flesh to eate it is soluted euen when he gaue his body to be broken his bloud to be shed And we eate and drinke it in deede wheÌ we beleue stedfastly that hee dyed for the remission of our sinnes Austen and Tertullian to witnesse But here maketh More his argument agaynst the young man Because the Iewes maruelleâ at this saying My flesh is very meate and my bloud drinke And not at this I am the dore and the very vyne therefore this text sayth he My flesh is c. must be vnderstand after the litterall sence that is to wirte eueÌ as the carnall Iewes vnderstode it murmuring at it beyng offended goyng their wayes froÌ Christ for their so carnall vnderstandyng therof And the other textes I am the dore c. must be vnderstand in an Allegory and spituall sence because his hearers maruelled nothyng at the maner of the speach Loe Christen Reader here hast thou not a âast but a great tunne full of Mores mischief and pernicious peruertyng of Gods holy worde and as thou seist him here falsely pestilently destroy the pure sence of Gods worde so doth hee in all other places of hys bookes First where he sayth they marueiled at this Christes saying My flesh is very meate c. that is not so neither is there any such worde in the text except More will expounde Murmurabant idest mirabantur they murmured that is to say they marueiled as he expouÌdeth Oportet idest expedit conuenit He must dye or it behoueth him to dye that is to say it was expedient and of good coÌgruence that he should dye c. Thus this Poete may make a man to signifie an Asse blacke white to blere the simple eyes But yet for his Lordly pleasure let vs graunt him that they murmured is as much to say as they meruayled because perchaunce the one may folow at the other And then do I aske him whether Christes Disciples and his Apostles heard âim not vnderstode him not when he sayd I am the doore and the vyne and when hee sayd My flesh c. If he say no or nay the Scripture is playne agaynst him If he say yea or yes then yea doe I aske hym whether his Disciples and Apostles thus hearyng and vnderstandyng hys woordes in all these three Chapters wondered and meruayled as More sayth or murmuâed as hath the text at their maisters speech What thinke ye More must aunswere here Here may ye see whether this old holy vpholder of the Popes Churche is brought euen to be taken in his owne trappe For the Disciples and his Apostles neither murmured nor merâayled nor yet were offended w t this their maister Christes wordes and maner of speech for they wââ¦ainted with such phââ¦red their maister Christ when hâââ¦e will ye also go hence frâme ⪠Lord sayd they to whom shall we goe thou hast the wordes of euerlastyng lyâe and we beleue that thou arâ⦠sonne of the liuyng God Lo M. More they neither meruailed nor murmured And why For because as ye say theâ vnderstode iâ in an Allegory ãâã ââd perceiued well that hee meant not of hys materiall âody to bee eaten with their teeth but he meant ãâã of him selfe to be beleued to be very God and very man hauing flesh and bloud as they had and yet was he âhe sonne of the liuyng God This belefe gathered they of all hys spirituall sayinges as hym selfe expounded his own wordes saying My flesh profiteth nothyng meanyng to be eaten but it is the spirite that giueth this life And the wordes that I speake vnto you are spirite and lyfe so that who so beleue my flesh to be crucified and broken and my bloud to be shed for his sinnes he eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud and hath lyfe euerlastyng And this is the lyfe wherewith the righteous lyue euen by fayth The second argument of More AFter this text thus wisely proued to be vnderstand in the litterall sence with carnall Iewes and not in the Allegorike or spirituall sense with Christ his Apostles the whole suÌme of Mores confutation of the young maÌ standeth vpon this Argument ãâã Posse ad Esse That is to witte God may do it Ergâ it is done Christ may make his body in many or in all places at once Ergo it is in many or in all places at once Which maner of argumentation how false and naught it is euery sophister and euery man that hath witte perceiueth A like argument God may shew More the truth and call him to repentaunce as he did Paul for persecutyng his Church Ergo More is conuerted to God Or God may let him run of an indurate hart with Pharao and at last take an open and soden vengeaunce vppon him for persecutyng hys worde and burnyng his poore members Ergo it is done already M. More must firste proue it vs by expresse wordes of holy Scripture and not by hys owne vnwritten dreames that Christes body is in many places or in all places at once and then though our reason can not reach it yet our fayth measured and directed with the worde of fayth will both reach it receiue it and hold it fast to not because it is possible to God and impossible to reason but bicause the written woorde of our fayth sayth it But wheÌ we read Gods wordes in mo then xx places contrary that his body should be here More must giue vs leue to beleue his vnwritten vanities verities I should say at laysure Here mayst thou see Christen reader wherefore More would so fayne make thee beleue that the Apostles left out certeine thynges vnwritten of necessitie to be beleued eueÌ to stablish the Popes kyngdome which standeth of Mores vnwritten vanities As of the presence of Christes body and makyng therof in the bread Of Purgatory of inuocation of Saintes worshyppyng of stones and stockes pilgrimages halowyng of bowes and belles and crepyng to the crosse c. If ye will beleue what so euer More can fayne without the Scripture then caÌ this Poete faine you an other Church theÌ Christes and that ye must beleue it what so euer it teacheth you for he hath fained to that it caÌ not erre though ye see it erre and fight agaynst it selfe a thousand rymes Yea if it tell you blacke is white good is bad and the deuill is God yet must ye beleue it or els be burned as heretikes But let vs returne to our purpose To dispute of Gods almighty absolute power what God may do with his body it is great folie and no lesse presumption to More sith the Pope whiche is no whole God but halfe a God by their owne decrees haue decreed no man to dispute of his power But Christen Reader be thou content to know that Gods wil his word and his power be all one and repugne not And neither willeth he nor may not do any thing includyng
where one I pray ye but also done by the commoÌ course of nature here in earth If they be done by the common course of nature so be they no miracles And some thynges made also by mans hand As one face beholded in diuers glasses and euery peece of one glasse broken into twenty c. Lorde how this pontiâicall Poete playeth his part Bicause as he saith we see many faces in many glasses therefore may one body be in many places as though euery shadow and similitude representing the body were a bodely substauÌce But I aske More when hee seeth hys owne face in so many glasses whether all those faces that appeare in the glasses be his owne very faces hauing bodely substaunce skynne fleshe bone as hath that face which hath his very mouth nose eyen c. wherewith he faceth vs out the truth thus falsely with lyes And if they be all his very faces then in very deede there is one body in many places and he him selfe beareth as many faces in one hode But accordyng to his purpose eueÌ as they be no very faces nor those so many voyces sownes and similitudes multiplied in the ayre betwene the glasses or other obiect the body as the Philosopher proueth by naturall reason be no very bodyes no more is it Christes very body as they would make thee beleue in the bread in so many places at once But the bread broken and eaten in the Supper monisheth and putteth vs in remembraunce of his death and so exciteth vs to thankes giuyng to lande and prayse for the benefite of our redemption and thus wee there haue Christ present in the inward eye and sight of our fayth We eate his body and drinke hys bloud that is we beleue surely that hys bodye was crucified for our sinnes and hys bloud shed for our saluation At last note Christen reader that M. More in the third booke of his confutation of Tyndall the. CCxlix side to proue S. Iohns Gospell vnperfit and insufficient for leauing out of so necessary a point of our faith as he calleth the last Supper of Christ his MauÌdy sayth that Iohn speake nothyng at all of this SacrameÌt And now see againe in these his letters agaynst Frith how him selfe bringeth in Iohn the vj. chap. to impugne Frithes writyng and to make all for the Sacrament eueÌ thus My flesh is verely meate my bloud drinke Belike the man had there ouer shotte hym selfe foule the young man here causing him to put on his spectacles and poore better and more wisely with his old eyen vpoÌ S. Iohns Gospel to finde that thing there now written which before he would haue made one of his vnwritten verities As yet if he looke narowly hee shall espy that him self hath proued vs by Scripture in the xxxvij leafe of his Dialogue of quoth he and quoth I our Ladies perpetuall virginitie expoundyng non cogâosco id est non cognoscam whiche now written vnwritten veritie hee numbereth a litle before among his vnwritteÌ vanities Thus may ye see how this old holy vpholder of the popes church hys woordes fight agaynst him selfe into his own confusion in findyng vs forth his vnwritten written vanities verities I should say But returne we vnto the exposition of S. Iohn When the Iewes would not vnderstand the spirituall saying of the eating of Christes flesh and drinkyng of hys bloud so oft and so playnely declared he gaue them a strong stripe and made them more blynd for they so deserued it such are the secrete iudgementes of God addyng vnto all hys sayinges thus who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud abideth in me and I in him These wordes were spoken vnto these vnbeleuers into their farther obstinatioÌ but vnto the faithfull for theyr better instruction Now gather of this the contrary say who so eateth not my fleshe and drinketh not my bloud abydeth not in me nor I in him and ioyne this to the foresayd sentence Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of maÌ drinke hys bloud ye haue no lyfe in you let it neuer fal froÌ thy minde Christen reader that faith is the lyfe of the righteous and that Christ is this lyuyng bread whom thou eatest that is to say in whoÌ thou beleuest For if our Papistes take eatyng drinkyng here bodely as to eate the naturall body of Christ vnder the forme of bread and to drinke hys bloud vnder the forme of wyne theÌ must all young children that neuer came to Gods borde departed all laye men that neuer drancke hys bloud be damned By loue we abyde in God and hee in vs loue foloweth faith in the order of our vnderstanding and not in order of succession of tyme if thou lookest vpon the selfe giftes and not on their fruites So that principally by faith wherby we cleaue to Gods goodnes and mercy we abide in God and God in vs as declare his wordes folowyng saying as the liuyng father sent me so liue I by my father And euen so he that eateth me shall lyue bycause of me or for my sake My father sent me whose will in all thinges I obey for I am his sonne And euen soverely must they that eate me that is beleue in me forme and fashion them after my exaÌple mortifying their flesh chaunging their liuing or els they eate me in vayne and dissemble theyr belief For I am not come to redeme y t world onely but also to chaunge theyr lyfe They therefore that beleue in me shall traÌsforme their life after my example doctrine not after any mans traditioÌs This is the bread y t came froÌ heaueÌ as the effect it selfe declareth whoÌ who so eateth shall lyue euer But he y t eateth bodely bread lyueth not euer as ye may see of your fathers y t eate MaÌna yet are they dead It is not therfore any materiall bread nor bodely foode that may geue you life eternall These wordes did not onely offende them that hated Christ but also some of hys Disciples They were offended sayd the text and not merueyled as More trifleth out the truth which said This is an hard saying who may here this These Disciples yet stoke no lesse in Christes visible fleshe and in the barke of his wordes then did the other Iewes and as doth now More beleuing him to haue had spoken of his naturall body to be eaten with their teth Which offence Christ seyng sayd doth this offend you what then will ye say if ye see the sonne of maÌ ascend thether where he was before If it offend you to eate my flesh while I am here it shal much more offend you to eate it when my body shal be gone out of your sight ascended into heauen there sittyng on the right hand of my father vntill I come again as I weÌt that is to iudgement Here might Christ haue instructed his disciples in the truth of the
When they sent to Iohn asking him whether he were Christ he denied it When they asked him what he was and what he sayd of himselfe he aunswered not I am he that watcheth prayeth drinketh no wine nor strong drinke eateth neyther fishe nor fleshe but liue wyth wilde hony and Grashoppers and weare a coate of camels heare and a gyrdle of a skinne but sayd I am a voyce of a cryar My voyce onely pertaineth to you Those outward things which ye wonder at pertayne to my selfe onely vnto the taming of my bodye To you am I a voyce onely and that which I preach My preaching if it be receaued into a penitent or repenting hart shall teach you how to liue and please God according as God shall shed out his grace on euery man Iohn preached repentaunce saying prepare y â Lordes way and make his pathes straight The Lordes way is repentaunce and not hipocrisy of mans imagination inuention It is not possible y t the Lord Christ should come to a man except he know himselfe and his sinne truely repent Make his pathes straight the pathes are the lawe if thou vnderstaÌd it a right as God hath geuen it Christ sayth in the xvij of Mat. Helias shall first come that is shall come before Christ and restore all things meaning of Iohn Baptist Iohn Baptist did restore the law and the Scripture vnto the right sence vnderstanding which the Pharises partly had darckned and made of none effect thorough their owne traditions Math. xv where Christ rebuketh them saying why transgresse ye the commaundementes of God thorough your traditions and partly had corrupt it with gloses and false interpretations that no maÌ could vnderstand it Wherefore Christ rebuketh them Mat. 23. saying wo be to you Pharises hipocrites which shut vp the kingdome of heauen before meÌ ye enter not your selues neither suffer them that come to enter in and partly did beguile the people and blinde their eyes in disguising themselues as thou readest in the same 23. chap. how they made broade and large Philacteries and did all their workes to be seene of men that the people should wonder at their disguisinges and visuring of themselues otherwise then God had made them and partly mocked them with hipocrisy of false holines in fasting praying and almes geuing Mat. 6. and this did they for lucre to be in authoritie to sitte in the consciences of people and to be counted as God him selfe that people shoulde trust in their holynes and not in God as thou readest in the place aboue rehearsed Mat. 23. wo be to you Pharises hipocrites which deuoure widowes houses vnder a colour of long prayer Counterfet therfore nothing without y t worde of God wheÌ thou vnderstandest that it shall teach thee all thinges how to applie outwarde thinges and whereunto to referre them Beware of thy good entent good mynde good affection or zeale as they call it Peter of a good minde and of a good affection or zeale chidde Christ Math. 16. because he sayde that he must goe to Hierusalem and there be slayne But Christ called him Satan for his labour a name that belongeth to the deuil And sayde that he perceaued not godly thinges but worldly Of a good entent and of a ferueÌt affection to Christ the sonnes of Zededei would haue had fire to come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritans Luk. 9. But Christ rebuked them saying that they wist not of what sprite they were that is that they vnderstoode not how that they were altogether worldly fleshly mynded Peter smote Malchus of a good zeale but Christ condemned his deede The very Iewes of a good enteÌt and of a good zeale slew Christ and persecuted the Apostles as Paule beareth them recorde Rom. x. I beare them recorde sayth he that they haue a feruent mynde to Godward but not according to knowledge It is an other thing then to do of a good minde and to do of knowledge Labour for knowledge that thou mayest know Gods will and what he would haue thee to doe Our mynde entent and affection or zeale are blinde and all that we do of them is damned of god and for that cause hath God made a testament betwene him and vs wherin is coÌteyned both what he would haue vs to do and what he would haue vs to aske of him See therefore that thou do nothing to please God withall but that he commaundeth neither aske any thing of him but that he hath promised thee The Iewes also as it appeareth Act. vij slew SteueÌ of a good zeale because he proued by the scripture that God dwelleth not in Churches or temples made wyth handes The Churches at the beginning were ordeyned that the people shoulde thether resorte to heare the word of God there preached onely and not for the vse wherein they now are The temple wherein God will be worshipped is the hart of man For God is a spirite sayth Christ Ioh. 4. and will be worshipped in y t spirite in truth that is when a penitent hart consenteth vnto the lawe of God and with a strong fayth loÌgeth for the promises of God So is God honored on al sides in that we count him righteous in all his lawes and ordinaunces and also trust in all his promises Other worshipping of God is there none except we make an Idoll of him IT shal be recompensed thee at the rising agayne of the righteous Lu. xiiij Reade the text before and thou shalt perceaue that Christ doth here that same that he doth Math. v. that is he putteth vs in remembraunce of our dutie that we be to the poore as Christ is to vs and also teacheth vs how that we can neuer know whether our loue be right and whether it spring of Christ or no as long as we are but kinde to them onely which do as much for vs againe But and we be mercifull to the poore for conscience to God and of compassion and harty loue which compassion loue spring of the loue we haue to God in Christ for the pure mercy and loue that he hath shewed on vs then haue we a sure token that we are beloued of God and washed in Christes bloud and elect by Christes deseruing vnto eternall life The scripture speaketh as a father doth to his young sonne do this or that and then will I loue thee yet the father loueth his sonne first and studieth with all his power and witte to ouercome his childe with loue and with kindnes to make him do that which is comely honest and good for it selfe A kynde father and mother loue their children euen when they are euill that they would shed their bloud to make them better and to bring theÌ into the right way And a naturall childe studieth not to obtayne his fathers loue with workes but considereth with what loue his father loueth him with all
teachers Looke vpon the Popes false doctrine what is the end thereof and what seeke they thereby Wherefore serueth Purgatory but to purge thy purse and to polle thee robbe both thee and thy hayres of house and laÌds and of all thou hast that they may be in honour Serue not Pardons for the same purpose Whereto perteineth praying to Saintes but to offer vnto their belies Wherfore serueth confession but to sit in thy conscience and to make thee feare and tremble at what soeuer they dreame and that thou worship them as Gods and so forth in all their traditions ceremonies and coniurations they serue not the Lord but their belies And of their false expoundyng the Scripture and drawyng it contrary vnto the example of Christ and the Apostles and holy Prophetes vnto their damnable couetousnes and filthy ambition take an example Math. xvj When Peter sayth to Christ thou art the sonne of the liuyng God and Christ aunswered thou art Peter and vpoÌ this rocke I will build my congregation By the rocke interpret they Peter And theÌ commeth the Pope wil be Peters successour whether Peter will or will not yea whether God will or will not and though all the Scripture say nay to any such successioÌ and saith loe I am the rocke the foundation and head of Christes Church Now sayth all the Scripture that the rocke is Christ the fayth and Gods word As Christ sayth Math. vij he that heareth my wordes doth therafter is like a man that buildeth on a rocke For the house that is build on Gods woorde will stand though heauen should fall And Iohn xv Christ is the wine and we the braunches so is Christ the rocke the stocke and fouÌdation wheron we be built And Paul i. Cor. iij. calleth Christ our foundatioÌ and all other whether it be Peter or Paule hee calleth them seruauntes to preach Christ and to build vs on hym If therfore the Pope be Peters successour his dutie is to preach Christ onely and other authoritie hath he none And. ij xj Paule marieth vs vnto Christ and driueth vs from all trust confidence in man And Epht. ij sayth Paule Ye are build on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes that is on y â word which they preached Christ beyng sayth he the head corner stone in whom euery buildyng coupled together groweth vp into an holy temple in the Lord in whom also ye are built together made an habitatioÌ for God in the spirit And Peter in y â ij of his first Epistle buildeth vs on Christ contrary to the Pope whiche buildeth on hymselfe Hell gates shall not preuaile agaynst it that is to say agaynst the congregation that is builde vppon Christes sayth and vpon Gods word Now were the Pope the rocke hell gates could not preuayle agaynst him For the house could not stand if the rocke and foundation wheron it is builte did perish but the contrary see we in our Popes For hell gates haue preuayled agaynst them many huÌdred yeares and haue swalowed them vp if Gods word be true and the storyes that are written of them yea or if it be true that we see with our eyes I will geue thee the keyes of heauen sayth Christ and not I geue And Iohn xx after y t resurreccioÌ payed ãâã and gaue y â keyes to them all indifferently What soeuer thou byndest on earth it shal be bounde in heauen what soeuer thou lousest on earth it shal be loused in heauen Of this text maketh the Pope what he will and expoundeth it contrary to all the Scripture contrary to Christes practising and the Apostles and all the Prophetes Now the scripture geueth record to himselfe and euer expoundeth it selfe by an other open text If the Pope theÌ can not bryng for his exposition the practisyng of Christ or of the Apostles and prophetes or an open text then is his exposition false doctrine Christ expoundeth him selfe Math. xviij saying If y â brother sinne agaynst the rebuke him betwixt him thee alone If he heare thee thou hast wonne thy brother but if he heare thee not theÌ take with thee one or two and so forth as it standeth in the text He concludeth saying to them all whatsoeuer ye bynde in earth it shal be bound in heauen and what soeuer ye louse on earth it shal be loused in heaueÌ Where byndyng is but to rebuke them that sinne and lousing to forgeue them that repent And Iohn xx Whose sinnes ye forgeue they are forgeuen and whose sinnes ye hold they are holden And Paul i. Cor. v. byndeth and ij Cor. ij louseth after the same maner Also this byndyng and lousyng is one power and as he byndeth so louseth he yea and byndeth first ere he caÌlouse For who can louse that is not bound Now what soeuer Peter byndeth or his successour as he wil be called and is not but in dead y t very successour of Sathan is not so to be vnderstood that Peter or the Pope hath power to commaunde a man to be in deadly sinne or to bee damned or to go iâto hell saying bee thou in deadly sinne be thou damned go thou to hell go thou to Purgatory For that exposition is contrary to the euerlastyng Testament that God hath made vnto vs in Christ He sent his sonne Christ to louse vs from sinne and damnation and hell and that to testifie vnto the world sent he his Disciples Actes i. Paule also hath no power to destroy but to edifie ij Cor. x. and. xiij How can Christ geue his Disciples power agaynst him selfe and against his euerlastyng Testament Can he send them to preach saluation geue them power to damne whom they lust What mercy and profite haue we in Christes death and in his Gospell if the Pope which passeth all men in wickednesse hath power to sende whom he will to hell and to damne whom he lusteth we had theÌ no cause to call him Iesus y â is to say sauiour but might of right call him destroyer Wherfore then this bynding is to be vnderstood as Christ interpreteth it in the places aboue rehearsed as the Apostles practised it and is nothyng but to rebuke men of their sinnes by preachyng the law A man must first sinne agaynste Gods law ere the Pope can bynde hym yea and a man must firste sinne agaynste Gods lawe ere hee neede to feare the Popes curse For cursing and binding are both one nothyng sauing to rebuke a maÌ of his sinnes by Gods law It foloweth also then that the lousyng is of like maner and is nothing but forgeuing of sinne to them that repent throughe preachyng of the promises whiche God hath made in Christe in whom onely we haue all forgeuenes of sinnes as Christ interpreteth it and as the Apostles and Prophetes practised it So is it a false power that the Pope taketh on hym to louse Gods
maliciously resisted the open truth agaynst hys owne conscience sence the world began that euer I read For it is sinne agaynst y â holy ghost which Christ saith shall neither be forgeueÌ here nor in the world to come whiche text may this wise be vnderstand that as that sinne shal be punished with euerlastyng daÌnation in the lyfe to come euen so shall it not escape vengeauÌce here As thou âeest in Iudas in Pharao in Balam and in all other tyrauntes whiche agaynst their consciences resisted the open truth of God So now the cause why our Prelates thus rage that moueth them to call M. More to helpe is not that they finde iust causes in the translation but because they haue lost their iugglyng and fayned termes wherewith Peter prophesied they should make marchaundise of the people ¶ Whether the Church were before the Gospell or the Gospell before the Church AN other doubt there is whether the Church or congregatioÌ be before the Gospell or the Gospell before the Church Which question is as hard to solue as whether the father be elder then the sonne or the sonne elder then his father For the whole Scripture and all beleuing hartes testifie that we are begotten through the word Wherfore if the word beget the congregatioÌ he that begetteth is before hym that is begotten then is the Gospell before the Church Paul also Rom. ix sayth how shall they call on him whom they beleue not And how shall they beleue without a preacher That is Christ must first be preached yer men can beleue in him And then it foloweth that the word of the preacher must be before the fayth of the beleuer And therfore in as much as the word is before the faith and faith maketh the congregation therfore is the word or Gospell before the congregation And agayne as the ayre is darke of it selfe receaueth all her light of the sonne euen so are all mens hartes of theÌselues darke with lyes and receaue all their truth of Gods word in that they consent therto And moreouer as the darke ayre geueth the sonne no light but contrarywise the light of the sonne in respect of the ayre is of it selfe and lighteneth the ayre purgeth it from darkenesse eueÌ so the lying hart of man can geue the word of God no truth but contrary wise the truth of Gods word is of her self and lighteneth the harts of the beleuers and maketh them true and clenseth them from lyes as thou readest Iohn xv ye be cleane by reason of the word Which is to be vnderstand in that the word had purged their harces from lyes from false opinions from thinking euill good and therfore from consentyng to sinne And Iohn xvij sanctifie them O father thorough thy truth And thy woorde is truth And thus thou seest that Gods truth dependeth not of man It is not true because man so sayth or admitteth it for true But man is true because he beleueth it testifieth and geueth witnesse in hys hart that it is true And Christ also sayth him selfe Iohn v. I receaue no witnesse of maÌ For if the multitude of maÌs witnesse might make ought true then were the doctrine of Mahomete truer then Christes ¶ Whether the Apostles left ought vnwritten that is of necessitie to be beleued BUt did not y â Apostles teach ought by mouth that they wrot not I aunswere because that many taught one thyng and euery man the same in diuers places and vnto diuers people and confirmed euery sermoÌ wyth a sundry miracle therfore Christ his Apostles preached an ââ¦red thousaÌd sermons and did as many miracles which had bene superfluous to haue bene all written But the pith and substaunce in generall of euery thing necessary vnto our soules health both of what we ought to beleue and what we ought to do was written and of the miracles done to confirme it as many as were nedeful So that whatsoeuer we ought to beleue or do that same is written expresely or drawen out of that which is written For if I were bound to do or beleue vnder payne of the losse of my soule any thing that were written nor depeÌded of that which is writteÌ what holpe me the scripture that is written And thereto in as much as Christ and all his Apostles warned vs that false prophetes shoulde come with false miracles euen to deceaue the elect if it were possible wherewith shoulde the true preacher confound the false except he brought true miracles to confound the false or els autenticke scripture of full authoritie already among the people Some man woulde aske how dyd God continue his congregation from Adam to Noe and froÌ Noe to Abraham and so to Moses without writing but with teaching from mouth to mouth I aunswere first that there was no scripture all the whyle they shall proue wheÌ our Lady hath a new sonne God taught Adam greater thynges then to write And that there was writing in the world long yer Abraham yea yer Noe do stories testifie Notwithstanding though there had bene no writing the preachers were euer prophetes glorious in doing of miracles wherwith they cofirmed their preaching And beyond that god wrote his testameÌt vnto them aâway both what to do and to beleue eueÌ in y e sacramentes For the sacrifices which God gaue Adams sonnes were no dumme popetrie or superstitious Mahometrie but signes of the testament of God And in them they red y e worde of God as we do in bookes and as we should do in our sacraments if the wicked Pope had not taken the significations away from vs as he hath robbed vs of the true sence of all the scripture The testament which God made with Noe that he woulde no more drowne the worlde with water he wrote in the sacrament of the rainebow And the appointment made betwene him and Abraham he wrote in the sacrament of circumcision And therefore sayd Steuen Act. vij he gaue them y â testameÌt of circumcision Not that the outwarde circumcision was the whole testament but the sacrameÌt or signe there For circumcision preached Gods worde vnto theÌ as I haue in other places declared But in the tyme of Moyses when the congregation was encreased that they must haue many preachers also rulers temporall then all was receaued in scripture in so much that Christ and his Apostles might not haue bene beleued without scripture for all their miracles Wherefore in as much as Christes congregation is spred abroad into all the worlde much broader then Moses and in as much as we haue not the olde testament onely but also the new wherein all thinges are opened so richly and all fulfilled that before was promised in as much as there is no promise behinde of ought to be shewed more saue the resurrection yea and seyng that Christ and all the Apostles with all the Angels of
