not lawfull Israelites Gods peculiar people SacrameÌ„tes and figures thereof grossely vnderstode breede errors Roma 〈◊〉 Gods church largely taken what it is Math. 13. Math. 25. Gods elect Church is without spotte and onely knowen to God Man is vncertaine of his election vntill the holy ghost working in hym assure hym therof Good and bad are of the sensible Church Math. 〈◊〉 Luke 〈◊〉 Infanteâ— may be â—â—ptised because they be partakers of the promise although they as yet haue no fayth The second thyng to be considered in Baptisme Roma 6. Dipping in the water and liftyng vp agayne of intantes what it signifieth The whole course of mans life is a continuall Baptisme Galat. 3. Tit. 3. Baptisme is the fountaine of our new byrth The signification of Baptisme that is to say banishyng the old maÌ„ and puttyng on the new acquired onely by fayth Iohn 3. The wicked distrustyng in Gods promises dispayre Iohn 5. Christes bloud is the streÌ„gth of our Baptisme Roma 5. Matthew the last Math. 28. Causes why the SacrameÌ„t of Baptisme shold bee had in great reuerence Sundry sortes of meÌ„ which we haue conuersation withall diuersly affected Ceremonies of some sortes are as guides vnto the knowledge of God Actes 15. The perfection of man Math. 15. Tit. 1. 1. Cor. 8. Weake consciences eyther by breaking of any auncient custome or neglecting ceremonies not to be offended 1. Cor. 8. The obstinate which put trust in thinges not needefull to saluation must be resisted Actes 8. Philip the Apostle vsed not so many outward ceremonies in Baptisme as papistes doe Ministers must be circumspect in the vses abuses of ceremonies â—…i 33. Exod. 20. Deut. 5. Exod. 31. Sabaoth abrogated for feare of superstition Gallat 4. Sabaoth kept on the Sonday Coll. 2. Exod. 13. Deut. 4. and. 5. Ezech. 3. and. 30. Math. 7. 1 â–ª Cor. 11. 2. Timb 3. Exod. 8. Iohn 4. Math. 8. Iohn 6. Iohn 6. Iohn 17. Iohn 13. Luke 22. Phil. 2. Math. 21. Math. 10. Luke 22. Math. 14. and. 15. Math. 8. Math. 21. Luke 2. Math. 11. Math. 21. Mark 16. Iohn 19. Math. 5. Iohn 19. Ca. ConstaÌ„t dist â—â—vi Math. 10. Luke 23. Math. 10. Iohn 19. Exod. 16. Heb. 9. Math. 25. Math. 18. Iohn 21. Math. 8. Marke 1. Luke 5. Math. 5. Math. 8. 17. Iohn 22. Luke 2. Math. 5. Actes 2. Math. 3. Iohn 12. Iohn 9. Luke 10. Iohn 19. Math. 19. Luke 22. Math. 23. Marke 9. â—ath 17. Iohn 14. Marke 11. Math. 4. Math. 5. Math. 17. Math. 11. Luke 12. Math. 23. Math. 17. Math. 26. Math. 26. Iohn 15. Math. 19. 1. Cor. 7. Math. 15. Roma 14. Collos 2. Tit. 1. Math. 16. Math. 18. Iohn 15. Luke 17. Oh abhomination Math. 2â— Osea 〈◊〉 Math. 9. Roma 4. Iohn 11. 1. Iohn 2. Iames. 5. Math. 5. Roma 13. Ephe. 1. Collos 1. 1. Cor. 10. 2. Pet. 2. 2. Timo. 3. Tit. 1. Iohn 19. Luke 6. Luke 〈◊〉 Math. 5. Luke 6. Math. 23. Math. 23. Acte 7. Esay 66. 2. King 7. 1. Cor. 3. Actes 17. Exod. 20. Iohn 5. Iohn 1. Dist. xxij ca. sacrosancta Math. 10. 1. Timo. 3. Tit. 1. The order that Iohn Frith kepeth in shewyng his mynde in the Sacrament of the body bloud of Christ The occasioÌ„ that moued Iohn Frith to write on the Sacrament The spirituall eatyng of the Sacrament is by fayth The Sacrament to be the naturall body of Christ is no article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vpon payne of damnation Obiection Solution Obstinate defendyng of any cause is worthy of reprehention The foundation of Iohn Frithes first treatise vppon the Sacrament It is no article of our fayth to beleue it to be the naturall body of Christ The same fayth saueth vs that saued our fathers Adam Gene. 3. How our fathers did eate the body of christ and dronke his bloud Abraham Gene. 12. Circumcision was the Sacrament of Gods couenasit made with Abraham AbrahaÌ„ by fayth dyd eate and drinke Christes body and bloud Iohn 8. The spirituall eating drinkyng of Christ shall saue vs. Manna was to the Israelites the same that the SacrameÌ„t is to vs now August de vtilitate poenicentiae Aug. super Ioan. tract 26. A goodly saying of S. Augustine Beda suter 1. Cor. 10. To eate the SacrameÌ„t by fayth spiritually is to eate the body of Christ c. There is no cause why we should accompt the SacrameÌ„t to be Christes naturall body for that were to grosse an imaginatioÌ„ We are not boundâ— to beleue vpoÌ„ payne of daÌ„natioÌ„ more then our fathers beleued Gene. 1. Psal 1. Esay 7. Acte 3. Actes 2. Psal 16. We must beleue the articles of our fayth vpon payne of damnation but in the other there is no perill Aug. contra Faustum Lib. 19. cap. 11. There be thre causes why y e Sacramentes were instituted The first is necessity August ad MarcellinuÌ„ The second cause of the institution of Sacramentes How diligently Christ set forth y e Sacrament of hys body bloud that we might by that outward signe assure our fayth that his very true body was crucified for our sinnes The thyrd cause of the institution of Sacramentes The sacrament is profitable to none but to such as vnderstaÌ„d the doctrine therof An example of the Alepole The true significatioÌ„ of the sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ The sacrifices of the Iewes as loÌ„g as they were rightly vsed were well accepted More Frith 1. Pet. 2. Luke 22. Ephes 6. Math. 10. Mich 5. Iohn 6. Math. 10. 3. Cor. 11. Ioh. Frith mette with false brethren 2. Cor. 10. An exhortation to stand manfully by the profession of Gods word More Frith BrethreÌ„ is an auncient name in the scripture Amos. 8. Math. 11. Luke 18. Roma 1. Actes 24. More Frith Ioh. Frith feared not death Frith wisheth all his workes to be seene More Frith He that seeth his brother in peril of ieoperdy must warn him therof Deut. 12. Note here the earnest zeale of Frith An offer made to the Clergie by Io. Frith More Frith 2. Thes 2. 1. Iohn 4. Actes 20. The propâ—esie of S. Paule â—the latter times Siluester when corruption entred into y e Church Bishoprickes wer not gredely sought in y e primitiue Church for then it was a charge and not a Lordship Math. 27. Mark 15. Iohn 19. A great alteration in the church sithen the time of Christ and hys Apostles 1. Cor. 11. A litle flock is left that are not corrupted More Frith 1. Cor. 10. Paule calleth the Sacrament bread 1. Cor. 11. Actes 2. Luke 22. Nature sayth there is bread in the Sacrament The wyne will waxe sowre if it be kept loÌ„g The Doctors proue that bread remayneth in the Sacrament Gelasius a Pope Contra Eutych Nestorium This is the saying of Gelasius a Pope Wickleffe Wickleffe buried xv yeare and then brent Math. 10. Malach. 2. Oecolampadius Tyndall Tyndall declareth his innocency Zwinglius Zwinglius slayne in a iust and righteous cause
all in all thinges woorketh a mans iustifiyng saluation and health yea poureth fayth belefe lust to loue Gods will strength to fulfill the same into vs euen as water is poured into a vessell and that of his good will and purpose and not of our deseruynges and merites Gods mercy in promising and truth in fulfilling his promises saueth vs and not we ourselues and therfore is al laude prayse glory to be geuen vnto God for his mercy and truth and not vnto vs for our merites and deseruynges After that he stretcheth hys example out agaynst all other good workes of the law and coÌ„cludeth that the Iewes can not be Arahams heyres because of bloud and kinred onely and much lesse by the workes of the law but must inherite Abrahams fayth if they wil be the right heyres of Abraham for as much as Abraham before the law both of Moses also of Circumcision was through faith made righteous and called the father of all them that beleue not of them that worke Moreouer the law causeth wrath in as much as no maÌ„ can fulfill it with loue and lust and as longe as such grudgyng hate and indignation agaynst the law remayneth in the hart and is not takeÌ„ away by the sprite that commeth by fayth so long no doubt the workes of the law declare euideÌ„tly that the wrath of god is vpon vs and not fauour wherfore fayth only receyueth the grace promised vnto Abraham And these ensamples were not written for Abrahams sake onely sayth he but for oures also to whom if we beleue fayth shall be reckened lykewise for ryghteousnesse as he sayth in the end of the chapter In the 5. chapter he commendeth the fruit and workes of faith as are peace reioycing in the conscience inwarde loue to God and maÌ„ moreouer boldnesse trust confidence and a strong a lusty mynd and stedfast hope in tribulation and suffering For all such follow where the right fayth is for the aboundant graces sake and giftes of the sprite which god hath geuen vs in Christ in that he suffred hym to die for vs yet his enemies Now haue we then that fayth only before all workes iustifieth and that it followeth not yet therfore that a man should do no good workes but that y t right shapeÌ„ workes abide not behind but accompany fayth euen as brightnesse doth the sunne and are called of Paul the fruites of the sprite Where y t spirite is there it is alwayes sommer and there are alwayes good fruites that is to say good workes This is Paules order that good works spring of the sprite y e spirit commeth by fayth and faythe commeth by hearyng the worde of God when the glad tidings and promises which God hath made vnto vs in Christ are preached truely and receiued in the ground of the hart with out waueryng or doubâ—ing after that the law hath passed vpon vs and hath damned our consciences Where the worde of God is preached purely and receiued in the hart there is faith the spirit of God there are also good workes of necessitie whensoeuer occasioÌ„ is geueÌ„ Where Gods word is not purely preached but mens dreames traditions imaginations inuentioÌ„s ceremonies superstition there is no fayth and consequently no spirite that commeth of GOD and where Gods spirite is not there can bee no good workes euen as where an apple tree is not there can grow no apples but there is vnbeliefe the diuels sprite and euill workes Of this Gods sprite and hys fruites haue our holy hipocrites not once knowen neither yet tasted how swete they are though they fayne many good workes of their own imaginatioÌ„ to be iustified withal in which is not one cromme of true fayth or spiritual loue or of inward ioy peace and quietnes of conscience for as much as they haue not the worde of GOD for them that such workes please GOD but they are euen the rotten fruites of a rotten tree After that he breaketh forth and runneth at large sheweth whence both sinne and righteousnesse death and life come And he compareth Adam and Christ together thus wise reasonyng and disputyng that Christ must nedes come as a seconde Adam to make vs heyres of his righteousnesse through a new spiritual birth without our deseruinges Euen as the first Adam made vs heyres of synne through the bodily generation without oure deseruyng Wherby it is euidently knowne and proued to the vttermost that no man can bryng himselfe out of synne vnto righteousnesse no more then he could haue withstaÌ„d that he was borne bodily And y t is proued herewith for as much as y t very law of God which of right should haue helped if any thyng could haue holpeÌ„ not onely came and brought no helpe with her but also encreased synne because that the euil and poisoned nature is offeÌ„ded and vtterly displeased with the law and y t more she is forbid by the lawe the more is she prouoked and set a fyre to fulfill satisfie her lustes By the law then we see clearely that we must needes haue Christ to iustify vs with his grace to helpe nature In the vi he setteth forthe the chiefe and principall worke of fayth the battayle of the sprite agaynst the fleshe how the sprite laboureth and enforceth to kyll the remnaunt of sinne and lust which remayne in the fleshe after our iustifiyng And this chapiter teacheth vs that we are not so free from sinne through fayth that we should henceforth go vp and down idle carelesse sure of our selues as thoughe there were now no more synne in vs. Yes there is sinne remayning in vs but it is not reckoned because of fayth and of the sprite which fyght agaynste it Wherefore we haue inough to doe all our lyues long to tame our bodies and to compell the members to obey the sprite and not the appetites that therby we myght be like vnto christes death and resurrection and might fulfill our baptisme which signifieth the mortifiyng of sinnes and the new lyfe of grace For this battayle ceaseth not in vs vntill the last breath and vntyll that sinne be vtterly slayne by the deth of the body This thyng I meane to tame the body and so forth we are able to doe sayth he seyng we are vnder grace not vnder the lawe What it is not to be vnder the lawe he himselfe expoundeth For not to be vnder the lawe is not so to be vnderstand that euery maÌ„ may do what hym lusteth But not to be vnder the law is to haue a fre hart renewed with the sprite so that thou hast lust inwardly of thine owne accorde to do that which the lawe commaundeth without compulsion yea though there were no law For grace that is to say gods fauour bringeth vs the sprite maketh vs loue the lawe so is there now no more sinne neither is the law now any more
to be merciful is louingly to forgeue them that offended thee assoone as they knowledge their misdoyng aske thee mercy To be mercifull is patiently long to abide the conuersion of sinners with a lusty courage and hope that God will at the last conuert them and in the meane tyme to pray instantly for them and euer when he seeth an occasion to exhort theÌ„ warne them monishe theÌ„ and rebuke them And to be mercifull is to interpret all to the best and to looke thorow the fingers at many thynges and not to make a greuous sinne of euery small trifle and to suffer and forbeare in his owne cause the malice of them that wil not repent nor be a knowen of theyr wickednesse as long as he can suffer it and as long as it ought to be suffred and when he can no lenger then to complayne to them that haue auctoritie to forbidde wrong and to punishe such euill doers But the hypocrites cleane contrary condemne all meÌ„ for greuous sinners saue them onely that buy their holynesse of them And because they wyll suffer wyth no man they get them to silence And because they will helpe no man all that they haue say they pertayneth to the Couent and is none of theirs And if they be offended they wyll be auenged immediatly And to clooke that they should not seeme to adueÌ„ge theÌ„selues the matter say they pertayneth to God and holy Church or to some Saint or to one or other holy thyng as if thou smite one of them on the one cheke he will turne to thee the other yer he will aduenge himself But the iniury of the holy oyle wherwith he was annointed that must he aduenge and that with a spirituall punishmeÌ„t that thou must be accursed as blacke as a Colyer and deliuered to Sathan And if thou come not in and aske absolution and to offer thy selfe to penaunce and to paying thereto they wyll not suffer till the Deuil fetch thee But will deliuer thee to the fyre in the meane tyme. And all for zeale of righteousnes say they O hypocrites the zeale of righteousnes is to hunger and thyrst for righteousnes as it is aboue described that is to care and study and to do the vttermost of thy power that all thynges went in the right course and due order both thorow all degrees of the temporaltie and also of the spiritualtie and to ieoparde lyfe and goodes thereon All the worlde can beare recorde what payne ye take and howe ye care for the temporall common wealth that all degrees therein dyd and had their dutie how ye put your liues in aduenture to preach the truth and to informe Lordes and Princes and to cry vpon them to feare God to be learned and to minister their offices truly vnto their subiectes and to be mercyful an example of vertue vnto them And howe helpe ye that youth were brought vp in learnyng and vertue y â— the poore were prouided for of foode and rayment c. And how prouide ye that your Priestes be all learned and preach and do their duties truly euery maÌ„ in his Parish how prouide ye that sectes arise not to polle the people and leade them out of the way â–ª vnder a colour of long praying and hypocritish holynesse liuyng them selues idle and beyng vtterly vnto the commoÌ„ wealth improfitable who smelleth not y â— swete odoure of chastitie that is among you What righteousnes is in your saÌ„ctuaries and what indifferent equitie is in all your exemptions priuiledges and liberties By your workes we iudge you and your zeale to righteousnes not by your sophisticall suttle reasons with which ye would claw our eares bleare our eyes beguile our wittes to take your tyrannous couetous crudelitie for the zeale of righteousnes Finally he that will not be mercyfull to be blessed of God to obtayne mercy of him both heare and in the life to come let him be accursed with the vnmercyful and to him be iudgement without mercy according to y â— wordes of S. Iames in the second chapter of his Epistle Blessed be the pure in hart for they shall see God That which entreth into a man defileth not a maÌ„ But y â— thyngs that defile a man procede first out of his hart as â—hou mayst see Math. xv Thence come out euill thoughtes saith Christ as murther adulterie fornicatioÌ„ theft false witnessynges and blasphemyes These are the things that make a man foule A man then is not foule in the sight of God till his hart be foule And the filthinesse of the hart are thoughtes that study to breake Gods coÌ„maundementes Wherfore the purenesse of the hart is the consenting studious purpose to keepe the law of God and to meane truly in al thy words works and to do them with a true intent It foloweth then that thou mayst be pure harted and therewith do all that God hath commaunded or not forbidden Thou mayst be pure harted and haue a wife and get childreÌ„ be a iudge and condemne to death them that haue deserued it hang or behead euil doers after they be by a iust processe condeÌ„pned Thou mayst be pure harted do all the drudge in the world Lot was pure harted amoÌ„g the Sodomites Nicodemâ—s beyng in the councell among them that conspired the death of Christ was pure harted consented not with them to the death of that innocent If the law be written in thyne hart it will driue thee to Christ which is the end of the law to iustifie all that beleue Rom. x. And Christ will shew thee his father For no man seeth the father but the sonne and he to whom the sonne will shew him Luke x. If thou beleue in Christ that he is thy Sauiour that faith wil leade thee in immediatly and shew thee God with a louely amiable countenaunce and make thee feele and see how that he is thy father al together mercyfull to thee at one with thee and thou his sonne and highly in his fauour and grace sure that thou pleasest him when thou doest an hundred thinges whiche some holy people would suppose them selues defiled if they should but thinke on theÌ„ And to see God is the blessing of a pure hart Impure and vncleane harted then are all they that study to breake Gods commaundementes Impure harted are all that beleue not in Christ to be iustified by him Impure harted are all hypocrites y t do their worke for a false purpose either for prayse profite or to be iustified thereby which paynted sepulchres as Christ calleth them can neuer see God or bee sure that they be in the state of grace and that theyr workes be accepted because they haue not Gods word with them but cleane agaynst them Blessed are the peacemakers for they shal be called the children of God To inherite this blessing it is not onely required that
vertue increase vice and sinne to the vtter destruction of the common wealth and quyet lyuing of the people And thus much he maketh an end As to the first where he sayth that it would put awaye the dreade of God and geue boldnes to sinne if we thought there were no Purgatory we sée and may euidently perceaue the contrary all day both in young old of them that beleue there is a Purgatory The young say I wil take my pleasure whyle I may and if I may haue but one houres respite to cry God mercy I care not for then shall I go but to Purgatory so shall I be sure to be saued The old say I will kéepe my goods as long as I may for I wote not what nede I shal haue But when I dye I will cry God mercy and then shall I go but to Purgatory and myne executours that haue my goodes shall redeme me theÌ„ce well inough And so to beleue Purgatory is rather an occasioÌ„ of rechlesse boldnesse then of the feare of God Besides that if they knew y â— there were no Purgatory then should many the more feare God and do wel them selues and not trust to their executours for feare of damnation howbeit as I haue sayd before they that feare not God but for payne whether it be of hell or Purgatory are yet vnder condemnation and not in Gods fauour And this dare I boldly affirme that they whiche feare not God but for Purgatoryes sake shall neuer come in it no nor yet in heauen And therfore it is but folye to imagine Purgatory for that intent As concernyng the second poynte If the people beleue that they neded not to make satisfactioÌ„ to their neighbours for their trespasses c. I haue sufficiently auÌ„swered before that we must make satisfaction vnto our neighbours if we be able or els will God neuer forgeue vs. And if we be not able yet must we knowledge our offence then is our neighbour bounde to forgeue vs vnder the payne of damnation And so can this proue no Purgatory Now as touchyng the thyrd that if they beleued that such a light repentaunce were sufficient without any other satisfaction it should be an occasion of vice and subuersion of the common wealth I auÌ„swere as I haue done before almost in euery argument sith thou art ignoraunt of Christes death and his satisfaction vnto the father for vs that all the repentaunce whiche we can take is not sufficient to counterpese one cryme but that if Christ were not we should all be damned Here will I leaue Rastell and his Turke Gingemin with all their naturall Philosophy which is now proued foolishnes for hetherto hath he proued no Purgatory neither hath hee one good reason nor yet to that baren reasons one good solution as we haue sufficiently declared But let vs heare somewhat more of Gods word and sée how Purgatory standeth with that Paul saith we must all be brought before the iudgement seate of Christ that euery man may receaue accordyng to the workes of his body whether it be good or bad 2. Cor. 5. If this be true then can there be no Purgatory whiche shall profite hym after he is dissolued from his body for then should he not receaue accordyng to y e workes of his body But rather accordyng to the paynes that he suffered in Purgatory Now if this text be true then must it folow that all thyne executours dealyng offeryng of Masse pence c. helpe thée not a myte And by this text it is not possible that there should be a Purgatory Vpon this text would I fayne dispute a poynt of Sophistry whiche I would gladly haue dissolued of them that thinke theÌ„ selues learned in Philosophy My Sophisme is y e ij contradictories may staÌ„d together be both true Whiche I am sure no Sophister dare graunt for it hath in tymes past ben condemned in Oxford for an heresie The coÌ„tradictories are these Euery man shall receaue accordyng to the workes of his body And some maÌ„ shall not receaue accordyng to the workes of his body that these two coÌ„tradictories be both true I wil proue The firste proposition is Paules 2. Cor. 5. which no man will deny to be true And the secoÌ„d may easely be proued true which is that some maÌ„ shall not receaue accordyng to the workes of his body For be it in case y â— there depart a maÌ„ out of this world which is not cleane purged by fayth and the word of God neither are his rebellious members subdued through death as they imagine but that the spottes and remnauntes of sinne remaine in him for the which he is worthy to lye in the paynes of Purgatorye for the space of sixe yeare This graunted which I am sure they will not deny then also put I the case that this man lyeng in Purgatory by the space of a moneth haue a frend which offereth for hym a peny vnto S. Dominikes boxe which hath such power that assoone as the tinging is hard in y e boxe so soone the soule is frée in heauen or that a frende of his bye a Pardon for hym which may absolue him a poena a culpa for all commeth to one effect This man deliuered on that maner doth not receaue accordyng to the workes of his body for by the workes of his body he should yet lye in Purgatory more theÌ„ fiue yeares And that doth he not but is by and by deliuered from Purgatory Ergo I may conclude that some maÌ„ receaueth not accordyng to the workes of his body so are two contradictories true or els there can be no such deliueraunce out of Purgatory whiche destroyeth all Pardons Massepence and Suffragies for the dead This would I haue soluted How beit I will not adnumber it for an argument because the vnlearned people to whom I write this booke can not well perceaue it But this Sophisme haue I writteÌ„ to stop the chatteryng mouthes of the Sophisters and to cast them a bone to gnaw vpon Paule sayth you whiche were in tymes past straungers and enemyes because your myndes were set in euil workes hath he now recoÌ„ciled in the body of hys fleshe thorough death to make you holy such as no man can complayne on and without â—aulte in his owne sight if ye continue grounded and stablished in the fayth and be not moued away from the hope of the Gospell Collos i. Here Paule affirmeth that you are reconciled through his death so that ye are made holy and without faulte in his sight I haue expounded what it is to bee without fault in his â—ixt argument looke ye yet for an other Purgatory are ye so childish and insensible no imagine that ye must yet go through Purgatory â—ith ye are already without faulte in his â—ight This a playne â—ase God of his righteousnes will not punishe a man for nothyng but all that are
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
byshopryke of the kinges grace How will you bée able by your workes to deserue heauen and iustification before the king of all kynges When you haue aunswered to this before the kinges grace then come and dispute with God the iustification of your workes and yet shall they bée farre vnlike Wherfore I conclud of these scriptures and of these doctours that the fayth that we haue in Christ Iesus and his blessed bloude doth onely and sufficiently iustifie vs béefore God without the helpe of any workes And though y e all scripture bee no thing els but a holle probacion of this article that is alonely a perfect commeÌ„dation and a prayse of Christ and of his blessed merites that hée hath deserued for vs yet will I passe ouer to bryng in any moe places For they y e are not coÌ„teÌ„t with these scriptures wyll not bée satisfied nor yet content to geue al onely glory to God though I brought in all the newe testament Yea Christ hym selfe could not satisfie them if hee were here no nor yet though heauen and earth and all creatures therin were nothyng els but probations of this article it would not helpe Wherefore I let such infidels passe and leue them to the iudgement of God alonely certifieng them of this one thyng that is infallible how the day shall come that it shall repent them yea and that sorer then I can either write or thinke that they did not beléeue the lest pricke of this holy article But vnto our purpose The very true way of iustification is this First commeth God for the loue of Christe Iesus alonely of his mere mercy and geueth vs fréely the gift of fayth wherby we doe beleeue God his holy word and sticke fast vnto the promises of God and beléeue that though heauen and earth and all that is in them should perish and come to nought yet God shall bée founde true in his promises for this faythe 's sake bée we the elect children of God This is not such a fayth as men dreame when they beléeue that there is one God and beléeue that hée is eternall beléeue also that hée made the worlde of naught yea and beléeue that the Gospell is true and all thing that God speaketh must bée true and fulfilled with other such thynges This I say is not the fayth that wée bée iustified by for deuils and infidels haue this fayth â—and also wée may attayne to these thynges by strength of reason But the fayth that shall iustifie vs must bée of an other maner of strength for it must come from heauen and not from the strength of reason It must also make mée beléeue that God the maker of heauen and earth is not alonely a father but also my father yea and that thorow the fauour that Christ hath purchased mée from the whiche fauour neither heauen nor earth tribulation nor persecution death nor hell can deuide mée But to this sticke I fast that hée is not alonely my father but also a mercifull father yea and that vnto mée mercifull and so mercifull that hée will not impute my sinnes vnto mée though they bée neuer so great so long as I hang on the blessed bloud of Christ Iesus and sinne not of malice but of frailtie and of no pleasure Hée is also a lyberall father yea and that vnto mée liberall which will not alonely promise mée all thynges but also géeue them me whether they bée necessary to the body or to y e soule Hée is also not alonely lyberall but myghty to performe all thynges that hée promyseth vnto mée Briefely this fayth maketh mée to hang clearely of God and of his blessed promyses made in Christ and in his swéete and precious bloud and not to feare death nor any affliction nor persecution nor tribulation but to despise all these thynges and not alonely these but to despise also myne own lyfe for Christes sake Finally of a fleshely beast it maketh mée a spirituall man of a damnable child it maketh mée a heauenly sonne of a seruaunt of the deuill it maketh mée a frée maÌ„ of Gods both deliuered from the lawe from sinne from death from the deuill and from all myserie that might hurt mée My Lordes this is the fayth that doth iustifie and that wée do preach And because it is geuen from heauen into our hartes by the spirite of God therfore it can bée no idle thing But it must néedes do all maner of things y e bée to the honour of God and also to the profite of our neighbour In so much that at all tymes necessary it must néedes worke well also bryng forth all good workes that may bée to the profite and helping of any man But these workes bée not done to iustifie the man but a iust man must néedes doe them Not vnto his profite but alonely to other mens profites euen as our maister Christ suffered hunger and thyrste and persecution and tooke great labours in preaching of his worde yea and also suffered death All these thinges I say did hée not to further or to profite himselfe but for our merites and for our profite So likewise doth a iust man his workes And as a good trée in tyme of the yeare bryngeth forth good Apples not to make hym good for hée is good afore nor yet this apple is not to his profite but vnto other mens notwithstanding y e good nature that is in hym muste néedes bring it forth So likewise the iust man must néedes doe good workes not by them to bée iustified but alonely in them to serue his brother for hée hath no néede of them as concerning his iustification Wherfore now here haue you the very true cause of iustification that is fayth alonely And also the very true way and maner of doynge good workes And how that no man can doe good workes but a iustified man as our maister Christ sayth Eyther make the trée good and then his fruite good or els the trée euill and his fruit euill for a good trée must néedes bring forth good fruite and a badde euyll fruite But now let mée aunswere to the Scriptures and to the reasons that they bring to prooue that workes doe iustifie First commeth the fleshly and dampnable reason and shée sayth If wée bée iustified alonely by fayth what néede wée to doe any good workes what néede wée to crucifie or mortifie our fleshe for all these wil not profite vs and wée shall bée saued though wée doe none of theÌ„ all Thus did blinde reason dispute with Saint Paule when that hée had proued that God of his mercy had deliuered vs fréely from the damnable bondage of the law Anone hée iudged that he might do what hée would for hée was no loÌ„ger vnder the law To this S. Paule auÌ„swereth y â— if wée obey vnto y â— workes of sinne then are we the seruauntes of sinne if we obey to the workes of iustice
