place After this will I poure out my spirite saieth Ioel vpon all fleshe and your sonnes and daughters shal prophecie your olde mâ—n shal dreame dreames and your yonge men shall se visions Yea in those dayes I wil poure out my spirite vpon maidens and seruauÌ„tes ct Nowe therefore seynge that S Peter affirmeth after the Prophete Esay that al fleshe is grasse and al y e glorye of maÌ„ is as y e floure of grasse the grasse withereth and the flower falleth a waye but the worde of oure God abydeth for euer I woulde exhorte in you ryght worshippefull syr all men frome the hygheste to the loweste to cleaue faste to the word of god For it wyl come to passe that who soeuâ—r calleth vpon the name of the Lorde shall be saued Who eeuer defende you Amen ☞ Your humble and fayethful at your commaundement Phillip Nicolles ¶ Here foloweth the copie of a letter writtyn to master Chrispyn chanone of Excester concernynge thre questians put furth in hys sermon wherby he entended to declare all them heretickes that would Gods word to be the touch stone IT chaunced me worshipful maister Chrispen to be at your sermoÌ„ preached at Marledon the .xxiiii. Daye of marche laste paste at the monethes mynde of maister Otes Gylberd In whiche sermon amonge other thynges I remembre you enuied Luther verie sore onelye because he woulde haue the scripture to be the touch stone or triall of al other doctrines And calling Luther as it were into disputacions wyth al his disciples you put furth three questians whyche be these Fyrst if ther rose any heresies or dissentions before the Gospel was written as ther dyd in dede betwene SimoÌ„ Magus and SimoÌ„ Peter and ouer the circumsicion aske Luther hys disciples whoe nowe shall discusse the matter and whoe shoulde be the touche stone to trie the mattier The Gospell can not for it was not then wrytten The second questian is If one shoulde denye Mathewes Gospel or say Mathewe wrote it not how can it be proued by scripture It can not you say for scripture speaketh not of it The thyrd questiaÌ„ dyd deceiue the ignorante people which haue litle or no knowledge which is If ther be dissension or strife aboute the vnderstandeynge of the scriptures and both alledge scripture as the Areans dyd whoe brought to places of scripture for y e defence of theire errour in suche case you aske whoe shal be iudge or by whoÌ„ shall this be determined Or rather to vse your veri wordes wher is Luthers touch ston The scripture can not be touche stone you saye for boeth bringe forth scripture Wherefore ther must nedes be an other touch stone Where is Luthers now quoth you What answer can be made to these questians For Luthers touch ston wyll not serue Your answer was ther fore that Luther must gyue place and saye wyth you that it is the holye gost that must be touchston Thus you triumphed vpon Luther and hys disciples meaneinge by Luthers disciples suche I suppose as holde thys opinion as though you had ouer come theÌ„ that they coulde answere nothing Thys is easye to do when a maÌ„ hath all the talke hym selfe But for as muche as you wyshed Luther there at your sermon or some of his disciples to answere to your questians I thynke verelye you wylbe contented to heare a pore man answere though yet but simplye But I do you to wyt that I am none of Luthers disciples for I knowe not Luther But that I thynke hym to be a man as you be and therefore of hym selfe a lyer But if Luther spake the truth I woulde beleue him as sone as you or any other that speake the truth For the trueth by the whiche I meane gods worde can not be spoken wyth out holye gooste if it be spokeÌ„ to the glorye of God But in dede you or any other maye wyckedlye alledge the scripture of your selfe wythout the spirite to the defaceinge of the glorie of god and hinderaunce of hys worde as the deuyll dyd to Christe Mathe. iiii But I wyl resorte to the questians â–ª wyth thys protestacion that if I haue by any meanes mysse reported your wordes or other wyse vnderstanded them then you ment I hertelye desire you that you wyll charitably infourme me what were your questians what ye ment in them and howe you lyke thys my rude answere In so doinge â–ª I wyll be confirmable to your counsayle or else I wyll shewe you my mynde why I ought not Nowe to your fyrste questian whyche is thys If ther arose any dissention of heresie before the gospell was writen as it happened in dede betwene SimoÌ„ Magus and Simon Peter Also ouer the circumsicion where had ben then the touche stone To this questiaÌ„ by your leaue mayster Chripyne I wyll in this maner answer wyth Luther and say the scripture must be the touch stone If you saye it was not written I answer The worde was in the begyninge You wyl saye that Christe came accordynge to the scripture to finishe a newe testament whiche he coÌ„firmed and sealed