doctours saye they and beleue the catholyke churche whiche hath continued frome Christes tyme hitherto we can shewe say they bi auncient writers from tyme to tyme sence Christs ascention But what can these men shewe Be not these writters whiche I haue rehersed of the chieffest of theÌ„ And al thes agre that their wrytinges must be tried by the scripture and if that allowe theÌ„ not they would not in any wise that we should beleue them This is a wonderfull thynge y t they would haue vs geue such credite to the doctours whiche thynge the docters them selues forbyd But they haue alwayes this sayeinge of Augustine in their mouthes I would not beleue the gospel except the authoritie of the câ—urch did moue me Nowe as sone as they haue caught thys in theyr sermons thei triumph Lo say they what authorite did this gâ—eat doctour attribute to y e church in so much that y e gospel is and must be iudged by y e church For wtout the church he would not beleue christes gospel manye wordes haue they which I caÌ„ not remembre But me think these meÌ„ mought be answered out of Augustines owne wordes before rehersed For he wil geue no such credit to any mans writtinges what so euer he be as he doth to the scripture neither would he y t any maÌ„ woulde he that any man should so esteme his writtynges For al hys wryttynges dooe not please hym Therefore if they wil haue me beleue Augustines wordes they muste proue them true bye the scripture or else by some other probable and sure reasone that dissenteth not frome the truethe else maye not I beleue Austens wordes For thys he counselleth hym selfe But admytte Austens wordes to be true wythout anye contradicion What moughte then be sayed to it These be Augustines wordes I shoulde not beleue the Gospell onlesse the authoritye of the churche moued me Nowe I aske you what the authority of the churche is What cal you y e authorite of y e church Is it long continuance of time TheÌ„ was christes doctrine doubtful For the scribes and phariseis had that on theyr syde Or is it the greater number With lyke reasone we maye refuse Christes Gospell For many be called sayeth he and fewe elected Or else was it the consent of learned wise men All thys had the great byshopes and high pristes in christes time For they were great learned and wyse men But saynt Paule axeth wher be the wyse Wher are the scribes where are the disputers of the worlde Hath not god made the wysdome of the worlde foleishenesse Therfore let them declare vnto me the verie true authoritye of the churche And I make heare distinctioÌ„ of churches For Christe and the Apostles haue prophicied that theyr shal come false prophetes in Christes name and shal rise euen froÌ„ amonge our selues shall speake peruerse doctryne These men come in Christes name and saye they be christes chruch But I am assured they be not Christes true spouse For Lira writinge vpon Mathe sayth The church standeth not in men by the reason of spirituall powre or secular dignitie For many princes and many popes and other inferiour persones haue swarued frome the fayth Wherfore the church doth stande in those persones in whom is y e true knowledge and coÌ„fession of fayth and veritie Therefore it must nedes by Lira his wordes consiste in the scriptures For the gyfte of fayeth and vnderstandeynge the veritye is the worckeynge of the holye spirite that confortour which the Lorde promised to those that beleue hys worde But because they alledge me Austens wordes I wyl answere theÌ„ with Austen him selfe wrytinge vpon the .lvii. Psal Wee speake true thynges sayth he which haue heard true thinges that the lorde sayth not that maÌ„ sayth It may be that man may lie it can not be that god should lye By the worde of trueth do I knowe Christe the same verie trueth By the worde of trueth do I knowe the church to be partaker of the trueth Nowe lette them scan these wordes and tell me where the true touchestonne is Then alledge they these wordes of Christe I haue yet muche to saye vnto you but you can not nowe beare it a waye Nowe be it when the spirite of the trueth commeth he shall leade you into all trueth etc. And agayne Manye other tokens dyd Iesus before hys his disciples Which are not writen in this boke Here staye they and go no farder for it foloweth But these are written that you shoulde beleue etc. But seynge we haue begone wyth Saynte Augustine we wyll ende wyth him He wryteth vpon this same place of Iohn and sayeth They were chosen and pycked out as many as were thought necessarie and sufficient for the saluacion of the faythfull Cirillus also affirmeth the same and sayeth more ouer that althynges that the wrytters thought sufficient boeth for the fayeth and beleue and also for y e coÌ„uersacioÌ„ of men that wee myghte shyne wyth a ryghte and perfecte fayeth and wyth true workes and vertues and so come to the Kyngdome of heauen thorowe oure Lorde Christe be wryten sayeth he and therefore it is a newelye inuented in y e diuilles shop