But those who have been counted worthy of that world and of the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they will not begin to die, for they are equal to the angels of God, since they are sons of the resurrection. And that the dead rise, Moses indicates, when he says at the bush: the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to him.” Also in the Epistle of the apostle Paul to the First Corinthians: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to the wife her due, and likewise the wife to the husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by consent for a time, so that you may be free for prayer; and come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. This I say by way of concession, not of command. For I wish all men to be as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one of this kind, another of that.” Also there: “The unmarried man thinks about the things of the Lord, how he may please God; but he who has been joined in marriage thinks about the things of this world, how he may please his wife. So too the woman and the unmarried virgin think about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she who has married thinks about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” Also in Exodus, when God had commanded Moses to sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them and added: “Be ready for three days; you shall not go near women.” Also in the first book of Kingdoms: “And the priest answered David and said: There are no common loaves in my hand, only one holy loaf; if the young men have kept themselves from women, they shall eat.” Also in the Apocalypse: “These are they who have not defiled themselves with women, for they have remained virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.”

That the Father judges nothing, but the Son; and that the Father is not honored by one by whom the Son is not honored. In the Gospel according to John: “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” Also in Genesis: “And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from heaven, from the Lord.” Also in Psalm 71 [72]: “O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king's son, to judge your people in your righteousness.”

That a believer ought not to live like the heathen. In Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: Do not walk according to the ways of the nations.” On this very point, that one ought to separate himself from the heathen so as not to be a partner in their guilt and a sharer in their plague, also in the Apocalypse: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, my people, so that you may not share in her sins and may not be struck by her plagues; for her sins have reached up to heaven, and the Lord God has remembered her iniquities. Therefore he will repay her double, and in the cup in which she mixed, double has been mixed for her; and as much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so much torment and mourning will be given her. Because she says in her heart: I am a queen, and I am not a widow, and I shall not see mourning; therefore in one hour her plagues will come, death, mourning, and famine, and she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who will judge her. And the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in luxury will weep and beat their breasts over her.” Also in Isaiah: “Go out from their midst, you who carry the vessels of the Lord.”

That God is patient for this purpose, that we may repent of our sin and be reformed. In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “Do not say: I have sinned, and what harm has befallen me? For the Most High is a patient repayer.” Also the apostle to the Romans: “Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But by your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works.”

That a woman ought not to be adorned in worldly fashion. In the Apocalypse: “And one of the seven angels who had the bowls came and approached me, saying: Come, I will show you the condemnation of the great harlot who sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And I saw a woman sitting upon a beast. And that woman was clothed in a purple and scarlet mantle, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and uncleanness and the fornication of the whole earth.” Also to Timothy: “Let your women be with modesty and chastity, adorning themselves not with braided hair nor with gold nor pearls or costly clothing, but as befits women who profess chastity, by good conduct.” Also the apostle Peter to the people of Pontus: “Let there be in a woman not the outward adornment of ornament or gold or clothing, but the adornment of the heart.” Also in Genesis: “Tamar covered herself with a mantle and adorned herself, and when Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot.”

That a believer ought not to be punished for other offenses, but only for the Name. The apostle Peter to the people of Pontus: “Let none of you suffer as a thief or a murderer or as an evildoer or as one who meddles in others' affairs, but as a Christian.”

That the servant of God ought to be innocent, lest he fall into punishment by the world. The apostle Paul to the Romans: “Do you wish not to fear the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it.”

That an example of living has been given us in Christ. In the Epistle of the apostle Peter to the people of Pontus: “Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps; who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, did not threaten, but handed himself over to one who judged unjustly.” Also the apostle Paul to the Philippians: “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of man and found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God exalted him and gave him a name, that it might be above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father.” Also in the Gospel according to John: “If I, your master and lord, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash the feet of others; for I have given you an example, that as I have done, you also should do to others.”

That good works are to be done without boasting or display. In the Gospel according to Matthew: “Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Also there: “When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the streets and synagogues, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.”

That we are not to speak foolishly or coarsely. The apostle Paul to the Ephesians: “Foolish talk and coarse jesting, which are not fitting, let them not even be named among us.”

That faith is of total benefit, and that we can do as much as we believe. In Genesis: “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Also in Isaiah: “And if you do not believe, neither will you understand.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Also there: “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Also according to Mark: “Whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours.” Also there: “All things are possible to him who believes.” Also in Habakkuk: “But the righteous lives by my faith.” Also in Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, believing, were delivered from the flame.

That he who truly believes can obtain it at once. In the Acts of the Apostles: “‘See, here is water; what prevents me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said: ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’”

That believers who have a dispute among themselves ought not to go to a heathen judge. The apostle Paul in First Corinthians: “Does any of you, having a matter against another, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” Also there: “Already it is altogether a fault among you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why do you not rather suffer wrong? Why do you not rather suffer fraud? But you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that to brothers. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not obtain the kingdom of God?”

That hope is of things to come, and that faith concerning what has been promised must therefore be patient. The apostle Paul to the Romans: “We have been saved in hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what one sees, why does he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

That a woman ought to be silent in the church. The apostle Paul in First Corinthians: “Let your women be silent in the churches. But if any wish to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home.” Also to Timothy: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. But a woman is not permitted to teach or to have authority over her husband. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived.”

