The Clear Proof of the True Church of God

To the Reader.

[Treatise] may be profitable to the soul, and not harmful through your own fault; let us therefore watch ourselves, that we do not despise, condemn, nor reject, much less slander that which we do not understand, for another may easily have a higher spiritual experience bevindinge: a key term in Dutch devotional literature referring to the personal, lived experience of faith and the "inward" work of God in the soul than we. We must do this so that we do not sin and anger God—who wishes to bring forth His praise from the mouths of infants A reference to Psalm 8:2 and Matthew 21:16, suggesting that God reveals divine truths to the humble and uneducated rather than the worldly-wise.—and so that we do not regret it later, having to testify against ourselves: we fools held these to be insane, and see how they are now counted among the Children of God, etc. original: "wy dwase hielden dese voor onsinnigh..." — A paraphrase of the Wisdom of Solomon 5:4-5, describing the regret of the "wise" when they see the humble exalted in heaven. This then serves as a brief warning for the benefit of everyone.

Therefore, O Man, acknowledge your lowly state; for where our ancestors original: "voor-Ouders" in their simple wisdom were only presented with a single snare of death, there are now for us, in our manifold wisdom, also manifold