draught But this meate y t I here receaue is spirituall meate receaued with fayth norisheth vs euerlastyngly both body soule neuer entreth into the draught And euē as before the outwarde eyen doe sée the bread yet the outward eyen doe not regarde that or thinke vpō it So likewise the outward man digesteth the bread casteth it into the draught And yet the inward man doth not regarde that nor thinke vppon it But thinketh on the thyng it selfe that is signified by that bread And therfore sayd Chrisostome euen a litle before the wordes whiche they here alleaged lift vp your minde hartes sayd hée whereby hée monisheth vs to looke vppon and consider those heauenly thinges which are represented and signified by the bread and wyne not to marke the bread and wyne in it selfe Here they will say vnto me that it is not Chrisostomes mynde for by his example hée playnly shewith that there remaneth no bread nor wyne that I deny For the example in this place proueth no more but y t ye shall not think on y t bread wine no more then if they were not there but onely on that thyng whiche is signified by them And that ye may euidently perceiue by the wordes folowyng where hée saith thinke that the misteries are cōsumed by the substance of the body Nowe whether Chrisostome thought that there remained bread or no both wayes shall our purpose bée proued First if hée thought there remained still bread and wyne then we haue our purpose Now if he thought that the bread wyne remayned not but were chaūged then are the bread and wyne neither mysteries nor Sacramentes of the body and bloud of Christ For that that is not can neither bée mystery nor Sacrament Finally if hée speake of y e outward appearaunce of bread then we know that that remaineth still is not consumed by the substaunce of the body And therfore hée must néedes bée vnderstanded as I take him I thinke many men wonder how I can dye in this article seyng that it is no necessary article of our fayth for I graunt that neyther parte is an article necessary to bée beléeued vnder payne of damnation but leaue it as a thyng indifferent to thynke therein as God shall instill in euery mans mynde and that neyther parte condemne other for this matter but receiue eche other in brotherly loue reseruing eche others infirmitie to god The cause of my death is thys because I can not in conscience abiure and sweare that our Prelates opinion of the sacrament that is that the substaunce of bread and wine is verely chaunged into the fleshe and bloud of our sauiour Iesus Christ is an vndoubted article of the fayth necessary to bée beléeued vnder payne of damnation Now though this opinion were indéede true which thing they can neither proue true by scripture nor doctours yet coulde I not in conscience graunt that it shoulde bée an article of the fayth necessary to bée beléeued c. For there are many verities which yet may bée no such articles of our fayth It is true that I lay in yrons when I wrote this howbeit I would not haue you to receaue thys truth for an article of our fayth For you may thinke the contrary without all ieopardy of damnation ¶ The cause why I can not beleeue their opinion of transmutation is this 1 FIrst because I thinke verely that it is false and can neither hée proued by scripture nor faythfull doctours if they bée well pondered 2 The second cause is thys because I will not bynde the congregation of Christ by mine example to admitte any necessarye Article beside oure Creede and specially none such as can not bée prooued true by Scripture And I say that the Church as they caule it can not compell vs to receaue any such articles to bée of necessitie vnder payne of damnation 3 The thirde cause is because I dare not bée so presumptuous in entering into Gods iudgement as to make the prelates in this pointe a necessary article of our fayth For then I should damnably condemne all the Germanes Almaines with infinite moe which in déede doe not beléeue nor thinke that the substaūce of bread and wine is chaunged into the substaūce of Christes naturall body And surely I can not bée so foolishe hardy as to condemne such an infinite number for our prelates pleasures Thus all the Germaynes and Almaynes both of Luthers side and also of Oecolampadius doe wholy approue my matter And surely I thinke there is no man that hath a pure conscience but hée will thinke that I dye righteously For that this transubstantiation should bée a necessary article of the faith I thinke no man can say it with a good conscience although it were true in déede By me Iohn Frith An exact and diligent Table wherby you may readely turne to any speciall matter that is contained in all Iohn Frithes bookes 1572. A. ABraham 20 Abrahames bosome what it signified 55 Abraham by faith dyd eate Christes bodye and drinke Christes bloud 109 Ambrose opinion of Purgatory 52 Antithesis betweene Christ and the Pope 97 Argumentes to proue that Christes naturall body is not in the Sacrament 142 Articles of our faith are to bee beleeued vpon payne of damnation 111 Articles of our fayth are as many as are necessary for our saluation 145 Augustine beyng 400. yeares after Christ doubted of Purgatory 32 Augustines opinion of purgatory 52 B. BAptisme defined what it is 92 Baptisme is the founteine of our new byrth 94 Bishopricke in the primatiue church was a charge and not a Lordshyp 116 Blasphemie to saye that Christes bloud is not the full remission of our sinnes 11 Blessyng what it is 154 Bookes of the Machabees are not Canonicall 37 Bookes agaynst Rastall 60 Boasting that is modest is commendable 64 Body of Christe eaten by our fathers and his bloud dronke 109 Body of Christ is no more in the Sacrament thē a mans face in the glasse 146 Brethren is an auncient name in the holy Scripture 114 Bread and wyne remayne in the Sacrament 117 Bread why it is called our body 160 C. CAuse of our blyndnes and grosse errours 3 Causes why the Sacramentes were first instituted 112 Ceremonies of some sortes are guydes vnto the knowledge of God 95 Christ onely hath satisfied for our sinnes 14. 15 Christes merites putteth out the fier of Purgatory 14. 17. 18 Christ is our Aduocate 17 Christes sacrifice onely taketh away sinne 17. 38 Christ onely is our head 43 Christes death hath ouercōmed our death 55 Christ was meeke and gentle 57 Christ onely is the meane to put away our sinnes 73 Christes bloud is the strength of our Baptisme 94 Christ and the Pope compared togither 97. 98. 99. 100. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106 Christ is not to bee eatē carnally but spiritually 118. 119 Christes wordes are spirituall and not carnall 124 Christe gaue
false glosse vnto the text and if that helpe not then fall they to a shameles boldnes and let not to deny the Scripture and all The place whiche hee reciteth is written 2. Macha 12. And to say the truth y t booke is not of sufficieÌ„t authoritie to make an article of our fayth neither is it admitted in the CanoÌ„ of the Hebrues Here he obiecteth that the Church hath allowed it and the holy Doctours as S. Hierome S. Austine and such other I aunswere S. Hieromes mynde is opened vnto vs by the Epistle which he wrote before y t Prouerbes of SalomoÌ„ his wordes are these Sicut Iudith Tobie Machabeorum libros legit quidem cos ecclesia sed inter canonicas Scripturas non recipit sic haec duo volumina legat ad aedificationem plebis non ad authoritatem ecclesiasticorum dogmatum confirmandum That is lyke as the Church doth read the bookes of Iudith Tobias the Machabées but receaueth them not amoÌ„g the canonicall Scriptures euen so let it read these twoo bookes he meaneth the booke of Sapience and Ecclesiasticus vnto the edifieng of the people and not to confirme the doctrine of the Church therby And it is nothyng lyke that S. Austen should dissent from S. Hierome for they were both in one tyme yea S. Hierome out lyued S. Austen And therfore the Church could not admit any such bookes either before S. Austens tyme or in his tyme but that S. Hierome should haue knowne of it And so may you gather that if S. Austen allow these bookes or els say that the Churche hath allowed them you may not vnderstaÌ„d that they haue allowed and receaued them as canonicall Scriptures for then you make S. Hierome a lyar But thus you must vnderstaÌ„d it that they haue receaued them to be read for the edifying of y e people and not to confirme the doctrine of the Church or articles of the fayth thereby according to S. Hieromes expositioÌ„ Now may you sée that our shote anker as he called it is so stroÌ„g that all his stormes and waues can not once moue it for we deny not but that the booke is receaued of the church to be read and we shew by S. Hierome for what entent it is receaued and read not to proue any article of our faith therby but onely to order our maner of liuyng therafter in such poyntes as are not repugnaunt vnto the canonicall Scripture But yet for this once to do the maÌ„ pleasure we will let slyppe our shote anker take the seas with him And for all their furious wyndes and frothy waues we wil neuer strike sayle so strong is our shyp and so well ballaunced Be it in case that this booke of the Machabées were of as good authority as Esay yet can he not proue this fury and paynefull Purgatorye therby For it speaketh not one word neither of fire nor payne but it speaketh of a sacrifice offred for the dead y t they might be losed froÌ„ their sinnes because there is a resurrectioÌ„ of y t ded which may wel be without any paine or fire So that this conclusion is very bare and naked It is good to offer sacrifice for the dead that they may be loosed from their sinnes Ergo there is a sensible fire which doth punishe the holy and chosen people of God I am sure there is no child but he may perceaue that this argument is naught Besides that is to bee doubted whether Iudas did wel or not in offering this sacrifice And therfore ought we not of a foolish presumption to solow his facte vntill we knowe how it was accepted Peraduenture thou wilt say that the déede is commended in the sayd text where it sayth But because he considered that they which with godlynes had entred their sléepe that is their death had good fauour layd vp in store for them therefore is the remeÌ„braunce to pray for the dead holy wholesome that they may be loosed from their sinnes I aunswere that the persons whiche were slayne in the battayl for whom this prayer sacrifice was made were founde to haue vnder their clokes oblations of idols which were at Iamniam for that cause were they slayne as it is playne in the text yea and all the host praysed the right iudgement of God Now these men that were so slayne were damned by the law Deut. vij whiche sayth The images of their Gods thou shalt burne with fire sée that thou couet not the siluer or gold y t is on them nor take it vnto thée lest thou be snared therewith for it is an abomination vnto the Lord thy God Bryng not therfore the abomination vnto thine house lest thou be a daÌ„ned thing as it is But vtterly defie it and abhorre it for it is a thyng that must be destroyed Of this may we euideÌ„tly perceaue that albeit Iudas dyd this thyng of a good mynde yet was he deceaued for his sacrifice could nothyng helpe them sith they were damned by the law and entred not their slepe with godlynesse as he supposed Furthermore it is euident that the Iewes had sacrifices for the sinnes of them that liued Leuit. 4. 5. 6. c. But how knew they that these sacrifices would extende them selues vnto the sinnes of the dead And they were coÌ„maunded vnder the payne of cursing that they should adde nothyng vnto the word of God Deut. 12. Verely it is lyke that the Priestes euen at that tyme sought their owne profite abused the sacrifices deceaued the simple people M. More also sayth that the money was seÌ„t to buy sacrifices which shoulde be offered for the sinne of the slayne Now knoweth euery Christen that all maner of sacrifices offeryngs were nothyng but figures of Christ which should be offered for the sinne of his people So that when Christ came all sacrifices oblations ceased If thou shouldest now offer a calfe to purge thy sinne thou were no doubt iniurious vnto the bloud of Christ for if thou thought his bloud sufficieÌ„t then wouldest thou not séeke an other sacrifice for thy sinne Yea I will go further with you there was not one sacrifice in the old TestameÌ„t that purged or tooke away sinne For the bloud of oxeÌ„ or goates can not take away sinne Heb. x. But all the sacrifices which were theÌ„ offered did but signifie that Christ should come and be made a sacrifice for vs which shuld purge our sinne for euer Now were their sacrifices and oblations institute of God and yet could they not take away sinne but onely signified that Christ through his blâ—d should take it away What madnes then is come into our braynes that we thinke that our oblations whiche are ordained but of our owne imagination should take away sinne What if Iudas gathered such an offeryng in the old TestameÌ„t should it then folow that we must
c. that is I am a straunger and a pilgrime in the earth as all my fathers haue bene And therfore as a pilgrime he hasted vnto the common countrey of all saintes requiring for the filthines that he had receaued in this bodely mansion that his sinnes might be forgeuen him before he departed from thys lyfe For he that here hath not receaued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes shall not be there He shall not surely be there for he can not come vnto euerlasting life for euerlasting lyfe is the forgeuenes of sinnes And therfore he sayth forgeue me that I may be cooled before I depart Here may you euidently perceaue that S. Ambrose knew not of purgatory nor of any forgeuenesse that should be after thys lyfe But plainly affirmeth that he y t receaueth not forgeuenesse of hys sinnes here that is in thys life shall neuer come in heauen And for a more vehement affirmation he dubleth hys own wordes saying He that here hath not receyued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes he shall not be there he shall not surely be there He meaneth that he shall neuer come to Heauen which here hath not his remission SAint Hieromes minde may sone be gathered by hys exposition of the ix chapter of Ecclesiastes vpon thys text The dead haue no part in thys world nor in any worke that is done vnder the Sunne There addeth Sainte Hierome that the dead can adde nothing vnto that which they haue taken with them out of this life for they can neither do good nor sinne neyther can they encrease in vertue or vice Albeit sayth he some wyll contrarie thys exposition affirming also that we may encrease decrease after death Here are thrée things to be noted first that the Text sayth that the dead are not partakers of any work that is done vnder the sunne And there may you sée that all suffrages offringes and diriges for the dead are in vaine and profite them not for they are partakers of nothing vnder the sunne Secondarily you may sée S. Hieromes own minde that the dead can neyther do good nor euill neyther encrease in vertue nor vice And so is purgatory put out for if they can do no good what should they do in purgatory And agayne if they can not encrease in vertue they be lyke to lye long in purgatorye Peraduenture some man would thinke that they do no good but onely that they suffer good To that I aunswer that he that suffereth good doth good for if a man should suffer hys body to be burnt for the fayth of Christ would you not say that he did a good déed and yet doth he but suffer Thirdly ye may note that S. Hierome was not ignorant that certeine as they which did fayne purgatory would denye hys exposition and say that we might encrease and decrease in vertue and vyce after death yet notwithstanding he held his sentence condemning theyr opinion whych thing he would not haue done specially sith he knew that he should haue aduersaries for it except he had bene sure that his sentence was right Sée I pray you how that not onely scripture but euen theyr owne doctoures condemne this phantasticall purgatory and yet my lords are not ashamed to say that all make for them NEuerthelesse I wyll go further wyth hym Be it in case that all the Doctours dyd affirme purgatory as they do not what were my Lord the nearer hys purpose Verely not one iote for the authoritie of doctors by my lordes owne confession extendeth no further but is onely to be admitted whilest they confirme theyr wordes by Scripture or els by some probable reason For my Lorde writeth on this maner Article xxxvij The Pope hath not so allowed the whole doctrine of S. Thomas that men should beleue euery poynte he wrote were true Neither hath the church so approued eyther S. Austine or S. Hierome nor any other authors doctrine but that in some places we may dissent from them for they in many places haue openly declared themselues to be men and many times to haue erred These are my lordes owne words Now sith the doctours somtime erre and in certayne places are not to be admitted as he graunteth himselfe how should we know whē to approue them and when to deny them If we should hang on the Doctoures authority then should we as well alow the vntruth as the truth sith he affirmeth both Therfore we must haue a iudge to discerne betwéene truth and falsehode And who shoulde that be the pope Nay verely for he being a man as well as the Doctours were may erre as they did and so shall we euer be vncertaine Our Iudge therefore must not be parciall flexible nor ignoraunt and so are all naturall men excluded but he must be inalterable euen searching the bottome ground of all thing Who must that be Verely the scripture and woord of God which was geuen by his Sonne confirmed and sealed by the holy Ghost and testified by miracles and bloud of all martyres This word is the iudge that must examine the matter the perfit touchstone that tryeth al thing and day that discloseth all iuggeling mistes If the doctours say any thing not dissonant from this woord then it is to be admitted and holdē for truth But if any of theyr doctrine discorde from it it is to be abhorred and holden accurssed To this full well agréeth S. Austen whiche writeth vnto S. Hierome on this wise Deare brother I thinke that you wil not haue your bookes reputed lyke vnto the woorkes of the Prophetes and Apostles for I the Scripture reserued do read all other mens workes on that maner that I doe not beleue them because the author so sayth be he neuer so well learned and holy except that he can certifie me by the Scripture or cleare reason that he sayth true And euen so would I that other men should read my bookes as I read theirs These are S. Austēs wordes And thus haue I proued both by S. Austen and also by my Lordes owne wordes that no man is bound to beleue the Doctors except they can be proued true either by Scripture or good reason not repugnaunt to Scripture Therefore let vs sée what Scripture or good reason my Lord bryngeth to approue his doctours withall For els they can not helpe hym as we haue declared both by S. Austen my Lordes owne confession although they all made with hym as they do not First he bringeth in the sinne agaynst the holy ghost Math. 12. And Paule 1. Cor. 3. And. 1. Iohn 5. And Apoca. 5. which textes I passe ouer because I haue aunswered vnto them before in the seconde booke agaynst M. More THe first reason that my Lord hath which is not before soluted for as I sayd the reasons that are already dissolued will I now ouerhyp is this which he groundeth on diuers Scriptures Of the soules that are departed some
but also his blessed worde all that longeth to hym Take awaye Christes word and what remayneth béehynde of Christ nothing at all I pray you my Lorde to whome was this worde fyrst preached to whome was this written all onely to priestes and not vnto lay men yea was it not written to all the worlde yes truely Wherby will you conuerte a Turke or an Infidell not by holy Scripture When they bée conuerted what wil you learne them what wyll you géeue them to reade any other thing then holy Scripture I thinke nay Now will you make your owne countreymen your owne citizens your owne subiectes yea your owne brethren redéemed with Christes blessed bloud worsse then Iewes and Infidels But there is no reason nor no brotherhod nor no Christen charitie that can mooue you or that can helpe you for you are so blynded and so obstinate against Christ that you had rather all the worlde shoulde perishe then his doctrine shoulde bee brought to light but I doe promyse you if God doe spare mée lyfe and géeue mée grace I shall so set it out if you doe not reuoke it that it shall bée to your vtter shame and confusion finde the best remedye that you can I doe beléeue stedfastly that god is mightier then you and I doe recken and faythfully beléeue that you are ten tymes worsse then the greate Turke for hée regardeth no more but rule and dominiō in this worlde and you are not therewyth content but you will also rule ouer mēs consconsciences yea and oppresse Christ and his holy worde and blaspheme and condemne his worde Was it not a holy connsell of the Chaunceler of London to counsell a certaine marchaunt to buye Robyn hoode for his seruauntes to read What should they doe wyth vitas patrum and with bookes of holy Scripture Also the same Chauncelour sayde to an other man what findest thou in the Gospell but a story what good canst thou take there out O Lord God where art thou why sléepest thou why sufferest thou this blasphemy Thou hast defended thy Prophetes with wild fire from heauen and wilt thou suffer thy onely fonne and thy heauenly word thus to bée despised and to bée reckened but as a story of Robin hoode Rise vp good Lorde Rise vp thy enemyes doe preuayle Thy enemyes doe multiplye shew thy power defend thy glory It is thy contumely and not ours what haue we to doe with it but alonely to thy glory Reuenge this cause or thy enemyes shall recken it not to bée thy cause O thou eternall God thoughe our sinnes haue deserued this yet looke on thy name yet looke on thy veritie Sée howe thou art mocked Sée how thou art blasphemed yea that by them that haue taken on them to defend thy glory But now heauenly father séeyng that thou hast so suffered it yet for the glory of thy name geue some man strength to defend it or els shalt thou bée clearely taken out of the hartes of all men Wherefore most gracious Lord of thy mercy and grace I beséech thée that I may haue the strength to defend thy godly word to thy glory and honour and to the vtter confusion of thy mortall enemyes Helpe good Lorde helpe and I shall not feare a thousande of thyne enemyes In thy name will I begyn to defend this cause First commeth thy faythfull seruaunt Moses true and iust in all thy workes and hée commaundeth faithfully truely with great threatnings that man woman and child should diligently read thy holy word saying Set your harts on all my wordes the which that I doe testifie vnto you this day that you may commaunde them vnto your children to kéepe to doe to fulfill all thynges that bée written in the booke of this law Marke how hée commaūded them to learne their children all thynges that bée written in this booke and so to learne thē that they might kéepe and fulfill all things that were written in y t booke Moses made nothing of secretnes will you make secretes therin how shall men fulfill those wordes that they knowe not How can men knowe the very true way of God haue not the word of God is not all our knowledge therin The Prophet sayth thy word is a lanterne vnto my féete and a light vnto my pathes Hée calleth it a lanterne and light yea and that vnto all men and you call it but a story darkenes and a thyng of secretnes yea and occasion of heresie how can the occasion of darknes geue light how can a lanterne bée a thing of secretnes how can the veritie of God bée occasion of heresie The holy Prophet sayth blessed is the man that setteth his delectation in the will of God and his meditation in Gods law night and day Here sayeth the spirite of God that men bee blessed that study the word of God and you say that men bée heretickes for studying of it How doth the spirite of God and you agrée Also S. Paule commaundeth vs to receiue the helmet of health and the sword of the spirite the whiche is the worde of God I pray you to whom doth hée here speake to Priestes onely How many of your Priestes dyd hée knowe yea was not this Epistle written to the whole Churche of the Ephesians And dyd not they read it were not they lay men and why shall not our lay men read that they red Moreouer doth not Paule call it the sword of the spirite is it not lawfull for lay men to haue the spirit of God Or is the spirite of God not frée but bound alonely to you Also S. Iohn sayth if any man come to you bring not this doctrine receiue him not into your house nor yet salute hym Here the holy ghost would we should haue no other doctrine but holy scripture and you will take it alonely from vs. Furthermore this was written vnto a woman and to her children and you will y t no other man wyfe nor childe shall reade it But if we should receiue your Priestes into our houses after this rule I thinke we should not bée greatly cōbered with them for their are few of them that haue this word Also our M. Christ saith vnto the pharesies search you scriptures for in them you thinke to haue eternall life Our Maister sent the Pharisies to scriptures and you forbyd Christen men to reade them who had a worse sprite then they and yet they iudged better of holy scriptures thē you doe For they iudged to haue lyfe in thē you iudge to haue heresyes in thē so that you bée ten tymes worse to scriptures thē euer were they Also Paule saith all scripture geuen by insperation of God is profitable to teach to improoue to enforme io enstruct in righteousnes that the man of God may bée perfect and prepared vnto all good workes You will not denye but but scripture is geuē vs of God Ergo
when you are at home the godly Bibles and receaue the thyng therein with great studye for thereby shall you haue great aduantage c. These wordes bée so plaine that I can adde nothyng to them woulde you that wée shoulde take you for byshops and for holy fathers that bée so openly agaynst Scripture and so centrary to holy doctours That will I neuer doe while I liue I will neuer looke to sée other Antichristes then you and so will I take you till I sée almighty God conuerte you Also the same doctour saith Which of you all that bée here if it were required coulde say one Psalme without the booke or any other part of holy scripture not one doubtles But this is not alonely the worste but that you bée so slow and so remisse vnto spirituall thinges and vnto deuillishnesse you are hotter then any fier but men will defende this mischief with this excuse I am no religious mā I haue a wife and children and a house to care for This is y e excuse wherewith you doe as it were with a pestilence corrupt all thinges for you doe recken that the studye of holy Scripture béelongeth alonely vnto religious men when they bée much more necessary vnto you then vnto them c. Here may you sée that your damnable institution was in the hartes of men in Chrisostomes dayes howe they woulde reade no scriptures but you sée hée condemneth it and calleth it a pestilēce and will you now bring it in agayne If you had but a lousie statute of your owne against mée or an other man you woulde call vs hetikes But you neither regarde Christes holy worde nor holy Doctours nor yet any other thinge y e is agaynst you But let vs sée what your owne lawe saith to this If Christ as Paul sayth bée the power and the wisdome of God thē to bée ignoraunt in scriptures is as much as to bée ignoraunt of Christ c. Here haue you playnely that to take away scriptures from lay men is as much as to take away Christ frō them the which no doubt but that you doe intēde in your harts to doe and that thing God knoweth and your workes doe declare it the which God shall aduenge full straitly ouer you Also in an other place I will set my meditation in thy iustifications and I will not forgette thy wordes the which thing is excéeding good for all Christen men to obserue and kéepe c. Here is a counsell of your owne that hath admitted that all Christen men shall study Scripture And will you now condemne it Is there neither Scripture of God nor practise of Christē men nor exposition of Doctours nor your owne law nor yet any statute of counsels that will hold agaynst you You bée marueilous giantes how shal a mā behaue him selfe to handle with you it is not possible to ouercome you for you wil admitte nothyng that is against you But yet will I not so leue you but I will first declare it manifestly y e you bée cōtrary to Christ and to all holy doctours S. Hierome reprooueth you very sore in these wordes O Paula and Eustochium if there bée any thyng in this life that doth preserue a wise mā and doth persuade him to abide with a good will in the oppressions and the thraldomes of the world I doe reckē that specially it is the meditations and the study of holy scripture séeyng that we doe differre from other creatures specially in that that we bée reasonable in that that we can speake now is reason and all maner of wordes cōteined in godly Scripture whereby that we may learne to knowe God also the cause wherefore we bée created Wherfore I doe sore marueile y ◠there bée certein men the which geue thē selues to slouthfulnes sluggishnes and will not learne those things that bée good but recken those men worthy to bée reprooued that haue that good mynde c. Marke how that this was written to two women that were learned Also hée reckeneth nothyng better then to study holy scriptures hée also marueileth that certaine will neither study Scriptures them selues nor yet let other mē study thē It is well knowē that these wordes pricke no men but you and ye bée so slouthfull so geuen to voluptuousnes that you your selues will not study Scriptures nor yet suffer other mē to study them but if you doe study them it is to deceiue your simple and poore brother there by and to maintaine your abhominable liuing with wrostyng and wryngyng of them other profite commeth there none of your study as all the worlde knoweth For you may not preach but when you haue damnably condemned Christes blessed word or els by violence made some of your poore brethren heretickes then come you with all your gorgious estate pompe and pride to out face Christ and your simple brother with your outward dānable pride afore the face of the world But my Lordes leue of your fasing and your brasing for our Lord whose cause we defend agaynst you will at length not bée out faced Remēber how the holy ghost prayeth against you saying iudge them Lord that they may fall from their cogitations expell them Lord for they haue prouoked thée doubte you not but this holy spirite will preuaile agaynst you though God suffer you for a season yet hath hée till this day defended him selfe his godly wordes agaynst all the proude crakyngs of the world and thinke you that hée wil now take a fall at your hand nay nay hée shall first thrust you out headlonge that all the world shall take example by you this is my beléeue For that word that you haue cōdemned doth thus learne me Wherfore if you doe not reuoke the condemnation of the new Testament and ordeine that all Christen men may read holy Scripture you shal haue the greatest shame that euer men had in this world for you are neuer able to defend it by any meanes nor by any power y e is in earth And if all power in earth wil withstand it hée shall rather bryng them all to dust and raise vp of stones newe rulers You wormes meate you stinking car rion you nourishmēt of hell fire how dare you thus presume against your God omnipotent whether will you flie to auoyde his daunger Heauen earth water and fire sunne moone and starres saintes and angels man and child bée against you and holde you accursed What though the deuill laugh on you for a season Remember the ende but God geue you hys grace that I lose not my labour about you But now let mée assoyle your carnall reasons that you bring for you The fyrst is this euyll men doe take an occasion of heresy out of scriptures Wherfore it is best they haue it not I aunswere lykewise good men doe take an occasion of goodnes there of Ergo the people ought to haue