That it comes about through our own fault and desert that we are afflicted and do not feel God's help in all things. In Hosea: “Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel; for the Lord has a judgment against the inhabitants of the land, because there is neither mercy nor truth nor knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying and murder and theft and adultery have spread over the land; they mingle blood with blood. Therefore the land will mourn with all its inhabitants, with the beasts of the field, with the serpents of the earth, with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea will fail, so that no one judges, no one refutes.” Also in the prophet Isaiah: “Is the hand of the Lord not strong enough to save, or will he make his ear heavy so that he does not hear? But your sins separate between you and God, and because of your sins he has turned his face from you, so as not to have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins; and your lips have spoken wickedness, and your tongue meditates injustice. No one speaks truth, nor is there true judgment. They trust in vain things and speak empty words; they conceive pain and bring forth wickedness.” Also in Zephaniah: “Let it utterly fail from the face of the earth, says the Lord. Let man and beast fail, let the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea fail, and I will take away the wicked from the face of the earth.”

That we are not to lend at interest. In Psalm 14 [15]: “He who has not put out his money at interest and has not taken bribes against the innocent: he who does these things will not be moved for ever.” Also in Ezekiel: “But the man who is righteous will not oppress anyone, and will restore the debtor's pledge, and will not commit robbery; he will give his bread to the hungry and cover the naked, and he will not put out his money at interest.” Also in Deuteronomy: “You shall not lend to your brother at interest, whether interest on money or interest on food.”

That even enemies are to be loved. In the Gospel according to Luke: “If you love those who love you, what thanks is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the good and the evil and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

That the sacrament of the faith is not to be profaned. In Solomon, in Proverbs: “Say nothing in the ears of a foolish man, lest when he hears he mock your sensible words.” Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and dash you down.”

That no one ought to be puffed up over his work. In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “Do not exalt yourself in doing your work.” Also in the Gospel according to Luke: “Which of you, having a servant ploughing or tending sheep, says to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Does he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and gird yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did what he was commanded? So you also, when you have done what you were commanded, say: ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we ought to have done.’”

That the freedom to believe or not to believe is placed in our own choice. In Deuteronomy: “See, I have set before your face life and death, good and evil. Choose life, that you may live.” Also in Isaiah: “And if you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you are unwilling and do not listen to me, the sword will devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” Also in the Gospel according to Luke: “The kingdom of God is within you.”

That the secrets of God cannot be seen through, and that our faith ought therefore to be simple. The apostle Paul in First Corinthians: “We see now through a mirror, in a riddle, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I have been known.” Also in Solomon, in Wisdom: “And seek God in simplicity of heart.” Also in the same: “He who walks simply walks confidently.” Also there: “Do not be very wise, and do not argue more than you ought.” Also in the same: “Do not seek what is too high for you, and do not search into what is too strong for you.” Also in Isaiah: “Woe to those who are clever in their own eyes.” Also in Maccabees: Daniel in his simplicity was delivered from the mouth of the lions. Also the apostle Paul to the Romans: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid him? For from him and through him and in him are all things; to him be glory for ever and ever.” Also to Timothy: “But avoid foolish and uninstructed questions, knowing that they breed quarrels; and the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all.”

That no one is without stain and without sin. In Job: “For who is clean from stains? Not one, even if his life on earth is but a single day.” Also in Psalm 50 [51]: “For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother bore me.” Also the apostle John: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

That we are to please not men but God. In Psalm 52 [53]: “Those who please men have been put to shame, because God has despised them.” Also the apostle Paul to the Galatians: “If I wished to please men, I would not be the servant of Christ.”

That nothing of what is done escapes God. In the Wisdom of Solomon: “In every place the eyes of God watch the good and the evil.” Also in Jeremiah: “I am a God near at hand, and not a God far off. If a man hides himself in a hiding place, shall I then not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord?” Also in the first book of Kingdoms: “Man looks on the face, but God on the heart.” Also in the Apocalypse: “And all the churches will know that I am he who searches the reins and the heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” Also in Psalm 18 [19]: “Who understands his faults? Cleanse me from my hidden ones, O Lord.” Also the apostle Paul in Second Corinthians: “We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive what is due for the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil.”

That the believer is corrected and preserved. In Psalm 117 [118]: “The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not handed me over to death.” Also in Psalm 88 [89]: “I will visit their iniquities with the rod, and their sins with scourges; but my mercy I will not turn away from them.” Also in Malachi: “And he will sit refining and purifying as gold and silver, and he will cleanse the sons of Levi.” Also in the Gospel: “You will not come out from there until you have paid the last farthing.”

That no one ought to be saddened by death, since in living there is toil and danger, in dying peace and the assurance of rising again. In Genesis: “Then God said to Adam: Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from that tree from which alone I had commanded you not to eat, cursed shall the ground be in all your works; in sorrow and groaning you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field in the sweat of your face. You shall eat your bread until you return to the earth from which you were taken; for you are earth, and to earth you shall go.” Also there: “And Enoch pleased God, and he was not found afterwards, because God had taken him away.” Also in Isaiah: “All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass has withered and the flower has fallen, but the word of the Lord remains for ever.” Also in Ezekiel: “They say: Our bones have become dry, our hope has perished, we have breathed our last. Therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I open your graves, and I will bring you out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live; and I will place you in your own land, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and will do it, says the Lord.” Also in the Wisdom of Solomon: “He was snatched away, lest wickedness change his understanding; for his soul was pleasing to God.” Also in Psalm 83 [84]: “How lovely are your dwellings, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.” Also the apostle Paul to the Thessalonians: “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” Also in First Corinthians: “Fool, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.” Also there: “Star differs from star in glory; so also is the resurrection. The body is sown in corruption, it rises without corruption; it is sown in dishonor, it rises in glory; it is sown in weakness, it rises in power; it is sown a natural body, it rises a spiritual one.” Also there: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Then shall come to pass the word that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O death, is your victory?” Also in the Gospel according to John: “Father, I desire that those whom you have given me may be with me where I shall be, and see my glory which you gave me before the foundation of the world.” Also according to Luke: “Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.” Also according to John: “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”