whether Paul and you agree and whether ye haue iugled with the texte or no. For I feare me we shall fynd that ye haue played another false cast euen with this same poore texte The wordes of the Apostle are these Yf we wolde iudge or reproue oure selues we shulde not be iudged But whyle we are iudged we are chastened of the lorde lest we shulde be damned with this worlde These are S. Pauls wordes Afore in another place of youre treatise ye bring in this texte for another purpose namely to proue that D. Barnes ought to haue accused and condemned himselfe And now forgetfull what ye sayd afore or els wilfull blind as it semeth ye alledge the same text to proue that euery man must satisfye for the punishment belonginge vnto sinne Thus make ye of gods holy scripture a shipmans hose wresting and wringing it to what purpose ye will Verely such peruerting of the scripture can ye not vse without your awne damnacion excepte ye amende yf S. Peter be true The Apostle shewing the Corinthians the true institucion of oure lordes holy supper and the right vse therof cōcludeth with these wordes sayenge Let a man examen himselfe and so let him eate of this bred and drinke of this cuppe For he that eateth and drinketh vnworthely eateth and drinketh his owne damnacion because he discerneth not the lordes body from other meates Therfore are many weake and sick amonge you and many slepe For yf we iudged oure selues we shulde not be iudged But whyle we be iudged we are chastened of the lord lest we shuld be damned with this worlde Wherfore my brethren whan ye come together to eate tary one for another et cet By the circumstaunce then of this chapter it is euident that these wordes of the Apostle extende to the right vse of the holy sacrament teachinge us that afore we come to the lordes boorde we ought first to iudge to trie to proue and to examen oure selues in what case we stonde towarde god and oure neghboure consideringe that it is no childish playe ner a thing lightly to be regarded but a most waightie and ernest matter concernynge oure saluacion the glory of god and edifienge of the worlde And whan we haue duely and vnfaynedly tryed oure selues by cōparinge oure whole conuersacion both inward and outward to the iust commaundementes of god and by occasion therof haue hartely knowleged and confessed oure synnes beynge sory and penitent for them beleuynge stedfastly in the promises of god receaued the absolucion of his worde entred in to true repentaunce and ernest amendment of oure liuinge beinge reconciled and at one with all men purposinge without fayle so to contynue till oure lyfes ende Then to come and suppe with the lorde This is now the thing that S. Paul teacheth in this chapter and proueth here no such article as ye go aboute Therfore do ye wrong to the texte in wrestinge it to this sense that euery man must satisfye for the punishment belonginge vnto synne By the which youre doctrine like as ye robbe Christ of his worshippe deface the merites and frute of his death and set euery man in Christes rowme Euen so doth your saide article cōdemne euery man For like as Christ onely satisfied his heauēly father for oure sinnes and for the punishmēt due to the same Euen so yf we shulde not auoide the eternall paine of hel which is the second death and rewarde of sin̄e till we made satisfactiō for it oure selues we shulde contynue still in the wrath of god and so be damned for euer Standishe And to proue this satisfaction the wordes of I baptist Matth. iij. be very stronge et cete Couerdale Be these wordes bringe forth the worthy frutes of pennaūce asmuch to say as Ye must satisfye for the punishment due vnto synne Prately well expounded of you O shamelesse controllers of the holy goost Will ye make Iohn the baptist contrary to himselfe Doth he not saie manifestly in another place Who so beleueth on the sonne of god hath euerlastinge life And what is it els to haue euerlasting life but to escape the eternall and seconde death euen euerlasting damnacion and punishment due vnto synne Which as ye confesse youre selfe we do auoyde thorow Christ Why do ye then wrest the scripture to your awne purpose But one question will I aske you who speaketh the wordes which are written in the Prophet Osee saienge From the hand of death will I deliuer them from death will I redeme them O death I will be thy death O hell I wilbe thy stinge Finde me now anie creature in heauen or in erth that maie of himselfe verefie and pronounce these wordes of Christes personne and I shall graunt that he maie make satisfaction for the punishment due vnto sinne which as this text declareth is eternall death and hell Els yf there be but one Iesus one sauyoure one destroyer of damnacion and hell then shall he verely haue my poore voyce to be called also as he is in dede the onely satisfier for the punishment due vnto synne aswell as he is the satisfier for sinne it selfe As for the wordes of Iohn the baptist they proue euydently that whan men conuerte vnto god as those Pharises pretended to do at the baptime of Iohn then shall do it vnfainedly and not to be ypocrites still ner to leane to their olde leuē but to bringe forth the