thou findest in the scripture and the ensamples that are gone before wyll alway testifie who is the church Though the Phariseis succeded the Patriarkes prophetes and had the scripture of theÌ yet they were heretikes and falleÌ from the fayth of them and froÌ their liuing And Christ and his disciples Iohn the Baptist departed from the Phariseis which were heretikes vnto the right sence of y â scripture and vnto the faith and liuing of the Patriarkes and Prophetes and rebuked the Phariseis As thou seest how Christ calleth them hipocrites dissimulers blynde guides and painted sepulchers And Iohn called them the generatioÌ of vipers and serpentes Of Iohn the angell sayde vnto his father Luke i. he shall turne many of the children of Israell vnto their Lord God which yet before Iohn beleued after a fleshly vnderstanding in God and thought theselues in the right way And he shall turne the harts of the fathers vnto the children That is he shall wyth hys preaching and true interpreting of the scripture make such a spirituall hart in y â childreÌ as was in their fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob And he shall turne the disobedient vnto the obedience of the righteous and prepare the Lord a perfect people That is them that had set vp a righteousnes of their owne and were therefore disobedient vnto the righteousnes of fayth shal he conuert from their blindnes vnto the wisdome of them that beleued in God to be made righteous and with those fathers shall he geue the childreÌ Egles eyes to spye out Christ and his righteousnesse and to forsake their own and so to become perfect And after the same maner though our Popish hypocrites succede Christ and his Apostles and haue their scripture yet they be fallen from the fayth liuyng of them and are heretickes and had nede of a Iohn Baptist to conuert them And we depart from them vnto the true Scripture and vnto the fayth and liuyng therof and rebuke them in like maner And as they which depart from the fayth of the true Church are heretickes eueÌ so they that depart froÌ the Church of heretickes and false fayned fayth of hypocrites are the true church which thou shalt alway know by their fayth examined by the Scripture by their profession and conseÌt to liue according vnto the lawes of God ¶ An other Argument AN other like blind reasoÌ they haue wherein is all their trust As we come out of them and they not of vs so we receaue the Scripture of them they not of vs. How know we that it is the Scripture of God and true but because they teach vs so How can we beleue except we first beleue that they be the Church and can not erre in any thyng that perteyneth vnto our soules health For if a man tell me of a maruelous thyng whereof I can haue no other knowledge theÌ by his mouth onely how should I geue credence except I beleued that the maÌ were so honest that he could not lye or would not lye Wherfore we must beleue that they be the right Church that can not erre or els we can beleue nought at all This wise reason is their shoteancre all their hold their refuge to flye vnto chief stone in their foundation wheron they haue built all their lyes al the mischief that they haue wrought this viij huÌdred yeares And this reason do the Iewes lay vnto our charge this day and this reason doth chiefly blynd them and hold them still in obstinacie Our spirites first falsifie the Scripture to stablish their lyes And when the Scripture commeth to light and is restored vnto the true vnderstaÌdyng and their iugglyng spied they like to suffer shipwracke then they cast out this ancre they be the Church and can not erre their authoritie is greater then the Scripture and the Scripture is not true but because they say so and admitte it And therfore what soeuer they affirme is of as great authoritie as the Scripture Notwithstandyng as I sayd the kyngdome of heauen standeth not in words of maÌs wisedome but in power and spirite And therfore loke vnto the examples of the Scripture and so shalt thou vnderstand And of an hundred examples betwene Moyses and Christ where the Israelites fell from God were eueâ restored by one Prophet or other let vs take one euen Iohn the Baptist Iohn went before Christ to prepare his way that is to bryng meÌ vnto the knowledge of their sinnes and vnto repentaunce through true expoundyng of the law which is the onely way vnto Christ For except a man knowledge his sinnes repent of them he can haue no part in Christ of Iohn Christ fayth Math. xvij that he was Elias that should come restore all thyng That is he should restore the scripture vnto the right sence agayne which the Phariseis had corrupt with the leuen of their false gloses and vayne fleshly traditions He made croked thinges straight as it is written and rough smoth Which is al so to be vnderstand of the Scripture which the Phariseis had made croked wrestyng them vnto a false sence with wicked gloses so rought that no man could walke in the way of them For when God sayd honour father mother meanyng that we should obey them and also helpe theÌ at their nede the Phariseis put this glose thereto out of their owne leuen saying God is thy father and mother Wherfore what soeuer nede thy father mother haue if thou offer to God thou art hold excused For it is better to offer to God then to thy father and mother and so much more meritorious as God is greater then they yea and God hath done more for thee then they is more thy father and mother then they As ours now affirme that it is more meritorious to offer to God and his holy dead Saintes then vnto the poore liuyng Saintes And wheÌ God had promised the people a Sauiour to come blesse them and saue them from theyr sinnes the Phariseis taught to beleue in holy woorkes to be saued by as if they offered and gaue to be prayd for As ours as oft as we haue a promise to be forgeueÌ at the repentaunce of the hart through Christes bloud shedding put to thou must first shriue thy selfe to vs of euery sââ¦abe we must lay out handes on thine head and whistell out thy sinnes and enioyne the penaunce to make satisfaction And yet art thou but loused from the synne onely that thou shalt not come into hell but thou must yet suffer for euery sinne seuen yeres in Purgatory which is as whot as hell except thou bye it out of the Pope And it y â aske by what meanes the Pope geueth such pardon They aunswere out of the merites of Christ And thus at the last they grauÌt against theÌselues that Christ hath not only deserued
ye haue brought in besides the Scripture nor any that dyed for it But ye persecute and âlea whosâ euer with Gods woorde doth rebuke it And as for your owne miracles of which ye make your boast ye haue fayned them so grosly throughout al your Legendes of Saintes that ye be now ashamed of them and would fayne bee rid of theÌ if ye wist how with honestie and so would ye of a thousand thinges which ye haue fayned And the cause why heretickes fayne no miracles as ye doe is that they walke purely and entend no falsehead And why the deuill doth none for them is that they cleaue fast to Gods word whiche the deuill hateth and can do no miracles to further it But to hinder it as he doth with you Read the stories of your Popes and Cardinals see whether the deuill hath not holpe them vnto their highe dignities And looke whether your holy Byshoppes come any otherwise vnto their promotions then by seruing the deuil in setting all Christendome at variaunce in sheddyng bloud in bringyng the common wealth to tyraÌny and in teaching Christen Princes to âule more cruelly then did euer any heathen coÌtrary vnto the doctrine of Christ And as for the Turkes and Sarasenes that ye speake of I auÌswere that they were ChristeÌ once at the lest way for the most part And because they had no loue vnto the truth to liue their after as ye haue not God did send them false miracles to cary them out of the right waye as ye be And as for the Iewes why they hyde out is onely because they haue set vp their own righteousnesse as ye haue and therfore can not admit the righteousnesse that is in Christes bloud as ye can not and as ye haue forsworne it And when he sayth in that they haue miracles and the heretickes none it is a sure signe that they be the true Churche and the heretickes not Had ye Gods word with your miracles and the heretickes doctrine were without then it were true But now because ye haue miracles without Gods word to confirme your false imaginatioÌs and they whiche ye call heretickes haue Gods word coÌfirmed with miracles fiue huÌdred yeares together it is a sure signe that they be the true church ye not in as much also as Christ saith that y â deceauers shall come with miracles ye in his name therto as ye do For wheÌ christ saith there shal come in my name y t shal say he him selfe is Christ who is that saue your Pope that wil be Christes Vicare and yet maketh men to beleue in him selfe in his Bulles Calues skinnes and in what soeuer he listeth And who be those false annoynted that shall come with miracles to deceaue the elect if it were possible saue your Pope with his gresiamus And when he repeteth his miracles to proue that the olde holy Doctours were good men in the right belefe I aunswere agayne that the Doctours which planted Gods word watered it with miracles while they were alyue And wheÌ they were dead God shewed miracles at their graues to confirme the same as of Heliseus And that continued till the Scripture was full receaued and autenticke But ye can not shew nor shal any Doctour which beyng aliue preached your false doctrine confirmyng it with miracles as God doth his Scripture Then sayth hee God had in the olde TestameÌt good meÌ ful of miracles whose liuing a man might be bold to folow and whose doctrine a man might beleue by reason of theyr miracles and then iuggleth saying if God should not so now in the new TestameÌt haue Doctours with miracles to confirme their doctrine and liuynges but contrarywise should bryng to passe or suffer to bee brought to passe with false miracles that his church shuld take hypocrites for Saintes which exposided the Scripture falsly then should hee deceaue his Church and not haue his spirite present in his Church to teach them all truth as he promised them I aunswer God suffereth not his Church to be deceaued But he suffereth the popes Church because they haue no loue vnto the truth to lyue after the lawes of God but consent vnto all iniquitie as he suffered the Churche of Mahomet Moreouer y â gift of miracles was not all way amoÌg the preachers in the old Testament For Iohn Baptist did no miracle at all The miracles were ceased longyer Christ And as for you in the Popes kingdome had neuer maÌ that either confirmed Gods doctrine or your owne with miracles All your Saintes be first Saints when they be dead and then do first miracles to confirme tithes and offeringes the Poetrie which ye haue fayned and not true doctrine For to confirme what preachyng doth S. Thomas of Canterbury miracles He preached neuer nor liued any other life then as our Cardinall and for his mischief dyed a mischieuous death And of our Cardinall if we be not diligent they will make a Saint also and make a greater relique of his shew then of the others And of your dead Saintes let vs take onâ for an example Thomas de Aquino is a Saint full of miracles as Friers tell And his doctrine was that our Lady was borne in original sinne And Dunce doyng no miracle at all because I suppose no man wotteth where he lyeth improueth that with his sophistrie and affirmeth the contrary And of the contrary hath the Pope for the deuotioÌ of that the gray Friers gaue him ye may well thinke made an Article of the fayth And finally as for the miracles they are to make a man astonied to wonder and to draw him to heare the word earnestly rather then to write it in his hart For whosoeuer hath no other felyng of the law of God that it is good then because of miracles the saââ¦e shall beleue in Christ as did Symon Magus and Iudas and as they that came out of Egypt with Moyses and fell away at euery temptation shall haue good workes like vnto our Popes bishops and Cardinals And therfore when the Scripture is fully receaued there is no nede of miracles In so much that they which will not beleue Moses and the Prophetes when the Scripture is receaued the same wil be no true beleuers by the reason of miracles though one arose from death to lyfe to preach vnto them by the testimonie of Christ And agayne how doth S. Hierome Augustine Bede and many other old Doctours that were before the Pope was cropt vp into y e consciences of meÌ and had sent forth his daÌnable sectes to preach him vnder y t name of Christ as Christ prophesied it should be expounde this text thou art Peter and vppon this rocke I will builde my Church and this text Peter feede my sheepe and all power is geuen me in heauen and in earth and innumerable such textes cleane contrary vnto all those
they can not depart they seke a thousand gloses to turne it into an other sense to make it agree vnto their beastlynesse and where it will receaue no such gloses theyr they thinke that no man vnderstandeth it Then in the end of the Chapter M. More coÌmeth vnto his wise conclusion and proueth nothing saue sheweth his ignoraunce as in all thyng He sayth we beleue the doctrine of the Scripture without Scripture as for an example the Popes pardons because onely that the Church so teacheth though no Scripture confirmeth it Why so because sayth he the holy ghost by inspiration if I doe my endeuour and captiuate mine vnderstandyng teacheth me to beleue the Church concernyng Gods worde taught by the Churche and grauen in mens hartes with out Scripture as well as he teacheth vs to beleue wordes written in the Scripture Marke where hee is now Afore hee saith the Scripture causeth vs not to beleue the Scripture for a man may read it beleue it not And much more the preacher maketh vs not to beleue y e preacher for a man may heare him and beleue him not also As we see the Apostles could not cause all men to beleue them For though the Scripture be an outward instrument and the preacher also to moue meÌ to beleue yet the chief and principall cause why a man beleueth or beleueth not is within That is the spirite of God teacheth his children to beleue and the deuill blyndeth his children and kepeth them in vnbeleffe and maketh them to consent vnto lyes thinke good euill euill good As the Actes of the Apostles say in many places there beleued as many as were ordeyned vnto euerlastyng lyfe And Christ sayth Iohn viij they that be of God heare Gods word And vnto the wicked Iewes he saith ye caÌ not beleue because ye be not of God And in the same place sayth he ye be of your father the deuill and his will ye will do and he bode not in the truth therfore will not suffer his children to consent to the truth And Iohn in y e x. saith Christ all that came before me be theeues murtherers but my shepe heard not theyr voyces That is all that preach any saluatioÌ saue in Christ murther y e soules Howbeit Christes shepe could not consent to their lyes as the rest caÌ not but beleue lyes so that there is euer a remanaunt kepte by grace And of this I haue sene diuers examples I haue knowen as holy men as might be as the world counteth holynesse which at the houre of death had no trust in God at all but cryed cast holy water light the holy candell and so forth sore lamentyng that they must dye And I haue knowen other which were despised as men that cared not for their diuine seruice which at death haue falsen so flat vppon the bloud of Christ as is possible and haue preached vnto other mightyly as it had bene an Apostle of our Sauiour and comforted them with comfort of the lyfe to come haue dyed so gladly that they would haue receaued no worlds good to bide still in the flesh And thus is M. More fallen vpoÌ predestination and is compelled wish violence of Scripture to confesse that which he hateth and studieth to make appeare false to stablish freewill with all not so much of ignoraunce I feare as for lucres sake and to get honour promotioÌ dignitie and money by helpe of our mitred monsters Take exaÌple of Balam the false Prophet which gaue counsell sought meanes through like blynd couetousnesse to make the truth and prophesie which God had shewed him false He had the knowledge of y e truth but with out loue therto and therfore for vauntage became enemy vnto the truth but what came of hym But M. More pepereth his conclusioÌ lest men should feele the tast saying if we endeuour our selues and captiue our vnderstandyng to beleue O how betleblynd is fleshly reason the will hath none operation at all in the workyng of fayth in my soule no more then the child hath in the begettyng of hys father For sayth Paule it is the gift of God and not of vs. My witte must coÌclude good or bad yer my will can loue or hate My witte must shew me a true cause or an apparent cause why yer my will haue any workyng at all And of that peperyng it well appeareth what the Popes fayth is euen a blynd imagination of their naturall witte wrought without the light of the spirite of God agreing vnto their voluptuous lustes in which their beastly wil so deliteth that hee will not let their wittes atteÌde vnto any other learning for vnquietyng hym selfe and styrring from his pleasure and delectation And thus we be as farre a sunder as euer we were and his mighty argumentes proue not the value of a poding pricke M. More feeleth in his hart by inspiration and with his endeueryng him self and captiuatyng his vnderstandyng to beleue it that there is a Purgatory as whot as hell Wherein if a sily soule were appointed by God to lye a thousand yeares to purge him with all the Pope for the value of a groat shall commaunde him thence ful purged in the twinkelyng of an eye by as good reason if her were goyng thence kepe him there still He feeleth by inspiration and in captiuatyng hys wittes that the Pope can worke wonders with a Caiues skinne that he can commaunde one to eate fâesh though he be neuer so lusty and that an other eate none on payne of daÌnatioÌ though he should dye for lacke of it and that he can forgeue sinne and not the payne as much and as litle of the payne or all if he lust and yet can neither helpe hym to loue the law or to beleue or to hate the flesh seyng he preacheth not And such thinges innumerable M. More feleth true and therfore beleueth that the Pope is the true Church And I cleane coÌtrary fele that there is no such worldly and fleshly imagined Purgatory For I feele that the soules be purged onely by the word of God doctrine of Christ as it is written Iohn xv ye be cleane through the word saith Christ to his Apostles And I feele agayne that he which is cleane through the doctrine needeth not but to washe his feete onely for his head handes are cleane all ready Iohn xiij that is he must tame his flesh kepe it vnder for his soule is cleane all ready through the doctrine I feele also that bodyly payne doth but purge the body onely in so much that the payne not onely purgeth not the soule but maketh it more foule except that there be kynde learning by to purge the soule so that the more a maÌ beateth his soÌne the worse he is except he teach him louingly shew him kindnesse besides partly to kepe hym from
thou feâe theÌ and that thine hart mourne for them and that with al thy power thou helpe to amende them and cease not to crye to God for theÌ neither day nor night and that thou let nothing be founde in thee that any man may rebuke but whatsoeuer thou teachest them that âe thou and that thou be not a Wolfe in a Lambes skinne as our holy âather y e Pope is which commeth vnto vs in a name of hypocrisie and in the ââ¦e of curssed Cham or Ham calling hymselfe Seruus seruorum the seruaunt of all seruauntes and is yet founde tyrannus tyraânorum of all tyrauntes y e most cruell This is to receaue young children in Christes name and to receaue young children in Christes name is to beare rule in the kingdome of Christ Thus ye see that Christes kingdome is all together spirituall and the bearing of rule in it is cleane coÌtrary vnto the bearing of rule temporally Wherfore none that beareth rule in it may haue any temporall iurisdiction or minister any temporall office that requireth violence to compell withall ¶ Peter was not greater then the other Apostles by any authoritie geuen him of Christ THey saye that Peter was chiefe of the Apostles verely as Appeâââs was called chief of Painters for his excellent cunninge aboue other euen so Peter may be called chiefe of the Apostles for his actiuitie and boldnes aboue the other but that Peter had any auctoritie or rule ouer his brethren and felow Apostles is false and contrary to y e scripture Christ forbad it the last euen before his passion and in diuers tunes before and taught alway the contrary as I haue rehearsed Thou wilt say thou caust not see how there should be any good order in that kyngdome where none were better then other and where the superior had not a lawe and authoritie to compell the inferior with violeÌce The worlde truely can see no other way to rule then with violence For there no man absteineth from euil but for feare because the loue of righteousnes is not written in their hartes And therefore the Popes kingdome is of the world For there one sorte are your grace your holines your fatherhode An other my Lord Byshop my Lord Abbot my Lord Pryor An other master Doctour Father Bachelar mayster Parson maister Vicar and at the last commeth in simple syr Iohn And euery man raigneth ouer other wyth might and haue euery ruler his prison his iayler his chaynes his tormentes euen so much as the Fryers obâeruauntes obserue that rule and compell euery man other with violeÌce aboue the cruelnesse of the heathen tyrauntes so that what commeth once in may neuer out for feare of telling taâes out of schole They rule ouer the bodye with violence and compell ãâã whether the harte will or not to obserue thinges of their owne making But in the kingdome of God it is contrary For the spirite that bringeth them thether maketh them wilâing and geueth them lust vnto the law of God loue coÌpelleth them to worke and loue maketh euerty maÌs good all that he can do coÌmune vnto his neighbours nede And as euery maÌ is stroÌg in that kyngdome so loue compelleth him to take the weake by the hand and to helpe hym and to take him that can not go vppon his shoulders and beare him And so to do seruice vnto the weaker is to beare rule in that kingdome And because Peter did excede the other Apostles in ferueÌt seruice toward his brethren therefore is âe called noâ in the Scripture but in the vse of speakyng the chiefest of the Apostles not that he had any dominion ouer them Of which truth thou mayst see also the practise in the Actes of the Apostles after the resurrection For when Peter had bene and preached in the house of Cornelius an heathen maÌ the other that were Circumcised chode him because he had bene in an vncircumcised mans house had eaten with him for it was forbidden in the law neither wist they yet that the heathen should be called And Peter was fayne to geue accountes vnto them which is no token of superioritie and to shew them how he was warned of the holy ghost so to do Actes xj And Actes xv when a CouÌcell was gathered of the Apostles and disciples about the Circumcision of the heatheÌ Peter brought forth not his commauÌdement and the authoritie of his Vicarshyp but the miracle that the holy ghost had shewed for the heathen how at y â preachyng of the Gospell the holy ghost had lighted vppon them and purified âheir hartes through fayth and therefore proued that they ought not to be Circumcised And Paule and Barnabas brought soorth the miracles also that God had shewed by them among the heathen through preachyng of saith And then Iames brought soorth a prophecie of the olde Testament for the sayd part And therewith the aduersaries gaue ouer their hold and they coÌcluded with one assent by the authoritie of the scripture and of the holy ghost that the heathen should not be Circumcised not by the commaundement of Peter vnder payne of cursing excommunicatioÌ ãâã interditing and like bugges to make fooles and children afrayed withall And Actes viij Peter was sent of the other Apostles vnto the Samaritanes whiche is an euident token that he had no iurisdiction ouer them for then they could not haue sent him But rather as the truth is that the congregation had authoritie ouer him ouer all other priuate persones to admitte them for ministers and send them forth to preach whether so euer the spirite of God moued them and as they saw occasion And in the Epistle vnto the Galathians thou seest also how Paule corrected Peter when he walked not the straight way after the truth of the Gospel So now thou seest that in the kingdome of Christ and in his Churche or congregation and in his couÌsels the ruler is the Scripture approued through the miracles of the holy ghost and men be seruauntes onely and Christ is the head and we all brethren And wheÌ we call men our heades that we do not be cause they be shorne or shauen or because of their names Parson Vicare Byshop Pope But onely because of the word whiche they preach If they erre froÌ the word theÌ may whosoeuer God moueth his hart play Paule and correct hym If he will not obey the Scripture then haue his brethren authoritie by the Scripture to put hym downe and send hym out of Christes Church among the heretickes whiche preferre their false doctrine aboue the true word of Christ ¶ How the Gospell punisheth trespassers and how by the Gospell we ought to go to law with our aduersaries THough that they of Christes coÌgregation be all willyng yet because that the most paât is alway weake because also that the occasions of the world be euer many and great in so much that
full satisfaction for our sinnes 50. b. his body not naturally in the Sacrament 469. b. how he is in many places and how not at one instant 461. b. his bloud blesseth vs from curse of the law 77. a. he consecrated no bread 465. b. satisfied for our sinnes after afore Baptisme 32. a. sacrificed once for all 310. b. he boroweth figures of the old Testament and why 14. b. his prayer is heard praying for vs. 401. b. his treasures who vnderstand not 69. b Christ why not embraced 162. a. dishonored 18. a. vnder the temporall sword 115. b. a vayne name in respect of the Popes name 127. a. hys prophesie must be fulfilled how terrible soeuer it be 132. b. he prophesied why Antichrist should come 151. b. not tyed to Antichristes eare 149. a. not disguised 408. a. accused of insurrection 105. a. his prophesie fulfilled in the papistes 132. a. commaundeth Scriptures to be searched 102. a. alloweth allegories aptly applyed 467. a. onely fulfilleth the law 40. a Chrisostome calleth the Sacrament a signe of Christes body 474. b. his saying of our Lady 336. b Christian man onely suffreth 119. b. receiueth ibid. hath Christes spirite 83. b. how farre bosid to suffer 327 a. wherunto called 98. b. what requisite for hym 34. a. seketh Christes honor 292. a. seeketh his saluation onely of Christ 292. a. seeketh to Christ 329. b Christian loue of whoÌ reiected 116. b Christian patience 260. a Christian doctrine sufficiently conteyned in Paule to the Romanes 49. b Christian kyng who 349. b Christenyng of Belles 152. a Churche 200. a. what it is 257. a. ãâã word of diuerse significatioÌs 249. a. without sinne 294. a. contayneth good euill 291. a. a place of prayer 282. b. why first ordeyned 87. b. cannot erre 360. a Church of God how taken in Scripture 250. a. repugnaunt to Gods law erreth 201. b. hath a double signification 291. a. why translated into this word congregation 250. b Churche must yeld a reason of theyr doctrine 288. a. Papall persecuteth neuer suffreth 289. b. erreth if the Pope be head therof 375. a Church carnall sinneth 294. b Churlishnes 290. b ChurchwardeÌs their office in tymes past 373. b Cyprian 332. b Circumcision 273. a. a figure of baptisme 467. b. the seale of Gods couenaunt with vs. 437. a. not vsed in xl yeares 248. a. without fayth auayleth not 441. a Circumspect Prelates 369. b Citations 134. b Ciuile orders for fastyng 136. a Clergy 339. a Clergy of the Pope 293. a. are lyers 341. b. robbe God of all honor 165 b. secret conspiratours 363. a. murtherers 341. a. persecutours 262. a Clergy discharged 374. b Climyng vp of the Pope 347. b Cloister loue is bely loue 164. b ComparisoÌ betwen Ionas Christ 27. b. contrariety betwene Christ the Pope 353. b. betwene the olde passeouer Christes last Supper 467. b Comparison betwene Thomas Becket and Thomas Wolsey 361. b Competent liuyng sufficient 20. a. it coÌmeth by folowyng Christ 235. b Compassion for Christes sake must be shewed 84. b Commodities folowyng couetouse rich men 231. a Common wealth 23. a Common goodes 346. a Compulsion that Priests should put away their wiues 314. a Comminalty what to bee required of by the Prince 179. b Common saying of Papistes 360. b Comfort agaynst desperation 4. a Commaundementes of whom kept 76. b Comfort agaynst carnall weakenes 454. a Condemnation not vnder three witnesses 23. a Condemnation of the law 57. a Confirmation of childreÌ 276. b. how it came first into the Church 276. a CongregatioÌ how vnderstode 205. b it must order vs. 441. a. what perteineth to them 358. b Confession 115. a. 290. b. 173. a Confession the nurse of treason 155. b. what an intolerable burden 140 a. robbeth the Sacramentes 157. b. stablisheth the Popes kingdome 180. b ConfessioÌ due to them whoÌ we haue offended 148. b Confession with repentaunce 392. b. knowledgeth her sinnes hartly to God 147. a ConfessioÌ of thy fayth in Christ with out carnall feare assureth thee of saluation 147. a Conquest of the world what 405. a Conquestes of fayth 421. b Conscience how pacified ibid. b Conscience accuseth not the worker 413. b ConscieÌces must be examined before the communion be receiued 472. b ConsideratioÌ of two thinges in Sacramentes 468. a Constancy 454. a Constantines gift fayned 356. a Correction of God a token of loue 25. a Corpors ecloth 277. b Contemners of the law who 380. a Contempt of the world 7. b Contempt or loue shewed to Christ as to our brethren 163. a Contentes of the old TestameÌt and new 377. b Controuersies concernyng saluation to be stode vnto 1454. a. betwene Iames and Paule 130. b Continuaunce to the end in the Gospell maketh vs blessed 52. b Conuersation of Christ and his Apostles to be considered in expouÌdyng Scriptures 172. b Couenaunt of God 186. b. to be kept with hym 23. a. a sure absolution 224. a Couenaunt of Gods promise 432. a. of hys bindyng him selfe to vs. 224 ⪠b. of the Iewes 436. a Couent 192. b Couetousnes 189. b. 267. b. 290. b. 205. b Couetousnes a plague 230. a. blyndeth our eyes 406. a. blindeth Religion 19. b. blyndeth the spiritualtie 107. b. roote of all euill 215. b Couetousnes bewrayeth a false Prophet 189. b. maketh a false prophet 231. b. the end of false doctrine 173. a. of Prelates decayed Christendome 346. a. of shauelynges must not be restrayned 406. a Councels 295. a. general 314. b. how they should conclude 288. a. put downe all Images in Grece 323. b Councell of Papistes daÌnable 108. a Craft of the Pope 369. b. of his Legates 366. b. of Prelates 135. a. of hypocrites 134. a Crosse 186. b. 219. a. 326. a Crosse borne in procession 135. a Crosse of Christe purgeth all vices 165. a. foloweth a true Christian 209. a Crueltie of Papistes 309. b. 363. b Curse 110. a Curse of God vppon law breakers 23. b Curse of the Pope a fearefull bugge 150. a Cursed who 195. b Cursyng the meanyng therof 174. b Curiositie reproueth 23. b. to be auoyded 409. b Curiositie in searching Gods secrets 329. a Custome of walshe people 152. b Cut of from Christ who 165. a Cup of Christes bloud what 443. b Cup of Christ the deuill how they differre 472. a. and b. D. DAmnation of Princes 112. a Damnation not due to them that are in Christ 42. a Darkenes 232. b. of the Popes doctrine 232. b Darknes caused through couetousnes 232. a Dauid 260. a. would not aduenge hym selfe 110. b. slue not Saule why 111. a Dauncyng in Paris 375. b Dayly bread expounded 222. b Dayly vse of the Sacramentes commaunded by God 442. a Deacon 345. b. what it signifieth his office 133. b Deacons how admitted of the Apostles 146. a. their office in the primitiue Church 345. b Deacons were the first corruption of the Church 346. b Deacons of Christ and of the Pope differre 310.
