Selected Extracts

Preface

the sap of the age of JESUS original: "Saft des Alters JESU"; likely referring to the spiritual vitality or the mature essence of Christ's nature to see, transfigure and reveal the nature of the tree from which they grow, and that the light which illuminates them is no false light original: "Irrlicht"; literally a will-o'-the-wisp, referring to a deluding or misleading spiritual influence. Whoever is purely concerned with the will of GOD will soon become aware of it, John 7:17. To others, Christ remains a stone of supposedly well-founded and deliberate offense original: "gemüßsigten Anstosses"; referring to an offense taken by those who believe their intellectual objections are justified, and a rock of insurmountable scandal; as he has always been, both in his person and in his true followers, to the clever and "pious" of this world, and very few have found the narrow path original: "enge Spur" of his Spirit and of inwardness Inwendigkeit: a central concept in German Pietism and mysticism, referring to the internal spiritual life and the presence of God within the soul. Matthew 7:14-23.

Our own referring to the fellow believers or the specific community for whom this text was prepared know what a treasure of secret divine wisdom (Psalm 51:8 In the numbering of historical German Bibles, this corresponds to the modern Psalm 51:6: "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.") is hereby placed into their hands, and that this treasure is not to be grasped with the senses, but must be born forth inwardly and transformed into one's very being; which