to saye that all the articles of oure christian fayeth can not be proued by scripture and mens tradicions bysyde the scripture be goode workes and please God These be Cyrillus workes And therefore sayeth Saynte Ambros in hys fourth boke of virgines All newe thynges that Christe hath not tought we lawfully condemne For vnto faythful men sayeth he Christe is the waye If Christe therefore haue not taught that we teache sayeth he we iudge it to be detestable Nowe let these holye fathers turne and tosse these olde holye doctours and let them fynde me out a touchston some other wher For these doctours say playnely the worde of God the holy scripture the word of truth is y e rule wherby Christes true church is ordered gouerned enstructed For whosoeuer sercheth findeth The holy gost faileth not such as seke him ther but to seke him in anye other place is no promise made As for theyr general counsayles that they sticke so muche vnto is but a weake foundacion For saynt Austine writtynge agaynst the donatistes sayeth Who is it that knoweth not the holy canonical scriptures boeth of the olde and newe testamente to be conteined within certayne limettes and bouÌ„des And that they be so put before al the wrytinges of bishopes y t shal come afterward that it can not be doubted at all neyther can we be deceyued of the whether it be true or whether it be ryght and good or not what soeuer is knowen to be writen in them But al other wrytynges of byshopes or else which either haue writteÌ„ or shal write after the confirmacion of the cananicall wrytynges maye be reprehended both by the wordes or wyse senteÌ„ce of some more knoweynge man in that matter as well as by the sage authorite
The copie of a letter sente to one maister Chrispyne chanon of Exceter for that he denied y e scripture to be the touche stone or trial of al other doctrines wherunto is added an appologie and a bulworke in defēce of the same letter ¶ To the right worshipfull and his syngular good Maister syr Peter Carewe Philip Nicolles wysheth the continuall fauoure of God GReate cōforte is it to Christes pore floceke right worshipful syr among so manie hudge Rockes and wylde seas as oure weste partes are compassed with all to haue some porte or hauē wher Christes shippes mought cast ancre and for a space haue succoure tyl y e stormes be paste This fatherlie prouision maketh the al myghtie and most mercifull Lorde al waies to helpe thē that be hys And though Ionas sincke yet is y e whale redie to kepe him frō perishing to brynge hym to land as amonge so manye greate stormes no meruaile thoughe some haue ben pluged vnder the water but of suche gloriouse shall the resurrection be But in my contrey my right deare sir where most daynger appeareth to be scantly hath ther any wette their feete praysed may the name of God be therfore y t so prouideth for yong suckelinges whiche else shoulde be ouer whelmed before they were weaned frō their milke Your pure and yernest zeale toward gods truth and paynefull laboures infendeynge innocentes is not vnknowne to a great menye But would to God it were farther knowne euen tho rowe out Not that you shoulde haue the prayses of men for your laboure for they belonge to God and it is wickednesse to seke them from hym but that it myght prouoke other mē of worship and honour also in all places to so feruēt and godlye desire of Christes doctrine to be publisshed among vs Namely the whole bible the scriptures of God the newe and olde testament Which onely doctrine is a lone sufficient to teache vs the true worship of God fayeth in his promises and in all good workes to walke the waye to euerlastinge lyfe To the defence of thys heauenly doctrine I saye woulde I prouoke all mē of honour and worshipe by your ensample if wit and learneing failed not Your gentlenesse and liberalitye towardes me and al those that longe for that heauenly doctrine I passe ouer w t silence to cut awaye occasions frō iuell tonges althoughe the example be greatly to be desired in all men of worshippe yea in all them that professe Christe accordinge to theyr power Al these thinges nowe considered besyde the manyfolde labours and daylye trauaile that you take diuers waies to haue the veritye knowne to bannyshe lieinge and cloked holinesse to haue the Lorde truly worshiped and to rote cut Idolatrie Consideringe also your yerneste desier to thys my smal laboure in writing to maister Chrispyne a simple letter for asmuch as I perceyued that you were determinatly mynded to put it in print I thought I coulde not bestowe my laboure better then to set it furthe in your name chiefely to purg me from that euel suspicion that is lyke to ensue the printinge of it For seinge they begin to byte me priuilye all redye for exhibitynge certayne Articles preached of oure learned men and woulde perswade men that I dyd it of a pretēced malice sekeinge their destruction I knowe well they shall saye much rather that it was my suite to haue this my letter spread