worthy frutes of repentaunce wherof he nameth parte in the thirde of Luke to the people and speaketh of no such satisfactiō as you fayne But Remembre that ye haue named fasting prayer and allmes dedes to be the frutes of pennaunce for I feare me ye will denye it agayne anone whan we come to Cornelius the captaine Standishe Fructus .ii. dignus penitentia est opus restaurans ea et cet Couerdale There are some of you that call us English doctours for writinge so much in English as though in the vnderstondinge of other tonges we were inferiours to you but now ye make us youre English interpreters for putting us to the payne to English the wordes which ye wrappe vp in latyn from the vnderstondinge of the people For the worthy frute of pennaunce saie ye is a worke amendinge those thinges wherof the pennaunce is that is repayringe such thinges as it repenteth us to haue left vndone or to haue committed and this is it that we call satisfaction for sinnes That to bringe forth the worthy frutes of pennaunce is asmuch as to amende wherin so euer we haue thought or done amisse I graunt for the scripture aloweth the same But where as ye call that the satisfaction to god for sinnes ye speake it not out of the mouth of the lorde Againe Ye saide afore that no man can satisfie for the offence and now ye call the frute of pennaunce the satisfactiō for sinnes Is not euery offence sinne Lord god what hold is
Ye are afraied that the innocente lambes of Christe shulde harken to his voyce and not to yours but set your hart at rest for they will not harken to the voice of straungers Standish Who doth beleue by anye other meanes contrary to Christ et cet Couerdale Yes forsoyth euen you yf ye beleue as ye wryte For the same preemynence that is due to the death of Christ and his promes geue ye to your workyng in the viniarde Yee ye put confidence that your workyng shall deserue immortalite Remembre your awne wordes well Standish But What Christian doth cast of and forsake all duties to oure parte belonginge and so temerously et ce Couerdale One dutye that belongeth to your parte is the sincere and true teaching of gods holy worde which dutye though ye cast of and forsake I will not saie all that I might by your awne wordes but god amende it that is amisse Againe this protestacion of D. Barnes testifieth that he doth not cast of and forsake al duties to a Christen man belonginge for he beleueth in the holy trinite he extolleth the merites of Christ he praiseth our lady he abhorreth the Anabaptistes heresie he praieth for the kynges highnesse he exhorteth men to good workes he besecheth god to forgeue him his trespace Be these no duties of Christē mē What hath moued you then thus vntruly to reporte of him Where as ye laye presumpcion to his charge for trustinge to inheret the Kyngdome of heauen thorow Christ I haue answered you afore where ye imputed like arrogauncy vnto him for so doynge Standish Which go aboute being blind thē selues et cet Couerdale Those heretikes of whom Christ biddeth us beware are false prophetes which come in shepes clothinge but inward are rauenyng wolues Ye shall knowe them saieth he by their frutes Now in describing vnto us their frutes he sheweth us that they are such as boast of their workes and saie haue not we done this haue not we done that Other blindnesse speaketh he not of in that chapter In the fiftenth chapter calleth he those blind leaders of the blynd which thorow their owne tradicions make the commaundement of god to take none effecte Standish And Paul speaketh of them prima Timo. iiij et cetera Couerdale The heretikes whom S. Paul prophecieth of j. Timo. iiij are such as thorow their deuelish doctrines forbidde men to liue in holy wedloke and commaunde them to absteyne from the meates which god hath created to be receaued of Christen men with thankesgeuing The heretikes of whom he speaketh ij Tim. iij. are such as among all other vices are couetous boasters proude cursed speakers et cet false accusers ryotous fearce despisers of them that are good traytours et cet hauing a shine of godly lyuyng but denyeng the power therof resiste the trueth beyng men of corrupte myndes and lewde in thinges pertayninge to the faith et cet The heretikes that he speaketh of in the xx of the Actes are such greuous wolfes as spare not Christes flock and speake peruerse doctryne to drawe disciples after them The heretikes whom S. Peter speaketh of are such mockers as regarde not gods promes and are not onely vnlerned but also vnstable and peruerte Pauls Epistles as they do the other scriptures also to their awne damnacion The heretikes whom S. Iude speaketh of are such as among other errours are craftely crepte in to the church and turne the grace of oure god vnto wantonnesse and denie god the onely lorde and our lorde Iesus Christ Euen such dreamers as defile the flesh despise rulers et cet speake euell of the thinges that they knowe not and in such thinges as they knowe to be naturall do currupte thē selues as beastes folowing the waie of Cain the erroure of Balaam for lucres sake and the treason of Core feding them selues makyng feastes of other mens kyndnesse and hauing men in