is the foode of our soules Therfore if he minister it not truly and freely vnto vs wythout sellyng he is a theef a soule murtherer and euen so is he if he take vpon hym to feede vs haue not wherwith And for a like conclusion because we also with all that we haue be Christes therfore is the priest heyre with vs also of all that we haue receiued of God wherfore in as much as y t priest wayteth on y t word of God and is our seruaunt therin therfore of right we are his detters and owe him a sufficient liuyng of our goodes and euen thereto a wyfe of our daughters owe we vnto hym if hee require her And nowe when we haue appoynted him a sufficiente liuyng whether in tythes rentes or in yearely wages he ought to be content and to require no more nor yet to receaue any more but to be an ensample of sobernesse and of despising worldly things vnto the ensample of hys parishioners Wilte thou vowe to offer vnto the poore people that is pleasaunt in the sight of God for they be left here to do our almes vpon in Christes stead and they be the right heyres of all our aboundaunce and ouerplus Moreouer we must haue a schole to teache Gods worde in though it needed not to bee so costly and therfore it is lawfull to vow vnto the building or maintenaÌ„ce therof vnto the helping of all good workes And we ought to vow to pay custome tolle rent and all maner duties and whatsoeuer we owe for that is Gods commaundement If thou wilt vowe pilgrimage thou must put salt therto in like manner if it shall be accepted if thou vowe to go and visite the poore or to heare gods word or whatsoeuer edifieth thy soule vnto loue good worke after knowledge or whatsoeuer God commaundeth it is wel done and a sacrifice that sauoureth well ye wil happly say that ye will go to this or that place because God hath chosen one place more then another and wyll heare your petition more in one place then another As for your prayer it must be according to to gods worde Ye may not desire god to take vengeaunce on hym whome Gods worde teacheth you to pity and to pray for And as for the other glose that God will here you more in one place then in another I suppose it sal infatuatum salt vnsauery for if it were wisdome how could we excuse y t deth of Steuen Acts 7. which died for that article that God dwelleth not in temples made with handes we y t beleue in God are the temple of God sayeth Paul If a man loue God and keepe hys worde he is the temple of God hath God presently dwellyng in him as witnesseth Christ Iohn 14. saying If a man loue me he wyll keepe my worde and then my father wyll loue hym and we wyll come vnto hym and dwel with hym And in the 15. he saith if ye abyde in me and my wordes also abyde in you then aske what ye wyll and ye shall haue it If thou beleue in Christe and hast the promises whiche God hath made thee in thine hart then go on pilgrimage vnto thyne owne hart and there pray and God wil heare thee for hys mercy and truthes sake and for his sonnes Christes sake and not for a few stones sakes What careth GOD for the temple The very beastes in that they haue life in them be much better then an heape of stones couched together To speake of chastity it is a gift not geuen vnto all persones as testifieth both Christ and also his Apostle Paul wherfore all persons may not vow it Moreouer there bee causes wherefore many persons may better lyue chast at one tyme then at an other Many may lyue chast at twenty and thirtie for certayne cold diseases folowyng them which at xl when their health is come can not do so Many be occupyed with wilde phantasies in their youth that they care not for mariage which some when they be waxen sad shal be greatly desirous it is a daungerous thyng to make sinne where none is and to forsweare the benefite of God to bynde thy self vnder payne of daÌ„nation of thy soule that y u wouldest not vse remedy that god hath created if nede required An other thyng is this beware that thou get thee not a false fayned chastitie made with the vngodly persuasioÌ„s of S. Hierome of Ouide in his filthy booke of the remedy agaynst loue lâ—st when throughe such imaginatioÌ„s thou hast vtterly despised defied and abhorred all womankynde thou come into such case thoroughe the fierce wrath of God that thou canst neither lyue chast nor finde in thy hart to mary and so be compelled to fall into the abhomination of the Pope against nature and kynde Moreouer god is a wise father and knoweth all the infirmities of his children and also mercyfull and therefore hath created a remedy without sinne and geuen therto his fauour and blessyng Let vs not be wyser then GOD with our imaginatioÌ„s nor tempt him for as godly chastitie is not euery maÌ„s gift euen so he that hath it to day hath not power to continue it at his owne pleasure neither hath God promised to geue it him stil and to cure his infirmities without hys naturall remedy no more then he hath promised to slake hys hunger without meate or thyrst without drinke Wherfore either let all thynges byde free as God hath created them and neither vowe that which God permitteth thee with his fauour and blessing also or els if thou wilte nedes vowe then vow godly and vnder a condition that thou wilt continue chast so long as God geueth thee that gift and as long as neither thyne own necessitie neither charitie toward thy neighbour nor the authoritie of theÌ„ vnder whose power thou art driue thee vnto the contrary The purpose of thy vowe must bee salted also with the wisedome of God Thou mayest not vowe to be iustified thereby or to make satisfaction for thy sinnes or to wynne heaueÌ„ nor an hyer place for then diddest thou wrong vnto the bloud of Christ and thy vowe were playne Idolatry and abhominable in the sight of GOD. Thy vow must be onely vnto the furtheraunce of the commaundementes of GOD which are as I haue said nothing but the tamyng of thy members and the seruice of thy neighbour that is if thou thincke thy backe to weake for the burthen of wedlocke and that thou canst not rule thy wife children seruauntes and make prouision for them godly without ouermuch busying and vnquietyng thy selfe and drownyng thy selfe in worldly busynesse vnchristenly or that thou canst serue thy neighbour in some office better beyng chast then maryed And then thy vowe is good and lawfull And euen so must thou vowe abstinence of meates and drinkes so farre forth as it is profitable vnto thy neighbours
euerlastyng promises eternall Testament that God had made betwene man and hym in Christes bloud and the miracles dyd testifie also that they were true seruauntes of Christ Paul preached not him selfe he taught not any maÌ„ to trust in him or his holynes or in Peter or in any ceremonie but in the promises which God hath sworne onely yea he mightyly resisteth all suche false doctrine both to the Corinthians Galathians EphesiaÌ„s and euery where If this be true as it is true and nothyng more truer that if Paul had preached him self or taught any maÌ„ to beleue in his holynes or prayer or in any thyng saue in the promises that GOD hath made and sworne to geue vs for Christes sake he had bene a false Prophet why am not I also a false Prophet if I teach thee to trust in Paule or in hys holines or prayer or in any thing saue in Gods word as Paul dyd If Paule were here and loued me as he loued them of his tyme of whoÌ„ he was sent and to whoÌ„ he was a seruaunt to preache Christ what good could he doe for me or wishe me but preach Christ and pray to God for me to open myne hart to geue me his spirite to bring me vnto the full knowledge of Christ vnto which porte or hauen when I am once come I am as safe as Paule felow with Paule ioyntheyre with Paul of all the promises of God and gods truth heareth my prayer as well as Paules I also now could not but loue Paul wish him good and pray for him that God would strength him in all his temptations geue him victory as he would do for me Neuerthelesse there are many weake and young consciences alwayes in the congregation which they that haue the office to preach ought to teach and not to disceaue them What prayers pray our Clergy for vs which stoppe vs and exclude vs froÌ„ Christ and seke all the meanes possible to kepe vs from knowledge of Christ They compell vs to hyre Friers Monkes Nunnes Chanons and Priestes to buye their abhominable merites and to hyre the Saintes that are dead to pray for vs for the very Saintes haue they made hyrelynges also because that their offeryngs come to their profite What pray all those that we might come to the knowledge of Christ as the Apostles did Nay verely For it is a plaine case that all they which enforce to kepe vs from Christ pray not that we might come to the knowledge of Christ And as for the Saintes whose prayer was wheÌ„ they were a lyne that we might be grounded stablished and streÌ„gthed in Christ onely if it were of God that we should this wise worshyp them contrary vnto their owne doctrine I dare be bold to affirme that by the meanes of their prayers we should haue bene brought long a go vnto the knowledge of God and Christ agayne though that these beastes had done their worste to set it Let vs therefore set our hartes at rest in Christ and in Gods promises for so I thinke it best and let vs take the Saintes soran example onely and let vs do as they both taught and dyd Let vs set Gods promises before our eyes and desire him for his mercy and for Christes sake to fulfill them And he is as true as euer he was and will do it as well as euer he dyd for to vs are the promises made as well as to them Moreouer the end of Gods miracles is good the ende to these miracles are euill For the offerynges which are the cause of the miracles do but minister and maynteine vice sinne and all abhomination and are geuen to them that haue to much so that for very aboundance they â—ome out their owne shame and corrupt the whole worlde with the styuch of their filthines Therto what soeuer is not of fayth is sinne Roma xiiij Fayth commeth by hearyng Gods woorde Roma x. when now thou fastest or doest any thyng in the worship of any Saint beleuyng to come to the fauour of God or to bee saued thereby if thou haue Gods worde then is it true fayth and shall saue thee If thou haue not Gods woorde then is it a false fayth superstitiousnes and Idolatry and damnable sinne Also in the Collects of the Saintes with whiche we pray God to saue vs through the merites or deseruynges of the Saintes which Saintes yet were not saued by their owne deseruynges them selues we say Per Christ 〈◊〉 DominuÌ„ nostrum that is for Christ our Lordes sake We say saue vs good Lord thorough the saintes merites for Christes sake How can he saue vs through the Saintes merites for Christes sake and for hys deseruyng merites and loue Take an example A Gentleman sayth vnto me I will do the vttemost of my power for thee for the loue whiche I owe vnto thy father Though thou hast neuer done me pleasure yet I loue thy father well thy father is my frend and hath deserued that I doe all that I can for thee c. Here is a Testament and a promise made vnto me in the loue of my father onely If I come to the sayd Gentleman in the name of one of his seruauntes whiche I neuer saw neuer spake with neither haue any acquaintaunce at all with and say Syr I pray you be good master vnto me in such a cause I haue not deserued that he should so do Neuerthelesse I pray you doe it for such a seruauntes sake yea I pray you for the loue that you owe to my father doe that for me for such a seruauntes sake If I this wise made my petition would not meÌ„ thinke that I come late out of S. Patrikes Purgatory had left my wittes behinde me This do we For the TestameÌ„t and promises are all made vnto vs in Christ And we desire God to fulfill hys promises for the Saintes sake yea that he will for Christes sake do it for the Saintes sake They haue also martyrs which neuer preached Gods worde neither dyed therefore but for priuileges and liberties which they falsely purchased contrary vnto Gods ordinaunces Yea such Saintes though they be deade yet robbe now as fast as euer they did neither are lesse couetous now then when they were aliue I doubt not but that they will make a Saint of my Lord Cardinall after the death of vs that be aliue and know his iuggling and crafty conueiaunce and will shrine him gloriously for his mightily defending of the right of holy Church except we be diligent to leaue a commemoration of that Nimroth behind vs. The reasons wherewith they proue their doctrine are but fleshly and as Paule calleth them entising wordes of mans wisdome that is to witte sophistry and brauling argumentes of men with corrupt mindes and destitute of the truth whose God is their bellye vnto which idole whosoeuer offereth not the same is an heretike and worthy to be brunt The
the commyng of the truth of Gods word as the night vanisheth away at the presence of day The childrē of Israell slew not those gyauntes but the power of God Gods truth promises as thou mayst see in Deut. So it is not we that shal destroy those gyauntes as thou mayst see by Paule ij Thess ij speakyng of our Ham Antichrist Whom the Lord shall destroy saith he with the spirite of his mouth that is by the wordes of truth and by the brightnes of his comming that is by the preachyng of his Gospell ANd as I haue sayd of allegories euen so it is of worldly similitudes which we make either whē we preach either when we expound the Scripture The similitudes proue nothyng but are made to expresse more playnly that which is contayned in the Scripture and to lead thee into the spirituall vnderstanding of the text As the similitude of Matrimony is taken to expresse the Mariage that is betwene Christ and our soules and what excedyng mercy we haue there wherof all the Scriptures make mention And the similitude of the members how euery one of them careth for other is taken to make thee feele what it is to loue thy neighbour as thy selfe That preacher therfore that bringeth a naked similitude to proue that which is contayned in no text of Scripture nor foloweth of a text count a deceauer a leader out of the way and a false Prophet and beware of his Philosophie and persuasions of mās wisedome as Paul i. Corinth ij sayth my wordes and my preachyng were not with entysing wordes persuasions of mans wisedome but in showyng of the spirit and power that is he preached not dreames confirming them with similitudes but Gods word confirmyng it with miracles and with working of the spirite the which made them feele euery thing in their hartes That your fayth sayth he should not stand in the wisedome of man but in the power of God For the reasons and similitudes of mans wisedome make no fayth but waueryng vncertaine opiniōs onely one draweth me this way with his argumēt another that way of what principle thou prouest blacke an other proueth white and so am I euer vncertaine as if thou tell me of a thyng done in a farre land and an other tell me the contrarie I wote not what to beleue But fayth is wrought by the power of God that is when Gods word is preached the spirite entereth thyne hart and maketh thy soule feele it and maketh thee so sure of it that neither aduersitie nor persecution nor death neither hell nor the powers of hell neither yet all the paynes of hell could ones preuayle agaynst thee or moue thee frō the sure rocke of Gods word that thou shouldest not beleue that which God hath sworne And Peter ij Pet. i. sayth we folowed not deceauable fables when we opened vnto you the power and commyng of our Lord Iesus Christ but with our eyes we saw his maiestie And agayne we haue sayth he a more sure word of prophesie wherunto if ye take hede as vnto a light shynyng in a darke place ye do well The word of prophesie was the old Testamēt which beareth record vnto Christ in euery place without which recorde the Apostles made neither similitudes nor argumēts of worldly witte Hereof seest thou that all the allegories similitudes persuasions argumentes which they bryng without Scripture to proue praying to Saintes Purgatory care confession and that God will heare thy prayer more in one place thē in another and that it is more meritorious to eate fish then flesh and that to disguise thy selfe put on this or that maner cote is more acceptable then to go as God hath made thee and that widowhode is better then matrimony and virginitie then widowhode and to proue the Assumption of our Lady and that she was borne without originall sinne yea with a kisse say some are but false doctrine Take an example how they proue that widowhode and virginitie excede matrimony they bryng this worldly similitude He that taketh most payne for a man deserueth most and to him a man is most bound so likewise must it be with God and so forth now the widow and virgine take more payne in resisting their lustes then the maryed wife therfore is their state holier First I say that in their owne sophistry a similitude is the worst and feblest argument that can be and proueth lest and soonest deceaueth Though that one sonne doe more seruice for hys father then an other yet is the father free and may with right reward thē all a like For though I had a thousand brethren and did more thē they all yet do I not my dutie The fathers and mothers also care most for the lest and weakest and them that can doe lest ye for the worst care they most and would spend not their goodes onely but also their bloud to bryng them to the right way And euen so is it of the kyngdome of Christ as thou mayst well see in the similitude of the riotous sonne Luke xv Moreouer Paul sayth i. Cor. vij It is better to marie then to burne For the person that burneth can not quietly serue God in as much as hys mynde is drawē away the thoughts of his hart occupyed with wonderfull and monstrous imaginations He can neither see nor heare nor read but that his wittes are rapt and he cleane from him selfe And agayne sayth he Circumcision is nothyng vncircumcision is nothyng but the kepyng of the cōmaundementes is all together Looke wherein thou canst best kepe the commaundemētes thether get thy selfe and therin abyde whether thou be widow wife or mayde and then hast thou all with God If we haue infirmities that draw vs from the lawes of God let vs cure them with the remedyes that God hath made If thou burne mary For God hath promised thee no chastitie as long as thou mayst vse the remedy that hee hath ordeyned no more then hee hath promised to slake thine honger without meate Now to aske of God more then he hath promised commeth of a false faith and is playne Idolatry and to desire a miracle where there is naturall remedy is temptyng of God And of payne takyng this wise vnderstand He that taketh payne to kepe the commaundementes of God is sure therby that he loueth God and that hee hath Gods spirite in hym And the more paine a man taketh I meane paciently and without grudgyng the more he loueth God and the perfecter hee is nearer vnto that health which y ◠soules of all Christen mē long for the more purged from the infirmitie and sinne that remaineth in the flesh but to loke for any other reward or promotion in heauen or in the life to come then that which God hath promised for Christes sake and which Christ hath deserued for vs with his payne takyng is abhominable in the sight of
once be one of these sort euen an obseruaunt or of some like secte of which among an huÌ„dred thousaÌ„d thou shalt neuer bring one to beleue in Christ Where among open sinners many beleue at y â— houre of death fall flat vpon Christ beleue in him onely without al other righteousnes It were an huÌ„dred thousand tymes better neuer to pray theÌ„ to pray such lippe prayers neuer to fast or do almes then to fast and to do almes with a mynde therby to be made righteous and to make satisfaction for the fore sinnes Ye haue heard how that it was sayde to them of olde tyme kyll not for whosoeuer killeth shal be in daunger of iudgement But I say vnto you whosoeuer is angry with his brother shal be in daunger of iudgement And who soeuer saith vnto his brother Racha shal be in daunger of a councell But who soeuer sayth to hys brother thou foole shal be in daunger of hell fyre Here Christ beginneth not to destroy the lawe as the Phariseys had falsely accused hym but tâ— restore iâ— agayne to the right vnderstanding and to purge it froÌ„ the gloses of the Phariseys He that slayeth shal be giltie or in daunge of iudgemeÌ„t that is to say if a man murther his deede testifieth agaynst hym there is no more to do then to pronounce sentence of death agaynst hym This text did the Phariseys extend no further theÌ„ to kill with the hand and outward members But hate enuie malice churlishnesse and to withdraw helpe at neede to beguile and circumuent with wyles and subtil bargayning was no sinne at all No to bryng hym whom thou haredst to death with craft and falshood so thou diddest not put thyne hand thereto was no sinne at all As when they had brought Christ to death wrongfully compelled Pilate with subtiltis to slay hym they thought themselues pure In so much that they woulde not goe into the hall for defaling themselues beyng partakers wyth Pilate in hys bloud And Act. v. they sayd to the Apostles ye woulde bring this mans bloud vppon vs as who would say we slue hym not And Saul in the first booke of the Kinges in the xviij chap. beyng so wroth wyth Dauid that he would gladly haue had hym slaine determined yet that he would not defile hymself bâ—t to thrust him into y e haÌ„des of the Philistines that they might slay him and he hymselfe abide pure And as our spiritualtie now offer a man mercy once though he haue spoken against holy church onely if he wil but periure and beare a fagot But if he wil not they do but diet hym a season to winne him and make hym tell more and deliuer hym to the laye power saying he hath deserued death by our lawes and ye ought to kyll hym how beit we desire it not But Christ restoreth the law againe and sayth to be angry with thy neighbour is to slea hym to deserue death For the lawe goeth as wel on the hart as on the â—aÌ„d He that hateth his brother is a murtherer i. Ioh iij. If then the blynde hand deserue death how much more those partes which haue y â— sight of reason And he y â— sayth Racha lewde or whatsoeuer signe of wrath it be or that prouoketh to wrath hath not onely deserued that men shoulde immediatly pronouÌ„ce senteÌ„ce of death vpon him but also that when death is pronouÌ„ced they shuld gather a couÌ„cell to decree what horrible death he shuld suffer And he that calleth hys brother foole hath sinned downe to hell Shall then a man not be angry at all nor rebuke or punishe yes if thou be a father or a mother master or maâ—sâ—…sse husband Lord or ruler yet with loue and mercy that the angre rebuke or punishment exceede not the fault or trespasse May a man be angry with loue ye mothers can be so wyth their children It is a louyng anger that hateth onely the vice and studieth to mende the person But here is forbiddeÌ„ not onely wrath against father mother and all that haue gouernauÌ„ce ouer thee which is to be angry and to grudge agaynst God himselfe that the ruler shall not be wrath without a cause agaynst the subiect But also all priuate wrath against thy neighbour ouer whom thou hast no rule nor he ouer thee no though he do thee wroÌ„g For he that doth wrong lacketh witte and discretion and cannot amende till he be enformed and taught louingly Therefore thou must refrayne thy wrath and tell him his fault louingly and with kyndenesse winne him to thy father for he is thy brother as well made and as deare bought as thou as well beloued though he be yet childishe and lacke discretion But some wil say I wil not hate my neighbour nor yet loue him or do hym good yes y â— must loue him for the first coÌ„maundement out of which all other flow is thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thyne hart with all thy soule and with all thy might That is thou must keepe all his commaundemeÌ„tes with loue Loue must kepe thee from killing or hurting thy neighbour and from couetyng in thyne hart what soeuer is his And. 1. Iohn iiij This commaundement haue we of him that he which loueth God loue his brother also And agayne 1. Iohn iij. he that hath the substaunce of this world and seeth his brother haue necessity shutteth vp his compassion from him how is the loue of God in hym he then that helpeth not at neede loueth not God but breaketh the first commaundemeÌ„t Let vs loue therefore sayth S. Iohn not with word and toung but in dede and truth And agayne S. Iohn sayth in the sayd place he that loueth not his brother abydeth yet still in death And of loue hath Moyses textes inough But the Phariseis glosed theÌ„ out saying they were but good councelles if a man desired to be perfect but not preceptes Exod. xxiij if thou mete thyne enemyes Oxe or Asse goyng astraye thou shalt in any wise bryng them to him agayne And if thou see thyne enemyes Asse fall downe vnder hys burthen thou shalt helpe him vp agayne And Leuit. xix thou shalt not hate thy brother in thyne hart but shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour that thou beare no sinne for his sake For if thou study not to ameÌ„d thy neighbour wheÌ„ he sinneth so art thou partaker of his sinnes And therfore wheÌ„ God taketh vengeaunce and sendeth what soeuer plage it be to punish opeÌ„ sinners thou must perish with them For thou dyddest sinne in the light of God as deepe as they because thou dyddest not loue the law of God to mainteine it withall thiue hart soule power and might Is not he that seeth his neighbours house in ieopardie to be set on fire and warneth not nor helpeth in time to auoide the perill worthy if his neighbours house be burnt vp that his be burnt also seing
masters of one mynde one will might a man serue for if one wil one mynde and one accorde be in twenty then are they all but one master And two masters where one is vnder the other and a substitute may a man serue For the seruice of the inferiour is the coÌ„maundement of the superiour As to serue obey Father Mother Husband Master and Lord is Gods commaundement But and if the inferiour be of a contrary will to the superiour commauÌ„de any contrary thing then mayst thou not obey For now they be two coÌ„trary masters So God and Mammon are two coÌ„trary masters yea two contrary Gods and of contrary commaundementes God sayth I thy Lord God am but one me shalt y u serue alone that is y u shalt loue me with all thyne hart or with thyne whole hart with all thy soule with all thy might Thou shalt neither serue obey or loue any thyng saue me and that I byd thee that as farre and no further then I byd thee And Mammon sayth the same For Mammon wil be a God also and serued and loued alone God sayth see thou loue thy neighbour that thou labour with thine haÌ„ds to get thy liuyng and somewhat aboue to helpe him MaÌ„mon sayth he is called thy neighbour because he is nye thee Now who is so nye thee as thy self Ergo proximus esto tibi that is loue thy selfe make lewde and vyle wretches to labour diligently to get thee as much as thou mayst and some scrappes aboue for them selues Or wilt thou be perfect Then disguist thy selfe and put on a gray coate a blacke or a pyed geue thy selfe to deuotion despise the world and take a couetous I would say a contemplatiue life vpon thee Tell the people how hoate Purgatorie is and what paynes there must be suffered for small fantes And then geue mercyfully a thousaÌ„d folde for one spirituall for temporall geue heauen and take but house and land and foolish temporall thynges God sayth iudge truly betwene thy brethren and therefore take no giftes Mammon sayth it is good maner and apoynt of curtesie to take that is offered And he that geueth thee loueth thee better then such a churâ—…e that geueth thee naught yea thou arâ— more bound to fauour his cause God sayth fell and geue almose Mammon sayth lay vp to haue inough to mainteyne thyne estate and to defeÌ„d thee from thyne enemyes and to serue thee in thyne age c. For as much then as God Mammon be two so contrary masters that whosoeuer will serue God must geue vp Mammon and all that will serue MammoÌ„ must forsake God it foloweth that they which are the sworne seruauÌ„ts of Mammon and haue his holy spirite and are his faithfull Church are not the true seruaunts of God nor haue his spirite of truth in them or can be his true Church Moreouer seing that God Mammon be so contrary that Gods worde is death in Mammons eare his doctrine poyson in Mammons mouth it foloweth that if the ministers of Gods word do fauour Mammon they will so fashion their speach so sound their wordes that they may be pleasaunt in the eares of Mammon Finally alonely to haue richesse is not to be the seruauÌ„t of Mammon but to loue it and cleaâ—e to it in thyne hart For if thou haue goods onely to maintâ—ine the office whiche God hath put thee in of the rest to helpe thy neighbours nede so art thou Lord ouer thy Mammon and not his seruaunt Of theÌ„ that be rich how shalt thou know the master of Mammon from the seruaunt verely first by the gettyng secondarely when his poore neighbour complaineth if he be Mammons seruaunt Mammon wil shut vp his hart and make hym without compassion Thirdly the crosse of Christ will trye them the one from the other For wheÌ„ persecution ariseth for the word then will the true seruaunt of Christ byd Mammon â—dew And the faithfull seruaunt of Mammon will vtter his hypocrisie and not onely renounce the doctrine of Christ but also be a cruel a sharpe persecuter therof to put away all surmise and that his fidelitie which he hath in his master Mammon map openly appeare Therfore I say vnto you care not for your lyues what ye shall eate or what ye shall drinke neither for your bodyes what ye shall put on Is not the lyfe more then meate and the body more then the rayment He that bundeth a costely house eueÌ„ to the tylyng will not leaue there and lose so great cost for so small a trifle more No more will he that gaue thee so precious a soule so bewtifull a body let either of them perish agayne before y e day for so small a thnig as foode or rayment God neuer made mouth but he made meate for it nor body but he made rayment also Howbeit MaÌ„mon blindeth our eyes so that we can neither see nor iudge a right Behold the foules of the ayre how they sow not neither reape nor gather into storehouses and yet your heauenly father fedeth them And are not ye farre better then they Which of you with takyng thought is able to put one cubite vnto his stature He that careth for y â— least of his creatures will much more care for y t greatest The byrdes of the ayre and beasts preach all to vs that we should leaue caring and put our trust in our father But Mammon hath made vs so dull and so cleane without capacitie that none example or argument be it neuer so vehement caÌ„ enter the wittes of vs to make vs see or iudge a right Finally what a madnes it is to take so great thought for fode or rayment when the wealth health life of thy body and all together is out of thy power If all the world were thyne thou couldest not make thy selfe one inche leÌ„ger nor that thy stomacke shall disgeste the meate that thou puttest into it No thou art not sure that that whiche thou puttest into thy mouth shall go through thee or whether it shall choke thee Thou canst not make when thou lyest or sittest down that thou shalt arise agayn or when thou slepest that thou shalt awake agayne or that thou shouldest liue one houre loÌ„ger So that he which cared for thee when thou couldest not care must care for thee still or els thou shouldest perish And he will not care for thee to thy soules profite if thou mistrust him and care for thy selfe And for rayment why take ye thought Behold the lylies of the field how they grow they labour not neither spynne And yet I say to you that euen Salomon in all his glorie was not apparelled lyke one of them Wherefore if the grasse whiche is to day in the fieldes and to morow shal be cast into the furnace God so clothe howe much more shal he do the same vnto you O ye of litle fayth
That fayth haue they in theyr owne workes onely But the true hearers vnderstand the lawe as Christ interpreteth it here and feele thereby theyr righteous damnation and runne to Christ for succour and for remission of all their sinnes that are past and for all the sinne which chaunce thorough infirmities shall compel theÌ„ to do for remission of that the law is to stronge for their weake nature And upon that they consent to the lawe loue it and professe it to fulfill it to the vttermost of their power and then go to and worke Faith or confidence in Christes bloud without helpe and before the workes of the law bringeth all maner of remission of sinnes satisfaction Faith is mother of loue fayth accompanieth loue in all her workes to fulfill as much as there lacketh in our doing the lawe of that perfect loue which Christ had to his father and vs in his fulfilling of the law for vs. Now when we be reconciled then is loue fayth together our righteousnesse our keeping the lawe our continuing our proceeding forwarde in the grace which we stand in our bringing to the euerlasting sauing and euerlasting life And the woorkes be esteemed of God according to the loue of the hart If the woorkes be great loue little and colde then the woorkes be regarded thereafter of God If the workes be small and loue much and feruent the workes be taken for great of God And it came to passe that when Iesus had ended these sayinges the people were astonied at his doctrine for he taught them as one hauing power and not as the Scribes The Scribes and Phariseyes had thrust vp the sworde of the woorde of God into a scabbarde or shethe of gloses and therein had knit it fast that it coulde neither sticke nor cut teaching dead workes without fayth and loue which are the life and the whole goodnes of all workes and the onely thing why they please God And therefore their audience abode euer carnall and fleshly mynded without faith to God and loue to their neighbours Christes wordes were spirit life Ioh. vi That is to say they ministred spirite and life and entred into the hart and grated on the conscience and thorow preaching the lawe made the hearers perceaue their duties euen what loue they ought to God what to man and the right dampnation of all them that had not the loue of God and man written in their hartes and thorow preaching of fayth made all that consented to the lawe of God fele the mercy of God in Christ and certified them of their saluation For the worde of God is a two edged sworde that pearceth and deuideth the spirite and soule of man a sonder Heb. 〈◊〉 A man before the preaching of Godes woorde is but one man all fleshe the soule consenting vnto the lustes of the fleshe to follow them But the sworde of the worde of God where it taketh effect diuideth a man in two and serteth him at variaunce against his own selfe The fleshe haling one way and the spirite drawing another the fleshe raging to follow lustes and the spirite calling backe agayne to follow the lawe and will of God A man all the while â—e consenteth to the flesh before he be borne again in Christ is called soule or carnall But whe he is renued in Christ through y t word of lyâ—e and hath the loue of God and of hys neighbor and the fayth of Christ written in his hart he is called spirite or spirituall The Lord of all mercy send vs preachers with power that is to say 〈◊〉 expounders of the worde of God and speakers to the hart of man and deliuer vs from Scribes Phariseyes hypocrites and all false Prophetes Amen An aunswere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue made by William Tyndall 1530. ☞ First he declareth what the Church is and geueth a reason of certaine wordes which Master More rebuketh in the translation of the new Testament ¶ After that he aunswereth particularly vnto euery Chapter which semeth to haue any appearaunce of truth thorough all his foure bookes ¶ Awake thou that slepest and stand vp from death and Christ shall geue the light Ephesians 5. THe grace of our Lord the light of his spirite to see to iudge true repeÌ„taunce towardeâ— Gods lâ—we a fast fayth in the mercyfull prâ—…es y â— are in our sauiour Christ serueÌ„t loue toward thy neighbour after the exaÌ„ple of Christ his Saints be with thee O Reader with all that loue the truth loÌ„g for the redemption of Gods elect Amen Our Sauiour I esus in the 16. of Iohn at his last Supper when he tooke his leaue of his Disciples warned them saying the holy Ghost shall come and rebuke the world of iudgemeÌ„t That is he shall rebuke the world for lacke of true iudgement and discretion to iudge and shall proue that the tast of theyr mouthes is corrupt so that they iudge swete to be sowre and sowre to be swete the eyes to be blynd so that they thinke that to be the verâ— seruice of God which is but a blynd superstition for zeale of which yet they persecute the true seruice of God and that they iudge to be the lawe of God whiche is but a false imagination of a corrupt iudgement for blynd affection of whiche yet they persecute the true law of God and them that kepe it And this same it is that Paul sayth 1. Corinth ij how that the naturall man that is not borne agayne and created a new with the spirite of God be he neuer so great a Philosopher neuer so well sene in the law neuer so sore studied in the Scripture as we haue examples in the Phariseis yet hee cannot vnderstaÌ„d the thynges of the spirite of God but sayth he the spirituall iudgeth all thyngs and hys spirâ—e searcheth the deepe secretes of God so that what soeuer God commauÌ„deth hym to do he neuer leaueth searchyng till he come at the bottome the pith the quicke the lyâ—e the sâ—… the mâ—â—ow very cause why and iudgeth all thyng Take an example in the great commaundement loue God with all thyne hart y t spirituall searcheth the cause and looketh on the benefites of God and so conceaueth loue in his hart And when he is commaunded to obey the powers and rulers of the world hee looketh on the benefites which God sheweth the world through them and therefore doth it gladly And when hee â–ª is commauÌ„ded to loue his neighbour as hym selfe he searcheth that his neighbour is created of God and bought with Christes bloud and so forth and therefore he loueth hym out of his hart and if he be euill forheareth hym and with all loue and pacience draweth hym to good as elder brethren wayte on the youÌ„ger and serue them and suffer them when they will not come they speake fayre flatter and geue some gaye thyng and