name This was about y t yeare of our Lorde 1186. So that meÌ„ may perceaue how the pope doth not greatly regarde the vowe of hys spiritualtie if any thing may bée gotten to pay for a dispensation And it wil not helpe to say that the pope did dispense with this woman for a common wealth For the stories maketh mention that the pope dispeÌ„sed with him vnder a coÌ„dition that hée should paye hym a yearely pencion for the kyngdome of Cecyll and should recouer it of his owne charges out of the handes of Tancredus which was then in possession of it And béecause that hée myght haue the better title to the kyngdome hée gaue hym the onely daughter of Cecill So that y t pope did it not for a common wealth but for his owne lucre But now graunt that it were for â–ª a common wealth therefore first it was not Gods commaundemeÌ„t that priestes should liue sole For gods word géeueth no place to no common wealth And if y â— pope did then dispence for a coÌ„moÌ„ wealth why doth hée not now dispence for auoyding of fornication in so many innumerable priestes Doth not meÌ„ recken it for a common wealth to expell fornication all occasions therevnto But now there is no commoÌ„ wealth to bée regarded béecause there is no shyning golde offered But at y t least wayes mée thinketh that priestes which marry bée very farre from heresie for it is neyther agaynst Gods lawe nor yet agaynst the common wealth Here were many examples to bée brought in how the pope hath dispensed both with Monkes Friers and Nunnes the which I will passe ouer and will she we as neare as I can out out of Chronicles how loÌ„g â–ª it is that the pope hath gone about to bryng in the vow of chastitie Doctour Eckius doth say that Calixtus primus dyd firste make the statute that priestes should vow chastitie bâ—t that is false For all Chronicles beareth witnesse that priestes had wyues in the Councell of Nicene the which was almost an hundreth yeares after Calixtus dayes Wherfore it can not bée supposed that y t statute was made béefore the Councell of Nicene But authenticall hystories doth make mention that Nicholas the first whiche was Byshop of Rome the yeare of our Lord 860. did goe about this thyng but hée could not bryng it to passe by the reason of an holy man S. Huldericke Episcopus Augustensis the which wrote a very sharpe Epistle agaynst hym reproouyng hym sore bycause hée would compell priestes to vow chastitie Hys woords bée these Thou hast not swarued a litle from discretion y t where as thou oughtest to haue counsayled priestes to chastitie thou hast with a Lordly violence compelled them to it Is not this after the iudgement of all wise men a great violence wheÌ„ that thou agaynst the institution of the Gospell and agaynst y e decrée of the holy ghost wilt compell men to obserue thy priuate decrée c. Hée reciteth also agaynst y e Byshop of Rome all those same scriptures that I haue brought herein my booke of this matter and alâ—o certain of the counsels to that purpose that I haue brought them So that men ought not to thinke that I am the first that thus hath vnderstande the Scriptures nor yet the first that hath spoken agaynst priestes vowes Note also how this holy maÌ„ sayth that priests ought to bée admonyshed counselled to chastitie but not compelled For that sayth hée is a great violence and agaynst Christes holy Gospell and y t blessed spirite of God These bée as vehement wordes as I haue spokeÌ„ For out of these woordes men may gather that it is not farre from heresie to compell priestes to vow chastitie This holy man procéedeth farther with y t Bishop of Rome and telleth a fact of S. Gregory the which went about to compell priestes to vow chastitie Vpon a day S. Gregory sent vnto hys pondes for fish and in the nettes that they fished withall were brought vp aboue sixe thousand young childrens heades the which thyng when S. Gregory saw stroke hym sore to the hart hée was very heauy of that sight and perceyued anone that hys decrée that hée made for priester chastitie was the occasion of this great murther In that that priestes could not lyue sole nor yet they durst not auow theyr children for feare of the decrée And so for sauegarde of theyr honesty they fell into a fearefull and abhominable sinne to kyll theyr own children And for this cause S. Gregory sayth this holy Byshop dyd reuoke hys decrée agayn and did greattly alow the saying of the Apostle Iis better to marry then to burne Addyng vnto it of hys owne It is better to marry then to geue occasion to murther Here note good reader what a terrible and a fearefully example this is Is not this a piteous case that so many thousandes innoceÌ„tes bée thus slayne When shall the chastitie keepyng of all the priestes in the worlde bée an occasion of so great goodnes as the law of chastitie hath béene hereof mischief Alas is there no pyty in â—…eÌ„s hartes that are nothyng moued wheÌ„ they read such horrible factes in holy mens writyngs Or doe men thinke that there is no mischief now in our dayes done by the reason that priests are compelled to chastitie If men thinke that there come any mischiefe by the reason of it how can men recken to auoyde Gods vengeauÌ„ce that will so stifly and strongly mayntayne the same I haue béene informed of credible persons the whiche if néede were I could yet bryng foorth that in a place of Religion within this fewe yeares there was a religious man that dyd get a woman with child the whiche woman was brought a bed in the brothers chamber of a fayre sonne This child was Christened in the same chaÌ„ber and as soone as it was christened hée brake the necke of it and buryed it in the night in the Churcheyarde This is the trueth I caÌ„ prooue it Is not this a terrible thyng dooth not nature abhorre this And yet men had rather here this abhominablenes theÌ„ for to release a litle of theyr own will But oh Lorde God howe streightly shalt thou punish this It is not yet out of y t minde of maÌ„ sinnes y t an honest man lost his daughter by the reason that a priest defiled her the which bycause hée would not bée dishonested kylled the mayde priuely and afterwarde cast her into a well If men will not bée moued at this and such lyke other factes I can not tell what will moue them I could recite a great many of abhominable and detestable factes if I were not more ashamed to tell them then priestes hath béene to doe them Neither will I recite how shamefully that mens daughters mens wyues mens seruauntes hath béene and are dayly cast awaye by the â–ª reason that priestes are so hoate of courage and can not
and a carnall stocke full of passions and of affections Vnto a mortall Prince you make mediatours béecause hee knew not your hart and béecause hée is more affectionat to one man theÌ„ to an other and beecause hee iudgeth after the sight of hys eye and after y e percialnes and affection of his hart But so doth not God but alonely of mere mercy and grace But to your similitude you can not haue no Dukes to speake for you excepte you géeue them rewardes excepte they haue carnall affection to you therfore by your similitude you must likewyse doe to Saintes But S. Ambrose answereth clearly to this damnable reason of yours saying Men are wonte to vse thys miserable excusation that by these thinges may wee come to God as we may come to the kyng by Erles I aunswere wee doe come vnto the kyng by the meanes of Dukes and Erles because that the kyng is a man and knoweth not to whom hee may committe the common wealth but vnto God from whom nothing can bee hidde hee knoweth all mens merites wee neede no spokesman nor no mediatour but alonely a deuoute mynde c. Here are you clearely aunswered of S. Ambrose to youre carnall reason Item an other reason out of your lawe that Images bee vnto vnlearned men that same thyng that letters and writinges bée vnto them that bee learned that they may thereby learne what they ought to folow If your Images bee no more to vnlearned men then writinges be to learned men therefore they may no more doe to them then learned men doe to their letters woulde you suffer learned men to come and kneele and offer to my booke and sette vp candels before it and to make vowes to come yearely thereunto and to desire petitioÌ„s béefore my booke of those Saintes y t bée written therein Sée how your owne example maketh agaynst you and all thing that I can bringe Wherefore if there bée any grace in you or if there bée any shame in you of the worlde for Christes sake leaue of this false â–ª learnyng and colouring of Idolatrie For you doe not onely deceaue your simple brethren but you doe also blaspheme the immortall God of heauen which doubtles will auenge shortly this rebuke on you if you doe not amende whose violeÌ„ce and might you are not able to withstand Wherefore I exhorte you in y e blessed name of Christ Iesus that you repent in tyme and take vpon you to learne the veritie which is how God is onely to bée honoured and onely to bée sacrificed vnto hée is onely to bée prayed vnto of hym onely must our petitions bee asked it is hée onely y t géeueth wealth prosperitie hée only must deliuer and comforte vs in all aduersities hée onely must helpe vs out of all distresse vnto whom as Saint Paule sayth be alonely glory and honour for euer Amen Now most excellent and noble Prince I haue here after the poore gifte that God hath géeuen mee set out vnto your grace certain articles which though they séeme at the firste sight to bee newe yet haue I prooued them openly with the euerlastynge worde of God and that not wroonge nor wrested after my lyghte brayne but after the exposition of clarkely doctours yea and that of the oldest of the best Wherfore most excellent Prince most humbly most méekely I beséeche your grace that I may finde so great indifferencie at your graces hand as that the Byshoppes shall not condemne this booke after the maner of their olde tyranny excepte they can with open Scriptures and with holy Doctours refell it as I haue prooued it But I would it should please your grace to call them beefore you and to commaunde as many as will condemne this booke euery one of them seuerally without others counsell to write their cause why they will condemne it and the scriptures whereby they will condemne it and to bryng them all to your grace and your grace may iudge betwéene both parties I doe not doute but they wil bring your grace maruailous probations and such as were neuer hearde And if thrée of them agrée in one tale if they bée deuided let mée dye for it and that your grace shall well sée The father of heauen and hys most mercifull sonne Iesus Christ kéepe your grace in honour to his pleasure and glory Amen Of the originall of the Masse and of euery part therof translated into English out of his booke De Doctorum Sententijs ¶ De consecratione Dist. 1. Cap. Iacobus ex 6. Synodo IAmes the brother of the Lorde as cconernyng the fleshe vnto whom was firste coÌ„mitted the Church of Ierusalem Basilius the Byshop of Caesaria gaue vnto vs the celebration of the Masse Sayth the glose that is to say the manner how to celebrate y t Masse For the woordes by the which the body is made were deliuered froÌ„ the Lord him selfe But afterward others also added some one péece some an other for comlynes and solemnitie And thus much sayth hée God Christian reader what can these men wholy addicted to lyes otherwise doe but beguile deceaue For this is their onely endeuour whiche although it may bée manifest vnto thée by many of their déedes not withstanding by this one â–ª of y t which they so greatly boast it is so manifest that none caÌ„ dony it To attribute the originall of the Masse vnto Iames the Apostle and to Basilius y e bishop is an errour not to bée suffered for asmuch as it is most false as by that which foloweth shall appeare Let them declare if they can what Iames made thereof and what Bastill added thereto Let them bryng foorth one of the Apostles that euer sayd Masse they shal haue y t victory Ieames died about the yeare of our Lord 62. And of Masse as they vnderstand it there was no mention made in the Churche by the space of 200. yeares Moreouer then this Basill tyed about the yeare after Christ 380. How then could hée agrée with Iames aboute the Masse But what Masse had the Church from after the death of Iames vnto Basiles tyme by what authoritie did Basill deliuer to vs y e masse Moreouer these meÌ„ doe adde their auctoritie out of the vj. Synode that their lye might bée the more notorious Bring foorth the vj. Synode in the whiche these thinges bée written I pray you what was handled in the vj. Synode The maner of celebrating Masse Or agaynst whom was y e vj. Synode gathered togither agaynst those y t would not say Masse Nothyng lesse but agaynst such as wickedly taught that there was one operation in Christ Read the actes of the Synode and you shall finde it to bée so But let vs grauÌ„t in the meane â—eason that this was handled in y t Synode what doth it prooue We do not contende what matters were intreated of in the Synode but whether Ieames and Basill deliuered vnto vs
For if thou bee not an Epicure thou shalt be a Stoicke Whether thou bee an Epicure or a Stoicke thou shalt not be among the children of God For they that bee guided of the spirite of God bee the children of God not they that lyue after their own flesh not they that lyue after their owne spirite not they that bee ledde of their owne spirite but as many as bee ledde of the spirite of God they bee the children of God c. 270. col 1 Augustine sayth If mā doe perceiue that in the commaundementes is any thyng impossible or els to hard let him not remaine in him selfe but let hym runne vnto God his helper the which hath geuen his commaundementes for that intent that our desire might bee styrred vp and that hee might geue helpe c. 271. col 2 Augustine saith The Pelagiās thinke that they know a wonderous thyng when they say God will not cōmaund that thyng the which hee knoweth is impossible for man to doe Euery man knoweth this but therfore doth he cōmaunde certeine thynges that we can not do because we might know what thyng we ought to aske of him Faith is shee whiche by prayer obtaineth that thing that the law commanndeth Briefly hee that sayth If thou wilt thou mayest keepe my commaundementes In the same booke a litle after sayth Hee shall geue me keepyng in my mouth c. 272. col 1 Augustine sayth The Pelagians say that they graunt how that grace doth helpe euery mans good purpose but not that hee geueth the loue of vertue to him that striueth agaynst it This thyng doe they say as though man of hym selfe without the helpe of God hath a good purpose a good mynde vnto vertue by the which merite proceedyng beefore hee is worthy to bee holpē of the grace of God that foloweth after Doubtles that grace that foloweth doth helpe the good purpose of man but the good purpose should neuer haue beene if grace had not preceded And though that the good study of man when it begynneth is holpen of grace yet did it neuer begyn without grace c. 272. col 2 Augustine sayth The grace which is geuen of the largenes of God priuely into mens hartes can not bee despised of no maner of hard hart For therfore it is geuē that the hardnes of the hart should bee taken away Wherfore whē the father is hard within and doth learne y t we must come to his sonne then taketh hee awaye our stony hart and geueth vs a fleshly hart And by this meanes hee maketh vs the childrē of promise and the vessels of mercy which hee hath prepared to glory But wherfore doth hee not learne all mē to come to Christ Bicause that those that hee learneth hee learneth of mercy and those that he learneth not of his iudge ment doth hee not learne them c. 273. col 1 Augustine sayth The law was geuē that mā might finde hym selfe and not to make his sickenes whole but by his preachyng the sicknes increased that the Phisitian might bee sought Wherfore the law threatnyng and not fulfillyng that thing that hee commaūdeth maketh a man to bee vnderneath him but the law is good if a man doe vse it well What is that vse the law well By the law to know our sinnes and to seeke Gods helpe to helpe our health c. 275. col 2 Augustine sayth The disputation of them is vayne the whiche doe defend the presciēce of God agaynst the grace of God and therfore say that we were chosē beefore the making of the world because that God knew before that we should bee good not because he should make vs good But hee that sayth you haue not chosen me sayth not that For if hee did therfore chose vs because that hee knew before ▪ that we should bee good then must hee also know before that we should first haue chosē him c. 279. col 1 ¶ That it is lawfull for all maner of men to reade the holy Scripture AVgustine sayth My brethren reade holy Scripture in y e which you shal finde what you ought to holde and what you ought to flye What is a man reputed without learning what is hee he is not a sheepe or a goate Is he not Oxe or an Asse Is hee any better then an Horse or a Mule the which hath no vnderstanding c. 288. col 1 Athanasyus sayth If thou wilt that thy children shall be obedient vnto the vse them vnto the wordes of God But thou shall not say that it belongeth all onely to religious men to study scriptures but tather it belongeth to euery Christen man and specially vnto hym that is wraped in the businesses of this worlde and so much the more because hee hath more neede of helpe for hee is wrapped in the troubles of this worlde therefore it is greatly to thy profit that thy children should both heare and also reade holy Scriptures for of thē shall they learne this commaundement Honouour thy father and thy mother c. 288. col 2 Chrisostome sayth I beseech you y t you will oftentimes come hither and that you will diligently heare the lessō of holy Scripture and not all onely whē you bee here but also take in your handes whē you are at home the godly Bibles and receaue the thing therein with great studye for thereby shall you haue great aduantage c. 288. col 2 Chrisostome sayth Which of you all that be here if it were required could say one Psalme without the booke or any other part of holy scripture not one doubtles But this is not alonely y e worste but that you bee so slow and so remisse vnto spirituall thinges and vnto deuillishnesse you are hotter thē any fier but men will defend this mischief with this excuse I am no religious man I haue a wife and children and a house to care for This is the excuse wherewith you doe as it weare with a pestilence corrupt all thinges◠for you doe recken that the studye of holy Scripture belongeth all onely vnto religious men when they bee much more necessary vnto you then vnto them c. 289. col 1 Hierome sayth O Paula and Eustochium if there bee any thing in this life y t doth preserue a wise man and doth persuade him to abide with a good will in the oppressions and the thraldomes of the world I doe recken that specially it is the meditations and the study of holy Scripture c. 289. col 2 The Popes law sayth If Christ as Paule sayth bee the power and y t wisedome of God then to bee ignoraunt in scriptures is as much as to bee ignoraunt of Christ 289. col 1 The Popes law sayth in an other place I will set my meditation in thy iustifications and I will not forget thy wordes the which thing is exceeding good for all Christen men to obserue
coÌ„maundementes 48. Gallat 6. Purgatory is nedelesse 49. Eccle. 14. Some imagine Purgatory to be a place of satisfaction 50 Apoca. 14 The dead that dye in the Lorde are blessed and therfore are not in Purgatory Esay 57. Sapien. 3. The coÌ„clusioÌ„ of Iohn Frith agaynst Rastels booke M. More begynneth pitifully Frith Purgatory in 400. yeare after Christ was neither beleued as an article of y t fayth nor yet for an vndoubted truth 1. Cor. 3. S. Austen doubted of Purgatory Roma 4. M. More much deceaued in the accomptyng of hys M. More M. Mores second reason Frith M. More maketh a false and fond argument Iohn Frith ameÌ„deth M. Mores argument Iohn Frith proueth the negatiue to be true Iohn 3. Rastell had his argumentes froÌ„ M. More M. More Ezechias Frith 4. Kinges 2 Esay 38. A question to Master More A very apt similitude Math. 26. M. More Frith 1. Kynges 2 M. More here semeth to be ignoraunt in the Hebrue toung Gene. 42. M. More 〈◊〉 of the maner of the speakyng of the Prophetes The Lord doth kill rayse again Iohn 11. Psal 78. â—hen God saith he killeth doth quicken againe what the meanyng therof is Daniell 3. A true interpretatioÌ„ of Scripture A foule fault in M. More M. More Zacharie Frith Zacharie 9 Psal 66. More and Rochester can not agree How the sauyng of the Prophete Zachary is to be vnderstand Roma 5. An obiectioÌ„ and aunswere therunto A question to master More A true and plaine exposition of the prophet Zachary M. More Machabeus Sore spoâ—… of M. More Frith 2 Mach. 12 The bokes of the Machabees are not in the Canon of y t Hebrues 〈◊〉 The meaning true exposition of the Machabees touching purgatory 〈◊〉 The slaughter of the Iewes was is for idolatry Deutro 7. Iudas Machabeus was deceaued in hys sacrifice 〈◊〉 Deut. 12. 4 By Christes death all sacrifices ceased 5 Heb. 〈◊〉 No sacrifice caÌ„ take away sinne but onely the sacrifice made by Christ 6 The holiest men haue fallen The example of Iudas Machabeus is profitable to y e church and therfore it must be folowed 7. Gallat 6. Actes 15. Rastell 8. The scholemeÌ„ say that in the tyme of the olde Testament there was no Purgatory 9. A declaration of the meanyng of Iudas Machabeus in offeryng hys sacrifice for the dead Deut. 7. Iudas Machabeus thought of no Purgatory M. More is like to be proued an insipient Iohn Frithes iudgement of y â— bookes of the Machabees M. More 1. Iohn 5. DesperatioÌ„ and impenitency are damnable sinners Frith 1. Iohn 5. M. More is confuse in the interpretation of the scriptures Marke 3. What blasphemy and sin against the holy ghost â—s The pure vnderstanding M. More Apoca. 5. Note Frith 〈◊〉 and More doth not agree A â–ª true exposition of the Scripture M More Frith More purposely corrupteth the sence of the Scripture More falsely descaÌ„teth vppon the Scriptures M. More a proctour for Purgatory M. More 1. Cor. 3. M. More would faine proue a purgatory Fâ—ith He shal laboreth much in Gods by 〈◊〉 nyard shall receaue much c. What it is to builde on gold siluer or precious stone What it is to buyld on wood haye or stubble Cyprian How euery mans work is tryed by fire Wordes figuratiuely spoken M. More Math. 12. Frith A subtile sophisme There is no remissioÌ„ of sinnes after this lyfe Marke 3. M. More Math. 12. Frith M. More doth quyte ouerthrow hym selfe Here by M. Mores argument Purgatory is quyte excluded M. More M. More is a subtill Sophister Esay 8. Truth is not to bee sought of the dead Luke 16. 1. Kinge â—3 An apparition of a spirite moued to certeine of Oxford M. More his solution of the two former reasons Frith M. More his argument is false Christ sayth M. Mâ—â—e 〈…〉 second reason Fâ—ith God caÌ„not be against himselfe Mâ— More Frith A penny offred into S. Dominickes boxe worketh great matter Note what veâ—… is in a pâ—…y M. More Frith Ioh. Frith declareth his opinion of Christes death How mens prayers good dedes do help one an other M. More Frith It is better not to beleue that which the scripture aloweth not theÌ„ to make a fayth where we should not M. More Frith What is heresie M. More is a sore iudge M. More The fire of purgatory is a meruellous hot fire Frith Beholde here the force of the fire of purgatory M. More fully aunswered to all that he can say for purgatory M. More was the Byshop of Rochesters Disciple Rochester the first patrone of Purgatory Rochester The Byshop of Rochesters owne wordes Frith Sectes of heretickes 1. Cor. 3. Actes 15. S. Austen S. Austen sheweth what hee thought of Purgatory Saint Ambrose S. Ambrose sheweth his opinioÌ„ of Purgatory Saint Hierome Eccle. 9. All suffrages prayers good dedes done for the dead are in vayne 1. 2. The dead can neither do good or euil nor increase in vertue 3 The sayinges of the Doctors are no farther to be credited then they agree with y t scripture Rochester The doctors haue erred in many thinges The worde of God is the touchstone tryeth all of all doctrine S. Austine S. Austen read old auctors and would also haue all meÌ„ read his workes Rochester Luc. 16. Parables in y t scripture proue nothing but only open and expound dark and hard thinges By Moses and the prophetes is meant the old Testament Rochester Frith There is but ii places after this life that is heauen and hell Abrahams bosome what it signifieth The elect are faithful the faythful are elect Abrahams bosome can proue no purgatory To rest in peace is not to lye in tormentes 1. Iohn 1. A good conclusion against purgatory Christes death hath ouercomâ—â— our death turned it into life Rochester Math. 12. Frith If there be any purgatory it must be after domesday for before there can be none Faythfull Vnfaythfull Men. Rochester Psal 66. Frith Zacharie 9 Rochester More agree not A true interpretatioÌ„ of the 66. Psalme More and Rochester caÌ„not agree Soules in purgatory caÌ„not offer Oxen nor goates in sacrifice Rochester Frith The chirch sayth Rochester meaning the popes church can not erre Luke 14. Frith The parable of Luke 14. truly interpreted How men should be compelled to beleue Christ was meeke and gentle and no tyrannous schole master Luke 9. Paul sayth he had no power ouer their fayth 1. Cor. 12. Fayth is not procured by violence but is the mere onely of gift of God Feare maketh fayth no fayth at all Fayth is first the gift of God and procedeth from the hart which may not be compelled Rochester Pardons Rochester sayth herein very truly and yet was not ware of it Purgatory and pardoÌ„s haue bene goodly marchaundise for the clergye Rochester Frith The kayes Luke 11. The kay of knowledge is the word of God Apoc. 3. Math. 16. Iohn 20. Luke 24. How christ gaue the kayes to Peter and the rest of the
DIEV ET MON DRIOT ¶ THE WHOLE workes of W. Tyndall Iohn Frith and Doct. Barnes three worthy Martyrs and principall teachers of this Churche of England collected and compiled in one Tome togither beyng before scattered now in Print here exhibited to the Church To the prayse of God and profite of all good Christian Readers Mortui resurgent AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye and are to be sold at his shop vnder Aldersgate An. 1573. ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ARISE FOR IT IS DAY A Table of the seuerall Treatises conteyned in M. William Tyndals workes A Preface to the Christian Reader The lyfe of Wylliam Tyndall A protestation of the state of the soules departed A preface that he made before the v. bookes of Moses A prologue shewyng the vse of the Scripture Seuerall prologues that he made to the v. bookes of Moses fol. 2. 7. 11. 15. 21. Certaine harde wordes expounded by him in the fyrst second and fourth booke of Moses fol. 5. 10. 16. A prologue vpon the Prophet Ionas 23. Prologues vpon the iiij Euangelistes 32. Prologues vpon the Epistles of S. Paule 39. Prologues vpon the Epistles of S. Peter 54. Prologues vpon the iij. Epistles of S. Iohn 55. The parable of the wicked Mammon 59. The obedience of a Christian man and how Christian rulers ought to gouerne 97. An exposition vpon the v. vj. vij chapters of S. Ma. thewes Gospell 184. An answere to Syr Thomas Mores dialogues 244 The practise of popishe Prelates 340. A pathway into the holy Scripture 377. The exposition vpon the first Epistle of S. Iohn 387. The exposition vpon M. William Tracies will 429. A fruitfull treatise vpon signes Sacraments 436. Two notable letters that he sent vnto Iohn Frith 453. The Supper of the Lord wherein is confuted the letter of M. More sent vnto Iohn Frith supposed to be written by Tyndall 457. ¶ The Epistle or Preface to the Christian Reader AS we haue great cause to geeue thankes to the high prouidence of almighty God for the excellent arte of Printing most happely of late found out and now commonly practised euery where to the singular benefite of Christes Church wherby great increase of learnyng and knowledge with innumerable commodities els haue ensued and dayly doe ensue to the lyfe of man and especially to the fartheraunce of true Religion so agayne of our parte it is both of vs all in generall to be wished and especially of them to be procured who occupie the trade therof rightly to vse the same to the glory of hym which gaue it and to the ende wherefore it was ordayned and not to abuse vnworthely that worthy facultie eyther in thrusting into the worlde euery vnworthy trifle that commeth to hand or hauing respecte more to their owne priuate gayne then regarde to the publike edifiyng of Christes Church or necessary preferment of Religion For therefore I suppose this science of Printing first to be set vp and sent of God to mans vse not so much for temporall commoditie to be taken or mans glory to be sought thereby but rather for the spirituall and inwarde supportation of soulehealth helpe of Religion restoring of true doctrine repayring of Christes Church and repressing of corrupt abuses which had heretofore ouerdarckened the doctrine of fayth to reuiue agayne the lost lyght of knowledge to these blynde tymes by renuing of holsome and auncient writers whose doinges and teachinges otherwise had lyen in obliuion had not the benefite of Printing brought them agayne to light or vs rather to light by them Wherfore such Printers in my mynde are not to be defrauded of their due commendation who in pretermitting other light triflyng pamflets of matter vnneedful and impertinent little seruing to purpose lesse to necessitie doe employe their endeuour and workemanship chiefly to restore such fruitfull workes and monumentes of auncient writers and blessed Martyrs who as by their godly lyfe and constant death gaue testimonie to the trueth in tyme wherein they suffered so by their doctrine and learning geeue now no lesse lyght to all ages and posteritie after them In the number of whome may rightly be accompted and no lesse recommended to the studious Christen Reader these three learned fathers of blessed memory whom the Printer of this booke hath diligently collected in one volume togither inclosed the workes I meane of William Tyndall Iohn Frith and Robart Barnes chiefe ryngleaders in these latter tymes of thys Church of England Wherein as we haue much to prayse God for such good bookes left to the Church and also for such Printers in preseruing by their industrie and charges such bookes from perishing so haue I to exhorte all studious readers wyth lyke diligence to embrace the benefite of God offered and seriously to occupie them selues in markyng and folowing both the valiaunt actes and excellent wrytinges of the sayd godly persons Concernyng the prayse whereof I shall not neede in thys place to bestow much commendation because neither is it the prayse of men but profite of the godly that they doe seeke nor yet the contempt of the vngodly that they doe feare Moreouer what is to be sayde or thought of them rather by their owne workes then by other mens wordes by readyng their bookes then by my preface is to be seene In perusing whereof thou shalt fynde gentle Reader whether thou bee ignoraunt what to learne or whether thou be learned what to folowe and what to sticke to Briefly whatsoeuer thou art if thou be yong of Iohn Frith if thou be in middle age of W. Tyndall if in elder yeares of D. Barnes matter is here to be founde not onely of doctrine to enforme thee of comfort to delyte thee of godly ensample to directe thee but also of speciall admiration to make thee to wonder at the workes of the Lord so mightely workyng in these men so oportunely in stirryng them vp so graciously in assisting them Albeit diuers other also besides these I say not nay as well before them as after through the secrete operation of Gods mighty prouidence haue beene raysed vp both famous in learnyng florishyng in witte and stout in zeale who labouryng in the same cause haue no lesse valiantly and doughtely stoode in the like defence of Christes true Religion agaynst blynde errour pestilent superstition and perillous hypocrisie namely agaynst the Arche enemye of Christ and hys flocke the Byshop I meane of Rome with hys tyrannicall seate as namely here in England Iohn Wicklyffe Rigge Aston Swynderby W. Thorpe Walter Brute L. Cobham wyth the residue of that former age And also after them many other moe freshe wittes faythfull preachers and learned writers haue sprong vp by the Lord of hoastes to furnishe hys fielde Briefly no age nor tyme hath euerlacked some or other styll bayting at the beast but especially nowe in these our present dayes such plenty yea whole armyes the Lord hath powred vppon hys Church of heauenly souldiours who not