b Dead men 408. a. not holpen by man 13. b. rewarded of the Pope 362. a Dead Saintes their miracles in the Popish Church 302. a Death of Christe why so necessary 462. a. way to saluation 257. b Death and resurrection of Christe shewed by Ionas 27. b. figured by the paschall lambe 439. b Death of Christ purchased grace for our soules 279. a Death of Christ blasphemed by Papistes 16. b Deceauyng of our selues 392. b Declaration of Adames heyres 381. b. of Christ in the old Testament 23. a Decrees deuilish 262. a Decrees of Byshops aboue Gods word 124. b Deedes not allowed without fayth 85. b. how farreforth acceptable to God 154. b Deedes of ours why euill 328. b. procedyng and not procedyng of our selues 47. b Deedes of Christ and ours their effectes 35. b Deedes not iustified by fayth are sinne 155. a Definition of the Church 250. a. of fayth in generall 42. b. of ârue faith 64 b Definition of Popish penauÌce 398. a Defender of the fayth 374. b Defiance sent from the French kyng to kyng Henry the viij 371. b Degrees of nature altered by mariage 108. b Deliueraunce by Christ why 22. a DeliuerauÌce out of purgatory 366. a Deliberation of Princes in makyng warre 193. b Delight of the faithfull 379. b Deniaâl of helpe to our neighbour dishonoreth hym 270. a Derogation froÌ the dignitie of Christes bloud 70. a Derogation from Christes fayth is agaynst hys Church 187. b Description of swyne 238. a DescriptioÌ of Baptisme 14. b. of our iustification 330. b Desert and free gift are contraryes 19. b Desperation how it commeth 219 ⪠a. assayleth fayth 259. a Despere of mans helpe bryngeth Gods helpe 454. a Desiderius 359. a Deuilish doctrine 415. a. practises 368. b. pride 353. a. expoundyng the Scriptures by Papistes 175. a Deuill is darknes 392. a. blyndeth vs from Gods wil. 329. a. to be resisted with the sheild of fayth 62. b. euerthrowen by Christ 278. b Deuill driuen away by fayth 131. b. aduauncer of Popes 301. b Deuils and stifnecked sinners destitute of the fayth that Paule speaketh of 130. b Deuils confessed Christe to bee the sonne of God 95. b Deuils wages 100. a Deuises of the Cardinall 372. b Deuteronomium a booke of Moses commended 21. b Differences of fayth 197. a. betwene the old and new Testament 444. a. betwene the Iewes and the ãâã âls 44. a. betwne true faith and fayned 66. b. betwene false fayth and right 66. a Differences betwene Goddes children and the deuils 99. b. betwene Gods sinners and the deuill 199. b. betwene the fall of Peter Iudas 337. a. betwene true Sacramentes and false 156. betwene Sacramentes and sacrifices 13. b. betwene Christes naturall body and a paynted Image 281. b. betwene teachyng the people and a preacher 252. b Difference none of dayes to do good 237. a Diggyng of AbrahaÌs welles 184. a Dignities of shauelynges 353. a Diligence althoughe in vayne towardes our neighbour to be excused 203. b Direction of our lyfe to what ende 387. b Disciples of Antichrist 134. a Disciples of Christe were worldly mynded 106. a. had a wicked opinion of hym 25. b. doubtfull in fayth 261. a Disciples of Christe vnderstoode Christ spiritually 465. a. refuse not death for his sake 199. a Discipline vsed in y e primitiue church 496. b Dishonour of God and neighbour 269. b Dispensations purchased of the pope 329. b Dispensations for concubines 134. a Disobedience 290. b. counted a spirituall thyng 109. a Disputations backward 67. a. for superioritie 347. a Disputations of predestination not rashly to be enterprised 48. b Dissimulation of the Pope 352. a. of Papistes 19. a Dissimulation not culpable in some causes 209 a Dissembled truce 366. a Distemperaunce in eatyng and drinkyng 227. b Distrust ought not to bee in Gods prolongation of helpe 240. a Diuersities of fayth 331. b Diuision in the Church 347. b Doctrine of the Pope 412. a. 415. b. abhominable 316. b. wicked 29. b. Papisticall 360. b. of Phariseis blynd 30. a. of shauelynges vayne and obstinate 137. b. of More superstitions 317. a. of Papistes concernyng Purgatory 306 b Doctrine false causeth euill workes 199. b Doctrine of hypocrites 87. a. of Papistes nedeth miracles 301. b. with out Scripture not to be beleued 304. b Doctrine vniuersally must be examined by Gods word 414. b Doctrine of Christ peaceable 106. b Doctrine Apostolicall 408. b. of the true Church 304. a. of the Scripture 388. b. and. 304. b. of Sacramentes 320. a Doctrine of the Apostles confirmed with miracles 298. b Doctrine sincere causeth good workes 199. b Doctrine of Christ must be defended of euery man in hys owne person 198. b Doctours doubt at Christes playne wordes 205. b. differ in the opinion of the Sacrament 446. b Doctours generally call the Sacrament a sacrifice 447. b Doctour Colct 318. b Doctour Ferman a vertuous man and godly 330. a Documentes of Scripture necessary 389. b Dogges 187. a. who they be 238. a Downe fallyng sinner hath a false fayth 432. a Double signification of this woorde Church 250. a Dregges of Papistes 406. b Duns 302. a. his doctrine aduaunced 278. a Dunsticall dreames and termes 104. a Duke Hââfrey 363. b. hys death 364. a Duty of kynges 137. a. of Priestes 133. b. of Ministers at the communion 476. b Duty must be done with loue 212. a E. EAre confession 339. a. a wicked deuise 367. a. destroyeth Christes benefites 320. a Eare confession and pardons neuer confirmed by miracle 319. b Earth geuen to man of God 121. b Eatyng Christes fleshe is beleuyng in Christ 467. a Eatyng Christes body bloud truly what it meaneth 463. a Eatyng y e whores flesh what 455. b Ecclesia 250. b Effect of Christe bloude 380. b. of Gods word 247. a. of his lawes 22. b. of our good deedes 158. b Effectes of fayth spirituall 43. b Elders haue erred 303. b Elders and Priestes why so named 38. a Eldest sonne of the holy seat 349. b Elect must be patient and tryed 260. a. b. haue Gods will writteÌ in your hartes 255. b Elect euer meditate vppon Christes kyndnes 382. b Election of the Pope confirmed by the Emperour 346. a Elias and More contrary 284. a Emanuell 408. a Emperours election to whom beloÌgyng 352. a Emperours haue deposed Popes Popes Emperours 364. b. theyr oth to the Pope 352. a. must not be very strong by the Popes will 365. b. abused by the Pope 350. b. not estemed of the Pope ibidem doteth 350. a Emperour setteth on the French kyng by night 372. a. came through England 371. a End of the law 193. a. of all lawes 240. b. of hypocrites 306. a End must be cast before we begyn 99. a Enemyes to Gods word 14. a Enemyes of the truth to be hated 216. a Enemyes must be ouercome with well doyng 117. b Englishmen 365. a English Byshops 114. a Enormities of auricular confession 180. b Enormities
sinnes 95. b Phocas an Emperour 347. b. hys priuiledge to the see of Rome ibid. Phrases of speach expounded 77. b Pilgrimages 282. a. how lawfull 20 a. not needefull to a ChristiaÌ for his saluation 155 a Pilgrimages true what they be 272 a Pitie 282. b Pipinus 348. a Places of Scripture shewing Christes departure hence as touchyng his naturall body 470. b Places hauing prerogatiue for prayer 283. a Plerophoria how knowen 414. a Pluralitie of benefices 373. b Poetry Scripture to Popish schole men 168. a Pollaxes borne before high Legates what they signifie 142. b Pope with his Prelates set foorth 53. b. a God on earth 349. a. Antichrist 262. a 289. a. 308. a. the deuilles vicare 359. a. persecuteth Gods word 25. b. 290. a. a deniââ¦h blasphemer ibid. hath no Martyrs 294. a. a peacebreaker 365. b. a tyrauÌt 318. a. a breaker of bondes of Matrimony 350. a commaundeth murder 106. a. cause of great periury 115. a Popes haue ben bloudsheders aboue this 700. yeares 351. a Pope a mercyles tyraunt 362. b. curseth his enemyes 395. b. wilnot be rebuked 364. b. onely forbyddeth mariage 127. b. halfe a God 461. b aloft ouer all Byshops and Kings 353. a. aduaunceth his in worldlynes 353. b. hath moe kyngdomes then God 135. b. a maker of lawes 356. a. selleth Gods free gift 151. a. chalengeth authoritie ouer God and man 159. a. commauÌdeth God to curse 151. b. may doe all at his pleasure 364. b. wilnot obey Princes 286. a. made a God for his dispensations 230. a. coÌmeth in Christes name with miracles 301. b. sayth he cannot erre 264. a. distributeth his fathers kyngdome 354. a thrusteth downe Christ 292. a. lycenseth all thynges to bee read sauyng the truth 21. a. forbiddeth that God commaundeth 21. a Pope how hee remitteth and retayneth sinnes 306. b. maketh heretikes of true preachers 134. b selleth all thynges 289. b. receiueth hys possessions of the deuill 354. a. howe he raigneth vnder Christ 151. a. expoundeth Scripture contrary to Christ and his Apostles 173. b. byndeth that Christ louseth 102. a Pope not to be beleued why 304. b. lonseth all honesty 123. a. more mercyfull for money then God for Christes death 151. a. deuideth poore people and how 354. b chosen without consent of the Emperour 360. b. purposed to be Emperour 349. made two Empyres of one 349. b Pope Pipine put downe the right French kyng 348. a Pope and Cardinals their opinions concernyng kyng Henry the eight 288 b Pope Iuly 369. a Pope his fast 229. b. his traditions are wicked and breake Gods commaundements 108. a. his authoritie improued 12. 4. b. his clergy subtill 1. a. his doctrine corrupt 24. a. his doctrine doth persecute 97. a. his sect not of Christes church 261 b. his doctrine bloudy 106. b. his saying of the scripture 306. b. his authoritie is onely to preach Gods word 123. b. his false authority defended by kynges 114. b. his false workes 289. a. his iugglyng 114. b. his widowes 354. b. his priests ibideÌ his law 355. a. his fayth 410 b. his Church 292. b. his practise with all Princes 365. a. his Deacons 354. b. his Prelates taught of Caiphas 122. b Popish tyranny 475. b. ceremonyes more obstinate mo in nuÌber then the Iewes 101. b. forgiuenes 395 a. Purgatory not feared of a true ChristiaÌ 434. b. Prelates would be highest 341. a. superstition 425 b. doctrine 447. a. hath caused the truth to be set forth more playnely 476. a. woorkes 396. a. oyle more feared then Gods commaundementes 131. a. confirmation 277. a Pope holy woorkes a cloke for the wicked 27. a Possessed with deuines fled from Christ 285. a Poore meÌ 408. a. in spirite who 189 a. must be cared for next our owne houshold 84. a. called of Paule Gods Churche 473. b. pouertie 242. b Pouertie wilfull 16. b. her vow 19. a Power good and euill whence 321. b Poyson of our byrth resisteth the spirite 165. a A prayer 228. a Prayer 22. b. 242. b. 219. b. defined 81. b. of how many sortes 220. a. a commaundement 238. b. heard in all places of God 282. b. the fruite of fayth 93. a. heard of God at all tymes 20. b. winneth the victory 238. b. of fayth doth miracles 152. b vayne without hart and toungue 221. a. of shauelynges breaketh Gods commaundement 139. b. of Monkes robbeth 201. a. not sold in old tyme. 139. b. to Saintes superilitious 296. a. without fayth nothyng 274. b. to Saintes not before Christes tyme. 296. a Practises 371. a. of Parliamentes 315. a. of Prelates 363. a. of Popish Prelates in these dayes 340. b. with poore Priestes 367. b. of fleshly spiritualitie 249. a Prayers and our deedes accepted accordyng to our fayth 154. b Prayers of all good women accepted aswell as our Ladyes 326. a. to Saintes damnable 433 b. all in Latin 151. b. commaunded to the ignoraunt 135. a Prayse sought of hypocrites 373. b Prayse of Paule Epistle to the Romanes 39. a Preacher his office 206. a. may not preache vnlesse he be sent of God 156. why accused of heresie treason 202. ãâã Preachers who are sent and who not how to knowe 156. a. of Gods word their miracles 302. a. neede no miracles 301. a. must preach repentaunce 86. b. why not beleued wheÌ they preach truth 101. b. must haue a competent lyuyng allowed them 133. b. must not be violent 214. b. who ought to be 198. b Preachyng is byndyng and lousing 359. a. of Christ 391. the authoritie of Peter his successour 173. b. the chief authoritie that Christ gaue his Apostles 126. a. extinct with ceremonies 278. a Predestination 306. a. in Gods haÌd 48. b. not rashly to be disputed vppon 48. b. how farre to be proceded in ibidem Presbyter 144. b Priestes 310. b. must be vertuous 314. b Priestes how truly annoynted 133. a ought not to bee annoynted with oyle 144. b. tell the confessions of the rich to the Officials and Commissaries and why 136. b. may haue whores but no wiues 311. b. must haue wiues for two causes 133. b Prieste disguiseth hym selfe with Christes passion 132. a Priestes vnderstand no Latin 103. a Prelates why so wicked 118. b. Courtiers 347. a. vnderstand not Scriptures and why 287. b. why clothed in red 142. b Pride 405. b. of the Pope 363. a. of the Cardinals 372. b Princes why ordained 117. a. not to be resisted though they be infidels 111. a. whether they may be resisted or no. 213. a Principles of Scriptures 386. b Processions abused 299. b Profession of our Baptisme 388. b. first to be learned 387. a Profession of newe lyfe procureth Christes mercy 219. b Promise how we may chaleÌge 218. b Promise of God fulfilled for Christes and not for Saintes merites 160. a. left out in all thynges by the Pope 154. a Promises of the Gospell comfortable to a sinner 378. a Promise commeth of the promisers goodnes 196. a Promises of
very head of the Church this is the Church that can not erre c. Here it is open that the counsell may erre and that a priuate person hauing scriptures for hym is to bée heard before the Pope and also y e couÌsell hauing no scriptures for them you haue also what is the very trew Church which can not erre which thing can not bée veryfyed of your counsels for they bée neyther without errour nor yet the holy Church but that they doe represeÌt the Church as a legate representeth a kings person but of that followeth not that hée is y e king or hath as much power as the king or is aboue The king or that he may rule the king this may also bée proued by S. Augustine whose words bée these those counselles that bée gathered in euery Prouince must without doubt geue place to the auctoritie of the ful counsels which bée gathered of all Christendom and also those full counsels oft tymes must bée amended by the full counsels that come after if any thyng bée opened by any experience that was a fore shut and if any thing bée knowen that was hydden And this may bee done without any shadowe of supersticious pride without any boasted Arrogancy with out any contentioÌ of malicious enuy but with holy méekenes with holy peace and with Christen charitye c. Here it is playne that your full couÌsels may bée amended and reformed y e which thing néede not if they could not erre yea and if they did not erre in déede Moreouer you must néedes graunt that there is a rule where by your counsels must bée exammined where by sentence must bée geuen which of your councels bée true and which false by the which rule if your counsels bée not ordered they must néedes erre and bée false and of the deuill Wherfore gather all your couÌsels togither and yet of them can you not make holy church But peraduenture there may bée many in your couÌsels good and perfite men and of holy Churche but they and you togither make not the vnyuersall holy church that can not erre neither haue you any anctoritie ouer holy Church further then the holy scripture of God but as soone as you forsake Christ and his holy worde so soone are you the congregation of the deuyll and théeues and murtherers and yet for all this there must néedes bée an holy church of Christ in earth that is neyther bounde to Ierusalem nor to Constantinople nor yet to Rome as though shée were lyke vnto the Asse and the fole But now wyll there bée obiected that our Mayster Christ commaundeth if my brother offende mée that I shoulde complayne to the church Now is this church that I haue set out spirituall and no man knoweth her but God onely shée is also scattered thorow out the worlde wherfore how can a man complayne to that church I aunswere our M. Christ doth playnely speake of a man that hath wronge the which must néedes bée a perticuler and a certayne man and therefore likewyse hée biddeth hym complayne not to the vniuersall church but to the perticular church Now this particular church if shée bée of God and a true member of the vniuersal church shée will iudge righteously after Christes worde and after the probations brought afore her Neuerthelesse ofteÌtymes coÌmeth it to passe y â this particular church doth fully and wholy erre and iudgeth vnryght and excommunicateth him that is blessed of god as it is open in your owne lawe whose wordes bée these ofteÌtymes hée that is cast out is within and hée that is within is kept without c. Here haue you playnely y e the particular church may erre Wherefore that church that can not erre is all only the vniuersall church which is caulled the communion and the felowship of Saintes the which addition was made by holy fathers for in Ciprians time was there no mention of it by all likelyhode to declare the presumption of certayne men and of certayne congregations that reckened themselues to bée holy church Wherfore my Lordes sée well to it least the holy Ghost haue pricked you wyth thys addition for you haue alwayes made your selfe holy church yea and that wythout any holines Now haue I declared vnto you what is holy church that is the congregation of faithfull men thorowout all y e world and whereby shée is holy that is by Christes holynesse and by Christes bloud and also what is the cause that shée can not erre because that shée kepeth her selfe so fast to the worde of God whiche is a perfite a true rule Nowe must we declare by what signes and tokeÌs that we may know that in this place or in that place there bée certeine members of this holye church For though shée bée in her self spirituall ⪠and can not bée perfitely knowen by our exteriour senses yet neuerthelesse we may haue certeine tokens of her spirituall presence whereby we may recken that in this place and in that place bee certeine of her members As by a naturall example though the soule of man in her selfe bée spirituall inuisible yet may we haue sure tokens of her presence as hearyng mouyng speakyng smellyng with such other So likewise where the word of God is truely and perfitely preached without the damnable dreames of men and where it is well of the hearers receiued also where we sée good woorkes that doe openly agrée with the doctrine of the Gospell these bée good and sure tokeÌs whereby we may iudge that there bée some men of holy Church As to the first whereas the Gospell is truely preached it must néedes light in some mens hartes as the prophete witnesseth my word shall not returne agayne to me frustrate but it shall doe all thyng that I will and it shall prosper in those thynges vnto the which I did send it Also S. Paule sayth fayth coÌmeth by hearyng and hearyng commeth by the word of God and therfore it is open in holy Scripture that when Peter spake the wordes of God the holy ghost fell downe on them all Wherfore it is open that Gods worde can neuer bée preached in vayne but some men must néedes receiue it and thereby bée made of holy Churche though that men doe not know them neither by their names nor yet by their faces for this word is receiued into their hartes The second token is that the receiuers of this woord doe worke well thereafter as S. Paule declareth of his hearers when you receiued of vs the word wherewith God was preached you receiued it not as the word of men but euen as it was in déede the word of God whiche worketh in you that beléeue So that if men doe worke after the worde of God it is a good token that there bée men of the Churche though that we hypocrisie is so subtile and so secret may bée oftentymes deceiued by these
outward workes but neuertheles charitie iudgeth well of all thinges that haue a good outward showe and bée not opeÌly agaynst the word of God But it is no ieoperdy though charitie bée deceiued for it is opeÌ to all ieoperdies but fayth is neuer deceiued Now to our purpose that where the worde of God is preached truely it is a good a perfite token that there bée some meÌ of Christes church This may bée prooued by Chrisostomes wordes they that bée in Iudea let theÌ flée vp into the mountaines that is to say they that bée in Christendome let them geue theÌ selues to Scriptures Wherfore commaundeth hée that all Christened men in that tyme should flye vnto Scriptures for in that tyme in the which heresies haue crept into the Church there can bée no true probation of Christendome nor no other refuge vnto Christen men willyng to know the veritie of fayth but y e Scriptures of God Afore by many wayes was it shewed which was the Church of Christ and which was the congregation of Gentiles but now there is no other way to them that will know whiche is the very true Churche of Christ but alonely by scriptures By workes first was the church of Christ knowen when the conuersation of Christen men either of all or of many were holy the which holynes had not the wicked men but nowe Christen men bée as euill or worsse then heretickes or Gentiles yea greater continencie is founde among them then among Christen men Wherefore hée that will knowe which is y e very church of christ how shall hée knowe it but by Scriptures onely Wherfore our Lord coÌsidering that so greate confusion of thynges should come in the latter dayes therfore commaundeth hée that Christen men which bée in Christendome willing to reserue the stedfastnes of true fayth should flye vnto no other thyng but vnto Scriptures for if they haue respect vnto other thynges they shall bée sclaundered and shall perishe not vnderstandyng whiche is the true Church c. These wordes néede no exposition they bée plaine inough they doe also exclude all maner of learning sauing holy scripture Wherefore sée how you can with honestie saue your holy lawes and defend them against Chrisostome Moreouer if Chrisostome complayne of the incontenency that was in his dayes how would hée complaine if hée now liued sawe the baudry and fornication that is in the Church And also he sendeth men to scriptures that will know the holy Church and not vnto y e holy Church for in the Church were heresyes but not in scripture Also S. Paule witneseth the same saying you are built vpon the foundacion of the Apostles and Prophets heare haue you playnely that the very trewe Church is grounded yea and founded of holy scripture and therefore wheresoeuer that the worde of God is preached that is a good token that there bée some men of Christes Church But now as to the fruites and workes of this Church she doth all onely fetch out her maner of lyuing and all her good workes out of y e holy word of God and she fayneth not nor dreameth any other new holines or new inuented works that be not in scripture but she is content w t Christes learning and beléeueth that Christ hath sufficiently taught her all manner of good workes that bée to the honour of our heaueÌly father Therfore inuenteth shée no other way to heauen but followeth Christ onely in suffering oppressions and persecutions blaspheminges al other things that may bée layd vnto her which as S. Agustine sayth she learned of our M. Christ Our holy mother y t church throughout all the world scattered far and long in her trew head Christ Iesus taught hath learned not to feare the contumelys of the Crosse nor yet of death but more and more is shée strengthed not in resisting but in suffering c. Now my Lordes compare your selfe to this rule of S. Agustine and let vs sée how you can bring your self into the Church or els to proue your self to bée holy The Church suffereth persecutions for as S. Paule sayth they that will liue deuoutly in Christ must suffer persecution and you with stand all thinges and suffer nothing You oppresse euery maÌ and you will bée oppressed of no maÌ You persecute euery man and no man may speake a worde agaynst you no though it bée neuer so true You cast euery maÌ in prison no maÌ may touch you but he shal bée cursed You compell euery maÌ to say as you say you will not once say as Christe sayth And as for your holynes all the worlde knoweth what it is for it standeth in clothing and in decking in watching and sléeping in eating and drinking this meate or y e meate this drynke or that drinke in pattering and mumbling these Psalmes or those Psalmes without deuotion Bréefly all your holines is in books Bels CaÌdels Challeces oyle creme water horses houndes pallaces all that is mighty and gloryous in the world there on hange you there in glory you there on crake you there on boast you there vpon builde you Is this y e natures of y e church is this holines Of whome haue you learned these maners You can not deny but these bée true and if you would denye it all the world is witnesse agaynst you yea and also your owne factes déedes Of whom haue you learned this holynes not of Christ nor yet of his holy Church but you haue learned it of the Arians y e were the seruauntes of the deuyll Hilarius wryteth in these wordes the Church doth threaten with banyshmentes prysonmentes and shée compelleth men to beléeue her which was exciled and cast in prison now hangeth shée on the dignitye of her fellowship the which was consecrated by the threateuinges of persecutors shée causeth priestes to flye that was encreased by the chasing away of priestes shée gloryeth that shée is loued of y e world y e which could neuer bée Christes except the worlde did hate her How thynke you my Lordes doe not you all these thinges that bée layd to the Arians charge Your owne frendes yea your owne consciences must néedes accuse you of all these thinges and yet will you bée called Christes children I lay nothyng to you but that holy Doctours lay vnto you But let vs sée what S. Barnarde sayth on you they call themselues the ministers of Christ but they serue Antichrist they goe gorgiously arayed of our Lordes goods vnto whome they géeue none honour and of these goods commeth the harlottes decking that thou séest dayly the game players disguising and kynges apparell of thys coÌmeth golde in their bridles in their saddles and in their spurres so that their spurres bée bryghter theÌ the aulters of thys commeth theyr plenteous wine presses and their full sellers bolkyng from thys vnto that of thys coÌmeth their tunnes of swéete wynes
of thys bée their bagges so filled for such thinges as these bée will they bée rulers of the church as Deacons Archdeacons Byshoppes and Archbyshops c. My Lordes I had thought to haue added Cardinalles and Legates Abbottes and Pryors to haue made the company more holy but I ourst not How thinke you of whom doth hée speake when hée fayth Byshops and Archbyshops what holynes doth hée reprooue when hée spraketh of gorgious araye of harlottes deckyng of game players disguising of goulden spurres saddelles bridles If there were an C. that did vse it more then you yet must you néedes graunt that hée speaketh of you Hée passeth mée sore in condemning of your holy ornamentes for hee caulleth you the seruauntes of Antichrist and your holy ornamentes harlottes decking and game players disguising and hée saith that you are neyther the church nor of the church but the seruauntes of Antichrist how thinke you by S. Barnarde it is tyme to condemne hym for hée speaketh agaynst holy church and all her holy ornamentes thys dare I well say that if the best Christen man within the Realme should preach these wordes of Saint Barnarde you woulde not sticke to condemne hym for an beretike but you were wonte to call hym swéete Barnarde but mée thynketh that hée is soure inough in thys thynge Wherefore dispute the matter wyth hym that you may come into the Church and not wyth mée FINIS An other declaration of the Church wherein hee aunswereth to Maister More IN my first booke I dyd declare how that certayne men dyd take vppon them to bée counted of holy Church whose maners and lyuynges dyd nothyng agrée wyth holy church But after that commeth M. More and hée layeth to my charge that I counted all the spiritualtie to bée naught because hée would make my name somewhat odious vnto them But verely hée doth mée great wroÌge for it was neuer my meanyng nor yet my saying But myne intent was to declare that neyther the Pope nor his colledge of Cardinalles nor yet all the Byshoppes in the worlde gathered togither did make holy Churche because of theyr names or else for theyr long gownes or for theyr shauen crownes or else annoynted fingers nor yet for any other exterior thynges that the worlde had in admiration But yet neuerthelesse I dyd graunt and also doe now confesse many good men to haue shauen crownes and also longe gownes But yet for these thyngs they were neuer the more of the church All the popes learning hath béene that hée and his hath béene y e church the which can not erre and all things that belong vnto them were called y e goods of holy church All lawes made by them were the lawes of holy Church They myght not bée conueÌted before any temporall Prince because they were men of holy church They myght not bée hanged for murther because they were annoynted and of holy church Briefely there bée innumerable such thynges inuented of them to maynetayne and to defeÌde theyr holynesse and to proue that they bée holy Church the which thinges I thynke M. More can not denye And if hée woulde yet there bée a great many of bookes forth comming to proue my senteÌce against him And also y e practise that hath béene vsed in y e worlde will testifie the same I thinke M. More nor yet any maÌ lyuyng dyd euer know in hys tyme that any man was iudged or taken to bée of the church but such men as I haue spoken of And I thynke thys name church was neuer named but it was taken specially and principally for those men that had shauen crownes and other lyke tokens Let mée bée reported to those men that bée alyue Now because I saw that these thynges were nothyng the cause of holy church nor yet belonged greatly to holy church therefore I say was I moued to declare what holy church was and who were thereof and by what signes and tokens men myght know her ¶ Now to declare this I brought certaine places of scripture to prooue that this worde Eccleasia was taken in scripture for the whole congregatioÌ both of good and bad But I sayd I would not greatly speake of that coÌgregation for that was not it that could not erre of the which was mine intent to speake And I brought for me y e saying of S. Paule Christ hath geuen hym selfe for his Church that hée might sanctifie her and clense her in the fountaine of water through the worde of lyfe to make her to hym selfe a glorious church without spot or wrincle or any such thyng But that shée might bée holy and without blame To prooue that the Churche was clensed by Christ I brought the saying of S. Augustine for mée Of Christ is the church made fayre First was shée filthy in sinnes afterwarde by pardon and by grace was shée made fayre c. Moreouer to proue y e this church was made cleane by Christ and not by names or by clothyng or by any other exteriour thyng I brought for me y e saying of S. Iohn If y e sonne of God haue deliuered you then are you truely deliuered Also S. Paule You are washed you are saÌctified you are iustified in y e name of Iesus Christ in the spirite of God But vnto these things doth M. More answere that I doe not well to exclude out of this Church bad meÌ for y e knowne church sayth hée standeth in a gathering togither of good meÌ and bad to prooue that hée bringeth in certeine parables of our Sauiour Christ To this I aunswere that I neuer denyed but that there was such a coÌgregatioÌ of good and bad but I sayd that that was not y e very true church afore God though it beare the name of the Church and in very déede hys owne parables doth declare that our maister Christe shall at length géeue sentence agaynst them that call them selues falsely of the Churche Iudas was called an Apostle and taken so of all his company but yet our maister Christ calleth him the deuil Now if M. More will haue Iudas in hys Churche I must bee content that hée shall also betraye Christe The very trueth is that bad men bée mixt here in the Churche and after outwarde signes bée taken for members of the Churche specially if they bée not excommunicate But the Churche whiche I dyd speake of was not a felowship gathered togither in a coÌsent of exteriour things and ceremonies as other politicke felowships bée But it is a felowshyp specially gathered in the vnitie of fayth hauyng the holy ghost within them to sanctifie their spirites whiche doth set their trust onely in the redemptioÌ promised theÌ in Christes blessed bloud This I say is the very true church of God let the worlde say what they will and let men call them selues as it pleaseth theÌ For as S. Paule saith hée that hath not the spirite of God is none of his Also M. Mores