a broad and that I dyd it to seeke prayse as they alwayes seeke most preise to them selfe y e least deserue it or that I stād in mine owne cōceite as to thinke y t I haue done agreat acte wheras I acknoweledge it in deede to be but counterfaite in cōparison of a great nūbre that be wel leraned Which if they had the matter in handlyng these men myght haue been a shamed to shew their faces in a pulpit to declare any suche matter agayne Nowe to preuente these biteinge serpentes of thys poisone the lord knoweth whether it be my faute or no to haue it printed and you partly can testifie Notwithstandynge ▪ it shal not greue me to haue it prynted but rathere I shal be glad of it thoughe it were but for thys cause onelie To declare vnto all other contreis that deuensher lacketh not some well wyllers at the leaste as well amonge the pore creatures as the riche and worshipfull y e desier the glorye of God and furdraunce of hys word As touchinge the articles offerred to the visitours which they say to be done of malice hatered and manie other good morowes let suche mē knowe that I hate theyr doctrine in dede As for any malice that I owe to the men I axe no more grace and fauour of the Lorde to be geuen to my selfe then I wysh to the vilest of them all if it might so come to passe and please God For I knowe there can no suche ranckor and malice dwell in any christen herte as they iudge other men by them selues And thys I saye more ouer that I am assured of these ministers and of the kynges counsayle also that they be no suche bloude thurstye tirantes as haue pleasur in shedynge of bloude For if they were but as cruell in punisheinge the blynde wycked and sediciouse I nought saye preachers as the popes ministers haue beene in tormentyng innocentes I take God to wytnesse I woulde neuer haue declared so muche as I haue vnto them though I should haue smarted for it This much haue I sayde to declare vnto all honeste hertes myne innocencie in suche thynges as they begin to laye to my charge and to stope the mouthes of them that can do naught elles but slāder flatter and dissēble euen with theyr frindes that they mought holde theyr tongues lest if they passe theyr boundes I opē them to theyr shame let them take thys for a warning Neithere let them thynke this spoken of malice for I spake it for theyr honestie and quietnesse as wel as mine owne commoditie Now to conclude in fewe wordes I haue added to thys my letter a little appologie or defence the better to wythstande theyr cruel and subtyle deceite And because they lye alwaye lurckynge in bulworkes and wyll not come furth into the open fielde I haue in the ende made a little bulworke out of the whyche I haue shotte a fewe of theyr owne pellettes Not that I thinke them necessarie to confoūd them wyth all but euen to shame them whē they shal se them selues striken with theyr owne weapons Beholde nowe appeare those meruailouse thynges that Esaye speaketh of so ernestlie in so much that he repeteth it agayne Yea euen meruailouse thynges and a wonder sayth he and what is it It foloweth For the wysdome of the wyse shal perishe the vnderstandeinge of the wyttye shal hide it selfe But wherefore happeneth thys Loke you a little before and you shal easelye perceiue the cause No man can open it more playne then the prophet doeth hym selfe Read the
muche that euen the verie elect if it were possible should be brought into errowre And saint Paule sayth you shal come with lieinge signes and wonders and wyth al deceyueablenesse of vnrightuousnesse And to Timoth he sayeth you shall forbyde mariage and meates So playne is it in al the scripture that thei that read it must neades vnderstand it Most euident and playne it is that ye be euen of the same sinful sinagoge For trulye the spouse of Christe is obedient to hir bridgrome The disciples of Christe herken to theyr Maister And doubtles we can not be Christes verie disciples vnlesse we continue in his doctrine He y t is of God heareth goddes worde and he that kepeeth thys worde shall neuer se deathe Moyses sayeth You shall put nothinge to the worde whiche I commaunde you neyther take ought ther from etc. Agayne You shall turne neyther to the ryght hande neither to the lefte but in the waye which your lord god cōmaundeth shal ye walke What more playne cōmaundemēt can ther before the establishment of the authoritie of y e word of god Moises had the childrē of Israel shoulde write them vpon the postes of ther dores bynde them vpon theyr hādes to teach their children He sayeth they be oure lyfe And Christe sayth his wordes be spirit and life Saint Peter saith we haue a sure word of prophecie ye do well to take hede ther vnto as vnto the light that shineth in a darcke place c If this worde were not wrytten that we myght knowe whyther to resorte for al thys what should it auaile al these wordes What were we the nere for all these testimonies if the sume of Christes doctrine were not writtē and the certaynetie