greate reuerence because of aduantage et cetera Haue ye not now well descrybed the papistrye and the vnholy pilers of your vnholy mother the church of the wicked Yf ye had ioyned the seconde chapter of S. Peters seconde epistle and the xxiij of Matthew to these places that ye haue here alledged ye had done us the more pleasure But we thanke you for pointing us to those scriptures we knowe you now better then we did afore Now to Hieremy the Prophet Like as in the xix chapter god treateneth destruction to Hierusalem and Tophet forshedding of innocent bloud and for their ydolatry So in the xxiij chapter threateneth he sore punishment to those Prophetes or preachers that speake of their owne heades and not out of gods worde And in the xxvij chapter he counceleth Kynge Sedechias and his people to geue no credence vnto those Prophetes that speake fayre wordes to them and wolde make them beleue that there shulde come no such plage as god hath threatened As for the thirtenth chapter of Ezechiel which ye alledge I will hartely desire all Christen readers not onely to compare it to the xxiij of Hieremy but also with due reuerence for so must gods worde be intreated to waye and pondre well euery sentence therof And so doing I doubte not but the holy goost shall mynistre such bright spectacles to their sight that they shall clerely discerne and se who be scismatikes who be false Prophetes and who be true For I can wish no man so good a glasse to loke in as the scripture Barnes TAke me not here that I speake agaynst good workes For they are to be done and surely they that do them not shall neuer come to the kyngdome of god We must do them because they are cōmaūded us of god to shew and set forth our professiō not to deserue or merite for that is onely the death of Christ Standishe It is comonly sayde No venim or poyson is worse et cet Couerdale Doth not he set forth good workes that prayseth them teacheth men to do thē and threateneth damnacion to them that do them not Here ye can not denie by your awne confession but that he praiseth good workes and yet ye haue reported of him that he cast of and forsoke all duties to oure parte belonginge Is it not our dutye to prayse good workes Standishe But marke it is nought that he speaketh afterward et cet Couerdale Is it naught and erroneous to saye that we must do good workes because god hath comaunded them The wise man saieth Take the poore vnto the for the commaundementes sake et cet Is it not gods commaundement to do good vnto the poore Morouer where find you in all holy scripture that god hath commaunded us to do good workes to the intent that we shulde merite or deserue and not to shew and set forth oure profession Must we not let our light so shyne before men that they maye se our good workes and
wherof he mainteined the prerogatyue of prynces against the tiran̄ie and vsurped power ye wote of whom I saye nomore but yf ye be at that poynt and may so frely write what ye wil I cōmitte my part of the playe to god Who as I doubte not wil defend the king in his right so am I sure that though ye be now in your ruffe he is not yet hard aslepe Where as ye saie that at D. Barnes death there were thre sortes of men and that the first sorte which by your reporte wer moost contrary to him wolde geue him no answere at his honest request Ye declare planely that either they had nothing to saie agaynst him or els litle charite seing that acording to S. P. wordes which ye alledge they found not thē selues greued to se the weake offended yf it were as you saie Nether proueth it thē to leane stedfastly vnto the piler of trueth to loue gods lawe to haue true quyetnesse in their conscience or to be endewed with feruent charite that folow not the same law of loue in the tyme of nede How do those places of scripture then that ye bring in alowe their acte Let all indifferent readers iudge how the cxviij Psalme the third of the first to Timothe or the eight to the Romaynes agreeth with their purpose In describing the secōde sorte of people that were at D. Barnes death ye faile also First in reporting of thē that they euer be and shal be as apte to receaue the euel preaching as the good Secondly that they are cōtent in these matters to go whither they be led Thirdly that they are cōtent to beleue what they be taught Fourthly that they know not whan they be in the right waye ner whan they be forth of it Now saieth our sauyoure in the same text which ye your self do alledge that they beleue in him Then like as they harkē to his voice and not to the voice of straunges so folow they him and are led of his holy sprete And not onely proue all doctrines whether they be of god but also kepe that which is good for they knowe Christes voice and not the voice of straūgers Morouer yf that third sorte of people did fauour no worse opinions and were no fuller of fleshly and carnall sensualite then this present protestacion of D. Barnes teacheth them that text dilexerunt magis tenebras et cet maye rather be verified of you and your sorte then of thē Barnes BVt they that haue bene the occasion of it I praye god forgeue them as I wold be forgeuen my self And. D. Stephin Byschopp