Report on Whether Secular Authority Should Suppress the Writings of Enthusiasts

BUT we must not wonder greatly at such boldness; for through it, Satan "smells a mouse" and "scents the roast" These are idiomatic expressions meaning that the devil senses an opportunity and anticipates a favorable outcome for his schemes.. For if the writings and booklets of the enthusiasts enthusiasts: 'Schwermer,' a derogatory term used by mainstream Reformers for radical groups who claimed direct revelation from the Spirit were to be freely permitted, then soon (as some examples have unfortunately shown) the hearts of men would be captured and taken in by the enthusiasts’ rationalistic, yet harmful and devilish thoughts. They would be turned away from the useful, wholesome, and necessary things that are to be learned and contemplated in the pure Word and Sacraments.

To ensure that such a thing might not happen, God ordained the secular authority secular authority: 'Obrigheit,' the divinely appointed civil government alongside the holy preaching office for this very reason. He gave them command over men so that they, with great earnestness, zeal, and wrath, should not tolerate false teaching. They are to punish factions and sects that act against the First Table The 'First Table' of the Ten Commandments refers to the first three (or four, depending on numbering) commandments which concern man's direct duty to God, such as the prohibition of idolatry and blasphemy..

I say that the authority owes this service to God: that they should not only lead murderers and rogues to the gallows, but also forbid all false teaching—such as that of Schwenkfeld, the Anabaptists, the Sacramentarians Those who denied the physical presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper., etc.—and punish the stubborn.

THEREFORE, it is commanded to the worldly authority that they should learn and know Christian doctrine and the right knowledge of God, so that they, in turn, may judge and reject false teaching. For as the 2nd Psalm says: "And now, you kings and judges on earth, learn and kiss the Son," etc. original: "Et nunc reges, intelligite: erudimini, qui judicatis terram... Osculamini Filium." Likewise, the 24th Psalm says: "You princes, lift up your gates, that the King of Glory may enter in." This means that the authority should open the country, cities, and villages so that His Gospel—and not fanaticism—is preached therein.