The Bloody Theatre, or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians / who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their savior, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660

by Thieleman J. van Braght

Hence, my dear mother, be armed with me, and all God’s righteous ones, as Paul says, with the armor of God on your body, the helmet of salvation upon your head, and the sword of the Spirit in your hand; and above all, take the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, for the prophet says: Be of good courage; you shall at last climb upon the devil’s shoulders. Eph. 6:13; Bar. 4:25.

Therefore my mother, if you should hear any thing of me that is not true—for the devil is crafty, and deals much in lies, to grieve the righteous—do not hearken to it; as I also trust that you will not: for my mind is unchanged, for which I thank the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to his name be praise for ever and ever, through his only Son Jesus Christ our Savior, who strengthens me, poor, unworthy, despised man with his Holy Spirit, to resist all the enemies of the truth, who seek to spoil me of my salvation (Col. 2:8), for which they have no power, for the Lord is my strength, as the prophet says: He is my song; I shall with joy draw water out of the well of the Savior. Is. 12:2,3. Again the Lord says by the prophet Isaiah; I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not: I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye few men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer. Is. 41:13,14. Of whom should we be afraid, for the Lord hath said it. Therefore, my mother, take courage with me, to overcome, like Joshua and Caleb, the great and strong giants, the princes of this world, and not to fear them, and thus to take the promised land, the kingdom of heaven. Of whom should I be afraid, when we have this glorious consolation, that they that trust in the Lord, shall not be ashamed, for the prophet says that the Lord will not forsake the righteous even unto death; yea, the Lord says by the prophet Isaiah: “Can a mother forget her child, that she should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb? and though she forget, yet will I not forget thee; for I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, saith the Lord.” Ps. 25:3; Is. 49:15,16. Remember, again, how the Lord speaks by the prophet Malachi, saying: The Lord has a book of remembrance before him, in which he has written all them that fear him, and he shall deliver their souls from death. Mal. 3:16. Happy are those then, that have feared the Lord, for David says: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.” They who then have not been ashamed to walk in the ways of the Lord, their names are recorded in heaven in the book of life. Luke 10:20. Hence rejoice with me, my mother; I should like to write you still more, that you would always walk in the ways of the Lord, and never depart therefrom, and bring many to the knowledge of the truth, but my paper is failing me. I pray you, my dear and beloved mother, take this little knowledge and simple writing from me in good part, for I write you out of love, and impart to you of this little gift which the Lord, through his unspeakable grace, has given me, unworthy man.

You further write me in your consoling letter, whether I have any lack of the necessaries of life. O no, I have enough, the Lord be thanked. You also write in your letter, that if I desired you, I should write so, and you should come, though you had to pay for it with your blood. O my dear mother, why should I desire this; I shall never desire it, for you could not help me. For my refuge is the Lord alone; he is my helper; he it is that gives me strength to overcome and to go to battle valiantly. Hence, my mother, walk prudently, for they are cruel to shed the innocent blood. However, they can do no more than the Lord permits them. If I were to write more concerning it, my paper should not suffice, for I intend to relate to you yet, that I have been twice more with the priests since I wrote the letter to you, so that in all I have been before the priests four times; but twice I wrote you a little; hence I also hope to write you a little now. The third time I spoke with the Dean, but mostly against the inquisitor, for he wants to be master; his name is Pardo. We talked much of the Supper, and there was present a Bailiff, the new one, and a man that could speak English. I heard Pardo talk much of the Supper, which was contrary to the word of the Lord; and he asked me, whether it was not true that Christ gave his apostles his own body, and that his disciples ate it. I said that he gave his disciples bread, and what they ate was bread; and that he gave his disciples wine, and what they drank was wine, and not changed, as you say.

I showed them how it was to be understood, both the bread and the wine; I would repeat it here, but my paper would give out. We then spoke of the baptism of infants; I said that he should show to me with the Scriptures, that Christ taught to baptize infants, and that the apostles followed or practiced it. They said: Christ said and taught, John 3:5: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” I said: “Christ there did not speak of water baptism, but Christ teaches of baptism in Matthew 28 and Mark 16,” and I told them the text.

Then the man said: “A fool cannot believe; hence he cannot be baptized; he is therefore damned.” I said: “Christ says not: Go teach fools. I ask you,” said I, “whether a fool can be taught?” He answered: “No.” He then asked me, whether the fool was damned. I said: “I may judge no one; I leave the fool in the hands of the Lord.” Thus, to be brief, the man asked me whether I had been in England. I said: “Yes.” “What sort of people,” said he, “were those that were put to death?” I said: “I believe that they were Menno’s people.” He said: “No,” and that they were Puritans. I said: “No.” He said that I was of that people, that I was also a Puritan. I said that I did not know them; that it was the first that I heard of it. I said that he should tell me, what sort of a people it was, and what kind of a faith they have. But he would not tell me that. They said more, but it would take too long to relate it.

The last time was the 13th of June, when I spoke with four priests at once, but not so much as at other times; I was asked whether I would not repent. I said: “Yes, I want to desist from sin from day to day.” No, whether I would not hearken to the ecclesiastics and the Roman Catholic church? I said: “I thank the Lord, who has instructed me, and opened my eyes, and brought me into the right way; and I desire to be instructed by the Lord still more.”

Thus they wrote a letter, that they would deliver me over to the lords; that I was an obstinate heretic, and would not hearken to them; and they wrote that they had done their best, so that they would not talk with me any more. Thus I was released from the priests, and delivered to the authorities, so that I expect to hear my sentence on the 22d of June, and to offer up my sacrifice on the 23d. The Lord grant me strength unto the end, to the praise of the Lord and the salvation of my soul. The Lord grant me the spirit of boldness, that I may finish my conflict with joy.

Thus, my dear mother, cleave to the Lord. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be with you, and keep you. The Lord preserve your going out and coming in, now and forever. Num. 6:25.

My dear mother, I greet you with a holy kiss of love (1 Pet. 5:14), for I think that you will see me no more in this flesh, nor I you, my mother. Farewell, the Lord be with you, my mother; I go before, and shall wait for you in the kingdom of heaven, there we shall see each other in joy and gladness.

I bid you adieu; once more, farewell. The Lord be with you forever, for I know not whether I shall write you any more; I think that it is the last time. I greet you once more, my dear mother, who have given birth to me in pain and anguish. Greet cordially my dear brother D., and admonish him to walk in the ways of the Lord, to the salvation of his soul; this I pray you, my mother, even as I also trust, and doubt not that you will also do. Greet my beloved sister K. A., with T. and W. Greet also those whom you well know, also my beloved master, whom I love from the heart; and G. The Lord be with you all, now and forever. Amen.