On the sword. A Christian explanation of the Scriptures which are cited very earnestly by some brothers against government – that is, that Christians should not occupy positions of power or wield the sword.

Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier of Friedberg. 1527

To the noble and Christian lord, Sir Arkleb of Bozkowic and Tzernehor at Trebitz, Chancellor of the Margravate of Moravia, my merciful lord. I wish you grace and peace in God.

Noble, merciful lord, your grace probably knows well that all those who accept, love and preach the holy gospel in these last and dangerous times must not only be deprived of goods and tortured in body (Matthew 5[:11f.]); even their honor, which people regard as the most precious jewel on earth, must also be wounded and violated by the godless. Precisely these things are the weapons of hellish Satan, through which he unceasingly tries to suppress, root out and hinder evangelical teaching and truth. But he will not succeed. His head must be crushed because of that. Especially now, the servants of the devil must call all Christian preachers rebels, demagogues, and heretics on the grounds that they repudiate authority and teach disobedience. But this is not a cause for wonder. The same thing also happened to Christ (Luke 23,[:2], Jeremiah 38[:4], 1 Kings 18), although he publicly taught that one should “render to Caesar that which is Caesar's” (Matthew 22[:21]), just as he paid the tax for himself and for Peter (Matthew 17[:24]).