vs that we be not ouercome of euill c. Now if they which beleue in Christ are bold with God that he heareth them sure that he graunteth their petitions it foloweth that they whiche are not bold that he heareth them nor sure that hee graunteth their petitions do not beleue in Christ They that go to dead Saints with which they neuer speake nor wotte where they be be not bold that God wil heare them nor sure that he will graunt their petitions therfore they beleue not in Christ That they be neither bold nor sure appeareth first by their deedes and secondarely by their owne confession for they say what should God heare them or graūt them ought seing they be vnworthy yea and they confirme it with a similitude of worldly wisedome that they should be put backe for their malapertnes and fare the worse as if a rude felow shuld breake vp into the kyngs priuie chamber and presse vnto his owne person without knockyng or speakyng to any other officer so that they beleue it an augmentyng of sinne to go to God thēselues in the cōfidēce of Christes bloud as he bad them If a man see his brother sinne a sinne not vnto death let him aske and he shall giue hym life for them that sinne not vnto death There is a sinne vnto death and for it say I not that thou shouldest pray All vnrighteousnes is sinne And there is a sinne not to death Whatsoeuer sinne we see in y t world let vs pray and not dispayre For God is the God of mercy But for the sinne to death whiche is resistyng grace and fightyng against mercy and open blasphemyng of the holy ghost affirmyng that Christs miracles are doue in Beel sabub and his doctrine to be of the deuill I thinke that no Christen man if he perceaue it can otherwise pray then as Paule prayed for Alexander the Copersmith the. ij Timo. the last that God would reward hym accordyng vnto his workes They that go backe agayne after they know the truth and giue them selues willingly to sinne for to folow it and persecute the doctrine of truth by profession to maynteine falshead for their glorie and vaūtage are remedylesse as ye may see Hebr. vj. and. x. Bala◅ so sinned the false Prophetes in the old Testament so sinned the Phariseis so sinned Alexander so sinned now many so sinne folowyng their pride couetousnes We know that all that are borne of God sinne not But he that is borne of God kepeth him self and the wicked touche hym not As thou readest in the third chapter they that are borne of God can not sinne for the sede of God kepeth them They cannot cast of the yocke of Christ and consent to cōtinue in sinne nor defie his doctrine nor persecute it for to quench it or to maynteine any thyng contrary vnto it But in whatsoeuer captiuitie they be in y t flesh their harts yeld not but imagine to breake lowse and to escape and flye away vnto the partie standart of their Lord Christ And as men of warre they euer keepe watche and prepare them selues vnto warre and put on the armure of God the which is Gods word the shield of fayth the helmet of hope and harnesse thē selues with the meditation of those thynges which Christ suffred for vs with the examples of all the Saintes that folowed him and thinke earnestly that it is their part to lyue as purely as the best come after as fast as they can And yet in all their workes they knowledge them selues sinners vnsay nedly as long as one iote of the perfectnes that was in y t deedes of Christ is lackyng in theirs So that the deuill can not touch the hartes of them neither with pride or vayne glorie of pure lyuing neither to make them consentyng vnto the flesh in grosse sinnes if at a tyme they be taken tardy ketche a fall Whatsoeuer chaunce them the deuill can ketch no hold of them to keepe them still in captiuitie but they will breake lose agayne and repent and do penaunce to chast theyr flesh that they come no more vnder y t deuils clawes We know that we be of God and that the whole world is set on mischief They that beleue that is to say put their trust in Christ see both their owne glorious state in God and also the wretched estate of y t world in their wickednes But the worlde as they knowe not God nor the glory of the sonnes of God Euen so they see not their owne miserable estate in wickednes and damnation vnder the law of God but the worse they are the bolder they be and the surer of themselues the further from repentaūce and the more standyng in their owne conceites for the darkenes that is in them And therfore say our Doctours a man can not knowe whether hee be in the state of grace or no nor needeth to care therfore And they be therefore the blynd leaders of the blynd We know that the sonne of God is come and hath giuen vs vnderstandyng to know him that is true and we be in the truth thorough Iesus Christ He is very God and eternall lyfe Christ is all and the fountaine of all and of his fulnesse receaue we all And as hee powreth the giftes of his grace vpon them that beleue in hym so he giueth them vnderstanding to know the very God and that they be in the very God and that they haue obtained that through his purchasing and leaueth not his sheepe in darkenes And the same Iesu Christ is very God and eternall life God and eternall lyfe was he from the begynnyng and became man for the great loue he had to vs for to bryng vs vnto his eternall life And he that hath any other way thether whether his own workes or other mēs or workes of ceremonies or sacraments or merites of Saintes or of ought saue Iesu Christ onely shall neuer come thether The world seith the Pope and seith that they which be in the Pope be Lordes in this world and therfore they care to be in the Pope but whether they be in God or not they say it is not necessarie to know Litle children beware of Images Serue none Image in your harts Idolatrie is Greeke and the English is imageseruice And an Idolater is also Greke and the English an imageseruaunt Be not Idolaters nor committe Idolatrie that is be none imageseruauntes nor do any imageseruice but beware of seruyng all maner images And thinke it not inough to haue put all the Images of false Gods out of the way if ye now set vp the Image of very God and of his true Saints in their rowmes to doe the same seruice vnto thē which ye dyd vnto the other For ye may do as strong imageseruice vnto the Image of GOD and of hys Saintes as vnto the Images of false Gods yea thou maist commit as great
shepheardes staffe you helpe no man with it you comfort no man you lift vp no man with it but you haue striken downe kynges and kyngdomes with it and knocked in the head Dukes Earles with it Call you this a shepheardes staffe There is a space in the shepheardes staffe for the foote to come out agayne but your staffe turneth and wyndeth alwayes inward and neuer outward signifying that what soeuer hée bée that coÌ„meth within your dauÌ„ger that hée shall neuer come out agayne This exposition your déedes doe declare let theÌ„ bée examined that you haue had to doe with And let vs sée how they haue escaped your shepheardes hooke But these bée the articles for the whiche I must néedes bée an hereticke Neuertheles all the world may sée how shamefully that I haue erred agaynst your holynesses in saying the truth My Lord Cardinal reasoned with me in this article all the other hée passed ouer sauyng this and the sixte article Here did hée aske if I thought it good and reasonable that hée should lay downe his pyllers and pollaxes coyne them Here is the heresie that is so abhominable I made him aunswere that I thought it well done Then sayd hée how thinke you were it better for me being in the honour and dignitie that I am to coyne my pyllers and pollaxes and to geue the money to v. or vj. beggers then for to mayntaine the common wealth by them as I doe Doe you not recken quoth hée the common wealth better then fiue or sixe beggers To this I did aunswere that I reckened it more to the honour of God and to the salnation of his soule and also to the comfort of his poore brethren that they were coyned and giueÌ„ in almes And as for the common wealth dyd not hange of them for as his grace knew the common wealth was afore his grace and must bée wheÌ„ his grace is gone and the pyllers and pollaxes came with him and should also goe away with him Notwithstandyng if the common wealth were in such a condition that it had néede of them then might his grace so loÌ„g vse them or any other thyng in their stede so longe as the common wealth néeded them Notwithstandyng I sayd thus much did I not say in my Sermon agaynst them but all onely I damned in my Sermon the gorgious pompe and pride of all exteriour ornaments Then he sayd well you say very well But as well as it was sayd I am sure that these wordes made me an hereticke for if these wordes had not béene therein myne aduersaryes durst neuer haue shewed their faces against me But now they knew wel that I could neuer bée indifferently heard For if I had got the victory theÌ„ must all the Byshops and my Lord Cardinall haue layd downe all their gorgious ornamentes For the which they had rather burne xx such heretickes as I am as all y e world knoweth But God is mighty and of me hath hée shewed his power for I dare say they neuer intented thing more in their liues theÌ„ they did to destroy me and yet God of his mercy hath saued me agaynst all their violence vnto his godly wisedome is the cause all onely knowen The Byshop of London that was then called Tunstall after my departyng out of prison sayd vnto a substaÌ„ciall man that I was not dead for I dare say his conscience did not recken me such an hereticke that I would haue killed my selfe as the voice weÌ„t but yet would hée haue done it gladly of his charitie but I was sayd hée in Amsterdame where I had neuer béene in my life as God knoweth nor yet in the countrey this x. yeares certaine men did there speake with me sayd hée and hée fained certaine wordes that they should say to me I to them and added thereunto that my Lorde Cardinall would haue me agayne or it should cost him a great summe of money howe much I doe not clearely remember I haue marueile that my Lorde is not ashamed thus shamefully and thus Lordly to lye all though hée might doe it by authoritie And where my Lord Cardinall hée would spende so much money to haue mée againe I haue great maruaile of it What can they make of mée I am a simple poore wreatch and worth no mans money in the worlde sauing theirs not the tenth peny that they will geue for mée And to burne mée or to destroy mée can not so greatly profite them For wheÌ„ I am dead the Sunne the Moone the starres and the element water and fire yea and also stones shall defende this cause agaynst them rather than the veritie should perishe But if they bée so charitable to doe good workes and to spende their money so well they haue prisoners poore men inough in the land let them bestowe their money of them And as for mée I doe promise them here by this present writing and by the faith that I owe to Christ Iesus and by that fidelitie that I owe to my prince that if they will bée bounde to our noble Prince after the maner of hys lawe and after good conscience and right that they shall doe mée no violence nor wronge but discâ—…sse and dispute these articles and all other that I haue written after the holy worde of God and by Christes holy scripture with mée Then will I as soone as I may know it present my self vnto our most noble prince there offring my selfe to his grace that I will either proue these thinges by Gods worde against you all or els I will suffer at his graces pleasure Whom the father of heaueÌ„ preserue in honour Amen And if you refuse this condition then say that you are neyther good nor charitable For I dare say you can desire no more of a Christen man PRiestes doe mumble and rore out their Dyriges and Masses in the Church and churchyardes for theyr founders curious to speake theyr wordes distinctly But I ensure them that their prayers shall doe them no good but onely acceptatio diuina As for this article the Byshops did not make much of for they perceiued that it was gathered without any seÌ„tence For my saying was that men should make their prayers in such a fayth and with such a deuotion that God might accept them and not so idlely and without all deuotion bable and say their dyriges alonely of vondage and of custome and not of deuotion I brought the laying of the Apostle for mée which sayth Let your peticions and prayers appeare before God And also hée that asketh let him aske in faith nothing doubting THere is no prayer acceptable to God except it bée fetched from the fyre of the aulter This article was also gathered without any sentence for my aduersaries did not greatly care what they made of such articles as pertayned to learning and edifiing And therefore they neuer erred so much as they did in them For in those
the text declareth It is good for a man not to touch a woman Now doth blessed S. Paule aunswere to this holy hypocrisie on this maner To auoyde fornication sayth hée notwithstandyng your holynesse let euery man mary a wyfe Now if blessed Saynt Paule had thought it vnlawfull to marry for any Christen man then would not hée haue sayde Let euery man marry Marke also that it is not agaynst the perfection of any Christen man for to marry but hée is rather boūde to marry if hée haue not the gifte of chastitie Farthermore note that S. Paule neither biddeth them that thought it holynes to bée vnmaryed to fast or to labour or to weare héere But alonely to marry as who shoulde say God hath ordayned and approoued a lawful and a laudable remedy against your sicknes My doctrine is that you shall heare your God and vse to your comforte those creatures remedies with thankes géeuing that God hath appointed and therewith bée you cōtent and recken not your selues wyser then God in helpyng and curyng your diseases For nothing can bée vnlawfull that God doth allowe and prooue And for vsing of Gods creatures and his ordinaunces in tyme and place requisite can no man bée blamed béefore God But for refusing of Gods remedies whē they bée necessary let no man thinke that hée shall auoyde Gods daunger As for an example Hée that wyll not eate and drinke when hée is hungry and thirsty but excogitateth some other remedie of his owne brayne so long that hée bringeth himselfe in vtter destruction let no man doubte but in this case before God hée is a murtherer and an homicide I thinke there is no learning to the contrary Wherefore I woulde that mē should well remember themselues in thys case thinke not that they cā inuent a thyng more pleasaunt vnto God then hée can doe hym selfe His pleasure is best knowen vnto himselfe For this cause I iudge it lawfull for euery Priest that hath not the gift of chastitie to vse the remedy that God hath ordayned and also sanctified Blessed S. Paule saith that mariage is honorable and the bedde of them is vndefiled but fornicatours and aduoulterers God shal iudge Marke that S. Paule caulleth it honorable and a cleane thyng What presumption is therefore in vs that recken it a dishonour and vncleannesse for priestes to vse maryage God sayth hée shall iudge whorekéepers and aduoulterers but not them that bée maryed Wherefore yet agayne after y e doctrine of S. Paule I exhorte all Priestes that can not liue chaste to receiue Gods remedie with thankes This is S. Paules doctrine where hée sayth I woulde that all men were as I my selfe am But euery mā hath his proper gift of God one after this maner an other after that I say vnto the vnmaryed men and wydowes it is good for them if they abide as I doe But and if they can not abstaine let them mary For it is better to mary then to burne I can not deuise a clearer text for my purpose then thys is Saint Paule woulde that euery man had the gifte of chastitie But in as much as all men hath not one gift therefore sayth S. Paule must euery man vse himselfe after his gifts And hée that hath not the gifte of chastitie S. Paule wyll plainely that hée shall mary Hée sayth not that hée shal chastice himselfe wyth labour and wyth payne to remedye that weakenes though I woulde bée contente for my parte gladly that men shoulde prooue all maner of lawfull remedies to helpe them to lyue sole But then if they can not so continue I wyll in no wise that they shall refuse maryage as a thyng vnlawfull and filthy but rather vse it and prooue it at the least wise as they haue done other remedies that they haue inuented séeing that God hath iustituted this as a thyng that hée iudgeth for a lawfull and principall remedy But note that S. Paule sayth it is better to mary then to burne S. Paules meanynge is that if man hath not the gifte to extincte the burnyng and ardent desire of nature that then hée must mary rather then bée subiecte vnto such concupiscence S. Paule sayth not rather mary then to kéepe whores But hys will is that wée shoulde bée so farre from all whoredome that wée should not suffer our selues so much as to burne The whiche precéedeth all whoredome and is lesse in very déede then whoredome And yet S. Paule wylling vs to auoyde this lesse thing commaundeth vs to mary how much more to auoyde open whoredome abhominable and detestable vncleannes that is now vsed shamelesse in the worlde I doe not reprooue that Priestes doth lyue sole I had rather thereto exhorte them But this I detestate that men had rather suffer and allow priestes to liue in whoredome and in all abhominable fornication then for to vse that lawfull remedy that God hath both ordayned and sanctified Wée haue no mention in any storye that euer any Priest was burned for kéepyng of whores but for mariage we haue séene and doe sée dayly how cruelly and violently men doth persecute them as though Gods blessed ordinaunce were rather to bée extincted and abhorred then that thyng y e both God nature reprooueth Where is there one man in England that hath so great loue and reuerence to the holy state of Matrimony that hée should kéepe a maryed Priest in hys house But Priestes that lyue vnlawfully agaynst Gods law and mans law and agaynst all honesty and morall vertue bée in euery mans houses company and rulers and coūsellers and controllers Alas for pitie what shall I say to the affectiōs of mens hartes that thus can winke I will not say alow at such abhominable thynges Yea and the selfe same men shall bée most extreme and cruell vnto a poore simple Priest that of a good hart towardes Gods ordinaunce maryeth a lawfull wife This Priest I say shall neither haue meate nor drinke of thē nor yet no office of charitye But the other sort shalbée exalted and set vp in all honour and kept in reuerence and estimatiō And why Bycause as they say they bée good and cleane felowes and loueth a péece of flesh well These blasphemous woordes haue I heard diuerse tymes and many And men sit and laugh at them haue a great reioysing in them So sore is Gods holy ordinaunce a morall vertue goodnes extincted in mens hartes O Lord God and thy mercy were not how were this world able to cōtinewe that thus abhominably and shamefully iudgeth of thy halowed sanctified workes But oh Lord haue thou mercy and pitie on vs for the swéete bloud of thy sonne Christ Iesus Loke not on our synnes oh lord God for who is able to abyde in thy syght But Lord of thine infinite mercy send downe thy spirit into y e harts of thy people that they may bée taught better to iudge of thy heauenly and Godly