had forget all the miracles and all the wordes which he had told them before how that he should be betrayde and deliuered on the same maner vnto death Moreouer they neuer vnderstode that saying of hys death because theyr hartes were all way heauy and ouer lade with earthly thoughtes For though they saw hym raise vp other yet who should rayse him vp when he were dead they could not comprehend Read what thou read canst thou shalt finde no temptatioÌ„ like vnto that from the creation of the world or so great as it by the huÌ„dred part So that the wonderfull soden chaunge and the terrible sight of his passion and of hys most cruell and most vyle death the losse of whoÌ„ they so greatly loued that their hartes would fayne haue dyed with him and the feare of their owne death and the impossibilitie that a man should rise againe of his owne power so occupyed their mindes and so astonyed them and amased them that they could receaue no comfort either of the Scripture or of the miracles whiche they had sene Christ do nor of the monitions warnings wherwith he had warned theÌ„ before neither of the women that brought them tydynges that he was risen The sword of temptations with feare sorow mournyng and wepyng had depely pearced theyr hartes and the cruell sight had so combred their myndes that they could not beleue vntill Christ him selfe came death put of and ouercome yea wheÌ„ they first saw him they were astonyed for wonderyng and ioy together that thoughtes arose in their hartes alas is this he or doth some spirite mocke vs he was fayne to let them feele hym and to eate with them to streÌ„gth theyr faythes Howbeit there was none of them that was fallen in his hart froÌ„ Christ For assoone as the women brought word Peter and Iohn ranne vnto the sepulchre saw and wondred would fayne haue beleued that he was risen and longed for him But could not beleue the wound of temptation beyng greater then that it could bee healed with the preaching of a woman without any other miracle Ioseph of Arimathia and Nicodemus whiche while he yet lyued durst not be a knowen of him assoone as he was dead begged his body and buried hym boldly And the women assoone as it was lawfull to worke prepared their annoyntments with all diligeÌ„ce And the hartes of the Disciples that weÌ„t to Emaus burned in their bresâ—es to heare him spoken of And Thomas had not forsaken Christ but could not beleue vntill he saw him and yet desired and longed to see him and reioysed when he saw him and for ioy cried out my Lord my God There was none of them that euer â—ayled on him and came so farre foorth to say he was a disceauer and wrought with the deuils craft all this while and see where to he is come in the end we defie hym all his workes false wretch that he was and hys false doctrine also And thereto must they haue come at the last when feare sorow and wonderyng had bene past if they had not bene preuented and holpe in the meane tyme. Yea and Peter aâ—soone as he had denyed Christ came to hym selfe immediatly and went out and wept bitterly for sorow And thus ye see that Peters faith failed not though it were oppressed for a tyme so that we nede to seke no gloses for the text that Christ sayd to Peter how that hys fayth should not fayle Yes sayth M. More it fayled in hym selfe but was reserued in our Lady But let vs see the text and their glose together Christ sayth Luke xxij Symon Symon Sathan seketh you to sifte you as men sift where but I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth shall not fayle wherfore wheÌ„ thou art come vnto thy selfe agayne streÌ„gth thy brethreÌ„ Now put this wise gloâ—e thereto and see how they agree together Symon SathaÌ„ seketh to sift you as where but I haue prayed for thee that my mothers fayth shall not fayle wherfore when thou art come to thy selfe again accordyng as my prayer hath obtained for thee that my mothers fayth shall not fayle strength thy brethren How say ye is not this a proper text well framed together Do ye not thinke that there is as much witte in the head of mad Colens as in the draynes oâ— such expositours ¶ Whether the Pope and his sect be Christes Church or no. THat the Pope and his spirite â—e not the Church may this wise be proued He that hath no fayth to be saued through Christ is not of Christes Church The Pope beleueth not to be saued through Christ For he teacheth to trust in holy workes for the remission of sinnes and saluation as in the woorkes of penaunce enioyned in vowes in pilgrimage in chastitie in other mens prayers and holy lyuyng in Friers Friers coates in Saintes merites and the significatioÌ„s put out he teacheth to beleue in y t dedes of the ceremonies of the Sacramentes ordeined at the beginnyng to preach vnto vs and to do vs seruice not that we should beleue in them and serue them And a thousand such superâ—â—iciousnesses setteth he before vs in stede of Christ to beleue in neither Christ nor Gods word neither honorable to God nor seruiceable vnto our neighbour nor profitable vnto our selues for the tamyng of the flesh which all are the denying of Christes bloud An other reason is this Whosoeuer beleueth in Christ conâ—enteth that Gods law is good The pope contenteth not that Gods law is good For he hath forbydden lawfull wedlocke vnto all his ouer whom he raigneth as a temporall tyraunt with lawes of his owne makyng not as a brother exhortyng them to kepe Christes And he hath graunted vnlawfull whoredome vnto as many as bryng money As through Dutchland euery Priest paying a gildren vnto the Archdeacon shall frely and quietly haue his whore and put her away at his pleasure and take an other at his own lust As they do in wales in Ireland Scotland Fraunce and Spayne And in EnglaÌ„d therto they be not few which haue lyceÌ„ces to kepe whores some of the pope and some of their ordinaries And wheÌ„ the Parishes go to law with them to put away their whores the Byshops officers mocke them poll them make them spend their â—hrâ—res the Priests kepe their whores stil Howbeit in very dede sence they were rebuked by the preachyng of wickleffe our English spiritualtie haue layd their snares vnto mens wiues to couer theyr abhominations though they byde not all way secret Therto all Christen meÌ„ if they haue done amisse repent when their faultes be tolde them The spiritualtie repent not but of very lust and coÌ„sent to sinne persecute both the scripture wherwith they be rebuked and also them that warne them to amende and make heretikes of them and burne them And besides that the
Gospell declare And when he sayth he neuer founde nor heard of any of vs but that he would forsweare to saue his lyfe Aunswere the more wrath of God wil light on them that so cruelly delite to torment them and so craftely to beguile the weake Neuerthelesse yet it is vntrue For he hath heard of Sir Thomas Hitton whō the Byshops of Rochester and Caunterbury slew at Maydstone and of many y t suffered in Braband Holand at Colen and in all quarters of Dutchland and do dayly And when he sayth that their Church hath many Martyrs let hym shewe me one that dyed for pardons and Purgatory that the Pope hath fayned and let him take the mastrie And what a do maketh he that we say there is a Church that sinneth not that there is no man but that he sinneth whiche are yet both true We read i. Iohn iij. he that is borne of God sinneth not And Ephes v. men loue your wiues as the Lord doth the Churche and gaue him selfe for her to sanctifie her and to clense her in the fountaine of water through the word and to make her a glorious Church vnto hym selfe without spot or wrincle And i. Iohn i. If we say we haue no sinne we deceaue our selues and make him a lyer and hys word is not in vs. M. More also wil not vnderstand that the Church is some time taken for the elect onely whiche haue the law of God written in their hartes fayth to be saued through Christ written there also Which same for all that say with Paule that good which I would that do I not But that euill which I hate that do I so it is not I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in my flesh And Gala. v. the flesh lusteth cōtrary to y e spirit the spirit cōtrary to y ◠flesh so that these two fightyng betwene thē selues ye can not do what ye would For they neuer consent that sinne is good nor hate y ◠law nor cease to fight against the flesh but assoone as they be fallen rise and fight a fresh And that the Church is some tyme taken for the cōmō rascal of all that beleue whether with the mouth onely carnally with out spirite neither louyng the law in their harts nor feelyng the mercy that is in Christ but either runne all together at riot or keepe the law with cautels and expositions of their owne faynyng and yet not of loue but for feare of hell as the theues do for feare of the galowes make recompence to God for their sinnes with holy dedes He also will not vnderstand that there be two maner faythes one that is the fayth of the elect which purgeth them of all their sinnes for euer As ye see Iohn xv ye be cleane sayth Christ by the reason of the word that is thorough beleuyng Christs doctrine And Iohn i. he gaue them power to be the sonnes of God through beleuyng in his name And Iohn iij. he that beleueth the sonne hath euerlastyng lyfe a thousand like textes And an other of them that be called and neuer electe As the faith of Iudas of Symon Magus of the deuill and of the Pope In whose hartes the law of God is not written as it appeareth by their workes And therfore when they beleue many thynges of Christ yet whē they come vnto the saluation that is in his bloud they be but Iewes and Turkes forsake Christ and runne vnto the iustifying of ceremonies with the Iewes Turkes And therefore they remayne euer in sinne within in their hartes Where the elect hauing the law written in their brestes leuyng it in theyr spirites sinne there neuer but without in the flesh Agaynst whiche sinne they fight continually and minishe it dayly with the helpe of the spirite thorough prayer fasting and seruing their neighbours louyngly with all maner seruice out of the law that is writtē in their harts And their hope of forgeuenesse is in Christ onely through his bloud and not in ceremonies The v. Chapter ANd vnto hys v. Chapter I answere by the Pope the scripture is hid and brought into ignoraunce the true sence corrupt And by thē that ye call heretickes we know the scripture and the true sence thereof And I say that the Pope keepeth the scripture as did y e Phariseis to make marchaundise of it And agayne that the heretickes become out of you as out of the Scribes and Phariseis came the Apostles and Christ himselfe Iohn Baptist and that they be plucked out of you and graffed in Christ and built vppon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes And in the end when he sayth that the heretickes be fallen out of Christes misticall body which is the Pope and hys I aunswere that ye be a misticall body and walke in the mist and wyll not come at the light and the heretikes be departed out of your mist and walke in the cleare light of Gods worde The vj. Chapter IN the vj. he sayth that the heretikes be all nought for they all periure and abiure He yet saith vntrue Many abyde vnto the death Many for theyr weakenesse are kept out of your hāds Many for their ouer much boldnesse in their owne strength be deliuered into your handes and fall in the fleshe their hartes abiding still in the truth as Peter and thousandes did after repent and be no lesse Christen thē before though ye haue them in derision vnto your owne damnation And many because they come to Christ for fleshly liberty and not for loue of the truth fall as it becommeth them vnder your handes as Iudas and Balam which at the beginning take Christes parte but afterward when they fynde eyther losse or no vauntage they get them vnto the contrary part and are by profession the most cruell enemyes and subtellest persecuters of the truth Looke Maister More and reade and marke well The vij Chapter IN the vij he sayth that he hath holy Saintes and holy counsels on hys side Name the Saintes proue it Name the counselles and the holy Prelates thereof Thou shalt shew me none other Popes or Cardinals then such as we haue now that will obey neyther God nor mā or any law made by God or man but compell all men to follow them strengthning their kyngdome wyth the multitude of all misdoers He sayth also that good and bad worship Saintes the good well and the bad euill How cōmeth it then that ye shew not the difference and teach to do it well I see but one fashion among all the popishe And finally he sayth he is not boun◠to answere vnto the reasons and scriptures that are layde agaynst them It is inough to proue their part that it is a common custome and that such a multitude do it and so by his doctrine the Turkes are in the right way The viij Chapter
in the kyngdome of God Christ nor any felyng therof And who shall take those diseases from them God onely through his mercy for they cā not put of that complection of them selues vntill they be taught to beleue and to fele that it is damnable and to consent vnto the contrary liuing And vnto the second part I aunswere that in respect of God we doe but suffer onely and receaue power to do all our deedes whether we do good or bad as Christ aunswered Pylate that hee could haue no power agaynst him except it were geuen him from aboue and no more could Iudas neither But in respect of y e thing wherin or wherwith we worke and sheade out agayne the power that we haue receaued we woorke actually As the axe doth nothyng in respect of the hād that heweth saue receaue but in respect of the tree that is cut it worketh actually powreth out agayne the power that it hath receaued M. Item that God is author of good and euill as wel of the euill will of Iudas in betraying Christ as of the good will of Christ in sufferyng his passion Tyndall The power wherewith we do good and euill is of God the will is of God As y e power which the murtherer abuseth and wherewith he killeth a man vnrighteously is of God the will wherewith he willeth it But the wickednesse of his wil and crokednesse or frowardnesse wherewith hee sleath vnrighteously to auēge him selfe to satisfie his owne lustes the cause why he knoweth not the law of God and consenteth not to it whiche law should haue informed his will and corrected the crokednesse therof and haue taught him to vse his will his power right is his blindnesses fault onely and not Gods Whiche blindnesse the deuill hath poysoned him with M. Item matrimonie is no Sacramēt Tyndall Matrimonie is a similitude of the kyngdome of heauen as are many thynges mo like as it appeareth by Christ in the Gospell But who institute it to be a Sacrament Or who at his mariage was taught the signification of it Who was euer bound to receaue it in the name of a Sacrament I would to Christes bloud that ye wold make a Sacrament of it vnto all men and women that be maryed and vnto all other and would at euery mariage teach the people to know the benefite of Christ through the similitude of Matrimony And I affirme that in the popes Churche there is no Sacrament For where no signification is there is no Sacrament A signe is no signe vnto him that vnderstādeth nought therby as a spech is no spech vnto him that vnderstādeth it not I would to Christes passion that ye would let them be Sacramentes which Christ institute ordeined for Sacramentes And then if ye make of your own braynes fiue hūdred therto I would not be so greatly greued though I would not geue my consent vnto so great a multitude partly for the bondage and specially lest we should in tyme to come the significations of them lost fall into Idolatrie agayne and make holy workes of them after the exāple of the blindnesse wherin we be now but I would haue the woorde euer liuely preached out of the playne text M. Item that all holy orders bee but mens inuention Tyndall The office of an Apostle Byshop Priest Deacon and Widow are of God But as concerning the shanyng the oylyng and diuersitie of rayment and many degrees sence added therto proue that they be but mens traditions But and ye will make Sacramentes of the oylyng shanyng sheryng and garmentes put their significations vnto them and let the kyngs grace compell them to keepe them and I admitte them for Sacramentes and vntill that tyme I hold them for the false signes of hypocrites M. Itēm that euery man and woman is a Priest and maye consecrate the body of Christ Tyndall In bodyly seruice if the officer appoynted be away euery other person not onely may but also is boūd to helpe at neede euen so much as hys neighbours dogge How much more then ought men to assiste one an other in the health of their soules at al times of nede if the man be away the womā may and is bound to Baptise in tyme of nede by the law of loue which office perteineth vnto the priest onely If she be Lady ouer the greatest ordeined by God that she may Baptise why shuld she not haue power also ouer the lesse to minister the ceremonies whiche the Pope hath added to as his oyle his salt his spitell his candle and cresomcloth And why might she not pray all the prayers except that Idole the pope be greater then the very God if womē had brought a child to Church while the Priest other men taryed the child were in ieoperdy might they not baptise him in the font if there were no other water by And if other water were by yet if that holpe better one mite loue requireth to baptise him therin And then why might not women touch all their other oyle If a woman learned in Christ were driuen vnto an I le where Christ was neuer preached might she not there preach and teach to minister the Sacraments and make officers The case is possible shew thē what should let that she might not loue thy neighbour as thy selfe doth cōpel Nay she may not consecrat Why If the pope loued vs as wel as Christ hee would finde no faulte therewith though a womā at nede ministred that Sacrament if it bee so necessary as ye make it In bodyly wealth he that would haue me one ace lesse then hymselfe loueth me not as well as himselfe how much more ought we to loue one an other in thynges pertainyng vnto the soule M. Item that the host is no sacrifice Tyndall Christ is no more killed It is therfore the Sacrament signe memoriall of that sacrifice wherewith Christ offered his body for our sinnes and commaūded saying this do in the remembraunce of me We be not holpe with any visible deede that the Priest there doth saue in that it putteth vs in remembraunce of Christes death passion for our sinnes As the garmentes and straunge holy gestures helpe vs not but in that they put vs in remembraunce of thyngs that Christ suffered for vs in his passion Euen so the shewyng breakyng and eatyng of the host the shewyng and drinkyng of the cup of Christes bloud and the wordes and the consecration helpe vs not a pinne nor are gods seruice saue onely in that they styrre vp our repentyng fayth to call to mynde the death and passion of Christ for our sinnes And therfore to call it a sacrifice is but abused speach as when we call one that is new come home to breakfast and set a Capon before him and say this is your welcome home meaning yet by that speach that it is but
a signe of y e loue of myne hart which reioyseth and is glad that he is come home safe and sounde And euen so is this but the memoriall of the very sacrifice of Christ once done for al. And if ye wold no otherwise meane ye shal haue my good will to call it so still or if ye can shew me a reason of some other meanyng And therfore I would that it had bene called as it in deede is and as it was commaūded to be Christes memoriall though that I doubt not but that it was called Masse of his He brue woord Misach which signifieth a a pension geuyng because that at euery Masse mē gaue euery man a portiō accordyng vnto his power vnto the in stentation of the poore Which offering yet remayneth But to a false vse and profite of them that haue too much as all other thinges are peruerted Finally it is the same thinge that it was when Christ institute it at hys last supper If it were then the very sacrificing of Christes body and had that same vertue and power with it that his very passion after wrought why was he sacrificed so cruelly on the morow and not holde excused therwyth seyng he was there verely sacrificed M. Item that there remayneth bread and wine in the sacrament Tyndall Improue it What is that that is broken and that the Priest eateth wyth hys teeth ayre onely if a childe were fed with no other foode he should wax haply as long as his father Wherof then should his body his flesh and bones grow wherof should that come with reuerence I speake it that he pisseth and so forth all by miracle will they say O what wonderfull miracles must we faine to saue Antichristes doctrine I might wyth as good reason say that the hoste is neyther rounde nor white but that as my mouth is deceaued in the tast of bread euen so mine eyes are in the syght of roundnes and so is there nothing at all Which all are but the disputations of men with corrupt myndes without spirite to iudge Neuer the later when the Priest hath once rehearsed the testament of our sauiour thereon I looke not on bread and wine but on the body of Christ broken and bloud shed for my sinnes and by that fayth am I saued from the damnation of my sinnes Neyther come I to Masse for any other purpose then to fet forgeuenes for Christes deathes sake nor for any other purpose say I Confiteor knowledge my sinnes at the beginning of Masse And if ye haue other doctrine teach vs a reason leade vs in light we will follow Christ sayth Iohn xi it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing at all the woordes which I speake saith he are spirite and lyfe That is the fleshely eatyng and drinking of Christes body and bloude profit not as his carnall presence profited not by the reason of his presence onely as ye see by Iudas and y ◠Phariseis and the souldiours that touched hym and how his bodely presence did let the disciples to vnderstand spiritually But to eate and drinke in the spirite that is to harken vnto his wordes and with a repenting hart to beleue in hys death bringeth vs all that Christ can do for vs. More Item that the masse auaileth no man but the Priest Tyndall If ye speake of the prayers his prayers helpe vs as much as ours him If ye speake of y e sacramēt it helpeth as many as be present as much as hym if moued therby they be leue in Christes death as well as he If they be absent the sacrament profiteth them as much as a sermon made in the church helpeth them that be in y ◠fieldes And how profiteth it the soules of the deade tell me vnto whome it is no signe If ye meane the carnall eating and drinking then it profiteth the Prieste onely for he eateth and drinketh vppe all alone and geueth no man parte wyth hym More Item that a man should not be howseled till he lay a dying Tynd. That is to shamelesse a lye M. Item that men and women should not spare to touch it Tynd. A perillous case Why Because the Pope hath not oyled them Neuerthelesse Christ hath annointed them wyth hys spirite and wyth hys bloud But wot ye why The Pope thinketh if they should be too busie in handeling it they woulde beleue that there were bread and for that cause to strength their faythes he hath imagined little prety thinne manchetes that shine thorow and seeme more lyke to be made of paper or fine Parchement then of wheate floure About which was no smale question in Oxforde of late dayes whether it were bread or none some affirming that the floure with long lying in water was turned to starch and had lost his nature M. Item that the sacramēt should not be worshipped Tyndall It is the Sacrament of Christes body and bloud And Christ calleth it the newe and euerlasting testament in hys bloud and commaunded that we shoulde so do in the remembraunce of hym that hys bodye was broken and his bloude shed for our sinnes And Paule commaundeth thereby to shewe or preach the Lords death They say not pray to it neither put any fayth therein For I may not beleue in the sacramēt but I must beleue the Sacrament that it is a true signe and it true that is signified therby which is the onely worshippyng of the Sacrament if ye geue it other worship ye plainly dishonour it As I may not beleue in Christes Church but beleue Christes Church that the doctrine which they preach of Christ is true If ye haue any other doctrine teach vs a reason and lead vs in light and we will follow More Item that a Christē is not bound to keepe any lawe made by man or any at all Tynd. You say vntruely a Christē man is bound to obey tyranny if it be not agaynst hys fayth nor the lawe of God vntill God deliuer him thereof But he is no Christen man that byndeth hym to any thing saue that which loue and his neighbours necessitie requireth of them And when a lawe made is no longer profitable Christen rulers ought to breake it But now a dayes whē tyraunts haue gotten the simple people vnder they compell thē to serue theyr lustes and wyly tyranny without respect of any common wealth Which wyly tyranny because the truth rebuketh it is the cause why they persecute it least the common people seing how good they should be and feeling how wicked they are shuld withdraw their neckes frō their vnrighteous yooke As ye haue ensample in Herode in the Scribes and Phariseis and in many other More Item that there is no Purgatory Tyndall Beleue in Christ and thou shalt shortly finde purgatoryes inow as ye now make other feele M. Item that all soules lye and sleepe
Realmes and common wealthes but they that do wickedly and namely high Prelates and mighty Princes which walke without the feare of God and lyue abhominably corrupting the common people with their example They be they that bryng the wrath of God on all Realmes and trouble all common wealthes with warre dearth pouertie pestilence euill lucke and all misfortune And vnto all subiectes be it sayd if they professe the law of God fayth of the Lord Iesus wil be Christes Disciples then let them remember that there was neuer man so great a subiect as Christ was there was neuer creature that suffred so great vnright so paciently and so mekely as he Therfore what soeuer they haue bene in tymes past let them now thincke that it is their partes to be subiect in the lowest kynde of subiection and to suffer all thynges paciently If the hyghe powers bee cruell vnto you with naturall crueltie then with softenesse and pacience ye shall either wynne them or mitigate theyr fiercenesse If they ioyne theÌ„ vnto the Pope and persecute you for your fayth and hope whiche ye haue in y e Lord Iesus then call to mynde that ye be chosen to suffer here with Christ that ye may ioy with hym in the lyfe to come with ioye euerlastyng that shall infinitely passe this your short payne here If they commaunde that God forbiddeth or forbyd that God commaundeth then aunswere as the Apostles did Actes v. that God must be obeyed more then maÌ„ If they compell you to suffer vnright then Christ shall helpe you to beare and his spirite shall comfort you But onely see that neither they put you from Gods worde nor ye resiste them with bodely violence But abyde paciently a while till the hypocrisie of hypocrites be slayne with the sword of Gods word and vntill the word be openly published witnessed vnto y e powers of y e world that their blyndnesse may be with out excuse And theÌ„ wil god awake as a fierce Lyon agaynst those cruell Wolues whiche deuoure his Lambes and will play with the hypocrites and compasse them in their owne wyles send them a dazing in the head and a swimming in their braynes destroy them with theyr own counsell And then those malicious and wilfull blynd persecuters whiche refusing mercy when they were called thereto chose rather to haue theyr part with hypocrites in sheddyng of innocent bloud shal bee partakers with them also in hauyng theyr owne bloud shed agayne God geuyng an occasion that one wicked shall destroy an other And as for wickednesse whence it springeth and who is the cause of all insurrection and of the fall of Princes the shortenyng of theyr dayes vpon the earth thou shalt see in the glasse folowyng which I haue set before thyne eyes not to resiste the hypocrites with violence whiche vengeaunce pertayneth vnto God but that thou mightest see their wicked wayes and abhominable pathes to withdraw thy selfe from after them and to come agayne to Christ and walke in hys light and to folow hys steppes and to committe the keepyng both of thy body and soule also vnto him and vnto the father thorough hym whose name bee glorious for euer Amen ¶ Prelates appointed to preach Christ may not leaue Gods worde and minister temporall offices But ought to teach the lay people the right way and let them alone with all temporall businesse OVr Sauiour Iesus Christ answered Pilate Ioh. 18. that his kindome was not of thys worlde And Mathew x. he sayth The Disciple is not greater then his master but it ought to suffice the Disciple that he be as hys master is Wherfore if Christes kyngdome be not of this worlde nor any of his disciples may be otherwise then he was then Christes Vicars which minister his kingdome here in his bodely abseÌ„ce haue y e ouersight of his flock may be none Emperours kinges Dukes Lords Knightes temporall iudges or any teÌ„poral officer or vnder false names haue any such dominion or minister any such office as requireth violeÌ„ce And Math. 6. No maÌ„ caÌ„ serue two masters Where Christ coÌ„cludeth saying Ye can not serue God MaÌ„mon that is riches couetousnes ambicion and temporall dignities And Math. xx Christ called his disciples vnto him and sayde ye know y â— the Lordes of the heathen people haue dommion ouer them and they that be great do exercise power ouer them How be it it shall not be so among you But whosoeuer will be great among you shall be your minister and he that will be chiefe shal be your seruaunt euen as the sonne of man came not that men shoulde minister vnto hym but for to minister and geue his life for the redemption of many Wherfore the officers in Christes kingdome may haue no temporall dominion or iurisdiction nor execute any temporall auctoritie or lawe of violence nor may haue any like maner among them But cleane coÌ„trary they must cast themselues downe vnder al and become seruauntes vnto all suffer of all and beare the burthen of euery mans infirmities and go before theÌ„ fight for them against the world with the sworde of Gods word eueÌ„ vnto y e death after the ensample of Christ And Math. xviij WheÌ„ the disciples asked who shoulde be greatest in the kingdome of heauen Christ called a young child vnto hym and set him iâ— y â— middes among them saying Excepte ye turne backe and become as childreÌ„ ye shall not enter in the kingdome of heauen Now younge children beare no rule one ouer an other but al is felowship amonge them And he sayde moreouer whosoeuer humbleth himselfe after the ensample of this childe he is greatest in the kingdome of heauen that is to be as concerning ambition and worldly desire so childishe that thou couldest not heaue thy selfe aboue thy brother is the very bearing of rule to be great in Christes kingdome And to describe the very â—ashion of the greatnesse of his kingdome he sayd He that receaueth one such childe in my name receaueth me What is y t to receaue a childe in Christes name Verely to submitte to meeke and to humble thy selfe and to cast thy selfe vnder all men to consider all mens infirmities and weakenesses and to helpe to heale their diseases wyth the worde of truth and to liue purely that they see no contrary ensample in thee to whatsoeuer thou teachest them in Christ that thou put no stumblinge blocke before them to make them falle while they be yet youÌ„g and weake in the fayth But that thou absteine as Paule teacheth 1. Thes 5. Ab omni specie mala from all that might seeme euill or wherof a man might surmise aâ—iste and that thou so loue them that whatsoeuer giâ—t of god in thee is thou thinke the same theirs and their foode and for their sakes geuen vnto thee as the truth is and that all their infirmities be thine and that