onely in number exceedyng but in knowledge also excellyng both by preaching and Printing doe so garnishe the Church in euery respecte that it may seeme and so peraduenture wil be thought this time of ours to stand now in little neede of such bookes and momumentes as these of former antiquitie yet notwithstandyng I am not of that mynde so to thinke For albeit increasing of learning of tonges and sciences wyth quicknes of wit in youth and other doth maruailously shut vp as is to be seene to the sufficient furnishyng of Christes Church yet so it happeneth I can not tell how the farther I looke backe into those former tymes of Tyndall Frith and others lyke more simplicitie wyth true zeale and humble modestie I see wyth lesse corruption of affections in them and yet wyth these dayes of ours I finde no fault As by reading and conferring their workes togither may eftsoones appeare In opening the Scriptures what trueth what soundnes can a man require more or what more is to be sayd then is to be founde in Tyndall In his Prologues vppon the fiue bookes of Moses vppon Ionas vppon the Gospelles and Epistles of S. Paule namely to the Romaines how perfectly doth he hit the right sence and true meaning in euery thing In his obedience how fruitfully teacheth he euery person his dutie In his expositions and vppon the parable of the wicked Mammon how pithely doth he perswade how grauely doth he exhort how louingly doth he comforte simply without ostentation vehement without contention Which two faultes as they cōmonly are wont to folow the most part of writers so how farre the same were from him and he from them his replies and aunsweres to Syr Thomas More doe well declare in doctrine sound in hart humble in life vnrebukeable in disputation modest in rebuking charitable in trueth feruent and yet no lesse prudent in dispensing with the same and bearyng with time and with weakenes of men as much as he might sauing onely where mere necessitie constrayned hym otherwise to doe for defence of trueth against wilfull blyndnes and subtile hypocrisie as in the Practise of Prelates is notorious to be seene Briefly such was his modestie zeale charitie and painefull trauaile that he neuer sought for any thing lesse then for hymselfe for nothyng more then for Christes glory and edification of other for whose cause not onely he bestowed his labours but hys life and bloud also Wherfore not vnrightly he might be then as he is yet cauled the Apostle of England as Paule cauleth Epaphroditus the Apostle of the Philippians for his singular care and affection toward them For as the Apostles in the primatiue age first planted the Church in trueth of the Gospell so the same trueth beyng agayne defaced and decayed by enemies in thys our latter tyme there was none that trauayled more earnestly in restoring of the same in this Realme of England then dyd William Tyndall With which William Tyndall no lesse may be adioyned also Iohn Frith and D. Barnes both for that they togither with him in one cause and about one tyme sustayned the first brunt in this our latter age and gaue the first onset agaynst the enemies as also for the speciall giftes of fruitfull erudition and plentifull knowledge wrought in them by God and so by them left vnto vs in their writinges Wherfore accordyng to our promise in the booke of Actes and Monumentes wee thought good herein to spend a litle diligence in collecting and setting abroad their bookes togither so many as could be founde to remaine as perpetuall Lāpes shyning in the Church of Christ to geeue lyght to all posteritie And although the Printer herein taking great paynes coulde not paraduenture come by all howbeit I trust there lacke not many yet the Lord be thanked for those which he hath gotte and here published vnto vs. And woulde God the like diligence had beene vsed of our auncient forelders in the tyme of Wickliffe Puruey Clerke Brute Thorpe Husse Hierome and such other in searching and collecting their workes and writings No doubt but many thinges had remayned in lyght which now be lefte in obliuion But by reason the Arte of Printing was not yet inuented their worthy bookes were the sooner abolyshed Such was then the wickednes of those dayes and the practise of those Prelates then so craftie that no good booke coulde appeare though it were the Scripture it selfe in Englyshe but it was restrayned and so consumed Whereby ignoraunce and blyndnes so preuayled amonge the people tyll at the last it so pleased the goodnes of our God to prouide a remedy for that mischiefe by multiplying good bookes by the Printers penne in such sort as no earthly power was able after that though they did their best to stoppe the course thereof were he neuer so myghtie and all for the fartheraunce of Christes Church Wherefore receaue gracious Reader the Bookes here collected and offered to thy hand and thanke God thou hast them and reade them whilest thou mayst while time life and memory serueth thee In reading wherof the Lord graunt thou mayst receaue no lesse fruit by them then the harty desire of the setter forth is to wishe well vnto thee And the same Lord also graunt I beseech him that this my exhortation wishe so may worke in all that not onely the good but the enemies also which be not yet wonne to the worde of trueth setting aside all partialitie and preiudice of opinion woulde with indifferent iudgementes bestow some reading and hearyng likewise of these to taste what they doe teach to vewe their reasons and to trye their spirite to marke the expositions of Tyndall the argumentes of Frith the Articles and allegations of Barnes Which if they shall finde agreable to the tyme and antiquitie of the Apostles doctrine and touchstone of Gods worde to vse them to their instruction If not then to myslike them as they finde cause after they haue first tryed them and not before And thus not to deteine thee with longer processe from the reading of better matter I referre and commende thee and thy studies gentle reader with my harty wishe and prayer to the grace of Christ Iesu and direction of hys holy spirite desiryng thee lykewyse to doe the same for mee Iohn Foxe The Martyrdome and burning of William Tyndall in Brabant by Filford Castell Lord opē the K. of Englāds eyes Here foloweth the historie and discourse of the lyfe of William Tyndall out of the booke of Actes and Monumentes Briefly extracted FOr somuch as the lyfe of W. Tyndall author of this treatise immediately folowing is sufficiently at large discoursed in the booke of Actes and Monumentes by reason whereof we shall not néede greatly to intermedle with any new repetition therof yet notwithstanding because as we haue takē in hand to collect and set forth his whole workes togither so we thought it not vnconuenient to collecte likewise some briefe notes concerning the order of his
lyfe and godly conuersation that both his teaching lyuing going togither as the one may edifie by doctrine so the other may profit by example First touching the birth and parentage of this blessed Martyre in Christ hée was borne in the edge of Wales and brought vp from a childe in the vniuersitie of Oxforde where hée by long continuance grew and encreased aswell in the knowledge of tongues and other liberall artes as especially in the knowlege of Scriptures whereunto his mind was singularly addicted Insomuch that hée liyng in Magdalene hall read priuelye to certaine studentes and felowes of Magdalene College some percell of Diuinitie instructing them in the knowlege and trueth of the Scriptures Whose maners also and conuersation being correspondent to the same were such that all they which knewe him reputed and estéemed him to bée a man of most verteous disposition and of a life vnspotted Thus hée in the vniuersitie of Oxford encreasyng more and more in learning and procéeding in degrées of the schooles spiyng his tyme remoued from thence to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge where after hée had likewise made his abode a certayne space and béeing now farther rypened in the knowledge of Gods worde leauing that vniuersitie also hée resorted to one M. Welshe a knyght of Glocester sheare and was there schoole master to his children and in very good fauour with his master This gentleman as hée kept a very good ordinary commonly at his table there resorted vnto him many tymes sondry Abbottes Deanes Archdeacons with other diuers Doctours and great beneficed men Who there togither with M. Tyndall sittyng at the same table did vse many tymes to enter communication and talke of learned men as of Luther and Erasmus and of diuerse controuersies and questions vpon the scripture At which time M. Tyndall as he was learned wel practised in Gods matters so he spared not to shew to them simply and playnely his iudgement in matters as he thought And when as they at that tyme did varie from Tyndall in opinions and iudgment he would shewe them the booke and lay playnely before them the open and manifest places of the scriptures to confute their errours and to confirme his sayinges And thus continued they for a season reasoning and contending togither diuers and sondry tymes till at the length they waxed wery of him and bare a secret grudge in their hartes against hym Not long after this it happened that certaine of these great Doctours had inuited M. Welshe and his wife to a banket where they had talke at will and pleasure vttering their blindnes and ignoraunce without any resistaunce or gayne saying Then M. Welshe and his wife comming home and calling for M. Tyndall beganne to reason with him about those matters wherof the Priestes had talked before at their banket M. Tyndall aunswering by Scriptures mainteyned the trueth reproued their false opinions Then sayd the Lady Welshe a stoute and wise woman as Tyndall him selfe reporteth well sayd she there was such a Doctour which may dispend a C. l. an other CC. l. and an other CCC poūdes And what were it reason thinke you that we should beléeue you before them M. Tyndall gaue her no aunswere at that tyme nor also after that because he saw it would not auayle he talked but litle in those matters At that tyme he was about the translation of a booke called Enchiridon militis Christiani Which being translated he delyuered to his Master and lady Who after they bad read and well perused the same the doctourly Prelates were no more so often called to the house nether had they the Chere nor countenaunce when they came as before they had which thing they well marking and perceiuing and supposing no lesse but it came by the meanes of Tyndall refrayned thē selues and at the last vtterly withdrewe them selues and came no more there As this grewe on the Priestes of the countrey clustering togither beganne to grudge and storme against Tyndall rayling at him in houses and other méeting places Of whom Tyndall him selfe in his first Prologue before the first booke of Moses testifieth in his owne wordes and reporteth that hée suffered much in that countrey by a sort of vnlearned Priestes being full rude and ignoraunt sayth hée God knoweth which haue séene no more Latyn then that onely which they reade in their Porteasses and Missalles which yet many of them can skarsely reade except it bée Albertus de Secretis mulierum in which yet though they bée neuer so sorely learned they pore daye and night and make notes therein and all to teach the mydwifes as they say and also an other booke called Lynwood a Booke of Constitutions to gather tythes mortuaryes Offeringes Customes and other pillage which they call not theirs but Gods part the duetie of holy Church to discharge their consciences with all For they are bound that they shall not deminishe but encrease all thinges to the vttermost of their powers which perteineth to holy Church Thus these blinde and rude Priestes flocking togither to the Alehouse for that was their preaching place raged and rayled against him affirming that his sayengs were heresy addyng moreouer vnto his sayenges of their owne heades more then euer hée spake and so accused him secretly to y t Chauncelour and other of the Bishops officers It folowed not long after this that there was a sitting of the Byshops Chaūcelour appointed and warning was geuen to the Priestes to apere amōgest whom M. Tyndall was warned to bée there And whether hée had any misdoubt by their threatenings or knowledge geuen him that they would lay some thinges to his charge it is vncerteyne But certaine this is as hée him selfe declareth that hée doubted their preuy accusations so that hée by the way in going thitherwardes cryed in his mynde hartely vnto God to geue him strength to stand fast in the trueth of his worde When the tyme came of his apperaunce before the Chaūcelour hée threatened him greuously reuiling and rating him as though hée had béene a dogg and layed to his charge many thinges whereof no accuser could yet bée brought forth as commonly their maner is not to bring forth the accuser notwithstanding that the Priestes of the countrye the same time were there present And thus M. Tyndall after those examinations escaping out of their handes departed home and returned to his Master againe There dwelt not farre of a certaine Doctour that had béene an olde Chauncelor before to a Bishop who had béene of olde famyliar acquaintaunce with M. Tyndall and also fauoured him well Vnto whom M. Tyndall went and opened his mynde vpon diuers questions of the Scripture For to him hée durst bée bolde to disclose his harte Vnto whom the Doctour sayd Doe you not knowe that the Pope is very Antechrist whom the Scripture speaketh of But béeware what you say for if you shall bée perceaued to bée of that opinion it will cost you your
and a loud voyce hée cried Lord open the eyes of the King of Englande and then first he was with a halter strangled by the hangman and afterward consumed with fier In the yeare of our Lord. 1536. Such was the power of his doctryne and the sinceritie of his lyfe that during the tyme of his imprisonment which as aforesayd endured a yeare and a halfe hée conuerted his kéepers Daughter and other of his housholde Also such as were with him conuersaunt in the Castell reported of him that if hée were not a good Christian man they could not tell whom to trust The Procurour generall the Emperours attorney béeing there left this testemony of him that he was Homo doctus pius et bonus that is a learned a good and a godly man The worthy vertues doinges of this blessed martyr who for his painfull traueles and singular zeale to his countrey may be worthelye called in these our dayes an Apostle of England it were long to recite Amongest many other this one thing beecause it semeth worthy of remembraunce I thought good to shew vnto you There was at Andwarp on a tyme amongest a company of merchauntes as they were at supper a certaine iuggeler which thorough his Diabolicall inchauntmentes or Art Magicall woulde fetch all kinde of Vyandes and wine from any place they would and set it vpon the table incontinent before them with many other such lyke thinges The fame of this iuggeler being much talked of it chaunced that as M. Tyndall heard of it he desired certeine of the merchauntes that he also might be present at supper to sée him playe his partes And to be short the Supper was appoynted and the merchauntes with Tyndall were there present Then was the iuggler called foorth to play his feates and to shew his conning and after his wonted boldnes began to vtter all â—hat he coulde doe but all was in vayne At the last with his labour sweating and toyling when he sawe that nothing would goe forward but that all his inchauntmentes were voyde he was compelled openly to confesse that there was some man present at supper which disturbed and letted all his doinges So that a man euen in the martyrs of these our dayes can not lack the myracles of true fayth if myracles were now to be desired And here to ende and conclude this history with a fewe notes touching his priuate behauiour in dyet study and especially his charitable zeale and tender releuing of the poore Fyrst he was a man very frugall and spare of body a great student and earnest laborer namely in the setting forth of y â— Scriptures of God He reserued or halowed to hym selfe ij â–ª dayes in the weeke which he named his dayes of pastime and those dayes were Monday the first day in the weeke and Satterday the last day in the weeke On the Monday he visited all suche poore men and women as were fled out of England by reason of persecution into Antwarp and those well vnderstanding their good exercises and qualities he did very liberally comfort and relieue and in like maner prouided for the sicke and deseased persons On the Satterday he walked round about the towne in Antwarpe seeking out euery Corner and hole where he suspected any pooreperson to dwell as God knoweth there are many and where he found any to he well occupied and yet ouerburdened with children or els were aged or weake those also hée plentefully releued And thus he spent his ij dayes of pastime as he cauled them And truelye his Almose was very large and great and so it might well bee for his exhibition that he had yearely of the Englishe merchauntes was very much and that for the most part he bestowed vpon the poore as afore sayd The rest of the dayes in the weeke he gaue hym wholy to his booke where in most dillgently he traueled When the Sonday came then went he to some one merchaunts chamber or other whether came many other merchauntes and vnto them would he reade some one percell of Scripture eyther out of the olde testament or out of the new the which proceded so frutefully sweetely and gentely from him much like to the writing of S. Iohn the Euangelest that it was a heauenly comfort and ioy to the audieÌ„ce to heare him reade the scriptures and in likewise after dinner he spent an houre in the aforesayd maner He was a man without any spot or blemishe of rancor or malice full of mercy and compassion so that no man liuing was able to reprooue him of any kinde of sinne or cryme albeit his righteousnes and iustification depended not there vpon before God but onely vpon the bloud of Christ and his fayth vpon the same in the which fayth constantly he dyed as is sayd at Filforde and now resteth with the glorious campany of Christes Martyrs blessedly in the Lord who be blessed in all his saintes Amen And thus much of W. Tyndall Christes blessed seruaunt and Martyr Faultes escaped in the Printing Page 16. the 2. col in the margent after these wordes from the put to saluation in Christ. The same Page and same col in the next marginall note after put out in Christ from the beginning of the note Page 21. col 2. in the margent for adminition read admonition ¶ A Protestation made by William Tyndall touchyng the Resurrection of the bodyes and the state of the soules after this life Adstracted out of a Preface of his that he made to the new Testament which he set forth in the yeare 1534. COncernyug the resurrection I proteste before God and our sauiour Iesus Christ and before the vniuersall congregation that beléeueth in him that I beléeue according to the opeÌ„ and manifest Scriptures Catholicke faith that Christ is risen agayne in the flesh which he receaued of his mother the blessed virgine Mary and body wherein he died And that we shall all both good and bad rise both flesh and body and appeare togither before the iudgement seat of Christ to receaue euery man according to his déedes And that the bodies of all that beléeue and continue in the true faith of Christ shal be indewed with like immortalitie and glory as is the body of Christ And I protest before God our Sauiour Christ and all that beléeue in hym that I hold of the soules that are departed as much as may bée prooued by manifest and open Scripture and thinke the soules departed in the faith of Christ loue of the lawe of God to be in no worse case then the soule of Christ was from the tyme that he deliuered his spirite into the handes of his father vntill the resurrection of his body in glory and immortalitie Neuerthelesse I confesse openly that I am not perswaded that they be already in the full glory that Christ is in or the elect Angels of God are in Neither is it any article of my faith for if it so were I sée
not but then the preaching of the resurrection of the flesh were a thyng in vayne Notwithstanding yet I am ready to beleeue it if it may be prooued with open Scripture Moreouer I take God which alone séeth the hart to recorde to my conscience beséechyng hym that my parte be not in the bloud of Christ if I wrote of all that I haue written throughout all my booke ought of an euill purpose of enuie or malice to any man or to stirre vp any false doctrine or opinion in the Church of Christ or to be author of any secte or to draw disciples after mée or that I woulde be estéemed or had in price aboue the least childe that is borne saue onely of pitie and compassion I had and yet haue on the blyndnes of my brethren and to brynge them vnto the knowledge of Christ and to make euery one of them if it were possible as perfect as an Angell of heauen and to wéede out all that is not planted of our heauēly father and to bring downe all that lifteth vp it selfe against the knowledge of the saluation that is in the bloude of Christ Also my parte be not in Christ if myne hart be not to folow and liue according as I teach and also if myne hart wéepe not night and day for myne owne sinne and other mens indifferently beséeching God to conuert vs all and to take his wrath from vs and to be mercifull as well to all other men as to myne owne soule caring for the wealth of the Realme I was borne in for the king and all that are thereof as a tender harted mother woulde doe for her onely sonne As concerning all I haue translated or otherwise written I beséeche all men to read it for that purpose I wrote it euen to bring them to the knowledge of the Scripture And as farre as the scripture approoueth it so farre to allowe it and if in any place the worde of God dissalow it there to refuse it as I doe before our Sauiour Christ and his congregation And where they finde faultes let them shewe it mée if they be nye or write to mée if they bée farre of or write openly agaynst it and improoue it and I promise them if I shall perceaue that their reasons conclude I wyll confesse myne ignoraunce openly ¶ The Preface of master William Tyndall that he made before the fiue bookes of Moses called Genesis An. 1530. Ianua 17. WHen I had translated the newe Testamēt I added an Epistle vnto the latter ende In which I desired them that were learned to amend if ought were found amisse But our malicious and wylie hypocrites whiche are so stubburne and hard harted in their wicked abhominations that it is not possible for thē to amend any thing at all as we see by daylye experience when both their lyuynges and doyngs are rebuked with the trouthe saye some of them that it is impossible to translate the Scripture into Englishe some that it is not lawfull for the lay people to haue it in their mother toūg some that it would make them all heretickes as it would no-doubt from many thynges whiche they of long tyme haue falsely taught and that is the whole cause wherefore they forbid it though they other clokes pretende And some or rather euery one say that it would make them rise agaynst the king whom they them selues vnto their damnation neuer yet obeyed And lest the temporall rulers should see their falsehode if the Scripture came to lyght causeth thē so to lie And as for my translation in which they affirme vnto the lay people as I haue heard say to be I wotte not how many thousand heresies so that it can not be mended or correct they haue yet taken so great payne to examine it and to compare it vnto that they would fayne haue it and to their owne imaginations and iugglyng termes and to haue somewhat to rayle at and vnder that cloke to blaspheme the truth that they might with as litle labour as I suppose haue translated the most part of the Bible For they which in tymes past were wont to looke on no more scripture thē they foūd in theyr Duns or suche like deuilishe doctrine haue yet now so narowly loked on my trāslation y t there is not so much as one I therin if it lack a title ouer his hed but they haue noted it nomber it vnto y e ignoraunt people for an heresy Finally in this they be all agreed to driue you from the knowledge of the Scripture and that ye shall not haue the text therof in the mother toūg and to kepe the world still in darkenesse to the entent they might sit in the consciences of the people thorow vayne superstition and false doctrine to satisfie their filthy lustes their proude ambition and vnsatiable couetousnes and to exalte their owne honour aboue Kyng and Emperour yea and aboue God hym selfe A thousand bookes had they leuer to be put foorth agaynst their abhominable doynges and doctrine then that the Scripture should come to light For as long as they may keepe that down they wil so darken y e right way with the mist of their sophistry so tāgle thē y t either rebuke or despise their abhominations with Argumentes of Philosophie and with worldly similitudes and apparent reasons of naturall wisedome and with wrestyng the Scripture vnto their owne purpose cleane contrary vnto the processe order and meanyng of the text and so delude them in descantyng vpō it with allegories and amase them expoundyng it in many senses before the vnlearned lay people when it hath but one simple litterall sense whose light the owles can not abide that thoughe thou feele in thine harte and arte sure how that all is false that they say yet couldest y u not solue their subtle rydles Whiche thyng onely moued me to translate the new Testament Because I had perceaued by experience howe that it was impossible to stablishe the laye people in any truth excepte the Scripture were playnely layd before their eyes in their mother toung that they might see the processe order and meanyng of the text for els what soeuer truth is taught them these enemies of all truth quench it agayn partly with the smoke of their bottomlesse pitte wherof thou readest Apocalipsis ix that is with apparāt reasons of sophistry and traditions of their owne makyng founded without grounde of Scripture and partely in iugglyng with the texte expoundyng it in such a sense as is impossible to gather of the text if thou see the processe order and meanyng therof And euē in the Byshops of Londons house I entented to haue done it For when I was so turmoyled in the coūtrey where I was that I could no lēger there dwell the processe whereof were to long here to rehearse I this wise thought in my selfe this I suffer because the Priestes of the countrey be vnlearned
as God it knoweth there are a full ignoraunt sorte whiche haue sene no more Latin then that they read in their Portesses and Missales which yet many of them can scarcely read except it be Albertus de secretis mulierū in which yet though they be neuer so sorily learned they poore day and night and make notes therein all to teach the mydwiues as they say and Linwode a booke of constitutions to gather tithes mortuaries offeringes customes and other pillage whiche they call not theirs but Gods part and the duety of holy church to discharge their consciences with all for they are boūd that they shall not diminishe but encrease all thyng vnto the vttermost of their powers therfore because they are thus vnlearned thought I when they come together to the Alehouse whiche is their preachyng place they affirme that my sayinges are heresie And besides that they adde to of their own heades which I neuer spake as the maner is to prolōg the tale to short the time with all and accused me secretly to the Chauncellour and other the Byshops officers And in dede when I came before the Chauncellour hee threatned me greuously and reuiled me and rated me as though I had ben a dogge and layd to my charge wherof there could be none accuser brought forth as their maner is not to bryng forth the accuser and yet all y t Priestes of the coūtrey were the same day there As I this thought the Byshop of London came to my remembraunce whom Erasmus whose toung maketh of litles gnattes great Elephants and lifteth vp aboue the Starres whosoeuer geueth him a litle exhibition prayseth excedyngly amōg other in his annotations on the new Testament for hys great learnyng Then thought I if I might come to this mans seruice I were happy And so I gatte me to London and thorow the acquaintance of my master came to Syr Harry Gilford the Kynges graces Controller and brought hym an Oration of Isocrates whiche I had translated out of greeke into English desired hym to speake vnto my Lorde of London for me whiche hee also dyd as he shewed me and willed me to write an Epistle to my Lord and to go to hym my selfe whiche I also dyd and deliuered my Epistle to a seruaunt of his own one William Hebilthwayte ' a man of myne old acquaintaunce But God which knoweth what is within hypocrites saw that I was begyled and that that counsayle was not the next way vnto my purpose And therfore he gatte me no fauour in my Lordes sight Whereupon my Lord aunswered me his house was full he had mo then he could well finde and aduised me to seeke in Londō where he sayd I could not lacke a seruice And so in London I abode almost a yeare and marked the course of the world and heard our praters I would say our Preachers how they boasted thēselues and theyr hye authoritie and beheld the pompe of our Prelates and how busie they were as they yet are to set peace and vnite in the world thoughe it be not possible for them that walke in darkenesse to continue long in peace for they cā not but either stomble or dash themselues at one thyng or an other y t shall cleane vnquiet all together and sawe thynges wherof I deferre to speake at this tyme vnderstode at the last not onely that there was no rowme in my Lord of Londons Palace to translate the new Testamēt but also that there was no place to do it in all Englād as experience doth now openly declare Vnder what maner therfore should I now submit this booke to be corrected and amended of them whiche can suffer nothyng to bee well Or what protestation should I make in such a maner vnto our Prelates those stubburne Nimrothes whiche so mightely fight against God and resiste hys holy spirite enforcyng with all crafte and sutletie to quench y t lyght of the euerlastyng Testament promises and appointement made betwene God and vs and heapyng the fierce wrath of God vpō all Princes and rulers mockyng them with false fayned names of hypocrisie and seruyng their lustes at all pointes and dispensyng with them euē of the very lawes of God of which Christe hym selfe testifieth Mathew 5. That not so much as one title therof may perish or be broken And of whiche the Prophet sayth Psalme cxviij Thou hast commaunded thy lawes to bee kept meod that is in Hebrew excedyngly with all diligence might and power and haue made thē so mad with their iugglyng charmes and craftie persuasiōs that they thinke it a ful satisfactiō for all their wicked lyuing to torment such as tell them trouth and to burne y t word of their soules health and slea who soeuer beleue thereon Notwithstandyng yet I submitte this booke and all other that I haue either made or translated or shall in tyme to come if it bee Gods will that I shall further labour in his haruest vnto all them that submit them selues vnto the word of God to be corrected of them yea and moreouer to be disalowed and also burnt if it seme worthy when they haue examined it with the Hebrue so that they first put forth of their owne trāslatyng an other that is more correct A prologue by Williā Tyndall shewyng the vse of the Scripture which he wrote before the fiue bookes of Moses THough a man had a precious iuell a rich yet if hee wiste not the value therof nor wherfore it serued he were neither the better nor richer of a straw Euē so though we read the Scripture and bable of it neuer so much yet if we know not the vse of it and wherfore it was geuen and what is therein to be sought it profiteth vs nothyng at all It is not enough therfore to read and talke of it onely but we must also desire God day and night instantly to open our eyes and to make vs vnderstand and feele wherefore the Scripture was geuen that we may applye the medicine of the Scripture euery man to his own sores vnlesse then we entend to be idle disputers and braulers about vaine wordes euer gnawyng vppon the bitter barcke without and neuer attaynyng vnto the sweete pith within and persecuting one an other in defendyng of lewde imaginations and phantasies of our owne inuentions Paule in thyrd of the second Epistle to Timothe sayth That the Scripture is good to teache for that ought men to teach and not dreames of their owne makyng as the Pope doth and also to improue for the Scripture is the touch stone that tryeth all doctrines and by that we know the false from the true And in the vj. to the Ephesians he calleth it the sword of the spirite by cause it killeth hypocrites and vttereth and and improueth their false inuentions And in the xv to y t Romains he saith All that are written are written for our learnyng that we thorow patience