DIEV ET MON DRIOT ¶ THE WHOLE workes of W. Tyndall Iohn Frith and Doct. Barnes three worthy Martyrs and principall teachers of this Churche of England collected and compiled in one Tome togither beyng before scattered now in Print here exhibited to the Church To the prayse of God and profite of all good Christian Readers Mortui resurgent AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye and are to be sold at his shop vnder Aldersgate An. 1573. ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ARISE FOR IT IS DAY A Table of the seuerall Treatises conteyned in M. William Tyndals workes A Preface to the Christian Reader The lyfe of Wylliam Tyndall A protestation of the state of the soules departed A preface that he made before the v. bookes of Moses A prologue shewyng the vse of the Scripture Seuerall prologues that he made to the v. bookes of Moses fol. 2. 7. 11. 15. 21. Certaine harde wordes expounded by him in the fyrst second and fourth booke of Moses fol. 5. 10. 16. A prologue vpon the Prophet Ionas 23. Prologues vpon the iiij Euangelistes 32. Prologues vpon the Epistles of S. Paule 39. Prologues vpon the Epistles of S. Peter 54. Prologues vpon the iij. Epistles of S. Iohn 55. The parable of the wicked Mammon 59. The obedience of a Christian man and how Christian rulers ought to gouerne 97. An exposition vpon the v. vj. vij chapters of S. Ma. thewes Gospell 184. An answere to Syr Thomas Mores dialogues 244 The practise of popishe Prelates 340. A pathway into the holy Scripture 377. The exposition vpon the first Epistle of S. Iohn 387. The exposition vpon M. William Tracies will 429. A fruitfull treatise vpon signes Sacraments 436. Two notable letters that he sent vnto Iohn Frith 453. The Supper of the Lord wherein is confuted the letter of M. More sent vnto Iohn Frith supposed to be written by Tyndall 457. ¶ The Epistle or Preface to the Christian Reader AS we haue great cause to geeue thankes to the high prouidence of almighty God for the excellent arte of Printing most happely of late found out and now commonly practised euery where to the singular benefite of Christes Church wherby great increase of learnyng and knowledge with innumerable commodities els haue ensued and dayly doe ensue to the lyfe of man and especially to the fartheraunce of true Religion so agayne of our parte it is both of vs all in generall to be wished and especially of them to be procured who occupie the trade therof rightly to vse the same to the glory of hym which gaue it and to the ende wherefore it was ordayned and not to abuse vnworthely that worthy facultie eyther in thrusting into the worlde euery vnworthy trifle that commeth to hand or hauing respecte more to their owne priuate gayne then regarde to the publike edifiyng of Christes Church or necessary preferment of Religion For therefore I suppose this science of Printing first to be set vp and sent of God to mans vse not so much for temporall commoditie to be taken or mans glory to be sought thereby but rather for the spirituall and inwarde supportation of soulehealth helpe of Religion restoring of true doctrine repayring of Christes Church and repressing of corrupt abuses which had heretofore ouerdarckened the doctrine of fayth to reuiue agayne the lost lyght of knowledge to these blynde tymes by renuing of holsome and auncient writers whose doinges and teachinges otherwise had lyen in obliuion had not the benefite of Printing brought them agayne to light or vs rather to light by them Wherfore such Printers in my mynde are not to be defrauded of their due commendation who in pretermitting other light triflyng pamflets of matter vnneedful and impertinent little seruing to purpose lesse to necessitie doe employe their endeuour and workemanship chiefly to restore such fruitfull workes and monumentes of auncient writers and blessed Martyrs who as by their godly lyfe and constant death gaue testimonie to the trueth in tyme wherein they suffered so by their doctrine and learning geeue now no lesse lyght to all ages and posteritie after them In the number of whome may rightly be accompted and no lesse recommended to the studious Christen Reader these three learned fathers of blessed memory whom the Printer of this booke hath diligently collected in one volume togither inclosed the workes I meane of William Tyndall Iohn Frith and Robart Barnes chiefe ryngleaders in these latter tymes of thys Church of England Wherein as we haue much to prayse God for such good bookes left to the Church and also for such Printers in preseruing by their industrie and charges such bookes from perishing so haue I to exhorte all studious readers wyth lyke diligence to embrace the benefite of God offered and seriously to occupie them selues in markyng and folowing both the valiaunt actes and excellent wrytinges of the sayd godly persons Concernyng the prayse whereof I shall not neede in thys place to bestow much commendation because neither is it the prayse of men but profite of the godly that they doe seeke nor yet the contempt of the vngodly that they doe feare Moreouer what is to be sayde or thought of them rather by their owne workes then by other mens wordes by readyng their bookes then by my preface is to be seene In perusing whereof thou shalt fynde gentle Reader whether thou bee ignoraunt what to learne or whether thou be learned what to folowe and what to sticke to Briefly whatsoeuer thou art if thou be yong of Iohn Frith if thou be in middle age of W. Tyndall if in elder yeares of D. Barnes matter is here to be founde not onely of doctrine to enforme thee of comfort to delyte thee of godly ensample to directe thee but also of speciall admiration to make thee to wonder at the workes of the Lord so mightely workyng in these men so oportunely in stirryng them vp so graciously in assisting them Albeit diuers other also besides these I say not nay as well before them as after through the secrete operation of Gods mighty prouidence haue beene raysed vp both famous in learnyng florishyng in witte and stout in zeale who labouryng in the same cause haue no lesse valiantly and doughtely stoode in the like defence of Christes true Religion agaynst blynde errour pestilent superstition and perillous hypocrisie namely agaynst the Arche enemye of Christ and hys flocke the Byshop I meane of Rome with hys tyrannicall seate as namely here in England Iohn Wicklyffe Rigge Aston Swynderby W. Thorpe Walter Brute L. Cobham wyth the residue of that former age And also after them many other moe freshe wittes faythfull preachers and learned writers haue sprong vp by the Lord of hoastes to furnishe hys fielde Briefly no age nor tyme hath euerlacked some or other styll bayting at the beast but especially nowe in these our present dayes such plenty yea whole armyes the Lord hath powred vppon hys Church of heauenly souldiours who not
quicke witted and printe wisdome in hym and maketh it to abide where bare wordes go but in at the one eare and out at the other As this with such lyke sayings put salt to all your sacrifices in steade of this senteÌ„ce do all your dedes wyth discretion greeteth and biteth if it bee vnderstand more then plain wordes And when I say in stede of these wordes boast not your selfe of your good dedes eate not the bloud nor the fat of your sacrifice there is as greate difference betwene them as there is distance betwene heauen and earth For the lyfe and beauty of all good dedes is of God and we are but the caren lean we are onely the instrument whereby God worketh onely but the power is his As God created Paul a new poured hys wisdome into hym gaue hym might promised hym that his grace should neuer fayle him c. and al with out deseruinges except that nurtering the sayntes and making them curse rayle on Christ bee meritorious Now as it is death to eate the bloud or fatte of any sacrifice is it not thinke ye daÌ„nable to robbe God of hys honour to glorify my selfe with hys honour An exposition of certayne wordes of the fourth booke of Moses called Numeri AVims a kynde of Giauntes and the worde signifieth crooked vnright or weaked Beliall weaked or weakeuesse hee that hath cast the yoke of God of his necke and will not obey God Bruterer prophesies or southsayers Emims a kynde of gyantes so called because they were terrible and cruell for Emim signifieth terriblenes Enacke a kinde of Giauntes so called happly because they ware chaynes about their neckes Horims a kynde of Giauntes and signifieth noble because that of pride they called themselues nobles or gentles Rocke God is called a rocke because both he and hys word lasteth for euer Whet them on thy children that is exercise thy children in them and put them in vre Zamzumims a kynde of Gyauntes and signifieth mischeuous or that be alway imagining The Prologue into the fourth boke of Moses called Numeri IN the second and thirde booke they receaued the law And in this fourth they beginne to worke to practise Of whiche practising ye see manye good examples of vnbeliefe and what freewill doth when she taketh in hand to kepe y t law of her own power with out helpe of faith in y t promises of god how she leaueth her maisters carkasses by the way in the wildernesse and bringeth them not into the lande of rest Why could they not enter in Because of their vnbeliefe Hebrue 3. For had they beleued so had they bene vnder grace and their old sinnes had ben forgeueÌ„ them and power should haue bene geuen them to haue fulfilled the law thenceforth and they should haue bene kepte from all temptations that had bene to strong for them For it is writen Iohn 1. He gaue them power to be the sonnes of God thorow beleuyng in hys name Now to be y t sonne of God is to loue God and hys commaundementes and to walke in hys way after the ensample of hys sonne Christ But these people tooke vppon them to worke without fayth as thou seest in the 14. of this boke where they would fight and also did without the woorde of promise euen when they were warned that they shoulde not And in the 16. agayne they woulde please God with their holye faythlesse workes for where Gods woorde is not there can be no fayth but the fire of God consumed their holy workes as it did Nadab and Abihu Leuit. 10. And from these vnbeleuers turn thine eyes vnto the Pharises whiche before the commyng of Christ in hys fleshe had layde the foundation of freewyll after the same ensample Wheron they built holy workes after their owne imagination without fayth of y t word so feruently that for the great zeale of them they slewe the king of all holye workes and the lord of freewil which onely thorowe hys grace maketh the will free and looseth her from boÌ„dage of sinne and geueth her loue and luste vnto the lawes of God and power to fulfill them And so through their holy workes done by the power of freewil they excluded themselues out of the holy rest of forgeuenes of sinnes by fayth in the bloud of Christ And then looke on our hipocrites which in lyke manner followyng the doctrine of Aristotle and other hethen Paganes haue agaynst all the Scripture set vp freewill again vnto whose power they ascribe the kepyng of the commaundementes of God For they haue set vp wilfull pouerty of another maner then any is coÌ„maunded of god And y t chastitie of matrimony vtterly defied they haue set vp another wilful chastitie not required of God whiche they swere vowe and professe to geue God whether he wyll geue it them or no and compel all their disciples thervnto saying that it is in the power of euery mans freewill to obserue it contrary to Christ and his apostle Paul And the obedience of God and man excluded they haue vowed an other wilfull obedience condemned of all the scripture which they wil yet geue god whether he wyll or will not And what is become of their wilfull pouerty hath it not robbed the whole worlde and brought and vnder them Can there be either kyng or emperor or of whatsoeuer degree it be except he will hold of them and be sworne vnto them to be their seruaunte to goe and come at their lust and to defende â–ª their quarels bee they false or true Their wilful pouertie hath alredy eaten vp y â— who le world is yet stil gredier then euer it was in so muche that teune worldes mo were not inough to satisfie the honger thereof Moreouer besides daily corruptyng of other mens wiues and open whore dome vnto what abhominacions to filthy to be spoken of hath their voluÌ„tary chastitie brought them And as for their wilfull obedience what is it but the disobedience and the diffiaunce both of al the lawes of God and man in so much that if any Prince begyn to execute any law of man vpon them they curse him vnto the bottome of hâ—l proclayme him no right kyng and that hys Lordes ought no longer to obey hym and interdite his commoÌ„ people as they were heathen Turkes or Saracenes And if any man preach them gods law him they make an hereticke and burne him to ashes And in sieade of Gods lawe and mans they haue set vp one of their owne imagination whiche they obserue with dispensations And yet in these workes they haue so great confidence that they not onely trust to be saued therby and to be hyer in heauen then they y t be saued through Christ but also promise to all other for geuenâ—uâ— of their sinnes thorough the merites of the same Wherin they rest and teach other to rest also excludyng the whole world from the rest
it impossible that thou shouldest loue Gods commaundementes If thou loue not the commaundementes so is Christes spirite not in thee which is the earnest of forgeuenesse of sinne and of saluation For Scripture teacheth first repentaunce then fayth in Christ that for his sake sinne is forgeuen to them that repent then good workes whiche are nothyng saue the comaundement of God onely And the commaūdements are nothyng elles saue the helpyng of our neighbours at their nede and the tamyng of our members that they might be pure also as the hart is pure thorough hate of vice and loue of vertue as Gods word teacheth vs which workes must procede out of the fayth that is I must doe them for the loue which I haue God for that great mercy which he hath shewed me in Christ or elles I do them not in the sight of God And that I fainte not in y t payne of the slaying of the sinne that is in my flesh myne helpe is the promise of the assistance of the power of God and the comforte of the reward to come which reward I ascribe vnto the goodnesse mercy and truth of the promiser that hath chosē me called me taught me geuen me the ernest therof not vnto the merites of my doynges or sufferynges For all that I do and suffer is but the way to the reward and not the deseruyng thereof As if the kynges grace shoulde promise to defende mee at home in myne owne realme yet the way thether is thoroughe the Sea wherin I might happely suffer no litle trouble And yet for all that if I might lyue in rest when I come thether I would thinke and so would other say that my paynes were well rewarded which reward benefit I would not proudly ascribe vnto the merites of my paynes takyng by the waye but vnto the goodnesse mercyfulnesse and constant truth of the kynges grace whose gifte it is and to whō the prayse and thanke thereof belongeth of duety and right So now a reward is a gift geuen freely of the goodnesse of the geuer and not of the deseruynges of the receauer Thus it appeareth that if I vowe what soeuer it be for any other purpose thē to tame my members and to be an ensample of vertue and edifying vnto my neighbour my sacrifice is vnsauery and cleane without salt my lampe without oyle and I one of the foolishe virgines and shal be shut from y t feast of the bridegrome whē I thinke my selfe most sure to enter in If I vow voluntary pouertie this must be my purpose that I will be cōtent with a competent liuyng whiche commeth vnto me either by succession of myne elders or whiche I get truly with my labour in ministryng doyng seruice vnto the common wealth in one office or in an other or in one occupatiō or other because that riches and honor shall not corrupt my mind and draw myne hart from God and to geue an example of vertue and edifying vnto other and that my neighbour may haue a liuyng by me as wel as I if I make a cloke of dissimulation of my vow laying a net of fayned beggery to catch superfluous aboundaunce of riches and hye degree and authoritie and thorough the estimatiō of false holynesse to feede maintaine my slouthful idlenes with the sweate labour landes and rentes of other mē after the example of our spiritualtie robbyng them of their faythes God of his honour turnyng vnto myne hypocrisie that confidence which should be geuen vnto the promises of GOD onely am I not a wily foxe and a rauenyng wolfe in a lambes skinne and a paynted sepulchre fayre without and filthy with in In like maner thoughe I seeke no worldly promotion thereby yet if I doe it to be iustified therewith and to get an hyer place in heauen thinkyng that I doe it of myne owne naturall strength and of the naturall power of my freewill and that euery man hath might euen so to do that they doe it not is their faulte and negligence so with the proude Pharisie in comparison of my selfe despise the sinnefull Publicanes what other thyng do I then eate the bloud and fat of my sacrifice deuouring that my self which should be offered vnto God alone and his Christ And shortly what soeuer a man doth of his naturall giftes of his naturall witte wisedom vnderstandyng reason will and good entēt before he be otherwise and cleane contrary taught of Gods spirite and haue receaued other witte vnderstandyng reason and will is fleshe worldly and wrought in abhominable blindnesse with whiche a man can but seeke him selfe his owne profite glory and honour euen in very spirituall matters As if I were alone in a wildernesse where no man were to seke profite or prayse of yet if I would seeke heauen of God there I could of myne owne naturall giftes seke it no other wayes then for the merites and deseruyngs of my good workes and to enter therin by an other way then by the dore Christe whiche were very theft for Christe is Lord ouer all and what soeuer any man will haue of God he muste haue it geuen hym freely for Christes sake Now to haue heauē for myne owne deseruyng is myne owne praise and not Christes For I can not haue it by fauour and grace in Christe and by myne owne merites also For free geuing deseruyng can not stand together If thou wilt vow of thy goods vnto God thou must put salt vnto thys sacrifice that is thou muste minister knowledge in this dede as Peter teacheth 2. Pet. 1. Thou must put oyle of Gods worde in thy Lampe and do it accordyng to knowledge if thou wait for the comming of the bridegrome to enter in with hym into his rest But thou peraduenture wilt hang it about the image to moue men to deuotion Deuotion is a feruent loue vnto gods commaundementes and a desire to be with God and with hys euerlastyng promises Now shall the sight of such riches as are shewed at S. Thomas shryne or at Walsingham moue a mā to loue the commaundements of god better and to desire to bee loosed from his flesh and to be with God or shall it not rather make his poore hart sigh because he hath no such at home and to wishe part of it in another place The priest shall haue it in Gods stead Shall the priest haue it If the Priest be bought with Christes bloude then he is Christes seruaūt not his owne and ought therefore to feede Christes flocke with Christes doctrine and to minister Christes Sacramentes vnto them purely for very loue and not for filthy lucres sake or to be Lorde ouer them as Peter teatheth 1. Pet. v. and Paul Acts. xx Beside this Christ is oures and is a gift geuen vs and we be heyres of Christ and of all that is Christes Wherefore the Priestes doctrine is oures and we heyres of it it
outward thing euen so seeke within thy hart the plaister of mercy the promises of forgeuenes in our Sauiour Iesus Christ accordyng vnto all the ensamples of mercy y t are gone before And with Ionas let them that wait on vanities and seke God here and there and in euery temple saue in their hartes go and seke thou the testament of God in thyne harte For in thyne hart is the word of the law in thine hart is the word of faith in the promises of mercy in Iesus Christ So that if thou confesse with a repentyng hart and knowledge and surely beleue that Iesus is Lord ouer all sinne thou art safe And finally when the rage of thy conscience is ceased and quieted with fast faith in the promises of mercy thē offer with Ionas the offring of prayse and thankesgeuyng and pay the vowe of thy Baptisme that God onely saueth of his onely mercy and goodnes that is beleue stedsastly and preach cōstātly that it is God onely that smiteth and GOD onely that healeth ascribyng the cause of thy tribulation vnto thyne owne sinne and the cause of thy deliuerance vnto y t mercy of god And beware of the leuen that sayth we haue power in our free will before the preaching of the Gospel to deserue grace to kepe the law of congruite or god to bee vnrighteous And say with Iohn in the first that as the law was geuen by Moses euen so grace to fulfill it is geuen by Christ And when they say our deedes with grace deserue heauen say thou with Paule Rom. vj that euerlastyng lyfe is the gift of GOD thorough Iesus Christe our Lorde and that we be made sonnes by fayth Iohn i. And therefore heires of GOD with Christ Rom. viij And say that we receaue all of God through faith that foloweth repentaunce and that we doe not our workes vnto God but either vnto our selues to slay the sinne that remaineth in the fleshe and to waxe perfect either vnto our neighbours which do as much for vs agayne in other thynges And when a man excedeth in giftes of grace let him vnderstand that they be geuen him as well for his weake brethren as for him self as though all the bread be committed vnto the panter yet for his felowes with him whiche geue thee thankes vnto their Lord and recompence the panter agayn with other kynde of seruice in their offices And when they say that Christ hath made no satisfaction for the sinne we do after our Baptisme say thou with the doctrine of Paule that in our Baptisme we receaue the merites of Christes death through repentaunce faith of which two Baptisme is y t signe And though when we sinne of frailtie after our Baptisme we receaue the signe no more yet we be renewed agayne through repentance and fayth in Christes bloud of which twaine y t signe of Baptisme euen continued among vs in Baptising our young childrē doth euer kepe vs in mind call vs backe again vnto our profession if we begon astray promiseth vs forgeuenesse Neither cā actual sinne be washed away with our workes but with Christes bloud neither can there be any other sacrifice or satisfaction to Godward for them saue christes bloud For as much as we can do no workes vnto God but receiue only of his mercy with our repenting faith through Iesus Christ our lord and only sauiour vnto whom and vnto God our father thorowe hym and vnto his holy spirite y t onely purgeth sanctifieth and washeth vs in the innocent bloude of our redemption be prayse for euer Amen The Prologue vppon the Gospell of S. Mathew by M. William Tyndall HEre hast thou mostdere reader the new Testamēt or couenaunt made with vs of GOD in Christes bloud Whiche I haue looked ouer agayne now at the last with all diligence compared it vnto the Greke haue weeded out of it many fautes which lacke of helpe at the begynning and ouersight did sow therein If ought seme chaunged or not altogether agreyng with the Greeke let the finder of the faute consider the Hebrue phrase or maner of speache left in the Greeke wordes Whose preterperfectence and presentence is oft both one the futuretence is the optatiue mode also the futuretence oft y t imperatiue mode in the actiue voyce in the passiue euer Likewise person for person number for number and interrogatiō for a cōditionall and such lyke is with the Hebruesa common vsage I haue also in many places set light in the margent to vnderstand the text by If any mā finde fautes either with the translation or ought beside which is easier for many to do then so well to haue translated it thē selues of their owne pregnante wittes at the beginnyng without an ensāple to the same it shal be lawfull to trāslate it them selues and to put what they lust thereto It I shall perceaue either by my selfe or by information of other y t ought be escaped me or might more playnly be translated I will shortly after cause it to be amended Howbeit in many places me thinketh it better to put a declaration in the margent then to runne to farre from the text And in many places where the text semeth at the first choppe hard to be vnderstād yet the circumstaunces before and after and often readyng together make it plaine inough Moreouer because the kyngdome of heauen which is the Scripture and word of GOD may be so locked vp that he which readeth or heareth it can not vnderstand it as Christ testifieth how that the Scribes and Phariseis had so shut it vp Math. xxiij and had taken awaye the keye of knowledge Luke xj that y t Iewes which thought them selues within were yet so locked out and are to this day that they can vnderstand no sentence of the Scripture vnto their saluation though they cā rehearse the textes euery where and dispute therof as subtely as the Popish Doctours of Dunces darke learnyng whiche with their sophistry serned vs as the Phariseis did y t Iewes Therfore that I might be found faith full to my father and Lord in distributyng vnto my brethren and felowes of one faith their due and necessary fode so dressing it and seasonyng it that the weake stomackes may receiue it also and be the better for it I thought it my dutie most deare reader to warne thee before and to shew thee the right way in and to geue thee the true keye to open it with all and to arme thee agaynst false Prophetes and malicious hypocrites whose perpetuall studie is to blind the scripture with gloses and there to locke it vp where it should saue thee soule to make vs shoote at a wrōg marke to put our trust in those thinges that profite their bellyes onely and slea our soules The right way yea and the onely way to vnderstand the Scripture vnto saluation is that we earnestly and aboue all thyng search