swete water and bloud of very agonie conceiued of his passioÌ„ so nighe at hand The bloud stricken on the postes saued theÌ„ that they were not plagued with the Egyptians deliuered them out of the captiuitie of Pharao And the bloud of Christ strickeÌ„ on the postes of our consciences deliuereth vs from the captiuitie of Pharao the deuill and smitting of his auÌ„gels c. There might not a bone thereof be broken no more were there of Christes though the ij that were hanged with him had either of them his legges his armes brokeÌ„ Moreouer that it was a very prophecie of y e death of Christ of the vertue of his passion it is made the more manifest by the woordes of Christ himselfe Luke 22. for the night before hys passion when he had eaten Pesah with his Disciples he sayd I will no more â—ate of it henceforth till it be fulfilled in the kyngdome of GOD. As who should say This memoriall which we yearely haue hetherto obserued was once fulfilled in the kyngdome of this world when your fathers were deliuered out of bondage and seruitude of the Egyptians But it hath yet an other signification hetherto vnknowen vnto you which must be fulfilled spirituallie in the kingdome of God by my passion that is at hand and bloud that now shall shortly be shed by the which ye shal be deliuered out of the power of Sathan sinne and hell made heyres of the kyngdome of heauen Neither was it the lambes bloud that deliuered you then For what regarde hath God in the bloud of shepe and calues but the bloud of Christ whom that lambe figured and described his innocencie purenes and obedience to hys father and compassion to mankynde ward whose feble nature he had put on with all the infirmities of the same saue sinne did then deliuer you to bryng you to the fayth of this deliueraunce and to make you through faith partakers therof Many things there be in the Scripture whiche haue a carnall fulfillyng euen there where they be spoken or done and yet haue an other spirituall signification to be fulfilled long after in Christ and his kyngdome and yet neuer knowen till the thyng be done As the Serpent of Brasse which Moses haÌ„ged vp in the wildernes though it tooke effect carnally in the wildernes yet it so describeth the liftyng vp of Christ vpon the crosse the vertue of his passion that no touÌ„g could better declare it to make the hart feele it If ye aske why they may not be knowen till they be done and what prophecie may helpe I aunswere If men dyd vnderstand them before they were done they would endeuour to let the fulfillyng of them and when the significatioÌ„ is fulfilled then to see how playnly it was described in the Scripture doth excedyngly coÌ„firme the fayth thereof and make it better to be vnderstand And when this Pesah was fulfilled spirituallie in the kyngdome of heaueÌ„ by the death and bloud â—heddyng of Christ it ended there And in y t roome therof coÌ„cernyng that spirituall significatioÌ„ came the signe of the SacrameÌ„t of the body and bloud of our Sauiour Christ as Baptisme came in stede of CircuÌ„cision thyngs more easie lesse paynefull and tedious to be obserued and more gentle to prouoke and entise the Heathen For as the lambe describeth the death of Christ to come and the maner of his passion by which we should be deliuered euen so doth the ceremonie of the body and bloud of Christ testifie vnto vs that he hath giuen him selfe to death for vs and redemed vs already if we beleue and cleue 〈◊〉 to the profession of our Baptisme 〈…〉 thâ—â—in or will if any tempest had 〈◊〉 vs out of the right course returne to the right way agayne This to be so the wordes of the Instituâ—â—d declare which are these 1. Cor. 11. The Lord Iesus the night that he was betraâ—ed tooke bread and gaue thankes and brake it and sayd Take eate this is my body that shal be giuen for you this doe in remembraunce of me And likewise he tooke the cup wheÌ„ Supper was done saying This cup is the new TestameÌ„t in my bloud this do as often as ye shall drinke it in the remembraunce of me Here ye see by these woordes that it was ordeined to kepe the death of Christ in minde and to testifie that his body was giueÌ„ and his bloud shed for vs. And Luke 22. This is my body that is giueÌ„ for you do this in remembraunce of me And this cup is the new Testament in my bloud whiche shal be shed for you Loe here ye see agayne that it was instituted to kepe y t death of Christ in minde and to testifie wherfore he dyed eueÌ„ to saue vs from sinne death and hell that we should seeke none other meanes to be deliuered with for there is none other name for vs to be saued by but onely by the name of Iesus Actes 4. And as the children of Israell stong of the firie Serpents could haue none other remedy to saue them from present death then to go and behold the brasen Serpent hanged vp by Moses in the wildernes whiche lookyng on onely healed them Euen so if the styng of death whiche is sinne haue wounded their soule with the workyng of the law in the consciences there is none other remedy then to runne to Christ which shed his bloud hangyng vpon the Crosse and to his euerlastyng Testament and mercyfull promise that it was shed for vs for the remissioÌ„ of our sinnes If thou be stong with conscieÌ„ce of sinne the Cockatrice of thy poysoned nature hath beheld her selfe in the glasse of the righteous law of GOD there is none other salue for remedie theÌ„ to runne to Christ immediatly and to the father through him And to say father I haue sinned agaynst thee and thy godly holy and righteous law agaynst my brother whom I ought of all right to loue for thy sake as well as my selfe forgeue me O father for thy sonne Iesus Christes sake accordyng to thy most mercyfull promises Testament I will aske my brother forgiuenes if the peace I meane be not made already and will make to my power such satisfaction to hym as shall seme right in his eyes if he be reasonable or as the congregatioÌ„ shall assigne or faythfull men thereunto appointed by the congregation or such as I and he will agree vpon and will endeuour my self to do so no more with the helpe of thy grace And will submit my selfe to the wholesome ordinaunce of the coÌ„gregation accordyng the doctrine of thy sonne Iesus and of his faithful Apostles For there is none other name giuen vnder heauen wherby we shal be saued but onely the name of Iesus Hereof ye see that the SacrameÌ„t is an absolutioÌ„ of our sinnes as often as we receiue it where it is truly
taught and vnderstand and receiued a right Hereof ye see also that as the Hebrues wrote their stories in couenaūts and signes giuyng their signes such names as could not but keepe them in mynde so God the father dyd follow the example of the people or they followyng hym and commaunded hys promises couenaunts and prophecies to be written in gestures signes and ceremonies geuyng them names that could not but kepe his couenauntes in mynde Euen so Christ wrote the couenaunt of his body bloud in bread and wine geuyng thē that name that ought to keepe couenaunt in remembraunce And hereof ye see that our Sacraments are bodyes of stories onely and that there is none other vertue in thē thē to testifie and exhibite to the senses and vnderstanding the couenauntes promises made in Christs bloud And here ye see that where the Sacramēts or ceremonies are not rightly vnderstād there they be cleane vnprofitable And as the Circumcisiō in the flesh their hartes still vncircumcised hating the law of God and beleuyng in their owne imaginations were Circumcised to their damnation And as the Baptised in the fleshe onely the hart still vncleane neither beleuyng in Christ for the forgeuenes of their sinnes neither louyng their neighbour for Christes sake are Baptised also vnto their greater damnatiō For though God haue right to al mē because he hath created and made mā yet to all such persons by reason of the signe and badge and of their owne cōsent graunt and promise he hath more right to the callyng of them to the keepyng of his law if they trust in hym onely or to damne them bicause when they know their duety or might if they would the signe mouyng them and giuyng them an occasiō to aske the rather and yet do it not Euē so all that come to the Sacrament for any other purpose then it was ordeined and instituted for that is to say to seke absotion of their sinnes with a set purpose to sinne no more as nigh as they 〈…〉 to cal to me 〈◊〉 y e benefite of the passiō of Christ with y t meditatiō to weaken the flesh to strēgth the spirite Agaynst her to giue thankes agayne that is to say to call to mynde how much hee is bounde to loue his neighbour to helpe his neede and to 〈◊〉 his infirmitie and to forgeue him 〈◊〉 haue offended and desire forgeuenes promising to amēde whereunto Christ bindeth all that wil be partakers of his bloud All such as are not thus prepared come to their greater damnation I passe ouer with silence the wicked 〈◊〉 damnable doctrine of these seruauntes of Mammon whiche for lucre peruert the true vse of the Sacrament and hide it from the people for theyr gayne teachyng it to be a sacrifice instituted of God to helpe the soules of the dead in Purgatorie and that it wil make men rich and bring them to such promotion as Christ neuer promised his Disciples but forbad it them Some will say This Sacrament needed not Baptisme is inough Baptisme is a receiuyng into Religiō and there is the couenauntes made what we shall do and what we shall haue And baptisme is a signe wherby God hath right to vs and we to God and to Christ and wherby euery man hath right to call other to do their dueties and to rebuke them that will not Neither our saluation so greatly standeth in that or any other Sacrament that we could not be saued without them by preachyng the word onely Neuerthelesse God hath written his will to haue his benefites kept in memorie to his glorie and our benefite and namely this benefite of all benefites wherin onely the pith of our saluation resteth therfore though the effect of it be signified by Baptisme and though we be baptised to beleue in y t death of Christ and to dye with him by the mortifieng of the flesh yet doth this Sacrament through y t rehearsing of the couenaūt and breakyng of the bread and powryng out of wine much more lyuely expresse the whole storie kept it better in memorie by dayly repeatyng therof and hath more might and vehemencie to heale the conscience stong with fresh sinne For the nature of mā is so weake so feble and so frayle that he can not but sinne as there is no mā that liueth and sinneth not And when he is so fallen then the law looketh vpon him with so terrible a countenaunce so thundereth in hys eares that he dare not abide but turneth his backe and to go but the enemie still assayleth him on the other side to persuade him that GOD hath cast him away saying they that be Gods haue power to kepe his law thou hast not but breakest them Ergo thou art a cast away a damned creature and hell gapeth and setteth opē her mouth to deuoure him the flesh also wrestleth with the spirit to kepe him down and to take prisoner and to stoppe his mouth that he crie no more vpon her that she might sinne at pleasure without all feare The careles swyne that consent vnto sinne feele not these thinges neither the hypocrites that haue put a visard on their face of the law and make her looke with such a coūtenaunce as pleaseth thē but the poore folkes that haue the eyes open and consent and fayne would do the law they feele that can not be expressed with toung Neither is there liuyng any man that feeleth the vertue and power of the bloud of Christ whiche hath not first felt the strong paynes of hell Seyng then that this mā is so sicke so prone and ready to fall and so cruelly inuaded whē he hath sinned of the feende the flesh and the law that he is oft put to flight and feared and made to runne away from his father Therfore hath the God of all mercy and of his infinite pitie and bottomlesse compassion set vp this Sacrament as a signe on an high hill whence it may be sene on euery side a farre and neare to call againe them that be fled and runne away And with this Sacramēt he as it were clocketh to them as an henne doth for her chickens together them vnder the wynges of his mercy And hath commaunded his Sacrament to be had in continuall vse to put them in mynde of mercy layd vp for them in Christes bloud and to witnesse and testifie it vnto them and to be the seale therof For the Sacrament doth much more vehemētly print lyuely the fayth and make it sinke down into the hart then do bare wordes onely As a man is more sure of that he heareth seeth feeleth smelleth and tasteth then that he heareth onely Now when the wordes of the Testament and promises are spoken ouer the bread This is my body that shal be broken for you This is my bloud that shal be shed for you they confirme the faith but much
more when the Sacrament is sene with the eyes the bread broken the wine poured out or looked on and yet more when I tast it and smell it As ye see when a man maketh promise to an other with light wordes betwene them selues and as they departed hee to whom the promise is made beginneth to doubt whether the other spake earnestly or mocked and doubteth whether he will remember his promise to bide by it or not But when any man speaketh with aduisement and deliberation the wordes are thē more credible but yet if he sweare it confirmeth the thyng more and yet the more if he strake handes if he geue earnest if he call record if he geue his hād writing and seale it so is the promise more and more beleued for the hart gathereth Lo he spake with aduisement deliberation and good sadnes he clapped hands called recordes and put to his hand and seale the man cannot be so faynt without the feare of God as to deny all this Shame shall make him bide by his promise though he were such a man that I could not compell him if he would deny it If a young mā breake a ryng betwene him and a mayde doth not the fact testifie make a presumption to all men that his hart meant as his wordes spake Manoha Sampsones father when he had sene an aungell Iud. 13. he sayd to his wife we shal surely dye because we haue sene the Lord. But his wife gathered other comfort of the circumstaunces and sayd if the Lord would kill vs he would not haue receaued such offerings of our hands nor shewed vs such thynges as he hath nor told vs of thynges to come Euen so our harts gather of the circūstaunces protestatiōs and other miracles of God good argumentes and reasons to stablish our weake fayth with all such as we could not gather at bare woordes onely And this we dispute God sent his sonne in our nature made him feele all our infirmities that moue vs to sinne and named him Iesus that is to say Sauiour because he should saue his people from their sinnes Math. 1. And after his death he sent his Apostles to preach the thynges or tydynges and to thrust it in at the eares of vs set vp a Sacrament of it to testifie it to be a seale of it to thrust it in not at the eares onely by the rehearsing of the promises and Testament ouer it neither at our eyes onely in beholdynge it but beate it in through our feelyng tastyng and smelling also and to be repeated dayly to be ministred to vs. He would not thinke we make halfe so much a do with vs if he loued vs not or if he would not haue vs fayne come and be as mercyfull to vs as he was to his frēdes in the old tyme that fell and rose agayne God so then vsed the Iewes to whom all ceremonyes were first giuen and from whom they came to vs euen such fashions as they vsed among them selues in all his promises and couenauntes not for his necessitie but for ours that such thynges should be a witnes and testimonie betwene him and vs to cōfirme the fayth of his promise that we should not wauer nor doubt in them when we looke on the seales of his obligations wherwith he hath bound him selfe And to keepe the promises and couenauntes better in mynde and to make them the more deepe sinke in our hartes and to be more earnestly regarded and that we should aske what such thynges ment and why God cōmaunded them to be obserued that ignoraunce should not excuse if we know not what we ought to do beleue for naturall reason ought to teach vs that y t outward corporall bodily thyng can not helpe the spirituall soule and that GOD hath not delectation in such fantasie Now if we were diligent to search for the good will of God and would aske what such ceremonies meant It were impossible but then God which hath promised Math. 7. If we seeke we shal finde would send vs true interpreters of his signes or Sacramentes And he that beyng of a lawfull age obserueth a ceremonie and knoweth not the entent to him is the ceremonie not onely vnprofitable but also hurtfull and cause of sinne In that he is not carefull and diligent to search for it and he there obserueth them with a false fayth of his owne imagination thinking as all Idolaters do and euer haue done that the outward woorke is a sacrifice and seruice to God The same therfore sinneth yet more deeper and more damnable Neither is Idolatrie any other thyng then to beleue that a visible ceremonie is a seruice to the inuisible God whose seruice is spirituall as he is a spirite and is none other thyng then to know that all is of hym and to trust in hym onely for all thynges and to loue him for his great goodnes and mercy aboue all and our neighbours as our selues for his sake vnto which spirituall seruyng of God and to leade vs to the same the old ceremonies were ordeined These be now sufficient concernyng the entent and vse of the ceremonies how they came vp Now let vs consider the wordes of this Testament and promises as they be rehearsed of the three Euangelistes Mathew Marke and Luke of the Apostle Paule For Iohn whiche wrote last touched nothyng that was sufficiently declared of other Math in the 26. thus sayth when they were eatyng Iesus tooke bread gaue thankes and brake and gaue hys Disciples and sayd take eate this is my body And he tooke the cup and thanked and gaue it them saying Drinke ye all of this for this is my bloud whiche is of the new Testament that is shed for many for the remission of sinnes First ye see by these wordes that the body was giuen to death and the bloud shed for the remiūiō of sinnes and that for many But who are these many Verely they that turne to GOD to beleue in hym onely and to endeuour them selues to keepe his law from hence forth Which many yet in respect of thē that loue not the law are but very few and euen that little flocke that gaue them selues wholy to follow Christ wherfore if any man thinke hee beleue in Christ and haue not the law written in his hart to consent that his dutie is to loue hys brother for Christ sake as Christ loued him and to endeuour him selfe so to do The fayth of that same man is vayne and built vppon sand of of his own imagination and not vpon the rocke of Gods word for his worde vnto which he hath bound himselfe is that they onely which turne to God to keepe his lawes shall haue mercy for Christes sake Drinke of it all for it is my bloud of the new Testament for it is that is to say the drinke that is in the cup or if ye list the cup
was and how such ceremonies came vp and whence they had their begynnyng and what the frute thereof is and what is therin to be sought And though this were inough so that I might here wel cease yet because the vnquiet scrupulous and superstitious nature of man wholy giuen to Idolatrie hath styrred vp such traditions about this one Sacrament most specially I cannot but speake therof somewhat more and declare what my conscience thinketh in this matter Ye shall vnderstand therfore that there is great dissention and three opinions about the woordes of Christ where he sayth in pronouncyng the testament ouer the bread This is my body And in pronouncyng it ouer the wyne This is my bloud One part say that these woordes This is my body This is my bloud compell vs to beleue vnder payne of damnation that the bread and wyne are chaunged into the very body and bloud of Christ really As the water at Cana Galilee was turned into very wyne The second part sayth we be not bound to beleue that bread and wyne are chaunged but onely that his body and bloud are there presently The thyrd say we be bound by these woordes onely to beleue that Christes body was broken and hys bloudshed for the remissiō of our sinnes and that there is no other satisfaction for sinne then the death and passion of Christ The first say these woordes This is my body This is my bloud compell vs to beleue that thynges there shewed are the very body and bloud of Christ really But bread and wyne say they cannot be Christes naturall body ther fore the bread and wyne are chaunged turned altered and transubstantiated into the very body bloud of Christ And they of this opinion haue busied them selues in seekyng subtilties and similitudes to proue how the very body and bloud might be there vnder the similitude of bread and wine onely the very bread and wyne beyng thus trāsubstantiated And these men haue ben so occupyed in slaying all that wil not captiue their wits to beleue them that they neuer taught nor vnderstode that the Sacrament is an absolution to all that therby beleue in the body bloud of Christ The second part graunt with the first that the wordes compel vs to beleue that the things shewed in the Sacrament are the very body and bloud of Christ But where the first say bread and wine cannot be the very body and bloud of Christ There they vary and dissent from them affirming that bread and wine may and also is Christes body really and very bloud of Christ and say that it is as true to say that bread is Christes body and that wyne is hys bloud as it is true to say Christ beyng a very mā is also very God And they say as the Godhead and manhode in Christ are in such maner coupled togegether that mā is very God and God very man Euen so the very body and the bread are so coupled that it is as true to say that bread is the body of Christ and the bloud so annexed there with the wyne that it is euen as true to say that the wyne is Christes bloud The first though they haue slayne so many in and for the defence of their opinion yet they are ready to receiue the second sort to fellowshyp not greatly striuyng with them or abhorryng the presence of bread and wyne with the very body and bloud so that they yee by that meanes may keepe hym there still and hope to sell hym as deare as before and also some to bye hym and not to minish the price The thyrd sort affirme that the wordes meane no more but onely that we beleue by the thyngs that are there shewed that Christes body was brokē and his bloud shed for our sinnes if we will forsake our sinnes turne to God to kepe his law And they say that these sayinges This is my body and This is my bloud shewyng bread wyne are true as Christ meant them and as the people of that countrey to whō Christ spake were accustomed to vnderstand such wordes and as the Scripture vseth in a thousand places to speake As when one of vs sayth I haue dronke a cup of good wyne that saying is true as the mā meant that he dranke wyne onely and not the cup whiche wordes happely in some other nations eares would sound that he dranke the cuppe And as when we say of a child This is such a mans very face the wordes are true as the maner of our land is to vnderstand them that the face of the one is very like the other And as whē we say he gaue me his fayth and hys truth in my hand the wordes are true as we vnderstand them that he stroke handes with me or gaue earnest in signe or token that he would byde by his promise For the fayth of a mā doth alway rest in his soule and cannot be giuen out though we giues signes and tokens of them Euen so say they we haue a thousād examples in the Scripture where signes are named with names of thynges signified by them As Iacob called the place where hee saw the Lord face to face Phenyell that is Gods face when he saw the Lord face to face Now it is true to say of that field that it is Gods face though it be not his very face The same field was so called to signifie that Iacob there saw God face to face The chief hold and principall ancre that the two first haue is these words This is my body This is my bloud Vnto these the third aunswereth as is aboue sayd other textes they alledge for them selues whiche not onely do not strength their cause but rather make it worse As in y e sixt of Iohn which they draw and wrest to the carnall and flesh ly eating of Christes body in y e mouth when it onely meaneth of this eatyng by fayth For when Christ sayd except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of mā and drinke hys bloud ye haue no lyfe in you This cannot be vnderstanded of the Sacrament For Abraham had life and all the old holy fathers Christes mother Elizabeth Zacharias Iohn Baptist Symeon Anna and all the Apostles had lyfe already by fayth in Christ Of which not one had eatē hys flesh and dronke his bloud with theyr bodily mouthes But truth it is that the righteous liueth by his fayth Ergo to beleue and trust in Christes bloud is the eatyng that there was meant as the texte well proueth if they say we graunt that life commeth by faith but we all that beleue must be Baptised to keepe the law and to keepe the couenaunt in mynde Euen so all that lyueth by fayth must receiue the Sacrament I aunswere The Sacrament is a confirmation to weake consciences and in no wise to be despised howbeit many haue lyued by fayth in the wildernes whiche in 20. 30.
to consecrate Christes body to bryng it into the bread But there be the wordes of God left in the first chapter of Genesis wherby he made all the world with whiche wordes all be it we yet haue them yet is it denyed vs to make that thyng that he made with theÌ„ Now sith we hauyng his wordes of the creation can not yet make any new creature of nothyng how then shall we without any wordes of consecration and makyng make the maker of all thynges Vnto this action or supper or deliuerauÌ„ce of the bread he added a reason and signification of this signe or Sacrament and what also is the vse therof as though any should aske theÌ„ therafter what Sacrament Religion or rite is this They should aunswere euen in a like maner of spech as it was coÌ„maunded their fathers to make aunswere to their children at the eatyng of the old passeouer wherof this new passeouer was the veritie and that the figure saying When your children aske you what Religion is this ye shal auÌ„swere them It is the sacrifice of the passyng by of the Lord. c. Lo here the lambe that signified and did put them in remembraunce of that passing by in Egypt the Israelites spared and the Egyptians smitten was called in like phrase the selfe thyng that it represented signified and did put them in remembraunce of none otherwise then if Christes Disciples or any man els seyng in that Supper the bread taken thankes giuen the bread broken distributed and eaten should haue asked hym What Sacrament or religion is this He had to aunswere them that Christ sayd This is my body whiche is for you broken This thyng do ye in remembraunce of me that is to say so oft as ye celebrate this Supper giue thankes to me for your redempcioÌ„ In which auÌ„swere he calleth the outward sensible signe or SacrameÌ„t that is the bread with all the other action euen the same thyng that it signifieth representeth and putteth such eaters of the Lordes Supper in remembraunce of For when he sayd which is broken for you euery one of them saw that then it was not his body that was there broken but the bread for as yet he had not suffered but the bread broken was denided in peeces euery one of the twelue takyng and eatyng a peece before hee sayd This is my body c. Now sith M. More will sticke so fast in his litteral sense vpon these wordes This is my body c. Then do I aske hym what thyng hee sheweth vs by this first worde and pronoune demonstratiue Hoc in Englishe this If ye shew vs theÌ„ bread so is the bread Christes body and Christes body the bread which saying in the litterall sense is an hygh heresie after them And for this saying they burned the Lord Cobham Also I aske whether Christ speakyng these wordes This is my body c. had then the bread in his hands wherwith he houseled his Disciples or no That he had it not but had now deliuered it them and had commaunded them to eate it to the order and woordes of the text playnly proue it as is declared before And S. Marke telleth the story also in this order The cuppe taken in his handes after he had giuen thaÌ„kes he gaue it them they all dranke therof And he sayd to them This is my bloud of the new Testament which is shed for many Here it is manifest that they had all dronken therof first ere he said the wordes of consecration if they be the wordes of any coÌ„secration Besides this if ye be so sworne to the litterall sense in this matter that ye will not in these woordes of Christ This is my body c. admitte in so playne a speche any trope for allegory there is none if ye knew the proper difference of them both whiche euery Grammarian can teach you theÌ„ do I lay before your old eyen and spectacles to Christes wordes spoken of the cup both in Luke and Paul saying this cup is the newe Testament through my bloude which is shed for you Here Christ calleth the wyne in the cup the selfe cuppe whiche euery man knoweth is not the wyne Also hee calleth the cuppe the new Testament and yet was not the cup nor yet the wyne conteined therin the new Testament and yet calleth it the new Testament established confirmed with his bloud here ye see hee called not the cuppe his bloud but the Testament Where is now your litterall sense that ye would â—o fayne frame for your Papistes pleasure If ye will so sore sticke to the letter why do your faction leaue here the plaine letter saying that the letter slayth goyng about the bush with this exposition and circumlocution expoundyng This is my body that is to say this is conuerted turned into my body this bread is transubstantiated into my body How farre lo M. More is this your straunge Thomisticall sense from the flat letter If ye be so addictt to the letter why fray ye the commoÌ„ people from the litteral sense with this bugge tellyng theÌ„ the letter slayeth but there is neither letter nor spirite that may bridle nor hold your stiffe necked heades Also ye shall vnderstand that Christ rebuked the Iewes for theyr litterall sense and carnall vnderstandyng of his spirituall woordes saying My flesh profiteth you nothyng at all to eate it c. And their litteral takyng of his spirituall woordes was the cause of their murmure c. For euen there as also lyke in other places to eate Christes flesh c. after the common phrase of the Scripture is not els theÌ„ to beleue that Christ suffered death shed his bloud for vs. Read ye Paul Our fathers did all eate the same spirituall meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke that we now eate drinke Here I thinke M. More must leaue his litterall sence materiall meate or els deny Paul and deny to that our fathers did eate Christ and drinke his bloud whiche all here Paule sayth for to eate and to drinke this spirituall meate and drinke was as him selfe declareth to eate drinke Christ They dranke of the stone sayth Paule that went with them Whiche stone was Christe And we eate and drinke the very same stone Whiche is nothyng els then to beleue in Christ They beleued in Christ to come we beleue in him comeÌ„ and to haue suffered where is now thinke ye M. Mores litterall sense for the eatyng of Christes material body Our fathers were one and the same Church with vs vnder the same Testament and promise and euen of the same fayth in Christ And euen as they eate him and dranke his bloud euen the same spirituall meate drinke that we do eate and drinke so do we now in the same faith For what elles was signified by this maner of spech our fathers did eate and drinke Christ then that they