pittes chap. 4. that slyme was a fatnesse that issued out of the earth like vnto carre and thou mayst call it cement if thou wilte Siloh after some is as muche to say as sent and after some happy and after some it signifieth Messias that is to say annoynted that we call Christ after the Greke worde and it is a prophesie of Christ for after all the other tribes were in captiuitie their kingdome destroyed yet the tribe of Iuda had a ruler of the same bloud euen vnto the commyng of Christ and about the commyng of Christ the Romaines conquered them the emperour gaue the kyngdome of the tribe Iuda vnto Herode which was a straunger euen an Edomite of the generation of Esau Testament that is an appoymente made betwene God and man gods promises And sacrameÌ„t is a signe representyng such appointment and promises as the raynebowe representeth the promise made to Noe that God wyll no more drowne the world And circumcision representeth the promises of God to Abraham on the one side that Abraham and his seede should circumcise and cutte of the lustes of their flesh on the other side to walke in the wayes of the lord As baptisme which is come in the roome therof now signifieth on the one side howe that all that repent and beleue are washed in Christes bloud and on the other syde how that the same muste quenche and drown the lustes of the flesh to follow the steppes of Christ There were tirantes in the earth in those dayes for the sonnes of god saw the daughters of men c. The sonnes of God were the Prophetes children which though they succeded their father fell yet from the right way and through falshode of hipocrisie subdued the world vnder them and became tirantes as the successors of the Apostles haue played with vs. Vapour a dewie miste as the smoke of a seething pot To walke with God is to liue godly and to walke in hys commaundedementes Enos walked with God and was no more sene he lyued godly and died God toke him away that is God hid hys body as he did Moses and Aarons lest happly they should haue made an Idole of hym for he was a great preacher and an holy man Zaphnath Paenea wordes of Egipt are they as I suppose and as muche to say as a man to whome secret thinges be opened or an expounder of secrete thinges as some interprete it That Ioseph broughte the Egiptians into such a subiection would seme vnto some a very cruell deede howe be it it was a very equall way for they payd but y t fifth part of that that grew on the grounde and therewith were they quit of all dueties both of rente custome tribute and tolle the kyng therwith found them Lordes and all ministers and defended them we now pay half so much vnto the priests only beside their other craftye exactions Then pay we rente yearely thoughe there grow neuer so litle on y t ground and yet when the kyng calleth pay we neuer the lesse So that if we looke indifferently their condition was easier then oures and but euen a very indifferent way both for the common people and the kyng also See therfore that thou looke not on the ensamples of the Scripture wyth worldly eyes least thou preferre Cain before Abell Ismaell before Isaac Esau before Iacob Ruben before Iuda Sarah before Phares Manasses before Ephraim and euen the worst before the best as the maner of the world is The Prologue to the second booke of Moses called Exodus BY the Preface vppon Genesis mayest thou vnderstand howe to behaue thy selfe in this booke also and in all other bookes of the Scripture Cleaue vnto y e texte and playne storie and endeuour thy selfe to searche out the meanyng of all that is described therein and the true sence of all maner of speakinges of the Scripture of prouerbes similitudes borowed speach whereof I entreated in the ende of the obedience and beware of subtile allegories And note euery thyng earnestly as thynges pertainyng vnto thyne own hart and soule For as God vsed him selfe vnto theÌ„ of the old Testament euen so shall he vnto the worldes end vse him self vnto vs whiche haue receiued hys holy Scripture and the testimonie of hys sonne Iesus As God doth all things here for theÌ„ that beleue his promises herken vnto his commauÌ„dements and with patieÌ„ce cleaue vnto him and walke with him euen so shall he do for vs if we receiue the witnes of Christ with a strong fayth and endure patiently folowyng his steppes And on the other side as they that fel from the promise of God thorow vnbelief and from his lawe and ordinaunces thorowe impatieÌ„cie of their owne lustes were forsakeÌ„ of God and so perished euen so shall we as many as doe lykewise and as many as mocke with the doctrine of Christ and make a cloke of it to liue fleshly to folow our lustes Note thereto howe God is founde true at the last and howe when all is past remedy and brought into desperation he then fulfilleth his promises and that by an abiect and a cast away a despised and a refused persoÌ„ yea and by a way impossible to beleue The cause of all the captiuitie of Gods people is this The world â—uer hateth them for their fayth and trust whiche they haue in GOD but in vayne till they fall from the fayth of y t promises and loue of the lawe and ordinaunces of God put their trust in holy dedes of their owne finding and liue altogether at their owne lust pleasure with out regarde of God or respect of their neighbour Then God forsaketh vs sendeth vs into captiuitie for our dishonoryng of his name and despisyng of our neighbour But the world persecuteth vs for our fayth in Christ onely as the people nowe doth and not for our wicked liuyng For in his kingdom thou mayest quietly and with licence and vnder aprotection do what soeuer abhominatioÌ„ thine hart lusteth but God persecuteth vs bycause we abuse his holy Testament and bycause when we knowe the truth we folowe it not Note also the mightie hande of the Lord how he playeth with his aduersaries and prouoketh them and styrreth them vp a litle and a litle and deliuereth not hys people in an houre that both the patience of his elect and also the worldly wit and wyly policie of the wicked wherwith they do fight agaynst God might appeare Marke y t long sufferyng and soft patience of Moyses and howe he loueth the people and is euer betwene the wrath of God and them and is ready to liue and dye with them to be put out of the booke that God had written for their sakes as Paule for his brethren Romaines ix and how he taketh his own wronges patiently and neuer auengeth him selfe And make not Moyses a figure of Christe with Rochester but an ensample vnto all
and God deliuered you and hath brought you vnto a land where ye bee at home Loue the straunger therefore for his sake In the xj he exhorteth them to loue and feare God and rehearceth the terrible dedes of God vpoÌ„ his enemyes on them that rebelled agaynst hym And he testifieth vnto them both what wil folow if they loue and feare God and what also if they despise hym and breake his commaundement In the xij hee commaundeth to put out of the way all that might be an occasion to hurt the fayth and forbiddeth to do ought after their owne myndes or to alter the word of God In the xiij he forbiddeth to herken vnto ought saue vnto Gods word no though he whiche counseleth contrary should come with miracles as Paule doth vnto the Galathians In the xiiij the beasts are forbidden partly for vncleannesse of them and partly to cause hate betwene the heathen and them that they haue no conuersation together in that one abhorreth what the other eateth Vnto this xv chapter all pertaine vnto faith and loue chiefly And in this xv hee begynneth to entreate more specially of thinges pertainyng vnto the common welth and equitie and exhorteth vnto the loue of a mans neighbour And in the xvj among other he forgetteth not the same And in the xvij he entreateth of right and equitie chiefly in so much that when hee looketh vnto faith and vnto the punishment of Idolaters hee yet endeth in a law of loue and equitie forbiddyng to condemne any man vnder lesse then two witnesses at the lest and commaundeth to bryng the trespassers vnto the open gate of the citie where all men go in and out that all men might heare the cause and see that he had but right But the Pope hath founde a better way euen to oppose him with out any accuser and that secretly that no man know whether hee haue right or no either heare his Articles or aunswere for feare lest the people should searche whether it were so or no. In the xviij hee forbiddeth all false and deuilish crafts that hurt true faith Moreouer because the people could not heare the voyce of the law spoken to them in fire he promiseth them an other Prophet to bring them better tydynges whiche was spoken of Christ our Sauiour The xix and so forth vnto the end of the xxvij is almost altogether of loue vnto our neighbours and of lawes of equitie and honesty with now and theÌ„ a respect vnto faith The xxviij is a terrible Chapter and to be trembled at A Chrisren maÌ„s hart might well bleed for sorrow at the readyng of it for feare of the wrath that is like to come vpon vs accordyng vnto all the curses which thou there readest For accordyng vnto these curse hath God delt with with all nations after they were fallen into the abhominations of blindnesse The xxix is like terrible with a godly lesson in the end that we shold leaue searchyng of Gods secrets geue diligence to walke accordyng to that hee hath opened vnto vs. For the keepyng of the commaundementes of God teacheth wisedome as thou maiest see in the same Chapter where Moses saith keepe the commaundementes that ye may vnderstand what ye ought to doe But to search Gods secretes blindeth a maÌ„ as it wel proued by the swarmes of our sophisters whose wise bookes are now when we looke in the Scripture founde but full of foolishnesse The Prologue of the Prophete Ionas made by William Tyndall AS the enuious Philislines stopped y e welles of Abraham and filled them vp with earth to put the memoriall out of mynde to the entent that they might chalenge the grounde euen so the fleshly minded hipocrites stoppe vp the vaynes of life which are in the scripture with the earth of their traditions false similitudes and lying allegories that of lyke zeale to make the Scripture their owne possession and merchaundice and so shut vp the kyngdome of heauen which is Gods worde neither entring in themselues nor suffering them that would The Scripture hath a body without and within a soule spirite lyfe It hath without a barke a shel and as it were an harde bone for the fleshlye mynded to gnaw vpon And within it hath pith cornell mary and all swetenes for Gods elect which he hath chosen to geue them hys spirite to write hys law and the fayth of hys sonne in their hartes The scripture conteineth iij. thinges in it First the lawe to condemne all flesh Secondarily the Gospel that is to say promises of mercy for al that repente and knowledge theyr sinnes at the preachyng of the lawe and consent in their hartes that the lawe is good and submit themselues to bee scholers to learne to kepe the law and to learn to beleue the mercye that is promised them and thirdly the stories lyues of those scholers both what chaunces fortuned them also by what meanes their scholemaister taughte them and made them perfect and how he tried y e true from the false When the hipocrites come to the law they put gloses to and make no more of it theÌ„ of a worldly law which is satisfied with the outwarde worke and whiche a Turke may also fulfill When yet Gods law neuer ceaseth to condemne a man vntil it be written in hys harte and vntill he keepe it naturally without compulsion and all other respect saue onely of pure loue to God and his neighbour as he naturally eateth when he is an hungred without compulsion and all other respect saue to slake hys hunger onely And when they come to the Gospell there they mingle their leuen and say GOD now receiueth vs no more to mercy but of mercy receueth vs to penaunce that is to witte holy deedes y â— make them fatte bellies and vs their captiues both in soule and body And yet they fayne their Idole the Pope so mercifull that if that thou make a litle money glister in hys Balaams eyes there is neither penance nor purgatory nor any fastyng at all but to flye to heauen as swift as a thought at the twincklyng of an eye And the liues stories and giftes of men whith are contayned in the bible they reade as thinges no more pertaining vnto them then a tale of Robin hood as things they wot not wherto they serue saue to faine false discant and iuglyng allegories to stablishe their kyngdome with all And one of the chiefest and fleshliest studies they haue is to magnifie the â—aintes aboue measure and aboue the truth with their Poetry to make them greter theÌ„ euer God made them And if they find any infirmitie or sinne ascribed vnto the sayntes that they excuse with all diligence diminishyng the glory of the mercy of god and robbyng wretched sinners of all theyr comforte thinke therby to flatter the saintes and to obtayne their fauour and to make speciall aduocates
maliciously resisted the open truth agaynst hys owne conscience sence the world began that euer I read For it is sinne agaynst y â— holy ghost which Christ saith shall neither be forgeueÌ„ here nor in the world to come whiche text may this wise be vnderstand that as that sinne shal be punished with euerlastyng daÌ„nation in the lyfe to come euen so shall it not escape vengeauÌ„ce here As thou â—eest in Iudas in Pharao in Balam and in all other tyrauntes whiche agaynst their consciences resisted the open truth of God So now the cause why our Prelates thus rage that moueth them to call M. More to helpe is not that they finde iust causes in the translation but because they haue lost their iugglyng and fayned termes wherewith Peter prophesied they should make marchaundise of the people ¶ Whether the Church were before the Gospell or the Gospell before the Church AN other doubt there is whether the Church or congregatioÌ„ be before the Gospell or the Gospell before the Church Which question is as hard to solue as whether the father be elder then the sonne or the sonne elder then his father For the whole Scripture and all beleuing hartes testifie that we are begotten through the word Wherfore if the word beget the congregatioÌ„ he that begetteth is before hym that is begotten then is the Gospell before the Church Paul also Rom. ix sayth how shall they call on him whom they beleue not And how shall they beleue without a preacher That is Christ must first be preached yer men can beleue in him And then it foloweth that the word of the preacher must be before the fayth of the beleuer And therfore in as much as the word is before the faith and faith maketh the congregation therfore is the word or Gospell before the congregation And agayne as the ayre is darke of it selfe receaueth all her light of the sonne euen so are all mens hartes of theÌ„selues darke with lyes and receaue all their truth of Gods word in that they consent therto And moreouer as the darke ayre geueth the sonne no light but contrarywise the light of the sonne in respect of the ayre is of it selfe and lighteneth the ayre purgeth it from darkenesse eueÌ„ so the lying hart of man can geue the word of God no truth but contrary wise the truth of Gods word is of her self and lighteneth the harts of the beleuers and maketh them true and clenseth them from lyes as thou readest Iohn xv ye be cleane by reason of the word Which is to be vnderstand in that the word had purged their harces from lyes from false opinions from thinking euill good and therfore from consentyng to sinne And Iohn xvij sanctifie them O father thorough thy truth And thy woorde is truth And thus thou seest that Gods truth dependeth not of man It is not true because man so sayth or admitteth it for true But man is true because he beleueth it testifieth and geueth witnesse in hys hart that it is true And Christ also sayth him selfe Iohn v. I receaue no witnesse of maÌ„ For if the multitude of maÌ„s witnesse might make ought true then were the doctrine of Mahomete truer then Christes ¶ Whether the Apostles left ought vnwritten that is of necessitie to be beleued BUt did not y â— Apostles teach ought by mouth that they wrot not I aunswere because that many taught one thyng and euery man the same in diuers places and vnto diuers people and confirmed euery sermoÌ„ wyth a sundry miracle therfore Christ his Apostles preached an â—…red thousaÌ„d sermons and did as many miracles which had bene superfluous to haue bene all written But the pith and substaunce in generall of euery thing necessary vnto our soules health both of what we ought to beleue and what we ought to do was written and of the miracles done to confirme it as many as were nedeful So that whatsoeuer we ought to beleue or do that same is written expresely or drawen out of that which is written For if I were bound to do or beleue vnder payne of the losse of my soule any thing that were written nor depeÌ„ded of that which is writteÌ„ what holpe me the scripture that is written And thereto in as much as Christ and all his Apostles warned vs that false prophetes shoulde come with false miracles euen to deceaue the elect if it were possible wherewith shoulde the true preacher confound the false except he brought true miracles to confound the false or els autenticke scripture of full authoritie already among the people Some man woulde aske how dyd God continue his congregation from Adam to Noe and froÌ„ Noe to Abraham and so to Moses without writing but with teaching from mouth to mouth I aunswere first that there was no scripture all the whyle they shall proue wheÌ„ our Lady hath a new sonne God taught Adam greater thynges then to write And that there was writing in the world long yer Abraham yea yer Noe do stories testifie Notwithstanding though there had bene no writing the preachers were euer prophetes glorious in doing of miracles wherwith they cofirmed their preaching And beyond that god wrote his testameÌ„t vnto them aâ—way both what to do and to beleue eueÌ„ in y e sacramentes For the sacrifices which God gaue Adams sonnes were no dumme popetrie or superstitious Mahometrie but signes of the testament of God And in them they red y e worde of God as we do in bookes and as we should do in our sacraments if the wicked Pope had not taken the significations away from vs as he hath robbed vs of the true sence of all the scripture The testament which God made with Noe that he woulde no more drowne the worlde with water he wrote in the sacrament of the rainebow And the appointment made betwene him and Abraham he wrote in the sacrament of circumcision And therefore sayd Steuen Act. vij he gaue them y â— testameÌ„t of circumcision Not that the outwarde circumcision was the whole testament but the sacrameÌ„t or signe there For circumcision preached Gods worde vnto theÌ„ as I haue in other places declared But in the tyme of Moyses when the congregation was encreased that they must haue many preachers also rulers temporall then all was receaued in scripture in so much that Christ and his Apostles might not haue bene beleued without scripture for all their miracles Wherefore in as much as Christes congregation is spred abroad into all the worlde much broader then Moses and in as much as we haue not the olde testament onely but also the new wherein all thinges are opened so richly and all fulfilled that before was promised in as much as there is no promise behinde of ought to be shewed more saue the resurrection yea and seyng that Christ and all the Apostles with all the Angels of
for vs y â— remissioÌ„ of our sinnes but also the forgeuenesse of that grosse and fleshly imagined Purgatory saue thou must bye it out of the Pope And with such traditions they tooke away the keye of knowledge and stopped vp the kyngdome of heauen that no man could enter in And as I sayd they taught the people to beleue in the dedes of the ceremonies which God ordeined not to iustifie but to be signes of promises by which they that beleued were iustified But the Phariseis put out the significations queÌ„ched the fayth and taught to be iustified by the woorke as ours haue serued vs. For our Sacramentes were once but signes partly of what we should beleue to styrre vs vp vnto fayth and partly what we should do to styrre vs vp to do the law of God and were not workes to iustifie Now make this reason vnto Iohn and vnto many Prophetes that went before him and did as he dyd yea and vnto Christ him self and his Apostles thou shalt finde them all heretickes and the Scribes and Phariseis good men if that reason be good Therfore this wise thou mayst aunswere No thankes vnto the heades of y â— Church that the Scripture was kept but vnto the mercy of God For as they had destroyed the right sense of it for their lucre sake euen so would they haue destroyed it also if they coulde rather then the people should haue come vnto the right vnderstaÌ„dyng of it as they slew the true interpretours and preachers of it And euen so no thankes vn to our hypocrites that the Scripture is kept but vnto the bottomlesse mercy of God For as they haue destroyed the right sense of it with their leueÌ„ and as they destroy dayly the true preachers of it and as they kepe it from the lay people that they should not see how they iuggle with it euen so would they destroy it also could they bryng it about rather theÌ„ we should come by the true vnderstandyng of it were it not that God prouided otherwise for vs. For they haue put the stories that should in many thynges helpe vs cleane out of the way as nye as they could They haue corrupt the Legend and lyues almost of all Saintes They haue fayned false bookes and put them forth some in the name of S. Hierome some in y â— name of S. Augustine in the name of S. CypriaÌ„ S. Dionise and other holy men which are proued none of theirs partly by the stile and Latine partly by autenticke stories And as the Iewes haue set vp a booke of traditions called Talmud to destroy the seÌ„se of y â— Scripture Vnto which they geue fayth and vnto the Scripture none at all be it neuer so playne but say it can not be vnderstand saue by the Talmud euen so haue ours set vp their Dunce their Thomas and a thousand like draffe to stablish their lyes thorough falsifying the Scripture say that it can not be vnderstand without them be it neuer so playne And if a man alledge an holy Doctour agaynst them they glose him out as they do the Scripture or will not heare or say the Church hath otherwise determined Now therfore when they aske vs how we know that it is the Scripture of God aske them how Iohn Baptist knew other Prophetes which God styrred vp in all such times as the scripture was in like captiuitie vnder hypocrites Did Iohn beleue that the Scribes Phariseis and hygh Priests were the true Church of God and had hys spirite and could not erre who taught the Egles to spy out their pray euen so the children of God spy out their father and Christes elect spy out theyr Lord and trace out the pathes of hys feete and folow yea though he go vpoÌ„ the playne and liquide water which will receaue no stepe yet there they find out his foote his elect know him but the world knoweth him not Iohn 1. If the world know him not thou call the world pride wrath enuy couetousnesse slouth glottony and lechery then our spiritualtie know hym not Christes shepe heare y â— voyce of Christ Iohn x. where the world of hypocrits as they know hym not euen so the wolues heare not his voyce but compell the Scripture to heare them and to speake what they lust And therfore except the Lord of Sabaoth had lest vs seede we had bene all as Sodome and Gomor sayd Esay 1. And euen so sayd Paul in hys tyme. And euen so say we in our time that the Lord of the hostes hath saued him seede hath gathered hym a flocke to whom he hath geuen cares to heare that the hypocritish Wolâ—es can not heare and eyes to see that the blynd leaders of the blynd can not see and an hart to vnderstaÌ„d that the generation of poysoned Vipers caÌ„ neither vnderstand nor know If they alleage S. Augustine which sayth I had not beleued the Bospell except the authoritie of the church had moued me I answere as they abuse that saying of the holy man euen so they alleage all the Scripture and all that they bring for them euen in a false sence S. Augustine before he was conuerted was an heathen maÌ„ and a Philosopher full of worldly wisdome vnto whom the preaching of Christ is but folishnesse sayth Paule i. Corin. i. And he disputed wyth blynde reasons of worldly wisdome agaynst the Christen Neuerthelesse the earnest liuing of the Christen according vnto theyr doctrine and the constant suffering of persecutioÌ„ and aduersitie for their doctrines sake moued hym stirred hym to beleue that it was no vayne doctrine but that it must nedes be of god in that it had such power with it For it happeneth that they which wyll not heare the worde at the beginning are afterward moued by the holy conuersation of them that beleue As Peter warneth ChristeÌ„ wines that had heathen husbandes that would not heare the truth preached to liue so godly that they might winne their heathen husbandes with holy conuersation And Paule sayth how knowest thou Christen wife whether thou shalt winne thine heathen husband with holy conuersation meÌ„t he For many are woÌ„ne with godly liuing which at the fyrst either will not heare or can not belene And that is the authoritie that S. Augustine meane But if we shal not beleue tyll the liuyng of the spiritualtie conuert vs we be like to bide long inough in vnbeliefe And wheÌ„ they aske whether we receaued the scripture of them I aunswere that they which come after receaue the scripture of them that go before And when they aske whether we beleue not that it is Gods worde by the reason that they tell vs so I aunswere that there are two manuer faythes an historicall fayth and a feelyng fayth The historicall fayth hangeth of the truth and honestie of the teller or of the common fame and
â— little flock To put away thy sinnes Nay brethreÌ„ god forbid that ye should so thinke Christes bloud onely washeth away the sinnes of all that repent and beleue Fire salt water bread oyle be bodely thynges geuen vnto man for his necessitie and to helpe hys brother wyth and God that is a spirit cannot be serued therwyth Neyther can such thynges enter into the soule to purge her For Gods worde onely is her purgation No say they are not such thynges halowed And say we not in the halowing of them that who soeuer is sprinkled wyth the water or eateth of the bread shall receaue health of soule and body Sir the blessinges promised vnto Abraham for all nations are in Christ and out of his bloud we must fet them and his word is the bread salt water of our soules God hath geueÌ„ you no power to geue thorow your charmes such vertue vnto vnseÌ„sible creatures which he hath halowed himselfe made them all cleane for the bodely vse of them that beleue thorow his word of promise and permission and our thankes geuing God sayth if thou beleue Saint Ihons gospell thou shalt be saued and not for y e bearyng of it about thee with so many crosses or for the obseruing of any such obseruaunces God for thy bitter passion rore they out by by what an hereticke is this I tel thee that holy church neede to alleadge no scripture for them for they haue the holy Ghost which inspireth theÌ„ euer secretly so y t they can not erre whatsoeuer they say do or ordayne What wilt thou dispise the blessed Sacramentes of holy church wherewyth God hath bene serued this xv hundred yeare ye verely this v. thousaÌ„d yeres euen since Cain hetherto and shall endure vnto the worldes end among theÌ„ that haue no loue vnto the truth to be saued thereby thou art a strong hereticke and worthy to be burnt And theÌ„ he is excommunicat out of the church If y t little flocke feare not that bugge then they goe straight vnto the king And it like your grace perilous people and seditious and euen inough to destroy your realme if ye see not to them betimes They be so obstinat tough that they wyll not be conuerted and rebellious agaynst God and the ordinaunces of hys holy church And how much more shal they so be against your grace if they encrease and grow to a multitude They wyll peruert all and surely make new lawes and eyther subdue your grace vnto them or ryse agaynst you And theÌ„ goeth a part of y t little flocke to pot and the rest scatter Thus hath it euer bene and shall euer â—e let no man therefore deceaue hymselfe An aunswere to M. Mores second booke IN the first Chapter ye may not try the doctrine of the spiritualtie by the Scripture But what they say that beleue vndoubtedly and by that try the Scripture And if thou finde the playne contrary in the Scripture thou mayst not beleue the Scripture but seke a Glose and an allegorie to make them agree As wheÌ„ the pope sayth ye be iustified by the woorkes of the ceremonies and Sacramentes and so forth and the Scripture sayth that we be iustified at the repentauÌ„ce of the hart through Christes bloud The first is true playne as the pope sayth it and as it standeth in his text but the secoÌ„d is false as it appeareth vnto thine vnderstandyng and the literall sence that killeth Thou must therfore beleue the Pope and for Christes doctrine seeke an allegorie and a mysticall sence that is thou must leaue the cleare light and walke in the miste And yet Christ and his Apostles for all their miracles required not to be beleued without scripture as thou mayst see Iohn v. and Act. xvij and by their diligent alledgyng of Scripture through out all the new Testament And in the end he sayth for his pleasure that we knowledge that no man may minister SacrameÌ„ts but he that is deriuede out of the Pope Howbeit this we knowledge that no man could minister Sacramentes without signification which are no Sacramentes saue such as are of the Popes generation The iij. Chapter IN the third Chapter in the Chapter folowyng he vttereth how fleshly mynded he is and how beastly he imagineth of God as Paule sayth 1. Cor. 2. the naturall man can not vnder stand the thyngs of the spirite of God He thinketh of God as he doth of hys Cardinall that he is a monster pleased when men flatter him if of whatsoeuer frailtie it be men breake his coÌ„maundementes he is theÌ„ ragyng mad as the Pope is seketh to be venged Nay God is euer fatherly minded toward the elect meÌ„bers of his Church He loued them yer the world began in Christ Ephe. 1. He loueth theÌ„ while they be yet euill his enemies in their hartes yer they be come vnto y â— knowledge of his sonne Christ and yer his law be written in their hartes as a father loueth his young sonne while he is yet euill yer it know the fathers law to consent therto And after they be once actually of his Church and the law of God faith of Christ written in their hartes their hartes neuer sinne any more though as Paul sayth Rom. vij the flesh doth in them that the spirit would not And when they sinne of frailtie God ceaseth not to loue them still though he â—e angry to put a crosse of tribulatioÌ„s vpon their backes to purge them and to subdue the flesh vnto the spirite or to all to breake their consciences with threatnyng of the law and to feare theÌ„ with hell As a father when his sonne offeÌ„deth him feareth him with the rod but hateth him not God did not hate Paule when he persecuted but had layd vp mercy for hym in store though he was angry with him to scourge him and to teach him better Neither were those things layd on his backe which he after suffered to make satisfaction for his foresinnes but onely to serue his brethren and to keepe the flesh vnder Neither did God hate Dauid when he had sinned though he was angry with hym Neither did he after suffer to make satisfactioÌ„ to God for his old sinnes but to kepe his flesh vnder to keepe him in mekenesse and to be an example for our learnyng The iiij Chapter IN the fourth sayth he if the Churche were an vnknoweÌ„ coÌ„pany how should the infidels if they longed for the fayth come thereby O whether wandereth a fleshly mynde as though we first sought out God Nay God kitoweth his and seketh them out sendeth his messengers vnto them geueth them an hart to vnderstand Did the heatheÌ„ or any nation seke Christ Nay Christ sought them and sent his Apostles vnto them As thou seest in the storyes from the begynnyng of the world and as the parables and similitudes of the