not to God that we should continue vnfruitfull as before but that he should put the seede of his holy sprite in vs as S. Iohn in his first Epistle calleth it and to make vs fruitfull For sayth Paul Ephe. 2. By grace are ye made safe through fayth and that not of your selues for it is the gifte of God and commeth not of the workes least any man should boast himselfe For we are his workemanship created in Christ Iesu vnto good workes which God hath ordeyned that we should walke in them William Tyndale otherwyse called Hitchins to the Reader GRace and peace with all maner spirituall fcelyng and liuyng worthy of the kyndenes of Christ be wyth the reader with all that trust the wyll of God Amen The cause why I set my name before this little treatise and haue not rather done it in the new testament is that then I folowed the counsell of Christ which exhorteth men Math. 6. to doe their good deedes secretly and to be contente with the consciēce of well doyng and that God seeth vs and patiently to abyde the reward of the last day which christ hath purchased for vs now would I fayne haue done likewise but am I compelled otherwise to do While I aboade a faythfull companion which now hath taken another voyage vpon him to preach Christ where I suppose he was neuer yet preached God which put in hys hart thether to go sende his spirite with hym comforte hym and bryng hys purpose to good effecte one William Roye a man somewhat crafty when he commeth vnto new acquayntance and before he be through knowne and namely when all is spent came vnto me and offred hys helpe As long as he had no money somwhat I could rule hym but as soone as he had gotten hym money he became lyke hymselfe agayne Neuerthelesse I suffered all thynges tyll that was ended which I coulde not doe alone without one both to write and to helpe me to copare the textes together When that was ended I toke my leaue and bade hym farewell for our two lyues and as men say a day longer After we were departed he went and gate him new frendes which thyng to doe he passeth all that euer I yet knew And there when he had stored hym of money he gate hym to Argentine where he professed wonderfull faculties maketh boast of no small things A yeare after that and now xij monthes before y ◠printyng of this worke came one Ierome a brother of Grenewich also through Wormes to Argentine saying y ◠he intended to be Christes Disciple another whyle to kepe as nye as God would geue him grace y ◠profession of hys baptisme to get hys liuyng with his hādes to lyue no lōger idlely of the sweate and labour of those captiues whiche they had taught not to beleue in Christe but in cut shooes and russet coats Which Ierome with all diligence I warned of Royes boldnes exhorted him to beware of hym to walke quietly and wyth all patiēce long sufferyng according as we haue Christ hys Apostles for an ensāple which thyng he also promised me Neuerthelesse whē he was commyng to Argētine Williā Roye whose toung is able not onely to make fooles starke mad but also to deceaue the wisest that is at the first sight and acquaintaunce gate hym to hym and set hym a worke to make rymes while he hym selfe translated a Dialogue out of Latin into Englishe in whose Prologue he promiseth more a great deale then I feare me he will euer pay Paule sayth 2. Timo. 2. The seruaūt of the Lord must not striue but be peaceable vnto all men and ready to teach one that can suffer the euill with mekenesse and that can informe them that resiste if God at any tyme will geue them repentaunce for to know the trouth It becommeth not then the Lordes seruaunt to vse rayling rymes but Gods worde which is the right weapon to slay sinne vice all iniquitie The Scripture of god is good to teach and to improue ij Timo. iij. and. ij Thes ij Paule speakyng of Antechrist sayth Whom the Lord shall destroy with the sprite or breath of his mouth that is with the word of God And. ij Cor. x. The weapons of our warre are not carnall thynges sayth he but mighty in God to cast downe strong holdes and so forth that is to destroy high buildings of false doctrine The word of God is that day wherof Paul speaketh i. Cor. iij. which shall declare all thing that fire which shal try euery mans worke and consume false doctrine with that sword ought men sharply to fight and not to rayle with foolishe rymes Let it not offende thee that some walke inordinatly let not the wickednes of Iudas cause thee to despise the doctrine of his fellowes No man ought to thinke that Stephen was a false preacher because that Nicolas whiche was chosen felow with hym Act. vj. to minister vnto the widowes fell after into great heresies as histories make mention Good and euill go alwayes together one cā not be knowen without the other Marke this also aboue all thinges that Antechrist is not an outward thyng that is to say a man that should sodēly appeare with wonders as our fathers talked of hym No verely for Antichrist is a spirituall thyng And is as much to say as agaynst Christ y t is one that preacheth false doctrine contrarie to Christ Antechrist was in the old Testamēt and fought with the Prophetes he was also in the tyme of Christ of the Apostles as thou readest in the Epistles of Iohn and of Paule to the Corinthians and Galathians and other Epistles Antechrist is now shall I doubt not endure till the worldes ende But his nature is when he is vttered and ouercome with the worde of God to go out of the playe for a season and to disguise hymselfe and then to come in agayne with a new name and new rayment As thou seest howe Christ rebuketh the Scribes and the Pharises in the Gospel which were very Antechristes saying Wo be to you Pharises for ye robbe widowes houses ye praye long prayers vnder a colour ye shut vp the kingdom of heauē suffer thē not y ◠would to enter in ye haue taken away the keye of knowledge ye make men breake Gods commaundementes with your traditions ye beguile the people with hipocrisie and such like Which thynges all our prelates do but haue yet gotten them new names and other garmentes and are otherwyse disguised There is difference in the names betwene a Pope a Cardinall a bishop and so forth and to say a Scribe a Pharisey a seniour and so forth but the thyng is all one Euen so now when we haue vttered hym he wyll change hymselfe once more and turne hymselfe into an angell of lyght 2. Cor. 11. Read the place I exhorte
of the commaunder and worke with tediousnes But he that worketh of pure loue without seekyng of reward woorketh truly Thirdly that not the saintes but god onely receiueth vs into eternall tabernacles is so plaine euidēt that it nedeth not to declare or proue it How shall the saintes receaue vs into heauen when euery man hath neede for him selfe that God onely receiue hym to heauen and euery man hath scace for himself As it appeareth by the fiue wise virgins Math. 25 which would not geue of their oyle vnto the vnwise virgins And Peter sayeth in the 4. of his first Epistle that the righteous is with difficultie saued So seest thou y ◠the saying of Christ make you frendes and so forth that they may receiue you into euerlasting tabernacles pertayneth not vnto the saintes which are in heauen but is spokē of the poore and nedy which are here presēt with vs on earth as though he would say What buildest thou churches foundest Abbeys chauntries and colledges in the honor of saints to my Mother S. Peter Paule and saintes that be dead to make of them thy frendes They nede it not ye they are not thy frendes but theirs which liued then whē they did of whome they were holpen Thy frendes are the poore which are nowe in thy tyme liue with thee thy poore neighbours which neede thy help and succour Them make thy frendes with thy vnrighteous Mammon that they may testify of thy faith and thou maist know and feele that thy fayth is right and not fayned VNto the second such receauing into euerlasting habitations is not to be vnderstand that men shall do it For many to whom we shew mercy do good shall not come there neyther skilleth it so we meekely and louingly do our duetie ye it is a signe of strong fayth and feruent loue if we do wel to the euill and studye to drawe them to Christ in all that lyeth in vs. But the poore geue vs an occasion to exercise our fayth and the dedes make vs feele our fayth and certify vs ānd make vs sure that we are safe and are escaped and translated from death vnto lyfe that we are deliuered and redemed frō the captiuitie and bondage of Satan and broughte into the libertie of the sonnes of God in that we fele lust and strength in our hart to worke the will of god And at that day shal our dedes appeare and comfort our hartes witnes our faith and trust which we now haue in Christ which fayth shall then keepe vs from shame as it is written None that beleueth in him shall be ashamed Rom. 9. So that good works helpe our fayth and make vs sure in our consciences and make vs feele the mercy of god Notwithstanding heauen euerlasting lyfe ioy eternal faith the fauour of God the spirite of God lust and strength vnto the wil of God are geuen vs freely of the bounteous and plenteous riches of God purchased by Christ without our deseruings that no man should reioyce but in the Lord onely FOr a further vnderstanding of this Gospel here may be made 3. questions What Mammō is why it is called vnrighteous and after what maner Christ biddeth vs counterfet folow the vniust and wicked stewarde which with his lordes dammage prouided for his owne profite and vātage which thing no doubt is vnrighteous and sinne First Mammon is an Hebrue word signifieth riches or temporal goods and namely all superfluitie and all y t is aboue necessitie that which is required vnto our necessary vses wherwith a man may helpe an other without vndoyng or hurtyng himselfe For Hamon in the Hebrew speach signifieth a multitude or abundance or many And therehence commeth Mahamon or Mammon aboundaunce or plenteousnes of goodes or riches Secondarily it is called vnrighteous Mammon not because it is gottē vnrighteously or with vsurye for of vnrighteous gotten goods can no mā do good workes but ought to restore them home agayne As it is sayd Esay 61. I am a God that hateth offeryng that commeth of robbery And Pro. 3. sayth Honour the Lord of thine own good But therfore it is called vnrighteous because it is in vnrighteous vse As Paule speaketh vnto the Ephes 5. how that the dayes are euill thoughe that god hath made them and they are a good worke of gods makyng How be it they are yet called euill because that euill men vse them amisse much sinne occasions of euill peril of soules are wrought in thē Euē so are riches called euill because that euill men bestow thē amisse and misuse them For where riches is there goeth it after the common prouerbe He that hath money hath what him listeth And they cause fighting stealing laying awaite lying flatering and all vnhappines against a mans neighbour For all men holde on riches part But singularly before God is it called vnrighteous Mammon because it is not bestowed and ministred vnto our neighbors nede For if my neighbour neede and I geue him not neyther depart liberally with him of that which I haue than withholde I from him vnrighteously that which is hys owne For as much as I am bounden to helpe hym by the lawe of nature which is whātsoeuer thou wouldest y ◠an other did to thee that doe thou also to hym And Christ Math. 5. Geue to euery mā that desireth thee And Iohn in his first Epistle if a man haue thys worldes good see hys brother nede how is the loue of God in hym And this vnrighteousnes in our Mammō see very few men because it is spirituall and in those goodes whiche are gotten most truely and iustly whiche beguile men For they suppose they do no man wrong in keepyng them in that they got them not with stealyng robbing oppression and vsury neither hurt any man now with them Thirdly many haue busied thēselues in studying what or who this vnrighteous steward is because y t Christ so praiseth him But shortly and plainly this is the aunswere That Christ prayseth not the vnrighteous stuard neither setteth him forth to vs to coūterfait because of his vnrighteousnes but because of his wisedome onely in that he with vnright so wisely prouided for himself As if I would prouoke another to pray or study do say The theeues watch all night to robbe and steale why cāst not thou watch to pray and to study Here prayse not I the theefe and murderer for their euill doyng but for their wisedome that they so wisely and diligently wayt on their vnrighteousnes Likewise whē I say misse women tyre thē selues with gold and silke to please their louers what wilt not thou garnish thy soule with fayth to please Christ here prayse I not whoredome but y ◠diligence which the whore misuseth On this wise Paule also Roma v. likeneth Adam Christ together saying that Adam was a figure of Christ And yet of Adam haue we
is for Christes sake deceaueth him selfe and maketh a mocke of himselfe vnto the godles hipocrites infidels No man can serue two maisters God and Mammon that is to say wicked riches also Mathew vj. Thou must loue Christ aboue all thing but that doest thou not if thou be not ready to forsake all for hys sake if thou haue forsaken all for his sake then art thou sure that thou louest him Tribulation is our right baptisme and is signified by plunging into the water Wee that are baptized in the name of Christ sayth Paule Rom. vj. are baptized to dye with him The spirite through tribulation purgeth vs and killeth our fleshly witte our worldly vnderstādyng and belly wisedome and filleth vs full of the wisedome of God Tribulation is a blessing that commeth of God as witnesseth Christ Math. v. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theyrs is the kyngdome of heauen Is not this a comfortable word Who ought not rather to chuse and desire to be blessed w t Christ in a little tribulation then to be cursed perpetually with the world for a little pleasure Prosperitie is a right curse and a thing that God geueth vnto his enemies Wo be to you ritch sayth Christ Luke vj. loe ye haue your consolation wo be to you that are ful for ye shall hunger wo be to you that laugh for ye shall weepe wo be to you when men prayse you for so did theyr fathers vnto the false prophetes yea and so haue our fathers done vnto the false hypocrites The hipocrites with worldly preaching haue not gotten the prayse onely but euen the possessions also and the dominion and rule of the whole worlde Tribulation for righteousnes is not a blessing onely but also a gift that God geueth vnto none saue his speciall frendes The Apostles Act. v. reioyced that they were counted woorthy to suffer rebuke for Christes sake And Paule in the second epistle third chapter to Timothe sayth All that will liue godly in Christ Iesu must suffer persecutiō And Philip. j. he sayth Vnto you it is geuen not onely to beleue in Christ but also to suffer for his sake Here seest thou that it is Gods gift to suffer for Christes sake And in the 1. Pet. 4. sayth Happy are ye if ye suffer for the name of Christ for the glorious spirite of God resteth in you Is it not an happy thing to be sure that thou art sealed with Gods spirite vnto euerlasting life And verily thou art sure therof if thou suffer patiently for his sake By suffring art thou sure but by persecuting canst thou neuer be sure For Paule Rom. 5. sayth Tribulation maketh feeling that is it maketh vs feele the goodnesse of God and his helpe and the working of his spirite 2. Cor. 12. the Lord sayd vnto Paul My grace is sufficiēt for thee for my strēgth is made perfect through weaknes Lo Christ is neuer strong in vs till we be weake As our strength abateth so groweth the strength of Christ in vs when we are cleane emptied of our own strength then are we ful of Christes strength looke how much of our owne strength remayneth in vs so much lacketh there of y ◠strength of Christ Therfore sayth Paule 2. Cor. 12. Very gladly will I reioyce in my weaknes that the strength of Christ may dwell in me therfore haue I delectation sayth Paule in infirmities in rebukes in need in persecutions and in anguish for Christes sake for when I am weake then am I strong Meaning that the weaknes of the fleshe is the strength of the spirite And by flesh vnderstand wit wisedome and all that is in a man before the spirite of God come and whatsoeuer springeth not of the spirite of God and of Gods woorde And of like testimonies is all the scripture full Behold God setteth before vs a blessing and also a curse A blessing verely and that a glorious and an euerlasting if we will suffer tribulatiō and aduersity with our Lord and sauiour Christ And an euerlasting curse if for a little pleasure sake we withdrawe our selues from the chastysing nurture of God wherewith he teacheth all his sonnes and fashioneth them after his godly will and maketh them perfect as he did Christ and maketh them apte and meete vessels to receiue his grace and hys spirite that they might perceaue and feele the exceeding mercy which we haue in Christ the innumerable blessinges and the vnspeakeable inheritance whereunto we are called and chosen and sealed in our sauiour Iesus Christ vnto whome be prayse for euer Amen Finally whome God chuseth to raigne euerlastingly with christ him sealeth he with his mighty spirite and poureth strength into his hart to suffer afflictiōs also with Christ for bearing witnesse vnto the truth And this is the difference betwene the children of God and of saluation and betwene the children of the deuyll and of damnation that the children of God haue power in theyr hartes to suffer for Gods worde which is theyr life and saluatiō their hope and trust and whereby they liue in the soule and spirite before God And the children of the deuyll in time of aduersity flye from Christ whome they followed faynedly theyr hartes not sealed with hys holy mighty spirite and gett them to the standerde of theyr right father the Deuyll and take his wages the pleasures of this world which ar the earnest of euerlasting damnation which conclusion the xij chap. to the Hebrues well confirmeth saying My sonne despise not thou the chasticing of the Lord neither faint whē thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loueth him he chasticeth yea he scourgeth euery sonne whome he receaueth To persecution and aduersitie for the truthes sake is Gods scourge and Gods rod and pertaineth vnto all his children indifferently for when he sayth he scourgeth euery sonne he maketh none exception Moreouer sayth the text If ye shall endure chasticing God offreth hymselfe vnto you as vnto sonnes what sonne is it that the father chasticeth not If ye be not vnder correction whereof all are partakers then are ye bastardes and not sonnes Forasmuch then as we must needes bee baptised in tribulations and through the red sea and a great and a fearefull wildernes a land of cruell Giantes into our naturall coūtrey ▪ yea and in asmuch as it is a playne earnest that there is no other way into the kingdome of life then through persecution sufferyng of payne of very death after the ensample of Christe therefore let vs arme our soules with the comforte of the Scriptures How that God is euer ready at hand in time of neede to helpe vs and how that such tyrants and persecutors are but gods scourge and his rod to chastice vs. And as the father hath alway in time of correction the rod fast in his hand so that the rod doth