a burden of a tyraunt that is layde on vs and neither helpeth to the increasing of gods honour nor to the edifiyng of our brethreÌ they them selues kéepe theÌ not Of these speaketh our master Christ they binde gréeuous and vntollerable burdens lay them on mens neckes but they themselues will not once set their litle âinger to them As for an example To eate fleshe on the Fryday is forbidden by the Byshoppes now if they compell thée to it as vnto a thyng necessary and without the which thou canst not bée saued then shalt thou not doe it vnder the payne of sinne but if they will haue thée kéepe this as a thyng of congruence and as a thyng that may bée an exterior meane to mortifie the bodie or an outwarde shyne of holynes and vnto this he will compell thée by outwarde paynes this thyng shalte thou doe of thy charitie béecause thou wilt not breake the outwarde order nor make any disquietnesse for those thinges that neyther make thée good nor yet condemne thee béefore God for as S. Paule sayth if wée eate neither are wée the better nor if wée eate not are wée the worse Alwayes prouided that in these indifferent thynges thou neyther set confidence nor holynesse nor yet offende thy weake brothers charitie for therein though thou bée frée in thy selfe the thyng is also indiffereÌt to thée yet of charitie fréely makest thou thy selfe seruaunt to all meÌ as S. Paule saith When I was frée from all thynges yet dyd I make my selfe a seruaunte that I might winne many men Note that hée alwayes speaketh of weake brethren and not of obstinate and indurate persons agaynst whome thou shalt alwayes withstand and defende thy libertye as hée dyd hée is thy weake brother that hath a good minde and béeléeueth the worde of God neuerchelesse hée hath not that gifte to perceaue as yet this libertie to vse indifferent thynges fréely wyth thankes Therfore fayth and charitie must bée thy guide in all these thynges and folowing them thou canst not erre FINIS That all men are bounde to receiue the holy Communion vnder both kyndes vnder the payne of deadly sinne IF men had stucke to the opeÌ scriptures of God to y e practise of Christes holy church and to y e exposition of olde doctours as it did béecome Christen men to doe then had it not béene néedefull for mée to haue taken these paynes labours in this cause nor yet to haue layd to their charges those thinges y â Antichrist doth onely But now seeyng that they will doe the open déedes of Antechrist they must bée conteÌt that I may also geue them his name And that all the world may openly know y â Antechrist doth raine in the world yea and that vnder the name of Christ I will heare set you forth an act of his which wheÌ it is coÌpared to our M. Christes wordes I doe not doubt but all trew Christen men will iudge it to bée of the deuyll as it is in very déede though that the childreÌ of the world doe iudge it otherwyse This doe I say of an acte that the Councell of Constance dyd make agaynst the most holy and glorious sacrament of our eternall God Iesus Christ Where in the one kynde of this most blessed sacrament was condemned as vnlawfull for lay men to receiue and y â euery man may know by what auctoritie they dyd it what thing did moue them to condemne so blessed and so gloryous an ordinance of our Lord Iesus Christ here will I wryte their owne wordes which be these As this custome for auoyding certayne sclaunders and perrils was resonably brought in notwithstaÌding in the béeginning of the Church this sacrament was receiued of Christen men vnder both kindes afterward it was receiued al onely vnder y e kind of bread wherefore séeing that such a custome of the Church and of holy fathers reasonably brought in long obserued must bée taken for a lawe y t which shall not bée lawfull to reprooue nor without auctorytie of the Church to chauÌge it at a maÌs pleasure Wherfore to say y â it is sacrilege or vnlawfull to obserue this coÌsuetude or law must bée iudged erronius and they that doe pertinaciter defende the contrary of these premissis must bée restrayned as heretikes and greuously punished by the Byshops or their officials or by them that bée inquisitores hereticae prauitatis which that bée in kyngdomes or in prouinces in these men that doe attempt or presume any thyng agaynst thys decrée shall men procéede agaynst them after the holy and lawfull decrées that bée inuented agaynst heretickes and their fauters into the fauoure of the Catholicall fayth c. Now wyll I exhorte all Christen men in y e glorious name of our mightie Lord Iesus Christ which is both their redéemer shall bée their iudge that they wyll indifferently heare this article discussed by the blessed worde of our Maister Christ Iesus whiche was not alonely of God but also very God himselfe and all that hée dyd was done by the counsel of the whole trinitie and not alonely by his by whole counsell all counselles both in heauen and earth must bée ordered and that counsell that is contrary to it whether it bée of Sainte Angel or of man must bée accursed and iudged to bée of the deuil though they bée neuer so mighty neuer so well learned and neuer so many in multitude for there is no power no learning nor yet no multitude neither in heauen nor in earth nor no ieoperdies nor no sclauÌders that may iudge Christ and hys holy worde nor that they may géeue place vnto Wherfore if I can prooue by open Scriptures of our Mayster Christ and also by the practise of holy Church that this counsell is false and damnable then let all Christen men iudge which of vs must bée heard and béeléeued eyther the counsell hauyng no scripture yea contrary to all scripture or els I that haue the opeÌ worde of God and the very vse and practise of the holy Apostles of holy church Christ is of God that no maÌ doubteth but y e holy counsell though there were fiue thousaÌdes of byshops therin must proue theÌselues to bée of God by the worde of God and by theyr workes the which they can not doe if they bée contrary to Christ and hys blessed worde Moreouer Christ is not true vnder a condition bycause that men doe a low hym for though all the worlde were agaynst hym yet were hée neuerthelesse true but the couÌsell is not true but alonely vnder this condition bycause it doth agrée with Christes holy worde and of it selfe it hath no veritie but is of the deuill if it varye from Christ Before the dreadfull trone of God shall y e counsell bée iudged by Christes holy worde Christ shal not bée iudged by the decrée of the counsell but hée shall bée the counsels
iudge and if Christes worde condemne the couÌsell who shal approoue it who shall prayse it who shall defende it The temporall sworde nor the multitude of Byshops nor interdiction excommunication nor cursing can then helpe Wherefore let euery true ChristeÌ man looke on this matter indifferently it is no trifling wyth God nor with his holy worde for God will remayne for euer his holy word must bée fulfilled and if we wil not fulfill it bée shal cast vs down to the déepe pit of hell and make of stones meÌ in our stede that shall kéepe his worde It is no light thyng for it lyeth on the saluation and damnation both of body and soule froÌ the which we can not bée deliuered with these glorious wordes Concilium ConciliuÌ Patres Patres Episcopi Episcopi for all these may bée the ministers of the deuill yea though they were aungels Therfore ones agayne I doe monish and exhorte in the glorious name of the lyuing God and in y e swéet bloud of Christ Iesus all true ChristeÌ men to take héede what they doe agaynste Christes holy word whiche is their eternal God their mercyfull redemerand shall bée also their mighty and glorious iudge Now let vs examine the wordes of the Councell First of all the Councell graunteth that in the begynning of the church all Christen men were houseled vnder both kyndes nowe would I knowe of the Councell of whom the Church had receiued this maner of Christ or his holy Apostles as doubtles shée dyd then what authoritye had the Councell to chaunge the institution of Christ and of his holy Apostles and also the vse and practise of holy Church was not the first Churche of God Did shée not kéepe Christes institution did shée not fulfill Christes word Did not y e holy Apostles learne here so And now shall the Councell of Constance first condemne Christ and his blessed word then the learnyng of Christes holy Apostles and also the long vse and practise of Christes blessed Church without any Scripture without authoritie or without any speciall reuelation froÌ God but alonely for auoydyng of certeine perils Yea and not content alonely to coÌdemne these thinges but vnder the paine of heresie to coÌdemne them This is to sore a coÌdemnation of Christes open woorde and of that thyng whiche they graunt that the Church dyd vse at the begynnyng Furthermore the Councell sayth that holy fathers and the Church dyd bryng in this custome to housell laye men vnder one kinde Are you not ashamed of these woordes Doth not your conscience prike you thus openly to lye yea of Christ and of his holy Church Christes worde is openly agaynste you and you graunt that the vse of the church was also otherwise And as for holy fathers here may you sée what they say to it but you are the children of the kyngdome of lyes and doubtlesse if you bryng not foorth the holy fathers that make for you you shall not alonely bée taken for abhominable and ââ¦en lyers but also for shameful and detestable sclaunderers both of holy Church and also of holy fathers But it is no wonder for Antichrist must declare him selfe openly to bée agaynst Christ yet is hée neuer without an excuse and a shaddow of holynes where by hée may blynd the poore people But what excuse had hée here in the Councell to coÌdemne Christes worde That they might auoyde certaine sclauÌders and perrils béecause that there is no body without bloud Bée not these lawfull causes to condemne Christes open word yea and that vnder the payne of heresie Is not this a new maner of law to make that hée that will not obeye a statute made agaynst Gods word which hée is bouÌde to obey vnder payne of euerlastyng damnation alonely for auoydyng perrils to bée condemned for an hereticke Briefely by this reason may they condemne all holy Scripture by laying icoperdies perrils thereto they may condemne all the creatures of God for there may bée perill in vsing of them all But what néede many wordes to prooue this Councell to bée of the deuill for if that bée not of the deuill that is contrary to Christ and hath no excuse for it but alonely to auoyde perrils I caÌ not tell what is of the deuill I am sure Antichrist shall neuer bée without some carnall excuse for if hée will deny Christ to bée both God man hée shall haue stronger carnall reasons for him then the Councell hath for this but this matter must not bée iudged by carnal reasons It is Gods worde that is aboue all creatures wherefore let vs goe to the Scriptures as a sure ancore to ouercome Antichrist with all his carnall reasons First our maister Christ when hée dyd institute this blessed Sacrament did vse these woordes take it and eate it this is my body c. Likewise takyng the challice hée gaue thankes gaue it vnto them saying drinke all of this this is my bloud of the newe testament the which shall bée shed for many into remission of sinnes These bée playne wordes drinke of it all hée that sayth all excepteth no man Furthermore hée knewe that there might bée ieoperdies in the receiuyng of it yet hée sayth drinke of it all for it is my bloud that shall bée shed for the remission of sinnes Now was it not shed for lay mens sinnes why shal they not then drinke of it The maister and the Lord sayth drinke therof and shall the miserable seruaunt withstand his commaundemeÌt yea commaunde the playne contrary and say drinke not therof But now commeth my Lord of Rochester which perceiueth that the Councel is connict in that that it consenteth that the whole Church in the begynnyng did receiue this Sacrament vnder both kyndes and yet forbiddeth that same thyng and sayth to mainteine this errour that Christe spake these wordes drinke of it all alonely to his Apostles for there were no other men there but the Apostles and therfore they must alonely drinke therof I aunswere My Lord if this thing were alonely lawfull vnto the Apostles how will you discharge the primatiue Churche in the whiche were those men that Christ ministred this Sacrament vnto yea the selfe men did minister it vnder both kyndes to the whole congregation accordyng to this commaundement drinke of it all Dout not but they vnderstoode Christes will as well as you in this commaundement But in the way of communication let vs grauÌt you that to the Apostles this was onely sayd how will you theÌ discharge your owne Priestes from deadly sinne the which receiue it vnder both kindes and yet bée they neither Apostles nor successours of theÌ but after your own learnyng the Bishops alonely bée their successours the Priestes doe represent lxxij Disciples Shal they in this thyng represeÌt the Apostles and in absoluyng from sinne but the Disciples But let vs sée farther in your for fetched reason tel vs how
contrary The mayde of Kent The mayde of Ipswich ãâã the mayde of KeÌt were both false dissembling haâââtes The mayd of Kent Such as were possessed with deuils fled froÌ Christ A false delusion to bryng vs to Idolatry S. Bartholomew Our Lady dyd the mayde of Kent small pleasure Orestes Traditâ⦠Allegory ⪠A true exposition of the parable of the âaââ¦tan All that God hath not planted shal be plucked vp by the rootes Byshops should be seruaunted and not Lordes Actes 15. The Pope will not obey princes though God haue commaunded hym so to do TraditioÌs Christes burthen is easie and gentle Math. 5. â The salt of our Prelates iâ vnââ¦ery Fayth loue charitie arâ iij. sisters We must beleue neither to much nor yet litle We are promised all thinges for our Sauiour Christes sake ⪠not for the Saintes Iohn 21. The virginitie of our Lady Antichrist is knowen Paules traditions were the doctrine of the Gospel Christes Supper not Masse The consecration Water mixed with the wyne 1. Cor. 14. Iustification of workes Saboth The Saboth day holy dayes are made for be not ââ¦e for theÌ Why women Baptise Why the Prelates vnderstand not the Scripture A good tale if it were long enough Ye can not spede well if ye trye the doctrine of our Prelates by the Scripture All beleue in God that haue the lawe written in their hartâ The Churche must shewe a reason of theyr doctrine Popes may not be beleued without Scripture Corusailes ought to conclude eccordyng to the Scriptures Luke 16. Luke 10. Math. 18. Math. ãâã The cause why the Apostles wrote the Gospels Iohn 20. 1. Iohn 2. The Pope and hys Cardinals erred in K. Henry the âights case M. Mores conclusion ⪠â The furest way to oppresse true doctrine is to say the preachers fall The Pope is ãâã ââ¦st ãâã Pet. 2. Rom. 3. A swarme of sectes set vp by the Pope The Pope by setting vp of false workes denieth the truth of gods word The Pope selleth sinne and paine all that ãâã be solde Math. 24 ⪠The popish church are ãâã but no sufferes 1. Cor. 10. The church of Chriâ⦠euer persecuted 2. Thess ãâã The church of Antichrist is the false church ⪠and euer y e greater number The Pope is a deuelishe blasphemer of God The Pope is aboue kyng and Emperor The Pope persecuteth the word of God S. Paule describeth the Pope his in their coâters Gods worde is y t power and pith of all goodnes Confession Loue is of theÌselues Couetous Hye mynded Proude Raylers Disobedient Vnthankefull Vngodly ⪠Churlishe Promise breaketh Accusârs Headyâ Leuyng lustes Appearaunce of godlynesse The Pope and his are mighty iugglers â In the Churche shall there be for euer both good and euill This word Church is taken ij maner wayes The spirituall Churche of God are called LutheraÌs and heretickes The fleshly Churche serue God with workes of their owne Friers â The blasing of hypocrites Calil is a sacrifice that no mâ may haue any parte therof The small flocke of Christ commeth to the word and promises of God Actes 9. Actes 2. Christ onely is the perfect coÌforteâ of the Christian â The Christian maÌ in all thinges seketh âhe honour of Christ The Christian selâeth his saluatioÌ onely in Christ A pretye ãâã nââthesis betwen the Popes Churche Christes litle flocke â The Popish church auÌswereth The litle flocke The Popes church The maner oâ y t Popes cleargie Little flock gââth euer to wracke The Pope ãâ¦ã be âââd by scripture by scripture must be iudged ãâã â Iohn 5. None can minister the Sacramentes superââ¦ly but the Popes generation 1. Cor. 2. The naturall carnall man sauoreth not the thinge that be of God Rom. 5. God is fatherly to his elect members Rom. 7. Iâ we sinne of frailtie God is mercifull ready to forgeue The new life doth tame the fleshe and serue her neighbour ⪠God seketh vs and we not hym More a lying papist Sir Thomas Hitton The Pope hath no martyrs 1. Iohn 3. There is a church that sinneth not The churh is double Gal. 5. The carnall church sinneth Two maner faithes Iohn 15. The âaith of them that be called ⪠but not elect The Pope hideth the scripture The heretikes be fallen out of the mist Why many âall Councels â Saintes Luke 1â⦠Luke 7. Christ dyâ such seruice as all the Saintes could not do 1. Cor. 3. We may not trust to Saintes Prayer to Saintes is a great superstition Before Christ we vsed not to pray to Saintes M. More destroyeth the resurrection Math. 2â 1. Cor. 15. 1. Thes 4. The more trust we haue in Saintes the lesse we haue in Christ Phisitions We must first call vppon God then sende for the phisition The fleshly mynded caÌnot iudge the thinges that be of God 1. Cor. 3. More driueth from God Heb. 4. Iohn 1â Ephes 2. We may be bolde to ââsort to god for he ââ¦leth vs so to do M. More is against the Popes profite Purgatory ⪠ãâã purgatory visible and a purgatory inââsible Canonisâ⦠How you may know who be Saintes in heauen King Henry of Windsore A straunge doctrine to pray to him for helpe that is dead damned The Israelites were âo in number theÌ the Iewes The Iewes committed Idolatry God euer reserueth a litle flocke More feareth not to worship an vncoÌsecrated hosâe 1. Cor. 1. We must first know the true way then agree in the same Christ rebuked the false trust the Iewes had in their wil works The myracles done by the prophetes and Apostles was to coÌfirme their doctrine Christ made the woman whole and not hys coate Miracles were done for the confirmation of doctrine A filthy chapter Latriâ Moses Moses ⪠bones The brasen Serpent God is a spirite and wil be worshipped spiritually The Idolatrouâ persoÌ worshippeth the Image for y t Saint Processionâ though they be abused may not be put downe Wilde Irishe Welch meÌ Many thinges are altered for the abuses sake Ezechâas The true preaching of Gods worde remoueth theft and an other wickednes â A good maÌ may erre yet not be dampned Thâ myracles of Saintes confirme mans imaginations There were no doctours neither Apostles that did myracles to establishe the worshipping of âamages Witches where true doctrine is set forth ⪠there needeth no myracle â Let y â Papistes for lacke of scriptures come torch and do miracles Gods worâ to y â touchstone to triâ myracles The âectes in y â popists church are almost innumerable Mahomets doctrine hath preuailed these viij hundred yeares The cause of false miracles Where the Scripture is there nedeth no miracles The preachers of the worde of God nede no miracles False docctrine was neuer persecuted The Papistes are ashamed of their LegeÌd of lyes The deuill hath holpeÌ Popes to their dignities The cause why the Turkes Iewes caâ not come to to the truth Popish doctrine nedeth miracles but Christes
a sundry countrey whether soeuer the spirite caried them and went with theÌ him self And as he wrought with Peter where he went so wrought he with the other where they went as Paul boasteth of him selfe vnto the Galathians Seyng now that we haue Christes doctrine and Christes holy promises and seyng that Christ is euer present with vs his owne selfe how commeth it that Christ may not raigne immediatly ouer vs as well as the Pope which commeth neuer at vs Seyng also that the office of an Apostle is to preach onely how can the Pope chalenge with right any authoritie where he preacheth not How commeth it also that Rochester will not let vs be called one congregation be the reason of one God one Christ one spirite one Gospell one fayth one hope and one Baptisme as well as because of one Pope If any naturall beast with hys worldly wisedome striue that one is greater then an other because that in congregations one is sent of an other as we see in the Actes I auÌswere that Peter sent no man but was sent him selfe and Iohn was sent and Paul Sylas and Barnabas were sent Howbeit such maner sendynges are not worldly as Princes send Ambassadours no nor as Friers send their limiters to gather their brethrenhedes which must obey whether they will or will not Here all thyng is free and willyngly And the holy ghost bringeth theÌ together whiche maketh their willes free and ready to bestow them selues vpon their neighbours profit And they that come offer theÌ selues and all that they haue or caÌ do to serue the Lord their brethreÌ And euery maÌ as he is found apt and meete to serue his neighbour so is he sent or put in office And of the holy Ghost are they sent with the consent of their brethren and with their owne conseÌt also And Gods word ruleth in that congregation vnto which word euery man confirmeth his will And Christ which is alway present is the head But as our Bishops heare not Christes voyce so see they him not present and therfore make them a God on the earth of the kinde I suppose of Aarons calfe For he bringeth forth no other frute but Bulles For as much also as Christ is as great as Peter why is not his seate as great as Peters Had the head of the Empire ben at Ierusalem there had ben no mention made of Peter It is verely as Paul sayth in the xj Chap. of the ij Epistle to the Corinthians The false Apostles are disceatful workers and fashion them selues like vnto the Apostles of Christ That is the shauen nation preached Christ falsly yea vnder the name of Christ preached them selues and raigne in Christes stede haue also taken away the keye of knowledge and haue wrapped y â people in ignoraunce and haue taught theÌ to beleue in them selues in their traditions and false ceremonies so that Christ is but a vayne name and after they had put Christ out of his rowme they gate them selues to the Emperour and kyngs and so long ministred their busines till they haue also put theÌ out of their rowmes haue got their authorities from them and raigne also in their stede so that y â Emperour and kynges are but vayne names and shadowes as Christ is hauyng nothyng to do in the world Thus raygne they in the stede of God and man and haue all power vnder them and do what they list Let vs see an other poynt of our great clarke A litle after the beginning of hys Sermon entendyng to proue that which is clearer then the sonne serueth no more for his purpose then Ite missa est serueth to proue that our Lady was borne without originall sinne he alledgeth a saying that Martin Luther sayth which is this if we affirme that any one Epistle of Paul or any one place of his Epistles perteineith not vnto the vniuersall Church that is to all the congregation of them that beleue in Christ we take away all S. Paules authoritie WherupoÌ sayth Rochester If it be thus of the woordes of S. Paule much rather it is true of the Gospels of Christ and of euery place of them O malicious blyndnes First note his blindnes He vnderstaÌdeth by this worde Gospell no more but the foure Euangelistes Mathew Marke Luke and Iohn and thinketh not that the Actes of Apostles and the Epistles of Peter of Paul of Iohn and of other like are also the Gospell Paul calleth his preachyng the Gospell Rom. ij and. i. Cor. iiij and Gal. i. and. i. Timoth. i. The Gospel is euery where one though it be preached of diuers and signifieth glad tidynges that is to witte an open preachyng of Christ and the holy Testament gracious promises that God hath made in Christes bloud to all that repent and beleue Now is there more Gospell in one Epistle of Paule that is to say Christ is more clearely preached and moe promises rehearsed in one Epistle of Paul then in the. iij. first Euangelistes Mathew Marke Luke Consider also his maliciousnes how wickedly and how craftely he taketh away y e authoritie of Paule It is much rather true of the Gospelles and of euery place in them then of Paule If that which y e foure Euangelistes wrote be truer then that which Paule wrote then is it not one Gospell that they preached neither one spirit that taught them If it be one Gospell and one spirite how is one truer then the other Paule proueth his authoritie to y e Galathians and to the Corinthians because that he receaued his Gospell by reuelation of Christ and not of man because that when he comââed wyth Peter and y e hye Apostles of hys Gospell preaching they coulde improue nothyng neither teach hym any thing and because also that as many were coÌuerted and as great miracles shewed by his preaching as at the preaching of the hie Apostles and therefore will be of no lesse authoritie theÌ Peter and other hie Apostles Nor haue his Gospell of lesse reputation then theirs Fynally that thou mayst know Rochester for euer and all the remnaunt by him what they are within y e skinne marke how he playeth bo pepe with y e Scripture He allegeth the beginning of the tenth chapter to the Hebrues Vmbram habens lex futurorum bonorum the lawe hath but a shadow of thynges to come And immediatly expoundeth the figure cleane contrary vnto the chapter folowing and to all the whole epistle making Aaron a figure of y t Pope whom the Epistle maketh a figure of Christ He allegeth halfe a texte of Paule i. Timoth. iiij In the latter dayes some shall depart from the faith geuing hede vnto spirites of error and deuilish doctrine but it foloweth in the text geuing attendaunce or hede vnto the deuilishe doctrine of them which speake false thorow hypocrisy and haue their consciences marked with a hote yron forbidding
Deacon that is to say in English a seruaunt or a minister whose office was to helpe and assiste y e Priest and to gather vp his dutie and to gather for the poore of the parishe which were destitute of frends and could not worke common beggers to runne froÌ dore to dore were not theÌ suffered On y t Saintes dayes namely such as had suffered death for the worde sake came men together into the church and the Priest preached vnto them and exhorted them to cleaue fast vnto the worde and to be strong in the fayth and to fight against the powers of the world wyth suffering for their faythe 's sake after the ensample of the Saintes And taught theÌ not to beleue in the saintes and to trust in their merites and to make Gods of them but tooke the saintes for an example only and prayed God to geue them lyke fayth and trust in hys worde and lyke strength and power to suffer therefore and to geue them so sure hope of the lyfe to come as thou mayst see in the collectes of Saint Laurence and of Saint Stephen in our Lady matens And in such dayes as we now offer so gaue they euery maÌ his portion according to his abilitie and as God put in his hart to the maintenaunce of the priest DeacoÌ and other common ministers and of the poore and to finde learned men to teach and so forth And all was put in the handes of the Deacon as thou mayst see in y e lyfe of Saint Laurence and in the histories And for such purposes gaue men landes afterwarde to ease the parishes and made hospitals and also places to teach their children and to bring them vp and to nourtour them in Gods worde which landes our Monkes now deuour Antichrist ANtichrist of an other maner hath sent forth his disciples those false annointed of which Christ warneth vs before that they should come shewe miracles and wonders euen to bring the very elect out of the way if it were possible He annointeth them after the maner of y â Iewes and shaueth them shoreth them after the maner of the Heathen Priestes whiche serue the Idoles Hesendeth them forth not with false oyle onely but with false names also For compare their names vnto their deedes and thou shalt finde them false He sendeth them forth as Paule prophesied of them ij Thess ij wyth lying signes wonders What signe is the annointing that they be full of the holy ghost Compare them to the signes of the holy ghost which Paule reckoneth and thou shalt fynde it a false signe A Bishop must be faultles the husband of one wyfe Nay sayth y t Pope the husband of no wife but the holder of as many whores as he listeth God commaundeth all degrees if they burne and can not liue chast to marry The Pope saith if thou burne take a dispensation for a Concubine and put her away when thou art olde or els as our Lawyers say si non caste tamen caute that is if ye liue not chaste see ye cary cleane and play the knaue secretly Harbarous yea to whores and baudes for a poore man shall as soone breake his necke as his fast with them but of the scraps and wyth the dogges when dinner is done Apt to teach and as Peter sayth j. Pet. ij ready alwayes to geue an answere to euery man that axeth you a reason of the hope that ye haue and that wyth meekenes Which thing is signified by the bootes which doctours of diuinitie are created in because they should be ready alwayes to goe thorough thicke and thinne to preach Gods worde by the Byshoppes two horned miter which betokeneth the absolute perfect knowledge that they ought to haue in the new TestameÌt and the olde Be not these false signes For they beate onely and teach not Yea saith y t Pope if they will not be ruled cite them to appeare and pose them sharply what they hold of the Popes power of hys Pardons of his Bulles of Purgatory of ceremonies of confession and such like creatures of our most holy fathers If they misse in any point make heretickes of them and burne them If they be of mine annoynted and beare my marke disgresse them I would say disgraduate them and after the example of noble Antiochus ij Mach. vij pare the crownes and the fingers of them and tormeÌt them craftly and for very payne make them deny the truth But now say our Bishops because the truth is come to farre abroad and y t lay people begyn to smell our wiles it is best to oppresse them with craft secretly to tame them in prison Yea let vs finde the meanes to haue them in the kyngs prison and to make treason of such doctrine Yea we must styrre vp some warre one where or an other to bryng the people into an other imagination If they be Gentlemen abiure them secretly Curse them iiij times in the yeare Make them afrayde of euery thyng and namely to touch mine annoynted and make them to feare the sentence of the Church suspentioÌs excoÌmunications and curses Be the right or wroÌg beare them in hand that they are to be feared yet Preach me and mine authoritie how terrible a thyng my curse is and how blacke it maketh their soules On the holydayes which were ordeined to preach Gods word set vp long ceremonies long Matines long Masses and loÌg Euensonges and all in Latin that they vnderstand not and roule them in darkenes that ye may lead them whether ye will And lest such thinges should be to tedious sing some say some pype some ryng the belles and lulle them and rocke them a slepe And yet Paul ij Cor. xiiij forbiddeth to speake in the church or congregatioÌ saue in the toung that all vnderstand For the lay man thereby is not edified or taught How shall the lay man say Amen sayth Paule to thy blessing or thankes geuyng when he woteth not what thou sayst He wotted not whether thou blesse or curse What then sayth the Pope what care I for Paul I commaunde by the vertue of obedience to read the Gospell in Latine Let them not pray but in Latine no not there Pater noster If any be sicke go also and say them a Gospell and all in Latin yea to the very corne and frutes of the field in the procession weeke preach the Gospell in Latine Make the people beleue that it shall grow the better It is verely as good to preach it to swyne as to men if thou preach it in a toung they vnderstand not How shall I prepare my selfe to Gods commaundementes How shal I be thankefull to Christ for his kindnes How shall I beleue the truth and promises which GOD hath sworne while thou tellest them vnto me in a toung which I vnderstand