new old holy doctours that haue made the Pope a God They knew of no power that man should haue in the kyngdome of Christ but to preache Christ truly They knew of no power that the Pope shoulde haue to send to Purgatory or to deliuer thence neither of any Pardon 's nor of any such confession as they preach and teach neither were many that are articles with you Articles of their faith They all preached forgeuenesse of sinnes thorough repentaunce toward the law and fayth in our Sauiour Christ as all the Scripture playnly doth and can no otherwise be taken and as all the hartes of as many as loue the law of God do fele as surely as the finger feeleth the fyre hoate An aunswere vnto Master Mores third booke IN his third boke he procedeth forth as before to proue that the opinions which the Popish teach without Scripture are of equal authoritie with the Scripture He asketh what if there had neuer bene Scripture written I aunswere God careth for his elect therfore hath prouided them of Scripture to trie all thynges and to defend them from all false Prophetes And I say moreouer that if there had ben no scripture written that God for his mercy fatherly loue and care toward his elect must haue prouided that there should neuer haue bene heresies or against all tymes when sectes should arise haue styred vp preachers to coÌ„found the he resies with miracles Take this example the Grekes haue the Scripture serue God therin much more diligently theÌ„ we Now let vs geue that there were no Scripture but that we receaued all our fayth by y e authoritie of our elders the Grekes by y e authoritie of their elders WheÌ„ I shall dispute with a Greke about the articles of the fayth which my elders taught me and his elders deny as eareconfession the holy pardons of the Pope and all his power that he hath aboue other Bishops many other thynges beside the Scripture which we hold for articles of our faith they deny If there be no other proofe of either part then to say my elders which caÌ„ not erre so affirme that he should aunswere his Elders which can not not erre so deny what reason is it that I should leaue the authoritie of my elders and goe beleue his or that he should leaue the authoritie of his elders and come and beleue myne none at all verely But the one partie must shew a miracle or els we must referre our causes vnto auteÌ„ticke scripture receaued in olde tyme confirmed wyth myracles and therewith trie the controuersie of our Elders And when he asketh whether there were no true fayth from Adam to Noe. I answere that god partly wrote their fayth in their sacrifices and partly the Patriarkes were ful of miracles as ye may see in the Bible And when More to vtter his darcknes and blynde ignoraunce sayth that they which were ouerwhelmed wyth No yes floud had a good faith and bringeth for hym Nicolaus de Lira I answere that Nicolaus de Lira delirat For it is impossible to haue a fayth to be saued by except a man consent vnto Gods law with all his hart and all his soule that it is righteous holy good and to be kept of all men and thereuppon repent that he hath broken it and sorow that his flesh moueth vnto the contrary and then come and beleue that god for his mercy will forgeue him all that he hath done agaynst the lawe wyll helpe hym to tame his flesh and suffer his weakenes in the meane season till he be waxed stronger which fayth if they that perished in Noyes floud had had they coulde not but haue mended their liuinges and had not hardened their harts thorow vnbeliefe and prouoked the wrath of God and waxed worse and worse an hundred twenty yeares which God gaue theÌ„ to repent vntill God could no loÌ„ger suffer theÌ„ but washed their filthines away with y e floud as he doth y e Popes shamefull abhominacions with like invndacions of water destroyed theÌ„ vtterly And wheÌ„ he asketh whether AbrahaÌ„ beleued no more theÌ„ is writteÌ„ of him I aske him how he will proue that there was no writing in Abrahams time that AbrahaÌ„ wrot not And againe as for Abrahams person he receaued his faith of God which to coÌ„firme vnto other myracles were shewed dayly And when he fayneth forth that they beleued onely because they knew their elders coulde not erre How could they know that without myracles or wryting confirmed wyth myracles more theÌ„ the Turke knoweth that hys elders so many hundred yeares in so great a multitude can not erre teach false doctrâ—ne to damne the beleuers And y e contrary doth M. More see in all y e Bible how after all was receaued in scripture confirmed with myracles though miracles ceased not but were shewed dayly yet y e elders erred fell to idolatry an huÌ„dred for one y t bode in the right way and led the younger in to errour wyth them so sore that God to saue the younger was faine to destroy the elders and to begin his testameÌ„t a freshe with the new generatioÌ„ He seeth also that y e most part were alway Idolaters for all the scripture and true myracles therto and beleued the false miracles of the deuill because his doctrine was more agreable vnto their carnall vnderstanding then the doctrine of Gods spirit as it now goeth wyth the Pope did not y â— Scribes Phariseis and Priestes which were the elders erre And when he asketh who taught the church to know the true scripture from false bookes I answere true miracles that confounded the false gaue authoritie vnto the true scripture And therby haue we euer since iudged all other bookes and doctrine And by that we know that your legendes be corrupt wyth lies As Erasmus hath improued many false bookes which ye haue fayned and put forth in the name of S. Hierom Augustine Ciprian Dionise and of other partly wyth autenticke stories and partly by y e stile and latine and like euident tokens And when M. More â—ayth vnto theÌ„ that beleue nought but y e scripture he will proue with y e scripture that we be bounde to beleue the church in thinges wherefore they haue no scripture Because God hath promised in the scripture that the holy ghost shall teach hys church all truth Nay that text wil not proue it For the first Church taught nought but they coÌ„firmed it with myracles which coulde not be done but of God till the scripture was autentickly receaued And the Church folowing teacheth nought that they will haue beleued as an article of the fayth but that which the scripture proueth and mainteineth As S. Augustine protesteth of his workes that men should compare them vnto the scripture therby iudge them and cast away whatsoeuer the scripture
did not allow And therfore they that will be beleued without scripture are false hypocrites and not Christes church For though I know that that messenger which Christ sendeth can not lie yet in a coÌ„â—any where many liers be I can not know which is he without a token of scripture or of miracle And when he sayth the scripture it selâ—e maketh vs not to beleue the scripture but the church teacheth vs to know the scripture for a man might read it not beleue it And so I say that a man might heare you preach and yet beleue you not also And I say therto that your church teacheth nor to know the Scripture but hideth it in the Latine from the common people And from them that vnderstand latine they hid the true seâ—â—e wyth a thousand salâ—e gloses And I say moreouer that the scripture is the cause why men beleue the scripture as well as a preacher is the cause why men beleue hys preachyng For as he that first tolde in England that the Rhodes was taken was the cause why some beleued it euen 〈◊〉 might writing sent from those parties be the cause that some men which red it beleued it M. More will say that letter had his authoritie of the man that sent it and so hath the â—cripture her authority of the church Nay the scripture hath her authoritie of him that sent it that is to wete of God which thing the miracles did testifie and not of the man that brought it He will say thou knowest y e scripture by their shewing I graunt at the begynnyng I doe Then will he say why should ye not beleue them in all their other doctrine besides the scripture in al their expositions of y â— scripture as well as ye beleue them when they tell you that such and such bokes are the scripture May they not shew you a false booke yes and therfore at the beginning I beleue all a like Euery lye that they tell out of their owne braines we beleue to be scripture and so should I beleue theÌ„ if they shewed me a â—alse booke but wheÌ„ I haue read the scripture and fynd noâ— their doctrine there nor depend thereof I do not geue so great credence vnto their other doctrine as vnto y e scripture Why For I finde mo wiâ—â—esses vnto the scripture theÌ„ vnto their other doctrine I finde whole nacions and countryes that receaue the scripture refuse their other doctrine and their expositions in many places And I finde the scripture otherwise expounded of them of olde tyme theÌ„ they which now will be the church expound it Wherby their doctrine is the more suspect I finde mention made of the scripture in stories that it was when I can finde no mencion or likelihode that their doctrine was I finde in all ages that men haue resisted their doctrine with the scripture haue suffred death by the hundred thousandes in resisting their doctrine I see their doctrine brought in and mainteined by a contrary way to that by which the scripture was brought in I finde by the selfe same scripture when I looke diligently thereon that their other doctrine can not stand therewith I finde in the scripture that they which haue not Christes spirite to follow the steppes of his liuing pertaine not vnto Christ Rom. viij I finde in the scripture that they which walke in their carnall birth after the maner of the children of Adam caÌ„not vnderstaÌ„d the thinges of the spirit of God 1. Cor. 2. I finde in the scripture that they which seeke glory caÌ„ not beleue Christ Ioh. 5. I finde in y e scripture that they which submit not theÌ„selues to do y e wil of God can not know what doctrine is of god and what not Ioh. 7. I finde in the scripture Iere. 31. Heb. 8. that all the children of God which only are the true members of his church haue euery one of them the law of god written in their hartes so that if there were no law to compell they would yet naturally out of their owne hartes keepe the law of God yea and against violence compelling to the contrary And I see that they which wil be the church and to proue it hath not so great trust in the scripture as in their sophistrie in the sword which they haue set vp in all landes to keepe them with violence in the roome are so farre of froÌ„ hauing the lawes of God written in their hartes that they neither by Gods lawe nor mans refraine from their opeÌ„ outward wicked liuing Looke in the Chronicles what bloude it hath cofle England to attempt to bring theÌ„ vnder the law yea and see what busines y e Realme hath had to keepe the Prelates within the Realme from taking the benefices with them and lying at Rome and yet scarsely brought it to passe for all that the Pope hath the stint of euery Byshoppricke and of euery great Abbey therto as oft as any is voyde yer a new be admitted to the roome And I see theÌ„ bond vnto their owne will both to do and to consent vnto other to do al that God hath forbiddeÌ„ I see theÌ„ of all people most vain glorious I see them walke after their fleshly birth I see them so farre of froÌ„ the Image of Christ that not onely they will not dye for their flocke after his ensample but also yer they would lose one towne or vilage any polling or priuilege which they haue falsly gotten bryngyng them selues into good pastures with wiles shuttyng theyr flocke without they would cast away an hundred thousand of theÌ„ in one day and begger their Realmes yea and interdite them and bring in straunge nations though it were the Turke to coÌ„quere them and slea them vp so much as the innocent in the cradle And I see that their other doctrine is for their vaÌ„tage onely that therewith they haue gotten all that they haue And I finde in the Scripture that y e Iewes before the coÌ„myng of Christ knew that those bookes were the scripture by the Scribes and y e Phariseis And yet as many as beleued their other doctrine and many expositions of the scripture were deceaued as ye see and how Christ deliuered them out of errour And I see agayne which is no small miracle that the mercyfull care of God to keepe the Scripture to be a testimonie vnto his elect is so great that no men be more gelous ouer the bookes to kepe them and shew them and to alledge that they be the Scripture of God and true then they which when it is read in their eares haue no power to beleue it as the Iewes and the Popish And therfore because they neither can beleue it false neither consent that it is true as it soundeth playnly in their eares in that it is so contrary vnto their fleshly wisedome from which
Neyther is it maruell for it hath cost more then London and xl mile about it is able to make I think at this houre beside the effusion of innoceÌ„t bloud that was offred vnto the idoll and dayly is offred therto When this glorious name was come from our holy father the Cardinall brought it vnto the Kinges grace at Greenwich And though the king had it already and had read it yet against the morning were all the lordes gentlemen that could in so short space be gathered together sent for to come and receaue it in with honour And in the morning after the Cardinall gat him through the backside into the frier obseruantes And part of the gentils went round about and welcommed him from Rome as representing the Popes person part met him halfe way part at the court gate and last of all the kings grace him self met him in the hall and brought him vp in to a great chamber where was a seate prepared on hye for the Kinges grace and the Cardinal while the Bull was read in so much that not the wise onely but men of meane vnderstanding laughed the vaine pomp to scorne not far vnlike to the receauing of the Cardinals hatte Which wheÌ„ a ruffian had brought vnto him to Westminster vnder his cloke he clothed the messenger in rich aray and sent him backe to Douer againe and appoynted the Bishop of Canterbury to meete him and then an other company of lordes and gentles I wotte not how oft ere it came to Westminster where it was set on a cupborde and tapers about so that the greatest Duke in the lande must make curtesie thereto yea and to his empty seat he being away And shortly for lacke of authoritie of Gods worde Martin must be condemned by the authoritie of the king And the kinges grace to claw the Pope againe must make a booke in which to proue all that they would haue stablished for lacke of scripture yea and contrary to the opeÌ„ scripture is made this mighty reason Such prelates are the church and the church cannot erre and therfore all that they do is right we ought to beleeue them without any scripture yea and though the scripture be contrary Wherefore God offended with such blasphemy to make his enemies feele that they woulde not see in the open scripture nor in the practise of their liuings and doings cleane contrary vnto the scripture and vnto the liuing of Christ and his Apostles this viij hundred yeares hath poured his wrath vppon vs and hath snared the wise of the world with the subtlety of their owne wittes Moreouer when Marten Luther had submitted himselfe in an epistle let his grace consider what aunswer he gaue agayne Where is the glory of y t great prayse become that his grace gaue the Cardinall for his goodly actes and benefites which all the common wealth of the whole realme should feele And More among his other blasphemies in his Dialogue sayth that none of vs dare abide by our fayth vnto the death but shortly thereafter God to proue More that he hath euer bene a false lyar gaue strength vnto his seruaunt Sir Thomas Hitton to confesse and that vnto the death the faith of his holy sonne Iesus which Thomas the Bisshops of Canterbury and Rochester after they had dieted and tormented him secreatly murthered at Maydstone most cruelly I besech the kings most noble grace therefore to consider all the wayes by which the Cardinall and our holy Bishops haue lead him since he was first king and to see wherunto al the pride pompe and vaine boast of the Cardinall is come and how God hath resisted him and our Prelates in all theyr wiles Wee hauing nothing to do at all haue medled yet in all matters and haue spent for our prelats causes more then all Christendome euen vnto the vtter beggering of our selues haue gotten nothing but rebuke and shame hate among all nations and a mocke and a scorne thereto of them whome we haue most holpen For the Frenchmen as the saying is of late dayes made a play or a disguising at Paris in which the Emperour daunsed with the Pope and the French king and weried them the K. of England sitting on a hye bentch and looking on And when it was asked why he daunsed not it was aunswered that he sate there but to pay the ministrels their wages onely As who should say we payd for all mens daunsing We monyed the Emperour openly and gaue the Frenche men double and treble secretly and to the Pope also Yea and though Fardinandus had money sent him openly to blinde the world withall yet the saying is throughout all Douchland that we sent money to the king of Pole and to the Turke also and that by help of our mony Fardinandus was driuen out of Hungarie Which thing though it were not true yet it will breed vs a â—cab at the last and gette vs with our medling more hate then we shall be able to beare if a chaunce come vnlesse that we waxe wiser betime And I besech his grace also to haue mercy of his own soule and not to suffer Christ and his holy Testament to be persecuted vnder his name any longer that the sword of the wrath of god may be put vp againe which for that cause no doubt is most chiefly drawne And I beseech his grace to haue coÌ„passion on his poore subiectes which haue euer bene vnto his grace both obediente louing and kinde that the realme vtterly perishe not wyth the wicked counsell of our pestilent prelates For if his grace which is but a man should dye the lordes and commons not knowing who hath most right to enioy the crowne the realme could not but stande in great daunger And I exhorte the lordes temporall of the realme that they come and fall before the kinges grace and humblye desire his maiestie to suffer it to be tryed who of right ought to succed and if he or she fayle who next yea and who third And let it be proclamed openly And let al the lords temporal be sworn therto and all the knightes squires and gentlemen and the commons aboue xviij yeares old that there be no strife for the succession For if they trye it by the sworde I promise them I see none other likelyhode but that as the Cardinall hath prophecied it will cost the realme of England And all that be sworne vnto the cardinall I warne them yet once againe to breake their othes as I did in the obedience And all my lord Cardinals priuy secretaries and spyes by whom he worketh yet I warne theÌ„ to beware betime My lord Cardinall though he haue the name of all yet he wrought not all of his owne brayne but of all wilye and exercised in mischiefe he called vnto him the most experte and of their counsell and practise gathered that most seemed to serue his wicked purpose
Scriptures although S. Paule or Peter should preach it vnto vs as we see experience Actes xvij that whē Paule preached the audience dayly searched the Scriptures whether it were as he sayd But you haue bene of long continuance secluded from the scriptures whiche is cause of such grosse errours as ye are now fallen in so that ye could neither search them nor yet once looke on them Alas what blindnes doth occupy our eyes Are ye so childish to beleue that the same worde whiche hath made the vnfaythfull and heretickes faythfull and Christen in tymes past is nowe so farre altered that it should cause the faythfull and Christen to become heretickes I praye God open your eyes Howbeit wee may nowe well tast at our fingers endes that we haue long bene in that miserable case that Paule prophesied vppon vs. ij Thes ij that God hath sent vs strong delusions because we would not receaue y e knowledge of the truth what greater delusion can we haue then to thinke that the very woorde of God whiche was written for our comforte which is the very fode and sustenaunce of our soules whiche is the sure metyarde and perfect touchstone that iudgeth and examineth all thynges to thinke I saye that this wholesome worde should be our poyson and condemnation And all be it our forefathers haue lyued without it and receaued all for truth that our Prelates belyes haue imagined yet is not theyr fault ours a like although I can not excuse their ignoraunce but that it is sinne before the face of God for they had not the light of Gods word opened vnto thē Nowe sith we haue the light declared vnto vs and yet will procede in blynd ignorauncie and not conferre and examine these iugglyng mistes with the light of Gods word our ignoraunce is wilfull and without excuse Suffer therefore all thynges what soeuer they be to be tryed and examined by the Scripture If they be true then shall the Scripture doe them no hurt but stablish and strēgthen them for the Scripture discloseth nothyng but falsehead and cōdemneth nothyng but that is damnable And now to descend vnto our matter and disputation whiche is of Purgatory I shall shew you what occasiō I had to take it in hand I wrote a letter vnto a certaine frende in England desiryng hym instantly to send me certaine bookes which I though necessary for my vse and were not to be gotten in these parties as the Chronicles Syr Thomas Mores booke agaynst the Supplication of Beggers and certein other These bookes I receaued vpon S. Thomas day before Christmasse the yeare of our Sauiour a. M. ccccc xxx with a letter written in this forme Sir I haue sent you such bokes as you wrote for and one moe of Rastels makyng wherin he goeth about to proue Purgatory by naturall Philosophie whiche thyng quoth he I thinke be more easie to do thē to proue it by any good Scripture c. This stuffe receaued I was meruelously desirous and tickled to see what reasons he brought for his probations And in the begynnyng and Prologe of the booke he set seuen reasons which he sayd that fonde felowes alledged for thē to proue that there could be no Purgatory And in deede they are very fonde that would deny Purgatory if there were no better Argumentes to confute it then hee assigneth But by Gods grace I will propounde vij times seuen which shal haue such pith that their paineful purgatory shall not bee able to abyde the worst of them for these seuē that Rastell assigneth are not worth one Beane When I had read and well pondered these reasons I thought that hee should sharpely haue confuted thē as he might full well haue done specially sith they were but of his owne imagination Neuerthesse when I came vnto his solutions I founde not one but it had certaine poyntes repugnaūt vnto the Scripture vnto which our reason must euer be obediēt yea and also they were extremely iniurious vnto Christ and his precious bloud Then left I him read Syr Thomas Mores booke to see what Scripture might bee brought for that purpose and after that made I diligēt enquire to come by my Lord of Rochesters booke which also writeth on the same matter and when I had well examined their reasons and had sene the order and processe of the Scriptures whiche they alledged I founde that clearely verified whiche Aulus Gellius sayeth that it were a great deale better for a man to bee sharpely rebuked yea and openly to haue his faultes published of his enemy then to bee coldly and slenderly praysed of his frende For a mans enemy ensearcheth narrowly and gathereth together all that he can imagine and so accuseth a man more of a fumous heate then of any veritie and therfore the audience if they be wise consider his woordes therafter and so geue very small credence or els none vnto them But if a mans frende before audience doe prayse hym slenderly and coldly it is an argument that the person is very faultie for a frende beholdeth all qualities and circumstaunces his byrth bringyng vp what feates hee hath done all hys lyfe long yea and applieth many thynges vnto his frendes prayse whiche serue but sinally for it for he will leane nothing behynd that may be imagined to employ his frendes fame and honour Now if in all these pointes he can not colour out a glorious apparant laud but is compelled for lacke of matter to prayse his frēd slenderly then if the audiēce be wise they may soone cōiecture that he is no prayse worthy also may well doubt whether that small prayse which he gaue him be true or not Euē so when I had read these bookes of Syr Thomas More and my Lord of Rochester and saw the small probations slender reasons that those two witty and learned men had brought to confirme Purgatory considering also that they are the chiefest frendes proctours and patrones therof and that they had applied many reasons and Scriptures for their purpose for lacke of matter that rather made against them yea and not that onely but also that they dissented betwene them selues in their probations for M. More sayth that there is no water in Purgatory And my Lord of Rochester sayth that there is water Master More sayth that the ministers of the punishmēt are deuils And my Lord of Rochester sayth that the ministers of the punishment are aungels Master More sayth that both the grace and charitie of them that lye in the paynes of Purgatory are increased My Lord of Rochester saith that the soules in Purgatory obtain there neither more fayth nor grace nor charitie then they brought in with them These thynges cōsidered it made mine hart yerne and fully to cōsent that this their paynefull Purgatory was but a vayne imagination and that it hath of long time but deceaued the people and milked them from their
also coueteth to counterfayte his kinsmaÌ„ although the beames of his braines be nothyng so radiaunt nor his coÌ„ueyaunce so commendable in the eyes of the wise Notwithstandyng this Rastell hath enterprised to dilate this matter and hath diuided it into three Dialoges imaginyng that two men dispute this matter by natural reason and Philosophie secludyng Christ and all Scripture The one of them that should dispute this matter he calleth Gingemen fayneth hym to be a Turke and of Mahometes law The second he nameth Comingo an Almany of Christes fayth And he maketh the Turke to teach the Christen maÌ„ what he should beleue The first Dialoge goeth about to proue by reason that there is a God which is mercyfull and righteous The second entendeth to proue that the soule of a man is immortall Agaynst these two Dialogues I will not dispute partly because this treatise should not be ouer long and tedious and partly because that those twoo poyntes which he there laboureth to proue are such as no Christen man will deny although many of his probations are so slender that they may well be improued but as concerning his thyrd Dialogue wherin he would proue Purgatory it is wholly iniurious vnto the bloude of Christe and the destruction of all Christen fayth if men were so mad as to beleue his vayne persuasions And therfore I thought expedient to coÌ„pare this third Dialoge with all the deceitfull reasons vnto the true light and pure worde of God that at the least Rastell hym selfe might perceiue his owne blind ignoraunce and returne agayne into the right way And if any man haue bene deceiued through his booke as I trust there are but few except they bee very ignoraunt that they may repent with hym and glorifie GOD for his inestimable mercy which hath sent his light into this world to disclose and expell theyr darke and blynd ignorauncy that they may see his wayes and walke in them praysing the Lord eternally Amen The first Booke whiche is an aunswere vnto Rastelles Dialogue THere is no man as I thinke that hath a naturall wytte but hee will graunt me that this booke of Rastels making is either true or false If it be false theÌ„ how so euer it séeme to agrée with naturall reason it is not to be allowed if it be true then must we approue it Naturall reason must bee ruled by Scripture If naturall reason conclude agaynst the Scripture so is it false but if it be agréeyng to Scripture then is it to be heard Of this may I conclude that if Rastels booke be agréeyng to Scripture then is it true and to be allowed if it determine coÌ„trary to the Scripture then is it false and to bee abhorred how soeuer it séeme to agrée with naturall reason Now is there no Christen maÌ„ but hee beleueth surely that if Christ had not dyed for our sinnes we should all haue bene damned perpetually neuer haue entred into the ioyes of heauen whiche thyng is easie to be proued for Paule sayth Rom. 5. As thorough one maÌ„s sinne that is AdaÌ„ ensued death in all meÌ„ vnto condeÌ„natioÌ„ Euen so thorough one mans righteousnes which is Christ came righteousnes in al men vnto y e iustification of lyfe Also Iohn xi It is necessary that one man dye for the people that all the people perishe not so that we had ben condemned and had perished perpetually if Christ had not dyed for vs. But Rastel with his Turke Gingemin excludeth Christ and knoweth not of his death wherfore al y t reasoÌ„s that they can make vnto domesday caÌ„ neuer proue Purgatory except they imagine y â— we must first go to Purgatory and then after to hell for this is a playne coÌ„clusioÌ„ that without Christ whom they exclude we can neuer come to heauen what fondnes were it then to inuent a Purgatory Now may you sée that Rastels booke is fully aunswered and lieth already in the dyrte and that his thyrd Dialogue is all false and iniurious vnto the bloud of Christ As for the first and second Dialogue although there be some errours both agaynst Diuinitie and all good Philosophy yet wil I passe them ouer for they are not so blasphemous agaynst God and his Christe as the thyrd is Notwithstandyng I will not thus leaue his booke although I might full well but I will declare vnto you what solutions he maketh to these seueÌ„ weake reasons which he hath propounded hym selfe for hee auoydeth them so slenderly that if a man had any doubte of Purgatory before it would make hym sweare on a booke that there were none at all Besides that it hath not one solutioÌ„ but there are in it certaine pointes repugnauÌ„t vnto Scripture so that it is greate shame that any Christen man should Printe it and much more shame that it should be Printed with the kynges priuilege The first and chiefest reason that moueth this man yea and all other to affirme Purgatory is this whiche he putteth both in the first Chapter of his third Dialogue and also in y â— last Man sayth he is made to serue and honour God now if man be negligent about the commaundements of God and committe some veniall sinne for which he ought to be punished by the iustice of God dye sodenly without repentaunce and haue not made sufficieÌ„t satisfactioÌ„ vnto God here in the worlde hys soule ought neither immediatly to come into the glorious place of heauen because it is somewhat defouled with sinne neither ought it to go to hell vnto eternal daÌ„natioÌ„ but by al good order of iustice that soule must bee purged in an other place to make satisfactioÌ„ for those offences that it may afterward â—ee receiued into the glorious place of heaueÌ„ And so by the iustice of God there must nedes be a Purgatory Forsoth this reason hath some apperaunce of truth and the similitude of wisedome howbeit in déede it is nothyng but mans imagination and phantasie For if we compare it vnto Gods word then vanisheth it away But we regarde not the word of the Lord and therfore chaunceth eueÌ„ the same thyng vnto vs that happened before vnto the children of Israell Psal 81. My people regarded not my voyce and Israell gaue no bede vnto me therfore let I them go after the appetites of their owne harts They shall wander in their owne imaginations Now what goe they about in this their inuention and imaginatioÌ„ of Purgatory but to ponder the iustice of God in the balance of maÌ„s iustice saying It is no reason that we should enter into heauen which haue not here satisfied vnto God for our iniquitie except that we should be tormeÌ„ted and purified in an other place We were surely in euill takyng if God were of mans coÌ„plection which remitteth the fault and reserueth the payne Nay nay Christ is not gredy to be auenged He thirsteth not after our bloud but suffered all