that we are holy righteous full of good deedes if y â— law be preached a right our righteousnes and good dedes vanish away as smoke in the winde and we are left damnable sinners onely And as thou seest how that Christ healeth not till Peter had wouÌ„ded and as an healyng plaister helpeth not till y â— corrosie hath troubled the wounde eueÌ„ so the Gospell helpeth not but wheÌ„ the law hath wouÌ„ded y e conscience and brought the sinner into y e knowledge of his sinne This allegory proueth nothyng neither caÌ„ do For it is not the Scripture but an exaÌ„ple or a similitude borowed of the Scripture to declare a text or a conclusion of the Scripture more expresly and to roote it and graue it in the hart For a similitude or an example doth printe a thing much deper in the wittes of a man then doth a plaine speakyng and leaueth behynd him as it were a stinge to pricke him forward and to awake him with all Moreouer if I could not proue with an open text that which the Allegory doth expresse then were the Allegory a thyng to bee gested at and of no greater value then a tale of Robyn hode This allegory as touching his first part is proued by Paul in ye. iij. chap. of his Epistle to the Romanes where he sayth The law causeth wrath And in y e vij chapter to the Romanes When the law or commaundement came sinne reuiued and I become dead And in the ij Epistle to the Cor. in the third chap. the law is called the minister of death and daÌ„nation c. And as concernyng the second part Paul sayth to the Rom. in the v. chap. In that we are iustified by faith we are at peace with God And in the ij Epistle to the CorinthiaÌ„s in the. iij. The Gospell is called the ministratioÌ„ of iustifying and of the spirite And Gala. iiij The spirite coÌ„meth by preaching of the faith c. This doth the litterall sence proue the allegory beare it as the foundatioÌ„ beareth the house And because that allegories proue nothyng therfore are they to be vsed soberly and seldome onely where the text offereth thee an allegory And of this maner as I aboue haue done doth Paul borow a similitude a figure or allegory of Genesis to expresse the nature of the law and of the Gospell and by Agar her sonne declareth the propertie of the law and of her bonde children which wil be iustified by deedes and by Sara and her sonne declareth the propertie of the Gospell and of her free children which are iustified by faith and how the children of the law which beleue in their workes persecute the children of the Gospel which beleue in the mercy and truth of God and in the Testament of his sonne Iesus our Lord. And likewise do we borow likenesses or allegories of the Scripture as of Pharao and Derode and of the Scribes and Phariseis to expresse our miserable captiuitie and persecution vnder Antichrist the Pope The greatest cause of which captiuitie and the decay of the fayth this blindnes wherin we now are sprang first of allegories For Origene and the doctours of his time drew all y e Scripture vnto allegories Whose ensample they that came after folowed so loÌ„g till at the last they forgat y â— order and processe of the text supposing that y e scripture serued but to faine allegories vppoÌ„ In somuch that twenty doctours expounde one text xx wayes as children make descant vpon playne song Then came our sophisters with theâ—â— Anagogicall and Chopologicall sence with an antetheme of halfe an inch out of whiche some of them drawe a threde of ix dayes long Yea thou shalt fynde inough that will preach Christ and proue what soeuer poynte of thee fayth that thou wilt as well out of a fabell of Ouide or any other Poet as out of S. Iohns Gospell or Paules Epistles Yea they are come vnto such blyndnes that they not onely say the litterall sence profiteth not but also that it is hurtful and noysome and killeth the soule Which damnable doctrine they proue by a text of Paule ij Corinth iij. Where he sayth the letter killeth but the spirit geueth life Lo say they the litterall sence killeth and the spirituall sence geueth life We must therfore say they seeke out some choplogicall sence Here learne what sophistrie is and how blind they are that thou mayest abhorre them and spue them out of thy stomake for euer Paule by the letter meaneth Moyses law which the processe of the text folowyng declareth more bright then the sunne But it is not their guise to looke on the order of any text but as they find it in their doctours so alledge they it and so vnderstaÌ„d it Paule maketh a comparisoÌ„ betwene the law and the Gospell calleth the law the letter because it was but letters grauen in two tables of cold stoâ—e For the law doth but kill and damne the consciences as long as there is no lust in the hart to doe that which the law commaundeth Contrary wise he calleth the Gospell the administration of the spirite of righteousnes or iustifying For wheÌ„ Christ is preached and the promises whiche God hath made in Christ are beleued the spirit entereth the hart and looseth the hart and geueth lust to do the law and maketh the law a liuely thyng in the hart Now as soone as the hart lusteth to do the law then are we righteous before God our sinnes forgeuen Neuerthelesse the law of the letter graued in stone and not in the hartes was so glorious and Moyses his face shone so bryght that the children of Israell could not behold his face for brightnes It was also geuen in thunder and lightning and terrible signes so that they for feare came to Moses desired him that he would speake to them let God speake no more Lest we dye sayd they If we heare him any more as thou mayst see Exod. xx Wherupon Paule maketh his comparison saying if the ministratioÌ„ of death thorough the letters figured in stones was glorious so that the childreÌ„ of Israell could not behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenaunce why shal not the administration of the spirite be glorious And agayne if the administration of damnation be glorious much more shall the administration of righteousnes excede in glory That is if the law that killeth sinners helpeth theÌ„ not to be glorious then the Gospel which pardoneth sinners and geueth them power to be the sonnes of God to ouer come sinne is much more glorious And the text that goeth before is as cleare For the holy Apostle Paule sayth ye Corinthians are our Epistle which is vnderstand and read of all men in that ye are knowen how that ye are the Epistle of Christ ministred by vs and written not with ynke as Moyses law but with the
their obedience they destroy the obedience that God ordayned in this world desireth no other With their pouerty they destroy the pouertie of the spirit which Christ taught onely whiche is onely not to loue worldly goodes With their fast they destroy the fast which God commaundeth that is a perpetuall sobernesse to tame the fleshe With their patteryng prayer they destroy the prayer taught by God whiche is either thankes or desiryng helpe with fayth trust that God heareth me Their holynesse is to forbyd y t God ordeined to be receaued with thankes giuyng as meate matrimony And their owne workes they maintayne let Gods decay Breake theirs they persecute to the death But breake Gods and they either looke through the fingers or els geue thee a flappe with a Foxe tayle for a litle money There is none order among them that is so perfect but that they haue a prison more cruell theÌ„ any iayle of theues and murtherers And if one of their brethren commit fornication or adultery in the world he finisheth his penaunce therin in three Wekes or a moneth and then is sent to an other place of the same religion But if he attempt to put of the holy habite he commeth neuer out is so straytly dioted therto that it is meruell if he liue a yeare beside other cruell murther that hath bene found among them and yet is this shamefull dyoting of theirs murther cruell inough Be not deceaued with visions nor yet with miracles But go to iudge their workes for the spiritual iudgeth all thinges sayth Paule i. Cor. ij Who is that spirituall not such as we now call men of holy Church But all that haue the true interpretation of the law written in their harts The right fayth of Christ and the true inteÌ„t of workes which God byddeth vs worke he is spirituall and iudged all thinges and is iudged of no man Not all that say to me Lorde Lorde shall enter into the kyngdome of heauen But he that fulfilleth the will of my father which is in heauen Many will say vnto me at that day Lord Lord dyd we not prophesie in thy name and in thy name cast out deuils and dyd we not in thy name many miracles Then will I confesse vnto theÌ„ I neuer knew you depart from me ye workers of iniquitie This doublyng of Lord hath vehemency and betokeneth that they which shal be excluded are such as thinke theÌ„ selues better and perfitter then other men and to deserue heauen with holy workes not for them selues onely but also for other And by that they prophesied by which thou mayst vnderstand the interpretyng of Scripture and by that they cast out deuils did miracles in Christes name and for all that they are yet workes of wickednesse and do not the will of the father which is in heauen it is playne that they be false Prophetes and euen the same of which Christ warned before And now for as much as Christ and his Apostles warne vs that such shall come and describe vs the fashions of their visures Christes name holy Church holy fathers and xv hundred yeares with Scripture and miracles and commaunde vs to turne our eyes from their visures and consider their frutes and cut them vp and loke with in whether they be sound in the core kernell or no and geue vs a rule to try them by is it excuse good inough to say God will not let so great a multitude erre I will folow the most part and beleue as my fathers dyd and as the preachers teach and will not busie my selfe chose them the faute is theirs and not ours God shall not lay it to our charge if we erre Where such wordes be there are the false Prophetes all ready For where no loue to the truth is there are y â— false Prophetes where such wordes be there to be no loue to y e truth is plame Ergo where such woordes be there be the false Prophetes in their full swyng by Paules rule ij Thessa ij An other conclusion where no loue to the truth is there be false Prophetes The greatest of the world haue least loue to the truth Ergo the false Prophetes be the Chaplaines of the greatest which may with the sword compel the rest As the kynges of Israell compelled to worshyp the golden Calues And by false Prophetes vnderstand falâ—e teachers as Peter calleth them and wycked expounders of the Scripture Who soeuer heareth these words of me and doth them I will lyken him vnto a wise man that built hys house vppon a rocke and there fell a rayne and the floudes came and the windes blew and beate vppon that house but it fell not for it was grounded vpon a rocke And all that heare of me these wordes and do them not shal be lykened vnto a foolishe man that buylt his house vpon the sand and there fell a rayne and the floudes came and the windes blâ—w and dashed vpon that house and it fell and the fall therof was great Christ hath two sortes of hearers of which neither of them do there after The one wil be saued by fayth of theyr owne makyng without workes The other with workes of their owne makyng without faith The first are those voluptuous which haue yelded them selues vp to sinne saying tushe God is mercyfull Christ dyed for vs that must saue vs onely for we cannot but sinne without resistaÌ„ce The second are the hypocrites which will deserue all with theyr owne imagined woorkes onely And of fayth they haue no other experience saue that it is a litle meritorious where it is paynefull to be beleued As that Christ was borne of a virgin and that he came not out the way that other children do he no that were a great inconuenience but aboue vnder her arme yet made no hole though he had a very naturall body as other meÌ„ haue and that there is no bread in the Sacrament nor wyne though the fiue wittes say all ye And the meritorious payne of this belefe is so heauy to them that except they had fayned them a thousand wise similitudes and lowsye lykenesses and as many madde reasoÌ„s to stay them with all and to helpe to captiuate their vnderstandyng they were like to cast all of their backes And the onely refuge of a great many to keepe in that fayth is to cast it out of their myndes not to thinke vpon it As though they forgeue not yet it they put the displeasure out of their myndes and thinke not of it til a good occasion be geueÌ„ to adueÌ„ge it they thinke they loue their neighbour well inough all the while and be in good charge And the fayth of the best of them is but like theyr fayth in other worldly stories But the fayth which is trust and confidence to be saued and to haue their sinnes forgeuen by Christ which was so borne haue they not at all
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
bringeth he in the perpetuall virginitie of our Lady which though it be neuer so true is yet none article of our fayth to be saued by But we beleue it with a story fayth because we see no cause reasonable to thinke the contrary And when he sayth many misteries are yet to be opened as the commyng of Antichrist Nay verely the babe is knowne well inough and all the tokens spide in him which the scripture describeth hym by And when he alleageth Paules traditions to the Thessalo to proue hys phantasie I haue answered Rochester in the obedience that his traditions were the Gospell that he preached And when he alleageth Paule to the Corin. I say that Paule neuer knew of this word Masse Neither can any man gather thereof any straunge holy gestures but the playne contrary and that there was no other vse there then to breake the bread amōg them at supper as Christ did And therefore he calleth it Christes supper and not Masse There was learned y ◠maner of consecration A great doubt as though we coulde not gather of the scripture how to do it And of the water that the Priest mingleth wyth the wyne A great doubt also and a perilois case if it were left out For either it was done to slake the heate of the wine or put to after as a ceremony to signifie that as the water is chaunged into wine so are we chaunged thorow sayth as it were into Christ and are one wyth him how be it all is to their owne shame that ought shoulde be done or vsed among vs Christen whereof no man wist the meaning For if I vnderstand not the meaning it helpeth me not 1. Cor. 14. and as experience reacheth But if our shepherdes had bene as well willing to feede as to shere we had needed no such dispicience nor they to haue burnt so many as they haue And as for that he alleageth out of the Epistle of James for the iustifying of workes I haue aunswered in the Mammon against which he can not hisse and will speake more in the iiij booke And as for the Saboth a great matter we be Lordes ouer the Saboth may yet chaunge it into the monday or or any other day as we see neede or may make euery tenth day holy daye onely if we see a cause why we may make two euery weeke if it were expedient and one not inongh to teach y ◠people Neither was there any cause to chaunge it from the Saterday then to put difference betwene vs and the Iewes and least we should become seruanntes vnto the day after their superstition Neyther needed we any holyday at all if the people myght be taught without it And when he asketh by what scripture we know that a womā may christen I answere if baptim be so necessary as they make it then loue thy neighbour as thy selfe doth teach women to baptise in tyme of neede yea and to teach to rule their husbandes to if they be besides them selues And when he sayth that of likelihode the laye people vnderstoode the Gospell of Iohn and Paules Epistles better then great Clarkes now I answere the more shame is theirs How be it there be ij causes why the one is their diligent shering and an other they deny the iustifying of fayth wherof both Paule and Iohn do entreate almost of nothyng els if the signification of our baptim which is the lawe of God fayth of Christ were expounded truely vnto vs y t scripture would be easie to all that exercised themselues therin And sir in as much as the prelates care so little for the losse of y t vnderstanding of the Scripture and to teach y ◠people how happeneth it that they care so sore for a balde ceremonie which y ◠significatiō lost though Christ hymfelse had institute it we coulde not obserue without a false faith and without hurtyng of our soules And finally to rocke vs a sleepe with all he sayth that he shall neuer speede well that will seeke in the scripture whether our Prelates teach vs a true fayth though ten preach ech contrary to other in one day And yet Christ for all his miracles sendeth vs to y t scripture And for all Paules miracles the Iewes studyed the scripture the deligenterly to see whether it were as he sayd or no. How be it he meaneth that such cā not speede well because the prelates will burne them except M. More helpe them and make them forsweare Christ before hand The xxvii chapter IN the xxvij he bringeth Paule exhorting to agree and to tell all one tale in the fayth which can not be saith M. More except one beleue by the reasō of an other Yes verely we all beleue y e the fire is hot and yet not by the reasō of an other and that with a more surer knowledge then if we beleued it y ◠one by the tellyng of an other And euē so they that haue the law of God written in their hartes and are taught of y t spirite to know sinne and to abhorre it and to feele the power of the resurrection of Christ beleue much surer then they that haue none other certeintie of their fayth then the Popes preachyng confirmed with so godly liuing And it is not vnknowne to M. More that the churches of late dayes and the churches now beyng haue determined thynges in one case the one contrary to the other in such wise that he can not deny but the one hath or doth erre the which case I could shew hym if I so were mynded The olde Popes Cardinalles and Byshops sayd ye to the thyng that I meane whereunto these that now raigne say nay Now syr if you gather a generall counsell for the matter the churches of Fraunce and Italy will not beleue the Churches of Spayne and Douchland because they so say but will aske how they proue it Neyther will Louayne beleue Paris because they say that they can not erre but wyl heare first their probation Also how shall we know that the olde Pope and hys Prelates erred because these that are now so say When y t olde Pope liued we were as much bounde to beleue that he could not erre as we be now that this can not wherefore you must graunt me that God must shew a myracle for the tone parte or els they must bring autētike scripture Now syr God hath made hys last euerlasting testament so that all is open and no more behynde then the appearyng of Christ againe And because he wyll not stirre vp euery day a new prophet with a new miracle to cōfirme new doctrine or to call agayne the olde that was forgotten therefore were all thinges necessary to saluation comprehended in scripture euer to endure By which scripture the counsels generall and not by open miracles haue cōcluded such thynges as
inch of her honour or Saint Peters seate one iot of her right And Anselmus that was Byshop in short tyme after neuer left striumge with that mighty prince kyng William the second vntill he had compelled him maugre his teeth to deliuer vp the inuestiture or election of Byshops vnto Saint Peters vicar which inuestiture was of olde tyme the kynges dutie And agayne when the sayde kyng William woulde haue had the tribute that Priestes gaue yearely vnto theyr Byshoppes for their whores payde to hym did not Rāfe Byshop of Chichester forbid Gods seruice as they call it and stoppe vp the Church doores with thornes thoroughout all his diocesse vntill the kyng had yelded hym vp his tribute agayne For when the holy father had forbode Priestes theyr wyues the Byshop permitted them whores of their owne for a yearely tribute do still yet in all landes saue in England where they may not haue any other saue mens wiues onely And agayne for the election of Steuē Langton Archbyshop of Canterbury what mysery and wretchednes was in the realme a long season Then was y e land interdited many yeares And whē that holpe not then Ireland rebelled agaynst kyng Iohn immediatly not without the secrete workinge of our Prelates I dare well say But finally when neither the interditing neither that secrete subtiltie holpe and when Iohn would in no meanes consent that Saint Peters vicar should raigne alone ouer the spiritualtie and ouer all that pertayned vnto them and y t they should sinne and do all mischiefe vnpunished the Pope sent remission of sinnes to the kyng of Fraunce for to goe and conquere his land Whereof kyng Iohn was so sore afrayde that he yelded vp his crowne vnto the Pope and sware to holde the land of him and that his successours should do so likewyse And againe in king Richardes dayes the second Thomas Arundell Archbyshop of Canterbury and Chauncellar was exiled wyth the Earle of Darby The outward pretence of the variaūce betwene the king and hys Lords was for the deliueraunce of the towne of Breste in Britayne But our prelates had an other secrete mistery a bruyng They could not at their owne lust slea the poore wretches which at that tyme were conuerted vnto repētaunce to y t true fayth to put their trust in Christes death bloud sheding for the remissiō of their sinnes by the preaching of Iohn Wiclefe As soone as the Archbyshop was out of the realme the Irishmen began to rebell agaynst kyng Richarde as before agaynst kyng Iohn But not hardly without the inuisible inspiration of thē that rule both in the courte and also in the consciences of all men They be one kyngdome sworne together one to helpe an other scatered abroad in all realines And howbeit that they striue amōg themselues who shal be greatest yet agaynst the temporal power they be alwayes at one though they dissemble it faine as though one helde agaynst the other to know their enemies secretes to betray them withall They can enspyre priuely into the brestes of the people what mischiefe they liste no man shall know whence it cōmeth Their letters go secretly from one to an other thoroughout all kingdomes Saint Peters vicar shall haue worde in xv or xvj dayes from the vttermost part of Christendome The Byshops of Englande at their neede can write vnto the Byshops of Ireland Scotland Denmarke Douchland Fraūce and Spayne promising them as good a turne an other tyme putting thē 〈◊〉 remembraunce that they be all one holy Church and that the cause of y t tone is the cause of the tother saying if our iugglinge breake out youres can not belong hid And the other shall serue their turne and bring the game vnto their handes and no man shall know how it commeth about Assoone as kyng Richard was gone to Ireland to subdue these rebellions the Byshop came in againe and preuēted the kyng and tooke vp his power agaynst hym and tooke him prisoner and put him downe and to death most cruelly and crowned the Erle of Darbye Kyng O mercifull Christ what bloud hath that coronacion cost England but what care they their causes must be auenged He is not worthy to bee kyng that will not auenge their quarels For do not the kyngs receaue their kyngdome of the beast sweare to worship hym and maintayne hys throne And thē whē the Erle of Darbye which was king Henry the fourth was crowned the prelates tooke hys sworde and his sonnes Henry the fift after hym as all the kynges swordes since and abused them to shed Christē bloud at their pleasure And they coupled their cause vnto the kynges cause as now and made it treasō to beleue in Christ as the scripture teacheth and to resiste the Byshops as now and thrust them in the kinges prisons as now so that it is no new inuention that they now do but euen an olde practise though they haue done theyr busie cure to hide their sciēce that their conueyaunce should not be espyed And in kyng Henry the sixt dayes how raged they as fierce Liōs against good Duke Humfrey of Glocester the kynges vncle and protectour of the realme in the kynges youth and childhod because that for him they myght not slea whom they would and make what cheuysaunce they lusted Would not the Byshoppe of winchester haue fallen vpon him and oppressed him openly with might and power in the citie of London had not the Citizens come to his helpe But at the last they founde y t meanes to contriue a drift to bring their matters to passe and made a Parlyament farre from the Cityzens of London where was slayne the good Duke and onely wealth of the realme and the mighty shylde that so long before that kept it from sorow which shortly after his death fell theron by heapes But the chronicles can not tell wherfore he dyed nor by what meanes No maruell verely For he had neede of other eyes then such as y e worlde seeth withall that should spye out their priuy pathes Neuerthelesse the chronicles testifie that he was a vertuous man a godly and good to the commō wealth Moreouer the proctour of purgatory saith in his Dialoge quod I and quod he and quod your frende how that the foresayd Duke of Glocester was a noble mā and a great clarcke and so wise that he coulde spye false myracles and disclose them and iudge them from the true which is an hatefull science vnto our spiritualtie and more abhorred amongest them then Necromancye or witchcrafte and a thyng wherfore a man by their lawe I dare well say is worthy to dye and that secretly if it be possible Now to be good to the common wealth and to see false myracles and thyrdly to withstand that Fraūce then brought vnder the foote of the Englishmen should not be set vp agayne by whose power the