of wynchester that now is yf he haue sought or wrought this my death ether by word or dede I pray god forgyue him as hartely as frely as charitably and without fayning as euer Christ forgaue thē that put him to death Standishe Se now whether this be fayned charite or nor et cetera Couerdale It is no poynt of fained charite a man to forgeue them that offend against him and to praie for them that persecute him As it is manifest by our sauiours doctryne and example also at his death Ye take vpon you here the office of a iudge afore ye be called ther to yee euen gods onely office in iudging mens hertes take ye vpon you As who saie he goeth aboute to ouerthrow and cast downe a man that agreeth not with him in his doctryne As touching any contencious maner betwene my lord of winchester and. D. Barnes though you and I both as I suppose be ignoraunt what direction the Kynges highnesse dyd take therin Yet seyng the one was reconciled to the other openly at the Spittle ye shulde now not take the matter so whote But a pyke thanke will ye be still What mynde hath he to be reuenged that first asketh a man forgeuenesse and than praieth god to forgeue him as Christ forgaue his death yf he be giltie Agayne Will the. B. of winchestre iudge him selfe to be either sediciously or disdainfully named or without reuerence whan he is called a bisshoppe I darre saye he will not Why plaie ye Philippe flatrers part thē as though the name of a bisshoppe were not a reuerent name Barnes ANd yf any of the counsaill or any other haue sought or wrought it thorow malice or ignoraunce I praye god forgyue them their ignoraunce and illumynate their eyes that they maye se and aske mercy for it Standish O what ignoraunce et cetera Couerdale This praier is nether malicious against gods word ner preiudicial to any man and yf they that suffred D. Barnes to liue so long were to blame for their so doing then make ye your selfe giltye of the same fault that haue played the coward all that whyle and not helped him to his death Barnes I Besech you all to pray for the kynges grace as I haue done euer sens I was in preson and do now that god maie geue him prosperite and that he maie lōg raigne amōg you ād after him that goodly prynce Edward may so raigne that he maye fynishe those thinges that his father hath begon I haue bene reported a preacher of sedicion and disobediēce to the kynges maiestie but here I saye to you that you all are bound by the cōmaundement of god to obeye youre prince with all humilite and with all your hert yee not so much as in a looke to shew yourselues disobedient vnto him and that not onely for feare of the swerd but also for conscience sake before god Standish Thou hast bene truly reported a sedicious preacher et cetera Couerdale Will ye then winke at sediciō so long and not be an accuser therof where as by your awne confession ye haue heard him preach so oft Ye and knowing his boke to haue bene so long prynted But how vntruly ye belye him it shall be euydent to all the worlde that will reade his boke Ye reporte of him that he shuld saye in his boke prynted ten yeares agoo that yf the Kyng wold by tiranny take the new Testament from his subiectes they shuld not suffre him Now is it manifest that like as he saieth here in this parte of his protestacion so saieth he also in his boke and bringeth in the same xiij chapter to the Romaynes that ye alledge and addeth morouer these wordes In no wise be it right or wrong maiest thou make any resistaunce with swerde or with hand et cet Itē Yf the Kyng forbyd the new Testament et cete men shall first make faithfull praiers to god and humble supplicacion to the Kyng that his grace wold release that commaundement Yf he wil not do it they shall kepe their testament with all other ordinaunce of Christ and let the Kyng exercise his tiranny yf they can not flie and in no wise vnder paine of damnacion shall they resiste him by violence but suffre paciently et ce Nor they shal not go aboute to depose their
prince as my lordes the bisshoppes were wont et cet But yf the kyng will do it by violence they must suffre it but not obeie to it by agrement Item Now is it cleare that we maie not resist this temporall power in no wise by violence et cet but yf anye thing be commaunded us that is against the word of god wherby oure faith is hurt that shuld we not do in any wise but rather suffre persecucion and also death Be these wordes now as much to saye as yf the Kyng commaunde anie thing by tirannie mē shall not suffre him What meane ye so vntruly to reporte of the deed But no maruail whan ye shame not to belie so many textes of gods holy word Touching mens lawes it is manifest that such as are not grounded in gods word do not bind the conscience of man to deadly sinne For yf they be not grounded in gods worde and agreable to the faith therof then are they synfull and naught Who is bound now to obeie sinne But a man maie smel you a farre of whose successours ye be You will not sticke to call it a laufull acte for a prince to condemne gods word and to forbid that thinge which is institute and ordeyned of god Yee yf oure prince wold take such a thing in hand which god