Again the beloved apostles had to be diligently attentive to [the meaning of] visions, as it is clearly written in their Acts. Indeed, it is a [mark of the] truly apostolic, patriarchal, and prophetic spirit to attend upon visions and to attain unto the same in painful tribulation. Therefore it is no wonder that Brother Fattened Swine and Brother Soft Life* rejects them (Job 28:12 f.) If [19], however, a person has not hearkened to the clear Word of God in the soul, he must have visions, as when Saint Peter in the Acts of the Apostles failed to understand the law (Lev., ch. 11). [ . . . ] From this now I infer that whoever wishes, by reason of his fleshly judgment, to be utterly hostile about visions [and dreams] without any experience of them, rejecting them all, or [again, whoever] wishes to take them all in without any distinction (because the false dream interpreters have done so much harm to the world through those who think only of their own renown or pleasure)—that surely [either extremist] will have a poor run of it and will hurl himself against the Holy Spirit [of these Last Days (Joel 2:28)]. For God speaks clearly, like this text of Daniel, about the [eschatalogical] transformation of the world. He will prepare it in the Last Days in order that his name may be rightly praised. He will free it of its shame, and will pour out his Holy Spirit over all flesh and our sons and daughters shall prophesy and shall have dreams and visions, etc. For if Christendom is not to become apostolic (Acts 2:16 ff.) in the way anticipated in Joel, why should one preach at all? To what purpose then the Bible with [its] visions?
It is true, and [I] know it to be true, that the Spirit of God is revealing to many elect, pious persons a decisive, inevitable, imminent reformation [accompanied] by great anguish, and it must be carried out to completion. Defend oneself against it as one may, the prophesy of Daniel remains unweakened, even if no one believes it, as also Paul says to the Romans (ch. 3:3). This passage of Daniel is thus as clear as the sun, and the process of ending the fifth monarchy of the world is in full swing.
The first [kingdom] is set forth by the golden knop.** That was the kingdom of Babylon. The second [was represented] by the silver breast and arms. That was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. The third was the kingdom of the Greeks, which, resounding with its science, was symbolized by the [sounding] brass. The fourth [was] the Roman Empire, which was won by the sword and a kingdom of coercion. But the fifth [symbolized by the iron and clay feet] is this which we have before our eyes, which is also of iron and would like to coerce. But it is matted together with mud,*** as we see before [our] discerning eyes—vain, pretentious schemes of hypocrisy which writhe and wriggle over the whole earth. For whoever cannot [detect] the ruses must be indeed an imbecile. One sees nicely now how the eels and the vipers all in a heap abandon themselves to obscenities. The priests and all the wicked clerics are the vipers, as John the baptizer of Christ calls them (Matt. 3:7), and the temporal lords and princes are the eels, as is figuratively represented in Leviticus (ch. 11:10–12) by the fishes, etc. For the kingdoms of the devil have smeared themselves with clay. O beloved lords, how handsomely the Lord will go smashing among the old pots with his rod of iron (Ps. 2:9). Therefore, you much beloved and esteemed princes, learn your judgments directly from the mouth of God and do not let yourselves be misled by your hypocritical parsons nor be restrained by false consideration and indulgence. For the Stone [made] without hands, cut from the mountain [which will crush the fifth kingdom, Dan. 2:34], has become great. The poor laity [of the towns] and the peasants see it much more clearly than you. Yea, God be praised, it has become so great [that] already, if other lords or neighbors should wish to persecute you for the gospel’s sake, they would be driven back by their own people! That I know for a certainty. Yea, the Stone is great. Before It the dim-witted world had long been afraid; It fell upon It when It was still small.**** What should we then do now when it has become so great and mighty and when It has so powerfully, imminently struck against the great Statue and smashed it right down to the old pots?***** Therefore, you esteemed princes of Saxony, step boldly on the
* The reference is to Martin Luther.
** A disparaging reference to the head.
*** Müntzer further debases the clay by calling it “mud,” the German for which has also the secondary meaning of “ordure.”
**** The allusion is to Christ’s first appearance of which only the small number of elect within the mighty Roman Empire, the fourth monarchy, took cognizance.
***** Here Müntzer lets the clay vessels, signifying the princes and prelates, stand for the iron and clay feet which together represent the whole of the Holy Roman Empire in the process of crumbling.
print version
return to list
previous document