to auoyde the trouble of the world and occasions that might plucke me there from and to serue my brother with all euen as one hand helpeth an other or one member an other because one feeleth an others grief the payne of the one is the payne of the other What soeuer is done to the lest of vs whether it be good or bad it is done to Christ and what soeuer is done to my brother if I be a Christen mā that same is done to me Neither doth my brothers payne greue me lesse then myne owne Neither reioyse I lesse at his wealth then at mine own if I loue hym as well and asmuch as my selfe as the law cōmaundeth me If it were not so how sayth Paule let hym that reioyseth reioyse in the Lord that is to say Christ whiche is Lord ouer all creatures I◠my merites obteined me heauē or a hygher place there then had I wherein I might reioyse besides the Lord. Here see ye the nature of the law the nature of the Euangelion How the law is the key that byndeth and damneth all men and the Euangelion is the keye that loseth them agayne The law goeth before and the Euangelion foloweth When a preacher preacheth the law he byndeth all consciences and when he preacheth the Gospell he looseth them agayn These two salues I meane the law and the Gospell vseth god his preacher to heale cure sinners with all The law driueth out the disease and maketh it appeare and is a sharpe salue and a freatyng corsey killeth the dead flesh and louseth and draweth the sores out by the rootes all corruption It pulleth from a man the trust and confidence that he hath in him selfe in his owne workes merites deseruinges and ceremonies and robbeth him of all his righteousnesse and maketh him poore It killeth him sendeth hym downe to hell and bryngeth him to vtter desperation and prepareth y e way of the Lord as it is written of Iohn the Baptist For it is not possible that Christ should come to a man as long as he trusteth in him self or in any worldly thyng or hath any righteousnesse of his own or riches of holy workes Then commeth the Euāgelion a more gentle paster which soupleth and swageth the woundes of the cōscience and bringeth health It bringeth the spirite of God which loseth the bondes of Sathā and coupleth vs to God and his will through strong fayth and feruent loue with bondes to strong for the deuill the world or any creature to lose them And the poore wretched sinner feeleth so great mercy loue kyndnes in God that he is sure in hym selfe how that it is not possible that God should forsake him or withdraw hys mercy and loue from hym And boldly cryeth out with Paul saying Who shall separate vs from the loue that GOD loueth vs withall That is to say what shall make me beleue that God loueth me not Shall tribulation Anguish Persecution Shal hūger Nakednes Shal sword Nay I am sure that neither death nor lyfe neither aungell neither rule nor power neither present thynges nor thinges to come neither hygh nor low neither any creature is able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesu our Lord. In all such tribulations a Christen man perceaueth that God is his father and loueth hym euen as he loued Christ when he shed his bloud on the crosse Finally as before when I was bond to the deuill and his will I wrought all maner euill and wickednes not for hells sake which is the reward of sinne but because I was heyre of hell by byrth and bondage to the deuill dyd I euill For I could none otherwise do to do sinne was my nature Euen so now since I am coupled to GOD by Christes bloud do I well not for heauens sake which is yet the reward of wel doyng but because I am heyre of heauen by grace and Christes purchasyng haue the spirite of God I do good frely for so is my nature As a good tree bryngeth forth good frute and an euill tree euill frute By the frutes shal ye know what the tree is A mās dedes declare what he is within but make him neither good nor bad though after we be created a new by the spirite doctrine of Christ we waxe perfecter alwaye with woorkyng accordyng to the doctrine and not with blynd woorkes of our owne imagining We must be first euill yer we doe euill as a Serpent is first poysoned yer he poyson We must be also good yer we do good as the fire must be first hoate yer it heate an other thyng Take an example As those blynd and deaffe which are cured in the Gospell could not see nor heare till Christ had geuen them sight hearyng and those sicke could not do the dedes of an whole man till Christ had geuen them health So can no man do good in his soule till Christ haue losed hym out of the bondes of Sathan and haue geuē him wherewith to do good yea first haue powred into hym that selfe good thing which he shedeth forth afterward on other Whatsoeuer is our owne is sinne Whatsoeuer is aboue that is Christes gift purches doyng and working He bought it of his father dearely with his bloud yea with his most bitter death and gaue his lyfe for it What soeuer good thyng is in vs that is geuen vs frely without our deseruyng or merites for Christes bloudes sake That we desire to folow y t will of God it is the gift of Christes bloud That we now hate the deuils will whereunto we were so fast locked and could not but loue it is also the gift of Christes bloud vnto whom belongeth the prayse and honour of our good dedes and not vnto vs. Our deedes do vs three maner seruice First they certifie vs that we are heyres of euerlastyng life And that the spirite of God whiche is the earnest therof is in vs in that our hartes consent vnto the law of God and we haue power in our mēbers to do it though imperfectly And secondarily we tame the fleshe therewith and kill the sinne that remayneth yet in vs waxe dayly perfecter and perfecter in the spirite therewith kepe that the lustes choke not the word of God that is sowen in vs nor quench the giftes and working of the spirite and that we lose not the spirite agayne And thirdly we do our dutie vnto our neighbour therewith helpe their necessitie vnto our own cōfort also and draw all mē vnto the honoryng and praysing of God And whosoeuer excelleth in the giftes of grace let the same thinke that they be geuen hym as much to do hys brother seruice as for his owne selfe as much for the loue whiche God hath to the weake as vnto him vnto whom God geueth such giftes And he that withdraweth ought that he hath from hys neighbours neede robbeth
them but my merite is the fayth of Iesus Christ onely by whiche fayth such workes are good accordyng to the wordes of our Lord Mat. xxv I was hongry and thou gauest me to eate and it foloweth that ye haue done to the least of my brethrē ye haue done to me c. and euer we should cōsider the true sentēce that a good worke maketh not a good man but a good man maketh a good woorke for fayth maketh the man both good and righteous for a righteous man lyueth by fayth Rom. i. and what soeuer spryngeth not out of fayth is sinne Rom. xiiij And all my tēporall goodes that I haue not geuen or deliuered or not geuen by writing of mine own hand bearing the date of this present writyng I do leaue and geue to Margarete my wife and to Richard my sonne which I make mine executours witnes this myne owne hand the x. day of October in the xxij yeare of the raigne of kyng Henry the eight Tyndall NOw let vs examine the partes of this Testament sentence by sentēce First to commit our selues to God aboue all is the first of all preceptes the first stone in the foundatiō of our faith that we beleue put our trust in one God one all true one almighty all good all mercifull cleauing fast to his truth might mercy and goodnes surely certified fully persuaded that he is our God yea ours to vs all true without all falshead guile can not fayle in his promises And to vs almighty that his will can not be let to fulfill all y e truth that he hath promised vs. And to vs all good and all mercyfull what soeuer we haue done and how soeuer greuously we haue trespassed so that we come to hym the way that he hath appointed which way is Iesus Christ onely as we shal see folowingly This first clause then is the first commaūdement or at the least the first sentēce in the first commaundement and the first Article of our Crede And that this trust and confidēce in the mercy of God is thorough Iesus Christ is the secōd article of our Crede confirmed and testified throughout all scripture That Christ bringeth vs into this grace Paule proueth Rom. v. saying Iustified by fayth we are at peace with God through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom we haue an entryng in vnto this grace in which we stand And Ephes iij. By whom sayth Paule we haue a bold entring in thorough the fayth that is in him and in the second of the sayd Epistle By him we haue an entring in vnto the father and a litle before in the same Chapter he is our peace And Iohn in the first Chapter Behold the Lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinne of the world which sinne was the bush that stopped the entryng in and kept vs out the sword wherewith was kept the entryng vnto the tree of lyfe from Adam and all his ofspryng And in the second of the first of Peter which bare our sinnes in his body and by whose stripes we are made whole By whom we haue redemptiō through his bloud euen the forgeuenes of our sinnes Collos i. Ephes i. And Rom. iiij He was deliuered for our sinnes and rose agayne for our iustifyeng And concernyng the resurrection it is an article of our fayth and proued there sufficiently and that it shal be by the power of Christ is also the open Scripture Iohn vj. This is the will of my father which sent me that I lose nothing of all that he hath geuen me but that I rayse it vp agayne in the last day and agayn I am the resurrectiō Iohn xi That this liuely faith is sufficient to iustification without addyng to of any more helpe is this wise proued The promiser is God of whom Paul sayth Rom. viij If God be on our side what matter maketh it who be agaynst vs he is thereto all good all mercyfull all true and all mighty wherfore sufficiēt to be beleued by his othe more ouer Christ in whom the promise is made hath receaued all power in heauen and in earth Math. the last He hath also a perpetuall Priesthode and therfore able perpetually to saue Heb. vij And that there is but one mediatour Christ as Paul i. Tim. ij And by that word vnderstand an attonemaker a peace maker and brynger into grace and fauour hauyng full power so to do And that Christ is so is proued at the full It is written Iohn iij. The father loueth the sonne and hath geuē all into his hand And he that beleueth the sonne hath euerlastyng lyfe and he that beleueth not the sonne shall not see lyfe but the wrath of God bydeth vpon hym All things are geuē me of my father Luke x. And all who soeuer call on the name of the Lord shal be saued Actes ij Of his fulnes haue we al receaued Ioh. i. There is no other name geuen to mā in which we must be saued Actes iiij And agayne vnto his name beare all the Prophets record that by his name shall all that beleue in him receaue remission Actes x. In hym dwelleth all the fulnes of God bodely Collos ij All what soeuer my father hath are myne Iohn xvj What soeuer ye aske in my name that will I do for you Iohn xiiij One Lord one fayth one Baptisme one God and father of all which is aboue all through all and in you all Ephes iiij There is but one whose seruaunt I am to do his will But one that shall pay me my wages there is but one to whom I am boūde Ergo but one that hath power ouer me to dāne or saue me I will adde to this Paules Argument Balat iij. GOD sware vnto Abraham cccc yeare before the law was geuen that we should be saued by Christ Ergo the law geuen cccc yeares after can not disanull that couenaunt So dispute I Christ whē he had suffered his passiō and was risen agayne and entred into his glory was sufficient for his Apostles without any other meane or helpe Ergo the holynes of no Saint since hath diminished ought of that his power but that he is as full sufficient now for the promise is as deepely made to vs as to them Moreouer the treasure of his mercy was layde vp in Christ for all that should beleue yer the world was made Ergo nothyng that hath happened sence hath chaunged the purpose of the inunuariable God Moreuer to exclude the blynd imagination falsely called fayth of them that geue them selues to vice without resistence affirmyng that they haue no power to do otherwise but that God hath so made them and therfore must saue them they not entendyng or purposing to mende their liuyng but sinning with whole consent and full lust he declareth what fayth he meaneth ij maner of wayes First by that he saith who soeuer beleueth and is Baptised shal be
may feele and not in the imaginations of the brayne in feare and not in boldnes in open necessary things and not to pronounce or define of hyd secretes or thynges that neither helpe or hinder whether they be so or no in vnitie and not in seditious opinions in so much that if you be sure you know yet in thinges that may abyde laysure you wil deferre or say till other agree with you me thinke the text requireth this sense or vnderstandyng yea and that if you be sure that your part be good and in other hold the contrary yet if it be a thyng that maketh no matter you will laugh and let it passe and referre the thyng to other men and sticke you stifly and stubburnely in earnest and necessary thynges And I trust ye be persuaded eueÌ„ so of me For I call God to recorde against y e day we shall appeare before our Lord Iesus to geue a recknyng of our doings that I neuer altered one sillable of Gods word agaynst my coÌ„science nor would this day if all that is in the earth whether it be pleasure honour or riches might be geuen me Moreouer I take God to recorde to my conscience that I desire of God to my selfe in this world no more then that without whiche I can not keepe hys lawes Finally if there were in me any gift that could helpe at hand ayde you if nede required I promise you I would not be farre of and commit the end to God my soule is not faynt though my body be wery But God hath made me euill fauoured in this world and without grace in the sight of meÌ„ spechles and rude dull slow witted your parte shal be to supply that lacketh in me remembryng that as lowlynes of hart shall make you hygh with God euen so mekenes of wordes shal make you sinke into the hartes of men Nature geueth age authoritie but mekenes is the glory of youth and geueth theÌ„ honour Aboundaunce of loue maketh me excede in bablyng Syr as concernyng Purgatory and many other things if you be demaunded you may say if you erre the spiritualtie hath so leâ— you that they haue taught you to beleue as you do For they preached you all such thynges out of Gods word and alledged a thousaÌ„d textes by reason of which textes you beleued as they taught you But now you finde theÌ„ lyers and that the textes meane no such thynges and therfore you can beleue no longer but are as you were before they taught you and beleue no such thing Howbeit you are ready to beleue if they haue any other way to proue it For without profe you can not beleue theÌ„ when you haue founde them with so many lyes c. If you perceiue wherin we may helpe other in being still or doyng somewhat let vs haue word and I will do myne vttermost My Lord of London hath a seruauÌ„t called Iohn Tisen with a red beard and a blacke reddish head and was once my scholler he was seue in Antwerpe but came not among the Englishmen whether hee is gone an Embassadour secret I wote not The mighty God of Iacob be with you to supplant his enemies and geue you the fauour of Ioseph and the wisedome the spirite of Stephen be with your hart and with your mouth and teach your lippes what they shall say and how to aunswere to all thynges He is our God if we despayre in ourselues and trust in him and his is the glory Amen William Tyndall ¶ I hope our redemption is nigh ¶ This letter was written an 1533. in the moneth of January Whiche letter although it do pretende the name of Iacob yet vnderstand good reader that it was written in very deede to Iohn Frith as is aboue told thee For more profe and euidence whereof read Frithes booke of the Sacrament and there thou shalt finde a certeine place of this Epistle repeted word for word beginning this I call God to recorde agaynst the day we shall appeare before our Lord Iesus to geue a rekening of our doings that I neuer altered one sillable of Gods word agaynst my conscience c. Whiche Epistle Iohn Frith him selfe witnesseth that he receaued from Tyndall as in hys testimonie aboue appeareth The end of all M. William Tindals workes newly Imprinted accordyng to his first copies which he himselfe set forth Gods name be blessed for euer Amen ☞ Here foloweth a short and pithy treatise touching the Lordes Supper compiled as some do gather by M. William Tyndall because the methode and phrase agree with his and the tyme of writyng are concurrent which for thy further instruction learnyng gentle Reader I haue annexed to his workes leâ—t the Church of God should want any of the paineful trauels of godly men whose onely care endeuour was to aduaunce the glory of God to further the saluation of Christes flocke committed to their charge The Supper of the Lord. After the true meanyng of the vi of Iohn and the xi of the first Epistle to the Cor. And incidently in the exposition of the Supper is confuted the Letter of Master More agaynst Iohn Frith Anno. 1533. the v. day of Aprill WHen Christ sawe those glottons seekyng theyr bellye 's flockyng so fast vnto him after his woÌ„ted maner the occasion taken to teach preach vnto them of the thing now moued he sayd Verely verely I say vnto you ye seeke me not because ye haue sene my miracles but because ye haue eaten of the loaues and were well filled But as for me I am not commen into this world onely to fill mens bellyes but to fede and satisfie their soules Ye take great paines to folow me for the meate of your bellyes but oh sloughardes worke take paynes labour rather to get that meate that shall neuer perish For this meate that ye haue sought of me hetherto perisheth with your bellyes but the meate that I shall giue you is spirituall and may not perish but abideth for euer giuyng lyfe euerlastyng For my father hath consigned and confirmed me with his assured testimonie to bee that assured sauyng health and earnest peny of euerlastyng life When the Iewes vnderstode not what Christ meant biddyng them to woorke and labour for that meate that should neuer perishe they asked hym what shal we do that we might worke the workes of God supposing that he had spoken of some outward woorke required of them Wherfore Iesus auÌ„swered saying EueÌ„ this is the worke of God to beleue and trust in him whoÌ„ the father hath sent Lo here may ye see that worke of God which he requireth of vs euen to beleue in Christ Also coÌ„sider agayn what this meate is which he bad them here prepare and seeke for saying worke take paynes and seeke for that meate c. and thou shalt see it none other meate then the belief in Christ wherfore he coÌ„cludeth that this meate so
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
And so must we graunt hym that this fire is very hote Now may you wel perceaue what a slender foūdation their hote purgatory hath For by this confutatiō may you easely sée that it hath no grounde nor authority of Scripture Notwithstandyng it is the foundation of all religions and cloysters yea and of all the goodes that nowe are in these spiritualtie Are not they witty worke men whiche can buylde so much on so slender a foundation Howbeit they haue made it so toppeheuye that it is surely lyke to haue a fall Thus hath Master More a full aunswere both to hys Scriptures whiche were to farre wrested out of theyr places and also to hys owne apparent reasons Howbeit if hys mastershyppe be not fully pacified let hym more groundly open hys mynde and bryng for his purpose all that he thinketh to make for it and I shall by Gods grace shortly make hym an aunswere and quyet his mynde ¶ Thus endeth the second booke ¶ The third booke which aunswereth vnto my Lord of Rochester and declareth the mynde of the old Doctours NOw will I addresse me to the thirde part which shall be an aunswere vnto my lord of Rochester And all his reasons and argumentes both of the Scriptures and doctoures which are not before dissouled in the seconde part wyll I clene confute by Gods grace in this thirde booke Howbeit the chéefest of his scriptures hath M. More perused and hath in a maner nothing but that was before writtē by my lord of Rochester sauing that he maketh the selye soules to pull to helpe his matter withall My lord of Rochester is the first patrone and defender of thys phantasie And euē as M. More tooke his worke out of my lord of Rochesters euen so plucked Rastell hys booke out of M. Mores My lord of Rochester to confirme hys sentence rekoneth vp the doctors by heape M. Iohn M. William M. Thomas omnes But as concerning the doctors that they are not so fully on hys side as he woulde make thē séeme is sone proued And where should I better begin to confute him then of hys owne wordes for he writeth himselfe vpon the xviij article on this maner THere is no man now a daies that doubteth of Purgatorye sayeth he and yet among the olde auncient fathers was there eyther none or els very seldome mention made of it And also among the Grecians euen vnto this day is not purgatory beleued Let him read that will the commentaries of the olde Grecians and as I suppose he shal finde eyther no worde spoken of it or els very few These are my lordes wordes I wonder what obliuiousnes is come vppon hym that he so cleaueth vnto the Doctors whome he affirmed before eyther to make no mention of it or els very seldome Notwythstanding I will declare you somewhat of the Doctors that you may the better know theyr meaning To speake of the Doctors what theyr minde was in thys matter it were necessarye to declare in what time they were and what condition the worlde was in theyr dayes S. Austine Ambrose Hierome were in one time euen about iiij hundred yeares after Christ and yet before theyr time were there arisen infinite heretikes by whole sectes as the Arrians Domitians Eunomians Vigilanttians Pelagians with infinite other which had so swerued from the truth and wrested the Scripture out of frame that it was not possible for one man no nor for one mans age to restore it agayne vnto the true sense Among these there were some which not onely fayned a purgatory but also doted so far that they affirmed that euery man were he neuer so vicious should be saued through that fire and aleaged for them the place of Paul 1. Corinthians 3. These holy doctours perceauing those greate erroures thought it not best by and by to condemne all thinges indifferētly but to suffer and dissemble wyth the lesse that they might wéede out the opinions which were most noysom as the Apostles graunted vnto the Iewes that the Gentiles should kéepe some of Moyses law Actes xv that they might the better com to their purpose to saue the Iewes with the Gentiles For if they had at the first vtterly set of the law then would the Iewes neuer haue geuen any audience vnto the Apostles And euen so S. Austen went wisely to worke First condemning by the Scripture that errour which was most noysome and wrote on thys maner Albeit some might be purged through fire yet not such as the Apostle condemneth when he sayeth that the persons which so do shal not possesse the kingdome of heauen And where they woulde haue stucke vnto Paules text 1. Cor. 3. and affirme that they shoulde be saued thorough fire S. Austen answered that Paules texte was vnderstande of the spirituall fire which is temptation affliction tribulation c. Thys wrote he in the 67. 68. of hys Enchiridion to subuert that grosse errour that all should be saued through y t fire of purgatory Yet in the 69. he goeth a litle neare them and sayth that it may be doubted whether there be any such purgatory or not He durst not yet openly cōdemne it because he thought that men could not at that time beare it But after in his booke which he entituled De vanitate huius soeculi there doth he fully shew his minde in these wordes Scitote quòd cum anima a corpore auellitur statim aut pro meritis bonis in Paradiso collocatur aut pro merit is malis in inferni tartara praecipitatur i. Wote ye well that when the soule is departed from the body eyther it is by and by put into paradise according to hys good desertes or els it is thrust hedlong into hell for hys sinnes Here he cleane condemneth purgatory for if thys be done by and by assoone as the soule is departed from the body then can there be no purgatory and so maketh S. Austen wholy with vs. Thinke ye that S. Austen dissenteth from his companion S. Hierome or from hys owne Master S. Ambrose Nay verely Howbeit I will alleage theyr owne wordes and then iudge SAint Ambrose dissenteth not from S. Austine but doth stablysh hys sentence as fully as is possible for he writeth in the second chapter of hys booke which is called De bono mortis on this maner bringing in the words of Dauid Psal 39. Aduena ego sum in terra peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei Et ideo tanquam peregrinus ad illā sanctorum communem omnium patriam festinabat Petens pro huius commorationis inquinamento remitti sibi peccata priusquam discederet de vita Qui enim hîc non acceperit remissionem peccatorum illic non erit Non erit autem quia ad vitam aeternam non potuerit peruenire quia vita aeterna remissio peccatorum est Ideoque dicit remitte mihi vt refrigerer priusquam abeam
