Autobiography

...logian; before the one who carries the Christian state upon his shoulders, I appear as a member of the Christian body; before the defender of the truth, a confessor of the truth; before the savior of righteousness, a follower of righteousness; before the model of goodness, a worshiper of goodness; before the embodiment of scholarship, a weak instrument of scholarship; before the avenger of innocence, a man who, despite his innocence, stands accused; and I humbly lay down this history of my life—tossed about as it has been by so many shifts of fate and the storms of the times—before the altar of Your piety and kindness of heart.

The sole cause Andreä is explaining his motivation for writing his autobiography: to defend his reputation against critics. is that terrible envy which has so often and for so long pursued me with a malicious tongue—me, who publicly professes orthodoxy in religion and the certainty of the (future) life with heart, hand, and deed in writings that are surely not entirely without merit—and which will clearly enough lie in wait for my very ashes through the forgers of lies, unless, under the mighty protection of Your Highness, I work against this intent in good time, while I still can.

Christian state (the ideal of a society governed by Christian principles), defender of the truth, righteousness, scholarship, innocence, shifts of fate, piety, kindness of heart, orthodoxy, forgers of lies original: "Lügenschmiede"