What cause you have thus to think of us, we do not know; however, we can assure you of this, that we seek with all our heart to serve the only God and Christ in a good conscience, and to edify our neighbor as far as is possible to us.
Hence we willingly accept whatever the holy Scriptures declare to us, and wish that we would be left to adhere to the simplicity of the word of God, and not with subtle questions to be driven further, than we with our feeble understanding can comprehend or answer with the Scriptures. We confess (even as you say) that Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, when the time was fulfilled, was born of woman and became truly man.
We confess that the flesh of Christ is not a fantasm or ethereal, but true, human flesh, like unto us in all things, except sin; that he is the promised seed of the woman, David’s son, and the fruit of Mary’s body. Finally, we believe all that the holy Scriptures further testify of him; and whether we live or die, we do not place our salvation in our works or holiness, but solely in his death and resurrection. Hence we cannot wonder enough, what more could be required of a Christian, since you yourself quote from the apostle: “Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:16,17.
By this the apostle sufficiently indicates to us that we ought rather to observe and appropriate to ourselves the fruits of the incarnation and the sufferings of Christ, than arrogantly to dispute about the origin of his flesh; which we yet confess as far as the Scriptures tell us concerning it; contenting ourselves with what you request of us, that he is come in the flesh. If people only were satisfied therewith, and would not compel us to confess that Christ has his origin from the substance of Mary’s flesh; which because we cannot comprehend or believe, for the reason that the word substance is not mentioned in the holy Scriptures, and, therefore it is concluded against us, that we believe that Christ is not true man, and in short, that we deny our salvation; whereas, on the contrary, according to the dictates of love, it ought to be concluded: That, when we say that Christ had just as true, human flesh as our first father Adam had before the fall, we at once confess him to be true man and our Savior, especially when we confess this with express words. If you reply to this, that you find little or no difference between your faith and ours, except in the expression, _substance of the woman_, and that we ought not therefore obstinately to reject the same, we rejoin, on the other hand, that we ought not to be constrained thereto by force, but that our weakness in this respect ought to be borne with, since we cannot believe otherwise in our conscience, and should greatly sin against God, if we were to speak contrary to the testimony of our conscience.
Hence, if we are put to death (which we do not hope of her Royal Grace) we testify before God, that we do not die for this or that article (which if we could, with arguments, be made to believe, we would accept with all our heart), but for our conscience’ sake, to which if we act contrary, though we did well, we nevertheless do ill, and witness against ourselves, as you with your learning can understand far better than we simple and unlearned people.
Finally, we are men, and what is more, unlearned men, who are liable to err; and hence we will always show ourselves teachable to all those who can show us something better with the Scriptures; but that they want to constrain us thereto with fire or sword, this appears to us a vain undertaking, and to militate against reason; for it is indeed possible, that through fear of death we could be made to speak differently from what we understand; but that we should understand otherwise than we believe, you know to be impossible.