out of which all good fruites spring therfore it is necessary that this fayth be present or els we should looke for good workes in vayne for without fayth it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. Insomuch that S. Austine called those woorkes that are done before fayth swift running out of the way Moreouer that our merite cannot properly be ascribed vnto our workes doth the Euangelist teach vs saying Whē ye haue done all things that are commaunded you say we are vnprofitable seruaunts we haue done but our duety Luke 17. By the which saying he doth in a maner feare vs from putting any confidence in our own workes and so is our glorious pride and hygh minde excluded then where is our merite Harke what S. Austine sayth The death of the Lorde is my merite I am not without merite as long as that mercifull Lorde fayleth me not c. This death of the Lorde can not profite me except I receaue it through fayth and therfore he rekoneth right wel that the faith in Christ is all his merite I meane the fayth which worketh through charitie that is to say fayth formed with hope and charitie and not that dead historicall fayth which the deuils haue and tremble Iam. 2. Furthermore what S. Austine iudgeth of our merite he expresseth in these woordes marke the Psalme how the proud head will not receiue the crowne when he sayth he that redéemed thy life from corruption which crowneth thée sayth the Psalme Hereuppon woulde a man say which crowneth thée my merites graunt that my vertue hath done it I haue deserued it it is not fréely geuen but geue care rather to the pleasure for that is but thine owne saying and euery man is a lyer but heare what God sayth which crowneth thée in compassion and mercy of mercy he crowneth thée of compassion he crowneth thée for thou wast not worthye that he shoulde call thée and whome he should iustifie when he called thée and whome he shoulde glorifie when he iustifieth thée For the remnantes are saued by the election which is by grace fauour Rom. 11. Now if it be by grace thē is it not of woorkes for then were grace no grace Rom. 4. For vnto hym that worketh is the rewarde imputed not of grace but of duety Rom. 4. the Apostle sayth not of grace but of duety but he crowneth thée in compassion and mercy and if thy merites haue procéeded God sayth vnto thée boult out thy good merites and thou shalte finde that they are my giftes this is the righteousnesse of God not meaning the righteousnesse whereby he himselfe is right wise but the righteousnes wherewith he iustifieth them whome he maketh rightwise where before they were wicked These are Austines wordes Finallye let not that moue you where he addeth that a good woorke maketh not a good man but rather a good man maketh the woorke good for there is no man but he is eyther good or euyll If he be euill then can he not do good but euill for according to Christes testimonye A rotten trée beareth no good fruite Math. 7. And agayne he sayeth Howe can you say well séeing you your selues are euill Math. 12. But if he be good he shall also bring foorth good fruite at his season howbeit that fruite maketh not the man good for except the man be first good he can not bring foorth good fruite but the trée is knowne by the fruite And therfore fayth as a quickening roote must euer goe before whyche of wicked maketh vs ryghtwise and good which thing our workes coulde neuer bring to passe Out of thys fountayne spryng those good woorkes which iustifie vs before mē that is to saye declare vs to be verye rightwise for before God we are verely iustified by that roote of fayth for he searcheth the hart and therefore this iust iudge doth inwardly iustifie or condemne geuing sentence according to fayth but men must looke for the woorkes for theyr sight cannot enter into the hart and therfore they first geue iudgement of woorkes and are many times deceaued vnder the cloke of hypocrisie You may sée that here is nothyng but that a good man may expounde it well albeit the children of this world which with their wiles deceiue thē selues enteryng so presumptuously in to Gods iudgement do séeke a doubt where none is Go ye therfore and let charitie be your guide for God is charitie and though our Lawyers hart would breake yet must you néedes iudge him a Christē man which saith nothyng but that Scripture confirmeth And verely the iudgement of this cause came out of season and euē vngraciously vnto our Canonistes for they are cleane ignoraūt of Scripture therfore condemne all thinges that they read not in their law wherfore we renounce their sentence and appeale vnto the deuines which will soone knowe the voyce of theyr shepheard and gladly admitte those thynges which are allowed by the Scripture whereunto they are accustomed ¶ FINIS ¶ A Letter which Iohn Frith wrote vnto the faythfull folowers of Christes Gospell whyles he was prisoner in the Tower of London for the worde of God Anno. M. D. xxxij ¶ Grace and peace from God the father through our Sauiour Christe Iesu be with all them that loue the Lord vnfaynedly Amen IT can not bee expressed dearely beloued in the Lord what ioy and comfort it is to myhart to perceiue how the woorde of God hath wrought and continually worketh among you so that I finde no smal number walkyng in y t wayes of the Lord accordyng as he gaue vs commaundement willyng that we should loue ech other as he loued vs. Now haue I experience of the fayth which is in you and can testifie that it is without simulation that ye loue not in word and toung onely but in worke and veritie What can be more triall of a faythfull hart then to aduenture not onely to ayde and succour by the meanes of other whiche without daunger may not be admitted vnto vs but also personally to visite the poore oppressed sée that nothyng be lackyng vnto thē but that they haue both ghostly comfort and bodely sustenaunce notwith stādyng the strayte inhibition and terrible manacyng of these worldly rulers euen ready to abyde the extreme ieoperdies that tyraūts can imagine This is an euidence that you haue prepared your selues to the Crosse of Christ accordyng vnto the councell of the wise man which sayth my sonne when thou shalt enter into the way of the Lord prepare thy selfe vnto tribulation This is an euidence that ye haue cast your accomptes and haue wherewith to finish the tower which ye haue begon to builde And I doubt not but that he whiche hath begon to worke in you shall for his glory accōplish the same euē vnto the commyng of the Lord which shal giue vnto euery man accordyng to his déedes And albeit God of his secret iudgementes for a time kéepe the rod from some of them
are infinite other thynges wherein hee contrarieth Christ in so much that if it be diligētly examined I thinke there is no word that Christ spake but the other hath taught or made a law agaynst it Howbeit for to auoyde tediousnes we shall leaue them vnto your owne iudgement for they are soone searched out espyed Iudge Christē reader all these things with a simple eye be not parcially addict to the one nor to the other But Iudge them by the Scripture And knowledge that to be the truth which Gods word doth alow auoydyng all other doctrine for it springeth of Sathan be not ashamed to confesse poore Christ and to take him for thy head before these rauenous Wolues for then shall he cōfesse thée agayn before his father the aungelles in heauen Then shalt thou bee inheritour with Iesu Christe And the faythfull sonne of thy father whiche is in heauen to whom be all glory eternally Amen ¶ Here endeth the Antithesis betwene Christe and the Pope A booke made by Iohn Frith prisoner in the Tower of London aunsweryng vnto M. Mores letter which he wrote against the first litle treatise that Iohn Frith made concernyng the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ vnto which booke are added in the ende the articles of hys examination before the Bishops of London Winchester and Lyncolne in Paules Churche at London for which Iohn Frith was condemned and after burned in Smithfield without Newgate the fourth day of Iuly Anno. 1533. ¶ The Preface of this booke GRace and increase of knowledge from God the father through our Lorde Iesus Christ be with the Christen reader and with all them that loue the Lord vnfaynedly Amen I chaunced beyng in these parties to be in company with a Christen brother which for his commēdable conuersation and sober behauiour might better be a Byshop then many that weare miters if the rule of S. Paule were regarded in their election This brother after much communication desired to know my mynde as touchyng the Sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ Which thing I opened vnto hym accordyng to the gift that God had geuen me First I proued vnto hym that it was no article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vnder payne of damnation Then I declared that Christ had a naturall body euen as myne is sauyng sinne and that it could no more bee in two places at once thē myne cā Thirdly I shewed him that it was not necessarie that the wordes should so be vnderstand as they sound But that it might be a phrase of Scripture as there are innumerable After that I shewed him certaine phrases and maner of speakynges And that it was well vsed in our English toung and finally I recited after what maner they might receiue it according to Christes institutiō not fearyng the froward alteration that the Priests vse contrary to the first forme and institution When I had sufficiently published my mynde hee desired me to entitle the sūme of my wordes and write them for hym because they seemed ouerlong to be well reteined in memorie And albeit I was loth to take the matter in hand yet to fulfill his instant intercession I tooke vpon me to touche this terrible tragedie and wrote a treatise whiche beside my paynfull imprisonmēt is like to purchase me most cruell death which I am ready and glad to receiue with the spirite and inward man although the fleshe be frayle when soeuer it shall please God to lay it vpon me Notwithstādyng to say the truth I wrote it not to the intēt that it should haue ben published For then I would haue touched the matter more earnestly and haue written as well of the spirituall eating drinking which is of necessitie as I dyd of the carnall which is not so necessarie For the treatise that I made was not expedient for all men albeit it were sufficient for them whom I tooke in hand to instruct For they knew the spirituall and necessarie eatyng and drinkyng of his body bloud which is not receiued with the teth and bellye but with the eares and faith and onely neded instructiō in the outward eating whiche thing I therfore onely declared But now it is cōmon abroad and in many mēs mouthes in so much that M. More whiche of late hath busied hym selfe to medle in all such matters of what zeale I will not define hath sore labored to confute it but some mē thinke that he is ashamed of his part and for that cause doth so diligently suppresse the woorke whiche he printed For I my selfe saw the worke in Print in my Lord of Winchesters house vpon S. Stephens day last past But neither I neither all the frēdes I could make might attaine any copie but onely one written copie whiche as it seemed was drawen out in great hast notwithstandyng I can not well iudge what the cause should bee that his boke is kept so secret But this I am right sure of that he neuer touched the foundation that my treatise was builded vpon And therefore sith my foundation standeth so sure and inuincible for els I thinke verely he would sore haue laboured to haue vndermined it I will thereupon builde a litle more and also declare that his ordinaūce is to slender to breake it downe although it were set vppon a woorse foundation ¶ The foundation of that litle treatise was that it is no article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vnder payne of damnation that the Sacrament should be the naturall body of Christ which thyng is proued on this maner FIrste we must all acknowledge that it is no article of our fayth which can saue vs nor which we are bound to beleue vnder the paine of eternal damnation For if I should beleue that hys very naturall body both flesh and bloud were naturally in the bread and wine that should not saue me seyng many beleue that and receiue it to their damnation for it is not his presence in the bread that can saue me but his presence in my hart through faith in his bloud which hath washed out my sinnes and pacified y t fathers wrath toward me And agayne if I doe not beleue his bodely presence in the bread and wyne that shall not damne me but the absence out of my hart thorough vnbelefe Now if they would here obiect that though it be truth that the absēce out of the bread could not damne vs yet are we bounde to beleue it because of gods word which who beleueth not as much as in him lyeth maketh God a lyer And therfore of an obstinate mynde not to beleue hys word may be an occasion of damnation To this we may answere that we beleue Gods worde and knowledge that it is true but in this we dissent whether it be true in the sence that we take it in or in the sence that ye take it in And we say agayne that though
wicked eate not hys body it must also thereof néedes followe that the sacrament is not hys naturall bodye For they doe eate the sacrament as all mē know Besides that the faythfull doe not eate Christes body with their téeth And therefore it must followe that the wicked doe not eate it with their téeth The antecedent or first part of the reason is prooued by the wordes of Christ which sayth that the flesh profiteth nothyng at all meaning that it doth not profite as they vnderstoode hym that is to say it profiteth nothyng to bée eaten carnally with their téeth and belly as they vnderstoode hym For els it profiteth much to bée eaten spiritually that is to say to beléeue that through hys body breakyng bloud shedding our sinnes are purged And thus doth Origene S. Austen Beda Chrysostome and Athanasius expound it as appeareth in the booke before And therfore Frith sayth that onely faythfull men eate hys body not with their téeth and mouth but with their fayth and hart that digest it into y e bowells of their soules through beléeuing that it was broken on the crosse to washe away their sinnes And the wicked eate not hys body but onely the bread and their damnation because they eate hym not spiritually that is because they beléeue not in hys bodye breaking and bloud shedding †The third point wherin Frith dissenteth from our prelates and their proctoure 3. THe Prelates beléeue that men ought to worship the sacramēt But Frith sayth nay and affirmeth that it is Idolatry to worship it And hée sayth that Christ and his Apostles taught vs not so to doe neither did the holy fathers so teach vs. And Frith sayth that the authors of thys worshipping are the children of perdition which haue ouerwhelmed this world with sinne Neuerthelesse we must receaue it reuerently because of the doctrine that it bringeth vs. For it preacheth Christes death vnto vs and describeth it before our eyes euen as a faythfull preacher by the worde doth instill it into vs by our eares and hearing And that it supplyeth the roome of a preacher is euident by the woordes of S. Austen which sayth Paulus quamuis portaret farcinam corporis quod aggrauat animā potuit tamen significando predicare Dominum Iesum Christum aliter per linguam suam aliter per epistolam aliter per sacramentum corporis Christi That is to fay though Paule did bere the burthen of the body which doth honorate the soule yet was he able in signifiyng to preach y e lord Iesus Christ one way by his tonge and an other way by an epistle an other way by the sacrament of Christes body c. For as the people by vnderstanding the fignification of the wordes which he spake did heare the glorious Gospell of God and as by the reading of his pistle they vnderstoode his minde and receiued the word of the soules health so by the ministration of the sacrament they might sée with their eye the thing which they heard read and so haue their sences occupied about the mistery that they might the more earnestly print it in their minde As by example The Prophet Hieremie being in Hierusalem in the tyme of Sedechias king of the Iewes prophesyed and preached vnto them y t they should be takē prisoners of Nabugodonesar the king of Babilon the Iewes were angry with him and woulde not beléeue his wordes And therfore be made a chayne or fetters of wood and put them about his neke and prophesied agayne and preached that they should be taken prisoners led captiue into Babilon And as his wordes did certifie their eares y t they should be subdued so the chayne dyd represent their captiuitie euen before their eye Whiche thyng did more vehemently woorke in them then the bare wordes could doe and euen so it is in the Sacrament For likewise as the woordes dyd instill into our eares that his body was geuen for vs and his bloud shed for the remission of our sinnes euen so did the mynistration of the sacrament expresse y e same thing vnto our sight and doth more effectuously moue then the bare wordes might doe and make vs more attent vnto the thing that we may wholye geue thankes vnto God and prayse him for his bounteous benefites And therfore seyng it is a preacher expressing vnto our sight y e same thing that y e wordes doe to our eares represēt you must receyue it with reuerence sober behauiour aduertising y t thing that it representeth vnto you And euen y e same honour is dew vnto it which is geuen vnto the scripture that is the word of God For vnto y t must a man deuoutlye geue eare and reuerently take the booke in hys hande yea and if he kisse y t booke for the doctrines sake that he learenth thereout he is to bée cōmended Neuerthelesse if he should goe sence hys booke men might well thinke that he were very childishe But if he should knéele downe and pray to this booke then he dyd commyt playne Idolatrye Consider deare bretheren what I say and auoyde this Ieoperdye which thing auoyded I care not as touching the presence of his body though you beléeue that hys naturall flesh be there in déede and not onely in a misterye as I haue taught For when y t Ieoperdye is past he were a foole that would bee contētious for a thing as long as there cōmeth no hurt therbye The Germanes which beléeue the presence of his body do not worshyp it but playnly teach the contrary and in that poynt thankes be to God all they whom you call heretickes do agrée fulwell Onely auoyde this Idolatry and I desire no more ¶ The conclusion of this treatise NOwe deare brethren I beséech you for the mercy y t ye looke for in Christ Iesu that you accepte this worke with a single eye and no contentious hart For necessitie hath compelled me to write it because I was informed both of my Lord of Winchester and other credible persōs that I had by the meanes of my first treatise offended many men Which thing may well be true For it was to slender to instruct all them which haue since seene it albe 〈◊〉 it were sufficient for their vse to whō it was first deliuered And therfore I thought it not onely expedient but also necessary to instruct them further in the truth that they might sée plaine euidence of that thyng wherein they were offended By this worke you shal espye their blasphemyes the venemous toūges where with they flaunder not onelye them that publish the truth but euen the truth it selfe They shame not to say y t we affirme it to bee onely bread and nothing els And we say not so but we say that beside the substaunce of bread it is y e sacrament of Christes body and bloud As y e Iuye hanging before the tauerne doore is more then bare Iuye For beside the substaunce
