Honored Reader!

Having set this writing against the false prophetesses and other inspired original: "begeisterte." In this era, "Enthusiasm" or being "inspired" (Begeisterung) referred to people—often outside the official church—who claimed to receive direct, private revelations from God. women, I am not inclined to state at length what moved me to its preparation; especially since this is already sufficiently clear from the preceding Latin dedication original: "Lateinischen Zuschrifft." This refers to the formal academic dedication found on the previous pages.. I only wish to mention this: that such a work would never have come to light if Gottfried Arnold Gottfried Arnold (1666–1714) was a radical Pietist whose writings famously defended historical "heretics" as the true followers of Christ, deeply upsetting the Lutheran establishment. had held back his History of Heretics original: "Ketzer-Historie." A reference to Arnold's Impartial History of the Church and Heretics (1699)., along with other fanatical writings, and had not troubled the Church of GOD with them. For in those pages, he speaks on behalf of all the devil’s female teachers original: "Teuffels-Lehrerinnen." A harsh polemical term for women who preached or taught without official church sanction. and exalts the manifest