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1524]
An Evangelical Reformer
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not merely fit men for heaven, but for their life upon earth. Consequently, while he no doubt believed the cause of the peasants to be just, and wished them well, and even gave them his more or less open approval, he was not the man to become their leader, like Münzer, to whom the gospel came to mean social reform far more than individual regeneration.
How does this attitude of Waldshut and of Hübmaier agree with his later assertions that the only grievance of Austria against the town and him was on account of the gospel?
"With us neither tax nor tithes has ever been spoken against with the least word, but it has been sought to force us from the word of God by violence and against all right. That has been our only complaint. Here I defy all men on earth and all devils in hell, that there was no other occasion against Waldshut but alone, alone, alone the word of God. God grant that they may acknowledge it, and illumine those who denied us before the prince [Ferdinand]. As I now speak I could prove to the prince when he was at Breisach in Breisgau. Those in Waldshut proffered this orally and in writing to the prince. Also to other princes and lords who were there personally, and especially to the Christian town of Constance, in which the last diet was held, those from Waldshut publicly promised that they would to the prince and all others do all things as they were