although they haue not yet the rest but must suffer before in Purgatory that euasion will not this text suffer for the text sayth that they rest and are in peace as Esayas also sayth in the. lvij that the righteous and euery faythfull man is righteous in the sight of God as we haue often proued before when he departeth resteth in peace as in a bed And Sapiē iij. it is sayd that the righteous soules are in peace so is it not possible that there should be such a paynefull Purgatory Thus haue we confuted Rastell both his argumentes and also solutions for all that he writeth is false agaynst Scripture Furthermore we haue brought in to proue that there cā be no such Purgatory l. argumētes all grounded on Scripture And if néede were a mā might make a thousand of which our Clergy should not be able to auoyde one Here I thinke some mē will wonder that I haue the Scripture so full on my side because that there are certaine mē as my Lord of Rochester Syr Thomas More which by Scripture go about to proue Purgatory this is sure that Scripture is not contrary vnto it selfe Therfore it is necessary that we examine the textes which they bring in for their purpose in markyng the processe both what goeth before and what cōmeth after And then shal we easely perceaue the truth how these ij men haue bene piteously deceaued First I will aunswere vnto M. More which hath in a maner nothyng but that he tooke out of my Lord of Rochester although he handle it more suttelly And what soeuer is not aunswered in this parte shal be touched and fully conuinced in the third whiche shall be a seuerall booke agaynst my Lord of Rochester ¶ Thus endeth the first Booke The second booke which is an aunwere vnto Syr Thomas More MAister More begynneth with the sely soules of Purgatory and maketh them to wayle and lamēt that they heare the world waxe so faynte in the fayth of Christ that any mā should neede now to proue Purgatory to Christē mē or that any mā could be found which would in so great a thyng so fully and fastly beleued for an vndoubted article this xv hundred yeare begyn now to staggar and stand in doubt c. Verely me thinketh it a foule faute so sore to stomble euen at the first It were a great blot for him if he should be compelled by good authoritie to cut of iiij hundred of his foresayd nūber Now if we can not onely proue that he must cut of that iiij hundred yeare but also bryng witnesse that it was neither at that time beleued for an article of y t fayth nor yet for an vndoubted truth thē I thinke ye would suppose this man somewhat out of the way And that will I proue by Gods grace S. Austen was foure hundred yere after Christ And yet in his time was it not fully and fastly beleued for an article of the fayth no nor yet fully and fastly beleued to bee true For hee him selfe writeth in his Enchiridion on this maner speakyng of Purgatory After he expounded the place of Paul 1. Cor. 3. and had taken this word fire not for Purgatory but for temptation and tribulation he added these wordes in the. 69. chapter It is not incredible that such a thyng shuld also chaūce after this life whether it be so or not it may be questioned c. Of these woordes may we well perceaue that he counted it not for an article of y t fayth neither yet for an vndoubted truth for if it had bene an article of y e faith or an vndoubted truth then would hee not haue sayd Potest etiā queri that is to say it may be questioned doubted or moued for those holy fathers vsed not to make questions doubtes in articles of the fayth among thē selues neither yet in such things as were vndoubted true they vsed not to dispute whether Christe dyed for our sinnes rose agayne for our iustificatiō but onely beleued it Beside that the occasion why hée wrote the booke entitled Enchiridion was this There was one Laurētius a Christē man which instantly required of S. Austen that he would write him a forme of his belefe whiche hée might continually beare in hand and whereunto he should sticke Vpō this wrote him S. Austen this litle booke where in he commaundeth hym not fully and fastly to beleue these are M. Mores wordes that there was a Purgatory but sayth that it may be questioned doubted or moued whether there be such a place or not Of this haue we playne euidence that it was none article of y t fayth in S. Austens tyme which was foure hūdred yeare after Christ neither yet vndoubted truth And so may all men sée that M. More is sore deceaued and set on the sand euen at the first brunte and in the begynnyng of his viage His second reason that he hath to proue Purgatory is this The very miscreauntes Idolaters Turkes Saracenes and Paynimes haue euer for the most part thought and beleued that after the bodyes are deceased the soules of such as were neither deadly dampned wretches for euer nor on the other side so good but that their offences done in this world haue deserued more punishment then they had suffered and sustained there were purged and punished by payne after the death ere euer they were admitted vnto their wealth and rest And so must there nedes be a Purgatory I aūswere if it were lawfull to require wisedome in a man so wise as M. More is counted here would I wish him a litle more wit for I thinke there is no wiseman that will graunt this to be a good argumēt y t Turkes Saracenes Paynimes Iewes beleue it to be true Ergo we must beleue that it is true for I will shewe you a like argument The Turkes Saracenes Paynimes Iewes beleue that we haue not y t right Christ but that we are all damned which beleue in Christ Is it therfore true shal we turne our fayth because they beleue that we be deceaued I thinke there is no man so foolish as to graūt him this But if M. More will haue his reasō hold he must argue on this maner The miscreauntes and infidels before named beleue that there is a Purgatory their belefe is true therfore we must beleue that there is a Purgatory Now foloweth this argument somewhat more formally Here might I put him to the profe of his Minor which is that their belefe in beleuyng Purgatory is true which thyng he shall neuer be able to proue But I haue such confidence of the truth on my side that I will take vpon me to proue the negatiue Cut̄ that their belefe is not true as cōcernyng Purgatory For these miscreauntes which beleue Purgatory beleue that there is a Purgatory for vs that be
Christen for they beleue that we are fallē from all truth and vtterly dāned But they thinke that there is a Purgatory for them selues wherin they shal be purged punished vntill they haue made full satisfactiō for their sinnes committed but that is false for neither Turkes Saracenes Paynimes nor Iewes whiche beleue not in Christ haue or euer shall enter into any Purgatory but they are all dāned wretches because they beleue not in Iesu Christ Iohn 3. Now sith they be deceaued for they haue no Purgatory but are all damned as many as beleue not Alas what blindnes is that to argue that we must folow them which are both blynd and out of the right way After this disputeth he by naturall reason that there must be a Purgatory his disputation continueth a leafe and an halfe out of the which Rastell tooke all his booke And so are all his apparent reasons disclosed before agaynst Rastell Then begynneth he with the Scripture on this maner IT semeth very probable and likely that the good kyng Ezechias for no other cause wept at the warning of his death geuen him by the Prophet but onely for the feare of Purgatory The story is written 4. Kinges 2. And Esay 38. Exechias was sicke vnto the death And Esay the Prophete and sonne of Amos came vnto him saying this sayth the Lord dispose thy house for thou shalt dye and not liue He turned his face vnto the wall and prayed the Lord saying I beseche thée Lord remember I pray thée how I haue walked before thée in truth and in a perfite hart haue done that thyng which is pleasaunt acceptable before thée Then Ezechias wept with great cryeng these are the wordes of the text We cā not perceaue by the text that he was a great sinner but rather the contrary for he sayth that hee had walked before the Lorde in truth and in a perfite hart hath done that thyng which is pleasaunt and acceptable before the Lord. And therfore it is nothyng lyke that hee should feare Purgatory neither yet hell Thou wilt peraduēture aske me if he wept not for feare of Purgatory why did he then wepe I will also aske you a question and then will I shew you my minde Christ dyd not onely wepe but feared so sore that he sweat like droppes of bloud runnyng downe vppon the earth whiche was more then to wepe Now if I should aske you why Christ feared sweate so sore what would you aūswere me that it was for feare of the paynes of Purgatory forsooth he that would so aunswere should be laughed to scorne of all the world as he were well worthy Wherfore was it then Verely euen for feare of death as it playnly appeareth after for he prayed vnto his Father saying my father if it be possible let this death passe fro me Math. xxvj So fearefull a thyng is death euen vnto the most purest flesh And euen the same cause will I assigne in Ezechias that he wept for feare of death and not for Purgatory Now procedeth he further promiseth to proue it by playne euident textes as it is very needefull for the text that hee alledged before is somewhat to farre wrested and yet will it not serue him Haue ye not sayth he the wordes of Scripture written in the booke of the kynges Dominus deducit ad in feros reducit Our Lord bryngeth folke down into hell and bringeth them thence agayne But they that bee in that where damned soules be they be neuer deliuered thence againe Wherfore it appeareth well that they whō God deliuereth and bryngeth thence agayne be in that part of hell that is Purgatory This texte is written in the first booke of the kynges and in the second chapter and they are the wordes of Anna which sayth The Lord doth kill quickē againe he ledeth downe into hell bryngeth agayne Here he thinketh to haue good hold But surely his hold will fayle hym for in this one text hee sheweth him selfe twise ignoraunt First because he knoweth not that the Hebrue word Sheol doth not signifie hell but a graue or a pitte that is digged As it is written Gene. 42. Si quid aduersitatis acciderit ei in terra ad quam pergitis deducetis canos meos cum dolore ad inferos that is if any euill chaūce vnto my sonne Beniamin in the lād whether you go you shall bryng down myne hoore heares with sorow vnto my graue not vnto hell nor yet vnto Purgatory for he thought neither to go to hell nor Purgatory for his sonne but thought that he should dye for sorrow if his sonne had any mischaunce Besides that he is cleane ignoraūt of the cōmon maner of all Prophetes which for y e most part in all Psalmes Hymnes and other songes of prayse as this is make the first ende of the verse to expounde the last and the last to expounde the first He that obserueth this rule shall vnderstand very much in the Scripture although hee be ignoraunt in the Hebrue So doth this place full well expounde it selfe without any imagination of Purgatory Conferre the first part of y e verse vnto the last and you shall easely perceaue it The first part of the halfe verse is this The Lord doth kill and that expoūdeth the other halfe of this verse where she sayth hee leadeth downe to hell so that in this place to kill and to leade downe to hell is all one thing And likewise in the second part of the halfe verse to quicken agayne and bryng agayne is all one thyng Now if any man be superstitious that hée dare not vnderstand this thyng as figurately spoken then may he verifie it vpon them that God raysed from naturall death as he did Lazarus Iohn xj And all beit no man can deny but that this sence is good and that the text may so be vnderstād yet in my minde we shal go more nye vnto the very and pure truth if we expounde it thus The Lord doth kill and quickē agayne he leadeth downe to hell and bringeth agayne that is hee bryngeth men into extreme affliction and miserie whiche is signified by death and hell and after turneth not hys face vnto them and maketh them to folow hym And to this well agréeth the. 78. Psalme that speaketh of the children of Israel which figure his elect Church and congregation Theyr yeares passed ouer in perpetuall trouble whē he destroyed or killed them then they sought hym they turned and besought him busely He meaneth not here that he had first killed them by temporal death and after their death made them to séeke hym but that he had wrapped them in extreme afflictions and perpetuall troubles and that he sore scourged them whē they brake his cōmaundements yet after turned his mercyfull face vnto hym Finally if you will haue the pure vnderstādyng of this place Note
And so must we graunt hym that this fire is very hote Now may you wel perceaue what a slender foūdation their hote purgatory hath For by this confutatiō may you easely sée that it hath no grounde nor authority of Scripture Notwithstandyng it is the foundation of all religions and cloysters yea and of all the goodes that nowe are in these spiritualtie Are not they witty worke men whiche can buylde so much on so slender a foundation Howbeit they haue made it so toppeheuye that it is surely lyke to haue a fall Thus hath Master More a full aunswere both to hys Scriptures whiche were to farre wrested out of theyr places and also to hys owne apparent reasons Howbeit if hys mastershyppe be not fully pacified let hym more groundly open hys mynde and bryng for his purpose all that he thinketh to make for it and I shall by Gods grace shortly make hym an aunswere and quyet his mynde ¶ Thus endeth the second booke ¶ The third booke which aunswereth vnto my Lord of Rochester and declareth the mynde of the old Doctours NOw will I addresse me to the thirde part which shall be an aunswere vnto my lord of Rochester And all his reasons and argumentes both of the Scriptures and doctoures which are not before dissouled in the seconde part wyll I clene confute by Gods grace in this thirde booke Howbeit the chéefest of his scriptures hath M. More perused and hath in a maner nothing but that was before writtē by my lord of Rochester sauing that he maketh the selye soules to pull to helpe his matter withall My lord of Rochester is the first patrone and defender of thys phantasie And euē as M. More tooke his worke out of my lord of Rochesters euen so plucked Rastell hys booke out of M. Mores My lord of Rochester to confirme hys sentence rekoneth vp the doctors by heape M. Iohn M. William M. Thomas omnes But as concerning the doctors that they are not so fully on hys side as he woulde make thē séeme is sone proued And where should I better begin to confute him then of hys owne wordes for he writeth himselfe vpon the xviij article on this maner THere is no man now a daies that doubteth of Purgatorye sayeth he and yet among the olde auncient fathers was there eyther none or els very seldome mention made of it And also among the Grecians euen vnto this day is not purgatory beleued Let him read that will the commentaries of the olde Grecians and as I suppose he shal finde eyther no worde spoken of it or els very few These are my lordes wordes I wonder what obliuiousnes is come vppon hym that he so cleaueth vnto the Doctors whome he affirmed before eyther to make no mention of it or els very seldome Notwythstanding I will declare you somewhat of the Doctors that you may the better know theyr meaning To speake of the Doctors what theyr minde was in thys matter it were necessarye to declare in what time they were and what condition the worlde was in theyr dayes S. Austine Ambrose Hierome were in one time euen about iiij hundred yeares after Christ and yet before theyr time were there arisen infinite heretikes by whole sectes as the Arrians Domitians Eunomians Vigilanttians Pelagians with infinite other which had so swerued from the truth and wrested the Scripture out of frame that it was not possible for one man no nor for one mans age to restore it agayne vnto the true sense Among these there were some which not onely fayned a purgatory but also doted so far that they affirmed that euery man were he neuer so vicious should be saued through that fire and aleaged for them the place of Paul 1. Corinthians 3. These holy doctours perceauing those greate erroures thought it not best by and by to condemne all thinges indifferētly but to suffer and dissemble wyth the lesse that they might wéede out the opinions which were most noysom as the Apostles graunted vnto the Iewes that the Gentiles should kéepe some of Moyses law Actes xv that they might the better com to their purpose to saue the Iewes with the Gentiles For if they had at the first vtterly set of the law then would the Iewes neuer haue geuen any audience vnto the Apostles And euen so S. Austen went wisely to worke First condemning by the Scripture that errour which was most noysome and wrote on thys maner Albeit some might be purged through fire yet not such as the Apostle condemneth when he sayeth that the persons which so do shal not possesse the kingdome of heauen And where they woulde haue stucke vnto Paules text 1. Cor. 3. and affirme that they shoulde be saued thorough fire S. Austen answered that Paules texte was vnderstande of the spirituall fire which is temptation affliction tribulation c. Thys wrote he in the 67. 68. of hys Enchiridion to subuert that grosse errour that all should be saued through y t fire of purgatory Yet in the 69. he goeth a litle neare them and sayth that it may be doubted whether there be any such purgatory or not He durst not yet openly cōdemne it because he thought that men could not at that time beare it But after in his booke which he entituled De vanitate huius soeculi there doth he fully shew his minde in these wordes Scitote quòd cum anima a corpore auellitur statim aut pro meritis bonis in Paradiso collocatur aut pro merit is malis in inferni tartara praecipitatur i. Wote ye well that when the soule is departed from the body eyther it is by and by put into paradise according to hys good desertes or els it is thrust hedlong into hell for hys sinnes Here he cleane condemneth purgatory for if thys be done by and by assoone as the soule is departed from the body then can there be no purgatory and so maketh S. Austen wholy with vs. Thinke ye that S. Austen dissenteth from his companion S. Hierome or from hys owne Master S. Ambrose Nay verely Howbeit I will alleage theyr owne wordes and then iudge SAint Ambrose dissenteth not from S. Austine but doth stablysh hys sentence as fully as is possible for he writeth in the second chapter of hys booke which is called De bono mortis on this maner bringing in the words of Dauid Psal 39. Aduena ego sum in terra peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei Et ideo tanquam peregrinus ad illā sanctorum communem omnium patriam festinabat Petens pro huius commorationis inquinamento remitti sibi peccata priusquam discederet de vita Qui enim hîc non acceperit remissionem peccatorum illic non erit Non erit autem quia ad vitam aeternam non potuerit peruenire quia vita aeterna remissio peccatorum est Ideoque dicit remitte mihi vt refrigerer priusquam abeam
ready fully purged in their hart and their rebellious meÌ„bers through death are wholly subdued These men shall geue no reckoning neyther of idle woorde nor euill déed for all theyr sinnes are couered of Christ and hys bloud shall geue the whole accomptes for them The vnfaythfull to theyr vtter confusion shall haue the booke of theyr conscience opened and there shall be presented before them all theyr euill deades woordes and thoughtes And these are they that Christ speaketh of which shall geue thys great accompt Note also that in the text they are called men which woord in Scripture is euer for the most part taken in the worste sense and signifieth wicked men fleshly men and men that folow their own lustes and appetites THen confirmeth he purgatory out of the 66. Psalme which sayth we haue gone through fire and water and thou hast brought vs into colenesse I am sure you haue not forgotten that M. More alledgeth the Prophet Zachary in the ix and affirmeth that thâ—re is no water in Purgatory It were hard to make these two agrée for when meÌ„ ground them on a lye then for the most part theyr tales and probations are coÌ„trary and will not well stand together Neuerthelesse in one poynte they agrée full well that is both of them say vntruly for neither nother text serueth any whit for Purgatory And as concernyng the place of Zachary it is sufficieÌ„tly declared what it meaneth And now wil I also declare you the vnder standyng of this text and first that it can not serue for purgatory I besech you that haue the psalter once to read the Psalme I thinke you shal wonder at their doâ—yng dreames and ignoraunce which allege this text for Purgatory The text of y e Psalme is this Thou hast brought vs into a straite laden our backes with trouble or heuynesse Thou hast set men vpon our heades we haue gone through fire water and thou hast led vs out agayn into a place of refreshyng The textes before and after in the same Psalme will not suffer that this place should be vnderstand of Purgatory For the text immediately before sayth thou hast set men vpon our heades But the chiefest defenders of Purgatory and eueÌ„ M. More hym selfe say that they are not men but deuils which torment the soules in Purgatory notwithstandyng my Lord of Rochester good man affirmeth that they are aungels whiche torment the soules there but neuer man doted so farre as to say that men torment the soules in Purgatory wherefore I may conclude that this text is not ment of purgatory but that the Prophet meÌ„t that men ranne ouer the childreÌ„ of Israell subdued them and wrapped theÌ„ in extreme troubles which in the Scripture are signified by fire and water Besides that the textes folowyng wil not admit that this should be vnderstaÌ„d of Purgatory for it foloweth immediatly I will enter into thy house with â—urt offrynges I shall offer vnto thée fat sacrifices with the reke of wethers I shall burne to the Oxen Goates Now is there no maÌ„ so mad as to thinke that the soules of Purgatory should offer vnto God any such sacrifices So that the text is playnly vnderstand of the children of Israell which through the Lord were deliuered from their afflictioÌ„s and enemies then offred theyr loyall sacrifices of prayse and thankes to the Lord theyr shield and protection NOwe flyeth my Lorde vnto the Church sayth that because the Churche hath affirmed it we must needes beleue it for the Church caÌ„ not erre As touchyng this poynte I will referre you vnto a woorke that William Tyndal hath writteÌ„ agaynst M. More wherin ye shal wel perceiue what the Church of Christ is that hys Churche neuer determined any such thyng But that it is the Sinagoge of Sathan that maketh articles of the fayth bindeth meÌ„s conscieÌ„ces further then the Scripture will THen waxeth his Lordshyp somewhat hote agaynst Martine Luther because he would that no man should be compelled to beleue Purgatory For my Lord sayth that it is profitable and wel done to compel men to beleue such thynges whether they will or will not And to stablishe his opinion hée plucketh out a word of the parable of Luke xiiij that a certayne man made a great supper and sayd vnto his seruauÌ„tes go forth quickly into the wayes and compell them to enter in Verely there Christ ment no other thyng but that his Apostles should go forth into all the world and preach his word vnto all nations openyng vnto them the miserable state and conditioÌ„ that they be in and agayne what mercy God hath shewed theÌ„ in his sonne Christ This would Christ that his Apostles should expound and lay out so euidently by reasons Scriptures and miracles vnto the Gentils that they should eueÌ„ by their manifest persuasions be compelled to graunt vnto them that he was Christ and to take vpon them the fayth that is in Christ On this maner did Christ compel the Saduces to graunt the resurrection Math. xxij And by these meanes compelled hee the Phariseis to graunt in theyr consciences that he dyd his miracles with the power of God yet afterward of very hate knowyng in theyr hartes the contrary they sayd y e he dyd them by the power of the deuill Math. xij But to say that Christ would haue his Disciples to compell men with prisonment fetters scourgyng sword and fire is very false and farre from the mildenesse of a ChristeÌ„ spirite although my Lord approue it neuer so much For Christ dyd forbyd his Disciples such tyraÌ„ny yea and rebuked them because they would haue desired that fire should descende from heauen to consume the Samaritanes which wold not receiue Christ Luke ix But he commaunded them that if meÌ„ would not receiue their doctrine they should departe from thence and spryncle of the dust of their féete to be a testimony agaynst the vnfaythfull that they had bene there preached vnto them the word of life But with violence will God haue no man compelled vnto his law Paule also testifieth 2. Cor. 1. that he had not rule ouer the CorinthiaÌ„s as touchyng theyr fayth By our fayth we stand in the Lord by our infidelitie we fall from hym As no man can search the hart but onely God so can no man iudge or order our fayth but onely God thorough his holy spirite Furthermore fayth is a gifte of God which he distributeth at hys owne pleasure 1. Cor. 12. If he geue it not this day he may geue it to morow And if thou perceaue by any exterior worke that thy neighbour haue it not enstruct him with Gods word and pray God to geue hym grace to beleue that is rather a poynte of a christen man then to compell a man by death or exterior violence Finally what doth thy compulsion and violence
he will perchaunce thinke that the lay people of all estates may well and iustly say farewell the one wyth the other and no maruayll for they haue not bene all the children of one father that haue bene in counsels as they haue not bene all sheepe that haue gone in sheepes clothing and oft times the greater part ouercommeth the better Which things gathered by experience and by reading causeth me oftentimes to wishe that they which would be counted sinceere and true ministers of the Gospell eyther might and would cleane abstayne from such counselles that they haue no part in them or els that they would geue no more place to the fruites of infidelitie I meane mans inuentions and carnall interpretations which the fayth in Christ neuer begatte then S. Paule gaue to Peter hys colleague when he left the table of the Gentiles and went to the Iewes which facte of Peter in my iudgement Paule might more conueniently haue approued seeing Peter did it to the entent he would not offeÌ„d his weake brethren the Iewes wyth hys eating then the true and sincere ministers of Christ in the Gospell may winke at many thinges vsed in these dayes among the disciples of the Gospell much lesse may they approue theÌ„ with the fashion of theyr own liuing and confirme them with the auctoritye of a Counsell and with preching they say it is not time to speake against theÌ„ yet is it time to leaue them and no longer to seeme to allow them vnlesse they entend alwayes to walk in them Had the author of this booke looked after a time as some do he had not written against Purgatorye when he did I feare me some maintaine blindnes more with theyr simulation then they open the lyght with theyr preaching But this haue I spoken good Reader besides my purpose which was none other then to admonish the that although Rochester More and Rastell haue all three as thou perceiuest by reading thys former treatise stiffely defended one heresie yet shouldest thou not haue of all three one iudgement or opinion More and Rochester were men of high dignitie in thys worlde the one a Byshop the other Chauncelor of this noble realme of England both auncient in yeares of so great wit and so singular erudition in all kinde of learning esteemed as well of themselues as of many other that no two lyke might in all this land be found it was thought that for theyr dignity no man durst for theyr yeares witte and learning no man was hable to gayâ—â—ayt them wherfore they were perswâ—…d to be the most meete of all other to â—ake in hand the defence of the terrible paynes of purgatory eyther the very â—ouÌ„datioÌ„ or els the chief building seâ— vpoÌ„ y t fouÌ„datioÌ„ of y e church of Rome Rastell had nothing coÌ„mon w t them But onely many yeares and a witte sophisticall which he called naturall reason As appartayning to Gods worde he acknowledged himselfe ignoraunt therof notwtstanding he had such opinion of his witte that he thought he could as well proue purgatory by it as the other two had done by the scriptures wherin I thinke he was not deceiued And as these three persons were not like so tooke they the aunswer made to them not a like More and Rochester thought foule scorne see what the glory of this world and high estimation of our selues doth that a yong man of small reputation shoulde take vppon him so cleane contrary to theyr opinion to write against them and to be short tooke the matter so greuouslye that they could neuer be at quiet in theyr stomackes vntill they had dronken his bloud Rastell though he perceaued his naturall reason to be sore sayd to yet was he not malicious as the other were and therfore wrote he agayne Which worke of Rastell came to his handes when he was prisoner in the Tower of London where he made the aunswere following to the same which aunswer after Rastel had read he was well content to count his naturall reason foolishnes and wyth harty thankes geuen to God became a childe againe and sucked of the wisedome which commeth from aboue and saueth all that be norished therewith In the which he continued to his liues end with the honor and glory of God To whome be prayse for euer Amen ¶ Here foloweth the Preface of this booke BRother Rastell I thaÌ„ke you that it hath pleased you to be so fauourable vnto me a poore prisoner as to shew me a copie of your booke whiche you haue written to confute my reasons and Scripture that I haue alledged agaynst Purgatory for that hath caused me to make a subsidie defeÌ„ce and bulwarke to my booke whiche by Gods grace shal be an occasion to open more light although not to you yet at the lestwise vnto them whose hartes the prince of this world hath not blinded but that the light of the Gospell and glorie of Christ may shyne in them And where as you write and protest that you will bryng no Scripture agaynst me But onely rehearse my Scripture agayne which I haue alledged vnperfeitly and wouÌ„de me with myne owne dartes and will but euen do as one that playeth at tennes with an other tossing the balle agayne I doe verye well admitte your similitude Notwithstanding you know right well that it is not inough for a man playing at tennes to tosse the balle agayne but he must so tosse it that the other take it not For if the other smite it ouer agayne then is the game in as great ieoberdy as it was before besides that hee must take heede that he neither smite to short of the line not yet vnder for then it is a losse and he had bene better to let it goe And finally sometyme a man smiteth ouer and thynketh all won and yet an vngracious post standeth in the way and maketh the ball to rebounde backe againe ouer the corde so loseth the game And that wil anger a man and I assartayne you that ye haue tossed neuer a ball but ye offende in one of these pointes yet besides that some tyme ye playe a touche of legerdemayne and cast me a ball which wheÌ„ it commeth I perceaue to be none of mine and all the court shall iudge the same These poyntes shal be declared when we come to them and now I will aunswere in order IN your Prologue you assigned two causes of the making of your first booke of purgatory with out allegyng any textes of scripture for y e profe therof which are the controuersie of two sortes of people One sorte you say be those that beleue not in Christ but deny Christ and his Scripture as bee the Turkes Paynimes and such other miscreauntes An other sort be they that beleue in Christ his scripture nor wil deny no text of holy scripture but yet they will construe expounde and interprete these texts after theyr owne willes and obstinate mynde c.