that Christen men were not bounde to abstayne from bodely labour by that commaundement for it was so geuen to the Iewes And if we were bound to abstayne from bodely labour by that commaundement then was the kinges grace and all his councell my Lorde Cardinall and all his counsell in the waye of damnation For they cause men to carye their stuffe on the holy day what daye so euer it bée whan they will remoue At this reason all my Lordes were astonied and wist not what to say they were loth to cōdemne my Lord Cardinals grace seing he was so holy a prelate of Christes church and that facte they coulde not deneye Wherfore at y e last my Lorde of Rochester remembred hym selfe and obiected in this maner A goodly reason I will make you a like reason The byshop of Winchester suffered y e stues Ergo the stues bée lawfull At this reason I ineruayled much For I perceyued that it was as lawfull for our noble Prince to carye stuffe on the holy day which is not agaynst y e word of god as it is for an harlot of y e stnes to liue in open whordome which is against the worde of God And yet my Lords the byshops of their greate charitie and of their innumerable spirituall treasure suffereth agaynst their conscience both to bée done Briefely it were to longe to recite all the vncharitable maner that they dyd vse with me And yet earnestly I must bée condemned poore man for an heretyke But I will recyte the saying of doctours for me y e men may sée how shamefully I haue erred Saynt Hierome sayth Therfore bée certine dayes assigned that we should come togither not that that daye in the whiche we come togither is holyer then an other but all dayes bée like and equall And Christ is not alonely crucified in Parasceden and risen onlye on the sonday but the day of resurrection is alwayes and alwayes may we eate of our Lordes fleshe c. Here S. Hierome sayth y e selfe words y e I spake And of these wordes was I moued to speake as God doth knowe Also S. Augustine sayth we must obserue the sabboth day not y e we should recken our selfe not to labour but that all thinge that we doe worke well muste haue an intention to the euerlasting rest Wherfore we must obserue the holy day not by corporall idlenes and vnto the letter but spiritually must we rest from vyces and concupisences wherfore among all the ten commaundementes that of the sabboth daye is alonely commaunded to bée figuratiuely obserued c. Also Tertullyan The Carnall circumcision is put away and extincted at his time So likewise the obseruation of the sabboth day is declared to bée for a tyme for we must kéepe y e sabboth day not alonely the seuenth day but at all tymes as Esay sayth c. But here my Lorde of Rochester sayde fyrste that I vnderstode not Tertulian secōdarily that hée was an heretike But I passe ouer myne aūswere for this is but a Lordly worde and hée could none otherwise saue his honour but yet stādeth my scripture fast And S. Hierome and S. Augustine also their owne law whose wordes be these It is come vnto me that certaine men which bée of an euill spirite haue sowen certaine euill thinges among you and contrary to the holy faith so that they doe forbid that men should worke on the Sabboth day The whiche men what other thyng shall we call them but the preachers of Antichrist the which Antichrist shall make the Sabboth day and the Sonday bée kept from all maner of worke c. This law clearely declareth you to bée Antichristes this is more then I sayd I haue great marueile that the Byshop of Bathe beyng so mighty a Lord in condemning of heretickes was not learned in this law seyng it is his owne facultie NOw dare no mā preach y e truth and the very Gospell of God in especiall they that bée féeble and fearefull But I trust yea and I pray to God that it may shortly come that false and manifest errours may bée plainely shewed There bée certaine men like conditioned to dogges if there bee any man that is not theyr countryman or that they loue not or know not say any thing agaynst them then cry they an hereticke an hereticke ad ignem ad ignem These bée the dogges that feare true preachers What heresie finde you in this article I doe thinke that you doe féele my prayer to bée heards For doubtles there bée many shamefull errours now manifestly opened that at those dayes had béene heresie to haue touched them WEe make nowe a dayes many Martyrs I trust wée shall haue many moe shortly For the viritie coulde neuer bée preached playnely but persecution did follow Here did my Lord of Bathe inquire of mée if I reckoned them for martyrs that were burnte at Bruselles I answered that I knewe not their cause wherefore they died but I reckoned as many men to bée martyrs as were persecuted and dyed for the worde of God but hée saide hée woulde make mée to frye for this How thinke you by this holy prelate was not this a charitable argument to refell myne aunswere with But this was the strongest argument that euer they vsed And paraduenture I may sée the day that this argument may bée made against them THese lawes these lawyers these Iusticiares that say that a man may lawfully aske his owne good afore a Iudge and contende in iudgement haue destroyed all patience deuotion and faith in Christen people On this article hangeth also y e nexte THis pleading in iudgement is manifestly against the Gospell Luk. 12. Homo quis constituit iudicē And contrary to S. Paule Iam omnino delictum est c. Myne aduersaries most vncharitably layde these two articles against mée as though I had condempned the lawemaker lawe and execution thereof whan I onely spake agaynst the vnchariblenes of some mē which rather séeke vengeaunce of their brethren than any right or helpe of the lawe Nor I speake not against all lawyers or against any for pleading iustly after the forme of the lawe but onely against those which taught men that they were bounde to prosicute the vttermost of the lawe vnder the paine of deadly sinne were the man neuer so poore and vnlike to pay the debte Against these two persons spake I and against none other For it is not nor neuer was mine intent to forbid suing at the lawe for I doe know very well that maiestratus is of God Ergo it must néedes followe that all lawes hauing probable reasons of nature made to conserue a common wealth must also bée allowed of God for lawes bée a parte of the power that is instituted of God Moreouer S. Paule doth appeale to the Emperour which is also pars litis And that hée coulde not doe if suing were
articles that were agaynst the Byshops they did great diligence in a part of them gathered they my very true sentences and myne owne wordes though in those thinges they left out vncharitably those wordes that made for my declaration and also for the probation of my saying the which I haue also here lefte out all onely adding the articles as thye laid them against mée that all men may sée y t worst that they had against mée For all men may thinke that they wil neither lay the best nor yet the truth agaynst mée But this article dyd I thus preach that men should not in their peticiō and prayers put to their good workes nor their good déedes and their merites As O Lord I doe faste I doe pray I am no theife I am in charitie with all the world and for them defire God to bée mercifull vnto them But they shoulde desire the father of heauen to bée mercifull vnto them alonely for Christes merites For they were y e things wherby both wée and our prayers are accepted in the sight of the father And to prooue this I brought certayne Scriptures As this whatsoeuer yée shall aske the father in my name hée shall geue it you And also the figure of y e old law where there was no sacrifice done but with y e fire that was taken from the aulter Now did I say that Christ is our aulter But thys myne aduersaries vnderstoode not But I maruayle what this article doth amonge the other hereticall articles I thinke they doe not recken it heresie HEe did not praye for the thrée estates of holy Churche neyther made hée his prayers in y e beginning of his sermon according to the olde custome but at the last ende and for the true knowledge of all Christen men making no prayer to our Lady nor for the soules in gurgatory nor for grace expedient If the Byshops had had any indifferency in them or any charitie they woulde haue béene ashamed that such articles shoulde haue béene brought afore thē What is this to the purpose of heresie that I did not pray for the thrée estates of holy Church And yet they graunt that I prayde for all true Christē mē and that men might come to the true knowledge Is not all the church contayned in this But they bée vncharitable men without all cōsideration they bée so blinded in their worldly honour That I did not pray to our Ladye nor for the soules in purgatory what is that to heresy for then were the Apostles heretykes for they did not pray in their sermons to our Lady nor yet to y e soules in purgatorye And as for praying for grace expedient that is not the preacher bound to doe openly But mée thinketh by these articles that God gaue mée a greate grace that I durst so boldelye reproue their abhominable liuing not fearing the daunger that should come thereof but this I leue to other mens iudgement And I dare boldelye say y e if I had spoken tentymes asmuch against y e auctorite of our noble prince and agaynst all his noble dukes and Lordes had taken all power both spirituall and temporall from them and geuen it to our idle byshops then had I béene a faythfull christen man for I had defended y e liberties of holy church But god send them his grace and space for to conuert Amen The whole disputation betweene the Byshops and Doctour Barnes NOw most honorable gracious Prince here haue I shewed your grace the articles that myne aduersaries vncharitablie hath layd agaynst me In the whiche though a greate many of my wordes and sayinges were Yet neuerthelesse there was left out all those things that did make for my declaration and for probations of my wordes and also for mollifying and temperatyng of those thinges that séemed to bée somewhat hardly spokē agaynst the Byshops The whiche thinges were to longe to recite vnto your noble grace But as God is my iudge and also my conscience and all my wordes and déedes and all maner of my liuyng and conuersation I did neuer intende to speake agaynst the Byshops or els any other man further then their liuing and conuersation were agaynst the blessed word of God and the holy doctrine of Christes Churche For the truth is there was no great clerke in the Church of God this CCCC yeares that wrote any thyng but hée complained vehemently agaynst the liuing of the spiritualtie Let their bookes bée brought foorth to proue whether my saying be truth or not Alas is it not a pituous case yea and also agaynst all law and conscience that I poore man shalbée thus violently cast away for speaking agaynst these vices that béene damned by almightie God and by all hys holy creatures yea and the Byshops them selues and all the worlde must graunt that they doe liue as euill yea and rather worse then I did speake Oh Lord God where is loue to vertue where is the shamefastnes that Christen men ought to haue where is Iustice That I shalbée thus shamefully cast awaye for speakyng of that thynge that euery Christen man is bounde to speake They doe so lyue and I beyng a preacher of the verity must bée condemned for speakyng agaynst it But most gracious and mightie Prince God hath set your grace in the same honour and dignitie that you by Gods ordinaunce ought to defende those men that are oppressed wrongfully Wherefore humbly and méekely and with all lowlynes reuerence I beséech your grace to minister vnto me gracious iustice let me bée heard indifferently whether that I can iustifie my cause with learnyng or not If I can not iustifie it your grace is a minister of iustice I will refuse no maner of payne that shal bée due for my trāsgressiō Wherfore ones agayne with all méekenes and lowlynes in the way of charitie and in Christes name and for his swéete bloud sake that hée hath shed for your grace yea and also by y e vertue of your auctoritie that the heauēly God hath deliuered you I doe require and desire of your grace audience and iustice I and all my parētes bée your naturall subiectes borne and a great many of vs hath dyed in your graces quarell and yet is there none of vs but are ready to doe your grace that seruice with our bodyes bloud that shall become trewe subiectes to doe to their noble prince Wherfore thyrdely in my name and in all our names for al they are rebuked in me with all méekenes reuerence I béeseche your grace of gracious audience and of fauorable iustice This thing I trust your grace will not denye me Nor yet take any displeasure with me your poore subiect for thus requiring For I haue none other prince nor Lorde to séeke vnto here on earth but vnto your grace onelye Nor can I come to any charitable ende with myne aduersaries Wherefore I am compelled by extreme violence thus to complayne
preached Ergo the workes of y t new lawe doth not iustifie of necessitie The anticedent I proue thus Abraham Isaac Iacob and Iohn Baptist and all the holy prophetes were perfectly iustified afore any new workes as you take new workes were spoken of Ergo men were sufficiently iustified alonely by fayth If Saint Paules argument conclude so must mine also Wherefore say what you can Here standeth holy S. Paule stifly and strongly for mée and against you and sayth That we bée fréely and alonely iustified by fayth without all maner of works But let vs sée what S. Ambrose sayth to this text They are iustified fréely for they doing nothing nor nothing deseruing alonely by fayth are iustified by the gift of God c. Here you not y e men working nothing at all nor nothing deseruyng are iustified by fayth onely yea and fréely you were wonte to cry for Sola sola sola onely onely onely Here haue you him and to helpe him you haue also gratis that is to saye fréely and also dono Dei that is to say the gyft of God and Nihill operantes that is as much as working nothing at all If these words doe not exclude workes and alowe fayth onely I can not tell what words will doe it graūt these wordes and I will bée content I will also bring you Origyne on this same text whose words bée these Paule sayth that the iustification of fayth is alonely sufficient So that if a man doe beléeue onely hée is iustified though there bée no workes done of hym at all By fayth was the théefe iustified without the workes of the lawe For our Lorde did not aske him what hée had done nor did looke for any workes of him but did accepte him all onely for cōfessing of Christ It foloweth Wherfore a man is iustied by fayth Vnto whom as concerning iustification the workes of y e law helpe nothing c. What say you to Origine that sayth how men bée iustified though they doe no good workes at all for workes doe help nothing to iustification but fayth onelye Bée not these plaine words Graunt these wordes and we will aske no more of you Here haue you also Sola sola sola So y e you néede not cry no more for Sola Also Origine bringeth an opē example of the théefe that no man can deny Who can haue lesse good works then a théefe which is neither good before God nor man So y t all y e worlde may sée that this is no new opinion séeing that the scripture and also holy doctours doth teach it Also S. Paule in the 9. chapter bringeth in the Gentyle which knoweth nothing of God nor hath done any good works but cōtrary blasphemed God his name hath alwayes lyued in Idolatrye and béene an vtter enemy vnto al goodnes Hée bringeth in also the Iewe full of good workes of the law which hath also great zeale vnto God and to his workes yea of that Paule beareth hym witnes Briefelye hée bringeth in for him such a Iewe that no man can complaine of but is full of good workes Yea take all the best of the Iewes togither for it were madnes of Paule to speake of the damnable Iewes that were open wretches damned by the iudgment of the lawe with all their good workes and yet S. Paule doth exclude them repelleth them clearely from iustifycation with all their good zeale and with all their good workes and concludeth with playne wordes that the gentyl which is full of damnable wordes and had neither zeale nor loue vnto goodnes is iustified by fayth onely These bée S. Paules wordes we say that the Gentils which folowed not righteousnes haue obtayned righteousnes I meane y e righteousnes which cōmeth of faith But I sraell which foloweth the lawe of righteousnes could not attayne vnto righteousnes Wherefore Because hée sought it not by fayth but as it were by the workes of the lawe Bée not these playne wordes That the Gentiles which folowed no righteousnes nor had any minde therunto are iustified fréely by fayth Is not here Sola fides only fayth Moreouer the Iew is reprooued with all zeale with all his loue with all his studye and with all his good workes Is not this a merueylous thing yes verely And so merueilous that you shall neuer vnderstand it without you beléeue But peraduenture here shall bée sayd that the good woorks of the Iewes dyd not profite thē because they had no faith But if they had had faith then would they haue holpen to their iustificatiō To this I make answere Trouth it is good workes did not profyte the Iewes for lacke of fayth But this is false That workes should haue holpen to iustification if they had had fayth For S. Paule proueth clerely that good workes helpe nothynge to iustification nor euell workes let not the iustification y t commeth by fayth And this hée proued by the example of the Gentyll which had no good workes but all damnable workes yet is iustified by fayth Moreouer the Iewe had y t zeale of God and all manner of good workes w t all things that the world cā deuise yea also S. Paule speaketh of the Iewes y t were Christened all this could not helpe Wherfore no maner of works whether they bée in fayth or out of faith can helpe to iustifye Neuerthelesse workes hath their glory and reward But the glory and prayse of iustificacion belongeth to Christ onely Also S. Paule proueth playnely in these wordes that workes haue no place in iustification To him that worketh is the rewarde not geuen of fauour but of duetye To hym that worketh not but beleueth on hym that iustifieth the wicked man is fayth coūted for righteousnes How thinke you by these wordes bée they not opēly agaynst all workes Sayth hée not y t iustification is imputed vnto him y t worketh not but alonly beléeueth in hym y e iustifieth y e wicked mā I pray you what good works doth the wicked mā Marke also how hée sayth that righteousnes is imputed vnto him Ergo it is not deserued For that that is deserued is not imputed of fauour but it must bée geuen of duety How thinke you Is not this Sola fides onely fayth You know that there bée but workes and fayth that doe iustifie And S. Paule excludeth workes clearely Ergo fayth alone remaineth But peraduenture you will say y e workes with fayth doe iustifie Neuerthelesse of méekenes and lowlynes auoyding of all boast of goodnes you wil geue all y t glory to fayth as vnto y t principal thyng without the which no workes can helpe Notwithstāding workes bée good and helpe to iustification thoughe of méekenes you will not know it Is not this damnable hipocrisie yea and that with God which were intollerable if it were with men But how cā you proue by Scripture that workes are worthy of any glorye of
