Tell Us What You Really Think, John

“[T]hose concerning whom I am about to speak insinuate themselves in the name of the gospel so tha by indirect whispers they may alienate whomever they can from Christ. Those people in fact consist partly of hungry vagabonds who, unless you fill their bellies, will bury you under wagonloads of calumnies, partly of worthless and vicious men who, having been dismissed by us because of their own fault, or even having resigned from some office on account of a crime, seek out fresh pastures elsewhere; yet for both, the mind and tongue are in the belly. There are others a little better off, considering that they are not so pressed by hunger; yet, because they avoid the cross and desire an excuse for their own cowardice, cover over the pure expression of the gospel with heaps of tales invented by themselves . . . And what are the complaints like? They are full of prodigious lies. Those who were either driven from our midst by their own crimes, or were alienated in treacherous defection, are even now more outragious in the way they slander us when they chase after the favor of the rich with their calumnies, so that they may stuff their bellies by licking the latter’s dishes” (Calvin, Concerning Scandal, pp. 91-93).