when we were not his childreÌ„ but his enemyes Christes disciples sayd to the man where is this gest chamber where I might eate the passing by with my disciples they prepared the passeouer And yet Christ eate not the passeouer but the lambe with his disciples where it is plaine y e signe to do on the name of the thyng At last consider vnto what eude all things tended in that last supper how the figure teached the veritie the shadow the body and how the veritie abolished the figure and the shadow gaue place to the body Loke also with what congruence proportion and similitude both in the action the spech al things were consummate and finished and all to lead vs by such seusible signes from the figure vnto the veritie froÌ„ the flesh vnto the spirite And take thou here this infallible assured saying of Christ neuer to fall fro thy mynde in this last supper do ye this into the remeÌ„brauÌ„ce of me And also of Paul saying So oft as ye shal eate this bread lo this heretike calleth it bread eueÌ„ after the words of the Popes coÌ„secratioÌ„ and drinke of this cup praise declare geue thankes for the death of the Lord vntill he shall come agayne to iudgement RemeÌ„ber thou also what Christ sayd to the carnall Iewes takyng the eatyng of hys flesh and drinkyng of his bloud so carnally aunsweryng them My flesh profiteth not meanyng to eate it bodely but the spirite maketh lyfe And to this set the Prophet Abacukes senteÌ„ce The iust lyueth of his fayth And now Christen reader to put thee cleane out of doubt that Christes body is not here present vnder the forme of bread as the papistes haue mocked vs many a day but in heauen euen as he rose and asceÌ„ded Thou shalt know that he told hys Disciples almost twenty tymes betwene the xiij and xviij chap. of Iohn that he should and would goe hence and leaue this world Where to comfort them agayne for that they were so heauy for his bodely absence he promised to send them hys holy Ghost to be their comforter defender and teacher in whom and by whom he would be present with them and all faithfull vnto the worldes end Hee sayd vnto hys Disciples I goe hence I goe the father I leaue the world and now shall I no more be in the world but ye shall abyde still in the world Father I come to thee Poore men haue ye euer with you but me shall ye not alwayes haue with you And wheÌ„ he ascended vnto heaueÌ„ they did behold hym saw the cloude take hys body out of theyr syght and they fastnyng their eyes after him the two men clothed in white sayd vnto them ye men of Galile wherefore stand ye thus lookyng vp into heauen This is Iesus that is taken vp from you into heauen whiche shall so come agayne euen as ye haue sene him going hence Here I would not More to flitte froÌ„ hys litterall playne sense All these so playne wordes be sufficient I trow to a Christen man to certifie hys conscience that Christ went his way bodely ascendyng into heauen For wheÌ„ he had told his disciples so oft of his bodely departyng from them they were maruelous heauy and sad Vnto whoÌ„ Christ sayd Because I told you that I go hence your hartes are full of heauines If they had not beleued hym to haue spokeÌ„ of his very bodely absence they would neuer haue so mourned for his goyng away And for because they so vnderstode him and he so meane as his wordes sowned He added as he should haue sayd be ye neuer so heauy or how heauely so euer ye take my goyng hence yet do I tell you truth For it is expedient for you that I goe hence For if I should not go hence that comforter should not come vnto you But and if I go hence I shall send him vnto you And agayne in the same chap. I am come from the father and am come into the world and shall leaue the world agayne and go to my father What mistery thinke ye should be in these so manifest woordes Did he speake them in any darke parables Dyd he meane otherwise theÌ„ he spake Dyd he vnderstand by goyng hence so ofteÌ„ repeted to tary here still or dyd he meane by forsakyng and leauyng the world to be but inuisible beyng still in the world with his body No surely For he meant as faithfully as playnly as his wordes sowned and euen so dyd hys Disciples without any more maruelyng vnderstand him For they aunswered him saying Lo now speakest thou apertly neither speakest thou any prouerbe But what a darke prouerbe and subtile ridle had it bene if he had meant by his goyng hence to haue â—aryed here still and by forsakyng the world to abyde still in the world and by his going hence to his father by his very bodely Ascention to be but inuisible Who would intrepret this plaine sentence thus I go hence that is to saye I tary here still I forsake the world and goe to the father that is to say I will be but inuisible and yet here abyde still in the world bodely For as concernyng his Godhead which was euer with the father and in all places at once he neuer spake such woordes of it When Christ sayd his death now was at hand vnto his Disciples now agayneÌ„ I forsake the world and go to my father but ye shall tary still in the world If they will expound by his for sakyng the world to tary here still bodely and to be but inuisible why do they not by lyke exposition interprete the tarying here still of the Disciples at that tyme to be gone hence bodely and to be here visible For Christ dyd set these contraryes one agaynst an other to declare ech other As if to tary here still dyd signifie to the Disciples that they should abyde in the world as it doth in deede then must needes his goyng hence and forsakyng the world signifie his bodely absence as both the wordes playnly lowne Christ meant and they vnderstoode them But in so plaine a matter what neede these wordes Be thou therefore sure Christen reader that Christes glorified body is not in this world but in heauen as he thether ascended in which body he shal come euen as he went gloriously with power and great maiestie to iudge all the world in the last day Be thou therfore assured that he neuer thus iuggled nor mocked hys so dearely beloued Disciples so full of heauynes now for his bodely departyng For if he had so meant as our Papistes haue peruerted hys saying hys Disciples would haue wondered at so straunge maner of spech and he would haue expressed his mynde playnly sith at this tyme hee was so full set to leaue them in no doubt but to comforte them with hys playne and comfortable wordes And if he would haue ben
b Dead men 408. a. not holpen by man 13. b. rewarded of the Pope 362. a Dead Saintes their miracles in the Popish Church 302. a Death of Christe why so necessary 462. a. way to saluation 257. b Death and resurrection of Christe shewed by Ionas 27. b. figured by the paschall lambe 439. b Death of Christ purchased grace for our soules 279. a Death of Christ blasphemed by Papistes 16. b Deceauyng of our selues 392. b Declaration of Adames heyres 381. b. of Christ in the old Testament 23. a Decrees deuilish 262. a Decrees of Byshops aboue Gods word 124. b Deedes not allowed without fayth 85. b. how farreforth acceptable to God 154. b Deedes of ours why euill 328. b. procedyng and not procedyng of our selues 47. b Deedes of Christ and ours their effectes 35. b Deedes not iustified by fayth are sinne 155. a Definition of the Church 250. a. of fayth in generall 42. b. of â—rue faith 64 b Definition of Popish penauÌ„ce 398. a Defender of the fayth 374. b Defiance sent from the French kyng to kyng Henry the viij 371. b Degrees of nature altered by mariage 108. b Deliueraunce by Christ why 22. a DeliuerauÌ„ce out of purgatory 366. a Deliberation of Princes in makyng warre 193. b Delight of the faithfull 379. b Deniaâ—l of helpe to our neighbour dishonoreth hym 270. a Derogation froÌ„ the dignitie of Christes bloud 70. a Derogation from Christes fayth is agaynst hys Church 187. b Description of swyne 238. a DescriptioÌ„ of Baptisme 14. b. of our iustification 330. b Desert and free gift are contraryes 19. b Desperation how it commeth 219 â–ª a. assayleth fayth 259. a Despere of mans helpe bryngeth Gods helpe 454. a Desiderius 359. a Deuilish doctrine 415. a. practises 368. b. pride 353. a. expoundyng the Scriptures by Papistes 175. a Deuill is darknes 392. a. blyndeth vs from Gods wil. 329. a. to be resisted with the sheild of fayth 62. b. euerthrowen by Christ 278. b Deuill driuen away by fayth 131. b. aduauncer of Popes 301. b Deuils and stifnecked sinners destitute of the fayth that Paule speaketh of 130. b Deuils confessed Christe to bee the sonne of God 95. b Deuils wages 100. a Deuises of the Cardinall 372. b Deuteronomium a booke of Moses commended 21. b Differences of fayth 197. a. betwene the old and new Testament 444. a. betwene the Iewes and the 〈◊〉 â—ls 44. a. betwne true faith and fayned 66. b. betwene false fayth and right 66. a Differences betwene Goddes children and the deuils 99. b. betwene Gods sinners and the deuill 199. b. betwene the fall of Peter Iudas 337. a. betwene true Sacramentes and false 156. betwene Sacramentes and sacrifices 13. b. betwene Christes naturall body and a paynted Image 281. b. betwene teachyng the people and a preacher 252. b Difference none of dayes to do good 237. a Diggyng of AbrahaÌ„s welles 184. a Dignities of shauelynges 353. a Diligence althoughe in vayne towardes our neighbour to be excused 203. b Direction of our lyfe to what ende 387. b Disciples of Antichrist 134. a Disciples of Christe were worldly mynded 106. a. had a wicked opinion of hym 25. b. doubtfull in fayth 261. a Disciples of Christe vnderstoode Christ spiritually 465. a. refuse not death for his sake 199. a Discipline vsed in y e primitiue church 496. b Dishonour of God and neighbour 269. b Dispensations purchased of the pope 329. b Dispensations for concubines 134. a Disobedience 290. b. counted a spirituall thyng 109. a Disputations backward 67. a. for superioritie 347. a Disputations of predestination not rashly to be enterprised 48. b Dissimulation of the Pope 352. a. of Papistes 19. a Dissimulation not culpable in some causes 209 a Dissembled truce 366. a Distemperaunce in eatyng and drinkyng 227. b Distrust ought not to bee in Gods prolongation of helpe 240. a Diuersities of fayth 331. b Diuision in the Church 347. b Doctrine of the Pope 412. a. 415. b. abhominable 316. b. wicked 29. b. Papisticall 360. b. of Phariseis blynd 30. a. of shauelynges vayne and obstinate 137. b. of More superstitions 317. a. of Papistes concernyng Purgatory 306 b Doctrine false causeth euill workes 199. b Doctrine of hypocrites 87. a. of Papistes nedeth miracles 301. b. with out Scripture not to be beleued 304. b Doctrine vniuersally must be examined by Gods word 414. b Doctrine of Christ peaceable 106. b Doctrine Apostolicall 408. b. of the true Church 304. a. of the Scripture 388. b. and. 304. b. of Sacramentes 320. a Doctrine of the Apostles confirmed with miracles 298. b Doctrine sincere causeth good workes 199. b Doctrine of Christ must be defended of euery man in hys owne person 198. b Doctours doubt at Christes playne wordes 205. b. differ in the opinion of the Sacrament 446. b Doctours generally call the Sacrament a sacrifice 447. b Doctour Colct 318. b Doctour Ferman a vertuous man and godly 330. a Documentes of Scripture necessary 389. b Dogges 187. a. who they be 238. a Downe fallyng sinner hath a false fayth 432. a Double signification of this woorde Church 250. a Dregges of Papistes 406. b Duns 302. a. his doctrine aduaunced 278. a Dunsticall dreames and termes 104. a Duke Hâ—â—frey 363. b. hys death 364. a Duty of kynges 137. a. of Priestes 133. b. of Ministers at the communion 476. b Duty must be done with loue 212. a E. EAre confession 339. a. a wicked deuise 367. a. destroyeth Christes benefites 320. a Eare confession and pardons neuer confirmed by miracle 319. b Earth geuen to man of God 121. b Eatyng Christes fleshe is beleuyng in Christ 467. a Eatyng Christes body bloud truly what it meaneth 463. a Eatyng y e whores flesh what 455. b Ecclesia 250. b Effect of Christe bloude 380. b. of Gods word 247. a. of his lawes 22. b. of our good deedes 158. b Effectes of fayth spirituall 43. b Elders haue erred 303. b Elders and Priestes why so named 38. a Eldest sonne of the holy seat 349. b Elect must be patient and tryed 260. a. b. haue Gods will writteÌ„ in your hartes 255. b Elect euer meditate vppon Christes kyndnes 382. b Election of the Pope confirmed by the Emperour 346. a Elias and More contrary 284. a Emanuell 408. a Emperours election to whom beloÌ„gyng 352. a Emperours haue deposed Popes Popes Emperours 364. b. theyr oth to the Pope 352. a. must not be very strong by the Popes will 365. b. abused by the Pope 350. b. not estemed of the Pope ibidem doteth 350. a Emperour setteth on the French kyng by night 372. a. came through England 371. a End of the law 193. a. of all lawes 240. b. of hypocrites 306. a End must be cast before we begyn 99. a Enemyes to Gods word 14. a Enemyes of the truth to be hated 216. a Enemyes must be ouercome with well doyng 117. b Englishmen 365. a English Byshops 114. a Enormities of auricular confession 180. b Enormities
money Notwithstanding God hath left vs two Purgatories One to purge the hart and clense it from the filth whiche we haue partly receaued of Adam for we are by nature the children of wrath Ephe. ij and partly added thereto by consentyng vnto our natural infirmitie This Purgatory is the word of God as Christ sayth Iohn xv Now are ye cleane for the worde whiche I haue spoken vnto you This purgation obtayneth no man but thorough fayth for the vnfaythfull are not purged by the word of God as the Scribes and Phariseis were nothyng the the better for hearing his word but rather the worsse for it was a testimony against them vnto their condemnatioÌ„ And because we receaue this purgatioÌ„ onely through beleuyng the word therfore is the vertue of this purgyng applied also vnto fayth for Peter sayth Act. xv that the Gentiles hartes were purged thorough fayth that is to say through beleuing the word And what word is that verely the preaching that Christes death hath fully satisfied for our sinnes and pacified for euer the fathers wrath towardes vs. c. This fayth purifieth the hart and geueth vs a will and gladnes to do what soeuer our most mercyfull father commaundeth vs. Neuerthelesse because our infirmitie is so great and our meÌ„bers so weake and fraile that we caÌ„ not eschew sinne as our hart would and as our wil desireth therfore hath God left vs an other Purgatorye whiche is Christes crosse I meane not his materiall crosse that he him selfe dyed on but a spirituall crosse which is aduersitie tribulation worldly depression c. And this is called the rodde or scourge of God wherewith he scourgeth euery sonne that he receaueth that we may remember his law and mortifie the old Adam and fleshly lust which els would waxe so rebellious that it would subdue vs raigne in vs and hold vs thraull vnder sinne When soeuer we haue committed a crime theÌ„ is God preseÌ„t with this rod as he saith Psal lxxxix If they defile my ceremonies and not obserue my coÌ„maundementes then with a rod shall I punish their sinnes and with beatyngs shall I reward their iniquities but yet my mercy shall I not take from him neither will I deceaue hym of my promise This crosse must we â—eceaue with a glad hart and thanke our louing father for it for it is but a medicine to heale our infirmitie and to subdue our rebellions members But when our members are fully mortified that is when death hath subdued our corruptible body and our flesh coÌ„mitted to rest in the earth then cease the Purgatories that God hath ordeined then are we fully purged in his sight If our Clergy could haue found in their hartes to haue taken these Purgatories vppon them they had neuer neded to imagine any other but sith their lyfe begaÌ„ to waxe so dissolute specially sith they should be the salt of the earth and lanternes of light It was necessary for them to imagine Purgatory after this lyfe for els they might be sure that the most part of them were neuer like to come in heauen Iudge Christen reader whiche hast the spirite to discerne and knowest the voyce of Christe what reasons Rastell hath brought and how he hath soluted them for in my mynde both his reasoÌ„s and solutions are so childish and vnsauery so vnlearned and baren so full of faultes and phantasies that I rather pitie the mans deepe ignoraunce and blindnesse which hath so deceaued him selfe through Philosophie and naturall reason theÌ„ I feare that he by his vaine probations should allure any man to consent vnto hym Iudge and conferre the Scriptures which Sir Thomas More and my Lord of Rochester alledge for theyr opinion and I doubt not but that God shall open thine eyes to espy that thing which hath blinded them Iudge and compare the Scriptures together which I haue brought to confirme my purpose ponder their reasoÌ„s and my solutioÌ„s vnto them and I am sure thou shalt perceaue that my small learnyng hath condemned theyr hyghe eloquence that my foly hath brought to nought their wisedome and that my youth hath disclosed their old and festred ignoraunce And this is euen the old practise of God to chose the folish thynges of the world to confound the wise to chose the weake to confounde the mightye And to chose the vyle thynges whiche are of no reputation to confound them of high degree that no flesh might bost it selfe in his sight to whom onely be prayse and thankes for euer Amen ¶ A Prologe whereby a man may the better perceaue the occasion and whole cause of this Booke THere was a brother of ours named Simon Fishe whiche nowe I trust resteth in Gods handes whose eyes God had opened not onely to espy the wily walkyng of hipocrites and ruyne of the realme whiche through their meanes was nye at hand but also to marke and ponder the peril of meÌ„s soules and how that the ignoraunt people by their seduction was fallen into that franticke imagination that they more feared the Pope and hys Decrees whiche are but vanitie then God him selfe and his law whiche are most righteous and eternall This man therfore of a feruent and burnyng zeale that hee bare to the wealth of the comminaltie brake out and touched these hypocrites in a litle treatise whiche hee called The Supplication of Beggers willyng that wee shoulde geue the aboundaunce of our richesse vnto the poore to whom it is due by the law of God and that we should no lenger suffer our selues to bee dispoyled and robbed of a sight of sturdy lubbars whiche vnder a false cloke of vertue and prayer deceiue the poore of their liuyng and both the poore and the riche of their soules health if credence be geuen vnto them And where these wilye Foxes would haue preteÌ„ded the cloke of Purgatory affirmyng that it were due vnto them because they praye for their frendes soules that they might come to rest he aunswered vnto that poynt preuentyng theyr obiection and proued that either there could be no such Purgatory or els that the Pope were a mercylesse tyraunt which as he saith him selfe may deliuer them from theÌ„ce and will not except hee haue money At this point began M. More to fume and tooke vpon hym selfe to bee Proctour for Purgatory I will not say that he was hyred ther to of our spiritualtie although many men dare sweare it and to confirme his purpose hee wrested sore the Scriptures and triumpheth also that the very miscreantes and Idolaters beleue that there is a Purgatory He addeth thereto to stablish his matter with all that there is no man whiche beleueth that there is a God and that the soule of man is immortall but hee must nedes graunt that there is a Purgatory There tooke Rastell his hold whiche is a Printer dwellyng at Paules gate in London and of Master Mores alliaunce which
and glory that we owe to God Therfore it foloweth in the same texte vnto hym that worketh not but beleueth in him that iustifieth the wicked is his faith imputed for righteousnes Now if our saluatioÌ„ come of fayth and not through our workes desertes then is Purgatory shut out of doore quite vanisheth away Christ sayth So hath God loued the world that hee would geue hys onely sonne that all whiche beleue in him should not perishe but that they should haue euerlasting life Iohn iij. TheÌ„ what néedeth Purgatory Thou wilt peraduenture say it is true they shall haue euerlastyng lyfe but they must first go through Purgatory I aunswere nay verely But Christ affirmeth and that with an oth that he which heareth his word and beleueth his father which sent him hath euerlastyng life Yea and that he is gone already from death vnto life Iohn v. wilt thou now say that hee shall into Purgatory forsooth if that were true and the fire also so hote as our Prelates affirme then went he not from death vnto lyfe but rather froÌ„ a small death vnto a greater death The Prophet sayth precious is in the sight of the Lord the death of his Saintes Psal C. xvi And S. Iohn sayth blessed are the dead whiche dye in the Lord. Apocal. 14. but surely if they shoulde goe into the paynefull Purgatory there to be tormented of fendes theÌ„ were they not blessed but rather wretched God sayth by Moses Exod. 33. I will shewe mercy to whom I shewe mercy and will haue compassion on whom I haue compassioÌ„ Now if our saluation be of mercy and compassioÌ„ then caÌ„ there be no such Purgatory For y t nature of mercy is to forgeue but Purgatory will haue all payde satisfied so that they twayne bee desperate and can in no wise agrée And looke how many textes in Scripture commende Gods mercy euen so many deny this paynefull Purgatory The Prophet sayth hee hath not dealt with vs after our sinnes neither hath rewarded vs accordyng to our iniquities but looke how high heauens are aboue the earth eueÌ„ so high hath he made his mercy to preuayle ouer them that worshyppe him And looke how farre the East is from the Weast euen so farre hath he set our sinnes from vs. Psal Citj And before in the same Psalme y e Prophet exhorteth his soule to prayse the Lord saying Prayse the Lord O my soule whiche forgeueth thée all thyne iniquities and healeth all thy diseases Now if this be true that he ordereth vs not accordyng to our sinnes but powreth his mercy so plenteously vppon vs if also he forgeue vs all our iniquities why should there be any such Purgatory to purge and tormeÌ„t the sely soules specially sith all was for geuen them before Wilt thou not call him a shrewed creditour whiche after he hath fréely forgeueÌ„ his debtour will yet cast him in prison for the same debt I thinke euery man would say on this maner â–ª It was in his own pleasure whether hee would forgeue it or not and then of fauour and compassion he forgaue it But now he hath forgeuen it hee doth vnrighteously to punish his debtour for it And albeit man repente his forgeuyng and afterward sue for his debt yet God can neuer repeÌ„t him selfe of his mercyable gifts Roma xi And therefore will he neuer torment vs for our trespasses no nor yet once remember them Ezech. xviij Heb. x. Sith God forgeueth the greater offences why shal he not also forgeue y t lesse He forgaue fréely much greater offeÌ„ces vnto the Publicane which knowleged him selfe to bee a sinner Luke xviij then those be for whiche men fayne that we must be tormeÌ„ted in Purgatory For there is no soule as they graunt them selues that suffreth in purgatory for great crimes mortal sinnes But onely for litle pretie pecca duliaÌ„s if a maÌ„ may be bold to vse M. Mores word and for venial sinnes Dis xxv Cap. qualis He forgaue much greater enormities vnto the théefe to whom hee sayd this day shalt thou be with me not in Purgatory but in Paradise Luke 23. He forgaue much greater to Marie Magdalene Luke vij Is his hand now shortned Is not his power as great as it was Is he not as mercyfull as euer he was why leaue we y t cisterne of liuyng water and digge vs pittes of our owne which can hold no pure water Iere. â—j why forsake we Christ which hath wholly purged vs séeke an other Purgatory of our own imaginatioÌ„ If thou beleue that Christes bloud is sufficient to purge thy sinne why sekest thou an other purgatory S. Paul sayth I desire to be losed from this body and to be with Christ Phil. i. Verely if hee had thought to haue gone thorough Purgatory hee would not haue bene so hasty For there shoulde hee haue had an hote broth and an hartlesse and so might he rather haue desired long to haue liued And therefore I suppose that he knew nothyng of Purgatory but that he rather thought as y e truth is that death should finish all his euils and so rowes and geue hym rest in losing hym from his rebbellious members whiche were solde and captiue vnder sinne All ChristeÌ„ meÌ„ should desire death as Paule doth Phil. 1. not because of their crosse and trouble whiche they suffer in this present worlde for then they sought theÌ„ selues and their own profite and not the glory of God But if we will well desire death we must first consider howe sore sinne displeaseth God our father then our owne nature and frailtie and our members so bounde vnder sinne that we caÌ„ not doe nor yet thinke a good thought of our selues 2. Cor. 3. Then shall we finde occasion to lament our lyfe not for the troubles that we suffer in it but because we be so prone vnto sinne and so continually displease God our father What desireth he that would loÌ„g lyue but dayly to heape sinne vppon sinne And therefore should we haue a will to dye bycause y t in death our sinne is finished and theÌ„ shall we no more displease God our father Now if we should fayne a Purgatory it were not possible to imagine a greater obstacle to make vs feare flye from death For sith euery man must knowledge him self a sinner 1. Iohn 1. And not beleue that Christes death were sufficieÌ„t but that he must also go to Purgatory who should depart this world with a quiet mynde The wiseman sayth The soules of the righteous are in the hande of God They séemed to dye in the eyes of the foolish their end was thought to be payne and afflictioÌ„ but they are in peace Sapi. 3. There is no maÌ„ but he must néedes graunt me that euery faythfull is righteous in the sight of God as it
the wordes of the iij. children Daniell 3. whiche were cast into the fornace of fire and yet preserued frō death thorough the mighty hand of God theyr wordes song was this Benedicite Anania Azaria Misaell Domino laudate superexaltate eum in secula quia eruit nos de inferno saluos fecit de manu mortis liberauit nos de medio ardentis flammae de medio ignis eruit nos That is blysse ye anania azaria and misaell the Lord prayse and aduaūce him for euer For he hath plucked vs out of hell hath saued vs frō the power of death He hath deliuered vs from the middest of the burnyng flāme and hath plucked vs out frō the middes of the fire Here may you sée the same maner of speakyng how the last ende expoundeth the begynnyng These childrē say that God hath plucked them out of hell and yet were they neither dāned nor in Purgatory nor dead But the next part of this verse expoundeth their meaning which sayth he hath saued vs from the hand of power of death So may ye know that to bee plucked out of hell and to be saued from the power of death are all one thyng And again where they say that God hath deliuered them from the burnyng flamme and that hee hath plucked them from the middes of the fire is all one sense as euery child may well perceiue and therfore is M. More to blame to be so busie seyng he vnderstandeth not the phrase and manner of speache of the Scripture THen bryngeth hee in the Prophet Zachary which sayth Tu quoque in sanguine Testamenti tui eduxisti vinctos tuos de lacu in quo non erat aqua Thou hast in the bloud of thy Testament brought out thy bounden prisoners out of the pitte or lake in which there was no water Now in hell is there no redemption and in lymbo patrum the soules were in rest wherfore it appeareth clerely that those prisoners whiche hee brought out of their payne hee brought onely out of Purgatory This text is spoken Zachary 9. for a full aunswere of this text I néeded no more but to bring the authoritie of my Lord of Rochester agaynst hym For hee expoundeth the place of the Psalme 66. for Purgatory whiche sayth Transiuimus per ignem aquam adduxisti nos in refrigeriū we haue gone thorough fire and water thou hast brought vs into colenesse If this text of the Psalme serue for Purgatory which sayth that there is both fire and water as my Lord of Rochester doth affirme bringeth also Origine to confirme it then can not this place of Zacharie serue whiche sayth that there is no water And so must M. More néedes bee ouersene for Origene and Rochester bee able to wey vp him Here might I say vnto thē both that they should first agrée with in thē selues and then would I shape them an aūswere Howbeit I know my part so sure that I will confute them both and proue that neither other place speaketh any thyng of this paynfull Purgatory that the describe But my Lord of Rochesters authoritie shall be differred vntill the thyrd part whiche shal be a seuerall booke agaynst hym This place verely approueth not Purgatory but sheweth the vertue of Christes redemption which through his bloud redemed his captiues prisoners that is to say them whom hee foūd bound with the strōg bondes of sinne to euerlastyng damnatiō which were subiectes vnto the deuil and the extreme enemyes of God but why calleth hee them his verely because they were chosen in Christ Iesu before the begynnynge of the worlde that they with him and through hym should enioy the euerlastyng inheritaunce of heauen Why are they called bounde and prisoners Surely because they were captiues boūde and imprisoned vnder the deuill through the sinne that Adā committed Roma v. why sayth he that he deliuered thē out of the pitte where in is no water Forsooth that is euen as much to say as hee deliuered them out of hell and from eternall damnation Thou wilt happely say hee deliuered them not out of hell and from eternall damnation for his prisoners that is to say they y t shal be saued neuer came there I aunswere that they should without doubt haue gone thether haue bene dāned perpetually except that Christ by his death had deliuered and losed them And therefore sayth the Scripture that Christ deliuereth vs out of hell because he saueth and deliuereth vs that we come not there which els should surely enter into it for euer It is also a common maner of speach among vs if a man should go to prison for debt or any such matter one of his frendes come in y t meane season which pacified the aduersaries payeth that debt then may we well say that he hath deliuered this man out of prison although hee came not there but should haue gone thether And likewise when we say that such a mā hath deliuered his frend from the galowes we meane not that he was all ready hanged for then were the deliueraūce to late but we meane that he deliuered him that hee should not be hanged Furthermore if a mā might bee bold to aske M. More whether Christ haue redemed loosed and deliuered him in the bloud of his Testament I thinke he would aunswere yea Now if we should aske him further from whence he hath deliuered him I am sure he is not so ignoraunt as to say that Christe hath deliuered him from Purgatory but euen that be hath deliuered him from eternall death and damnation And so hath Christe deliuered vs from the pytte wherin is no water that is to say frō hell and euerlastyng damnation not y t we were in hell all ready although we were bound vnder sinne and ready to be cast therein but because we should not enter into hell This is the pure vnderstandyng of the texte Here might I dispute w t him both of hell of Limbus patrum but because I wil be as short as possible is I will deferre y t vntil an other occasiō y t I may reason with hym somewhat at large AN other place is there also in the old Testament that putteth Purgatory quyte out of question For sayth he what is playner then the places whiche in the booke of the Machebees make mention of the deuoute remembraunce prayour asmose sacrifice to be done for soules when the good and holy mā Iudas Machabeus gathered money among the people to buy sacrifice withall to be offered vp for the soules of them that were dead in the battaile What shift finde they here Surely a very shamelesse shift and are fayne to take them to that talkyng which is their shote anker alway when they finde the storme so great that they see their shyppe goeth all to wracke For first they vse to set some
authoritie For he that admitteth prayers and sacrifice to be done for the dead yea also affirmeth that they are holy and whole some for such sinnes as are dāned by the law of God which are in déede very mortall doth not he agaynst the word of God yea and also agaynst the cōmon consent of all mē But this booke doth so which admitteth prayer and sacrifice to bée done for the dead that were slayne in the battayle for theyr offence yea and also damned by the law Deut. 7. Now conclude your selues what ye thinke of this booke Thus much hath M. More brought to proue his purpose out of the old Testament and I thinke ye sée it sufficiently aunswered And now he entendeth to proue hys Purgatory by good and substaunciall authoritie in the new Testament also FIrst let vs consider sayth Master More the wordes of the blessed Apostle and Euangelist S. Iohn where he sayth Est peccatum ad mortem non dico vt pro eo roget quis There is sayth hee some sinne that is vnto the death I byd not that any man should pray for that this sinne as the interpreters agree is vnderstād of desperation and impenitēce as though Saint Iohn would say that who departe out of this world impenitent or in despayre any prayer after made can neuer stand hym in stede Then it appeareth clearely that S. Iohn meaneth that there are other whiche dye not in such case for whom hee would men should pray because that prayer to such soules may be profitable But that profite can no man take beyng in heauen where it needeth not nor beyng in hell where it boteth not wherefore it appeareth that such prayer helpeth onely for Purgatory which thou must therfore nedes graunt except thou deny S. Iohn The text is written 1. Iohn 5. which sayth there is a sinne vnto the death I byd not that any man shall pray for that In this place doth M. More vnderstād by this word death temporall death and then he taketh his pleasure But we will desire hym to looke two lynes aboue and not to snatch one péece of the text on this fashion I will rehearse you the whole text and then ye shal heare myne aunswere The text is this if any man perceaue that his brother doth sinne a sinne not vnto y t death let him aske and he shall geue hym lyfe to them that sinne not vnto death For there is some sinne that is vnto death I bid not that any mā should pray for that Now marke myne aunswere Death and life be contrary and both wordes are in this text therfore if you vnderstand this woord death for temporall death then must you also vnderstand by this word life temporall lyfe And so should our prayer restore men agayne vnto temporall lyfe But I ensure you M. More taketh this word death so confusedly that no mā can tel what he meaneth For in one place he taketh it for temporall death saying who so depart out of this world impenitent c. And in an other place he is compelled to take it for euerlastyng death Therfore will I shewe you the very vnderstandyng of y t text And better interpreters desire I none then Christ him selfe which sayd vnto the Phariseis euery blasphemy shall be forgeuen but y t blasphemy against the holy ghost which S. Iohn calleth a sinne vnto the death shall neuer be forgeuen but is giltie vnto euerlastyng damnation Marke iij. what sinne or blasphemie is this verely y t declareth S. Marke saying They sayd that he had an vncleane spirite y t was y t sinne vnto death euerlastyng that was the sinne that should neuer be forgeuen He proueth so euidently vnto thē that his miracles were done with y t spirite of God that they could not deny it And yet of an hard and obstinate hart euen knowyng the contrary they sayd that he had a deuill within hym These Phariseis dyed not forth with but lyued peraduenture many yeares after Notwithstāding if all the Apostles had prayed for these Phariseis whiles they were yet lyuing for all that their sinne should neuer haue bene forgeuen them And truth is that after they dyed in impenitencie and desperation which was the frute of that sinne but not the sinne it selfe Now sée ye the meanyng of this text and what the sinne vnto death or agaynst the holy ghost is If any man perceaue his brother to sinne a sinne not vnto death that is not against the holy ghost let him aske and he shall geue him life that is let him pray vnto God for his brother and his sinne shal be forgeuen him But if he sée his brother sinne a sinne vnto death that is agaynst the holy ghost let him neuer pray for him for it boteth not And so is not the text vnderstand of prayer after this lyfe as M. More imagineth but euen of prayer for our brother which is lyuing with vs. Notwithstanding this sinne is not lightly knowne excepte the person knowledge it hym selfe or els the spirite of God opē it vnto vs. Therfore may we pray for all men except we haue euident knowledge that they haue so offended as is before rehearsed And this is his text taken from him wherwith he laboureth to proue Purgatory What say they to the wordes of S. Iohn Apoc. 5. I haue heard sayth he euery creature that is in heauen and vppon the earth and vnder the earth and that be in the Sea and all thynges that be in them all these haue I heard say benediction and honour and glory and power for euer be to him that is sitting in the throne and vnto the lambe By the creatures in heauen hee meaneth aungels By the creatures vpon the earth he meaneth men By the creatures vnder the earth he meaneth the soules in Purgatory And by the creatures in the Sea hee meaneth men that sayle on the Sea By this text I vnderstand not onely aungels and men but also heauen and earth and all that is in them euē all beastes fishes wormes and other creatures thinke that all these creatures do prayse the Lord. And where he taketh the creatures vnder y t earth for the soules in Purgatory I take it for all maner of creatures vnder y t earth both wormes vermine and all other And where he draweth the text and maketh the creatures in the sea to signifie men that are sayling on the Sea I say that the creatures in the Sea do signifie fishes and such other thyngs and that S. Iohn by this textment euen playnly that all maner of thynges geue prayse vnto God and the lambe yea and I dare be bold to adde that euen the very deuils damned soules are compelled to prayse hym For their iust punishment commendeth his puysaunt power righteousnes Neither néedest thou to wōder or thinke this any new thyng for Dauid in the 148. byddeth Serpentes beastes and byrdes to prayse