euerlastyng promises eternall Testament that God had made betwene man and hym in Christes bloud and the miracles dyd testifie also that they were true seruauntes of Christ Paul preached not him selfe he taught not any maÌ to trust in him or his holynes or in Peter or in any ceremonie but in the promises which God hath sworne onely yea he mightyly resisteth all suche false doctrine both to the Corinthians Galathians EphesiaÌs and euery where If this be true as it is true and nothyng more truer that if Paul had preached him self or taught any maÌ to beleue in his holynes or prayer or in any thyng saue in the promises that GOD hath made and sworne to geue vs for Christes sake he had bene a false Prophet why am not I also a false Prophet if I teach thee to trust in Paule or in hys holines or prayer or in any thing saue in Gods word as Paul dyd If Paule were here and loued me as he loued them of his tyme of whoÌ he was sent and to whoÌ he was a seruaunt to preache Christ what good could he doe for me or wishe me but preach Christ and pray to God for me to open myne hart to geue me his spirite to bring me vnto the full knowledge of Christ vnto which porte or hauen when I am once come I am as safe as Paule felow with Paule ioyntheyre with Paul of all the promises of God and gods truth heareth my prayer as well as Paules I also now could not but loue Paul wish him good and pray for him that God would strength him in all his temptations geue him victory as he would do for me Neuerthelesse there are many weake and young consciences alwayes in the congregation which they that haue the office to preach ought to teach and not to disceaue them What prayers pray our Clergy for vs which stoppe vs and exclude vs froÌ Christ and seke all the meanes possible to kepe vs from knowledge of Christ They compell vs to hyre Friers Monkes Nunnes Chanons and Priestes to buye their abhominable merites and to hyre the Saintes that are dead to pray for vs for the very Saintes haue they made hyrelynges also because that their offeryngs come to their profite What pray all those that we might come to the knowledge of Christ as the Apostles did Nay verely For it is a plaine case that all they which enforce to kepe vs from Christ pray not that we might come to the knowledge of Christ And as for the Saintes whose prayer was wheÌ they were a lyne that we might be grounded stablished and streÌgthed in Christ onely if it were of God that we should this wise worshyp them contrary vnto their owne doctrine I dare be bold to affirme that by the meanes of their prayers we should haue bene brought long a go vnto the knowledge of God and Christ agayne though that these beastes had done their worste to set it Let vs therefore set our hartes at rest in Christ and in Gods promises for so I thinke it best and let vs take the Saintes soran example onely and let vs do as they both taught and dyd Let vs set Gods promises before our eyes and desire him for his mercy and for Christes sake to fulfill them And he is as true as euer he was and will do it as well as euer he dyd for to vs are the promises made as well as to them Moreouer the end of Gods miracles is good the ende to these miracles are euill For the offerynges which are the cause of the miracles do but minister and maynteine vice sinne and all abhomination and are geuen to them that haue to much so that for very aboundance they âome out their owne shame and corrupt the whole worlde with the styuch of their filthines Therto what soeuer is not of fayth is sinne Roma xiiij Fayth commeth by hearyng Gods woorde Roma x. when now thou fastest or doest any thyng in the worship of any Saint beleuyng to come to the fauour of God or to bee saued thereby if thou haue Gods worde then is it true fayth and shall saue thee If thou haue not Gods woorde then is it a false fayth superstitiousnes and Idolatry and damnable sinne Also in the Collects of the Saintes with whiche we pray God to saue vs through the merites or deseruynges of the Saintes which Saintes yet were not saued by their owne deseruynges them selues we say Per Christ ãâã DominuÌ nostrum that is for Christ our Lordes sake We say saue vs good Lord thorough the saintes merites for Christes sake How can he saue vs through the Saintes merites for Christes sake and for hys deseruyng merites and loue Take an example A Gentleman sayth vnto me I will do the vttemost of my power for thee for the loue whiche I owe vnto thy father Though thou hast neuer done me pleasure yet I loue thy father well thy father is my frend and hath deserued that I doe all that I can for thee c. Here is a Testament and a promise made vnto me in the loue of my father onely If I come to the sayd Gentleman in the name of one of his seruauntes whiche I neuer saw neuer spake with neither haue any acquaintaunce at all with and say Syr I pray you be good master vnto me in such a cause I haue not deserued that he should so do Neuerthelesse I pray you doe it for such a seruauntes sake yea I pray you for the loue that you owe to my father doe that for me for such a seruauntes sake If I this wise made my petition would not meÌ thinke that I come late out of S. Patrikes Purgatory had left my wittes behinde me This do we For the TestameÌt and promises are all made vnto vs in Christ And we desire God to fulfill hys promises for the Saintes sake yea that he will for Christes sake do it for the Saintes sake They haue also martyrs which neuer preached Gods worde neither dyed therefore but for priuileges and liberties which they falsely purchased contrary vnto Gods ordinaunces Yea such Saintes though they be deade yet robbe now as fast as euer they did neither are lesse couetous now then when they were aliue I doubt not but that they will make a Saint of my Lord Cardinall after the death of vs that be aliue and know his iuggling and crafty conueiaunce and will shrine him gloriously for his mightily defending of the right of holy Church except we be diligent to leaue a commemoration of that Nimroth behind vs. The reasons wherewith they proue their doctrine are but fleshly and as Paule calleth them entising wordes of mans wisdome that is to witte sophistry and brauling argumentes of men with corrupt mindes and destitute of the truth whose God is their bellye vnto which idole whosoeuer offereth not the same is an heretike and worthy to be brunt The
God and fayth of Christ and corrupt the text of the couenaunt with false gloses and are disobedient to God and therefore sâ⦠deadly Oâ this also ye see the difference betwene the lambes of true beleuers and betwene the vncleane swyne that follow carnall lustes fleshly libertie and the churlishe and hypocrââ¦e dogges Which for the blinde zeale of their owne righteousnes persecute the righteousnes of the fayth in Christes bloud The effeminate and careles swyne which coÌtinue in their fleshlines cease not to wallow theÌselues in their olde podell thinke that they beleue very well in Christes bloud but they are deceaued as thou mayst clearely perceaue because they feare not the damnation of euill workes nor loue the lawe of good workes and therefore haue no part in the promise The cruell and doggishe hypocrits which take vpon them to worke thinke they loue the lawe which yet they neuer sawe saue vnder a vayle But they be deceaued as thou mayst perceaue by that they beleue not in Christ for the forgeuenes of sinne Whereby also I meane that they beleue not thou mayst perceaue that they vnderstand not the lawe For if they vnderstoode the lawe it would eyther driue them to Christ or make them dispayre immediatly But the true beleuers beholde the lawe in her owne likenes and see the impossibilitie thereof to be fulfilled wyth naturall power and therefore flee to Christ for mercy grace and power and then of a very thankfulnes for the mercy receaued loue the lawe in her owne likenes and submit theÌselues to learne it and to profit therein and to do to morow that they can not do to day Ye see also the difference of all manner of faythes The fayth of the true beleuers is that God iustifieth or forgeueth and Christ deserueth it and the fayth or trust in Christes bloud receaueth it and certifieth the coÌscience thereof and saueth and deliuereth her from feare of death and damnation And this is that we meane when we say fayth iustifieth that fayth I meane in Christ and not in our owne workes certifieth the conscience that our sinnes are forgeueÌ vs for Christes bloudes sake But the fayth of hypocrites is that God forgeueth and workes deserue it And that same false fayth in their owne workes receaueth the mercy promised to the merites of their owne workes and so Christ vtterly excluded And thus ye see that faith is the thing that to affirmed to iustifie of all partyes For faith in Christes bloud which is Gods promise quieteth the conscience of the true beleuers And a false fayth or trust in workes which is their owne fayning beguileth the blynde hypocrites for a season tyll God for the greatnes of their sinne when it is âull openeth their eyes then they dispayre But the swyne say God is so good that he wyll saue deuilles and all and damne no man perpetually whatsoeuer he do An other conclusion is this to beleue in Christ for the remission of sinnes and of a thankfulnes for that mercy to loue the lawe truely that is to say to loue God that is father of all and geueth all and Iesus Christ that is Lord of vs all and bought vs al with all our hartes soules power and might and our brethren for our fathers sake because they be created after his image and for our Lord and master Christes sake because they be the price of his bloud and to long for the lyfe to come because this lyfe cannot be fedde without sinne These ââ¦tes I say are the profession and religion of a Christen maÌ and the inward baptime of the hart signifyed by the outward washing of the bodye And they be that spirituall character badge or signe wherewith God thorouge hys spirite marketh all his immediatly and assoone as they be ioyned to Christ and made members of hys Church by true fayth The Church of Christ then is the multitude of all them that beleue in Christ for the remission of sinne and of a thankfulnes for that mercy loue the lawe of God purely and without gloses and of hate they haue to the sinne of this world long for the life to come This is the church that cannot erre dampnably nor any long tyme nor all of them but assoone as any question aryseth the truth of Gods promise stirreth vp one or other to teach them the truth of euery thing needefull to saluation out of Gods worde and lighteneth the hartes of the other true members to see the same and to consent thereto And as all they that haue their hartes washed wyth this inwarde baptyme of the sprite are of the church and haue the keyes of the scripture ye and of binding and lowsing and do not erre Euen so they that sinne of purpose wyll not heare when their faultes be tolde them but seeke liberties and priuilegies to sinne vnpunished and glose out the lawe of God and mainteine ceremonies traditions and customes to destroy the fayth of Christ the same be members of Sathan all their doctrine is poison Errour darcknes ye though they be Popes Byshoppes Abbotes Eurates and Doctoures of diuinitie and though they can rehearse all the scripture without booke and though they be seene in Greeke Ebrew and Latine ye and though they so preach Christ and the passion of Christ that they make the poore women weepe and howle agayne For when they come to the point that they should minister Christes passion vnto the saluation of our soules there they poyson all together and glose out the lawe that should make vs feele our saluation in Christ and driue vs in that poynt from Christ and teach vs to put our trust in our owne workes for the remission and satisfaction of our sinnes and in the Apish play of hypocrites which sell their merites in steede of Christes bloud passion ⪠âo now deare reader to beleue in Christes bloud for the remission of sinnâ and putchasing of all the good promises that helpe to the lyfe to come and to loue the law and to long for the life to come is the inward Baptisme of the soule the Baptisme that onely auayleth in the sight of God the new generation and image of Christ the onely keye also to binde and âowse synners The touchstone to trye all doctrines The lanterne and light that scattereth and expelleth the mist darknes of all hypocrisie and a preseruatiue agaynst all errour and heresie The mother of all good workes The earnest of euerlastyng lyfe and title whereby we chalenge our inheritaunce And thoughe fayth in Christes bloude make the mariage betwene our soule and Christ is properly the Mariage garment yea and the signe Thau that defendeth vs from the sââ¦tyng and power of the euill aungels and is also the rocke whereon Christes Churche is built and whereon all that is built standeth against all weather of wynde and tempestes yet might the
no vnrighteousnesse in hym that is to say he will do hys masters message truly and not alter it Where contrarywise he that seeketh his owne glory will be false wheÌ he is sent and wil alter his masters message to turne his masters glory vnto his owne selfe Euen so did the Scribes and Phariseis alter the woorde of God for their own profite glory And when Gods word is altered with false gloses it is no more Gods worde As when God sayth loue thy neighbour thou puttest to thy leueÌ and sayest if my neighbour do me no hurt nor say me any I am bound to loue him but not to geue him at his neede my goodes which I haue gotteÌ with my sore labour Now this is thy law and not Gods Gods law is pure and single loue thy neighbour whether he be good or bad And by loue god meaneth to helpe at nede Now when God byddeth thee to get thy liuyng and somwhat ouer to helpe him that cannot or at a tyme hath not wherewith to helpe him selfe if thou xxx or xl with thee get you to wildernesse not onely helpe not your neighbours but also robbe a great number of two or three thousand pouÌd yearely how loue ye your neighbours Such men helpe the world with prayer thou wilt say to me Thou were better to say they robbe y â world with their hypocrisie say I to thee and it is truth in dede that they so do For if I sticke vp to the middle in the myre like to perish without present helpe and thou stand by and wilt not succour me but knelest downe and prayest wil God heare the prayers of such an hipocrite God biddeth thee so to loue me that thou put thy selfe in ieopardie to helpe me and that thyne hart while thy body laboureth do pray and trust in God that he will assiste thee through thee to saue me An hypocrite that will put neither body nor goodes in perill for to helpe me at my neede loueth me not neither hath compassion on me therfore hys hart caÌ not pray though he wagge his lippes neuer so much It is written Iohn ix If a man be a worshipper of God and do his wil which is the true worshyp him God heareth Now the will of God is that we loue one an other to helpe at nede And such louers he heareth not suttle hypocrites As loue maketh thee helpe me at my nede so when it is past thy power to helpe it maketh thee pray to God Euen so where is no loue to make thee take bodely paine w t me there is no loue y â maketh thee pray for me But thy prayer is in deede foââ¦y bely which y â louest What were the scribes and Phariseys The scribes besides that they were Phariseys as I suppose were also officers as are our Byshoppes Chauncellers Comistaries Archdeacones and Officialles And the Phariseys were religious men which had professed not as now one dominicke the other Fraunces an other Barnardes rules But euen to holde the very law of God with prayer fastyng and almeââeedes and were the flower and persection of all the Iewes as Saint Paule reioyseth of himselfe Phil. iiâ saying I was an Ebrue and concernyng the law a Pharisey and concerning the righteousnes of the lawe I was faultlesse They were more honorable then any secte of the Monkes with vs whether obseruauÌt or Ancre or whatsoeuer other be had in price These might much better haue reioysed to haue beene the true Church and to haue had the spirite of God that they coulde not haue erred then they whom all the world seeth neither to keepe Gods lawes nor mans nor yet that deuilles lawe of their owne makyng For God had made them of y â olde testameÌt as great promises that he would be their God and that hys spirite and all grace shoulde be wyth them if they kept his lawes as he hath made to vs. Now seing they kept the vttermost iote of the lawe in the sight of the worlde and were faultlesse and seyng thereto that God hath promised neither vs nor them ought at all but vppon the profession of keepyng hys lawes whether were more lyke to be the right church and to be taught of the spirite of God that they coulde not erre those Phariseys or ours Might not the generall councelles of those the things there decreed without scripture seeme to be of as great auctoritie as the generall councelles of ours the thynges there ordained and decreed both cleane without also against Gods worde Might not the ceremonies which those had added to the ceremonies of Moses seeme to be as holy and as well to please God as the ceremonies of ours The thynges which they added to the ceremonies of Moses were of y â same kynde as those ceremonies were and no more to be rebuked then the ceremonies of Moses As for an ensample if Moses bad washe a table or a dishe when an vncleane worme had crept thereon the Phariseys did washe the table wyth a were cloute before euery refection least any vncleane thyng had touched them vnwares to all men as we put vnto our tythes a mortuary for all forgotteÌ tythes What was then the wickednesse of the Phariseys verely the leuen of their gloses to y â morall lawes by which they corrupted the coÌmaundementes and made them no more Gods and their false faith in the ceremonies that the bare worke was a sacrifice and a seruice to God the significations loste and the opinion of false righteousnesse in their prayers fastinges and almesoâedes that such workes did iustifie a man before God and not that God forgeueth sinne of his mere mercy if a man beleue repent and promise to do his vttermost to sinne no more When these thus sate in the hartes of the people with the opinion of vertue holinesse and righteousnesse and their lawe the lawe of God their workes workes coÌmaunded by God and confirmed by all his prophets as prayer fasting and alânesdeede they looked vppon as the Church of God that coulde not erre and finally they themselues eyther euery where were the chiefe rulers or so sate in the harts of the rulers that their worde was beleued to be the worde of God What other thyng coulde it be to preach agaynst all such and to coÌdempne their righteousnes for the most dampnable sinne that can be then to seeme to goe about to destroy the lawe and the prophetes What other thyng can such a preacher seeme to be before the blynde worlde then an hereticke scismaticke seditious possessed wyth the deuyll worthy of shame most vile and death most cruell And yet these must be first rebuked and their false righteousnesse detected yer thou mayst preach against open sinners Or els if thou shouldest conuert an open sinner froÌ hys euill lyuing thou shouldest make hym nyne hundred times worse theÌ before For he would at
masters of one mynde one will might a man serue for if one wil one mynde and one accorde be in twenty then are they all but one master And two masters where one is vnder the other and a substitute may a man serue For the seruice of the inferiour is the coÌmaundement of the superiour As to serue obey Father Mother Husband Master and Lord is Gods commaundement But and if the inferiour be of a contrary will to the superiour commauÌde any contrary thing then mayst thou not obey For now they be two coÌtrary masters So God and Mammon are two coÌtrary masters yea two contrary Gods and of contrary commaundementes God sayth I thy Lord God am but one me shalt y u serue alone that is y u shalt loue me with all thyne hart or with thyne whole hart with all thy soule with all thy might Thou shalt neither serue obey or loue any thyng saue me and that I byd thee that as farre and no further then I byd thee And Mammon sayth the same For Mammon wil be a God also and serued and loued alone God sayth see thou loue thy neighbour that thou labour with thine haÌds to get thy liuyng and somewhat aboue to helpe him MaÌmon sayth he is called thy neighbour because he is nye thee Now who is so nye thee as thy self Ergo proximus esto tibi that is loue thy selfe make lewde and vyle wretches to labour diligently to get thee as much as thou mayst and some scrappes aboue for them selues Or wilt thou be perfect Then disguist thy selfe and put on a gray coate a blacke or a pyed geue thy selfe to deuotion despise the world and take a couetous I would say a contemplatiue life vpon thee Tell the people how hoate Purgatorie is and what paynes there must be suffered for small fantes And then geue mercyfully a thousaÌd folde for one spirituall for temporall geue heauen and take but house and land and foolish temporall thynges God sayth iudge truly betwene thy brethren and therefore take no giftes Mammon sayth it is good maner and apoynt of curtesie to take that is offered And he that geueth thee loueth thee better then such a churââ¦e that geueth thee naught yea thou arâ more bound to fauour his cause God sayth fell and geue almose Mammon sayth lay vp to haue inough to mainteyne thyne estate and to defeÌd thee from thyne enemyes and to serue thee in thyne age c. For as much then as God Mammon be two so contrary masters that whosoeuer will serue God must geue vp Mammon and all that will serue MammoÌ must forsake God it foloweth that they which are the sworne seruauÌts of Mammon and haue his holy spirite and are his faithfull Church are not the true seruaunts of God nor haue his spirite of truth in them or can be his true Church Moreouer seing that God Mammon be so contrary that Gods worde is death in Mammons eare his doctrine poyson in Mammons mouth it foloweth that if the ministers of Gods word do fauour Mammon they will so fashion their speach so sound their wordes that they may be pleasaunt in the eares of Mammon Finally alonely to haue richesse is not to be the seruauÌt of Mammon but to loue it and cleaâe to it in thyne hart For if thou haue goods onely to maintâine the office whiche God hath put thee in of the rest to helpe thy neighbours nede so art thou Lord ouer thy Mammon and not his seruaunt Of theÌ that be rich how shalt thou know the master of Mammon from the seruaunt verely first by the gettyng secondarely when his poore neighbour complaineth if he be Mammons seruaunt Mammon wil shut vp his hart and make hym without compassion Thirdly the crosse of Christ will trye them the one from the other For wheÌ persecution ariseth for the word then will the true seruaunt of Christ byd Mammon âdew And the faithfull seruaunt of Mammon will vtter his hypocrisie and not onely renounce the doctrine of Christ but also be a cruel a sharpe persecuter therof to put away all surmise and that his fidelitie which he hath in his master Mammon map openly appeare Therfore I say vnto you care not for your lyues what ye shall eate or what ye shall drinke neither for your bodyes what ye shall put on Is not the lyfe more then meate and the body more then the rayment He that bundeth a costely house eueÌ to the tylyng will not leaue there and lose so great cost for so small a trifle more No more will he that gaue thee so precious a soule so bewtifull a body let either of them perish agayne before y e day for so small a thnig as foode or rayment God neuer made mouth but he made meate for it nor body but he made rayment also Howbeit MaÌmon blindeth our eyes so that we can neither see nor iudge a right Behold the foules of the ayre how they sow not neither reape nor gather into storehouses and yet your heauenly father fedeth them And are not ye farre better then they Which of you with takyng thought is able to put one cubite vnto his stature He that careth for y â least of his creatures will much more care for y t greatest The byrdes of the ayre and beasts preach all to vs that we should leaue caring and put our trust in our father But Mammon hath made vs so dull and so cleane without capacitie that none example or argument be it neuer so vehement caÌ enter the wittes of vs to make vs see or iudge a right Finally what a madnes it is to take so great thought for fode or rayment when the wealth health life of thy body and all together is out of thy power If all the world were thyne thou couldest not make thy selfe one inche leÌger nor that thy stomacke shall disgeste the meate that thou puttest into it No thou art not sure that that whiche thou puttest into thy mouth shall go through thee or whether it shall choke thee Thou canst not make when thou lyest or sittest down that thou shalt arise agayn or when thou slepest that thou shalt awake agayne or that thou shouldest liue one houre loÌger So that he which cared for thee when thou couldest not care must care for thee still or els thou shouldest perish And he will not care for thee to thy soules profite if thou mistrust him and care for thy selfe And for rayment why take ye thought Behold the lylies of the field how they grow they labour not neither spynne And yet I say to you that euen Salomon in all his glorie was not apparelled lyke one of them Wherefore if the grasse whiche is to day in the fieldes and to morow shal be cast into the furnace God so clothe howe much more shal he do the same vnto you O ye of litle fayth
That fayth haue they in theyr owne workes onely But the true hearers vnderstand the lawe as Christ interpreteth it here and feele thereby theyr righteous damnation and runne to Christ for succour and for remission of all their sinnes that are past and for all the sinne which chaunce thorough infirmities shall compel theÌ to do for remission of that the law is to stronge for their weake nature And upon that they consent to the lawe loue it and professe it to fulfill it to the vttermost of their power and then go to and worke Faith or confidence in Christes bloud without helpe and before the workes of the law bringeth all maner of remission of sinnes satisfaction Faith is mother of loue fayth accompanieth loue in all her workes to fulfill as much as there lacketh in our doing the lawe of that perfect loue which Christ had to his father and vs in his fulfilling of the law for vs. Now when we be reconciled then is loue fayth together our righteousnesse our keeping the lawe our continuing our proceeding forwarde in the grace which we stand in our bringing to the euerlasting sauing and euerlasting life And the woorkes be esteemed of God according to the loue of the hart If the woorkes be great loue little and colde then the woorkes be regarded thereafter of God If the workes be small and loue much and feruent the workes be taken for great of God And it came to passe that when Iesus had ended these sayinges the people were astonied at his doctrine for he taught them as one hauing power and not as the Scribes The Scribes and Phariseyes had thrust vp the sworde of the woorde of God into a scabbarde or shethe of gloses and therein had knit it fast that it coulde neither sticke nor cut teaching dead workes without fayth and loue which are the life and the whole goodnes of all workes and the onely thing why they please God And therefore their audience abode euer carnall and fleshly mynded without faith to God and loue to their neighbours Christes wordes were spirit life Ioh. vi That is to say they ministred spirite and life and entred into the hart and grated on the conscience and thorow preaching the lawe made the hearers perceaue their duties euen what loue they ought to God what to man and the right dampnation of all them that had not the loue of God and man written in their hartes and thorow preaching of fayth made all that consented to the lawe of God fele the mercy of God in Christ and certified them of their saluation For the worde of God is a two edged sworde that pearceth and deuideth the spirite and soule of man a sonder Heb. ãâã A man before the preaching of Godes woorde is but one man all fleshe the soule consenting vnto the lustes of the fleshe to follow them But the sworde of the worde of God where it taketh effect diuideth a man in two and serteth him at variaunce against his own selfe The fleshe haling one way and the spirite drawing another the fleshe raging to follow lustes and the spirite calling backe agayne to follow the lawe and will of God A man all the while âe consenteth to the flesh before he be borne again in Christ is called soule or carnall But whe he is renued in Christ through y t word of lyâe and hath the loue of God and of hys neighbor and the fayth of Christ written in his hart he is called spirite or spirituall The Lord of all mercy send vs preachers with power that is to say ãâã expounders of the worde of God and speakers to the hart of man and deliuer vs from Scribes Phariseyes hypocrites and all false Prophetes Amen An aunswere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue made by William Tyndall 1530. â First he declareth what the Church is and geueth a reason of certaine wordes which Master More rebuketh in the translation of the new Testament ¶ After that he aunswereth particularly vnto euery Chapter which semeth to haue any appearaunce of truth thorough all his foure bookes ¶ Awake thou that slepest and stand vp from death and Christ shall geue the light Ephesians 5. THe grace of our Lord the light of his spirite to see to iudge true repeÌtaunce towardeâ Gods lâwe a fast fayth in the mercyfull prââ¦es y â are in our sauiour Christ serueÌt loue toward thy neighbour after the exaÌple of Christ his Saints be with thee O Reader with all that loue the truth loÌg for the redemption of Gods elect Amen Our Sauiour I esus in the 16. of Iohn at his last Supper when he tooke his leaue of his Disciples warned them saying the holy Ghost shall come and rebuke the world of iudgemeÌt That is he shall rebuke the world for lacke of true iudgement and discretion to iudge and shall proue that the tast of theyr mouthes is corrupt so that they iudge swete to be sowre and sowre to be swete the eyes to be blynd so that they thinke that to be the verâ seruice of God which is but a blynd superstition for zeale of which yet they persecute the true seruice of God and that they iudge to be the lawe of God whiche is but a false imagination of a corrupt iudgement for blynd affection of whiche yet they persecute the true law of God and them that kepe it And this same it is that Paul sayth 1. Corinth ij how that the naturall man that is not borne agayne and created a new with the spirite of God be he neuer so great a Philosopher neuer so well sene in the law neuer so sore studied in the Scripture as we haue examples in the Phariseis yet hee cannot vnderstaÌd the thynges of the spirite of God but sayth he the spirituall iudgeth all thyngs and hys spirâe searcheth the deepe secretes of God so that what soeuer God commauÌdeth hym to do he neuer leaueth searchyng till he come at the bottome the pith the quicke the lyâe the sâ⦠the mââow very cause why and iudgeth all thyng Take an example in the great commaundement loue God with all thyne hart y t spirituall searcheth the cause and looketh on the benefites of God and so conceaueth loue in his hart And when he is commaunded to obey the powers and rulers of the world hee looketh on the benefites which God sheweth the world through them and therefore doth it gladly And when hee ⪠is commauÌded to loue his neighbour as hym selfe he searcheth that his neighbour is created of God and bought with Christes bloud and so forth and therefore he loueth hym out of his hart and if he be euill forheareth hym and with all loue and pacience draweth hym to good as elder brethren wayte on the youÌger and serue them and suffer them when they will not come they speake fayre flatter and geue some gaye thyng and
then thorough corruptyng with their riches wherof they haue infinite treasure in store and last of all with the sword Haue they not compelled the Emperours of the earth and the great Lordes and hygh ââ¦cers to be obedient vnto them to dispure for them and to be their tormeÌtours and the Samsumims theÌ selues do but imagine mischief and inspire them Marke whether it were euer truer then now the Scribes Phariseis Pylate Herode Cayphas and Anna are gathered together agaynst God Christ But yet I trust in vayne and he that brake the Counsell of A chitophell shall scatter theirs Marke whether it ãâã not true in the hyghest degree that for the sinne of the people hypocrites shall rayne ouer them What shewes what faces and contrary pretenses are made and all to stablish them in their theft falsehead damnable lyes and to gather them together for to continue suââ¦ltie to oppresse the truth and to stoppe the light to kepe all still in darkenesse Wherfore it is time to awake and to see euery man with his owne eyes and to iudge if we will not be iudged of Christ when he commeth to iudge And remember that he which is warned hath none excuse if he take nââ¦ede Here with fare wel in y e Lord Iesus Christ whose spirite be thy guide doctrine and the light to iudge with all Amen ¶ What the Church is THis worde Churche hath diuerse significations First it signifieth a place or house whether Christen people were wont in the old tyme to resorte at tymes coÌuenient for to heare the word of doctrine the law of God the fayth of our Sauiour Iesus Christ how and what to pray and whence to aske power and strength to liue godly For the officers therto appointed preached the price word of God onely and prayâd in a tââng that all men vnderstode And y t people hearkned vnto his prayers sayd thereto AmeÌ prayed with him in their hartes of him learned to pray at home and euery where and to instruct euery man his houshold Where now we heare but voyces with out signification and buzsinges howlynges and cryinges as it were the haââ¦yngâs of Foxes or baytings of Bearâs wonder at disguisings tâyes wherof we know no meanyng By reason wherof we be fallen into such ignorauncie that we know of the mercy promises whiche are in Christ nothyng at all And of the law of God we thinke as do the Turkes and as did the old heathen people how that it is a thyng which euery man may do of his owne power and in doyng therof becoÌmeth good and waxeth righteous and deserueth heauen yea and are yet more mad then that For we imagine the same of Phantasies and vayne ceremonies of our owne making neither nedefull vnto the tamyng of our owne flesh neither profitable vnto our neighbour neither honour vnto God And of prayer we thinke that no man can pray but at Church and that it is nothing els but to say Pater noster vnto a post Wherewith yet and with other obseruauÌces of our owne imaginyng we beleue we deserue to be sped of all that our blynd hartes desire In an other signification it is abused and mistakeÌ for a multitude of shauen shorne and oyled which we now call the spiritualtie and Clergy As when we read in the Chronicles kyng William was a great tyrauÌt and a wicked man vnto holy Church and tooke much landes from them Kyng Iohn was also a perââous man and a wicked vnto holy Church would haue had them punished for theft murther and what soeuer mischief they dyd as though they had not bene people annoynted but eueÌ of the vile rascall and common lay people And Thomas Becket was a blessed an holy man for he dyed for the liberties to do all mischief vnpunished priuileges of the Church Is he a laye man or a man of the Church Such is the liuing of holy Church So men say of holy church Ye must beleue in holy Church do as they teach you Will ye not obey holy Church Will ye not do the penaunce enioyned you by holy Church Will yet not forsweare obedience vnto holy Church Beware least ye fal into y t indignatioÌ of holy church lest they curse you so forth In which all we vnderstand but y e Pope Cardinals Legates Patriarckes Archbyshops Byshops Abbotes Priours Chauncelers Archdeacons Commissaries Officials Priestes Monkes Friers Blacke Whit Pied Grey and so forth by I trow a thousand names of blasphemy and of hypocrisies as many sundry fashions of disguisinges It hath yet or should haue an other signification little knowen among the common people now a dayes That is to wit it signifieth a congregation a multitude or a company gathered together in one of all degrees of people As a maÌ would say the church of LoÌdon meaning not the spiritualtie onely as they will be called for their diligent seruing of God in the spirite and so sore eschuing to meddle wyth temporall matters but the whole bodye of the citie of all kindes conditions degrees and the church of Bristow all that pertaine vnto the towne generally And what congregation is meÌt thou shalt alway vnderstand by the matter that is entreated of and by the circumstaunces thereof And in this third signification is the church of God or Christ taken in the scripture eueÌ for the whole multitude of all them that receaue the name of Christ to beleue in him and not for the clergy onely For Paule sayth Gal. i. I persecuted the church of God aboue measure which was not the preachers onely but all that beleued generally as it is to see Act. xxij where he saith I persecuted this way euen vnto the death binding and putting in prison both men and women And Gal. i. I was vnknowen concerning my person vnto the congregations of the Iewes which were in Christ And Rom. xvi I commende vnto you Phebe the Deaconiââe of the church of Cenchris And the churches of Asia salute you i. Corin. the last And if a man can not rule his owne house how shall he take the care of the church of God i. Tim. iij if any faithfull man or woman haue widdowes let them finde them that the church be not charged i. Tim. v. And Mat. 18. if thy brother heare thee not tell the church or congregation and so forth In which places and thoroughout all the scripture the church is taken for y e whole multitude of them that beleue in Christ in that place in that parishe towne citie prouince land or thoroughout all the worlde and not for the spiritualtie onely NotwithstaÌding yet it is somtimes taken generally for all them that embrace the name of Christ though their faithes be naught or though they haue no fayth at all And sometimes it is taken specially