vnkowē Whoe should be certayne of hys fayeth if we had not a prescripte and certayne doctryne whereunto wee moughte resorte to haue thys in fallible veritye Howe shoulde we knowe these false prophetes to come in shipes clothing outwardly inwardly be rauenynge woulfes if we had not a sure touche stone to trye theyr doctrine wyth all If anye man preache vnto you sayeth Paul other then y e which is preached alredye althoughe it were an angell frome heauen let it be accurssed What be we y e nere of these wordes if we be in doubte wher to fynde this Gospell But I testifie vnto euerie man sayth saynte Iohn that heareth the wordes of prophesie of thys boke If any man shal adde vnto these thynges God shall ad vnto hym the plages that are wrytten in thys boke And if anye man shal mynishe of y e wordes of the boke of thys prophesie God shall take a waye his parte out of the boke of lyfe etc. To conclude therfore I saye playnelye that to denye the scripture the Prophetes and Apostles whose prophesies are wrytten in the Byble to be a sufficiente doctryne and enstruction necessarye for oure saluacion or to saye that it oughte not to be the touche stonne and trial of al other doctrines aboue all other doctrines of anye other men aboue theyr lawes decres and customes or ceremonies beside thys boke whether it be of men or angelles it is not only heresie but also a diuellishe and damnable doctrine Nowe to our bulwarcke ¶ The bulwarke for defence THis is chiefly to be noted y t gods worde is neuer spred abrode wythout contencion strife and much troble as Christe himselfe affirmeth sayeynge Thinke you not that I come to sende peace but a sworde For I am come to set variance betwene the father and the sonne the mothere and the daughter etc. For what agrement can there be betwene a beleuinge sonne and vnbeleueinge father and so contrarye Nowe sayeth Christ He that loueth father and mother more then me is not mete for me etc. He y t findeth his lyfe shall lose it And he y t loseth his life for my sake shall find it Marcke thys also y t by no thyng do these false deceiuers be gilde y e simplicite of y e multitude so muche as by the name of our fathers by custome longe continuaunce of tyme by whyche thynges they confirme their church For loke what hath bene done of our elders and forfathers that is theyr gospell To breake these tradicions and customes is to breake theyr whole religion The scribes and phariseis axed Christe why walke not thy disciples after the tradicions of the elders but eate breade wyth vnwashen handes c. Lykewyse these Hypocrites when they se anye man breake an olde custom thoughe it be but eateyng of an egge vpon a frydaye howe greouslye take they the mattier But euen as Christe answered the phariseis and scribes so may I ryghte well answere these fathers sayinge Full wel hath Esai prophecied of you Hypocrites as it is written marke here that Christe goeth to the scripture Thys people drawe nere me with theyr lippes but theyr herte is fare frome me But in vayne do they serue me whylse they teache suche doctrines as are nothynge but the commaundementes of men Ye leaue the commaundement of god kepe the tradiciōs of men In the stead of washing of cuppes cruses what a sort of ceremonies haue we what is holye breade what is holye water What be holye candeles What are holye bowes Touche not the water in the fonte handle not the chalise nor the corporace Good lorde what a sorte of suche commaundementes haue we of oure fore fatheres Oh howe goodlye haue you caste asyde the commaundementes of God to maynetayne your owne tradicions I besech the good christiā reader marke how vehemente the Lorde Iesus is hym selfe agaynste the beggarly tradicions of men to bringe vs to the wyll and commaundemente of God What can the grateste doctour of thē all say vnto this Is it not open and manifeste to all the worlde that for breakeing of these triflinge and foleishe tradicions thei haue punished men greuouselye euen wyth death And haue we not sene the breakars of goodes commaundementes vnpunished at all As swerars drunckardes whoredome and auoutrie with all the reste Beholde all christendome knoweth that thys is no lye My truste is therfore that the magistrates wyll nowe loke vpon this gear For these felowes neuer go about any suche thynge But because they blinde the ignoraunt soules wyth holye doctours holy fathers and holye churche from Christes tyme hytherto you shal se what the holye doctours say euē such as be most auncient and best learned as they them selues will graunte Augustine in an epistle to Fortunatus hath these wordes We ought not to regarde and esteme the disputacions of any thoughe they be neuer so catholyke and well praysed as cannonicall scripture but that we may saueing the reuerēce that ought to be geuen vnto suche men reproue and spue out agayne any thynge in theyr wryttynges if perchaunce we fynde that they vnderstande ought in theyr writinges otherwyse then the truth hath whiche is