forbid he shuld lacke no instigacion of your malignaunt church Nether can I yet coniecture the contrary but that ye are aboute such a tragedy Now go to set your watch men to kepe the sepulchre suffre not Christ to ryse vp in any wyse let not the souldiers lack money the church is riche ynough cast your greate heades together and let Caiphas geue you his most so tel counsaill For whan ye haue done your best and lyed all that euer ye can yet shall god make your policye to serue for the glorye of his trueth Amen Barnes YEe and I saye further yf the kyng shuld commaunde you any thing agaynst gods law yf it be in your power to resist him yet maye you not do it Standish Se here the stedfastnesse et cetera Couerdale This man nether wrote ner sayd that we must obeye an erthly prynce more then allmightie god and yet are ye not ashamed so to reporte of him He saieth that though the Kyng commaunde us anye thing agaynst gods lawe yet maye we not resist him Which saieng ye call an abhominable heresie Thus declare ye your selfe manifestly to be of the nombre of them that teach how that it is lauful for a man to resist his prince Which thing whether it be not both heresie and treason let them iudge that haue auctorite Because Amos the Prophet preached agaynst ydolatry at Bethel that false prest Amasias whom ye speake of told that Kyng that he was a sedicious felow and so found the meanes to get him out of the court Yet played Amasias a more honest parte with Amos then you do for he laied rebellion to his charge that was alyue and your accusacion is agaynst the deed Agayne Amasias being yet a false prest saieth not that it is laufull for a man to resist his prynce and you call it abhominable heresie to teach the contrary Though Peter and Iohn do teach that we must obeye and harken vnto god more then vnto men do they therfore teach that we must resist our prynce Where fynd ye that example in them Peter smote of Malcus eare in dede but litle thanke had he for his laboure Doth he not teach us to endure grefe to suffre wrong and to take it paciently Saieth he not that we are called ther vnto Setteth he not Christ vnto us for an example of suffryng Because our Sauioure wylleth us not to feare them that kyll the body must we therfore resist them Whan a prynce doth persecute us for gods wordes sake in one citie must we resist him and not rather flye in to another Doth he call them blessed that resist and not them rather that suffre for persecucion sake Dyd Christ entre in to his Kyngdome by resisting or by suffryng As for that saieng qui timet hominem et cet I can not find it in the xix of the prouerbes but I fynd ther written that a false witnesse shall not remayne vnpunished and that he which speaketh lies shall not escape Ye call it an abhominable heresie to teach that we ought not to resist our prince though he commaunde us any vnlaufull thing And to proue your purpose ye poynt us to the fifth of Esaye where ther is no such words as ye speake of But these wordes fynd I there Wo vnto them that call good euell et cet As for the ensample of the seuen brethren and their mother it utterly condemneth you for they saie these wordes We are ready rather to suffre then to offende the lawes of god et cete And as they said so they dyd without makyng resistaunce though the Kynges commaundement was vnlaufull What other thing now dyd D. Barnes teach in his fore rehearced wordes but as he had said in his boke afore that yf the Kyng wolde cōmaunde us anie vnlaufull thing we must suffre him though we obeie not to it by agremēt What daunger you be in then for teaching the contrary I will not define I praie god acording to his good pleasure haue mercy vpon you Barnes THen spake he to the shereffe and sayde M. shereffe I requyre you of gods behalfe to haue me commended vnto the kynges grace and to shew him that I require of his grace these requestes first that wher his grace hath now receaued in to his handes all the goodes and substaunce of the abbayes Then the shereffe desyred him to stoppe there He answered M. shereffe I warraunt you that I wil speake no harme for I know it is well done that all such supersticion be taken cleane awaye and the kynges grace hath well done in takyng it awaye But seyng his grace is made a hole kyng and obeyed in his realme as a kyng which nether his father ner graundfather ner his ancestours that raigned before him euer had and that thorow the preaching of us and such other wretches as we are which allwayes haue applied our hole studies and gaue our selues for the setting forth of the same and this is now our reward Well it maketh no matter Now he raigneth I praye god long maye he raigne among you Wold god it might please his grace to bestow the sayd goodes or some of them to the comforte of his poore subiectes which surely haue great nede of them The second that I desire his grace is that he will se that matrymony be had in more reuerence then it is and that men for euery light cause inuented cast not of their wifes and lyue in aduoutry and fornicacion and that these that be not maried shuld not abhominably lyue in whordome folowing the filthy lustes of the flesh The third that the