for the electe onely in whose hartes God hath written hys lawe with his holy spirite and geuen them a feeling faith of the mercy that is in Christ Iesu our Lord. ¶ Why Tindall vsed this worde congregation rather theÌ church in the translation of the new Testament WHerefore in as much as the clergy as the nature of those hard indurat AdamaÌtstones is to draw all to them had appropriat vnto themselues the terme that of right is common vnto all the whole congregation of them that beleue in Christ wyth their false and subtil wyles had beguiled and mocked the people brought them into the ignoraunce of the word making theÌ vnderstand by this worde church nothing but the shauen flocke of them that shore the whole worlde therefore in the translation of the new Testament where I found this word Ecclesia I enterpreted it by thys word congregation Euen therfore did I it and not of any mischeuous mynde or purpose to stablâshe heresie as master More vntruely reporteth of me in hys Dialoge where he rayleth on y t translation of the new Testament And when M. More sayth that this word Church is knowen wel inough I report me vnto the conscieÌces of all the land whether he say truth or other wise or whether the lay people vnderstand by Church the whole multitude of all that professe Christ or the iugglyng spirites onely And wheÌ he saith that congregation is a more generall terme if it were it hurteth not For the circumstance doth euer tell what coÌgregation is ment Neuerthelesse yet sayth he not the truth For whersoeuer I may say a congregation there may I say a Church also as the Church of the deuill the Church of Sathan the Church of wretches y t Church of wickedmen the Churche of lyers and a Church of Turkes therto For M. More must graunt if he will haue Ecclesia translated throughout all the new Testament by this woorde Church that Church is as commoÌ as Ecclesia Now is Ecclesia a Greeke word and was in vse before the tyme of the Apostles and taken for a coÌgregation among the heatheÌ where was no congregation of God or of Christ And also Lucas him selfe vseth Ecclesia for a Church or congregation of heathen people thrise in one Chapter eueÌ in the xix of the Actes where Demetrius the goldsmith or siluersmith had gathered a company agaynst Paule for preachyng agaynst Images Howbeit M. More hath so long vsed ⪠his figures of Poetry that I suppose wheÌ he erreth most he now by the reason oâ a long custome beleueth himself that he sayth most true Or els as the wise people which when they daunce naked in nettes beleue that no man seeth them euen so M. More thinketh that his errours be so subtilly couched that no man can espy them So blinde he counteth all other men in comparison of his great vnderstandyng But charitably I exhorte him in Christ to take hede for though Iudas were wilier then his felowes to get lucre yet he proued not most wise at y t last end Neither though Balam the false Prophet had a cleare sight to bryng y â curse of God vpon the childreÌ of Israell for honours sake yet his couetousnesse did so blind his prophesie that he could not see his owne end Let therfore M. More and his coÌpany awake be tymes ere euer their sinne be ripe lest y e voyce of their wickednesse ascenoâ vp and awake God out of his slepe to loke vpoÌ them and to how his eares vnto theyr cursed blasphemies agaynst the open truth and to send his haruest men and mowares of vengeaunce to repe it But how happeth it that M. More hath not contended in likewise against hys derelyng Erasmus all this longe while Doth not he chauÌge this word Ecclesia into congregatioÌ and that not seldome in the new TestameÌt peraduenture he oweth him fauour because he made Moria in hys house Whiche booke if it were in English theÌ should euery man see how that he then was farre otherwise mynded then he now writeth But verely I thinke that as Iudas betrayd not Christ for any loue that he had vnto the hyghe Priestes Scribes and Phariseis but onely to come by that wherfore he thirsted eueÌ so M. More as there are tokens euideÌt wrote not these bookes for any affectioÌ that he bare vnto the spiritualty or vnto the opinions which he so barely defeÌdeth but to obtaine onely that which he was an hungred for I pray God that he eate not to hastly lest he be chokeo at the latter end but that he repeÌt and resist not the spirite of God which openeth light vnto the worlde ¶ Why he vseth this woorde Elder and not Priest AN other thyng which he rebuketh is that I interprete this Greeke worde Presbiteros by this worde Senior Of a truth Senior is no very good Englishe though Senior and Iuniot be vsed in the vniuersities but there came no better in my mynde at that tyme. Howbeit I spied my fault since long yer M. More tolde it me and haue ââ¦ded it in all the woorkes which I sens made and call it an Elder And in that he maketh hereâie of it to call Presbiteros an Elder he condemneth their owne old Latin text of heresie also which they vse yet dayly myâââ¦ch and haue vsed I suppose this I suppose this run huÌdred yeares For that text doth ãâ¦ã an elder likewise In the. 1. Pet. 5. ââ¦s standeth it in y e Latin text Seââ¦ores qui in vobis sunt obsecro ego conâ⦠pascite qui in vobis est gregem Chriâ⦠ãâ¦ã elders that are among you I ãâ¦ã which am an elder also that ye sedâ⦠flocke of Christ which is among ãâ¦ã There is Presbyteros calleâ ãâ¦ã And in y t he sayth fede Chrisâ⦠he meaneth euen the Ministeâ⦠chosen to teach the people to ãâ¦ã them in Gods word no âay ãâ¦ã And in the 2. Epâstâe of Iohâ ãâ¦ã text Senior electae Dominae ãâ¦ã The elder vnto the eleât Lady ãâ¦ã her children And in the ãâ¦ã Iohn Senior Gaâo dilecto ãâ¦ã vnto the beloued Gaiâs In these ãâ¦ã pistles Presbyteros is calleâ an ãâ¦ã And in the xx of the Actes y â text sâ⦠Paule sent for maiores natu Eccleâ⦠ãâ¦ã elders in byrth of the congregation or Church and sayd vnto them take ãâ¦ã vnto your selues vnto y â whoâe ãâã ouer which the holy ghosâ hath ãâ¦ã you Episcopos ad regendum Eccleâ⦠Dei Byshops ouerâcaâs to ãâ¦ã the Church of God There is ââ¦teros called an Elder in byrth ãâ¦ã same immediately called a ãâ¦ã ouersear to declare what pâ⦠ment Hereof ye see that I haue ãâ¦ã more erred then their owne text ãâ¦ã they haue vsed sence the scripture waâ first in the Latin âoung and that their owne text vnderstandeth by Presbyâeros nothyng saue an Elder And they were called
Pope hath made a playne decree in which he commaundeth saying though y e Pope sinne neuer so greuously and draw with him to hell by his ensaÌple thousaÌdes innumerable yet let no man be so hardy to rebuke him For he is head ouerall none ouer him Distinct ãâã Si Papa And Paule saith Rom. xiij let euery soule obey the hyer powers that are ordeyned to punishe sinne The Pope will not nor let any of his And Paule chargeth 1. Cor. 5. if he that is a brother be an whorekeeper a dronkard couetous an extortioner or a rayler and so forth that we haue no felowship with him No not so much as to eate in his company But the Pope with violence compelleth vs to haue such in honour to receaue the sacrameÌtes of them to heare their Masses and to beleue all they say and yet they will not let vs see whether they say truth or no. And he compelleth x. parishes to pay their tithes and offeringes vnto one such to goe and ruÌne at riote at their cost and to do nought therefore And a thousande such like doth the Pope contrary vnto Christes doctrine ¶ The argumentes wherewith the Pope woulde proue hymselfe the church are solued NOtwithstanding because as they be all shauen they be all shamelesse to affirme that they be the right church and can not erre though all the world seeth that not one of theÌ is in the right way and that they haue with vtter defiaunce forsaken both the doctrine and liuing of Christ of all his Apostles let vs see the sophistry wherwith they would perswade it One of their high reasons is this The Church say they was before y â heretikes y â heretikes came euer out of the church and left it And they were before all them which they now call heretikes and Lutherans and the Lutherans came out of them c. Wherefore they be the right church and the other heretikes in dede as they be called Well I will likewise dispute First the right church was vnder Moses and Aaron and so forth in whose rowmes sat the Scribes Phariseis and hye priestes in the tyme of Christ And they were before Christ And Christ and his Apostles came out of them and departed from theÌ and left them Wherfore the Scribes Phariseis and hye priestes were the right Church and Christ and hys Apostles and disciples heretikes and a dampnable secte And so the Iewes are yet in the right way and we in errour And of truth if their blynde reason be good theÌ is this argumeÌt so to For they be like are both one thing But in as much as the kingdome of God standeth not in wordes as Paul sayth 1. Cor. 4. but in power therefore looke vnto the marow and pith of the thinges selfe and let vayne woordes passe Vnder Abraham Isaac Iacob was the church great in fayth and small in number And as it encreased in number so it decreased in fayth vntill y â tyme of Moses And out of those vnbeleuers God stirred vp Moses brought âheÌ vnto y â faith right agayne And Moses left a glorious Churche both in faith cleauing vnto the word of God and deliuered them vnto Iosuah Eleazer Phineas and Caleb But assone as the generation of theÌ that saw the miracles of God were dead they fell to Idolatrie immediatly as thou seest in the Bible And god when he had deliuered them into captiuitie for to chastice their wickednesse stirred them vp a Prophet euermore to call them vnto his testameÌt againe And so he did well me an hundred tymes I suppose yer Christ came for they neuer bode any space in the right fayth And against the comming of Christ the Scribes Phariseis Caiphas Anna and the Elders were crept vp into the seat of Moses AaroÌ and the holy Prophetes Patriarkes and suceded them linially and had the scripture of God but euen in captiuitie to make marchaundise of it and to abuse it vnto their owne glory and profite And though they kept the people from outward Idolatrie of worshipping of Images with the Heathen yet they brought them into a worse inward Idolatrie of a false fayth trust in their owne deedes and in vaine traditions of their owne fayning And had put out the significatioÌs of all y â ceremonies and sacramentes of the olde testameÌt and taught the people to beleue in the workes selfe and had corrupt the scripture with false gloses As y â maist see in the Gospell how Christ warneth his Disciples to beware of y t leauen of y â Phariseis which was their false doctrine gloses And in another place he rebuked the Scribes and the Phariseis saying wo be to theÌ because they had taken away the key of knowledge and had shut vp the kingdome of heauen and neither would enter in themselues nor suffer theÌ that would How had they shut it vp verely with their traditions and false gloses which they had sowed to y â scripture in plaine places and in the taking away y â meaning of the ceremonies and sacrifices and teaching to beleue in the worke And our hipocrites are in like maner crept vp into the seat of Christ and of his Apostles by succession not to do the deedes of Christ and his Apostles but for lucre onely as the nature of the wily Foxe is to get him an hole made with a nother beastes labour and to make marchaundise of the people with fayned wordes as Peter warned vs before and to do according as Christ and all his Apostles prophesied how they should beguyle and leade out of the right way all theÌ that had no loue to follow and liue after the truth And in like maner haue they corrupt the Scripture and blynded the right way with their owne constitutions with traditions of duÌme ceremonies with takyng away the significations of the sacramentes to make vs beleue in the worke of the sacramentes fyrst whereby they might the better make vs beleue in works of their setting vp afterward and with false gloses which they haue patched to the Scripture in playne places to destroy the litterall sence for to set vp a false fayned sence of allegories when there is none such And thereby they haue stopt vp the gates of heaueÌ the true knowledge of Christ and haue made their own belâes the dore For thorow their bellies must thou creepe and theâe leaue all that fall behynde thee And such blynde reasons as oures make against vs made they agaynst Christ saying Abraham is our father we be Moses disciples how knoweth he the vnderstanding of the Scripture seing he neuer learned of any of vs onely the cursed vnlearned people that know not the scripture beleue in hym Looke whether any of the rulers or Phariseis do beleue in hym Wherefore the scripture truely vnderstode after the playneâ places and generall articles of y t fayth which
and token that at y t repeÌtaunce of the hart thorow an offering to come and for that seedes sake that was promised Abraham theyr sinnes were forgeuen them And in like maner the ornamentes and all other ceremonies were eyther an open preaching or secret prophesies and not satisfactions or iustifyinges And thus the workes did serue them and preache vnto them and they not the workes nor put any confidence therein ¶ False worshipping BUt what did the children of Israell and the Iewes They let the significations of their ceremonies goe lost the meaning of them and turned them vnto the workes to serue them saying that they were holy workes coÌmaunded of God the offerers were thereby iustified obtayned forgeuenes of sinnes thereby become good as the parable of the Pharesey Publican declare Luke xviij and as it is to see in Paule and thoroughout al the Byble and became captiue to serue put their trust in that which was neyther God nor hys worde And so the better creature agaynst nature did serue the worse Whereof all likelihode God should haue accepted their worke by the reason of them if their harts had bene right and not haue accepted their soules for the blouds sake of a Calfe or shepe for as much as a man is much better then a Calfe or shepe as Christ testifieth Math. xij For what pleasure should God haue in the bloude of Calues or in the light of our candels hys pleasure is onely in the hartes of them that loue his commaundementes Then they went further in the imagination of their blynd reason saying in as much as God accepteth these holy workes that we be made righteous thereby then it foloweth that he which offereth most is most righteous and the bestman yea and it is better to offer an Oxe then a shepe because it is more costly And so they stroue who might offer most and the priests were well apayde Then went they further in their fleshly wisdome saying if I be good for the offering of a Doue and better for a shepe and yet better for an Oxe and so euer the better thing I offer the better I am Oh how accepted should I be if I offered a maÌ namehym that I most loued And vpoÌ that imagination they offered their owne children and burnt them to ashes before Images that they had imagined And to coÌtiââ¦e their blindues they layd for them no doubt the ensample of Abraham which offered his sonne Isaac and was so accepted that God had promised hym how that in hys seede all the worlde should be blessed Hereof ye see vnto what abhomination blynde reason bringeth a man wheÌ she is destitute of Gods word And to speake of y â Sabbath which was ordeyned to be their seruaunt to preach to be a signe vnto theÌ that God thorow his holy spirit and word did sanctifie them in that they obeyed hys commaundementes and beleued and trusted in hys promises and therfore were charged to leaue workyng and to come on the holy day and heare the word of God by which they were saÌctified vnto it also they became captiue and bond to serue it saying that they were iustified by absteyning from bodely labour as ours thinke also in so much that though they bestowed not the holy day in vertue prayer and hearing the word of God in almosedede in visiting the sicke the needy comfortlesse and so forth but went vp and downe idlye yet what soeuer nede his neighbour had he would not haue holpe him on the Saboth day as thou mayst see by the ruler of the Sinagoge which rebuked Christ for healyng the people on the holy day Luke xiij And of like blyndnesse they went fet out the brasen Serpent which Moses commauÌded to be kept in the Arke for a memory offered before it thinkyng no doubt that God must be there present for els how could it haue healed the people that came not nye it but stode a farre of and beheld it onely And a thousand such madnesse dyd they And of the temple they thought that God heard them there better then any where els yea and he heard them no where saue there And therfore they could not pray but there as ours can no where but at Church and before an Image For what prayer can a man pray when the word of God is not in the temple of his hart yea wheÌ such come to Church what is their prayer what is their deuotioÌ saue the blind image seruice of their hartes But the Prophetes euer rebuked them for such faythlesse woorkes for such false fayth in their workes In the xlix Psalme saith y t Prophet I wil receaue no Calues of your houses nor Goates out of your foldes thinke ye that I will eate the flesh of Oxen or drinke the bloud of Goates And Esayas sayth in his first Chapter what care I for the multitâde of your sacrifices sayth the Lord. I am full I haue no lust in the burnt offeringes of your Rammes or in the fat of faâ beastes or bloud of Calues Lambes or Goates offer me no more such false sacrifice And therto your swete cense is an abhominatioÌ vnto me And thus he sayd because of the false fayth and peruertyng the right vse of them And for their calfe fastyng not referryng their fast vnto the tamyng subduyng of their fleshe vnto the spirite wheÌ they complained vnto God iustifying theÌ selues and saying how happeneth it that we haue fasted and thou wouldest not looke vppon it we haue humbled our soules and thou wouldst not know it God aunswered them by the Prophet Esayas in the. lviij chapter behold in the day of your fast ye do your owne lustes and gather vp all your dettes And how soeuer ye fast ye neuerthelesse striue and fight and sâinite with tiste cruelly I haue chosen no such fast and humblyng of soule c. But that ye louse wicked bondes and let the oppressed go free and to breake bread vnto the hungry and to cloth the naked and so forth And concerning the temple Esayaâ sayth in his last chapter What house will ye build for me or in what place shall I rest heaueÌ is my seate and the earth my foote stole As who should say I am to great for any place that ye can make and as Steuen sayth Actes vij and Paul Actes xvij I dwell not in a temple made with handes ¶ How ceremonies sprang among vs. VNderstaÌd also to see how we came into like blindnesse that before the commyng of Christ in the flesh the Israelites Iewes were scattered thoroughout all the world for their Image seruice both East West South and North as ye read in the Chronicles how England was once full so that there was no Prouince or great Citie in the world where no Iewes were God so prouidyng
for the deedes that pertayne vnto our neighbours and vnto the common wealth we haue not regarded at all as thynges which seemed no holy workes or such as God woulde not once looke vppon And therfore we left them vnsene to vntill they were past remedy or past our power to remedy theÌ in as much as our slowbellies with their false blessinges had iugled away from vs that wherwith they might haue bene holpen in due season So that y â silly poore man though he had haply no wisdome to expresse hys mynde or y t he durst not or y â M. More fashioneth his tale as he doth other mens to lest out the truth sawe that neither Goodwinsandes nor any other cause alleaged was the decay of Sandwich hauen so much as that the people had no lust to mainteyne the common wealth for blynde deuotion which they haue to popeholy workes ¶ The solutions and answeres vnto M. Mores first booke IN the first chapter to beginne the booke wythal to bring you good lucke and to geue you a say or a taste what truth shall follow he fayneth a letter sent from no man The second Chapter In the second chapter besides that it is vntrue this vse to haue bene euer since the tyme of the Apostles he maketh many sophisticall reasons about worshipping of saintes reliques and Images yet declareth not w t what maner worship but iuggleth with the terme in comune as he doth with this worde church and this worde fayth when the wordes haue diuers significations for all faithes are not one maner fayth and so forth and therefore he beguileth a mans vnderstanding As if a man sayd the boyes will was good to haue geuen his father a blow and an other woulde inferre that a good will coulde be no sinne and conclude that a man might lawfully smite hys father Now is good will taken in one sence in the maior and in an other in y â minor to vse schollers termes therfore the conclusion doth mocke a maÌs wit Then disputeth he the seruaunt is honoured for the masters sake and what is done to the poore is done to Christ as the popishe shall once feele for their so robbing them And the xii Apostles shall haue their seates sitte and iudge with Christ as shal all that here preach hym truely as they dyd and Mary that powred the ointment on Christes head before hys passion hath her memoriall and therefore we ought to set candles before Images First I aske hym by what rule hys argument holdeth And secondarily I answere that the true worshipping of Saintes is their memoriall to follow them as they did Christ And that honour we geue them and so do not ye papists but folow the steppes of your father the Pope as he doth the steppes of his father the deuill And as for sticking vp of candles I aunswere that God is a spirite and in the spirit must be worshipped only Faith to his promises and loue to his lawes and longing for the life that is in his sonne are his due honour and seruice All bodyly seruice must be referred vnto our selues and not vnto the person of God immediatly All outwarde thynges which we receaue of God are geueÌ vs. to take our partes with thankes and to bestow the rest vppon our neyghbours For God vseth no such thynges in his owne person but created theÌ for to gene theÌ vs that we shoulde thanke hym and not to receaue them of vs to thanke vs for that were our praise and not his Fasting watching wolward goyng pilgrimage and all bodely exercise must be referred vnto y t taming of the fleshe onely For as god deliteth not in y â tast of meat drinke or in the sight of golde or siluer no more doth he in my fast and such like that I should referre them vnto hys person to do him a pleasure withall For God in himselfe is as good as he can be hath all the delectation that he caÌ haue And the refore to wish that God were better then be is or had more pleasure then he hath is of a worldly imagination And all the spirites that be in heaueÌ are in as good case as they can be and haue all the delectation they can haue and therefore to wishe them in better case or to studie to do them more pleasure then they haue is fleshly mynded popishnes The pleasure of them that be in heauen is that we harken to god and keepe his commaundementes which when we do they haue all the pleasure that they can haue in vs. If in this life I suffer hell gladly to win my brother to folow God how much more if I were in heauen should I reioyce that he so did If in thys worlde when I haue neede of my neighbour by the reason of myne infirmities yet I seke nought of him saue his wealth onely what other thing should I seke of hym if I were in heauen where he can do me no seruice nor I vse any pleasure that he can do me THe deuill desired to haue his imaginations worshipped as God his popishe children desire the same compell men so to honour them and of their deuelishe nature describe they both God and his Saintes And therfore I say all such fleshly imaginations as to fast the wensday in the worship of S. Iohn or of S. Katerine or what Saint it be or to fast Sayntes eues or to go a pilgrimage vnto their images or to offer to them to do them pleasure thinkyng therby to obteyne their fauour and to make special adnocates of them as a man would winne the fauour of an other with presentes and giftes and thinking that if we did it not they would be angry are playne Idolatry image seruice for the saint deliteth in no such And when thou stickest vp a candle before the image thou mightest with as good reason make an holow bely in the image and powre in meate and drincke For as the Saint neither eateth nor drinketh so hath he no bodyly eyes to delyte in the light of a candle An other is this God geueth not the promises that are in Christ for bodyly seruice but of his mercy onely vn to his owne glorie Yea and of the fathers goodnesse do all naturall childreÌ receaue Aske a litle boy who gaue him his gay coate he auÌswereth his father Aske him why and he annswereth because he is his father and loueth hym and because he is his sonne Aske hym whether his father loue hym and he sayth yea Aske him how he knoweth it and he sayth because he geueth me this or that Aske him whether he loue his father he sayth yea Aske him why he sayth for his father loueth hym and geueth him all thing Aske him why he worketh he aunswereth his father wil so haue it Aske him why his father geneth not such and such boyes coates to Nay saith he they be not
his sonnes their fathers must geue them as mynt doth me Go now ye Popish bond seruauntes and receaue your reward for your false workes and robbe your brethren and raigne ouer them with violence and cruell tyranny and make theÌ worship your pillars polaxes images and hattes And we will receaue of the mercyfull kyndnesse of our father and will serue our brethren freely of very loue and wil be their seruauntes suffer for their sakes And there to our good deedes whiche we do vnto our neighbours neede spryng out of our righteousnesse or iustifying which is y â forgeuenesse of our sinnes in Christes bloud of other righteousnesse know we not before God And contrarywise your righteousnes or iustifying which standeth as your fayth doth with all wickednesse springeth out of your holy workes which ye do to no man srely saue vnto paynted postes And when he alledgeth the sacrifices of the old law I say they were Sacramentes and preached vnto the people as no doubt our candels once were and were no holy workes to be referred vnto Gods person to obtaine hys fauour and to iustifie the people and that the people should do them for the workes selues And when the people had lost the significations and looked on the holynesse of the dedes to be iustified thereby they were image seruice and hateful to God and rebuked of the Prophetes as it is to see throughout all the old Testament Then he iuggleth with a text of S. Paule Rom. xiiij let euery man for his part abounde one in this Idolatrie an other in that when the sense of the text is let euery maÌ be sure of his own conscience that he do nothyng except he know well and his conscience serue him that it may be lawfully doue But what care they to abuse Gods word to wrest it vnto the contrary And in the last end to vtter his excel lent blindnesse he sayth the wiseman Luther thinketh that if the gold were takeÌ from the reliques it would be geuen vnto the poore immediatly when he seeth the contrary that they which haue their purses full wil geue y â poore if they geue ought either an halfe peny or in his countrey the iiij part of a farthyng Now I aske M. Mores conscience seyng they haue no deuotion vnto the poore which are as Christes own person and for whom Christ hath suffered his passion that we should be kynd to them and whom to visite with our almes is Gods commaundement with what minde do they offer so great treasure to the garnishyng of shrines images reliques It is manifest that they which loue not Gods coÌmaundement can do nothing godly Wherfore such offrynges come of a false fayth so that they thinke theÌ better theÌ workes commauaded by God and beleue to be iustified therby And therfore are they but image seruice And when he sayth we might as well rebuke the powryng of the annoyntment on Christes head Nay Christ was theÌ mortall as well as we and vsed such thynges as we do and it refreshed his body But and if thou woldest now poure such on his image to do him pleasure I would rebuke it The third Chapter IN the third Chapter he bryngeth in miracles done at S. Steues tombe I aunswere that the miracles done at Saintes tombes were done for the same purpose that the miracles which they dyd when they were aliue were done euen to prouoke vnto the faith of their doctrine and not to trust in the place or in bones or in the Saint As Paul sent his napkeÌ to heale the sicke not that meÌ should put trust in his nap kin but beieue his preachyng And in the old Testament Eliseus healed Naaman the heathen maÌ in the water of Iordayne not to put trust in the water or to pray in that place but to wonder at the power of God to come beleue as he also did And that his bones when he was dead raysed vp a dead man was not done that meÌ shuld pray to him for y â was not lawfull the by their own doctrme neither to put theyr trust in hys bones For God to anoyde all such Idolatrie had poluted all dead bones so that whosoeuer touched a dead bone was vncleane and all that came in his company vntil he had washed him selfe in so much that if a place were abused with offering vnto Idoles there was no better remedie then to scatter dead bones there to driue the people theÌce for beyng defiled and poluted But his boues did that miracle to testifie that he was a true Prophet to moue men vnto the fayth of his doctrine And euen so miracles done at the holy crosse were done to moue men vnto fayth of him that dyed thereon not that we shuld beleue in the wood He saith that pilgrimes put not trust in the place as Nicromancers do in their circles and sayth he wotteth not what to mocke out the text of our Sauiour of praying in the spirite And in the end he confoundeth him selfe saying we reken our prayers more pleasaunt in one place theÌ in an other And that must be by the reason of the place for God is as good in one place as in an other and also the man Moreouer where a maÌ pleaseth God best thether is he most bound to go And so that imagination byndeth a maÌ to the place with a false fayth as Nicromancers trust in their circles And agayne if God had sayd that he would more heare in one place then in an other he had bound him selfe to the place Now as God is like good euery where generally so hath hee made his Testament generally wheresoeuer myne hart moueth me am quyet to pray vnto hym there to heare me like graciously And if a man lay to our charge that God bouÌd them vnto the tabernacle after to the Temple in the old Testament I say that he dyd it not for y e places sake but for the monumentes and testimonies that their preached the word of god vnto them so that though the priests had bene negligeÌt to preach yet should such things that there were haue kept the people in the remembraunce of the TestameÌt made betwen God and them Which cause and such like onely should moue vs to come to Church and vnto one place more then an other And as loÌg as I come more to one place then an other because of y e quietnesse or that some thing preacheth gods word more liuely vnto me there then in an other the place is my seruaunt and I not bound to it whiche cause and such like taken away I can not but put trust in the place as Nicromancers do in their circles and am an image seruer walke after myne own imagination not after Gods word And when he sayth we might as well mocke the obseruauÌce of the Paschall Lambe I aunswere Christ our