wyth his bloude and when the newe was come the olde vanished awaye as Saynte Paule affirmeth to the Hebrues And you wyll saye peraduenture that Luther also meaneth the newe testa mente whiche was not written when the questian of circumsicion was moued wherefore it coulde not be the touche stone To make many wordes about this questian in my coÌ„ceyt wer but losse of time But I aske you Maister Chrispine what difference is betwene scripture written and scripture spoken if boeth be scripture You wyl graunte I am sure that Peter Paul and Iames wordes wer scripture when they preached or taughte the Gospell Then if anie man had asked for scripture it mought haue ben answerd Go to Peter Paul Iohn wyth thother Apostles For theyr preaching and couÌ„sayle was scripture So lacked not at that tyme Luthers tuchestone for the Apostles wryttinges and preachinges agreed and all was scripture Wherefore thys questian is sufficientlye answered to the worthynesse of it To your second questian which is It any man should denye Mathwes Gospell you aske howe it coulde be proued by scripture that Mathew wrote it To this I answere that if it be agreinge to the other scriptures and dissent in nothinge from it what daynger is it to call it Mathewes Gospell who so euer wrote it And though you coulde denye Mathewes Gospell to be Scripture yet there is Scripture For Marke Luke and Iohns Gospell Peter Paule and Iohns Epistles be scripture But I doubt not you wyll grauÌ„t Mathewes Gospel to be scripture But you wil aske me how I know it I answere by the reporte of the elders holye fathers mother holye churche Howe saye you nowe Haue I answered you wel Doth not thys answere please you I thynke yes But if I shoulde are the turkes howe they knowe that Mahomete was an holye prophet whoe deuised and caused to be deuised the Alcaron what
able to defend it that he hadde preached whye shoulde he feare to wryte to the defence of the same Wherfore seinge he hath receyued my letter kepeth it and wyl not write agayne and yet blameth and fyndeth diuers fautes in it why shoulde he be greued wyth me for spreadeynge a broode myne owne doynges to vtter myne owne secretes And where as he was offēded wyth me although I haue not nor wyll laye anye such priuate communicacion to anye mans charge specially of myne owne seekynge yet I saye I muste declare my meaneinge more playnely in those thynges whyche he is so muche offended wythall to thentente that no stublynge stocke be purposely layed in my brothers waye that he shoulde not vnderstande the trueth and prayse God For although I found mayster Chrispyne verye gentle and charitable to talke wythal for y t which thynge I haue and wyll gyue him prayse yet disputeth he subtlelye and especially when he thynketh to haue yonge scholars in handelynge as he dyd wyth me For in thys he put me to my trumpe because I asked him in my letter what difference was betwene scripture wrytten and scripture spoken Nowe truth it is that accordyng to the Etimologie of the word which cometh of Scribo and so to Scriptura it can not be called Scripture vnlesse it be written And so euerye thynge written maye be called scripture And in that sentence we shall fynde no difference betwene the bible and Robyn hod by this name scripture for both maye be called scripture I saye after the verie nature of y e word Lo heare haue you an exāple of sophistri Let yong scholars take hede by me howe they meddell wyth thē For whereas I mente symply after the commone vsage and phrase of ourespeache meaneinge by Scripture written and spokē the prophecie of y e olde and newe testament the doctrine of Christe euen the verie worde of God as well beynge opened by the mouth of the Apostles vnto the heares in those dayes as written wyth theyr owne handes and reade vnto vs nowe in our time he nowe takeinge hys aduauntage at y e nature of y e latine word Scriptura out of whiche this englishe worde scripture is diriued denieth that it maye be called scripture vnlesse it be written What other thynge is thys then a mere sophisticall cauillacion The scribes and pharises in Christes tyme by lyke had not learned their sophistrie or els thei wer not so curiouse as our mē be For if thei had thei mought haue asked Christ whē he bad thē serch the scriptures what scripture he mēt But Paule therfore preuēting such subtile disputīg calleth it holy scriptur geuen by inspiracion Thus you se a mā had nede as the prouerbe goeth to haue a long spone y t shal eate w t y e deuill It is no maruaile though master Chrispin in his lessō not long sēce dyd so much cōmēd distinctions proued thē so necessarie y t we could not be wtout thē For he that shal haue to do w t such sophisters had nede to make diffiniciōs premeditat his words before pretacion For the prophecie was neuer brought in by the wyll of man but