First quarter 1521.
Translated from Latin.
1. the superiors of the churches sin when they seek their own revenge and their own through the ban.
2. the punishment of the ban must be imposed out of humility of afflicted shepherds and not out of pride and arrogance of cruel shepherds.
3 It is not enough to write under a beautiful pretense in a matter that is against the Lord: We command and require in the Lord.
4 The apostle delivered the incestuous man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be preserved. Therefore, those who believe that the soul is delivered to Satan through the ban have an erroneous opinion.
5. the destruction of the flesh takes place in repentance and by the change of mind to the
Growth of the spirit and renewal of the inner man.
6 Furthermore, the apostle by no means excluded from brotherly love the one whom he commanded to be excluded from the church.
(7) One who must be banished for the wickedness of his heart and for public crimes is disqualified even before he is visibly banished.
Accordingly, the outer ban is only a sign of the inner ban.
(9) The outward ban is not a strong and infallible sign of the inward ban, but often an exceedingly deceptive sign.
(10) The unjust ban does not harm the one who has been banished outwardly, but only the one who has banished him and those who keep it with him.