the Lord as it is also written Dani. iij. And Paule sayth Roma 8. All maner of creatures long for our redemption and prayse God for it yea and mourne that the last day is not yet come that the elect children of God might enter into rest for then shall also those creatures be deliuered frō their corruptiō and bondage into the libertie and glory of the children of God Now iudge Christen reader whiche sentence standeth most with the Scripture and glory of God Doth not the blessed Apostle S. Peter as it appeareth Actes ij say of our Sauiour Christe in this wise Quem Deus suscitauit solutis doloribus inferni In these woordes he shewed that paynes of hell were losed but those paynes were not the paynes of damned soules And in limbo patrum there was no payne Ergo it was the payne of Purgatory which he loosed Alas what shall I say I am in a maner compelled to say that this mā wandreth in wilfull blindnesse For els were it not possible that he should erre so far as to bring in this text for hys purpose The woordes of Peter are these Ye men of Israell heare these wordes Iesus of Nazareth a man set foorth of God for you wyth powers wonders and tokens which God hath done by hym among you as you your selues know after he was deliuered by the purposed counsell and foreknowledge of God and you receyued hym of the handes of the wicked ye crucifyed and kylled him whom God hath raysed dissoluing the paynes of death for it was imposible that he should be subdued of it Here in stead of these wordes The paynes of death he setteth the paynes of hell as it is most like euē of a purposed deceit For albeit the mā would not take the payne to read the gréeke yet if he had but once looked vpon the translation of hys olde frende and companion Erasmus it would haue taught him to haue sayd solutis doloribus mortis that is dissoluing the paynes of death according to the Gréeke and very woordes of Luke which wrote these actes in the gréeke tongue And albeit the old translation vseth thys worde Infernus which is diuersly taken in scripture both for death for a graue for hell yet in this place is maister More wythout excuse which calleth it hell in our English tongue For albeit the woord of it self were indifferent in the Latine yet it is not indifferent in the English for there is no English man that taketh thys woord hell eyther for death or for a graue no not maister More himself For first he translateth the text falsely calling it hell and then he descanteth on a false ground and calleth hell not death but purgatory when S. Peter brought in these wordes for no other purpose but to proue y t Christ was risen from death through the power of hys Father meaning that God the Father dyd rayse hys Sonne Christ notwythstanding the sorowfull paynes and panges which he suffred vnto y t death for it was impossible that Christ should be vtterly subdued of death So that thys text proueth no more purgatory then it proueth that maister More was hyred of the spiritualty to defend purgatory Besides that if it should serue for Purgatory which no wise man wil graunt whē he séeeth the processe of the Text it should proue nothing but that Christ should lye in the paynes of purgatory vntill God hys Father had holp him out for the paynes ▪ which he speaketh of were Christes paynes which no man can deny if he read the Text. But what a fond opinion were that to fayne that Christ which was without sinne should be tormented in the paynes of purgatory The blessed Apostle Paule in his first epistle to the Corinthians the third chapter speaking of our sauiour Christ the very and only foundation of all our fayth and saluation sayth If any man builde vpon this foundation gold siluer precious stones wood hay or strawe euery mans worke shall be made open for the day of the Lord shall declare it for in the fire it shal be shewed the fire shall proue what maner of thyng euery mans worke is If any mans worke that he hath builded thereon do abide he shall haue a reward if any mans worke burne he shall suffer harme but he shal be safe but yet as by fire And finally he concludeth that thys woord fyre must néedes signifie the fyre of Purgatorye He that considereth the order or proces of the text shall easely perceiue that thys man erreth for the Text speaketh of the preachers blameth the Corrinthians that they made such sectes and dissentions among them selues for one sayd that he was Paules man and held on hys side an other sayd that he was Peters man the thirde did sticke to Apollo and so foorth euen as our friers do now a dayes one sect holdeth on S. Fraunces an other of S. Dominike the thyrd of S. Austen c. S. Paule rebuketh these sectes called the persons carnall commaunding them to take Christ for theyr head to cleaue onely to him and as for Apollo Peter and Paule he sayth that they are but ministers of the woord ▪ euery mā according to the gyfte geuen hym of God the one more the other lesse Paule planted Apollo watred that is Paule set the Corinthians in the ground of Christes fayth and then came Apollo and preached them further of Christ and comforted them to abide in the way which they walked in howbeit it was onely God that made them prosper in the woord and gaue the encrease Neuertheles euery man shall receaue according to his labour if he preach much the more shall be his reward if he preach litle therafter shall he be rewarded For we are Gods workmē to preach hys worde and you are Gods husbandry whom we must till and dresse in declaring you the woord and perpetuall will of God you are become Gods building thorough the grace of God which he hath geuen me whome we must frame and so couch by the word of God that we may make of you a temple of liuing stones Lyke a wise woorkemaister haue I layd the foundation for I first beganne to preach you Christ Now commeth there an other and buildeth vpon this my foūdation entendyng to instruct you further in the wayes of Christ But let euery mā take hede how he buildeth or preach vnto you for no man cā lay any other foundation then is layed already for all our buildyng and preachyng leneth onely on this pointe and principall stone to declare vnto you what Christ hath done for you If any builde on this foundation gold siluer or precious stones that is if any man preach purely the word of God which is likened to gold siluer and precious stones because that as these are not consumed with matteriall fire but rather made more pure euen so the pure word of God suffreth neither hurt
the eyes of thy mynde and haue geuen thée spirituall wisedome thorough the knowledge of his word boast not thy selfe of it but rather feare and tremble for a chargeable office is committed vnto thée whiche if thou fulfill it is lyke to cost thée thy life at one tyme or other with much trouble and persecution But if thou fulfill it not then shal that office be thy damnation For S. Paule sayth Wo is to me if I preach not And by the Prophet Ezechiel God saith If I say vnto the wicked that he shall dye the death thou shew hym not of it the wicked shall dye in his iniquitie but I shal require his bloud of thy hand But peraduenture our Diuines would expounde these textes onely vpon them that are sent and haue cure of soules Wherunto I answere that euery man whiche hath the light of Gods worde reuelated vnto hym is sent when soeuer he séeth necessitie hath cure of his neighbours soule As by example If God haue geuen me my sight and I perceiue a blynde man goyng in the way which is ready for lacke of sight to fall into a pytte wherein he were lyke to perish then am I bounde by Gods commaundement to guide hym till hee were past that ieopardy or els if he perish there in where I might haue deliuered hym his bloud shal be required of my hand And lykewise if I perceiue my my neighbour lyke to perish for lacke of Christes doctrine then am I boūd to instruct hym with the knowledge that God hath geuen mee or els hys bloud shal be required of my hand Paraduenture they will say that there is all ready one appoynted to watch the pitte and therefore if any man fall into it he shall make it good and that therfore I am discharged néede to take no thought Wherunto I aunswere I would be glad that it so were Notwithstandyng if I perceaue that the watchman be a sléepe or runne to y t ale house to make good cheare or gone out of the countrey a whorehunting and thorough his necligence espy my neighbour in daunger of the pitte then am I neuerthelesse bounde to leade hym from it I thinke that God hath sent me at that tyme to saue that soule frō perishyng And the law of God and nature byndeth me therto which chargeth me to loue my neighbour as my selfe and to doe vnto hym as I would be done to And I thinke there is no mā that is in this case but he would haue hys neighbour to helpe hym and therfore is he bound to helpe his neighbour if he be in lyke ieopardy And euen thus art thou bound to geue good counsell to hym that lacketh it to distribute what soeuer talent thou hast receiued of God vnto the profite of thy neighbour Moreouer besides that ye can not auoyde this my solution yet I desire you to note how the text it selfe which I alleged doth condemne your vayne obiection the wordes are these Ezech. iij. If I say vnto the wicked that he shall dye the death and thou shewe him not of it the wicked shall die in his iniquitie but I shall require his bloud of thy hande Marke I pray you that the Prophet saith not as you obiect that he which should shewe the wicked his iniquitie and doth not so shall perish only and the wicked hym selfe to be saued bicause his faut was told him by him which take charge to teach him But contrarywise y e wicked shall perishe in his iniquitie saith God by his prophet Ezechiel and his bloud shall be required of the hand of him which should haue instructed him in the truthe If God haue geuen thée faythe in Christes bloude be not proude of it but feare for sith God hathe not spared the naturall braunches I meane the Iewes which were hys elect people sith he spared not the angels that sinned but hath cast them into hell to be reserued vnto iudgement sithe he spared not the olde worlde but ouerwhelmed them with waters deliueryng Noe the preacher of righteousnes take héede lest he also spare not thée Truth it is that where fayth is present no sinne can be imputed but this faith is not in thy power for it is the gift of God And therfore if thou be vnkynde endeuour not thy selfe to walke innocently to bryng forth the fruites of fayth it is to be feared that for thyne vnkyndnesse God will take it from thée and hyer out his vyneyard to an other whiche shall restore the fruite in due seasō and then shall thyne end be worse then thy begynnyng Let vs therfore with feare and tremblyng séeke our health and make stable our vocation and electiō mortifiyng our members and man of sinne by exercising our selues in Christes preceptes that we may be the children of our father that is in heauen and felow heyers with our Sauiour and brother Christ Iesu If God haue geuen thée riches thou mayst not thincke that he hath committed them vnto thée for thine owne vse only but that he hath made thée a stuard ouer them to destribute them to the profite of the commontie For indéede thou art not the verye owner of them but God is the owner whiche sayth by the Prophet Agge Golde is mine and siluer is mine and he hath committed them for a ceason to thy hande to sée whether thou wilt be faythfull in distributing thys wicked Mammon according to his commaundementes And that it so is thou mayst well note by the parable of the riche man whych was clothed in silke and fared delicately in this worlde and after was buryed in hell Wheruppon S. Gregory noteth that he was not damned because he despoiled any other mans but because he did not distribute his own as y t processe of y ◠Text doth also well declare Wherefore if we must geue accompts of all that is geuē vs then haue we litle cause to glory but rather to feare and tremble and to count him most happy to whom least is committed For God to whom this accomptes must be made can not be deluded although the world may be blinded If God haue geuen thée thy perfite limmes and members then gette to some occupation and woorke wyth thyne owne handes that thy members which are whole and perfite may minister to theyr necessitie that lacke theyr members for that is acceptable in the sight of God and the contrarye so detestable that if thou withdraw thy members from ayding thy neighboures thou shalt of God be recounted for a théefe and a murtherer And therfore I affirme that all our holy hypocrites and idle bellyed Monkes chanons and priestes whether they be regulare or seculare if they laboure not to preache Gods woorde are théeues and also murtherers for they maintaine their strong members in idlenesse which ought to labour for the profite of theyr neyghboures that theyr perfite members might minister vnto the necessitie
of them that lacke theyr members As the eye must minister her fruite of sight vnto the féete handes and other members which lacke it or els are they in ieoperdie to perishe at euery pit and the eye giltie of their destrution for withdrawing her office from them And this may we establish by the wordes of S. Paule which sayth He that dyd steale let hym steale no more but rather laboure wyth hys owne handes that he may haue to distribute to them that lacke And some doctoures do very well expounde it of certaine persons that walked inordinately and would not worke themselues though they were sturdye lubbers but liued on other mens charitie which thing the Apostle calleth theft and exhorteth them to woorke with theyr own hands that they may both helpe themselues and other And for because some persons which féele them selues gréeued because they are giltie will not be content to allow this exposition I will alledge an other text of the Wise man which shall not onely allow this sentence but also bite them better for he sayth Panis egentium vita pauperis est qui autem defraudat eum homo sanguinis est that is to say The bread of the néedy is the life of the poore and he that defraudeth him of it is a murtherer This text holdeth their noses so hard to the grindstone that it clean disfigureth theyr faces for it proueth our Byshops Abbotes and spirituall possessionaries double theues and murtherers as concerning the body besides their murdering of the soule for lacke of Gods worde which they will neyther preache nor suffer any to doe it purely but persecute and put them vnto the most cruell death firste they are théeues and murtherers because they distribute not that which was appoynted by our faythfull forefathers to the entent it should haue bene ministred vnto the poore for then they séemed to be very vertuous but now they bestow it vpon hawkes houndes horses c. vpon gorgious apparell and delicate fare And glad are y t poore whē they may get the scrappes They may haue not so much as a pigge of their own sow no scant a fether of their own goose For he that may dispend foure or v. thousand markes a yeare would thinke it were too much if he gaue xx nobles of it vnto the poore which notwythstanding are the owners vnder God of all together the ministers lyuyng deduct which as the Apostle sayth hauing theyr foode and clothes to couer them ought therewith to be content And thus they defraude the poor of theyr bread so are they théeues and because this bread is theyr life as the aforesayd text testifieth he that defraudeth hym of it is not onely a théefe but also a murtherer And when they thinke to bestow it very well and bestowe it in buildyng palaces of pleasure yet are they therin much to be reproued For as an old Doctour sayth they are in that poynt worse then the deuill for the deuill would haue had that Christ should haue turned stones into bréede which might haue suckored y ◠poore these builders turne the bread into stones For they bestow y ◠good which should be geuen to the poore for their sustenaunce vpon an heape of stones But here they will obiect as they are neuer without euasions that if they should distribute it among the poore accordyng as they are bounde within a while all would be spent no good should come of it nor no man know where it is become or who fareth the better for it Whereunto I aunswere that in déede ye be to wise for me for sith ye go about to correct Christ and to fet hym to schole and learne hym what is best it were but folye for me to meddle with you For Christes minde and commaūdement is that we should distribute it and not withhold it from them And sayth by his Prophet wo be to them that couple and knit houses together whiche I thinke may iustly be verified vpon you Neuerthelesse this I dare say that if a Byshop which may dispende foure thousād marke would vnto the poore of his Dioces distribute euery yeare but the one halfe geuyng vnto one man xl shillyng and lendyng to an other xx nobles to set vp his occupation with all and so geue and lende as he séeth néede he should within v. or vj. yeares make a florishyng Dioces And I thinke verely that his face should more be alowed before God then if he had builded a thousand Abbayes for Gods commaundement ought first to be done is much more acceptable to him then all the workes that procede of our imaginations and foolish phantasies Besides that they are théeues and murtherers for withdrawyng theyr perfite mēbers from labour wherby they might minister vnto their neighbours necessity I speake of as many as are not occupied about preachyng Gods woorde for in that they withdrawe their members from succouryng their poore neighbours they are théeues And because this succour is called their lyfe they are murtherers for kéepyng it from them Here our beggyng orders of Friers would thinke to be exempt because they haue not receiued rentes to be distributed Notwithstandyng if we ponder this texte well we shall finde them cōdemned as déepe as the other For they enter into euery mās house and with vnshamefasted beggyng polle them so nye that in a maner they leaue nothing behind for the very poore which are sicke lame créeple blynd and maymed For there is not the poorest desolate widowe but with his fayre flatteryng he wil so deceiue her that he will be sure either of money or ware but deare brethrē mayntayne ye no such murtherers lest ye bee partakers of their sinnes but rather folow the counsell of the Apostle which chargeth vs in y e name of our Lorde Iesu Christ that we withdraw our selues from euery brother that walketh inordinatly worketh not and byddeth if hee will not worke he should not eate Now if they obiect that they liue in contemplation study of Scripture and say that they ought not to be let from that holy worke for Christ sayd that Marye had chosen the best part whiche should not be taken from her Thereunto may I make the same aūswere which that holy father and Abbot S. Siluane made This Siluane was an Abbot an holy man hauyng many Monkes vnder him whō he caused after their prayers whiche were nothyng so lōg as our Monkes vse now a dayes whiche thinke for their many wordes to be heard lyke as dyd the Phariseis whom Christ rebuked he caused them I say to labour for theyr lyuyng accordyng to the mynde of Paule And vppon a tyme there came a religious man to hys abbay and when he sawe his Monkes working he asked the Abbot whye he so vsed them and why they gaue not them selues to holye contemplation séeing that Marie had chosen the best part The Abbot made fewe wordes but gaue this Monke a
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
were in number but 25. thousand And the Israelites were 400. thousand fighting men which came into Silo and asked of God who should be theyr Captaine agaynst Beniamin And they being but 25. thousand slue of the other Israelites 12. thousand in one day Then fledde the children of Israell vnto the Lord in Silo made great lamentation before hym euen vntill night and asked hym counsell saying shall we go any more to fight agaynst the tribe of Beniamin our brethren or not God sayd vnto them yes goe vp and sight agaynst them Thē went they the next day fought agaynst them and there were slaine agayne of the Israelites 18. thousand men Then came they backe agayne vnto the house of God and sat down and wept before the Lord and fasted that day vntill euen and asked hym agayn whether they should any more fight agaynst theyr brethren or not God sayd vnto them yes to morrow I will deliuer them into your handes And the next day was y e tribe of Beniamin vtterly destroyed sauyng 600. men which hid thē selues in the wildernes Here it is euident that the children of Israell loste the victorye twise and yet notwithstanding had a iust cause and fought at Gods commaundement Besides that Iudas Machabeus was slaine in a righteous cause as it is manifest in the first booke of the Machabées And therfore it can be no euident argument of the vengeance of God that he was slaine in battell in a righteous cause and therefore me thinketh that thys man is too malaparte so bluntly to enter into Gods iudgement and geue sentence in that matter before he be called to counsell Thus haue I sufficiently touched hys Preface for those pointes y e he afterward touched more largely haue I willingly passed because I shall touch thē earnestly hereafter Now let vs sée what heproueth ¶ It ys a great wonder to see vppon how light and sleight occasiōs he is fallē vnto these abhominable heresies For he denieth not nor cā not say nay but that our Sauiour sayd him selfe my fleshe is verely meate my bloud is verely drinke he denieth not also that Christ him selfe at his last Supper takyng the bread into his blessed handes after that he had blessed it sayd vnto his disciples Take you this and eate it this is my body that shal be geuen for you And likewise gaue thē the chalice after his blessyng and consecracion and sayd vnto them this is the chalice of my bloud of the new testament which shal be shed out for many do ye this in remembrance of me ¶ It is a great wonder to see how ignoraunt their proctour is in the playne textes of scripture For if he had any Iudgmēt at all he might wel perceiue y ◠when Christ spake these wordes my flesh is verely meate and my bloud is verely drinke he spake nothing of y e sacramēt For it was not institute vntill his last supper And these wordes were spokē to y e Iewes long before ment them not of y e carnall eatyng or drynking of his bodye or bloud but of the spirituall eating which is done by fayth and not with tothe or bellye Wherof S. Austyn sayth vppon his gospell of Iohn why preparest thou other tothe or bellye beleue and thou hast eaten him So y e Christes words must here be vnderstāded spiritually And that he calleth hys fleshe very meat because that as meate by the eating of it disgetting it in our bodye doth strengthen these corruptible mēbres so likewise doth Christes fleshe by the beleuing that it taketh our sinne vpon it selfe suffered the death to deliuer vs strengthen our immortall soule And likewise as drinke when it is dronken doth comfort and quicken our frayle nature So likewise doth Christes bloud by the drinkyng of it into the bowelles of our soule that it is by the beleuing and remembring that it is shed for our sinnes comfort and quicken our soule vnto euerlasting lyfe And this is the eating and drinking y e he speaketh of in that place And that it is so you may perceaue by the text following which sayth he that eateth my body drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him which is not possible to be vnderstād of the sacrament For it is false to say that he y e eateth the sacrament of his body and drinketh the sacrament of his bloud dwelleth in Christ and Christ in hym For some man receiueth it vnto his condemnation And thus doth Saint Austen expound it sayinge Hoc est enim Christum manducare in illo manere illum manentem in se habere This is the very eating of Christ to dwell in him to haue him dwelling in vs So y e who so euer dwelleth in Christ y e is to say beleueth y ◠he is sēt of God to saue vs from our sinnes doth verely eate and drinke his body and bloud although he neuer receiued the sacrament This is y e spirituall eating necessary for all y ◠shal be saued for there is no man that cōmeth to God wtout this eating of Christ that is the beleuing in hym And so I denye not but that Christ speaketh these wordes but surely he ment it spiritually as Saint Austen declareth and as the place playnely proueth And as touching y e other wordes y e Christ spake vnto hys disciples at the last Supper I deny not but y ◠he sayd so but y ◠he so fleshly ment as ye falsly faine I vtterly deny For I say y e his wordes were then also sprite life were spiritually to be vnderstāded y e he called it his body For a certaine propertie euen as he cauled him self a very vyne his disciples dery vine braunches and as he cauled himselfe a dore not y e he was so in dede but for certaine properties in the similytudes as a mā for some propertie sayeth of his neighhours horsse this horsse is mine vp and downe meaning that it is in euery thing so like And lyke as Iacob builded an aulter and cauled it the house of God as Iacob called y e place where he wrastled with the aungell the face of God and as the pascall lambe was cauled the passing by of the Lord. And as a broken potsherd was cauled Hierusalem not for that they were so in dede but for certaine similitudes in the properties and that the very name itself might put men in remēbraunce what is ment by the thing as I sufficiently declared in my first treatise He must nedes confesse that they that beleue that it is the very body and his very bloud in dede haue the playne wordes of our sauiour him selfe vpon their side for the ground foundacion of their fayth That is very true and so haue they y e very wordes of god which say that a broken potsherd is Hierusalem and that Christ is a stone
the very thynges and therefore as after a certaine maner the Sacrament of Christes body is Christes body and the Sacrament of Christes bloud is Christes bloud so the Sacrament of fayth is faith For it is no other thing to beleue then to haue fayth and therfore when a maÌ„ aunswereth that the infant beleueth which hath not the effect of fayth he auÌ„swereth that it hath fayth for the SacrameÌ„t of fayth And that it turneth it selfe to God for the Sacrament of conuertion For the aunswere it selfe perteineth vnto the ministryng of the Sacrament As the Apostle writeth of Baptisme we are buried sayth he with Christ through Baptisme vnto death He sayth not we signifie burying but vtterly sayth we are buryed He called therfore the Sacrament of so great a thyng euen with the name of y t very thing it selfe c. If a man would auoyde coÌ„tention and looke soberly on those woordes of S. Austen hee shall soone perceiue the mystery of this matter For euen as the next good Friday shal be called the day of Christes passion yet he shall not suffer death agayne vpon that day for hee dyed but once and is now immortall euen so is the SacrameÌ„t called Christes body And as that day is not the very day that he dyed on but onely a remembrauÌ„ce thereof so the Sacrament is not his very naturall body but onely a remembraunce of his body breakyng bloud sheddyng And likewise as the next Easter day shal be called the day of his resurrection not that it is the very same day that Christ dyd rise in but a remembraunce of the same euen so the Sacrament is called his body not that it is his body in déede but onely a remeÌ„brauÌ„ce of the same And furthermore eueÌ„ as the Priest doth offer hym that is to say crucifie hym at Masse eueÌ„ so is the Sacrament his body But the Masse doth but onely represent hys passion And so doth the Sacrament represent his body And yet though the Masse doth but represent his crucifying we may truly say he is crucified euen so though the SacrameÌ„t do but signifie or represent his body yet may we truly say that it is his body Why so verely sayth he for the Sacramentes haue a certaine similitude of those thinges wherof they are Sacraments And for this similitude for the most part they take the names of the very thynges Blessed be God whiche hath so clearely discussed this matter by this faythfull father Notwithstandyng hée doth yet expresse it more playnly saying after a certaine maner the SacrameÌ„t of Christes body is Christes body Behold deare brethren he sayth after a certaine maner the Sacrament is Christes body And by that you may soone know that he neuer ment that it should be his very naturall body in déede but onely a token and memoriall to kéepe in memorie the death of his body and so to norishe our fayth Besides that his similitude which he after alledgeth of Baptisme doth wholy expound this matter for sayth hée y e Apostle sayth not we signifie burying but he sayth we are buryed and yet in déede the Baptisme doth but signifie it And thereupon S. Austen addeth that hée called the Sacrament of so great a thyng euen with the name of the very thyng it selfe And lykewise it is in our Sacrament Finally to be short I will passe ouer many places which I haue gathered out of his holy father and will touch but this one more S. Austen sayth Non enim Dominus dubitauit dicere Hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui Et in eodem capite exponit Sic est enim sanguis anima quomodo petra erat Christus nec tamen petra ait significabat Christum sed ait petra erat Christus That is to say The Lord doubted not to say this is my body when he gaue a signe of his body And after in the same chapiter he expoundeth it For truly so the bloud is soule as Christ was y e stone And yet the Apostle sayth not the stone dyd signifie Christ but he sayth the stone was Christ Here. S. Austen sayth playnely that Christ called the signe of his body his body and in this chapter doth coÌ„pare these thrée textes of scripture this is my body the bloud is the soule and Christ was the stone and declareth them to be one phrase and to be expounded after one fasshion Now is there no man so mad as to say that Christ was a naturall stone except he be a naturall foole whose iudgment we nede not greatly to regard therfore we may well conclude that the sacrament is not his naturall body but is cauled his body for a similitude that it hath wherein it signifieth representeth his body And that the sacrament of so great a thing is called euen with the name of the very thing it selfe as S. Austen sayd immediately before This were proufe inough to conclude that all y e olde fathers did holde the same opinioÌ„ for who would once surmise seing we haue S. Austen so playne for vs which is the chiefest among them all who would once sur mise I say that he dissented in this great mattter from the other faythful fathers or they from him neuerthelesse I dare not let him stand post alone lest ye dispise him And therfore I will shew you y e minde of certaine other also and first of his maister S. Ambrose S. Ambrose wrighting vpon the Epistle of Paule to the Corinthians in the xi chapter sayth Quia enim morte Domini liberati sumus huius rei memoris in edendo potando carnem sanguinem que pro nobis oblata sunt significamus That is to say because we be deliuered by the death of the Lord being mindfull of this thinge meaning of the sacrament we signyfie â—he fleshe and bloud which were offered for vs. Here doth S. Ambrose say inough if meÌ„ were not sophisters but would be content with reason For he sayth that in eating and drinking the sacrament of Christes body we signifie or represent the flesh and bloud of our Sauiour Iesus Not withstanding because you are so slippery we shall bynde you a lytle better by this mans wordes S. Ambrose sayth Sed forte dices speciem sanguinis non video Sed habet similitudinis Sicut enim mortis similitudinem sumpsisti ita etiam similitudinem preciosi sanguinis bibis That is to say But peraduenture thou wilt say I sene appearaunce of bloud but it hath a similitude For euen as thou hast taken the similitude of death euen so thou drinkest the similitude of the precious bloud Here may you see by y e conferring of these two sacramentes What. S. Ambrose iudged of it For he sayth euen as thou hast taken a similitude of his death in the sacrameÌ„t of baptisme so doost thou drink a similitude of his precious bloud in the sacrament of the altar And yet as S.