y e holy mē of god spake as they were moued of the holye gost Nowe if I shoulde aske S. Peter what he meaneth by scripture here I thynke he woulde say the word of god But it is the word of god writtine would you say yet doth s Peter say it of the same written worde y e the holye men of God spake as they were moued by y e holy goste But trulye I thinke it but a vaine thing and euen a losse of tyme to trifle in suche questians which can no waye edifye especially seynge S. Paule doth so often diswade Timoth frome such foleishe questians exhorteth him to cleaue faste to the word of God If anye man sayth he teache other wyse and agreeth not to the holesome wordes of our lord Iesus Christ and to the doctrine of godlinesse he is puffed vp and knoweth no-nothing but wasteth his braines about questians and striueing of words wherof sprīgeth enuie c. After a like maner also he toke me vp how be it more ernestlye for that I sayde the worde was in the beginning and for alledging Christes wordes I am that I say vnto you Or euen y e same thinge that I speake vnto you As thoughe I wente aboute to proue y t Christe was but a voice only or a writtē letter in paper Thus he dalyed w t me was in w t his distīctiōs whether I mēt bi y e word y e voice y e breath or the writtē word with manie double doubtes For mi words he saied as they stode in my letter were heresie But I told him y t I mēt it by y e same word y t the lord Iesus christ taught as Christ hym selfe wittnesseth I am euen the very same thinge y t I speake vnto you He saied that the words were not as I alledged them them For the latyne hath saied he Ego sum qui loquor vobis Now as for the alledgeinge of those wordes I folow the English translatours whose lerneynge I can not correcte If he can amende theyr doinges he shal haue good leaue for me Notwythstanding seinge that he maketh my wordes to dayngerouse I cānot but say more in it although they can not be spokē in my cōceyt more playne to be vnderstād thē they be alredi writtē For. s ▪ Iohn sayeth The worde was in y e beginning the word was w t god and God was the worde Nowe to denye that Christe is the worde of God by whiche all thinges were made I say is anheresie in dead Therfore it must nedes be graūted that Christe was and is the worde of God Thy worde Lorde sayeth the prophete is a lanterne to my fet and a light to my pathes Again he sayeth When thy worde goeth forth it geueth lyght and vnderstandeynge euen to babes Nowe what meaneth he by this worde that geueth thys lyghte Christe sayth I am come a light into y e world that who so euer be leueth in me should not abyd in darknes By these many other it wyll appeare Christe to be the true worde of God But nowe wyll they graunte that Christe is the worde that came from the father the lyghte of the worlde the life of the worlde as Moyses saith set your hertes on y e words that I testifie sayeth he for it is no vayne worde but your lyfe I am sure I say they wyl graūt Christe to be the worde but not the worde wryttyn whyche we reade in the boke In dede to say that Christe maye be written in paper or that the letters whiche be made of incke paper should be Christe were a fonde opinion and suche as I neuer harde of But the wordes written in the boke which we cal the scripture As the prophetes from Moyses to Christ and the
doctrine of the apostles which is written we cal it the Gospel we call it the scriptures we cal it y e newe testament and the olde these wordes written in a boke beinge reade vnto the people to enstruction edifying of y e cōgregatiō is the word of god yea Christ y e breade of life which came frō heauē so y e whoso eateth therof shal liue euer The words that Moyses dyd testifie vnto the children of Israell and sayed vnto them it is no vayne word but your life be they not writtē And be they not our life as wel as theyrs But what life cā thei be vnto vs if thei be kept frō vs so that we know thē not Dyd Moyses hyde them away and say they would make mē heretykes But all suche as do euil hate the lyght and come not to it that theyr dedes should not be reproued but he that doeth the trueth cometh to the lyght that his workes maye be knowen for they be done in God Agayne I am the lyghte of the world sayeth Christe Whye shoulde these men refuse goddes word to be their light if they wer of god whie should they feare to saye y e Christes worde is Christe the worde of the father the light that lyghneth al men that come vnto hym Esaye sayth If anye man want light let him loke vpon the lawe and testimonies What meaneth he by the lawe and testimonies meaneth he not the scripture or written word of God shall we not ther fynde the lighte I woulde aske these disputers of the worlde Whether the Gospell be written or no I thyncke they wyll graunte that it is written Well Saynct Paulle sayth