t is proclaimed, and "strong meat" when St. Peter is
proclaimed, just as if Peter were higher, greater, and more
difficult to understand than Christ himself. And this is called
explaining the Scriptures and overcoming Dr. Luther; this is the
way to run out of the rain and fall into the trough. What could
such babblers accomplish if we should have a disputation with the
Bohemians[41] and the heretics? Truly nothing, except that we
should be made a mockery for all, and give them due cause to look
upon us all as blustering idiots, and they become more strongly
entrenched in their own belief through the foolishness of our
side.

[Sidenote: The Equality of Bishops]

But then you ask: If the prelates are neither heads nor regents
of the spiritual Church, what are they?

Let the laymen answer this, when they say: St. Peter is a
messenger[42] and the other apostles are messengers too. Why
should the pope be ashamed to be a messenger, if St. Peter
himself is no more? But beware, ye laymen, or the super-learned
Romanists will burn you at the stake as heretics because ye would
make the pope a messenger and letter-carrier. But ye have a
strong argument, for the Greek _Apostolos_ is in German
"messenger," and thus are they called throughout the Gospel.

If, then, they are all messengers of the one Lord Christ, who
would be so foolish as to say that so great a lord, in a matter
of such great importance for the whole world, sends but one
messenger, and he, in turn, sends other messengers of his own?
Then St. Peter would have to be called, not a _Zwolfbote_ (one of
the twelve messengers), but an only-messenger, and none of the
others would remain _Zwolfboten_, but they would all be St.
Peter's _Elfboten_ (i. e., his eleven messengers). But what is
the custom at court? Is it not true that a lord has many
messengers? Aye, when does it happen that many messengers are
sent with the same message to one place, as now we have priest,
bishop, archbishop and pope, all ruling over the same city, not
to mention other tyrants, who shove in their rule somewhere
between the rest? Christ sent all the apostles into the world
with His Word and message with full, equal powers, as St. Paul
says: "We are ambassadors for Christ." [1 Cor. 5:20] And in I.
Corinthians iii. he says: "What is Peter? What is Paul? Servants
through whom ye believed." [1 Cor. 3:5] This ambassadorship means
to feed, to rule, to be bishop, and so forth. But that the pope
ma