likewise is it of Saintes bones we may remoue them whether we wyll yea breake all Images therto and make new or if they be abused put them one of the way for euer as was the brasen serpent so that we be Lordes ouer all such thinges and they our seruaunts For if the Saints were our seruauÌâs how much more their bones It is the hart and not the place that worshippeth God The kitchen page turning the spit may haue a puceâ hart to God then his master at church and therfore worship God better in the kitchen theÌ his master at church But when wyll M. More be able to proue that miracles done at Saintes tombes were done that we should pray vnto the Saintes or that miracles done by dead Saintes which a liâe neither preached Gods worde nor coulde do miracle are done of God God loueth none Angell in heauen better then the greatest sinner in earth that repenteth and beleueth in Christ But contrarywise careth most for the weakest and maketh all that be perfect their seruauntes vntill as Paule saith Ephe. 4. they be groweÌ vp in y e knowledge of God into a perfect man and into the measure of age of the fulnesse of Christ that is that we know all the misteries and secretes that God hath hid in Christ that we be no more children waâering with euery wynde of doctrine thorough the subtiltie wylines of men that come vpon vs to bring vs into errour or beguile vs. So far it is of that he would haue vs kept downe to serue Images For wyth bodely seruice we can serue nothyng that is a spirite And therto if it were possible that all the Angels of heauen coulde be mine enemies yet would I holde me by the testameÌt that my merâifull and true father hath made me in the bloud of my Sauiour and so come vnto all that is promised me Christ hath purchased for me and geue not a straw for them all The fift chapter IN the fift chapter he falleth from all he hath so long swet to proue and beleueth not by the reason of the myracles but by the common consent of the church and that many so beleue Thys man is of a farre other complexion theÌ was the Prophet Elias For he beleued a loue as he thought agaynst the consent by all likelihode of ix or x. huÌdred thousand beleuers And yet M. Mores church is in no other condition vnder the Pope then was that church agaynst whose consent Elias beleued alone vnder the kinges of Samaây The sixt chapter IN the sixt chapter vnto the xviij he proueth almost nought saue that which neuer man denyed him that miracles haue bene done But how to know the true miracles from the false were good to be knowen which we shall this wise do if we take those for true sacramentes ceremonies which preach vs Gods woorde euen so we count them true miracles onely which moue vs to harken therto The xvi Chapter COncerning his xvi chapter of the mayde of Ipswiche I answere that Moses warned hys Israelites that false miracles should be done to proue theÌ whether their harts were taââ in y e Lord. And euen so Christ and the Apostles shewed vs before y e lying miracles should come to peruert the very elect if it were possible And therefore we must haue a rule to know the true myracles from the false or els it were impossible that any man shoulde scape vndeceaued and continue in the true way And other rule then this is there not that the true are done to prouoke meÌ to come harkeÌ vnto Gods word and y â false to coÌfirme doctrine y t is not gods word Now it is not gods woorde it thou reade all the scripture thoroughout but contrary therto that we should put such trust and confideÌce in our blessed Lady as we do cleane agaynst the testament that is in Christes bloud Wherfore a man neede not to feare to pronounce that the deuyll did it to mocke vs withall Neuer the later let vs compare the mayde of Ipswiche and the mayde of Kent together First they say that the mayde of Ipswich was possessed wyth a deuill and the mayde of Kent wyth the holy ghost And yet the tragedyes are so like the one to the other in all pointes that thou couldest not know the holy ghost to be in the one and the deuill in the other by any difference of workes But that thou mightest with as good reason say that the deuill was in both or the holy ghost in both or the deuill in the maide of Kent and the holy ghost in the mayde of Ipswich For they were both in like traânses both rauished from themselues both tormented a like both disfigured like terrible ougly and grysely in sight and their mouthes drawen a side eueÌ vnto the very eares of them both enâpyred both preach both tell of wonders wil be both caryed vnto our Lady are both certified by reuelation that our Lady in those places and before those Images should deliuer them Now as for the mayde of Ipswich was possessed of y e deuill by their owne coÌfessioÌ WheÌce then came that reuelation that she should be holpe and all her holy preaching If of the deuill then was the miracle all of the deuil If of the holy ghost then was she inspired with the holy ghost and had the deuill within her both at once And in as much as the mayd of Kent was inspired by the holy ghost by their confession whence came that stoppyng of her throte that rauyng those greuous panges that tormentyng disfiguryng drawing of her mouth awrye and that feareful terrible countenaunce If of the holy ghost and the why not the reuell and gamboldes of the mayd of Ipswich also and then what matter maketh it whether a man haue the deuill or the holy ghost in him If ye say of the deuill theÌ had she likewise both the deuill and the holy ghost both at once Moreouer those possessed which Christ holpe auoyded Christ and fled froÌ him so that other which beleued were fame to bryng them vnto him agaynst their willes For which causes and many moe that might be made thou mayst coÌclude that the deuill vexed them and preached in them to confirmed fayned confession and dome ceremonies and Sacramentes without signification damnable sectes shewed them those reuelations And assoone as they were brought before our Ladyes image departed out of them to delude vs and to turne our faythes from Christ vnto an old blocke As we read in the Legend of S. Bartholomew how the deuils hurt men in their lynnues and assone as they were brought into a certain temple before an Idole there they departed out of them and so beguiled the people makyng them beleue that the Idole had healed them of some naturall diseases Howbeit let it be the holy ghost that was
in the mayd of Kent TheÌ I pray you what thyng woorthy of so great prayse hath our Lady done Our Lady hath deliuered her of the holy ghost emptied her of much hygh learnyng which as a goodly Poetisse she vttered in Rimes For appose her now of Christ as Scripture testifieth of hym and thou shalt finde her cleane without rime or reason The maide was at home also in heauenly pleasures and our Lady hath deliuered her out of the ioyes of Orestes and brought her into the miseries of middell earth agayne The xvij Chapter AS for Doulia Hyperdoulia Lattia though he shew not with which of theÌ he worshypped the Cardinals hat is aunswered vnto him already The xviij Chapter IN the xviij where he would fayne proue that the Popes Churche can not erre he alledgeth thynges wherof he might be ashamed if he were not past shame to proue that the Byshops haue authoritie to lade vs with traditioÌs neither profitable for soule nor body He bringeth a false allegorie vppon the ouerplus that the Samaritane if it were layde out promised to pay when he came agayn for the Byshops traditions Nay M. More besides that allegories which euery man may fayne at his pleasure can proue nothing Christ interpreteth it him selfe that it betokeneth a kynde mynde a louyng neighbour which so loued a straunger that he neuer left caryng for him both absent as well as present vntill he were full whole and common out of all necessitie It signifieth that the Prelates if they were true Apostles and loued vs after the doctrine of Christ would sell their myters croses plate shrynes iuels and costly showes to succour the poore and not robbe them of all that was offered vnto them as they haue done to repare thinges fallen in decay and ruine in the common wealth not to begger the realmes with false Idolatry and imageseâuice that they haue not left them wherewith to beare the cost of the common charges And moreouer when the Scribes Phariseis taught their owne doctrine they sat not vpon Moses seate but on their owne And therfore Christ so far it is of that he would haue vs hearken vnto mans doctrine âayd beware of the leuen of the Scribes Phariseis Saduces which is their doctrine rebuked them for their doctrine brake it him selfe and taught his Disciples so to do and excused them and sayd of all traditioÌs that what soeuer his heauenly father had not planted should be plucked vp by the rootes And therto all the persecutioÌ that the Apostles had of the Iewes was for breakyng of traditions Our Prelates ought to be our seruauntes as the Apostles were to teach vs Christes doctrine and not Lordes ouer vs to oppresse vs with theyr owne Peter calleth it temptyng of the holy ghost Actes xv to lade the heatheÌ with ought aboue that which necessitie and brotherly loue required And Paul rebuketh his Corinthians for their ouer much obedience and the Galathians also and warneth all men to stand fast and not to suffer them selues to be brought into bondage And when he sayth Peter Paule commaunded vs to obey our superiours That is trouth they coÌmaunded vs to obey the temporall sword which the Pope will not And they commauÌded to obey the Byshops in the doctrine of Christ and not in their owne And we teach not to breake all thyngs rashly as M. More vntruly reporteth on vs whiche is to be sene in our bookes if men will looke vpon them Of traditions therfore vnderstand generally He that may be free is a foole to be bonde But if through wilinesse thou be brought into bondage then if the tradition hurt thy soule thy faith they are to bee broken immediatly though with the losse of thy lyfe If they greue the body onely theÌ are they to be borne till God take them of for breakyng the peace and vnitie Then how sore maketh he Christes burtheÌ If it be so sore why is M. More so cruell to helpe the Byshops to lade vs with more But surely he speaketh very vndiscretly For Christ dyd not lade vs with one sillabe more then we were euer bound to neither did he any thyng but interpret the law truly And besides that he geueth vnto all hys loue vnto the law which loue maketh all thinges easie be borne that were before impossible And when he sayth ye be the salt of the âearth that it was spoken for the Byshops and Priestes onely it is vntrue but it was spoken generally vnto all that beleue and know the truth that they should be salt vnto the ignoraunt and the perfecter vnto the weaker ech to other euery man in his measure And moreouer if it be spokeÌ vnto the Prelates onely how fortuneth it y â M. More is so âusie to âault the world iâ his hygt learnyng And last of all the salt of Prelates which is their readitions ceremonies without signification is vnsauery long a go therfore no more worth but to be cast out at the doores and to be troden vnderfoote And that he sayth in the end that a man may haue a good fayth with euill liuing I haue proued it a lye in an other place Moreouer fayth hope and loue be iij. sisters y â neuer can depart in this world though in y â world to come loue shall swalow vp the other twoo Neither can the one be stroÌger or weaker then the other But as much as I beleue so much I loue and so much I hope ye and so much I worke The xix Chapter IN the xix hee proueth that praying to Saintes is good miracles that coÌfirme it are of God or els the church sayth he doth erre It foloweth in dede or that the Popes Church erreth And when he sayth it is sinne to beleue to much I say we had the more neede to take heede what we beleue and to search Gods word the more diligently that we beleue neither to much nor to litle And when he sayth God is honoured by praying to Saintes because it is done for his sake I aunswere if it spraÌge not out of a false fayth but of the loue we haue to God then should we loue God more And moreouer in as much as all our loue to God springeth put of faith we should beleue and trust God And then if our fayth in God were greater then our feruent deuotioÌ to Saintes we should praye to no Saintes at all seyng we haue promises of all thinges in our Sauiour Iesu and in the Saintes none at all The xxv Chapter IN y t xxv how iuggleth he to proue that all y â perteyneth vnto the faith was not writteÌ alledging Iohn in the last that the world could not conteine the bookes if all shoulde be written And Iohn meaneth of the miracles which Iesus did and not of the necessary pointes of the fayth And how
were in them determined as stories make meÌtion And by the same fcripture we know which counsels were true which false And by the same scripture shall we if any new question arââ¦e determine it also Abraham answered the rich man they haue Moses and the Prophets let theÌ heare them and sayd not they haue the Scribes and the Phariseis whom they should heare preachyng out of the seate of their owne doctrine wythout scripture And when he alleageth he that heareth you heareth me and if any man heare not the church take hym for an heathen concluding that we must beleue whosoeuer is shauen in all that he affirmeth without scripture or myracle I would fayne know in what figure that silogismus is made Christes disciples taught Christes doctrine confirming it with miracles that it might be knowen for Gods and not theirs And euen so must the Church that I wyll beleue shew a myracle or bryng autentike scripture that is come from the Apostles which consirmed it with myracles The xxix Chapter IN the xxix he alleageth that Christ sayd not the holy ghost shall write but shall teach It is not the vse to say the holy ghost writeth but inspireth y â writer I maruayle that he had not brought as many of hys brethren do Mathew in the last where Christ coÌmaunded the Apostles to go and teach all nations and sayd not write I auswere that this precept loue thy neighbour as thy selfe and God aboue all thyng went wyth the Apostles coÌpelled them to seeke Gods honour in vs and to seeke all meanes to continue the fayth vnto the worldes ende Now the Apostles knew before that heresies shoulde come and therefore wrote that it myght be a remedie against heresies as it well appeareth Iohn xx Where he sayth these are written that ye beleue and thorow beliefe haue lyfe And in the second of his fyrst Epistle he sayth these I write because of them that deceaue you And Paule and Peter therto warne vs in many places Wherfore it is manifest that the same loue compelled them to leaue nothyng vnwritten that should be necessarily required and that if it were left out should hurt the soule And in the last chapter to make all fast he bringeth in the kynges grace how he confuted Martin Luther with this conclusion y e Church can not erre where vnto I will make none aunswere for feare to displease his grace neuerthelesse because Martin could not soyle it if his grace looke well vpoÌ the matter he shall finde that God hath assoyled it for him in a case of his own And vppon that M. More concludeth his first booke that what soeuer the Church that is to were the pope his broode say it is Gods worde though it be not written nor confirmed with miracle nor yet good liuing yea and though they say to day this and to morow the contrary all is good inough and Gods word yea and though one Pope condemne an other ix or x. Popes arow with all their workes for he retickes as it is to see in the stories yet all is right and none errour And thus good night and good rest Christ is brought a slepe layde in his graue and the doore sealed to and the men of armes about the graue to keepe hym downe with polaxes For that is the siâ rest argument to helpe at nede and to be rid of these babblyng heretikes that so barke at the holy spiritualtie with y t Scripture beyng thereto wretches of no repuration neither Cardinals nor Bishops nor yet great beneficed men yea and without torquottes and pluralities hauyng no hold but the very Scripture whereunto they cleaue as burres so fast that they can not bee pulied away saue with very syngyng them of ¶ A sure token that the Pope is Antichrist ANd though vnto all the argumeÌts and persuasions whiche he would blind vs with to beleue that the Pope with his sect were the right Churche and that God for the multitude will not suffer them erre we were so simple that we saw not the suttiltie of the Argumentes nor had wordes to solâe theÌ with but our bare fayth in our hartes yet we be sure and so sure that we can therein not be decâaued and do both seele and see that the conclusion is false and the contrary true For first Peter sayth ij Pet. ij there shall be false teachers amoÌg you which shal secretly bring in damnable sectes denying the Lord that bought them and many shall folow their damnable wayes by whom the way of truth shal be euill spoken of and with fayned wordes they shall make marchaundise ouer you Now saith Paule Rom. iij. the law speaketh vnto theÌ that are vnder the law And euen so this is spokeÌ of theÌ that professe the name of Christ Now the Pope hath x. thousand sectes âropen in as pied in their consciences as in their coates settyng vp a thousand maner of workes to be saued by which is the denying of Christ And we see many and all most all together folow their damnable wayes And in that Peter sayd that they shall rayle blaspheme the truth it foloweth that there shal be a litle flocke reserued by the haÌd of God to testifie the truth vnto them or els how could they rayle on it And it foloweth that those raylers shal be the mightier part in the world or els they durst not do it Now what truth in Christ doth not the Pope rebuke and in settyng vp false woorkes denie all together And as for their fayued wordes where findest thou in all the Scripture Purgatory shrift penaunce pardon poena culpa hyperdoulia and a thousand fayned termes mo And as for their marchaundise looke whether they sell not all Gods lawes and also their owne and all sinne and all Christes merites and all that a maÌ can thinke To one he selleth the faulte onely and to an other the fault and the payne to and purgeth his purse of his money and his braynes of his wittes and maketh him so beastly that he can vnderstand no godly thyng And Christ sayth Math. xxiiij there shall false annoynted arise and shew signes and wonders that is they shall shew miracles so preuayle that if it were possible the elect should be brought out of the true way And these false annoynted by the same rule of Paule and in that Christ sayth also that they shall come in his name must be in the Church of Christ and of them that shal call theÌ selues Christen and shall shew their wonders before the elect and be a sore temptation vnto them to bryng theÌ out of the way And y e elect whiche ãâã few in comparison of them that be called and come faynedly shall among that great multitude bee kepte by the mighty hand of God agaynst all naturall possibilitie So that the Church very elert shall neuer be such
Gospell declare And when he sayth he neuer founde nor heard of any of vs but that he would forsweare to saue his lyfe Aunswere the more wrath of God wil light on them that so cruelly delite to torment them and so craftely to beguile the weake Neuerthelesse yet it is vntrue For he hath heard of Sir Thomas Hitton whoÌ the Byshops of Rochester and Caunterbury slew at Maydstone and of many y t suffered in Braband Holand at Colen and in all quarters of Dutchland and do dayly And when he sayth that their Church hath many Martyrs let hym shewe me one that dyed for pardons and Purgatory that the Pope hath fayned and let him take the mastrie And what a do maketh he that we say there is a Church that sinneth not that there is no man but that he sinneth whiche are yet both true We read i. Iohn iij. he that is borne of God sinneth not And Ephes v. men loue your wiues as the Lord doth the Churche and gaue him selfe for her to sanctifie her and to clense her in the fountaine of water through the word and to make her a glorious Church vnto hym selfe without spot or wrincle And i. Iohn i. If we say we haue no sinne we deceaue our selues and make him a lyer and hys word is not in vs. M. More also wil not vnderstand that the Church is some time taken for the elect onely whiche haue the law of God written in their hartes fayth to be saued through Christ written there also Which same for all that say with Paule that good which I would that do I not But that euill which I hate that do I so it is not I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in my flesh And Gala. v. the flesh lusteth coÌtrary to y e spirit the spirit coÌtrary to y â flesh so that these two fightyng betwene theÌ selues ye can not do what ye would For they neuer consent that sinne is good nor hate y â law nor cease to fight against the flesh but assoone as they be fallen rise and fight a fresh And that the Church is some tyme taken for the coÌmoÌ rascal of all that beleue whether with the mouth onely carnally with out spirite neither louyng the law in their harts nor feelyng the mercy that is in Christ but either runne all together at riot or keepe the law with cautels and expositions of their owne faynyng and yet not of loue but for feare of hell as the theues do for feare of the galowes make recompence to God for their sinnes with holy dedes He also will not vnderstand that there be two maner faythes one that is the fayth of the elect which purgeth them of all their sinnes for euer As ye see Iohn xv ye be cleane sayth Christ by the reason of the word that is thorough beleuyng Christs doctrine And Iohn i. he gaue them power to be the sonnes of God through beleuyng in his name And Iohn iij. he that beleueth the sonne hath euerlastyng lyfe a thousand like textes And an other of them that be called and neuer electe As the faith of Iudas of Symon Magus of the deuill and of the Pope In whose hartes the law of God is not written as it appeareth by their workes And therfore when they beleue many thynges of Christ yet wheÌ they come vnto the saluation that is in his bloud they be but Iewes and Turkes forsake Christ and runne vnto the iustifying of ceremonies with the Iewes Turkes And therefore they remayne euer in sinne within in their hartes Where the elect hauing the law written in their brestes leuyng it in theyr spirites sinne there neuer but without in the flesh Agaynst whiche sinne they fight continually and minishe it dayly with the helpe of the spirite thorough prayer fasting and seruing their neighbours louyngly with all maner seruice out of the law that is writteÌ in their harts And their hope of forgeuenesse is in Christ onely through his bloud and not in ceremonies The v. Chapter ANd vnto hys v. Chapter I answere by the Pope the scripture is hid and brought into ignoraunce the true sence corrupt And by theÌ that ye call heretickes we know the scripture and the true sence thereof And I say that the Pope keepeth the scripture as did y e Phariseis to make marchaundise of it And agayne that the heretickes become out of you as out of the Scribes and Phariseis came the Apostles and Christ himselfe Iohn Baptist and that they be plucked out of you and graffed in Christ and built vppon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes And in the end when he sayth that the heretickes be fallen out of Christes misticall body which is the Pope and hys I aunswere that ye be a misticall body and walke in the mist and wyll not come at the light and the heretikes be departed out of your mist and walke in the cleare light of Gods worde The vj. Chapter IN the vj. he sayth that the heretikes be all nought for they all periure and abiure He yet saith vntrue Many abyde vnto the death Many for theyr weakenesse are kept out of your haÌds Many for their ouer much boldnesse in their owne strength be deliuered into your handes and fall in the fleshe their hartes abiding still in the truth as Peter and thousandes did after repent and be no lesse Christen theÌ before though ye haue them in derision vnto your owne damnation And many because they come to Christ for fleshly liberty and not for loue of the truth fall as it becommeth them vnder your handes as Iudas and Balam which at the beginning take Christes parte but afterward when they fynde eyther losse or no vauntage they get them vnto the contrary part and are by profession the most cruell enemyes and subtellest persecuters of the truth Looke Maister More and reade and marke well The vij Chapter IN the vij he sayth that he hath holy Saintes and holy counsels on hys side Name the Saintes proue it Name the counselles and the holy Prelates thereof Thou shalt shew me none other Popes or Cardinals then such as we haue now that will obey neyther God nor maÌ or any law made by God or man but compell all men to follow them strengthning their kyngdome wyth the multitude of all misdoers He sayth also that good and bad worship Saintes the good well and the bad euill How coÌmeth it then that ye shew not the difference and teach to do it well I see but one fashion among all the popishe And finally he sayth he is not bounâ to answere vnto the reasons and scriptures that are layde agaynst them It is inough to proue their part that it is a common custome and that such a multitude do it and so by his doctrine the Turkes are in the right way The viij Chapter
and so receaue mine health of the hand of God And euen so wheÌ I pray to man to helpe me at myne neede I sinne except I complayne first to God and shew him my nede and desire hym to moue one or an other to helpe me then wheÌ I am holpe thanke him and receaue it of his hand in as much as hee moued the hart of hym that holpe me gaue him wherewith and a commaundement to do it M. More Christ is not dishonoured because that they which here preach hym truly shall sit and iudge with hym Tyndale That to be true y e Scripture testifieth but what is that to your purpose that they whiche be dead can heare vs helpe vs How beit if M. More should describe vs those sectes I am sure he would paint them after the fashion of my Lord Cardinals holy chaire as he doth God after the similitude of worldly tyraunts and not accordyng to his owne word For they that be worldly and fleshly mynded can but fleshly imagine of God all together lyke vnto the similitude of worldely thynges M. More The Apostles and Saintes were prayed so when they were aliue and God not dishonoured Tynd. What helpeth that your carnal purpose I haue aunswered you vnto that many thinges ââ¦o in the obedieÌce and other places agaynst whiche ye reply not but keepe your tune and vnto all thyng syng kokow kokow we be the Church can not erre The Apostles had Gods word for all that they dyd and ye none And yet many dishonoured God and Christ for their false trust confidence whiche they had in y e Apostles as thou mayst see by Paul to the Corinthians Then he breaketh forth into open blasphemy and sayth that it behoueth vs to pray vnto Saints and that God will els not heare vs for our presumptuous malapertenesse So it is now presumptuous malapertenesse to trust in Gods word and to beleue that God is true Paule teacheth vs to be bolde to goe vnto God sheweth vs good cause in Christ why we so may that God would so haue vs. Neither is there any cause to kepe vs backe saue that we loue him not nor trust him If a man say our sinne should keepe vs backe I say it we repent and beleue in Christ Christ hath taken them away and therfore through hym we may be bolde And Christ sayd at his last Supper Iohn xvj I say not that I will pray for you vnto my father for my father loueth you As who should say be not afrayed nor staÌd without the dores as a dastard but be bolde go into my father your selues in my name shew your complayntes for he now loueth you because ye loue my doctrine And Paul sayth Ephe. ij we haue all an opeÌ way in through him and are now no more forenners or straungers but of y e houshold of God Of God therfore we be bold as of a most louyng and mercifull father aboue all the mercy of fathers And of our Sauiour Iesus we be bold as of a thyng that is our owne and more our owne then our owne skinnes and a thyng that is so soft and gentle that lade we him neuer so much with our sinnes he can not be angry nor cast them from of his backe so we repent and will amende But M. More hath an other doctrine to driue vs froÌ God and to make vs tremble and be afferde of him He likeneth God to worldly tyrauntes at whom no man may come saue a few flatterers whiche minister vnto them all volâptuousnesse serue their luââes at all pointes which flatterers must first be corrupt with giftes yer a man may come at the kyng TheÌ hee sayth a man may pray to euery dead man That me thinketh should be agaynst the Popes doctrine and profite also For he will haue no man prayed to vntill he haue caÌuesed him I would say canonised hym and till God or at the leât way the deuill haue shewed miracles for him Then he bringeth how one that was dead and in the inuisible purgatory holpe an other that was alyue and in the visible Purgatory This is a straunge case that a man there may helpe an other not him selfe And a more strauÌge case that God heareth a man here for hym selfe beyng in his owne Purgatory and helpeth him cleane out or caseth him if it be to sore But and he be in the Popes Purgatory God wil not heare him for him selfe and that because the Pope might haue somewhat to deliuer hym And the straungest case of aâ is that the Pope is almighty there and God can do there nought at all as the Pope can not here in this Purgatory But because this is not Gods word nor lyke Gods doctrine I thinke it no damnable sinne to beleue it Poetrie Then how ye may pray for them and to them till they be canonised and wheÌ they be canonised but to them onely for then ye be sure that they bee in heauen By what token I may be as sure by y e canonising as I am that all the Byshops which the Pope confirmeth be holy men and all the Doctours that he maketh well learned and that all the Priests which he annoynteth haue the holy ghost If ye say because of the miracles then do men wrong to pray for kyng Henry of Windsore at Cambridge and Eton. For he as men say doth miracles And also if the miracles certifie vs what nedeth to buy the Popes canonisyng The ix Chapter IN the ix he putteth no ieopardy to pray to him that is daÌned and to sticke vp a candle to him nor I trow vnto the deuill thereto if hee might haue a vauntage by him Then he maketh no ieopardy to do and beleue what soeuer an open multitude called Gods Church doth and beleueth For God will haue an open Church that can not erre For sayth he when the Israelites fell to Idolatry the true church remained in HierusaleÌ among the Iewes First I say if a man had no better vnderstandyng then M. Mores doctrine he could not know whether were y t true Church the Iewes or the Israelites For the Israelites were in number v. tymes moe then the Iewes and worshypped God though as present in the Image of a Calfe as y t Iewes for the most part present in the Arcke of testimonie And secondarely he sayth false For the Iewes were fallen into open Idolatrie a thousand tymes worse theÌ the Israelites euen in their very teÌple as it appeareth by open stories and by the Prophetes so that for their open Idolatrie whiche they would for no preachyng of the Prophetes amende their Priestes therto resistyng the Prophetes and encoragyng the people in their wickednesse God sent them captiue out of the land Yea and the people erred in folowing the Scribes and Phariseis the open multitude called Gods Church at y t