Now let vs consider your foresayd causes ponder whether your booke haue or may do any such good as you say pretended whether it haue conuerted those sortes of people or els be any thyng lykely to do such a fact And first let vs sée what it profiteth y t first sort which are infidels not beleuyng in Christ nor his scripture Our sauiour Christ sayth he that beleueth is not damned Iohn Baptist confirmeth the same saying he that beleueth in y e sonne hath euerlastyng lyfe but he that beleueth not in the sonne shal not sée life but the wrath of God abydeth vpon hym Here it is euidēt not by my exposition but by the consent of all Christen men that those infidels are damned for what entent then should Rastell teach them that there is a Purgatory without Christ ther is no way but dānation as scripture all faythfull men testifie Then would I know by what way he wold persuade that there were a Purgatory which should be away a meane to saluation and not to damnatiō for thē which beleue not in Christ This I am sure of and I thinke Rastell be leueth it also that the infideles shall neuer come in it though there were one This you may sée that his first cause is very vayne and that if they dyd beleue it they were in déede deceyued Now let vs procéede vnto the second sort of people which beleue in Christ and his scripture and yet misconstrue it expoundyng it after theyr own willes And let vs sée what frute they take of this booke what it profiteth them we shall finde that it lesse serueth these men then the first for if this men beleue in Christ and in hys Scripture then is it not possible that they should receaue or admitte that thyng which is agaynst the Scripture both by the exposition of them selues of all the world For this is both agaynst Scripture and all faithfull mē that there should be any way to health if we exclude Christ and hys Scripture And sith Purgatory is counted away to health he that would go about to proue it secludyng Christ and Scripture is agaynst Scripture and all faythfull men Besides that if they be so obstinate that they will not receaue the verye Scripture but expounde it after their own willes wrest it after the same then wil they much lesse receaue your booke which is so playne agaynst scripture therfore if you would thinke that they could bee tamed by your booke which notwithstandyng so wresteth Scripture then may I very wel lyken you to hym that hath a wilde horse to tame which when he perceiueth that hee can not hold hym with a scoktishe snafle will yet labour to breake him with a rootē twine threde So that I can espye no maner of profite that cā come of your booke if you can alledge no better causes then you yet shew but that it had bene a great deale better vnwritten And brother Rastel where you say that I auaunce boast my selfe much more then becommeth me and that I detract and slaūder my neighbours that I prouoke all men that read my booke rather to vyce then to vertue with such other thynges as ye lay to my charge I trust I shall declare my inconuenience and geue you a sufficient aunswere ¶ An aunswere to Rastels first chapter which reproueth me for boastyng my selfe IN the first chapter of this booke Rastell laboureth to proue that I am sore ouer séene in laudyng boastyng my selfe that I lyke my selfe so well that he is sure that other men do lyke me the lesse and that he feareth that God will therfore lyke me fauour me rather the worse then the better Here he iuggeleth wyth me and would make me beleue that he tossed me mine own ball agayne but when I beholde it I perceaue it to be none of mine for he hath cut out all that shoulde make for me so that he hath geuen it cleane an other shape then euer I entended that it should haue as it appeareth by hys writing which rehearseth my words in this maner I am sure there are many that maruell that I being so yong dare attempt to dispute thys matter agaynst these thrée persons But my wordes are these I am sure that there are many that will much maruell that I being so yong and of so smal learning dare dispute this matter c. Here Rastell leaueth out the wordes and of so small learning for if he had put that in he had bewrayed himselfe For I thincke no man so mad as to say that he which sayeth himselfe to be both yong and of small learning shoulde prayse and boaste hym selfe Also immediatly after the wordes of hys first allegation I say on thys maner And as touching my lerning I must needes acknowledge as the truth is that it is very small which I thinke is but a base boasting and anone after I say I would not that any man should admit my wordes or learning except they will stand wyth the scripture and be approued therby Lay them to the touchstone and trye them with Gods word if they be found false and contrary then damne them and I also shall reuoke them with all mine hart c. Finally I exhorted them to read my booke not aduertising who speaketh the wordes but rather what is spoken by which wordes you might well see that I entended not to boast my selfe and all this haue I written and be left it out euē in the first page as he calleth it wherin he reporteth that I boast my selfe Notwithstanding one thing doth sore vexe him that I should recite the Epistle of S. Paule wherby he saith I would haue men beleue that I had the spirite of God and thinke that though I be young that I sée visions and espye the truth and that myne elders haue dreamed dreames and wandered in phantasies Thys he recounteth to be a great boast and that thys one place shoulde winne him the fielde whereunto I aunswer that indéede my wordes do not proue that thing which you séeme so surely to gather of them but my wordes do argue on this maner that no man ought to condemne a thing before he read it and then to geue sentence and because you séeme ignoraunt in the matter I shall declare it vnto you and how it standeth It is a coulour of Rhetorike and is called Auantopodosis that is to saye An aunswere to an obiection that a man might haue here made on thys maner thou grauntest thy self yong and of so small learnyng doost thou then thinke that we shall once read or regard thy booke specially sith it is written against auncient mē both of great wit dignity To these two pointes I aunswer preuenting theyr obiection that they should not despise it because of my youth for as the spirite of God is bound to
More and my Lorde of Rochester alleadge for theyr opinions and would haue them to ponder their reasons and my solutions vnto them annexyng these wordes I am sure y t my smal learning hath condeÌ„ned their hygh eloquence that my folye hath brought to nought their wisedome that my youth hath disclosed their festered ignoraunce There Rastell thinketh that I staÌ„d well in my owne conceite and boast my selfe aboue the Moone because I touch M. More his kynsman but let Rastell take this for an aunswere if M. More would kéepe him within his owne bondes that is with medling of worldly matters onely I would neuer compare with him yet he must remember that a dawber may correct hym in his owne craft but it is euen as Socrates sayeth when a man is wise in one thyng then will hée take vpon him to define all thynges and be ignoraunt in nothyng and so disdayneth the gift that he hath and proueth hym selfe vnwise Furthermore I sée no great praise that I here attribute vnto my selfe but confesse my small learning my folly and my youth neuerthelesse if he recount it a prayse because I say it hath coÌ„demned theyr hie eloquence and theyr wisedome and disclosed theyr ignoraunce then let hym also annexe the wordes that I wrote saying And it is euen the olde practise of God to choose the foolish things of the worlde to confound the wise to choose the weak to confound the mighty and to choose the vile things which are of no reputation to confound theÌ„ of hye degrée that no flesh might bost it selfe in his sight to whom onely be prayse and thankes for euer Amen Where all men may sée that I referre all prayse to him which onely is worthy and so I may conclude that you haue not looked indifferently on my booke An aunswer vnto Rastels second chapter which improueth me for rayling dispraising others IN the second chapter he raungeth the field and searcheth out with all diligence what worde I haue spoken that might be takeÌ„ in the worst sence and calleth them rayling gesting and scolding woordes And because he would haue me to be abhorred of the Reader he alleageth not onely these wordes that are spoken against himselfe but also that are spoken against my lorde of Rochester and syr Thomas More not that he entendeth to aunswer for them or to defend theyr parties ye may be sure but onely to leaue nothing behinde which should séeme to make for him like a noble orator the wordes that he reproueth are these There Rastell taketh hys foundation vpon a starke lye and there he maketh two lyes and there he maketh thrée lyes Here I would desire my brother Rastell to pardon me of a little ignoraunce for surely I thought it had bene no more offence to call a lye a lye then to call a shéepe a shéepe notwithstanding sith he recounteth it to be rayling gesting and scolding I will hereafter temper my selfe and chaunge my words and will say that when he lyeth that by hys leaue he maketh a fitten It angreth him when I say that Rastel hath lost his wit in purgatory and therefore I will say so no more But thys I will affirme be Rastell neuer so furious that whosoeuer maketh such reasons and solutions and counteth them good in earnest that he hath no wit in hys head wheresoeuer he lost it but if you would read Rastels first argument which I haue set in my booke in the twelf leafe then you shall perceyue whether I say the truth or not Also he aleageth that I should say that saying of Rastell is against scripture but if ye count that railing and and would not haue me say so much vnto him I will count the man somwhat stately and this I ensure him that if God suffer me to liue I wyll say so agayne take it as he will Also he reciteth as a great reproch that I should say I marueyll how our scholemen may abide this felow And surely the same I say agayne for he proueth both sainte Thomas and them also foles double fâ—oles which if I shoulde so do would be counted baynous heresie Then he rehearseth what I say of M. More and my L. of Rochester and all to helpe his matter that when I say the small probations and slender reasons that those two witted men Syr Thomas More and my Lorde of Rochester had brought to confirme Purgatorye made my hart to yerne What rayling or iesting this is let other men iudge but thys I dare auow that I sayd the truth for what should a man do or say to sée them so contrary in theyr tales M. More sayeth that there is fire and no water in purgatory and my lord of Rochester sayth that there is both fire and water M. More sayth that the ministers of punishment are deuils and my lorde of Rochester sayth that the ministers of punishment are angels M. More sayth that both the grace charity of them that lye in the paynes of purgatory are increased my lorde of Rochester sayth the soules of purgatory obtayne there neyther more fayth nor grace nor charitie theÌ„ they brought in with them Now iudge good Reader whether I haue rayled or sayde the trueth but all this doth Rastell leaue out full craftely he reciteth full diligently both the head and tayle but the middle which expoundeth the matter wil he not let you sée He alleageth also against me that I say M. More is sore deceaued and set on the sand euen at the first brunt and in the beginning of hys voyage and that I would wish M. More a little more witte Euen that I say agayne and affirme it to be true and is so euidently proued in the beginning of mine aunswer agaynst M. More that I néed to say nothing but only referre the reader vnto the place Also he improueth me for saying in an other place that M. More sheweth him in one text twise ignoraunt and y t he is to buste for he vnderstandeth not the phrase of scripture This and such other sayinges he alleageth which I passe ouer for I count it folly to spend paper and laboure about the rehearsing of them for if you read my booke you shall sée all these points so plainly proued that he mought be ashamed to make mention of them This he counteth gesting slaundering and rayling saying that no reasonable man will thincke these poyntes to be thinges belonging to vertue but rather spices and braunches of pride and that I shew not my self therin charitable but rather malicious nor no wisedome therein but rather â—olly adding that if I had bene halfe a yeare at two scholes that is to say the schole of discretion and the schole of charitie I should more haue prospered in vertuous learning then I haue done in other scholes this vij yeare and sayth that I haue bene at the
scholes of slaundering rayling and gesting Deare brother if it had bene so that I had spoken certayne wordes in déede which mighte haue séemed in your eyes to be rayling detracting and slaundring as I haue not sauing a little gesting woulde you disproue my doctrine thereby What will you then say to S. Iohn baptist which calleth the pharisies then heades of the church as are now our doctoures generation of vipers would you therefore conclude that his doctrines were naught I thinke you be not so chyldish And it séemeth this one sentence to be more rayling and slaundering then all that I haue written What wil you say to Christ which called the scribes and pharisies hypocrites Math. 15. 16. 22. And in the 13. he séemeth to rayle aboue measure where he calleth theÌ„ hypocrites and blinde guides paynted sepulchers whych outwardlye appeare righteous but within are full of hypocrisie serpents and generation of Vipers Besides that he calleth Herode Foxe Luc. 13 and the Iewes he called a froward and aduouterous generation Math. 12. 16 and in the 17. he sayth O vnfaythfull and ouerthwart nation woulde you thinke it should excuse the Iewes which refused his doctrine to say that he rayled and that no reasonable man woulde thinke those things to be pointes belonging to vertue but rather spices and braunches of pride and that hée shewed not hym selfe charitable but malicious nor no wisedome therein but folie would it excuse them to say as you do to me that if he had bene one halfe yeare at schole of discretion and charitie he should more haue prospered in vertuous learning and that he had bene at the scholes of sclanderyng rayling and iestyng Finally S. Paule in your eyes might appeare to rayle and slaunder and to be cleane destitute of Gods spirite which as Luke saith replenished with the holy Ghost sayd to Clemas that resisteth hym Actes 13. O thou ful of all suttelty deceite thou sonne of the deuill and enemy of all righteousnes ceaseth not to peruerte the rightwayes of the Lord. I can bryng many â—â—o such sayinges of Peter Iohn Iames and Iudas and yet I thincke you will not improue their doctrine thereby but because I studye to be shorte I shall count it sufficient to haue warned the reader of this Notwithstanding peraduenture Rastell wil not yet be aunswered but will say that albeit I haue touched inough as concernyng those thynges that appeare railyng and slanderyng in his eyes yet I brought none that iest as I do whereunto I may aunswere and alledge for me Helias the Prophet which both mocked the false Priestes and iested with them saying call loude vnto your Gods for peraduenture they are a sléepe and caÌ„ not here or els they be gone out of towne I cannot inough meruell that my brother Rastell would vse such maner of reasoning with me as to improue my doctrine because of my raylyng and iestyng For ther with he hath made a foule hole in his kinsmans best coate for euery maÌ„ perceiueth that M. More his bookes are so full of rayling gestyng and baudye tales that if the furious Momus Venus had take out theyr partes there should be very little left for Vulcanus After this Rastell dissenteth to the purpose of his matter would proue that my expositions of Scripture are not good because they are an occasion to bryng y t people to boldnes of sinne and to moue the people to delite in other mens faultes and to laugh therat and to put you an exaÌ„ple he sayth if I should take vpon me the expositioÌ„ of this text In principio erat verbum verbum erat apud deum c. and expound it after this maner In the begynnyng of this yeare Iohn Frith is a noble Clerke He killed a mylstone with his spere Keepe well your geese your dogges do barke I trowe sayth Rastell all wise men would thinke that this were a fonde exposition yet this exposition would please childreÌ„ fooles and mad men as well as the exposition of S. Austen or S. Hierome or any other Doctor of y e Church because it would make them to laugh so sayth Rastell Frith maketh such expositioÌ„s with iestyng and rayling to make the people laugh not regardyng to edifie the people nor to prouoke them to vertue mekenes or charitie nor to leaue their sinne but rather geueth them boldnes to beleue that there is no Purgatory nor hell but mocketh and iesteth at those reasons that bee made for proofe of Purgatory Now as touchyng the first part where he saith that my expositions be an occasion to bryng the people to boldnes of sinne I aske hym why his aunswere is because I geue theÌ„ boldnes that there is no Purgatory nor yet hell thereto Rastell by his leaue maketh a fitten I dare not say hee maketh a lye for that hee would call rayling for I neuer denyed hell but affirme in many places of my booke eueÌ„ in the first side of myne aunswere agaynst him I affirme hell and perpetuall damnation but when ye come to the proofe of his wordes then you shall sée how wisely the maÌ„ coÌ„cludeth for he thinketh that ab inferiori ad suuÌ„ superius confuse distribue men shall thinke it a good consequent as if I should say that we lacke fire in prisoÌ„ then would he coÌ„clude that there lacked fire in all Middlesex Or if I wold say their were no wit in Rastels head then would hee conclude that there were no witte in no maÌ„s head but he hath so long studyed Philosophy that hee hath cleane forgotten his principals of Sophistry notwithstandyng we wil forgeue him this faute for the man is somewhat aged and therfore I thinke it is loÌ„g since he read them and that they are now out of his memory neuerthelesse he will say that hys argument is not soluted for although I denye not hell yet I denye Purgatory and so I geue the people an occasioÌ„ to sinne because they feare not Purgatory whereunto I haue so sufficiently aunswered in Rastels vij argument that I wonder that hee is not a shamed to bryng the same agayne but he trusteth that my bookes shall neuer be read and his may go surely abroad and therefore he may say what he will onely hee careth not what he saith so he hold not his peace And where hee reporteth that I make expositions to make the people to delite to heare of other meÌ„s fautes and to laugh thereat therto will I say nay till he be at laysure to proue it and where he sayth if he should take vppon hym to expounde In principio erat verbum in this maner In the begynnyng of this yeare Iohn Frith is a noble Clerke He killed a mylstone with his spere Keepe well your geese the dogges do barke Saying that all wise men would say that this were a fonde exposition Therto I aunswere that saying for the ryme
signification and sought their health and righteousnes in the bodely worke and in the sacrifice it selfe then were they abhominable in the sight of God and then he cryed out of them both by the Prophet Dauid and Esay And likewise it is with our Sacramentes let vs therefore séeke vp the significations and go to the very thing which the sacrament is set to present vnto vs. And there shal we finde such fruitfull foode as shall neuer fayle vs but comfort our soules into life euerlastyng Now will I in order answer to M. Mores booke and as I finde occasion geuen me I shall indeuoure my selfe to supply that thyng which lacked in the first treatise and I trust I shall shewe such lyght that all men whose eyes the Prince of this worlde hath not blynded shall perceiue the truth of the scriptures and glory of Christ And where as in my first treatise the truth was set forth with all simplicitie and nothing armed against the assault of sophisters that haue I somewhat redressed in this booke haue brought bones filte for their téeth which if they be to busie may chaunce to choke them ¶ Thus beginneth the Preface of M. Mores booke IN my most harty wyse I recommende me vnto you and send you by this bringer the wryting againe which I receiued from you Whereof I haue bene offered a cople of copies mo in the mean while as late as ye wot well it was Deare brethren consider these wordes and prepare you to the crosse that Christ shall lay vppon you as ye haue oft bene counsaylled For euen as when the Wolfe howleth y e shéepe had nede to gather thēselues to their shepheard to be deliuered from the assault of the bloudy beast likewyse had you nede to slye vnto the shepheard of your soules Christ Iesus to sell your coates and buye his spirituall sworde which is the word of God to defende and deliuer you in this present necessitie for now is the tyme that Christ tolde vs of Math. x. that he was come by his worde to set variaunce betwene the sonne and his father betwene the daughter and her mother betwene the daughter in lawe and her mother in lawe that in a mans owne householde shall be his enemies But be not dismayde nor thinke it no wonder for Christe those twelue and one of them was y e Deuill and betrayed his master And we that are his disciples may loke for no better than he had himself for the scholer is not aboue his mayster Saint Paule protesteth y e he was in perill among false brethren surely I suppose that we are in no lesse ieopardye For if it be so that hys mastership receiued one copye and had a cople of copyes moe offered in the meane while then may ye be sure that there are many false brethren which pretend to haue knowledge in déede are but pykethankes prouiding for their bellye prepare ye therfore clokes for the weather waxeth cloudy and rayne is like to followe I meane not false excuses and forswearing of your selues but that ye loke substantially vpon Gods worde that you may be able to answere their subtle obiections And rather chuse manfully to dye for Christ and hys worde than cowardlye to deny hym for thys vayne and transitory lyfe cōsidering that they haue no further power but ouer this corruptible bodye which if they put it not to death must yet at y e length perish of it selfe But I trust the Lord shall not suffer you to be tēpted aboue that you may beare but according to y e sprite that he shall poure vppon you shall he also sende you the scourge and make hym that hath receiued more of the sprite to suffer more and him that receiueth lesse thereof to suffer according to his Talent I thought it necessary first to admonishe you of this matter and now I will recite more of M. Mores boke Whereby men may see how gredely these newe named brethren writeit out secretly spread it abroade The name is of great antiquitie although you liste to ieste For they were called brethrē ere our Bishops were called Lordes and had y e name geuen them by Christ saying Math. xxiij all ye are brethren And Luke y ◠xxij Confirme they brethren And the name was cōtinued by the Apostles and is a name that nourisheth loue amitie And very glad I am to heare of their gredy affection in writing out and spreading abroade the worde of God for by that I do perceiue the prophesie of Amos to haue place which sayth In the person of God I will send hunger and thyrste into the earth not hunger for meate nor thurst for drinke But for to here the word of God Now begynneth the kyngdome of heauen to suffer violence Now runne the poore Publicanes which knowledge them selues sinners to the word of God puttyng both goodes and body in ieoperdy for the soule health And though our Byshops do call it heresie and all them heretickes that hunges after it yet do we know that it is the Gospell of the lyuyng God for the health and saluation of all that beleue And as for the name doth nothing offēde vs though they call it heresie a thousand tymes For S. Paule testifieth that the Phariseis and Priestes which were counted the very Church in hys tyme dyd so call it and therefore it foreceth not though they ruling in their rowmes vse the same names Which young mā I here say hath lately made diuers other thynges that yet runne in hoker moker so close amōg the brethren that there commeth no copies abroad I aunswere that surely I can not spynne and I thinke no mā more hateth to be idle then I do Wherfore in such thynges as I am able to doe I shal be diligēt as long as God lendeth me my lyfe And if ye thinke I be to busie you may rid me the sooner for euen as the shéepe is in the butchers handes ready bound and looketh but euen for the grace of the butcher whē he shall shed his bloud Euen so am I bounde at the Byshops pleasures euer lookyng for the day of my death In so much that playne worde was sent me that the Chauncelour of Lōdon sayd it should cost me the best bloud in my body whiche I would gladly were shed to morow if so be it might open the kyngs graces eyen And verely I maruell that any thing can runne in hoker moker or be hyd from you For sith you mought haue such store of copyes concernyng the thyng whiche I most desired to haue ben kept secret how should you then lacke a copye of those thynges which I most would haue published And hereof ye may be sure I care not though you and all the Byshops with in England looke on all that euer I wrote but rather would be glad that ye so dyd
and had not receiued it And of this carnall minde were many mo Bushoppes a great while as are now the bohemes whom he after disprayseth and yet expoundeth the text as they doo but afterward they loked more spiritually vpon the matter and confessed their ignorance as I trust M. More will but now will I shew you S. Austens minde vppon this text which shall helpe for the exposition of all this matter S. Austen in the third boke De Doctrina Christiana the 16. chapiter teaching how we shall know the tropes figures allegories phrases of the scripture sayth Si autem flagitium aut facinus iubere videntur figuratiua locutio est Nisi maÌ„ducaueritis inquit carneÌ„ filij hominis et biberitis eius sanguinem not habebitis uitam in vobis Facinus vel flagitium videtur iubere Figura est ergo precipieÌ„s passionis dominicae esse commicandum et suauiter atque vtiliter in memoria recondendum quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa vul nerata sit That is to say when soeuer the scripture or Christ semeth to commaund any foule or wicked thing then must that text be taken figuratiuely that as it is a phrase allegorie and manner of speaking and must be vnderstand spiritually and not after the letter Except sayth Christ ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye shall haue no life in you He semeth sayth S. Austen to commauÌ„de a foule a wicked thing It is therfore a figure commaunding vs to be partakers of his passion and sweetlye and profitablye to print in our mynde that his fleshe was crucified and wounded for vs. This truth thankes be to God doth S. Austen declare vnto vs which thing beside the opening of this text against M. Mores mynde doth plainely shew what he thought in the wordes of christes supper For sith he called it a foule a wicked thing to eate his fleshe then may you soone perceiue that he thought it was as foule as wicked a thing to eate his body seing his body is flesh and then consequently it shall follow y â— eyther this worde eate where Christ sayd take this and eate it must be taken spiritually or els that this saying of Christ this is my bodie must be figuratiuely spokeÌ„ but this worde eate is taken after the letter for they did in déede eate the bred therfore it must néedes folowe that this sentence this is my body must bee figuratiuely spoken Or els is S. Austen not to be approued in this place which thing our Byshops I thinke will not say nay Besides that S. Austen sayth Quando loquebatur dominus noster Iesus Christus de corpore suo nisi inquit quis manducauerit carnem meam â—iberit sanguinem meum non habebit in sevitam Caro enim mea vere est cibus sanguis meus vere est potus intellectus spiritualis credentem saluum facit quia litera occidit spiritus est qui viuificat That is to say When our Lord Iesus Christ spake of hys body except quod he a man eate my fleshe and drinke my bloud he shall haue no life in hym self for my flesh is very meat and my bloud is very drinke The spirituall vnderstandyng saueth hym that beleueth for the letter killeth but the spirite quickneth Here may you playnly perceaue that thys texte must onely be taken spiritually For he sayth that to take it after the letter it kylleth and profiteth nothyng at all and therfore I wonder that we haue bene led so long in thys grosse errour Thys saying doth y â— famous clarke Origine confirme saying Agnosce quod figurae sunt quae in voluminibus Domini scriptae sunt ideo tanquam spirituales non tanquam carnales examinate intelligite quae dicuntur Si enim secuÌ„dum literam sequaris hoc ipsum quod dictum est Nisi manducaueritis carnem c. occidit haec litera That is to say Marke y e they are figures which are written in the Scripture of God and therefore examine them as spirituall men and not as carnall and vnderstand those thinges that are spoken For if thou followe after the letter thys thyng that is spoken except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke hys bloud you can haue no life in you thys letter kylleth Alas deare brethren why should any man be offended with thys doctrine sith it is approued so plainly by such auncient and holy fathers Againe S. Austen sayth Qui manducat carnem meam bibit meum sanguinem in me manet ego in illo Hoc est ergo manducare illam escam illum bibere potum in Christo manere illum manentem in se habere ac per hoc quinoÌ„ manet in Christo in quo non manet Christus proculdubio non manducat eius carnem nec bibit sanguinem etiam si tantaerei sacramentum ad iudicium sibi maÌ„ducet bibit That is to say He that eateth my flesh drynketh my bloud abydeth in me and I in hym Thys is therfore the eatyng of that meate and drinkyng of that bloud to abyde in Christ and haue hym abyding in vs. And therefore he that abydeth not in Christ and in whom Christ abydeth not without doubt he eateth not hys flesh nor drinketh not hys bloud although he eate and drinke the sacrament of so great a thyng vnto hys damnation And euen y â— same wordes hath Bede vppon the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10. Thys one place is sufficient for to proue my purpose though he sayd not one word more For here he doth playnly determine that he which abydeth not in Christ that is to say he y e is wicked or vnfaythfull doth not eate hys flesh nor drinke hys bloud although he eate and drinke the Sacrament of so great a thyng And so must it néedes follow that the Sacrament is not the very naturall body of Christ For then the vnfaythfull should eate hys flesh seing he eateth the sacrament of hys body But that doth S. Austen denye wherfore it must néedes followe that it is but onely a token of a remembrance and a signe of hys body breakyng and a representation of hys passion that we might kéepe hys facte in memory and geue him thankes for his tender loue and kindenes which when we were hys enemyes tooke vpon hym to suffer most vyle death to reconcile vs vnto hys father and make vs hys frendes Thys saying hath S. Austen in an other place also where he writeth on thys maner Qui non in me manet in quo ego non maneo non se dicat aut existimet manducare corpus meum aut bibere sanguineÌ„ meum Non it aque manent in Christo qui non sunt eius membra non sunt autem membra Christi qui se faciunt meÌ„bra meretricis That is to say He that abydeth
the fayth and many a sléepe and haue lost their fayth in Christes bloud for lacke of remembraunce of his body breaking bloud shedding yea not that onely but many were weake and sicke euen striken with bodelye diseases for abusing y e sacrament of his body eating the bread with their téeth and not his body with their hart and minde and peraduenture some slayne for it by the stroke of God which if they had truely iudged and examined thē selues for what intent they came thither and why it was instituted should not haue béene so iudged and chastened of the Lorde For the Lorde doth chasten to bring vs vnto repentaunce and to mortifie our rebellious mēbers that we may remember hym Here ye may shortly perceyue the mynde of Paule An Epitome and short rehearsall of all this booke shewing in what poyntes Frith dissenteth from our Prelates NOw to be short in these thrée poyntes Frith dissenteth frō our Prelates and from M. More which taketh vpon hym to be their proctor 1. Our Prelates beléeue that in the Sacrament remaineth no bread but that it is turned into the naturall body of Christ both fleshe bloud and bones Frith sayth that it is no article of our Crede and therefore let them beléeue it that will And he thinketh that there remayneth bread still and that he proueth thrée maner of wayes First by y e scripture of Paule whiche calleth it bread saying the bread which we breake is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ For we though we bee many are yet one body and one bread as many as are partakers of one bread And againe he sayth as often as ye eate of thys bread or drinke of thys cup you shall shew the Lordes death vntil he come Also Luke calleth it bread saying in the Actes they continued in the fellowship of the Apostles and in the breaking of the bread prayer Also Christ called the cup the fruite of a vyne saying I shall not from hence forward drinke of the fruite of the vyne vntill I drinke that new in the kingdome of my father Furthermore nature doth teache you that both the bread and wine cōtinue in their nature For the bread mouldeth if it be kept long yea and wormes bréede in it and the poore mouse will runne away with it and eate it ' which are euidence inough that there remayneth bread Also the wine if it were reserued would waxe sower as they confesse them selues and therefore they housell the lay people but with one kinde onely because the wine can not continue nor be reserued to haue ready at hand when néede were And surely as if there remayned no bread it could not mould nor waxe full of wormes euen so if there remayned no wine it could not waxe sower And therefore it is but false doctrine that our prelates so lōg haue taught and published Finally y e there remayneth bread might be proued by the authoritie of many Doctors which call it bread and wine euen as Christ and hys Apostles did And though some sophisters would wrest their saying and expoūd them after their owne phantasie yet shall I alleage thē one Doctor which was Pope that maketh so playne with vs that they shall neuer bee able to auoyde them For Pope Gelasius writeth on thys maner Certe sacramenta quae sumimus corporis sanguinis Christi diuinae res sunt propter quod per eadem diuinae efficimur consortes naturae Et tamen non desinit esse substantia vel natura panis vini sed permanet in suae proproprietate naturae Et certe imago similitudo corporis sanguinis Christi in actione mysteriorum celebrantur That is to say Surely the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ which we receaue are a godly thing and therefore through them are we made partakers of the godly nature And yet doth it not cease to bee the substance or nature of bread and wine but they continue in the propertie of their owne nature And surely the image and similitude of the body and bloud are celebrated in the acte of the mysteryes Thys I am sure that no man can auoyde it nor so wrest it but that all men shall soone espye hys folly and therefore I may conclude that there remayneth the substaunce and nature of bread and wine The second poynt wherin Frith dissenteth from our Prelates and their Proctor THe Prelates beléeue that hys very fleshe is present to the téeth of them that eate the sacrament and that the wicked eate hys very body Frith sayth that it is no article of our Créede and therefore hée reckoneth that hee is in no ieoperdy though hee beleeue it not And hee thinketh that his fleshe is not present vnto the téeth of them that receaue the Sacrament For hys flesh is onely in one place at once And y t hée proueth both by y t authoritie of S. Austen ad Dardanum and also by the authoritie of Fulgentius ad Thrasuuandum lib. 20. as before appeareth in y t booke And Frith sayth that the wicked eate not hys very fleshe although they receaue the sacrament And that hée proueth by the Scripture Doctors and good reason grounded vpon the scriptures The Scripture is this hée that eateth Christes body hath euerlasting life but the wicked hath not euerlasting life ergo then the wicked eate not his body Agayne the Scripture sayth hée that eateth Christes fleshe and drinketh hys bloud abydeth in Christ and Christ in hym but y t wicked abyde not in Christ nor Christ in him ergo the wicked eate not hys fleshe nor drinke hys bloud Thys may also bée confirmed by good authoritie For S. Austen sayth hée that abydeth not in Christ and in whom Christ abydeth not without doubt hée eateth not hys fleshe nor drinketh hys bloud although hée eate and drinke the sacrament of so great a thing vnto hys damnation And euen the same wordes hath Beda vpon the x. chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians Agayne S. Austen sayth hée that abydeth not in me and in whom I abyde not let hym not say nor thinke that hée eateth my body or drinketh my bloud And euē the same wordes hath Beda vpon the vi chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians And euen y e same sentēce hath Ambrose and Prosper and Beda vpon the xi chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians Finally thys may bée proued by good reason grounded vpon the scripture Christ would not suffer Mary though shée loued hym well to touch hym because shée lacked one poynt of fayth and dyd not beléeue that hée was equall with his father And therfore by reason it must follow that hée will not suffer the wicked which neither haue good faith nor loue towards hym both to touch hym and eate him into their vncleane bodyes Now sith thys is proued true that the
