A GUIDE

original Latin: "Informatorium," a term often used in the 17th century for a handbook or instructional manual.

or brief

Instruction/

In what manner

one can be led through three means

to the narrow path to Christ:

Namely

1. Through the practice of prayer.

2. Through the ladder of Jacob.

A reference to the biblical vision of a ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis 28), used here as a metaphor for spiritual ascent.

3. Through the key of

David.

A biblical symbol of authority and revelation (Isaiah 22:22), representing the power to open spiritual mysteries.

Composed by

MASTER VALENTIN WEIGEL,

Valentin Weigel (1533–1588) was a famous German theologian and mystic whose works were often published posthumously due to their radical nature.

former pastor at

Zschopau.

The OCR reads "Zschopan," an old spelling or transcription variant of the town in Saxony where Weigel served.

AMSTERDAM/

Printed for Samuel Müller

Bookseller, 1695.

Man has three enemies: the Flesh, Beelzebub, and the World; Of these, the first is the slowest to be felled. This rhyming couplet emphasizes that the internal struggle against one's own physical desires ("the flesh") is more difficult than resisting the devil or external worldly temptations.