Preface

of the mind only a little views the matter, and
will pay attention with the ears of the heart, it will
be easily discerned that these are musical signs or
notes without words, sermons without a subject original Latin: notæ sine verbis, prædicationes sine subiecto, and a
bellowing original Latin: boatus; often used by Reformers to describe liturgical chanting they considered mindless or animal-like, intended only to fill the carnal ears of the
unlearned. For who among them all walks in the
Light, while all their works are evil?
And since they loved the darkness more than the
Light, how can they boast that they know God, who
is an unapproachable Light? Especially
when one [considers] the manifold, countless, and excessive
sins, such as immeasurable pride, infinite
greed, superfluous gluttony and drunkenness, cursing
and swearing, unheard-of lust, and shameful
fornication—indeed, sodomitic shameA common early modern term for any sexual behavior considered "unnatural" or non-procreative.—and other
vices, which in various lands, provinces,
and kingdoms are practiced as a common trade—
to say nothing of these, about which the holy Apostle
concludes for the second time that those who do such things
will not inherit the kingdom of heaven—and only the
single verse of 1 John 2: "The darkness has passed
away, and the true Light now shines; whoever
says he is in the Light, and hates his brother,
is still in darkness, and knows not where he
goes, for the darkness has blinded his eyes."