he is not a shamed of y e Gospell of Christe for it is the powre of God whiche saueth all that beleue Nowe is this gospel written for our learneing saueth as many as beleue Marke wel the beleuers are not saued because it is writtē but they be saued because they beleue y e which is writē I aske these philosophers whether y e wordes that Christe speake be written or no I trowe the Euangelistes haue written the moste necessarye thynges yea the verie secretes hyd thynges If Christes wordes which he spake be writtē then the word y t is written shal iudge these vnbeleauers in the laste daye For thus sayth Christe He y t refuseth me and receyueth not my wordes hath one alredye y t iudgeth hym The word sayth he that I haue spoken shal iudge him in the last day Vnderstād nowe gentle reader y t these fathers would vnder colours plucke a waye the great authoritie of the scriptures and diminishe thorowe subtyle disputinge y e efficatie and strength of the gospell Whether they do of hatred to gods word or blindnes and ignoraunce in the same or else for lucers sake I can not tell But to far wander they out of the waye But I exhorte the though they be to far on the left hand rune not y u to far on y e rigt hande Enter in at the strayte gate for wyde is the gate and brode is the way that leadeth to destructiō many ther be y e go in ther at But strayte is y e gate and narrowe is the waye that leadeth vnto lyfe and fewe therbe y e fynd it Thys is therfore the sume of thys disputaciō y t Christ is the word and wisedome of the father in whom who so beleueth hath euerlasteinge lyfe Thys same word did he him self preach and sayeth If you abyde in me any my wordes abyde in you ye shall axe what you wyll and it shal be done vnto you Beholde wheras he sayde before If you continue in my wordes nowe he sayeth If you byd in me and my wordes abid in you By this it is euident that Christe is the worde euen that worde whiche was preached frō the beginning is preached nowe and shal be to the ende And although Christe be not as is sayde incke and paper or a worde closed in a boke as thought we mought saye looe here in thys boke is Christe or in that boke is Christe yet was it the wyll of God that thys heauenly doctrine shoulde be written and that it shoulde remaine wyth vs and also that these wordes written beinge reade vnto vs shoulde be vnto vs euē that same worde that Christe spake when he sayed He that is of god heareth gods worde And euen the verie same to them that beleue that he speaketh of sayeing If anye man kepe my worde he shal neuer se death And to them that beleue not the same that he sayeth shall iudge the vnbeleuers in the last daye Now marke well I besech the and consider wyth thy selfe the mischiefe of these subtyle sophisters They make it wounderfull dayngerouse to call the scriptur Christe They be verye carefull to haue the true worship of god preserued and kepte And they feeare leaste we wyll fall to worshipynge of the verie boke wherin the testimonies of Christe be wrytten And therfore do they withdrawe all men from readeinge and heareing it as much as they can But alas why be they not so ware and dayngerous in theyr laye mens bokes as they cal them whiche al the scripturs crie out vpon euen from the begininge of the olde testament to the later ende of the new By the which bokes or rather abominable Idoles it is open and manifest that muche Idolatrie hath ben cōmitted yea wil be stil so longe as ther is one left standing in the temples The word of god the doctrine of Christe whiche he and his Aposteles so ernestlye taught exhorted cōmaunded to harken vnto to beleaue and folowe almost al the bible is nothing else this I say they cānot suffer any man to haue to do with al. Thei haue burned it frō tyme to tyme they burned the readars of it as al the worlde can testifie It is manifeste that they beare little good wyll to it vnto thys daye But these mahomets puppetes veri Idolles which haue not one word in al scriptur for them but contrarie to the vtter abolishinge of them these they can suffer to be called Christe saynte sauioure saynte Sundaye the holye trinitie oure ladye of Pitye our ladye of grace oure ladye I can not tell wherof Alhallowes wyth a thousād like names Yea they can abyde that the people should worship those stil for they neuer preach agaynste them but rather defende them to kepe the vnlerned in their blindnesse styl Alas to open is your doynge nowe O you catholyke fathers euerye chylde maye perceyue your blinde doctrine Yet wyl not you cease to exalt this false church cōgregaciō of deceyceyuers euē aboue god him selfe For God was the worde and aboue the rule of thys worde sete ye your owne tradicions in the name of Christes church Thus dyd Christe prophecie that you shoulde come that you shoulde dooe miracles and wonders In so