remēbraunce of his body breakyng and bloud shedyng and that we shuld eate it together reioysing with ech other declaryng hys benefites Now were the Corinthians fallen from this hunger and came not together to the intent that Gods prayse should bee published by them in the middest of the congregatiō but came to féede their flesh and to make carnal cheare In so much that y t rich would haue meate and drinke inough and take such aboundaunce y t they would be dronke and so made it their owne per not the Lordes as Paule saith and did eate onely the bread meate and not the body breaking as I haue before said the poore which had not that is to say that had no meate to eate were ashamed and hungry and so could not reioyse and prayse the Lord by the reason that the delicate fare of the riche was an occasion for the poore to lament their pouertie and thus the rich dyd neither prayse God them selues nor suffered the poore to doe it but were an occasion to hynder them They should haue brought theyr meate and drinke and haue deuided it with their poore brethren that they might haue been mery together and so to haue geuen them occasion to be mery and reioyse in the Lorde with thankes geuyng But they had neither lust to prayse God nor to comfort their neighbour Their fayth was féeble and their charitie cold and had no regard but to fill their body and féede their flesh And so despised y t poore cōgregation of God whom they should haue honoured for y t spirite that was in them fauour that God had shewed indifferently vnto them in y ◠bloud of hys sonne Christ When Paule perceiued that they were thus fleshly mynded and had no mynde vnto that spirituall maundy which chiefly shuld ther bee aduertised hée reproueth thē sore rehearsing y t wordes of Christ That which I gaue vnto you I receiued of the Lord. For the Lord Iesus the same night in the which hee was betrayed tooke bread and thanked and brake it and said take ye and eate ye this is my bodye which is broken for you this do ye in the remembraunce of me After the same maner hee tooke the cup when supper was done saying this cuppe is the new Testament in my bloud this doe ye as ofte as ye drinke it in the remembraunce of me For as oft as ye shall eate this bread drinke of this cup ye shall shew the Lordes death til he come As though hée should say ye Corinthians are much to blame whiche at this Supper séeke the foode of your flesh For it was institute of Christ not for the intent to norishe the belly but to strēghten the hart and soule in God And by this you may know that Christ so meant For he calleth it hys body which is geuen for you so that the name it selfe might testifie vnto you that in this supper you should more eate his body whiche is geuen for you by digestyng that into the bowels of your soule then the bread which by the breakyng and the distributyng of it doth represent his body breakyng and the distributyng therof vnto all that are faythful And that bée so meaneth is euident by the wordes folowyng which say this do in the remembrance of mee and likewyse of the cuppe And finally concludyng of both Paule sayth as often as ye shall eate this bread drinke of this cuppe in this place and felowshyp ye shall shew y t Lordes death vntill hée come praysing the Lord for the death of his sonne and exhortyng other to doe the same reioysing in hym with infinite thākes And therfore ye are to blame whiche séeke onely to féede the belly with that thyng which was onely institute to féede the soule And theruppon it foloweth Wherfore who soeuer doth eate of this bread and drinke of this cup vnworthely is gilty of the body and bloud of the Lorde He eateth this bread vnworthely which regardeth not the purpose for the which Christ dydinstitute it which cōmeth not to it with spirituall hūger to eate through fayth his very body which the bread representeth by the breaking and disstributing of it which commeth not with a mery hart geuing God harty thankes for their deliueraunce from sinne Which doe not much more eate in their hart y t death of his body then they doe the bread with their mouth Now sith the Corinthyans did onlye séeke their belly and flesh and forgat Gods honour and prayse for which it was instituted y ◠thākes should be geuen by the remembrance of his body breaking for vs they eate it to Gods dishonour to their neighboures hinderaunce to their owne condemnation so for lacke of fayth were giltye of Christes body which by fayth they should there chiefely haue eaten to their soules health And therefore it followeth †Let a man therfore examyne him selfe and so let him eate of the bread and drinke of the cuppe THis prouing or examinyng of a mans selfe is first to thinke with him selfe with what lust and desire he cōmeth vnto the maundy will eate that bread whether he be sure that he is the child of God and in the faith of Christ And whether his cōscience do beare him witnesse that Christes body was broken for him And whether the lust y t he hath to prayse God and thanke hym with a faythfull hart in the middes of the bretheren do driue hym thether warde Or els whether he do it for y t meates sake or to kéepe the custome for then were it better that he were away For he that eateth or drinketh vnworthely eateth and drinketh his owne damnation becaufe he maketh no differēce of the Lordes body That is as it is sayd before he that regardeth not the purpose for which it was instituted putteth no difference betwene his eating and other eating for other eating doth onely serue the bellye but this eating was instituted and ordayned to serue the soule and inward man And therfore he that abuseth it to the flesh eateth and drinketh his owne damnation And he commeth vnworthelye to the maundye where the sacrament of Christes body is eaten ye where the body of the Lord is eaten not carnally with the téeth and bellye but spiritually with the hart and faith Vpon this followeth the text that M. More allegeth and wresteth for his purpose For this cause many are weake sicke among you and many sléepe yf we had truely Iudged our selues we should not haue béene Indged when we are Iudged of the Lorde we are chastened because we should not bée damned wich the world Wherfore my bretheren whē ye come togither to eate tary one for an other Yf a man hunger let him eate at home that ye come not togither vnto condemnation For this cause that is for lacke of good examinyng of our selues as is before touched many are weake and sicke in
of Iuye it is a signe and signifieth that there is wine to bee sold And this sacrament signifieth vnto vs and poynteth out before our eyes that as verely as that bread is broken so verely was Christes body broken for our sinnes and as that bread is distributed vnto vs so is his body fruite of hys passion distributed vnto all his faythfull And as the bread comforteth the body so doth y e fayth in Christes death comfort our soules And as surely as we haue that bread and eate it with our mouth and téeth know by our senses that we haue it within vs are partakers therof no more néede we to doubte of hys body and bloude but that thorough fayth wee are as sure of them as we are sure of that bread As it is sufficiently declared in my booke Agayne you may perceyue how wickedly they report on vs which affirme that we dishonour it whiche geue it the right honour that it ought to haue And you doe playnly dishonour it whiche geue vnto it the honor that is onely due vnto God We geue it the same honour that we geue vnto the holy Scripture and word of God because it expresseth vnto our senses the death of our Sauiour and doth more déepely Print it within vs. And therefore we call it an holy Sacrament as we call Gods word holy Scripture And we receiue this Sacrament with great reuerence euen as we reuerently read or heare preached the holy word of God which cōteineth the health of our soules And we graunt that his body is present with the bread as it is with the word and with both it is verely receiued eaten through faith But if we should knéele downe and pray vnto the holy Scripture men might coūt vs fooles might lawfully say that we doe not honour the scripture by that meanes but rather dishonour it For the right honour of a thyng is to vse it for that intent that it was instituted of God And hee that abuseth it to any other purpose doth in déede dishonour it And lykewise it is in the Sacrament which was instituted to kéepe in memory the death of Christ which if we doe any otherwise honour then we doe the holy Scripture vnto y t which we may in no wise make our prayers I say that then we should vtterly dishonour it Auoyde therfore this poynt of Idolatry and all is safe Finally we say that they speake well faythfully whiche say that they goe to the body and receiue the body of Christ and that they speake vilanously and wickedly whiche say that they onely receiue bread or the signe of hys body for in so saying they declare their infidelitie For the faythful will reckon that hée is euill reported of and reputed for a traytour and an other Iudas if mē should say of hym that hée dyd onely receiue the Sacrament and not also the thyng whiche the Sacrament doth signifie For albeit hée onely eateth the bread and sacrament with hys mouth and téeth yet with hys hart and fayth inwardly hée eateth the very thyng it selfe which the Sacramēt outwardly doth represent And of this spryng the maner of speakynges that the olde fathers doe sometyme vse which at the first sight mought séeme contrary to our senses But if they bée well pondered it may soone bée séene how they should be taken For many times when they speake of the Sacramēt and outward eating they apply vnto y e Sacrament and outward eatyng the fruite conditions of the inward eatyng thyng it selse because that in a faythful man they are so ioyntly ioyned that the one is neuer without the other As by example Mary is named the mother of God and yet she is not the mother of hys Godhead by the which part onely he is called God but because she is his mother as touching his māhode the Godhead is so annexed with the māhode that they both make but one person therfore is shée called the mother of God whiche in déede if it bée wisely weyed shalbée founde to bée abused speach And yet neuerthelesse it may very well bée vsed if men vnverstand what is ment thereby but if thorough the vse of this speach men shoulde fall into such an errour that woulde affirme our Ladye to bée in déede the mother of his Godhead thē necessitie should compell vs to make a distinction betwéene the nature of his Godhead and the nature of hys manhode and so to expoūde the matter vnto them and bryng them home agayne into the right vnderstanding As we are now constrayned to doe in this Sacrament because you misconstrue the sayinges of the Scripture Doctours Which notwithstandyng if a man vnderstand them say very well And many such maner of speaches are contayned in the Scripture As where Christ sayth Ioh. 3. There shall noman ascend into heauen but hée that discendeth from heauen the sonne of man which is in heauen This text doth say that the sonne of man was then in heauen when hée spake these wordes vnto Nicodemus here on earth which thing all wise men cōsent to bée vnderstanded propter vnitatem personae That is to say for the vnitie of the person For albeit his godhed was in euery place at that time yet was not his manhode by the which hée was called the sonne of man in heauen at that time And yet Christ sayde that it was in heauen for the vnitie of his person For his Godhed was in heauen and because the Godhed and manhode made but one person therefore it was ascribed vnto y t manhode which was onely verified vppon the Godhed as S. Augustine ad Dardanum doth diligently declare And likewise in the sacrament of Baptisme because the inwarde working of the holy ghost is euer annexed in the faithfull vnto the outwarde ceremony therefore sometime the fruite of the inwarde Baptisme is ascribed vnto the outward worke And so the scripture vseth to speake of the outward baptisme as though it were the inwarde that is to say the sprite of God And therfore S. Paul saith that we are buried with Christ thorough baptisme And yet as S. Augustine expoundeth it y t outward Baptisme doth but signifie this buriall And agayne Paule sayth as many as are baptised haue put Christ vppō them And yet in déede our outward baptisme doth but signifie that wée haue put Christ vppon vs. But by the inwarde baptisme which is the water of life and spirite of God wée haue in déede put him vpon vs liue in him and hée in vs. Which notwithstanding is very false for all the outwarde baptisme in them that receiue it not in fayth And vnto them it is but a bare signe whereof they get no profite but damnation And here you may euidently perceiue how it is sometyme in scripture ascribed vnto the inwarde worke and ceremony which is onely true in the outwarde veritie And this place shall expounde all
a coÌ„pany of all them that doe professe Christ that all that haue suffered and confessed his name be Sayntes and that all they doe laâ—de and prayse God in heauen more then I or any mannes tongue can expresse and that alwayes I haue spoken reuerently of Saintes and praysed them asmuch as scripture willed me to doe And that our Lady I say shée was a vergyn immaculate and vndefiled and that shée is the most purest virgin that euer God created and a vessell of God elected of whome Iesus Christ should be borne Then the shriefe somwhat stayeing him and hastening him to make an ende he turned him to the people and desired all men to forgeue him and if he had said any euell at any tyme vnaduisedly wherby he had offended any man or geuen any occasion of euell that they would forgeue it him and amende that euell they tooke of him and to beare witnes that he detested and abhorred all euill opinions and doctrines against the word of God and that he dyed in the fayth of Iesus Christ by whom he doubted not but to be saued And with those wordes he desired them all to pray for him and then turned him about and put of his clothes and made him ready to the fyre where patientlye he suffered the bitter and cruell Martirdome and death And the lyke dyd the other his companioÌ„s that suffered with him Which was in the yeare of our Lorde 1541. A Supplication vnto the most gracious Prince King Henry viij ¶ Grace and peace from God the father of our Sauiour Iesus Christ be with your most noble and excellent grace for euer Amen IN most huÌ„ble wise coÌ„plaineth vnto your grace your continuall oratour Robert Barnes of the intollerable iniuries wronges and oppressions wherwith certaine Byshops of your realme vexe and haue vexed contrary vnto the worde of God and their ownelawes and doctors not onely me but also all true preachers professors of the same in condemning them for heretickes as they did me whiche thing they were not able to proue by the Scripture of God nor yet shall if it would please your grace indifferently according to the office wherein God hath set you to heare the small as well as the great and to sustaine your poore Orator agaynst their violence and strength God I take to recorde that I am right sory to make thys complaint vnto your grace against them if I could coniecture any other meane to cause them to redresse their intollerable oppressions wherewith they dayly oppresse your poore and true subiectes so sore and so violently that without doubt if your grace sée not shortly a remedy God must néedes punishe For I doe not beléeue that euer hée will suffer long so great tyranny against his worde and so violent oppression of true Christen meÌ„ as they doe now vse and that in the name of Christ and hys holy Church For verely wée doe not read in any memoryes that our fathers haue left vs that euer the people were vnder so great tyranny as now your poore subiectes bée vnto theÌ„ Now it is so farre come that what soeuer hée bée hye or lowe poore or riche wise or foolishe that speaketh agaynst them and their vicious liuing hée is either made a traytor vnto your grace or an hereticke agaynst holy Church as though they were Kings or Gods This may your most excellent grace perfectlye know if you call to remembraunce those good men that they haue had to doe with Is it not a maruelous court that they haue wherein there was neuer man accused of heresie were hée learned or not learned but they found him gilty Is not that a maruelous court y e neuer hath innocentes What court within your realme may say thys againe And if any maÌ„ speak of Gods law and right conscience agaynst thys damnable tyranny little will they stick to make him an heretick And if that will not helpe to colour and maintaine their oppression then adde they treason against your grace though hée bée neuer so true a subiect and all vnlikly to make any resistaunce or to thinke any euill vnto your grace Now if it please your grace let vs consider to what ende this vncharitable and vnrighteous accusation of the Byshops yea rather of y e diuell is inuented First if there bée any men y e preach dispute or put forth in writing any thing not towching theÌ„ though it bée neuer so blasphemous against God y e bloud of Christ and his holy worde they will not once be moued therew t the examples thereof are so playne y t it néedeth no proufe Your grace may sée what blasphemous rubrikes they allow against y t bloud of Christ what shamefull abhominable pardoÌ„s they they tollerate admyt what disputations they doe mayntaine to proue y t Pope a God no man hauing these wordes That the Pope is neyther God nor man And whether y e Pope can sinne or not that no man can condemne the Pope though hée bring innumerable soules to hell by his occasion Agayne let vs consider that if any maÌ„ but once speake agaynst their cloked ipocrisie or against neuer so litle a thing y t longeth to them by the which their abhominations shoulde be disclosed And we shall euydently perceaue that their can no scripture no place no maistership nor excuse in the world saue but hée must eyther to open shame or cruell death So that is playne that their cruelnes serueth to no other ende but as they should saye yf that any man wyll take in haÌ„d to preache the verety and the true Gospel of their Maister Christ purely wherby those winnings should be deminyshed wherwith we mayntayne our honour our dignity our worldly promotion our delicious lyuing our gorgious apparel our suÌ„ptuous pallaces our lordships breifly all things that we vse to our pastime pleasure should bée manifest to all meÌ„ y e we not only get these thinges by false fayned holynes in deceyuing and robbing the people of their goodes but also y e dyspendyng of them to bée abhomynable and contrary to the ordynance and worde of God Now rather then this should come to passe we had leuer gather our streÌ„gth togither oppresse by vyoleÌ„ce as many as wil hold w t this learning bée hée King Duke Lorde Baron knight man womaÌ„ or childe So that by there practise it is euident to all that will sée that it is they that goe about to make insurrection to y t mayntayning of their world ly pompe and pride and not the true preacher for hée entendeth to mayntayne nothing but to bring to light the most glorious heauenly word of God which by them hath béene darkened and kept vnder and that with suffering persecution as the nature of the worde is and not with persecuting for he maketh no stryuyng yf bée bée the true preacher of God nor fighting for this worlde but suffereth the children
By this word doe we receiue lyfe as the prophet sayth Thy speach shall quicken mée Also the secreates of our hartes be opened by this word S. Paule declareth saying if there come one that doth not beléeue hée is reproued by the word of all men and the secreates of his harte are opened By this worde also is declared vnto vs grace and euerlasting lyfe as S. Paule sayth Christ hath put away death and hath brought lyfe and immortalitie vnto the light through the Gospell This is the thing onely where by that our conscience is losed and made frée from synne Therefore sayth the holy Prophet there is much peace vn to them that loue the lawe of God there is no sclauÌ„der vnto them Much peace is nothyng els but remission of sinnes yea that without any doubt for hée that is loosed by the worde of God that is hée that hath the open word of God for hym that his sinnes bée forgeueÌ„ him hée can not bée sclauÌ„dered that is there is nothyng can make him to doubt but though heauen and hell life and death doe threaten him hée is not offended hée is not sclaundered but hydeth fast knoweth surely that all these thynges must perishe but the word of God bydeth for euer Wherefore this is the very keye that iudgeth the thoughtes and the intentes of the hart as S. Paule sayth By this haue we also the very knowledge of our sinne as S. Paule declareth to the Romaines by this is also declared vnto vs grace also remission of our sinnes if we beléeue it Wherefore this must néedes bée the very true keye as you may sée euidently thoroughout all Scripture and not your boasted and craked power for there is no such thynge nor yet can bée in man that can loose the soule of man from hys sinne Wherefore it is damnable and deuillishe learning and commeth of the presumptuous pride of maÌ„ to learne that man hath a power in hym by the which power mans soule is bounde or loosed from sinne But this is all that man hath hée is a minister and a dispensator of the heauenly worde of God for whose sake our sinnes bée remitted when we beléeue it and our sinnes bée retained when wée doe de spise it Therfore the blessed word of God is the very keye and in that is all the might and power to loouse our sinnes and man is but a minister and a seruaunt vnto this worde This may bée prooued by our Maister Christes wordes where hée sayth Goe your wayes into all the worlde and preach the Gospell vnto all creatures and hée that doth beléeue and is baptised shal be saued but hée that doth not beléeue shall bee damned Here may you playnely sée that the Apostles bée but ministers and seruauntes and haue no power but alonely ministration The keyes that they haue whereby they must loose men and bynde is the very worde of God And therfore sayth our Maister Christ hée that beléeueth shall bée saued and hée that doth not beléeue shal bée damned By this worde did the holy Apostles declare grace thorough Christ and learned meÌ„ to set all their hope of saluation in Christ onely By this worde did they learne men to knowledge their sinne and to séeke for grace fully and wholly to hope for remission forgéeuenes of theyr sinnes in Christ onely Briefely by these keyes is opened all goodnes if they bée receaued And all goodnes is shutte from vs if wée receaue them not Now where this keye is receaued by faith there is all things â—wsed that is all sinnes bée forgéeuen and the consciences bée made frée And where it commeth not in nor is receaued by faith there all thynges bée shutte and bounde Of this maner did the holy Apostles bynde and loose when they preached this holy worde of God vnto y â— people As wée haue an open example of S. Peter that preached this holy worde and at his preaching y e hearers were pricked in their hartes and asked Peter what they myght doe and hée aunswered them repent and bée baptised euery one of you in the name of Iesus for remission of your sinnes and you shall receaue the gifte of the holy Ghost wherfore as many as receaued his word were baptised Here you haue playnely the very true maner of loosing from sinnes as y e holy Apostles vsed it that is when the people beléeued the worde that they preached theÌ„ they declared how their sinnes were remitted for Christes sake and not thorow any power that they had for they were but ministers But the very power was in the word of God whereby they were deliuered from their sinnes This is well proued by our maister Christes word where hée sayth vnto them goe and preach saying That the kyngdome of heauen is at hande What is this the kyngdome of heauen not any power that is in man but remission of sinnes shall bée geuen to them that receiue either your power or your persons and therfore followeth it In what house you enter say first peace bée with you and if the house bée worthy your peace shall come vppon the same that is to say if they reciue your word and beléeue it than shall your peace that is the peace of the Gospel which you bring with you geue them quietnes of conscieÌ„ce and lose them from all synne But if the house bée not worthy your peace shall returne to you agayn and whosoeuer shall not receiue you nor will heare your preaching when you depart out of that house shake of the dust from your féete I say vnto you it shal be easyer for Sodom and Gomorra in the day of Iudgment then for that Cytie What is this your peace shall returne agayne nothing els but that they shall not bée pertakers thereof but shall remaine bound in their sinne And why because they receiue not your persons or your power nay trewlye but because they heare not your preaching It is not to bée doubted but that many men by hearing the Apostles preaching the word of God were losed from their synnes and yet neuer spake with the Apostles Wherefore the receauyng of the word not the Apostle loseth vs from our sinnes for that cause the Apostle did declare by their departing froÌ„ theÌ„ that would not beleue the word y e they remained still in their sinnes for as S. Marke sayth your departyng shal bée a testimonie agaynst them that is to say a token of their condemnation We haue also an open practise of S. Paule how hée dyd bynde theÌ„ that did not receiue his preaching to whoÌ„ hée sayth these wordes Your bloud vpon your heades I will departe froÌ„ hence in clennes vnto the Gentiles Now haue you playnely how the holy Apostle dyd bynde and loose and with what keye they did it that is by preachyng of the holy word of God And because this thyng shoulde
bée dons without any errour and that no man should doubt in it hée gaue them the holye ghost saying these wordes whose sinnes you doe forgeue shall bee forgeuen whose sinnes you doe retaine shall bée retained To these wordes addeth S. Luke Thē opened hée their wytte that they might vnder stand the Scriptures so that where S. Iohn sayth hée gaue them the holy ghost Luke sayeth hée opened their wytte to vnderstand Scripture It foloweth in Luke thus thus is it written that Christe must suffer death and rise agayne the thyrd day that repentaūce remission of sinnes shoulde bée preached in hys name among all nations Now where Saint Iohn sayth whose sins you doe loose shall bée loosed c. That sayth Luke in these wordes remissiō of sinnes must bée preached in hys name So that whose sinnes you doe loose shal bée loosed is nothyng els but that you must preach remission of sins in my name and as many as receiue this word you shall loose them by this word as many as doe not receiue it you shall bynde them by that same word That this is the sentence of these two places it is opē by that that they speake all of one story of that thyng that was done all in one day This doth also S. Paule prooue wel where hée reciteth the wordes of Luke saying Christ must néedes suffer ryse agayne from death and this Iesus is Christ Here is it plaine that s Paule losed men from their sinnes by preaching remissiō through Christ so that you haue openly here the practise of the holy Apostles how they did bynde loose by preaching the word of God They did bynde with the word when it was not beléeued They dyd loose by the worde when it was beléeued Thus dyd they by one word preache both saluation and damnatiō but vnto diuers men This vertue of the worde doth S. Paule declare in these wordes we are vnto God the swéete sauour of Christe both among them that are saued and also among them which perish To the one part are we the sauour of death vnto death vnto the other parte are we the sauour of lyfe vnto lyfe What is this sauour nothyng els but the Gospell which is vnto one sauour of lyfe that is nothyng els but loosing and remission of sinnes And vnto the other it is the sauour of death vnto death that is occasion of bynding and reteinyng in sinne This doth Paule also declare in an other place The preachyng of the crosse is to them that perish foolishnes But vnto vs whiche are saued it is the power of God What is y e power of God nothyng els but remission and losing from our sinnes What is foolishenes nothyng els but they despise the Gospell recken it of no value and of no power Wherfore they remayne bound in their sinne Thus is it declared that one word of God worketh in diuers mē diuers operatiōs In y e one it worketh lyfe y e is remission of sinnes in the other worketh it death is taken for foolishnes that is it declareth them bounde and retained in their dānable sinnes and yet in him selfe hée is of one goodnes and of our nature but the diuersitie commeth of them that bée the receiuers This may bée proued by a naturall example The dew of heauē cōmeth downe indifferently vppon all grounde but in the one it bryngeth forth good corne swéete frutes and in the other it bryngeth forth nettles brombilles that bée nothyng worth but to the fier This exāple haue you in the epistle to the Hebrues for this same purpose Likewise by one word doe the holy Apostles Christes ministers loose and bynde but this doe they not by charmyng coungeryng iugglyng and whyslyng absolutions as you doe But by preachyng the holy word of God which when it is beléeued doth quiet and loose our conscience from all sinne and offereth it vs through Christ onely But when it is not beléeued then doth it bynde vs and retaine vs in sinne So that this holy worde is the very true keye of heauen for by it heauen is opened and shut This doth Chrisostome wel prooue in these wordes The key is the word and the knowledge of Scriptures whereby the gate of veritie is opened vnto men c. S. Augustine doth also witnes the same saying These keyes hath bée geuen to the Churche that what shée byndeth in earth shall bée bound in heauē and what shée looseth in earth shall bée loosed in heauen that is to say who soeuer doth not beléeue that his sinnes bée forgeuē hym in the Churche they bée not forgeuen hym But hée that doth beléeue and auerte him selfe from his sinnes beyng with in the Church by that same fayth and amendement is hée made whole c. Here haue you openly that by bée leeuing the worde of God our sinnes bée loosed by vnbeléefe bée we boūde in our sins But now must we search to whom these keyes bée geuen They may not all onely bée geuen to Peter for then Paule and the two sonnes of thunder had them not Nor they may not bee geuen to one more then to the other For Christ was indifferent and they were all his Apostles their confession was all one Wherfore no doubt but these keyes weare geuen vnto all Christes Apostles vnto the whole Church as S. Augustine doth declare openly vpon Iohn This may bée also proued by the wordes of your owne lawe which bée these if Peter haue power all onelye to binde and to loose then doth it not the Church But if this bée donne in the Church then did Peter when hée receaued y e keyes sygnifie holy chucrh c. Heare haue you openly that Peter had not onely the keyes but hée receiued them in the name of the Church Wherefore they béelong to all Christen men This doth Origene well prooue in these wordes Tu es Petrus c. These wordes were spoken vnto Peter vnto all Apostles vnto all maner of perfect faythfull men for all they are Petrus in all them is builded the church of Christ and agaynst none of them can the gates of hell preuayle Doost thou recken that y t keyes of heauen were all onely geuen to Peter and that no other Christen man did receaue them c. Here is it clearely that all Christen men bée Peter and all they haue receyued the keyes of heauen and hell can not preuayle agaynst them S. Augustine doth also testifie the same in these wordes Wherefore the church which is founded and grounded in Christ of hym hath receyued in Peter the keyes of heauen that is to say power to bynde and loose c. Thus is it playne that those keyes are geuē to y e whole church of Christ for her fayth and they bée the cōmon treasure of the Church and béelonge no more to one man then to
would condeÌ„ne it or els to mooue hym to condemne that thyng that coÌ„meth from heauen yea and that froÌ„ the father of heanen and sent and learned by his eternall sonne which hath sealed it wyth hys most precious bloude and also commaunded his glorious Apostles to preach it and confirmed it wyth so many myracles and did also géeue to the confirming and the writing of it the glorious consolatour of the holy Ghost So that it is open that the father of heauen did not send this godly worde with a small diligence or as though hée cared not whether it shoulde remayne in earth or not But so hath hée declared this holy worde wyth such a prosses that heaueÌ„ earth hell should know y â— it is his worde and that it is his will that all men shoulde haue it and that hée woulde defende it and bée enemy vnto all theÌ„ that woulde ouerpresse it Wherfore let them that bée cappitall enemies vnto his grace both in hart and in déede susspect that of his grace and moue him vnto it for doubtles I will neuer doe it For I dare boldely say that the deuill of hell which is enemy vnto his grace both of body and soule will moue hym vnto no other thing but alonely so to condemne Gods worde and this thing doth his grace know well and therefore I doubte not but that hée hath and also will auoyde the daunger thereof Neuerthelesse it may please God to take so great veÌ„geauÌ„ce for our abhominable sinnes that after hys graces dayes hée may sende vs such a tyraunt that shall not alonely forbid the Newe Testament but also all thynges that may bée to the honour of God yea and that paraduenture vnder such a coâ—llour of Gods name that all men shall recken none other but that hée is Gods frende This will bée a great scourge and an intollerable plague the father of heauen of hys infinite mercy defende vs from such a terrible vengeaunce For it is the greatest plague that can come in earth as S. Paule doth declare to the Romaynes when that Gods veritie is condemned in Gods name and meÌ„ bée so blynde that they can not perceaue it for they bée géeueÌ„ into a peruerse seÌ„ce This plague neuer coÌ„meth but it is a tokeÌ„ of euerlasting reprobatioÌ„ Our most merciful redéemer Christ Iesus defeÌ„de vs froÌ„ it AmeÌ„ But if it come that wée must néedes suffer this plague howe shall Christen men vse themselues to this Prince that will so condemne Gods worde My Lordes the Byshoppes woulde depose hym with shorte deliberation and make no conscience of it They haue deposed Princes for lesser causes theÌ„ this is a great deale But against them will I alwayes lay Christes facte and his holy Apostles and the worde of God whom Christen men must alonely follow Therfore the kynges commanndement must bée considered on this maner If the kyng forbid the newe Testament or any of Christes SacrameÌ„ts or the preaching of the worde of God or any other thynge that is agaynst Christ vnder a temporall payne or els vnder y e payne of death men shall first make faythfull prayers to God and then diligent intercession vnto y e kynges grace with all due subiection that hys grace woulde relealse that commaundement If hée will not doe it they shall kéepe their Testament with all other ordinaunce of Christ and let the kyng exercise his tyranny if they can not flée in no wise vnder the payne of damnation shall they withstand him with violence but suffer patiently all the tyranny that hée layeth on them both in their bodyes goodes and leaue the vengeaunce of it vnto their heauenly father whiche hath a scorge to tame those bedlames with when hée séeth his tyme. But in no wise shall they resiste violeÌ„tly neither shall they deny Christes veritie nor yet forsake it béefore the Prince lest they runne in the dauÌ„ger of these woordes hee that denyeth me and my woorde béefore men I shall deny hym béefore my father in heauen And let not men regarde this matter lightly and thinke that they may geeue vp their testamentes and yet not denye Christ For what so euer hée bée that geeueth vp his Testament as a thyng worthye to bée condemned hee doth béefore God denye Christ though his testameÌ„t bée peraduenture hée not knowyng false and vntruly Printed or vntruly traÌ„slated yet vnto him is it a true testament and therfore shall hée not deliuer it to any that will condemne it as vnlawfull But this shall hée doe If any man that is learned doe finde any faulte there in hée shall bée glad to ameÌ„de that faulte but not to suffer in any wise for that or for those faultes the whole testament to bée condemned as vnlawfull For if that should bée suffered then should we haue no testameÌ„t for there is no testament y t is so true but either there bée faultes in déede or els men by cauilations may inuent y t there bée defaultes For this dare I say boldly that the new testament in Englishe is ten tymes truer then the old transtion in Latin is in the which bée many places that doe want whole senteÌ„ces and many places that no man caÌ„ defend without heresie as this texte Non omnes immutabimur Also this Sedere ad dexteram meam vel sinistram non aest meum dare vobis Also these places want Commorati sumus trogilij Seiungere ab is qui huiusmodi sunt with many other places more that no man can say but they bée euidently false yet we may not burne our bookes for all that but kéepe them and amende them Neither shall they goe about to depose their Prince as my Lordes the Byshops were wont to doe but they shall boldely confesse that they haue the veritie and will there by abyde and alonely shall they praye to their heauenly father to chaunge the hart of their Prince that they may lyue vnderneth hym after Christes worde in quietnes as Paul exhorteth vs saying I exhorte that prayers supplications petitions and geuyng of thankes bée had for all men for Kynges for all that are in preheminence that we may lyue a quyet and a peaceable lyfe in all goodnesse and honesty This shal men behaue them selues towarde their Prince and in no wise shall they denye Christes worde or graunt to the burning of their testamentes but if the kyng will doe it by violence they must suffer it but not obey to it by agréement This may bée prooued by y e examples of the Apostles when the hie Priestes of the temple commaunded Peter and Iohn that they should no more preach and teach in the name of Iesus But they made them aunswere it was more right to obey God then man Also the Pharyses came and commaunded our M. Christ in Herodes name That hée should depart froÌ„ thence or hée would kyll hym but hée would not obey but made them aunswere to Herode with a
