Page:On The Spiritual Battle.pdf/4

 Why have I bothered to do this? I became interested in Petr Chelčický when I read Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You, in which he laments Chelčický’s obscurity and exposes the “conspiracy of silence” that surrounds the Gospel’s message of nonviolence. I found and transcribed all of the previous works that Tolstoy referred to in his book, including Chelčický’s The Net of Faith, the only English translation of which was made by Rev. EricoEnrico [sic] Molnár as a divinity school thesis. In his introduction, Rev. Molnár wrote, “[In O boji duchovním], for the first time as far as we know, Chelčický expounded the fundamental pacifist thesis that a Christian must abstain from physical war and violence, since his main duty is ‘spiritual warfare’ against the evils of this world, violence being one of those evils.” It was in reliance on that recommendation that I commissioned Ms. Enns to make this translation, which is a part of my continuing small effort to break the “conspiracy of silence.”

Ms. Enns crafted an admirable but somewhat literal translation, which I have edited for readability and clarity of meaning. Unfortunately, I do not know Czech and had to use my best guess on some of the more cryptic passages. I hope and pray that I have nonetheless been faithful to the author’s original intentions.

It is worth noting that in Petr Chelčický I have not only a kindred-spirit, but a fellow countryman as well. My father’s family comes from the region around Chelčice–from an area extending 20 miles to the east and 45 miles to the northwest, to be exact–and has been traced back there to the late 1600s. Being serfs who were tied to the land, it is entirely possible that my ancestors were personally inspired by Chelčický during his lifetime.

Of Chelčický’s fifty-six known works, I know of only four that have been translated into English:

Please let me know of any others. Also, please bring any mistakes in this document to my attention so that I can correct them. This translation is under no copyright protection. It is my gift to you. You may freely copy, print, and transmit it. Tom Lock

Oberlin, Ohio