expounde this texte Now doth hée plainly shewe that sayth alonely hath the vertue in him to iustifie and bringeth Abacuk saying Of faith and not of the law shal a righteous maÌ„ lyue Hée addeth well afore God for afore man peraduenture they shal be reckened righteous that sticke to the lawe but not afore God c. Here haue you Sola onely And also that this holy iustification is afore God and after his iudgemeÌ„t not after mens iudgementes Wherfore glory as much as you caÌ„ of your good workes They can not alonely iustifie you but also they bée of no valure but damnable and very sinne if there bée no fayth So farre are they from helping to iustification Thys doth S. Augustine witnesse in these wordes Those same workes that bée done afore fayth though they séeme vnto men laudable yet are they but vayne and I doe iudge them as great strength and as swift running out of the way Wherfore let no man couÌ„t his good workes before fayth where as faith is not there is no good work the intention maketh a good worke but fayth doth guide thee inteÌ„tion c. Here S. Augustine condemneth all your good workes afore fayth sayth that they bée nothing worth but vain and thinges out of the way How can such thynges helpe to iustification Marke also how that your good intention wherupon you boast that you doe so many good workes by can not helpe you for hée is blynde and knoweth not what to doe though he stand well in his owne conceite with out fayth which is his guide So that all thinges afore fayth are but very blindnes But as soone as fayth commeth hée doth both iustifie and also maketh the works good which were afore sinne But let vs sée what Saint Barnarde sayth of good workes I doe abhorre sayth hée whatsoeuer thyng is of mée Except paradueÌ„ture that that be myne which God hath made me hys By grace hath hée iustified mée fréely and by that hath hée deliuered mée from the bondage of sinne Thou hast not choseÌ„ me sayth Christ but I haue chosen thée nor I found any merites in thée that might moue me to chose thée but I preuented all thy merites Wherefore thus by faith haue I maryed thée vnto me and not by the woorkes of the law I haue maryed the also in iustice but not in the iustice of the lawe but in the iustice which is of fayth Now this remayneth that thou doest iudge a ryght iudgment betwéene thée and mée Geue thou iudgment wherein that I haue maried thée where it is open that thy merites dyd not come betwéene but my pleasure and will c. S. Barnarde doth despise all hys good workes and taketh hym onely to grace but you stycke partly to your good workes and not onelye to grace Had S. Barnarde no good workes to stycke to Marke that S. Barnarde is Gods child fréely by grace which can not bée if workes doe helpe lesse or more Was hée not a christened man Had hée no workes of the new law as you call them I thinke yes And yet hée sayth y e there was no merites nor any goodnes but that we were fréely chosen Wherfore hée prouoked you all such as you be to iudge righteously betwéene God and you the which hath preueÌ„ted all your goodnes and that of his owne will and of hys owne pleasure How can hée finde any goodnes that preuenteth all goodnes So that here haue you clearely that good workes of y e law or morall good woorkes as you fayne doe nothing helpe to iustificatioÌ„ afore God for they bée preueÌ„ted of iustification This is also well proued by Saint Augustines sayinge Wherfore these thinges considered and declared after the strength that it hath pleased God to geue vs we doe gather that a man can not bée iustified by the preceptes of good liuing that is not by the lawe of workes but by y e law of fayth not by the letter but by the spirite not by merites of workes but by frée grace c. Here you this not by merites of workes but by frée grace what call you frée grace but without al things sauyng graâ—e what call you not of workes but y â— workes helpe nothing For if workes did helpe then would hée not say not of workes but not of workes onelye but part of workes part of faith but hée excludeth workes fully onely Agayne the same thing that purchaseth vs remission of our sinnes doth also purchase iustificatioÌ„ For iustificatioÌ„ is nothing but remission of sins Now fayth purchaseth vs remissioÌ„ Ergo by faith we ar iustified Nowe that fayth doth purchase remission of sinnes it is well proued by this article of our fayth Credo remissionem peccatorum I beléeue remission of sinnes Now if I haue not this remission for fayth then fayth deceiueth mée for I doe beléeue onely because I woulde haue remission of sinnes What néedeth me to beléeue remission of sinnes if I may deserue it by workes Also our mayster Christ declareth openly y e no manner of works what so euer they bée can iustifye afore God These bée his wordes wheÌ„ you haue done all thinges that bée commaunded you yet saye that wee are vnprofitable seruauntes If you bée vnprofitable then bée you not iustified And if you can not bée iustified when you haue done all thinges how will you bée iustified When you doe in a maner nothing and specially of those thinges that bée commaunded you wherefore this is playne y e our workes can not helpe vs to iustification For wheÌ„ we haue done all things yet we are vnprofitable But let vs proue this by an open example I put this case my Lordes vnto you I speake that our noble prince would call you all before him and say My Lordes so it is that it hath pleased vs to cal you vnto the spiritual dignitie of Byshops to make you of our counsell and Lordes of our Realme and also of our parlameÌ„t Now wold we know of you which of you all hath deserued it or reckeneth hym selfe worthy by his deseruing les or more of this dignity What will you say to this What will you aunswere to the Kynges grace Is there one amonge you all that dare be so bolde as to say to the kinges grace that he hath not geuen it vnto hym fréely but that hée hath done the king so faythfull seruice that he was bouÌ„d to geue it vnto him Yea and that of his deseruinge If there were one that were so proude as to say this thinke you that y e kings grace woulde not laye to his charge how that hée had not done halfe his duetie but were rather bound to doe ten tymes as much more and yet the Kinges grace were not bouÌ„d to geue hym a bysshopricke for hée had done but his duetye and not all that Now if your good workes and all your faythfull seruice bée not able to deserue a
sometime they losse the coate frō his backe Our maister Christe sayth vnto you you haue receiued it frée geue it frée agayne and you geue nothyng frée But I know your aūswere You will say that you sell not your Masse nor Sacramentes nor the word of God but the labour that you haue about them O thou deuill when wilt thou bée without an excuse whē wilt thou graunt thy selfe gilty Tell me ye that bée without shame if you doe sell but your labour is it not sore and an vnlawfull price to sell it so deare what Byshop can deserue by his labour a thousand pound by yeare yet some of them haue a great deale more and labour nothyng at all How deare wil these men sell their labour if they shoulde bée tankerdebearers They would make water dearer thē wyne Yea tel me what labour there is with in the Realme that is halfe so deare sold as their idlenes is But you belly gods did not Christes Apostles take paynes labours about the ministration of the worde and in fulfillyng of their office more in one day then you doe in all your lyues and yet was it not lawfull for them more to receiue then a lyuyng For our maister Christ sayd y t worke man is worthy of his meate so y e our maister wold that they should receiue no more but that was necessarie Also S. Paule sayth our Lord dyd ordeine that they whiche preache the Gospell should lyue on y t Gospell Marke how hée sayth they that preach y t Gospell Now which of you all doth preache y e Gospel not one and yet will you enioye these innumerable possessions S. Hierome sayth on this same text you must lyue on the Gospell but not bée riche also Chrisostome sayth I say boldly that the byshops and Prelates of the Church may haue nothyng but meate and drinke and cloth c. Heare haue you playnely that if you did labour faythfully and truely in the Gospell you could haue but a lyuyng there on and no Lordly possessions but now doe you nothing in the worlde but excercise tyranny on them that would preach the Gospell and make lawes and statutes to destroy them and the holy Gospell of God so that Chrisostome speaketh well of you Beholde I sée men that haue no trew sence of holy scripture yea they vnderstand nothing at all thereof to passe ouer many things for I am ashamed to call thē mad mē triflers wranglers they bée such as know not what they say nor of what thynge they speake but all onely bée they mighty bold to make lawes to curse cōdemne those things of y t which they know nothing at all c. Bée not these your workes who can say but that these wordes be spoken of you who maketh statutes and lawes but you who curseth and condemneth but you how can you lay these thinges from you how can you auoyde thē so long shall they bée layd agaynst you tyll you can bring in one that is gylty of them I think that will bée long And yet will you haue these great possessions and bée also greate Lordes doing nothing therefore at al but al onely play the part of a byshop as a Christmas game player doth of a king and as a Popet which springeth vp and downe and cryeth Peepe Péepe and goeth his way So doe you make a coūtenaūce of great holines of great perfectiō but all y e world can testify what you doe in indeede More ouer you are more bound to the Gospell then all other men bee in y e world for thereby haue you all your honour all your riches all your Lordly possessions and if the gospell were not men would no more regard you then they doe Coblers yet deserue you worst of all men of the Gospell Wherefore I can no more say vnto you but the wordes of our Maister Christ Woe bée vnto you hypocrites the whiche shut heauen gates before other men and as S. Luke sayth you haue taken away y e key of science and neyther enter in your selfe nor yet suffer other that come to enter in Now let mée sée how all your keyes and al your power can assoyle you frō this same woe y t our M. Christ doth heare laye vnto you This worde of God byndeth you to euerlasting damnation let vs sée if your piklocke can open this locke then will I say that you haue the keyes of heauen or els not I thinke you may séeke all your clegge with keyes and fynde not one that will open this locke FINIS ¶ Free will of man after the fall of Adam of hys naturall strength can doe nothyng but sinne beefore God IN this article will wée not dispute what man may doe by the cōmon influence geuen hym of God ouer these inferior and worldelye thinges as what power hée hath in eating and drinking in sléeping and speaking in buying and sellyng and in all other such naturall thinges that bée géeuen of God indifferently to all men both to good and bad But here will wée search what strength is in man of his naturall power without the spirit of God for to will or to doe those thinges that bée acceptable before God vnto the fulfilling of the will of God as to beléeue in God to loue God after his commaundemēts to loue iustice for it selfe to take God for his father to recken him to bée mercifull vnto him to feare God louingly with all other thinges that mē doe call good workes this is the thing that wée will search to knowe Now that hée can doe nothyng in these causes by his frée wil our maister Christ prooueth it in these wordes Hee that abideth in mée and I in him bringeth forth much fruite for without mée cā ye doe nothing if a man abide not in mée hée is cast out as a braunch and shall burne Here it is open that fréewill without grace can doe nothing I doe not speake of eating drinking though that bée of grace but nothing that is fruitfull that is meritorious that is worthy of thanke that is acceptable before God For hee that hath not Christ in hym is cast out this is the first fruite of freewill than wythereth hée that is the second fruite this wythering helpeth hym nothing to goodnesse hée must wither let him doe the best than is hée gathered and cast in the fire this is the thirde fruit What can bée in the fire doe nothing but burne Hée can not lye there as a thing indifferent but hée must néedes burne hée cā not come out of y t fier by his owne strēgth let hym intende as much as hée can his intention can not helpe hym nor yet further hym So that all the might of fréewil when hée is left alone is nothyng els but firste to bée cast out and seconde to wyther so decayeth hée thyrdly to be
it but will you condemne all thinges where by men doe take occasion of euill TheÌ„ must you fyrst put out your own eyes for by them take you occasioÌ„ to sée many idle thinges you must also destroy your handes your féete your tongue and al that you haue for these doe you mysuse very often you must also destroy your own harts whereby you haue not alonely occasion of euil but you doe thinke euil in very déede you must also destroy all fayre womeÌ„ for of them take you sore occasions of euyll you must also burne all your goodes and destroy all your riches for of theÌ„ men take occasion to be théeues and you to bée proud you must also destroy all wynes for of theÌ„ men take occasioÌ„ to bée droÌ„keÌ„ you must destroy all meates for they géeue meÌ„ occasioÌ„ of gluttony yea you muste destroye the mercy of God of the which euell men take boldenes in their myschief Briefly what is there so good a thing but that euell meÌ„ can take an occasion of euill yea and that of Christ hym selfe as Saint Paule saith which vnto the Iewes is offence and vnto the Gentyls occasion of folyshnes yet for al this you may not destroy Christ but hée must remayne stil and so likewise the Gospell for though that the euell men which will neuer bée good receiue of it occasion of euyll yet ther bée many thousandes y e receaue there by their saluation Now béecause the spider gathereth poysoÌ„ of y e good herbes it were no reason therfore to destroy al good herbes An other of your reasoÌ„s thrée bée certayne seÌ„tences in scripture y â— doe not beloÌ„g for euery man to know as our M. Christ sayth vnto you it is geueÌ„ to know the misteries of the kingdome of heauen vnto them it is not geuen I aunswere whom meane you when you say vnto you it is geuen if you meane that Apostles all onely there successors then may not you reade holy scripture for you bée not the successors of y e Apostles by my Lord of Rochesters auctorytie but if you meane the ChristeÌ„ people that haue y â— spirite of God as our M. Christ ment then bée you excluded for you haue not the sprite of God as y e effect doth declare therfore you may not read scriptures Marke also that our mayster saith vnto you it is geuen as who sayth if it were not geuen you you shoulde no more haue it then other men Now how can you proue that the vnderstanding of scripture is geuen to you â–ª but now to y e text our Maister Christ speaketh heare of the sprituall and the right vnderstanding of holy scriptures which is the gift of God onely and hée speaketh not of studying â–ª or reading of holy scripture for you haue in the same place how that many dyd followe him and heare his preaching but yet they vnderstoode him not Therefore this text maketh directly against you and your works doe declare that you bée the hearers readers of the worde of God but the vnderstanding is not geuen you But now wyllmy Lord of Rochester saye that you haue the very vnderstanding as holy doctors had it for though that scriptures in themselues and of their owne nature bée plainest best to bée knowen yet bée y e holy doctors playnest vnto vs wherefore hée that will vnderstand scripture must fyrst learne to vnderstand the doctours they shal bring hym to the true vnderstanding of holy scripture or els hée must erre I aunswere O my Lorde doe you wryte this with a safe conscyence thinke you y â— you can discharge your conscience béefore the dreadfull face of Christ with this triflyng distynction Quedam sunt notiora nobis et quedam notiora naturae I pray you if you wil proue that God were wise would you béegin to proue it at your wisedome if you would proue that God were aliue woulde you proue it by that y â— you bée aliue if you would perswade a man to beléeue that there is a God would you learne hym that hée must néedes beléeue it because y â— there bée creatures These thinges bée best knowen vnto you and if you woulde prooue that a man hath a true sence of Scriptures will you proue it by that that hée hath the sence of the doctours What if y e doctours had taken a false and a contrary sence this case is possible would you therefore say that the sence which the maÌ„ hath takeÌ„ out of scripture is false But I pray you my Lorde after this this rule how could men vnderstand scriptures in Peter Paules dayes when there weare no doctours But after your owne learning that same science which must proue the princypelles of other sciences is fyrst knoweÌ„ actualiter distinctly Now bée all the pryncipels of all other doctours proued â—rew by holy scripture therefore there is no saying nor exposition of ho ly doctours y t can bée perfectly knoweÌ„ except that scripture bée fyrst knowen this is your owne dyuynitie you can not denye it wherefore if you will proue that you haue the verytie you must proue it béecause you haue the sence of holy scripture and not the seÌ„ce of holy doctours But doubtles I haue great meruell that my Lord of Rochester is neyther ashamed of maÌ„ nor yet afrayde of the vengeance of God y â— thus triflyth w t holy scripture Besides this you haue an other bauld reason the Citie of London hath certeine priuileges and secrete counsels it were no reason that all men should know them this was my Lorde of Londons reason at Paules crosse when hée condemned the new TestameÌ„t I aunswere my Lord say of your coÌ„science did you not speake these wordes to please my Lorde the Maior of London and his brethren But I pray you is this a like similitude of y â— certeine counsels of meÌ„ the whiche must bée kept secrete bycause they bée couÌ„sels and of the holy scriptures the whiche were brought into this world not to bée â–ª kept secrete but to bée preached openly as our maister Christ commaundeth preach the Gospell to all creatures heare you to all creatures let these meÌ„ haue it for all these bee of y e counsell kéepe you it from the residue Furthermore our maister Christ saith in an other place that I haue shewed you in secretnes preach it on the tope of the house Also S. Paule sayth the Gospell is declared openly through preachyng in an other place God haue brought life and immortalitie vnto light thorough the Gospell Also our maister calleth it the light of the world nowe who will set as hée saith a light vnder a bushell and not rather openly that all meÌ„ there by may bée lightned Wherfore my lord your similitude is very far vnlike and if you were not a Lord it were woorthy to bée despised But doubtles it may bée wel thought that you were
small occasions do rise gret euils EnsaÌ„ples for our â—earnâ—ng Learn here how to read vnderstaÌ„d y â— scripture If we herken vnto the voyce of God and bend our selues to do hys wyl he wyll be our God help vs but otherwise he wyl plague vs as he plagued the vnthankful faythlesse Iewes Trust and beleue in God and care not what the world say The world liketh well all wycked lyuers and vngodly people Here is set forth the office of euery good person TemptatioÌ„ is the triall of true christians The excellency of faith which is the gifte of God Those whoÌ„ God scourgeth he dearely loueth A necessary lesson for a good precher God commaundeth that we shold make no images The worshipping of Idoles or Images was abhorred of god Witchcraft sorcery c. abhorred of God Moses often reherseth the benefites of almighty God to moue vsto feare hym and to loue our neighbour God will haue vs to be merciful to our neighbors All the ceremonies of the olde testament weâ—â— but preachers of Christ that was to come The â—ea◠〈◊〉 of the tabernacle was to keepe the Iewes froÌ„ harkenyng to the heathen God had two Testaments that is the olde and the new The old testament was built vpon the obseruatioÌ„ of the law The law could not geue lyfe The law is the vtterer of sinne The law was geuen by God to shewe what sinne was Ceremonies are not geuen to iustify the hart but to signifie our iustificatioÌ„ by Christ Ceremonies cannot iustify The new Testament are the euerlastyng promises made to vs in Christ Faith only iustifieth Good workes spryng out of the loue we haue to God Where true fayth is there good workes do flow and abound The new Testament was from the beginnyng Our temporall lawes spring out of the law of nature Loue counselleth the faythfull to worke We must nor presume in our well doing not coÌ„deÌ„ne others that run astray the last which turneth to god is as farre forward as the first MaÌ„s wisedome is playn Idolatry it scat tereth diuideth and maketh sectes Ceremonies to the Israelites and â—ewts were as good schole masters are to young scholers All thyngs were first reueled in ceremonies and shadowes vntill it pleased almighty God to reuele hys sonne Iesu Christ Small and litle giftes geueÌ„ by the parentes to their children causeth loue obedience Sacrifices and ceremonies serue for allegories to find out Christ Similitudes proue nothyng but doe more playnly lead thee to vnderstand the text Some ceremonies coÌ„teine whole some and profitable doctrine Ceremonies ordeyned to confirme our fayth Gods secrets were opened but to a fewe The ceremonies of themselues saued not but fayth in Gods promise Our nature is so weake that we must be holpen by outwarde signes and tokens No man is holpen by 〈◊〉 promises but sinners that feele their sinne Sacraments truly ministred are profitable Sacraments truly miniâ—â—res preach vnto vs repeÌ„taunce of our sinnes Noâ— naked or dome ceremonies but the holy ghost throughe fayth washeth away sinnes The difference betwene a sacrifice and a Sacrament What slate we dye in the same wee shall rise agayn either of saluation or damnation The Sacramentes are vnto y e dead no Sacramentes at all Sacramentes abused vp y â— Clergy The Papistes haue had no smal frend and good helper of the masse Hipocrites prayers caÌ„ neither profite them selkes nor any maÌ„â—ls Those that are enemies to the worde of God loue neither god nor his people Allegories are to bee wel weyed and considered The greatest cause of the decay of faith and blindnes that wee were in â–ª was thorough Allegories How allegories are to bee vnderstand The ryght vsed of allegories Baptisme is y e commoÌ„ badge of all true professours of Christ Baptisme teacheth vs repentaunce of sinne The bare washyng helpeth not but throrough the worde of fayth it purifieth vs. How christ boroweth figures of the old Testament to make plain the textes of the new testament Our duety is to do good dedes but saluation we cannot chaleÌ„ge therby A good example taken of the Lepers The true preachyng of Gods word doth bynde and lose consciences In allegories is both hony gall that is to say both good euil All good dedes are gods work manship wee hys instrumeÌ„ts wherby he doth them Freewill and vnbeliefe were the ouerthrow of ouâ— for eâ—athers Then cannot they be the childreÌ„ of God which put more trust in their owne workes then in y e bloud of Iesus Christ Faithlesse workes The Pharises by their free-will excluded them selues from the saluatioÌ„ 〈◊〉 Christ Blasphemy to christes death O subtle Foxes thorow pouertie made themselues Lordes of all Wilfull chastitie is wilful wikednes The Papistâ—… wilful obedience is coÌ„mon disobedience to all princes Our 〈…〉 commeth not by our merites but thorow sayth by the bloud of ouâ— sauiour Iesus Christ Fayth only bringeth vs to christ and vnbeâ—… driueth do from Christ Christ rebuâ—… the Pharises for their holy and 〈…〉 The pharises ascribe righteousnâ—… workes therfore were condemned of Christ The iustifiyng oâ— our selues maketh the diuâ—… more buâ—… then he wold be What to meant in the scripâ—… by this 〈◊〉 vâ—… tymeâ— Meritâ—…gerâ— y e more their blindnes is rebuked the more they rebell against Christ and his golyâ—… The doctrine of the pharises and the doctrine of our papists do well agree The Papistes cannot away with iustification by fayth Of vowes God accepteth for vs none other sacrifice but onely Iesu christ his sonne 〈◊〉 holines in our own imaginatioÌ„ is a robbing of christes honor Faith foloweth repentaunce of sinne RepentaÌ„ce goeth before fayth and prepareth the way vnto Christ How our workes are good in the sight of God The work saueth not but the word that it is to say the promise An apt similitude for reward of good workes All vowes must be made for y â— mortifying or tamyng â–ª of our members or the edifying of our neighbours or els they are wicked How we ought to vowe wilfull pouertie Whether fished the Popes prelates with tâ—… nâ—t or no Our workes do not stand in the wisedome of maÌ„ but in the power of God Desert and free gift are contraries The sight of riches is rather a cause of coueteousnes then a meane to honor God Whether dyd the papist so or no Yet y â— spiritualities pillage was more then theyr standing stipeÌ„d A good vowe is to kepe Gods commaundementes Howe thou mayst lawfully goe on pilgrimage God heareth al that call vppon him in all tymes and at al places alyke God regardeth the hart and not y â— place where wee pray Wilfull chastitie is not mete for all persons to vow False fayned chastitie The Pope restrayned that which God permitted and setteth at liberty that which God forbiddeth A good adminition to such as wil make vowes Wherunto and howe we should apply our vowes How a vow is to be made He that fasteth to any other ende theÌ„ to