great threatning Goe tell the wolfe béehold I cast out deuils and I make men whole this day and to morrow and the third day am I consumed neuerthelesse I must continew this day to morrow and the next day c. So y e hée left not the ministration of y e word neyther for the kinges pleasure nor yet for feare of death Also we haue openly that the thrée children would not obey to the commaundement of king Nabuchodonosor but because it was against y e word of God Lykewise we haue an exaÌ„ple where as the king Darius commaunded that no man should aske any petytyon eyther of God or of man within the space of 30. dayes but of hym onely Notwithstanding Daniell weÌ„t into his house thrise in a day made his prayers to God of Ierusalem for the which thyng hée was put into the denne of Lyons the which hée dyd obey as in suffering of the payne but not in consenting to the vnright commaundement So that Christen men are bounde to obey in suffering the kinges tyraÌ„ny but not in consenting to his vnlawfull commaundement alwayes hauing béefore their eyes the comfortable saying of our M. Christ Feare not them y e kill the body which when they had done they can no more doe Also S. Peter happy are yée if you suffer for righteousnes sake neuerthelesse feare not though they séeme terrible vnto you neither bée troubled but saÌ„ctifie the Lord God in your hart And let them not feare but y e their father of heauen hath care for them and shall deliuer them and also brynge his godly worde vnto lyght when it shall please his eternall will agaynst the which no tyraunt is able to withstand But when the tyrants thinke themselues most sure of the victory and bée all ready prouided to burne Susanna then shall hée rayse vp a Daniell that shall caule agayne the senteÌ„ce of the lecherous priestes and when Ioseph is solde into Egipt and there cast in prison then will hée make him Lord ouer all Egipt yea and also ouer them that solde him He bringeth also to passe that proude Hamon bée hée neuer so great in the kinges fauour shalbée hanged on his owne gallowes that hée made for Mardocheus the Israelite Also when Pharao hath coÌ„mauÌ„ded vnder payne of death to destroy all y â— meÌ„ childreÌ„ of Israell Then caÌ„ hée finde the meanes to saue Moses yea that on y t water where as all y t power of Egypt could not saue the kyng yea and hee nourished him in the kynges house at the kynges cost yea and by the kynges daughter Did Pharao suppose this or was there any couÌ„sell of Pharaos that could preuaile agaynst this was there any wisedome or tyranny in the earth that was able to extinct Moses nay verely Furthermore when Israel hath béene in Egypt iiij C. yeres in great captiuitie and thraldome yet agaynst Pharaos will keepeth hee his promise and deliuereth them and maketh water fire earth to serue theÌ„ and when all Israell was in despayre and Pharao the tyraunt was ready to sucke bloud then shewed our God his mighty power What can Israell thinke when hée hath the read Sea béefore him And Pharao with all his might and power after him and of euery side a great mountaine what hope hath hée by mans might by maÌ„s power by mans wisedome by mans pollicie for to bée deliuered none at all But béefore Israels carnallâ—tye all thyng is in extreme desperation But now you Princes that Iudge the earth learne and take héede here commeth the God of Israell whom all Egypt hath despised scorned mocked and condemned and sheweth his might where as nothyng caÌ„ helpe but bée onely and where the tyrauntes recken to bée most sure of victordem there bryngeth hee all their malice to an end And when Herode hath Peter in prison fast bound in cheynes of euery side of him a souldier kéepers set at the prison doore euery man in his office watching that Peter shal not escape for Herode intendeth the day folowyng to bryng hym foorth to wonderyng and also to death Then agaynst Herodes will aboue all his might aboue all his wisedome pollicie notwithstandyng all the souldiers and gaylers of the prison coÌ„meth the power of our eternall God and ledeth Peter through the first and the second ward yea and the brasen gate must wilfully opeÌ„ and let Peter out whom our Lord God would deliuer Shortly what should I bring many examples to prooue Gods power to declare how the truth of God and his childreÌ„ bée alwayes in persecutioÌ„ but the ende is alwayes glory vnto them Wherfore this one exaÌ„ple of our maister Christ shall bée sufficieÌ„t to stablish to confirme all féeble harts also to mollifie all stony harts and finally to coÌ„found the violeÌ„t tyranny of mortall tyrauÌ„tes which bée but stubbles haye and dust in a momeÌ„t bee brought to a lumpe of stynkyng carryon CoÌ„sider our maister Christ which is the very true sonne of God God him selfe yet is hée crucified and put to death as a seditious persoÌ„ as a malefactor as a théefe as a traytor yea and as an hereticke hée is layd also in the graue and a great stone béefore the doore souldiours that were not of the common sort but of the Romaines hée set diligently to kéepe the graue with all the pollicie and wisedome that the byshoppes could deuise and all that hée should not rise vp agayne accordyng to his worde but all this could not helpe for the power of God woulde not bee let his veritie could not bée prooued false his worde could not bee oppressed but when the tyrauntes thought to make their triumphe of victory theÌ„ were they most ouercoÌ„med For it is neither water nor fire Sea nor land heauen nor earth death nor hell that caÌ„ let God to defend his children or to bring foorth his godly word to light and to kéepe his eternall promises Therfore let Christen meÌ„ not feare to kéepe the worde of God and fast there by to abyde and not to deny it for any tyranny for the day shall come when it shall bée greatly to their glory And Sodome and Gomorra shall bée more easely handled theÌ„ such Princes that doe persecute the holy word of God Now is it cleare made that we cannot resist this temporall power in no wise by viâ—leÌ„câ—â— but if we haue wrong eyther we must doe the thing that is commaunded vs or els flie but if any thing bée commaunded vs that is against the word of God whereby our fayth is hurt that we should not doe in any wise but rather suffer per secution and also death But against this power goeth not our article for it coÌ„maundeth nothing as consâ—â—rning the conscience but all onely as concerning the ordering of worldly thinges and therefore it mynistreth a temporall payne ouer the body onely and therwith is coÌ„tent
and by what authoritie your highe pollitike rule saued that you dare géeue either of these kindes to the laye men seyng they were both alonely geuen to the Apostles for eueÌ„ by that authoritie that you haue power to take away the one kynd by that selfe same haue you power to take away the other for they were both geuen at once and indifferently to the receiuers so that as many as receiued the one receiued also the other and to them that hée sayd take and eate this this is my body to them hée sayd drinke all of this c. Now if you may thus take away y e partes of y e sacramentes at your pleasure y e coÌ„sequent shall bée y â— incontinuance all the sacramentes shal be destroyed and Christes word set at naught Wherefore my Lord this blasphemous euation will not helpe you but such shamfull solutions must they vse that will be agaynst the open worde of God Amend your conscience my Lorde for if you doe not remeÌ„ber the terrible wordes of y â— Prophet hée shall shake his sword bend his bowe make it al ready therein hath hée prepared the shot of death his arrowes for to burne This is no smal threatning nor lightly to auoide But let vs sée what the scriptures say that which I gaue vnto you I receaued of y e Lord. Marke S. Paules wordes how hée receaued this thyng of the Lorde c. The Lord Iesus the same night in y e which hée was betraied tooke bread and thanked and brake it and sayde Take ye and eate this is my body which is broken for you this doe yée in the remembraunce of mée After y e same manner hée tooke the cup said this cup is the New testament in my bloud this doe as oft as you drinke in the rememberaunce of mée for as often as you shall eate this bread and drinke this câ—p you shall shew the Lordes death tyll hée come Marke diligently how S. Paule declareth how the Lord Iesus Christ dyd institute this blessed and comfortable sacrameÌ„t in both kindes and in both kindes dyd mynister it hymselfe and not that all onely but also enacted this coÌ„mauÌ„dement to all Christen people which must receiue it This doe as often c. Yea and this commauÌ„dement is geueÌ„ after the Sacrament is ministred in both kinds Teaching vs that in both kindes the Lord hath instituted this Sacrament to bée receiued and also that they y â— so receaue it not breake this commaundement of the Lorde This doe as often c. This commaundement S. Paule did not lightly let slyp but hée knew that it was the ordinaunce and y e commaundement of the Lord and also knew y e one iot or tytle of his wordes should not nor ought nor can not bée let slip without perrell of the soules of them y â— so littell makes of his word And therfore hée durst not nor would not and yet hée had as great auctoritie as the counsell of constance let slip or tanspose the institution and commaundement of the Lord but wholy and fully with all diligence hée wrote those wordes vnto all the whole congregation of the Corinthians not to the ministers or priestes all onely but to the whole congregation that is as well to the mynisters of the word as to lay men and also the contrary for hée sayth when you come togither that you may perceaue y â— hée speakes indifferently hée there reproueth theÌ„ that tarryed not for poore men And also these wordes bée playne who so euer shall eate of this bread and drink of this cup worthely c. Now vnto this whole congregatioÌ„ I doubt not but by y e spirit of the Lord which sawe béefore this damnable errour to bée instituted of antichrist and his very all onely mynisters hée sayd drinke you yea and to reproue and manifestly to declare this open errour hée adeth this worde Cuppe signifying and teaching that Christes ordinaunce is not to receaue the bloud in the body onely but to receaue the bloud after his institution by it selfe out of the cup lest they should bée found correctours and blasphemers of the holy institution and commaundement of the Lord Of whom S. Paule receaued this coÌ„maundemeÌ„t and of no couÌ„sels Now what ChristeÌ„ man can doubt but our M. Christ to whom all thing is bare and open both things present also to come knew that there was bloud in his owne body Also Saynt Paule his scholer which learned this lesson of hym was not ignorant that there was bloud in his body And yet firste our maister Christ géeueth his bloud alone by it selfe out of the cup and his diligent scholer knowyng the doctrine of his maister dyd the same regardyng his maisters doctrine and preferring it before his carnall reasoÌ„ which knew that there was bloud in euery body but his maisters doctrine taught him that his maister kept not his bloud in his body but for vs lost and damned persons for our innume rable detestable and aboue all capacitie to declare damnable and abhominable sinnes brake his body shed his bloude thereout plentously and therewith made sacrifice and satisfactioÌ„ for all our sinnes as Saint Iohn sayth The bloud of Iesus Christ clen seth vs from all sinne also we are sanctified by the offeryng of the body of Iesus Christ once for all Now that all Christen men which bée sanctified by the offeryng of this body and by sheadyng the bloud out of this body shoulde alwayes haue both those partes in remeÌ„braunce hée according as the bloud was deuided froÌ„ the body for all sinners indiffereÌ„tly that will come vnto Christe and accordyng to his maisters institution commauÌ„dement ministred this Sacrament and also ordeined it to bée ministred to all men The body by it selfe the bloud by it selfe That they might alway not remember alonely that our Sauiour Christ offered his body for vs but also shed out of that same body his most precious bloud and therfore sayth S. Paule as his maister Christ taught him As often as you shall eate this bread and drinke this cup you shall shew the Lordes death till hée come Now my Lordes come to your counselles Christ and S. Paule defendeth thys thyng partinaciter as you call it that is stifly and strongly wyll they abide by it and will not reuoke it Wherfore after the decrée of your Counsell they bée condemned for heretickes I can no more say but God helpe them for there is no remedy with them but they must néedes to the fier for they will not bée abiured in no wise It is a piteous case that two so good men as these bée will bée thus openly agaynst the decrée of the holy counsell yea and against so many and so noble fathers and so great clarkes the which knew this matter as ye say as well as they and it is not to bée thought that the holy Ghost would leaue so
men The litterall sense killeth say sophisters The letter killeth expound this To loue the law is righteousnes The litterall sense is spirituall What is to be sought in y â— Scripture and in the litteâ—… sense The story of Ruben Swearâ— they by their honour thâ—â— are they not ready to suffer shame for Christes sake The adultery of Dauid The difference betwen gods sinners the deuils Nos The Pope is likened to Ham. They will to heauen by away of their owne makyng The vse of similitudes A similitude without Scripture is a sure token of a false Prophet Paul preached not worldly wisedome Similitudes and reasons of mans wisdome make no faith but waueryng opinions onely Goddes word maketh surâ— fayth for God can not lye Peter preached not fables and false similitudes but the playne Scripture ☞ Schole do 〈◊〉 Similitudes are no good argumentes among the sophisters owne selfe We must â—ure our in 〈…〉 with the remedies that God hath ordeined not tempt god What 〈…〉 ☞ ☜ In expoundyng of the Scripture we must haue a respect vnto the liuyng and practising of Christ and of his Apostles and Prophetes The scripture was geuen to leade vs vnto Christ ☞ Settes or orders Couetousnes desire of honour is the ende of all false doctrine and that which false prophets seke Purgatory Pardons Praying to saintes Confession An example of false expouÌ„ding y â— scriptures Christ the â—ayth and Gods word is the rocke and not the Pope The auctority of Peters successour â—o but to preach That expositioÌ„ to false which is agaynst thâ— oâ—en scripture or agaynst thâ— practising of Christ and of hys Apostles Binding 〈◊〉 lowsing is one power What Iesus signifieth What bynding meaneth What cursing meaneth What lowsing meaneth ☜ The Pope is Robyn goodfelow Of our selues we can performe nothâ—ng further theÌ„ God â—…ll geue vs power Another example To sit on Christes seaâ—e is to preach and confesse Christ Christ rebuked desire of preheminence in his Disciples but the Pope chalengeth it aboue all men as hyâ—… owne inheritaunce Fathers fathers Miracles miracles The womaÌ„ of Lemster was a solempne miracle The armour of the spiritualtie The armour of a Christe maÌ„ is Gods word and fayth ☜ Gods woorde about all mens iudge mentes Fryers be not bound to preach How God ought to be serued In Christ to rest of conscience onely Do good deedes and trust in Christ Gods worde is the rule of childreÌ„ seruauntes wyues subiectes â—o please God â—o to beleue hys promises to loue hys commaundementes He that will aueÌ„ge robbeth God of his honour How 〈◊〉 soeuer the kyng is 〈…〉 vnto thâ—… great gift of God The Pope hath a law that none of his sprites may be suerty The kyng is but a seruaunt to execute the lawes of God How farre a kyng ought to seeke at his commons handes Note 4 Confession The manifolde enormities which their auricular confession did breede The Pope and his chapteyns were the fountaines of all euils in spiritualâ— regiment or teÌ„porall Vnder an outwarde pretence of Gods honor the poâ—â—â— Clergie procured their owne dignitie The keepyng down of Gods word promoted the Popes spiritualties honour The Byshop of Rochester as a fit paterna to 〈…〉 â—ll y ◠〈…〉 aâ—… The cause why kings coulde not come to the knowledge of y â— truth Miracles are done by fayth and not by ceremonies The vse of Allegories The vse of similitudes â–ª To digge the welles of AbrahaÌ„ is to open and to make plaine the scriptures which is the kingdome of God Abrahams welles The kingdome of heauen what it 〈◊〉 Moses face The keye what it is The lawe is the way that leadeth to Christ Lawe what her office is The law 〈…〉 â—â—reth sinne condemneth our deedes drinketh vs to Christ Moses 〈◊〉 the law but Christ onely geueth grace to do it and vnderstand it aright The 〈◊〉 serâ—ent Num. 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 〈…〉 contraâ—… peâ—acioâ—s The 〈◊〉 â—ure 〈◊〉 is looked vp Christ is the doore the way and foundation of all the Scriptures When by gloses of out owne imaginacioÌ„ we darken the cleare text of gods word theÌ„ is the Scripture locked by from vs. Christ vsed 〈◊〉 temporal regiment Christ is a gâ—… geuen onely to theÌ„ that loue the law and professe it He that professeth not the law hath 〈…〉 in the promises Workes do not iustifie 2. Cor. 〈◊〉 The law By keepyng the lawe we continue in grace Fayth loue and hope are insepararable in this lyfe They that loue not the law cannot vnderstand the Scripture to saluation Care How God careth for the weake By bearyng eche other weakenes we fulfil the lawe of Christ Rulers why they were ordayned Why God scourgeth hys The conditions of the couenaunt Flesh and spirite Crosse Euill lustes and affections are to be purged with the crosse of Christ To sinne vnder grace and to 〈◊〉 vnder the lawe Lambes Swyne Dogges Swyre haue â—o fayth Dogges loue not the lawe True fayth to coupled with loue to the lawe The difference of faythes and how it is to be vnderstoode fayth iustifieth Fayth of hipocrites fayth of 〈◊〉 The â—ight baptâ—… The church of Christ Whosoeuer derogate any thyng froÌ„ the 〈◊〉 of Christ are not of the church They that haue not the lawe writeâ— in their harts â–ª caÌ„not vnderstand the passion of Christ to saluation A 〈◊〉 re peting What the inward baptisme of the soule iâ— Thau Faith â—ope and charitie are inseperable Faith hope and charitie are knowen one by the other The office of fayth The office of loue The office of hope The anker of our saluation is perfect faith in Christes bloud 1. Pouerth in spirite Riches Neither riches or pouertie exclude or assure vs of Gods blessing Who are poore in spirite is here pithely declared Riche in spirite Couetousnes is a thyng contraris to the worde of God and to the ministers of the same By couetousnes is a false Prophet chiefly knowen 2. Some cry the world is nought not â—or their owne and others iniquitie but for waywardnes they caÌ„ not enioye theyr owne lusles Godlye mournyng As warmeth accoÌ„panieth the sâ—nne so foloweth the crosse a true Christian man K. Iohn Henry the second The promise of Goddes word is y â— coÌ„fort of y â— afflicted in this world for Christs sake Faith is our victory By persecution and death for y â— truthes sake we obteine lyfe get the victory The mourners for righteousnes are saued when God taketh vengeance on y â— vnright 〈◊〉 wise 3. Mekenes possesseth the earth Referre y â— reuenge of thy cause to the Magistrate whoÌ„ God appointeth to forbyd such violence Hundred folde The priuat person may not aduenge but the officer must 4. Righteousnesse How this word righteousnes ought here to be vnderstode Monkes Monkes why they runne into Religion Luc. vi Monkes be cursed 5. To be mercyful what it is how manye wayes mercy may be shewed Monkes Couent Oâ—le Holy oyle must bee aduenged Zeale
fayth The Apostles did ordeâ—…e that we should absteine froÌ„ bloud meaning all natural bloud Actes 10. The wyne in the Sacrament is no naturall bloud Obiection Solution To pull downe violently the kynges armes is treason agaynst hys owne person and yet the armes are not the kinges person To be negligent in the hearyng of the word of God is a great offeÌ„ce M. More Frith M. More is a quarelyng brabler M. More an ignorauÌ„t proctor for the Clergy God is almighty and yet cannot doe all thynges 2. Timo. 2. God is said to bee almighty because there is no supenour power aboue hym and he can do all that he wil. M. More Frith Iohn 8. 2. Cor. 3. Roma 6. Aug. de spiritu litera The articles in our Creede are as many as are necessary for our saluation M. More Frith The glasse that representeth the face is not the face The body of Christ is no more in the Sacrament then my face is in the glasse Christes deathe and body breakyng is knowen by the Sacrament yet it is not the naturall body of Christ M. More Frith Frith speaketh merâ—ly M. More Frith Astronomers say that the naturall course of the Sunne is from the West to the East A conclusioÌ„ agaynst the Astronomers Mark 14. Luke 16. Iohn 11. Christes body is in one place onely M. More Frith What soeuer the Papistes say that must stand for reason M. More Frith More harpeth vppon a false string More saith that God may do all thyngs but he doth not proue that he hath so done M. More Frith Two thinges disputed betwen More and Frith More Frith Iohn 15. Christes badge is loue That the sacrament is the naturall body is none article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vpon payne of damnation Superstition More Frith A man may iudge of error but God onely must be iudge of condemnation Frith is no hasty iudge More Frith To honor and worship the sacrament is plaine idolatry The olde holy fathers haue not taught to worship the sacrament Note ☜ More Frith Martin Luther sayth y t the natural body of Christ is present in y e sacrameÌ„t but he wold not haue it worshipped More Frith A meane how we may receaue y e sacrament according to Christes institution though the minister be negligent The worthy receauer of the sacrament may consecrate the same to him selfe M. More Frith M. More Frith The right consecratioÌ„ to hym that receaueth the Sacrament is fayth in Christes death The Popish consecration in Latine is not worth a rish The Byshops and their proctour can not tell what a blessyng meaneth ☜ Blessyng what it is M. More Frith Math. 24. 〈◊〉 Thess 2. Deutro 13. Actes 24. How you may iudge true miracles from false Math. 4. False Ante christes Actes 4. Actes 12. M. More Frith ☜ The Sacrament may not be worshypped The Papistes say that no promise nor couenaunt is to be kept with an hereticke More was fully addict to the mind of the Prelates and to kill and burne as fast as they More a Popish and a malicious tyraunt The condition conteined in Barnes safe coÌ„duite No promise nor licence made to heretickes by the kyng without the consent of our Prelates is to be kept and obserued M. More Frith The modesty meeke spirite of Iohn Frith Christes body is to be eaten with fayth not with the teeth A prayer made by Iohn â–ª Frith to be sayd before the receauyng of the Communion A godly good prayer The Paschall lambe and our sacrament coÌ„pared togither 1. Cor. 5. The maner of the eatyng of the Paschal lambe The maner of the institution of the Sacrament Iohn 16. The institution of the Sacrament The comparison of the Paschall lambe with Christes Supper The mauÌ„dy of remeÌ„brauÌ„ce that Paule receaued of the Lord deliuered to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10. God hath ordeyned all meates to be indifferent Paule ☜ Christ called hym self bread and Paule calleth vs bread How the wordes of S. Paule are to bee vnderstaÌ„d Why the bread is called our body We must vnderstand the Sacrament spiritually or els we receaue it not to our comfort Paule The Gentiles offered theyr meate to Idolies To drynke of the cup of the Lord to drinke of the cup of the deuill how it is to be vnderstand A proper example The enemyes of Christ can not reioyce in Christes bloud shedding The faythfull and vnfaythfull do not eate alike 1. Cor. 8. 1. Iohn 3. The vnfaythfull and wicked eate their owne damnation 1. Cor. 11. The true eating of the Sacrament is the spirituall eating of the same Luke 22. The maner of the comming of the Corinthians together Why Christ did institute the Sacrament The sacrament was ordained to feede our soules and not our bodyes The worthy and vnworthy eating of Christes body What it is to proue examine a mans owne selfe The meaning of S. Paules formet wordes An Epitome of this whole booke The opinioÌ„ of the Prelates The opinioÌ„ of Frith 1. Cor. 1â—… 1. Cor. 11. Actes 2. Math. 26. Marke 14. Luke 22. Nature teacheth that there is both bread and wyne in the Sacrament The olde Doctours proue that there is bread in the SacrameÌ„t Gelasius in concilio Ro. The fayth of the Prelates The opinioÌ„ of Iohn Frith Iohn 6 â–ª August in serm de sacra fe passchâ— Beda Aug. de Ciuitate Dei in libro 21. Cap. 25. The wicked eate not Christes body Iohn 6. Onely the faythfull do eate Christes body and drinke his bloud The fayth of the Prelates The opinioÌ„ of Frith Ierem. 27. The ministration of the Sacrament doth lyuely expresse the death and passion of Christ The Sament beside the substaunce of of bread is Christes body and bloud They dishonour the SacrameÌ„t that geue it that honour that is due vnto God Frith here sheweth what hee thinketh of the Sacrament The Godhead is so ioyned with the maÌ„hode of Christ that they both make but one person August Of Baptisme Augustinus ad Bonifacium The first article The second article An other question An aunswere S. Augustines text Chrisostomus Chrisostomes wordes The exposition of S. Chrisosto text The true meaning of Chriso stomes wordes Solution Conclusion Beholde the cause of mi deathe Note Three causes Doct. Barnes a bolisher of barbarisme a founder of learning and a light of the trueth A wittie and pleasaunt deuise to escape the crueltie of tyrantes Stephen Gardyner the author of mischiefe and decay of religion in England The complaynt of Doctour Barnes made to K. Henry the viij agaynst the Lordly Byshops Prelates of EnglaÌ„d The tyrannous gouerment of the Byshops of England In the Byshops court no man can be founde Innocent What soeuer is not agaynst the Clergye thoughe the same be neuer so wicked yet finde they no fault therewith In vi Cap. Quo. in ver 〈◊〉 Papa Dist xl Ca. Si Papa Whosoeuer speake agaynst or preache agaynst any of their abuses and abhominations her
hapned sithens kyng Richard the second his death to this Realme 207. a Entent of fastyng 229. b Entent of our â—eedes is all 217. b Epiphanius cut downe Images 325. b Erasmus 304. a. fauoured of More 251. a. partiall in iudgement 2. a Error may be saued 258. b Error of couetousnes 230. b Estulphus king of Lombardy 348. b Etymologie of this word Euangelion 378. a Euangelion called the new Testament 378. a Eucharistia 467. b Euerlastyng lyfe to whoÌ„ due 390. b Euill rulers not to be refused 119. a. signe of Gods wrath 118. b. whole some medecines 119. b Euill Priestes their prayers prosits not 300. a Euill outward to be auoyded 22. a. must bee recompensed with goodnes 413. a. Examples for our learnyng 5. a. of loue 332. a. of two poore men 94. b Examples very profitable 30. b. and 259. a Example of false expoundyng Scriptures 173. a. how to vnderstand ij regimentes 211. b Examples euill and their vse 4. a. of acceptable dedes before God 243. b Examination of consciences must go before the receipt of the Lordes Supper 472. b Exceptions in bowes 21. b Exempt from Christ who 403. b Exhortation generall to all people 376. a Experience is in the aged 345. b Exposition of the Pater noster 222. a. of this word seuen tymes 17. b Ezechias 299. b. face of y e law 383. b F. FAyth 42. a. 225. b. 16. a. 8. a. 226. b â–ª truly defined 42. b Fayth iustifieth expounded 187. a 225. b. 64. b. iustifieth before all workes 45. b. apprehendeth iustification 330. a. sufficient to iustifie vs. 431. b. and 62. a Faith that worketh not iustifieth not 333. b. 331. b. and. 303. a. 432. in Christs bloud onely iustifieth 336. a. onely bringeth to Christ 17. a. vnder no law 336. b. accompted to vs for righteousnes 63. b. in Christ fulfilleth the law 91. b Faith how it iustifieth compendiously declared 433. b Fayth eateth and drinketh Christes body and bloud spiritually 464. a Fayth in Gods promise saued the Iewes 12. b Fayth apprehendeth Christ 457. b Faith apprehendeth Christes death 418. a Fayth in Christ bryngeth to saluation 80. b Fayth loue and charitie thre sisters 286. b. casteth out deuils fasteth and prayeth 77. a. prayeth in all places 93. b. the lyfe of the righteous 463. b. expelleth Gods wrath Not idiâ— 430. b. chief part of penaunce 398. a Faith and charitie ioyneth with true prayer 82. a Faith y e fouÌ„datioÌ„ of Christes church 357. a. the holy candle wherwith to blesse vs at the houre of death 62. b â–ª foloweth repentaunce 18. b. styrred vp in Gods people 22. b. confirmed by ceremonies 12. b Fayth required of the Iewes 457. b God respecteth in prayer 221. and 239. b. bryngeth forth fruites of her selfe 65. b â–ª maketh vs gods sonnes 89. b. accompanyed with Gods spirit 64. b. maketh deedes of the law glorious 94. a. how it bringeth forth fruites 63. b. without fruites vayne 33. b Fayth maketh vs Gods heyres 67. b. 69. b. 419. b. maketh woorkes acceptable 335. b. knowen by her fruites â–ª 66. a. of two sortes 266. b. 294. lost through allegories 168. a Fayth of woorkes is darknes 232. b. contrary to the law in operations 184. b. cannot appeare without workes 225. a Fayth of the called not of the elect 294. b. coÌ„meth not by freewill 329. b. without fruite is a dreame 65. a Fayth and woorkes come not of our selues 66. a Fayth false and fained 42. b. without Gods promise is Idolatry 156. b Faith our victory 190. b. Gods gift 65. a. onely receaueth grace 45. b. the surest sheild 4. b. the roote of al goodnes 130. a. bryngeth lyfe 62. a Gods gift 329. b. possesseth Gods spirite 67. b. idle without workes 55. a. her power 225. a. vniteth vs to Christ 93. b Fayth feelyng 266. b. true and liuely 42. b. in Christes bloud 395. b. and 307. a. bryngeth loue 32. a. 117. a. 225. a. the mother of loue 419. a Fayth what it bredeth 246. b Faythfull haue all thynges of God 435. a. are in good state 448. b. though they slip yet fall not 259 b Faythles mans prayer 93. b Faythfull and vnfaythfull sinne diuersly 412. a Faythfull frutes 95. a False Prophetes who 241. b. how knowen 245. b. proue vnwritten verityes by similitudes 170. b. teach vs to trust in Saintes 158. b False worshipping 271. a. of martirs 333. a. delusions 285. a. miracles 119. a False prayer is paynfull 221. a False doctrine neuer persecuted 301. a False Popish bookes 3. 4. a False preachers are murtherers 306. a Falsehode not all spyed in one day 326. b Fall of the Pope from God 302. a Fall of Adam made vs slaues to the deuill 381. b Fanon 277 â–ª b Fastyng 21. a. 228. a â–ª and 242. b Fastyng truly what 275. a true vse thereof 81. a. 227. a. which required of God 204. b Fastyng not onely in eatyng drinkyng 228. a Fasting papal is hipocriticall 229. b Fast superstitious which 81. a Father not knowen but by the sonne 405. a Feare 114. b. 418. b Feare of God not taught by y â— spiritualty but feare of traditioÌ„s 141. a Fâ—astyng fastes 229. b Fightyng slaying and loue may all be vsed at one instant to our enemyes 212 â–ª b Figures by Christ borowed of the old Testament 14. b Figuratiue speaches vsed in Scriptures 469. b Filthynes of the hart 193. a. of Popish doctrine 411. b Firye piller 283. a First fruites 273 b Fisher 182. b. his shameles iuggling 116 a Fish and flesh all one in heauen 313. b Fiue Doctours apprehended at Paris for the Gospell 454. b Flappe 277 â–ª b Flappes of the Albe 277 â–ª b Flesh described 43. b. how to be vnderstode in Scriptures 43. a. sinneth all generally 258. a. enemy to man 442. a Flesh and spirite what 43. a. 186. b. contrary 48. a Fleshe of Christe howe signified by bread 459. a Fleshe and bloud of Christ of whom eaten and dronke 458. a. b Fleshly Church 291. b Fleshly persecute the spiritual 268. a Fleshly minded voyde of iudgement 297 a Fleshly reasons for woorshyppyng Saintes 160. a Fleshly man sauoureth not spirituall thynges 90. a Fond saying 310. a Fond reasons of More 337. a Foolish Imaginations 274. a Forbyddyng of Mariage 312. a Forgiuenes 358. a Force of good workes 15. a Fountaine of true righteousnesse is Christes bloud 74. a Free wil. 113. b. 321. a. and 328. b. preuenteth not grace 321. a. ouerthrew our forefathers 16. a Freedome 113. a. from sinne and the law 46. b Free from the law who 46. b Free gift and desert are coÌ„trary 19. b Free Chappels 136. a Frenchmen 365. a French kyng 182. b. made a Monke 348. b. helped forward the Pope 348. a Friers 151. a. 292. b Frier Forest 366. a Frier Bongey 366. b Friers not bound to preach 277. a Friers and Monkes shoulde not preach 164. b Fruites of fayth and woorkes 45. b. of our loue