learnyng will graunt that euill men bée the dead members of the Churche what they bée worth let other men iudge But M. More reckoneth that there is not such a Churche here in earth that is without spot and wrincle as S. Paul sayth For the Church sayth hée is here gracious and not glorious Truely I haue marueile what hée meaneth thus to expound Saint Paules saying for I thinke hée can not prooue but that S. Paules saying is verified of the Church that is here militant and not of the church triumphaunt But I will not at this tyme greatly dispute with M. More But and if hée were as hée hath béene I would say some thyng more to hym then I will doe at this tyme. Hée can neither mocke me nor iest me out of coÌ„ceite and if I were disposed to couple with hym nor it is not hys foule shameles woorkes and vntrue sayinges that hée layeth to me that could feare me But now that it hath pleased God without any helpe or know ledge of me to bryng hym vnto this fall I will praye to God for hym to geue hym grace that hée may reuoke all such false doctrine as hée hath brought into the worlde For doubtles if hée abyde in the meanyng that hée is now in I doe not sée how hée can dye Gods seruaunt Yea his own knowen Church is agaynst hym whoÌ„ hée sayth men are bound to beléeue vnder payne of damnation But truely as God shall iudge me I am sory for hys trouble if I could helpe hym with any lawfull meanes I would doe my best so euill will beare I him But to procéede farther in my matter I will not greatly speake much of the Church by the reason that many other men sence my fyrst writinge haue declared this article much better then I can doe it Wherefore I will all onelye resite the places of holy doctours that I haue brought for mée in my fyrst booke and the intent wherefore I aleaged them to prooue that y e Church was afrée thing throughout all the world and not bounde eyther to place or to person I brought for me y e saying of S. Augustine saying these wordes The holy Church are wée But I doe not saye are we as one should say we that bée heare all onely that heare mée now but as many as bée heare faythfull christean men in this Church y e is to say in this Cytie as many as bée in this region as many as bée beyonde the sea as many as bée in all the whole world for from y e rysing of the sunne tyll the goinge downe is the name of God praysed So is y â— holy Church our mother c. Also Lyra sayth The Church doth not stand in men by the reason of spirituall power or seculer dignitie For many princes and many Popes and other inferiour persoÌ„s haue swerued from the fayth Wherfore the church doth stand in those persons in whom is the true knowledge and confession of fayth and of veritye c. Here Lyra sayth as much as I doe in cleare wordes And M. More doth not nor yet caÌ„ refell hym Afterward I bring a saying of S. Augustine to prooue that the Church hath spottes and wryncles in her And yet by confessing of them and by stycking to Christes bloud they bée not imputed vnto her This is his saying The whole Church prayeth Lord forgeue vs our sinnes Wherfore she hath spottes and wryncles But by knowledging of them her wryncles bée streatched out and by knowledging her spottes are washed away The Church continueth in prayer y e shée myght bée clensed by knowledgeing of her synnes And as long as we here liue so standeth it And when euery maÌ„ departeth out of this body all such sinnes are forgeuen hym the which ought to bée forgeueÌ„ For they bée forgeuen by dayly prayer and hée goeth hence clensed And the Church of God is layde vp in the treasure of God for puregolde by this meane the Church of God is in the treasure of our Lord without spotte or wrynkell It foloweth Let vs therefore pray that God may forgeue vs and that we may forgeue our dettours séeing it is sayde and it shall be forgeuen vnto you We say this dayly and dayly we doe this and this thing is done dayly in vs. We are not here without sinne But we shall departe hence without synne c. Let euery man iudge whether that this place of S. Augustine maketh for my purpose or not that is to say whether that y e Church hath any spottes or wrincles in her or not And yet neuertheles shée hath no spottes nor wrincles For S. Augustine sayth y e Church of God is in the treasurie of God without any spotte so that through Gods mercy nothing is imputed vnto her Her cleannes is not y e shée hath no spots but béecause that for Christes sake there is nothing layd to her charge M. More maketh many wordes of â—enyall synnes and deadly synnes But to speake after his owne schoole men it should bée to harde for hym to defende that exposition that hée here maketh of S. Augustine But to proue that the Church is cleane by the reason of Christ I brought for mée their owne lawe whose wordes bée these Therefore is y e Church holy because shée beléeueth righteously in God c. Furthermore to prooue that this congregation of faythfull men is the Church that can not erre I brought for mée their owne lawe Whose wordes bée these The holy Church can not erre c. Also in an other place The Congregation of faythfull men must néedes bée which also can not erre c. So that it is cleare first that there must nedes bée a congregation of faythfull men which bée neyther bounde to Rome nor to Hierusalem uor yet to any certayne place but it is spread abroade throughout the whole worlde and standeth in the vnitye of faythfull christen men And that is the church that God suffereth uot to erre in those thinges that belong to saluation Wherefore I dyd say in my other booke that the Popes councels were not the church that coulde not erre For for y â— most part those couÌ„sels did not order themselues after Gods worde Wherfore I sayd they myght well erre And for that cause a pryuate person hauing scripture for hym ought to bée preferred afore a whole counsell if they had no scripture For Gods worde ought to bée iudge ouer all counsels and to prooue this I brought for mée the saying of Panormitanus which sayth The counsell may erre as it hath erred concernyng y e contracte of matrimony inter Raptorem Raptam And y e saying of S. Hierome was afteaward preferred aboue the statute of y â— couÌ„sell as it is prooued 36. quest 2. Tria For in these thynges concernyng the fayth the saying of a priuate person is to bée preferred before the saying of the Pope if
article collected seuerally by theÌ„ selues I haue therefore accordyng to my simple skill gathered this Epitome and haue added also thereunto foure other articles translated into Englishe out of hys Booke De Doctorum Sententijs whiche bee confirmed in the lyke sorte onely by bare testimonyes of scriptures fathers couÌ„cels lawes Which foure articles and the treatise beefore of the originall of the Masse were omitted in hys English workes But as for all the other testimonies in his booke De DoctoruÌ„ Sententijs hee hath in this volume of his workes dispersedly alleaged most of them to his purpose as hee had occasion which by this Epitome folowing thou mayest perceaue Now hast thou gentle reader to consider of these auncient testimonyes desiring thee for the coÌ„firming and establishyng of thy doubtfull conscience to compare these sayinges of Doctors holy fathers and of the Popes own law vnto the saying of the Pope and his Papisticall byshops that bee in these latter dayes and to their late practises where their power is or hath beene receaued and then geeue sentence howe they doe agree If they doe accorde then is it lyke they bee of the true Church whereof these holy fathers were But if they agree not then mayest thou suspect that they haue gone astray and that the deuill hath transfigured hym selfe into an Aungell of light and that they are his ministers Who notwithstandyng haue fashioned them selues as though they were the ministers of righteousnes whose end shall bee accordyng to their deedes ¶ That faith onely iustifieth AMbrose sayth they are iustefyed freely for they doeing nothing nor nothing deseruing all onely by fayth are iustefied by the gyft of God Fol. 230. col 1. Ambrose sayth It was so decreed of God that after the lawe hee should require vnto saluation all onely the fayth of grace hee sayth that they bee blessed of whom God hath determined wtont labour without all manner of obseruation all onely by fayth that they shall bee iustefyed before God Blessed are they whose sinnes are forgeuen Clearely they are blessed vnto whoÌ„ without labour or without any worke their iniquities bee remitted and their synnes couered and no manner of workes required of them but all onely that they should beleeue 231. col 1 Athanasyus sayth there are two maner of faythes one is iustefying as y t of the which it is spoken thy fayth hath saued thee An other is cauled the gift of God whereby myracles bee done of the which it is written if you haue fayth as a graine of mustard seede 241. col 1. Athanasyus sayth Nowe doth the Apostle playnely showe that fayth all onely hath vertue in hym to iustifie and bryngeth Abacuke saying of fayth and not of the law shall a righteous man lyue Hee addeth well beefore God for beefore man peraduenture they shall bee reckened righteous that sticke to the law but not beefore God c. 233. col 1 Augustine saith those same workes y t bee done beefore fayth thoughe they seeme vnto men laudable are yet but vayne and I doe iudge them as great strength and swift running out of the way Wherefore let no man count his good workes before fayth where as fayth is not there is no good worke the ententioÌ„ maketh a good worke but fayth doth guide the entention c. 233. col 2 Augustine sayth we doe gather that a man can not bee iustefyed by the preceptes of good lyuing that is not by y t lawe of workes but by that lawe of faith not by the letter but by the sprite not by the merites of workes but by free grace 234. col 1 Augustine sayth S. Paule affirmeth that a man may bee iustifyed by fayth without any works goyng before iustifycation but when a man is iustifyed by fayth how can hee but worke well though y t he before working nothinge righteously is now come to the iustifycation of fayth not by merytes of good workes but by the grace of God the which grace in hym now can not bee Idle seeing that now thorow loue hee worketh well And if hee depart out of this worlde after that hee beleeueth the iustifycation of fayth abydeth by hym not by his workes going before iustifycation for by his merites came hee not vnto that iusteficatioÌ„ but by grace nor by his workes that followe iustefycation for hee is not suffered to lyue in this lyfe Wherfore Paule and Iames are not contrary for Paule speaketh of the workes that goe beefore fayth and Iames speaketh of the woorkes that followe the iustefycation of fayth 238. col 1 Augustine expoundinge the texte of y t Apostle Roma 2. The doers of the law must bee iustifyed sayth so must it bee vnderstoode that we may know that they can no otherwise bee the doers of of the law except they bee fyrst iustifyed not that iustifycation belongeth to the doers but that iustifycation doth proceede of all manner of doeing 240. col 1 Barnarde sayth I doe abhorre what so euer thinge is of mee except peraduenture that that bee myne that God hath made mee his By grace hath hee iustifyed mee freely and by that hath hee deliuered mee from the bondage of synne Thou hast not chosen me saith Christ but I haue chosen thee nor I found any merites in thee that might moue mee to chuse thee but I preuented all thy merytes Wherefore thus by fayth I haue maried thee vnto me and not by the workes of the lawe I haue maried thee also in iustice but not in the iustice of the lawe but in that iustice which is of fayth 233. col 2 Popes law sayth Cornelius centuno being a heathen man was iustifyed by the gift of the holy Ghost 240. col 2 ¶ What the Church is and who bee thereof and whereby men may know her AVgustine saith of Christ is y e church made fayre fyrst was shee fylthy in synnes afterward by pardon and by grace was shee made fayre 244. col 1 Augustine sayth The holy church are we but I doâ— not say we as one should say we that bée here alonely that heare 〈◊〉 now but as many as bee here faith full Christen men in this Church that is to say in this Citie as many as bee in this region as many as bee beyond the Sea c. 245. col 1 Lyranus sayth The Church doth notâ—stand in men by reason of spirituall power or secular dignities For many Princes and many Popes other inferiour persons haue swarued from the fayth Wherefore that Church doth stand in those persons in whom is the true knowledge and coÌ„fession of faith and of veritie c. 245. col 1 Augustine sayth The whole Church sayth forgeue vs our sinnes wherfore sheâ— hath spottes and wrinckles but by knowledgyng of them her wrinckles bee extended and stretched out by knowledgyng her spottes are washed away 246. col 1 Augustine sayth Our holy mother the Churche throughout all the world
doctrine nedeth not now of miracles for it was confirmed by Christ with myracles Math. 24. The Pope commeth 〈◊〉 Christes name with false miracles The preachers of gods word confirmed the same with miracles whyle they were alyue God suffeâ—eth such as haue no loue to hys truth to be deceaued with lying miracles Why the Pope tell In the Popish church all miracles are wrought by dead Saintes S. Thomas of CaÌ„terbury Thomas de Aquino Dunce ☜ Miracles Our fayth may not be grounded onely vpon miracles but vpon the worde of God Math. 1â— Iohn 21. The Apostles of Christe knew no such authoritie as the Pope now vsurpeth What iâ— there had bene no scripture Grekes God to 〈…〉 â—…de heresâ—… caused the scriptures to be written â–ª Noe. What faith â—…th Where true faith is there is repentauÌ„ce and ameÌ„dment of 〈◊〉 ☜ Abraham The elderâ— did erre The elders in y e time of the Iewes did erre The Scribes Phariseis and Elders did erre The scripture was aucthorised by true myracles False bookes set forth by the Papistes Erasmus The true church teacheth nothing but that which the scripture proueth and mainteineth The Pope hideth the scripture The Papistes hide y e scripture The scripture is the cause why men beleue y â— scripture The Papistes docctrine is nâ—â— to be beleued wiihouâ— scripture Why the 〈◊〉 is not to be beleued wtout scripture why he is not the true church The doctrine of the Papistes hath bene 〈◊〉 resisted by y e scripture What thinges 〈◊〉 finde in scripture Rom. 〈◊〉 1. Cor. â— 1. Cor. 2. Iohn 5. Iohn 7. Heb. 8. The Papistes will neither by Gods lawe nor mans refraine froÌ„ their wicked liuyng Iohn 10. The Papistes will lose nothing that belongeth to them Christ deliuered the Iewes out of errour ☜ None haue more care of the scripture then those that beleue it not M. More reasoneth agaynst himselfe ☜ Actes 13. Iohn 8. They that preach not Christ truty are murtherers The end of hipocrites Predestination Balam Wit must first shew a cause and then will is sturted to worke More feeleth Purgatory Popish doe trine concernyng Purgatory The pope how he can both forgeue and receiue sinne Tyndall feeleth Purgatory Iohn 15. Iohn 13. Bodyly payne purgeth the body and not y e soule M. More â—o of an euil opinion Faith in Châ—… 〈◊〉 purchaseth forgâ—… of sinne Ephe. 5. There is no purgatory for hym that dyeth repentâ—unt beleueth Iohn 15. 1. Iohn 〈◊〉 Payne of sinne 〈◊〉 popes 〈◊〉 Purgatory prâ—… to y â— Pope Purgatory to a tormenting Iayle as y â— Pope maketh it Money dispatcheth Purgatory The Pope is Antichrist The fleshly children do naturally consent vnto lyes The fleshly mynded can neuer consent vnto Gods law The fleshly persecute them of the spirite The true church is not w t out a signe of a miracle to proue that it is Gods church The popes life doctrine is more wicked theÌ„ the Turkes all y e heatheÌ„ that euer were Euticus Actes 3. All glory and honour is to be geuen to the name of Iesu Iudges Deut. 17. Purgatory to the foundation of Abbeyes Colledges c. M. More is a commoÌ„â—ester and a scouÌ„er ☞ The Papistes are cruell and vnmercyfull Sweryng The oth of a witnes may be taken but no maÌ„ may be coÌ„pelled to sweare be a witnes A godly lesson M. More is a lyer The Papistes are obstinate will not repent Iudas Prayers of an euill Priest profite not A fond saying To minister SacrameÌ„ts with out signification is to be lead in darkenesse Sacrifice Heb. 10. Christes body in the SacrameÌ„t is not carnall but spirituall Christe was sacrificed on the crosse once for all More Deacons Tyndall Christes Deaâ—…s and the pâ—â—eâ— Deacons differ much More Priestes Tyndall More Tyndall 1. Iohn 4. M. Mores fayth was a common fayth More Tyndall More Tyndall As good no lawe as a law not executed Age is to be preferred before â—outh The chast vnchastirie of the Papistes is abhominable both to God and man S. Hierome The Pope iudgeth no sinne to bee sinne and sinne to be no sinne A Priest by the Popes order may haue a whore but not a wife Rom. 14. Mores doctrine is superstitious 1. Tim. 4. The Pope forbiddeth mariage Apparant godlynesse why the Priest may not haue y â— secoÌ„d wife Christes benefites toward vs are figured by matrimony We were Idolaters when we came to Christ S. Paules doctrine is that priests shuld haue wiues Widowes More is a scoâ—fer The office of the wâ—ddowes in y e primatine church Rom. 13 â–ª Young widowes were forbiddeÌ„ to minister in the commoÌ„ seruice Fishe no better then fleshe nor fleshe no better then fishe in the kingdame of Christ 〈◊〉 ☞ Tyndall More Tyndall Three lyes at â—…ce 〈…〉 Priestes must be endued wyth vertue and honesty Generall counsell Parlâ—…ment The 〈◊〉 vsed both in generall to â–ª â—…es and also 〈◊〉 parliamentes A practise vsed in all counsayles and Parlamentes The spiritualtie make heretickes of them that resist theyr power and will Why Priestes may haue no wyues The chastitie of the â—â—ergy pertâ—â—neth to the tempoâ—…ie as much as to the spiritualtie Vowes No oth is to be kept that is agaynst charitie or necessitie The popes snares 〈◊〉 2. 3. 4. 5. Tyndall doth here playnly proue More an hereticke That is euer best that moueth man to the kepyng of Gods commaundementes ☜ Deuilish doctrine Math. 15. Christes natural body is not in the Sacrament The Sacrament of the body 〈◊〉 bloud of Christ how it must be receiued ☞ S. Michael wayeth 〈◊〉 soules The true seruice of God what it is Whether it were best that priestes were gelded ☜ Leuit. 10. More Tyndall Paphnutius More had two wiues therefore was Bigamus More Tyndall The Pope a cruell tyraâ—nt More Tyndall The spiritualtie would not haue the scripture in Englishe Hunne More Horsey Tyndall If we be not giltie we neede no pardon More woulde excuse the murther of Hunne Hunne ☜ More Tyndall Doetour Lolet Olde translation More was a subtill Poet. The hauyng of the Scripture in English is vtterly agaynst the myndes of the Popish Clergie More Tyndall The scripture was first deliuered to the pâ—opâ—e in their vulgere toung More Tyndall More Tyndall The ordinaâ—… are hangmeÌ„ to such as desire the knowledge of the scripture None can vnderstand the Scripture except he knewe Christ to be his iustification More Tyndall More Tyndall Eare confession and pardons were neuer confirmed by miracle More Tyndall The Popish spiritualitie are tyrâ—unts persecutors More Tyndall Pope forbiddeth matrimony the eatyng of meates The wicked monstrous doynges of the Pope More Tyndall More Tyndall More Tyndall All Sacramentes teach vs what to do or what to beleue More Tyndall Eare confession destroyeth the beneâ—ite of Christes bloud More Tyndall More Tyndall RepeÌ„tauÌ„ce More Tyndall SacrameÌ„t More Fayth Tyndall The Pâ—pistes aâ—â— slaundâ—â—â—s of the Gospell More Woâ—… Tyndall â–ª More Tyndall We can do no
bisshops make no accompt of periury The spiritualtie are neither of y ◠〈◊〉 side nor of the other for there is no truth in them more then shall serue their turne An admonition to all subiectes Luk. 15. Here Tindall sheweth himself to be voyde of malice to any priuate person God is mercyfull to the ignoraunt but he pleaseth the malicious wilful offeÌ„der The obedience of 〈◊〉 Christen man written three yeares before this booke Scriptures should be translated into â—â—â—ry language The cause of the edition of this Pathway What are contayned in the old TestameÌ„t The contentes of the newe TestameÌ„t The Etymologie of this worde EuangelioÌ„ EuangelioÌ„ is called the newe TestameÌ„t No greater comfort can happen to a sinner being penitent theÌ„ the promises of the Gospell The Gospell was promised of God in the old TestameÌ„t by the Prophets Christ hath ouer â–ª throwen y e deuill and all hys power The 〈◊〉 was geuen by Moses grace and truth by Iesus Christ The lawe requireth of vs that whiche is impossible for our nature to do When the law hath condemned vs Christ graunteth vs free pardon Christ is Gods mercy stoole so that no mercy commeth from God but through Christ The law must euer be in sight to make vs humble spirited the gospel also before our â—yes to comfort vs. Two maner of people deceaued those which iustifie theÌ„selues by thse workes those that through their blinde opinion of faith vtterly perâ—ert the liuely fayth He that hath a right fayth deliteth in the law althogh his weaknes can not fulfill the same He that iustifieth him selfe reiecteth y t law priuises The voluptuous person A true christian A proper similitude We are plucked froÌ„ Adam and graffed in Christ by grace The bloud of Iesus hath obtained al thinges for vs of God Sundry sortes of righteousnes MaÌ„s sensuall reason can not perceaue the vertue of Christes bloud Adams fall brought vs in bondage to the deuill The natural corruption of the myndes of Adams heyres playnly sâ—â— forth Man before his regeneratioÌ„ can not thinke wel of God The harts of the electâ— do eueÌ„ melt at the preachyng of Gods mercy and Christes kyndnes Christ â—eâ—â— nothyng vndone that might be to our saluation Christ an example to vs of all goodnes What faith receiueth of God thorough Christes bloud that we must bestowe on our neighbours though they be our enemyes Christ dyd not good deedes to merite heaueÌ„ for that was his all ready but frely for our sakes The law byndeth the Gospel louseth all men The force of the law The vprising sinner feeleth such ioy in the Gospell that he thinketh it â–ª impossible that God should forsake hym All synne in vs is of 〈◊〉 selues â–ª and all goodnes of Christ Workes certifie vs of euerlastyng â—nheritaunce â—ill sinne in vs and releue the necessitie of our neighbour Giftes of grace beloÌ„g to our brother as much as to our selues Holydayes necessary to come together in learne Christes will Worldly rulers to be obayed so far forth aâ— their lawes impugne not Gods lawes Though rulers appointed of God oppresse vs yet we may not auenge they being in Gods roome We must loue our neighbour as our self Our baptisme signifieth that we repent and professe a new life The perfecter we are the greter is our repentante and the stronger is our fayth Our workes deserue not y t giftes of grace The principles of scripture perfectly learned aâ— y â— rest is more easie We must first learne the profession of our Baptisme The profession of our Baptisme what it is Gospell All our sinnes for Iesu Christes sake for hys death passion are clearely forgeuen Euery Christen man must reconcile himselfe vnto his brother The right penaunce is repentaunce of sinne and amendemeÌ„t of lyfe All our lyfe must tend to this ende to came our flesh serue our neighbour Fayth in Christes bloud with a repentauÌ„t hart is the onely satisfaction that we caÌ„ make towarde God The father of loue correcteth the child God as a louyng father careth for vs and geÌ„tlye correcteth vs to keepe vs in the right way To vnderstand our baptisme is to vnderstaÌ„d the law and the Gospell The key light of the Scripture Howe the Scripture is locked vp from ouâ— vnderstandyng If we be not taught by God we do but wander â—leane out of the way He that vnderstandeth the professioÌ„ of his Baptisme can be no hereticke The Scripture teacheth low lynes and hateth prid â–ª The Scripture maketh no heretikes If God lighten not our hartes we read the Scripture in vayne The law condemneth to driue vs to faith in Christes death Heresy springeth out of the harts of hypocrites He that is souÌ„d in faith shal easely attaine to the true seÌ„ce of the scripture The papists vnwritten berities are not to be credited The papist 〈…〉 haue corrupted the scriptures abused the sacramentes The scripture to the life of Gods elect Hypocrites say that the scripture maketh heretiques The translation of the scripture is not sufficieÌ„t onely but it must be well taught that the people may haue the true seÌ„ce Introductions made to bring you to the true vnderstanding of the scripture 〈◊〉 â–ª Ioh. 1. S. Iohn witnesseth that Christ is very God That Christ is very man He that beleueth that Christ is the sonne of God also very man hath euerlasting life To beleue in Christ To beleue that Christ is God and man is to put all our trust hope confideÌ„ce in him Moses Christ is our life By nature we are the children of wrath The law coÌ„demneth vs. Christ If we submit our selues to Christ knowledge our weakenes he will of his great mercy receaue vs. The touch stone of all true doctrine and preachers The modest charitable maner of S. Paules doctrine S. Paule preached Christ and not hym selfe As God is light so the deuill is darkenes Good workes are the frutes of lyght Walkyng in darknes or in light If wee haue the spirite of God in vs then will he rayse vs vp with Iesus Christ Hee that sayth hee hath no sinne deceaueth him selfe If we confesse our sinnes to God with true fayth and repentaunce he will forgeue vs. All meÌ„ are sinners Nothing can be so well done but it may be ameÌ„ded All the nature of maÌ„ is sinfull We must resist sinne with al our power and might We sinne daily by the frailty and weaknes of our flesh Our aduocate Iesus Iesus that is God and maÌ„ calleth â—…o thee O Father for vs. Christus By Iesu Christ we are made blessed Christes bloud is the satisfaction for our sinnes Christ gaue himselfe for the redemption salnation of al the world Christ is king ouer death hell sinne Christ onely is our sauiour Christ forgeueth all our sinnes freely for his mercy sake Christ onely is our aduocate Popish for geuenesse The forgeuenesse that we haue of god for Christes sake is â—ree Faith in
vsed of Christ Iohn 6. The olde passeouer compared with the Supper of our Lord. Baptisme compared with Circumcision 1. Cor. 10. 11. and 12. Rom. 6. Ephes 4. Eucharistia thaÌ„kes giuyng 1. Cor. 10. and 11. 1. Tim. 1. Baptisme was figured by Circumcision and the Lordes Supper by the paschall lambe Luke 12. 1. Cor. 5. Exod. 12. Luke 22. The Paschall lambe eaten and the Sacrament instituted Twoo thynges to be considered in the Sacramentes The matter and substaunce of of the SacrameÌ„t and the signes of the 〈◊〉 â–ª The signe is called the thyng Gene. 17. Exod. 12. The scripture calleth the signe by the name of the thing that it signifieth The bread in the SacrameÌ„t called the body of Christ the wyne called the bloud of Christ â—st is takeÌ„ for significat Gene. 40. The figuratiue speches vsed in the scripture 〈◊〉 Pet. 2. Ezech. 5. The maner of speakyng in the scripturo Iohn 3. The naturall body of Christ is not in the SacrameÌ„t â–ª The Sacrament is to be receaued with thankes geuyng The vse of the supper Luke 22. Note here the whole circumstaunce of the maner and institution of the SacrameÌ„t of Christes body Luke 22. 1. Cor. 11. Iohn 6. Abacuk 2. Christ declared to his disciples that he would leaue this world 〈◊〉 go to his father in heauen Scriptures are many that shewe Christ as touchyng his natural body is gone and is not here Actes 2. Christ asceÌ„ded into heauen Iohn 14. and. 16. Christ â—â—playne wordes declareth his bodely departure out of this world Christ playnlye shewed vnto the disciples that he must depart from this world to his father in heauen Christes â—…rified body is in heauen Christes 〈◊〉 scention was witnessed by many The here 〈◊〉 of Marcâ—… what it was 1. Timo. 6. 2. Timo. 2. 1. Timo. 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 11. The Supper of the Lord is the commemâ—ration and memoriall of Christes death S. Paule calleth the SacrameÌ„t bread after the consecration By one loafe of bread we are fignified to bee one body in Christ The cup of the Lord 〈◊〉 the cup of the deuill how they differte Who they are that eate of the bread and drinke of the cup vnworthely Euery 〈◊〉 did eate his own supper and not the Supper of the â—â—rd We must firste examine out stlues and theÌ„ come to the table of the Lord. Loke more of this in the Epistle to the reader If we come not thankfully and charitably vnto y t Lordes borde we eate and drinke our damnation S. Paule calleth the poore the Church of God This place the Papistes alledge to proue vnwritten be ritie More belyeth Decolampâ—dius and Zuingitus Loke more of this in the Epistle to the reader Tertulian The worâ—es of Tertulian AusteÌ„ cap. xij against â—dimâ—nt Gene. 6. Leui. 7. Deut. 12. Austen calleth Sacrament the signe of his body Homâ— 83. operitiâ— imperfectâ— Chrisostome calleth the sacrameÌ„t the signe of Christes body The confutatioÌ„ of the Papistes gloses The Papistes are wreâ—ters peruerters of the scriptures The Papistes say that the traÌ„ substantion is done by miracles All true miracles are done to let forth the glory of God Christ dyd miracles to declare hâ—m selfe to be both God and man 〈…〉 〈…〉 1. Thes 2. 1. Iohn 2. 〈…〉 scriptures The conteÌ„tious and wicked doctrine of y â— Papistes hath prouoked the lyght of gods truth to be set forth to the vnderstandyng of the people How the 〈…〉 Aâ—…â—2 The Sacrament is not vsed in these dayes as it was in the tyme of the Apostles A good doctrine for al such ministers as haue cure of soules to vse to his flocke Thankes geuyng The bread and wyne are not prophane but Sacramentes to holy vse 1. Cor. 1. A wholesome and good lesson namely for all ministers Rom. 5. At the ministration of the Sacrament let the minister exhorte all men to haue faith and lone to pray for grace I good and necessary exhortatioÌ„ to be mate to y â— people of the tâ—… they receaue the communioÌ„ None may come to the commuâ—… without y â— weddyng germent 〈◊〉 â—ayth Iohn 13. Thankesgeuyng to God Those wordes of his are in his booke that he made for y t pore soules in Purgatory Marke 42. Not who speaketh but that whiche is spoken is to be weyed most 1. Tim. 4. The holy ghost inspireth where when and on whom he pleaseth Actes 2. 1. Cor. 12. The talent of our learnyng is to be employed to the edifiyng of Christes congregation Wilfully to resist Gods worde is sinne agaynst the holy ghost Ezech. 33. Obiection Aunswere 1. Thess Our imperfection forgeuen thorough faith in Christes bloud The Byshop of Rochesters owne opinion concernyng the vnderstandyng of the scriptures in his time and long a forâ— that Actes 17. The cause of our blindnes and grosse errours 2. Thess 2. Rom. 15. Voluntary ignorauÌ„ce not to bee excused The cause of Iohn Frithes writyng against Purgatory Mans reason must be obedient to the Scriptures Aulus Gelius The rebuke of an open enemy better then the sclender prayse of a frend M. More my Lord of Rochester can not agree The Purgatoryes that God hath ordeyned Iohn 15. The Purgatory of the hart The Purgatory of the hart is fayth The Purgatory of the members Heb. 12. The Purgatory of the meÌ„bers is the crosse of Christ Psal 89. God nayleth vs to the crosse to heale our infirmities So euill was the life of the Papistes that they imagined a Purgatory for them selues The wisedome of the world foolishnes afore God Symon Fishe the maker of the booke of the Supplication of Beggers Our riches is to be bestowed on the poore Either there is no Purgatory els the Pope is mercylesse Whereat M. More first began to fume agaynst such as denye Purgatory Rastell foloweth M. More The names of the disputers in the matter of Purgatory The soÌ„me and contentes of Rastels iij. Dialogues An aunswere to Rastels Dialogue Rastels booke is either true or false If naturall reason conclude agaynst the Scripture then is naturall reasoÌ„ false Roma 5. Iohn 11. 2. Rastels boke clearely quickly confouÌ„ded Rastel beaten to the wall The first chief reason made for Purgatory Rastell Aunswere to the first argument Psal 81. 1. Thess 4. Question Math. 24. The confutatioÌ„ of Rastels first chief argument 1. Iohn 1. 1. Cor. 15. 1. Thess 4. Ephes 1. and. 5. Rastell ouerthroweÌ„ in his owne turne 3. Hebr. 1. Christ is the onely Purgatory and purger of our sins 4. Ephe. 5. A frutefull and excelleÌ„t argument 5. Ephe. 1. Christ by his election doth purge and clense vs. 6. 1. Iohn 1. Ephe. 1. Gallat 5. Roma 7. Roma 8. Roma 5. Roma 4. Psal 31. Iustification freely doth exclude Purgatory Roma 3. Obiection In aunswere to the first obiection Obiection 1. In aunswere to the second obiection 2. The Pope â—elleth Christes merites for money 3. We may not robbe God of his honour 4. Blasphemy to say Christes bloud is not full