the abuse And Ezechias brake the brasen serpeÌt 4. King 18. for the abuse And euen so such processions and the multitude of ceremonies and of holydayes to might as wel be put downe And the ceremonies that be left would haue their significations put to them and the people should be taught them And on the Sondayes Gods woorde woulde be truely preached Which if hys holy church would do neyther the Irishe nor yet the Welshe woulde so pray By which praying and other like blyndnesse M. More may see that buzsing in Latine on the holy dayes helpeth not the hartes of the people And I wonder that M. More can laugh at it and not rather weepe for compassion to see the soules for which Christ shed hys bloud to perish And yet I beleue that your holy Church will not refuse at Easter to receaue y â tithes of all that such blynde people robbe as well as they dispence wyth all false gotteÌ good that is brought them and wyll lay the ensample of Abraham and Melchisedeck for them The xii Chapter IN the xij he alleageth that S. Hierome and Augustine prayed to Saints and concludeth that if any secte be one better then an other they be the best I answere though he coulde proue that they prayed to Saintes yet coulde he not proue hymselfe thereby of the best sect nor that it were good therefore to pray to Saints For first the Apostles Patriarkes and Prophetes were sure to be folowed which prayed to none And agayne a good man might erre in many thynges and not be damned so that hys errour were not directly agayust the promises that are in Christes bloud neyther that he held them maliciously As if I beleued that the soules were in heaueÌ immediatly and that they prayed for vs as we do one for an other and did beleue that they heard al that we spake or thought and vppon that prayed to some Saint to pray for me to put hym in remeÌbrance onely as I pray my neighbour and without other trust or confidence and though all be false yet should I not be damned so loÌg as I had no obstinacie therein for the fayth that I haue in Christes bloud should swalow vp that errour till I were better taught but M. More should haue alleaged the places where they prayed vnto saintes And then he alleageth agaynst hym selfe that the miracles were wrought by God to confirme hys doctrine and to testifie that the preacher there was a true messenger But the myracles that confirme praying to Saintes do not confirme Gods doctrine But mans imaginations For there was neuer man yet that came forth and sayd loe the sâulâs of the Saintes that be dead be in heauen in ioy with Christ and God wyll that ye pray vnto them In token whereof I do this or that miracle And when he triumpheth a little after as though all were wonne saying if our olde holy doctours were false and their doctrine vntrue and their miracles fayned let them come forth and do miracles themselues and proue ours fayned Syr ye haue no doctours that did myracles to stablishe your worshippyng of Images and so forth Your doctrine is but the opinion of faythlesse people which to coÌfirme y t deuil hath wrought much subtiltie And as for the myracles done at Saints graues and at the presence of reliques as long as true myracles endured and vntill the scripture was antentickly receaued were done to confirme the preaching y t such Saints had preached while they were aliue And therto the myracles which Witches do we confound not wyth other myracles but wyth scripture we proue them not of God but of the deuill to stablishe a false fayth to leade from God as your doctrine doth And likewise where we can confound your false doctrine with auteÌticke manifest scripture there neede we to do no myracle We bryng Gods testament coÌfirmed wyth myracles for all that we do ye ought to require no more of vs. And in like maner do ye first geue vs autenticke scripture for your doctrine If ye haue no scripture come forth and preach your doctrine and coÌfirme it wyth a myracle And then if we bring not autenticke scripture agaynst you or confounde your myracle wyth a greater as Moses dyd the sorcerers of Egipt we wyll beleue you And when he speaketh of tryall of myracles what do ye to trie your myracles whether they be true or fayned And besides that Gods worde which should be the triall ye refuse and do all that ye can to falsifie it And when he speaketh of sectes of heretickes I answere that they which ye call heretickes beleue all in one Christ as the scripture teacheth and ye in all saue Christ And in your false doctrine of your owne fayning wythout scripture ye haue as many sundry sectes as all Monkes and Fryers and students in diuinitie in all your vniuersities For first yer ye come to diuinitie ye be all taught to deny the saluation that is in Christ And none of you teacheth an nother so much as the articles of your fayth But follow almost euery man a sundry doctour in y e scripture hys owue brayne framyng it euer after the false opinions whiche he hath professed yer he come at it And when he sayth that God would soone vtter fayned myracles I answere God hath had at all times one or another to improue yours wyth Gods woorde And I aske whether Mahometes fayned myracles haue not preuayled viij hundred yeares And your abhominable deedes worse then the Turkes testifie that ye loue the truth lesse then they And vnto them that loue not the truth hath God promysed by the mouth of Paule 2. Thess 2. to send them aboundaunce and strength of false myracles to stablishe them in lyes and to deceaue them and lead theÌ out of the way so that they cannot but perishe for their vnkindnesse that they loued not the truth to liue therafter to honour God in their members And wheÌ he saith the heretickes haue no miracles I answer they nede not so long as they haue autentickescripture And when he sayth God sheweth no myracles for the doctoures of the heretickes No more he nedeth not for all they preach is the scripture confirmed wyth myracles and receaued many hundred yeares agoe And therefore God nedeth not to shew myracles for them whyle they liue to strength their preaching And to shew myracles for them when they be dead to moue the people to pray to them and to put their trust in them as ye do in yours were to make them Idoles not Saintes And when he speaketh of myracles done in their churches in tyme of persecution I answere those were not the miracles of your Churche but of them that beleued the Scripture and suffered for it as y t heretickes do now For ye had neuer persecution for your false doctrine which
desperation and partly that he fall not into hate of his father and of his commaundement thereto and thinke that his father is a tyraunt and his law but tyranny M. More seleth with his good endeuour inspiration together that a man may haue the best fayth coupled with the worst lyfe and with consentyng to sinne And I feele that it is impossible to beleue truly except a maÌ repent and that it is impossible to trust in y â mercy y â is in Christ or to fele it but y â a man must immediatly loue God his commaundementes and therfore disagree disconsent vnto the fleshe and be at bate therewith and fight agaynst it And I feele that euery soule that loueth y â law and hateth his fleshe and beleueth in Christes bloud hath his sinnes which he committed and payne which he deserued in haryng the law and consentyng vnto his flesh forgeuen him by that fayth And I feele that the frailtie of the flesh agaynst whiche a beleuyng soule lighteth to subdue it is also forgeuen and not rekened or imputed for sinne all the tyme of our curyng as a kynde father and mother reken not or impute the imposuÌbilitie of their youÌg children to consent vnto their law and as when the children be of age and consent theÌ they reken not nor impute the impossibilitie of the flesh to folow it immediatly but take al a worth and loue them no lesse but rather more tenderly then their old and perfect children that do their commaundemeÌtes so long as they go to schole learne such thynges as their fathers mothers set theÌ to And I beleue that euery soule that repeÌteth beleueth and loueth the law is thorough that fayth a member of Christes Churche and pure without spot or wrincle as Paule affirmeth Ephe. v. And it is an Article of my beleffe that Christes elect Church is holy and pure without sinne and euery meÌber of the same thorow faith in Christ and that they be in the full fauour of God And I feele that the vncleanesse of the soule is but the consent vnto sin and vnto the fleshe And therefore I feele that euery soule that beleueth and consenteth vnto the lawe and here in this life hateth his flesh and the lustes therof and doth his best to driue sinne out of his flesh and for hate of the sinne gladly departeth from his flesh when he is dead and the lustes of the fleshe slaine with death needeth not as it were bodely tormenting to be purged of that wherof he is quit already And therfore if ought remaine it is out to be taught and not to be beaten And I feele that euery soule that beareth fruit in Christ shal be purged of the father to beare more fruit day by day as it is written Ioh. xv not in the Popes Purgatory where no man feeleth it but here in this life such fruit as is vnto his neighbours profite so that he which hath his hope in Christ purgeth himselfe here as Christ is pure 1. Ioh. 3. and that euer yet the bloud of Iesus onely doth purge vs of all our ââ¦s for the imperfectnes of our woorkes And I feele that the forgeuenes of sinnes is to remitte mercifully the payne that I haue deserued And I do beleue that the payne that I here suffer in my fleshe is to keepe the body vnder and to serue my neighbour and not to make satsfaction vnto god for the sore sinses And therfore when the Pope describeth God after his couetous complexion and when M. More feleth by inspiration and captiuating his wittes vnto the Pope that God forgeueth the euerlasting payne and will yet punish me a thousand yeares in the Popes purgatory that leauen sauoreth not in my mouth I vnderstand my fathers wordes as they sound and after the most mercifull maner and not after the Popes leauen and M. Mores captining his wittes to beleue that euery Poetes fable is a true story There is no father here that punisheth his sonne to purge hym when he is purged already and hath vtterly forsaken sinne and euââl and hath submitted himselfe vnto his fathers doctrine For to punishe a man that hath forsaken sinne of his owne accorde is not to purge him but to satisfie the lust of a tyrant Neyther ought it to be called Purgatory but a Iayle oftormenting and a satisfactory And when the Pope sayth it is done to satisfie the righteousnes as a iudge I say we that beleue haue no iudge of him but a father neither shal we come into iudgemeÌt as Christ hath promised vs but are receaued vnder grace mercy and forgeuenes Shew the Pope a litle money and God is so mercifull that there is no Purgatory And why is not the fire out as well if I offer for me the bloud of Christ If Christ hath deserued all for me who gaue the Pope might to keepe part of his deseruinges from me and to buy sell Christes merites to make marchaundise ouer vs wyth fayned wordes And thus as M. More feleth that y â Pope is holy church I feele that he is Antichrist And as my feeling can be no proofe to him no more caÌ his wyth all his captiuating his wittes to beleue phantasies be vnto me wherefore if he haue no other probation to proue that the Pope is holy church then that his hart so agreeth vnto hys learning he ought of no right to coÌpell with sword vnto his sect How be it there are euer two maner people that will cleaue vnto God a fleshly and a spirituall The spirituall which be of God shall heare Gods woorde and the children of the truth shall consent vnto the truth And contrary the fleshly and children of falshead and of the deuill whose harts be full of lyes shall naturally consent vnto lyes as young children though they haue eate themselues as good as dead with fruit yet will not nor caÌ beleue him that telleth them that such fruit is nought but him that prayseth them wyll they heare and eate themselues starcke dead because their harts be full of lyes and they iudge all thinges as they appeare vnto the eyes And the fleshly mynded assoone as he beleueth of God as much as the deuill doth he hath inough and goeth to and serueth God with bodely seruice as he before serued his Idoles and after his owne imaginacion and not in the spirite in louing his lawes and beleuing his promises or longing for them no if he myght euer liue in the fleshe he would neuer desire them And God must do for him againe not what he hath promised but what he lusteth And his brother y â serueth God in y e spirit according to Gods word hym will the carnall beast persecute So that he which will godly liue must suffer persecution vnto the worldes end according vnto the doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles and according vnto the
violence euen so once our hartes sinned as naturally with full lust and consent vnto the fleshe the deuill possessing our hartes and keeping out the light of grace What good towardnesse and endeuour can we haue to hate sinne as long as we loue it What good towardnes can we haue vnto the will of God while we hate it and be ignoraunt therof Can the will desire that the witte seeth not Can the will long for and sigh for that the witte knoweth not of Can a maÌ take thought for that losse that he wotteth not of what good endeuour can the Turkes children the Iewes children and the Popes infantes haue when they be taught all falshead onely with like perswasions of worldly reason to be all iustified with workes It is not therefore as Paule saith of the running or willing but of the mercy of God that a man is called and chosen to grace The first grace the first fayth and the first iustifiyng is geuen vs freely sayth M. More which I would faine wete how it will stand with his other doctrine whether he meane any other thyng by chosyng them to haue Gods spirite geuen me and fayth to see the mercy that is layd vp for me to haue my sinnes forgeuen without all deseruyng preparyng of my self God did not see onely that the these that was saued at Christes death should come thether but God chose him to shew his mercy vnto vs that should after beleue and prouided actually wrought for the bringyng of him thether that day to make him see and to receaue the mercy that was layd vp for him in store before the world was made The xij Chaptâ⦠IN y t xij in chaffyng himself to heape lye vpon lye he vttereth his feleable blindnesse For he axeth this question wherfore serueth exhortatioÌs vnto faith if the hearers haue not libertie of their frewill by whiche together with Gods grace a man may labour to submitte the rebellion of reason vnto the obedieÌce of faith and credence of the worde of God Wherof ye see that besides his graunt that reason rebelleth agaynst fayth coÌtrary to the doctrine of his first booke he will that the will shall compell the witte to beleue Whiche is as much to say as the carte must draw the horses and the sonne beget the father and the authoritie of the Church is greater theÌ Gods word For the wil can not teach the wit nor lead her but foloweth naturally so that what soeuer the witte iudgeth good or euill that the will loueth or hateth If the witte see and leade straight the will foloweth If the witte be blynde and leade amisse the will foloweth cleane out of y t way I can not loue Gods worde before I beleue it nor hate it before I iudge it false and vanitie He might haue wiselier spoken on this maner wherfore serueth the preachyng of fayth if the wit haue no power to draw the will to loue that whiche the wit iudgeth true and good If the will be nought teach the wit better the will shall alter and turne to good immediatly Blindnesse is the cause of ali euil and light the cause of all good so that where the fayth is right there the hart can not consent vnto euill to folow the lustes of the flesh as the popes fayth doth And this conclusion hath he halfe a doseÌ tymes in his boke that the will may compell the witte and captiuate it to beleue what a maÌ lusteth Verely it is like that his wittes be in captiuitie and for vauntage tangled with out holy fathers sophistrie His doctrine is after his owne feelyng and as the profession of his hart is For the Popish haue yelded theÌ selues to folow the lustes of their flesh compel their witte to absteine froÌ looking on y e truth lest she should vnquiet them and draw them out of the podell of their filthy voluptuousnesse As a carte that is ouerladen goyng vp an hill draweth the horses backe and in a tough mire maketh them stand still And then the carter the deuill whiche driueth theÌ is euer by and whistelleth vnto them and biddeth them captiuate their vnderstaÌdyng vnto profitable doctrine for which they shal haue no persecution but shal reigne and be kynges and enioy the pleasures of the world at their owne will The xiij Chapter IN the xiij hee sayth that the Clergie burneth no man As though the pope had not first fouÌd the law as though all his preachers babled not that in euery Sermon burne these heretickes burne them for we haue no other argument to conuince them and as though they compelled not both Kyng Emperour to sweare that they shall so do yer they crowne them Then hee bringeth in prouisions of Kyng Henry the v. Of whom I aske M. More whether he were right heyre vnto England or held hee the land with the sworde as an heathen tyraunt agaynst all right Whom the Prelates lest he should haue had leysure to hearken vnto the truth sent into Fraunce to occupie his mynde in warre and led hym at their will And I aske whether his father slew not his leige kyng and true inheritour vnto the crowne and was therefore set vp of the Byshops a false kyng to mainteine theyr falshead And I aske whether after that wicked deede folowed not the destruction of the comminaltie and quenchyng of all noble bloud The xiiij Chapter IN the xiiij he affirmeth that Martine Luther sayth it is not lawfull to resiste the Turke I wonder that hee shameth not so to lye seyng that Martine hath written a singular treatise for the contrary Besides that in many other workes he proueth it lawfull if he inuade vs. The xvi Chapter IN the xvi he alledgeth Councels I aske whether Councels haue authoritie to make Articles of the faith with out Gods worde yea and of thynges improued by Gods word He alledgeth Augustine Hierome Cypriane Let him put their workes in English and S. Prosperus with them Why damned they the vnion of Doctours but because the Doctours are agaynst them And when he alledgeth Martyrs let him shew one and take the calfe for his labour And in the end he biddeth beware of theÌ that liue well in any wise As though they whiche lyue euill can not teach amisse And if that be true then they be of the surest side M. When Tyndall was apposed of his doctrine yer hee went ouer see he sayde and sweare he ment no harme Tyndall He sware not neither was there any man that required an othe of him but he now sweareth by him whoÌ âe trusteth to be saued by that hee neuer ment or yet meaneth any other harme then to suffer all that God hath prepared to be leyd on his backe for to bryng his brethreÌ vnto the light of our Sauiour Iesus which the Pope thorough falshead and corruptyng such Poetes as ye are ready vnto
Christe which wist all thyng before hand sayth Math. xviij Wo be vnto the world by reason of occasions of euill and sayth also that it caÌ not be auoyded but that occasions shall come therfore it caÌ not be chosen but that many shall ouer fall when a weake brother hath trespassed by what law shall he be punished verely by the law of loue whose properties thou readest in the 1. Cor. xiij If the loue of God whiche is my professioÌ be written in myne hart it will not let me hate my weake brother when hee hath offended me no more then natural loue wil let a mother hate her child when it trespasseth agaynst her My weake brother hath offended me he is falleÌ his weakenesse hath ouerthroweÌ him it is not right by the law of loue that I should now fall vpon hym and treade him downe in the myre and destroy him vtterly But it is right by the law of loue that I runne to him helpe him vp agayne By what processe we should go to law with our trespassers Christ teacheth vs Math. xviij Tell him his faulte betwene him and thee with all mekenesse remembring thou art a man and mayst fall also If he repent and thou loue him ye shal soone agree and then forgeue him And when thou forgeuest thy neighbour theÌ thou art sure that God forgeueth thee thy trespasses by his holy promise Math. vj. If hee heare thee not then take a neighbour or two If he heare them not then tell the congregation where thou art and let the preacher pronounce Gods law against him and âet the sad and discrete men rebuke him and exhorte him vnto repentaunce If he repent and thou also loue him accordyng to thy professioÌ ye shall soone agree If he heare not the congregation then let him be taken as an heathen If he that is offended be weake also theÌ let them that be stroÌg go betwene and helpe them And in lyke maner if any sinne agaynst the doctrine of Christ and the profession of a Christen man so that he be a dronckard and an whore keper or what soeuer open sinne he do or if he teach false learnyng then let such be rebuked opeÌly before the congregation and by the authoritie of Scripture And if they repent not let them be put out of the congregation as heathen people If they theÌ be not ashamed we haue no remedy but pacieÌtly to abide what God wil do and to pray in the meane tyme that God will open their hartes and geue theÌ repentaunce Other law then this Christes Gospel knoweth not nor the officers therof It is manifest therfore that the kingdome of Christ is a spirituall kingdom which no man can minister well and a teÌporall kingdome to as it is sufficieÌtly proued because that no man whiche putteth his hand to the plow and looketh backe is apt for the kyngdome of heauen as Christ aunswered Luke ix vnto him y t would haue folowed hym but would first haue take leaue of his houshold If a man put his haÌd to the plow of Gods worde to preach it and looke also vnto worldly businesse his plow will surely go awry And therefore sayth Christe vnto an other that would likewise folow him but desired first to go and bury his father Let the dead bury the dead but come thou and shew or preach the kyngdome of God As who should say he that will preach the kingdome of god which is Christs Gospell truly must haue his hart no where els What officers the Apostles ordeined in Christes Church and what their offices were to do WHerfore the Apostles folowyng and obeyng the rule doctrine commaundement of our Sauiour Iesus Christ their master ordeined in his kyngdome and congregation two officers One called after the Breeke worde Byshop in English an ouersear which same was called Priest after the Greeke Elder in English because of his age discretioÌ and fadnesse for he was as nigh as could be alway an elderly maÌ as thou seest both in the new and old Testament also how the officers of the Iewes be called the Elders of the people because as thou mayst well thinke they were ouer old men as nigh as could be For vnto age do men naturally obeye and vnto age doth God commauÌde to geue honour saying Leuâ xix Rise vp before the horehead and reuerence the face of the old man And also experience of things and coldnesse without whiche it is hard to rule well is more in age theÌ in youth And this ouersear dyd put hys handes vnto the plow of Gods worde and fed Christes flocke and tended theÌ onely without lookyng vnto any other businesse in the world An other officer they chose and called him Deacon after the Greke a minister in English to minister the almes of the people vnto the poore and nedy For in the coÌgregation of Christ loue maketh euery mans gift goods commoÌ vnto the necessitie of his neighbour Wherfore the loue of God beyng yet hoate in the hartes of men the rich that had the substauÌce of this worldes goodes brought of their aboundaunce great plentie vnto the sustentation of the poore deliuered it vnto the haÌds of the Deacons And vnto the helpe of the DeacoÌs were widowes of lx yeare old holy vertuous and destitute of frendes chosen to tende wayte vpon the sicke and to wash the Saints fete that came from one congregation vnto an other whether for any businesse or for feare of persecution And those common goodes of the Churche offered for the succour of the poore grew in all Churches so excedyngly that in some congregation it was so much that it was sufficient to mayntaine an host of men In so much that tyrauntes did oft tymes persecute the Christen for those common goodes as thou seest in the life of S. Laurence the Deacon of Rome And moreouer the couetousnes of the Prelates was the decay of ChristeÌdome and the encreasing of the kyngdome of Mahomete For by the first springing of the empyre of Mahomete the Emperours Kynges and great Lordes of Christendome had geuen their treasure so mightely vnto the Church what after great victories what at their deathes that their successours were not able to maintaine battell against the Saracenes Turkes for the world was not yet in such captiuitie that they coulde make theyr subiectes sweare on bookes what they were worth rayse vp taxes at their pleasure so that a certayne writer of stories sayth ⪠The prelates gaped wheÌ the laye meÌ would take the warre vppon them agaynst the Turkes the laye men looked when the Prelates woulde lay out their money to make the warre withall and not to spend it in worse vse as the most part of them were wont to do spending the money that was gotten with almose bloude of martyrs vppon goodly plate and great vesseles of golde
that this would be a iopardous yeare for him what for the treason that he had wrought against the Emperour and what for y t mony which he had borowed of the Commons least any rising should be against him then he thought to vndoe his desteny with his policies and went and put downe himselfe vnder a colour which the processe of the tragedy well declareth and set vp in his roome to minister forth to fight against God as he had begun the chiefest of all his Secretaries one nothing inferiour vnto his master in lying faining bearing two faces in one hode a whelpe that goeth not out of kinde from his syre the chiefest stale wherewith the Cardinall caught the kinges grace whome he called vnto the confirmation of al that he entended to persuade saying If it like your grace More is a learned man and knoweth it and is also a lay man wherefore he will not say otherwise then it is for any parcialitie to vswarde Which secretary yet must first deserue it wyth writing against Martin and agaynst the Obedience and Mammon and be come the proctour of Purgatorye to write against y â supplicatioÌ of beggers And then to blinde the world withall many quarrels were picked the Cardinall might not speake with the kinges grace the broad seale was fette away high treason was layd to hys charge i. that he breathed heard I say in the kinges face when he had the french pockes O hypocrices but the very treason that he had wrought was not spoke of at all nor ought worthy of a traytour done to him at all Then they called a Parliament as though the golden world should come againe wherin the hypocriâs to bleare mens eyes withall made a reformation of mortuaries and probates of testamentes the root yet left behind whence all that they haue for a time weeded out will spring againe by litle and litle as before if they as their hope is may stop this light of Gods worde that is now abroad They made a reformation also of pluralities of benefices ordayning that henceforth no man may come by pluralitie of benifices with vertue and conning but with seruing for theÌ in y â court Which what other thing is it saue playne symony O blinde busserdes and shamelesse hypocrites What care they to do whether agaynst God or their own lawes to flatter great men withall to blind theÌ But harke here The tithes were ordayned at the beginning to finde the preachers and the poore people which now goe a begging so that the church wardens ought to take the benefices into their handes in the name of the parish deliuer the preacher of Gods word there dwellyng and preseÌt a sufficient liuing deuide the rest among y e poore people And the king is bound to maintaine that order and not to resist them except he will be an open tyraunt Now I appele the consciences of the kinges grace and of his lordes What aunswer will they geue when they come before Christ in y e last iudgement for their robbing of so many soules in so many parishes of Gods word with holding euery man so many chaplaynes in their houses wyth pluralities of benefices and for the robbing of so many poore and needy of their due and dayly foode whose need for lacke of succour cryeth to God continually for vengeaunce against them which we see daily by a thousand misfortunes fall on them and on theyr wiues and children Let them read Exodus and Deutronomie and see what they finde there Yea and what shall so many chaplaines do First slay theyr soules then defile their wiues their daughters and their maydens and last of all betray them When this reformation the coloure and cloke of their hipocrisy was made then the spiritualtie came douking before the kinges grace and forgaue him y t mony which they had leÌt their pope to bring in the temporalty to make theÌ after their example to do likewise as louing subiects no lesse kinde vnto their Prince theÌ the spiritualty For their arses were vpoÌ thornes til y â lone was forgeuen for feare of afterclaps wherupon the teÌporality forgaue their part also in hope of y t thy obteined not For assone as the lone was forgeueÌ the parliament brake vp because our prelates their coÌfederat frends had fouÌd y â they sought caught y e fish for which they layed the bayt of all those faces of reformations and for which the Cardinall to bring y t worlde into a fooles paradise was compelled eueÌ with his owne good will to resigne his chauncellorshyp that to whoÌ he listed him selfe And as for the bishoprike of Durham to say the very truth he could not of good congruitie but reward his old chaplaine and one of the chief of al his secretaries with all still Saturne that so seldome speaketh but walketh vp downe all day musing and imagining mischiefe a douking hypocrite made to dissemble Which for what seruice done in christes Gospell came he to the bishoprike of London Or what such seruice did he therein He burnt the new Testament calling it Doctrinam perigrinam strainge learning Yea verily Looke how strange his liuing in whose bloud that testament was made was from the liuing of the pope euen so strainge is that doctrine from the popes law in which onely and in the practise therof is Tunstal learned Which also for what cause left he the bishoprike of London Euen for the same cause he tooke it after that he had long serued for it couetousnes and ambition Neither is it possible naturally that there should be any good Bishop so long as the bisshoprickes be nothing saue worldlye pompe and honour superfluous abundance of all maner riches and libertie to do what a man listeth vnpunished thinges which onely the euill desire and all good men abhorre And assone as the Parliament was ended the Cardinall had his charter and gat him home and all Bisshops gat them euery foxe to his hole leuing yet their attournies behinde them to come againe themselues assone as the constellation is somewhat ouerrunne whereof they be afrayd ¶ What the cause of all this mischiefe is WHence commeth all this mischiefâVerily it is the hand of God to auenge the wantonnesse of great men which will walke without the feare of God folowing y e steps of the hye Prelates contrary vnto their profession to auenge also y t wrongs the blasphemies subtil persecuting of his word For when Martin Luther had vttered the abhominations of the Pope and his clergy with Gods worde and diuers bookes were come into England our Cardinall thought to finde a remedy against that well enough and sent to Rome for this vaine title Defender of the fayth which the Vicar of Croydon preached that the Kynges grace would not lose for all London and xx mile round about it
naturall lust consent and custome to sinne and quickeneth them and purgeth them with the holesome penaunce of Christes doctrine make them serue the law outward and beare holesome frute of loue vnto the profect of their neighbours according to Christes loue vnto vs. For if the spirite of Christ with whiche God annoynteth vs and maketh vs kynges and sealeth vs and maketh vs his sure and seuerall kyngdome whiche he giueth vs in earnest 2. Cor. 1. And with whiche hee chaungeth vs into the Image of Christ 2. Cor. 4. dwell in our soules through fayth the same spirite can not but quicken the members also make them fruteful Rom. viij Wherfore the fayth and hope of the Pope whiche by their owne confession may stand with all wickednes and consent vnto all euill be without repentaunce toward Gods lawe as it appeareth by their three capitall sinnes touched of Iohn a litle aboue pride couetousnes and lecherie are no true fayth and hope but vayne wordes and visures onely accordyng to his other disguisyng and names of hypocrisie All that committe sinne committe vnrighteousnes for sinne is vnrighteousnes That the English calleth here vnrighteousnes the Greeke calleth Anomia vnlawfulnes or breakyng y t law So that all sinne is breaking of Gods law onely the traÌsgression of Gods law is sinne Now all Gods lawes are contained in these two pointes beleue in Christ and loue thy neighbour And these two poyntes are the interpretyng and expoundyng of all lawes so that whatsoeuer edifieth in faith and loue is to be kept as loÌg as it so doth And whatsoeuer hurteth faith or loue is to bee broken immediatly though Kyng Emperour Pope or an AuÌgell commaunde it And all indifferent thynges that neither helpe nor hurt fayth and loue are whole in the hands of Father Mother Master Lord and Prince So that if they will sinne agaynst God and ouerlade our backes we may well runne away if we can escape but not aduenge ouer selues But and if they will breake into thy conscience as the Pope doth with his dome traditions and fayth to do this saueth thy soule and to leaue it vndone loseth thy soule theÌ defie them as the workes of Antichrist for they make thee synne agaynst the fayth that is in Christes bloud by which onely thy soule is saued and for lacke of that onely daÌned And howe loue breaketh the law take an example It is a good law that meÌ come to the Church on the Sondayes to heare Gods worde and to receaue the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ in remembrauÌce of his benefites and so to strengthen thy soule for to walke in his loue and in the loue of our neighbour for his sake c. yet if my father mother or any other that requireth my helpe bee sicke I breake that good commaundement to do my dutie to myne elders or my neighbour And thus all lawes are vnder loue giue roome to loue And loue interpreteth them yea and breaketh them at a time though God hymselfe coÌmaunde them For loue is Lord ouer al lawes And ye know that he appeared to take away our sinnes and there is no sinne in him Christ dyed not alone to purchasse pardon for our foresinnes but also to sâay all sinne and the life of sinne in our members For all we that are Baptised in the name of Christ sayth Paule Rom. 6. are Baptised to dye with hym concernyng sinne and that as he after his resurrection dyeth no more so we after our Baptisme should walke in a new life and sinne no more Our meÌbers are crucified with him in all that pertayneth vnto the lyfe of sinne And if in Christ be no sinne then how can therbe wilfull sinne in the fayth that is in hym or in the quicke members that through fayth grow out of hym Euery man therefore that hath the true fayth of Christ purgeth hym selfe as he is pure All that abyde in him sinne not And al that sinne haue neither sene him nor knowen him As there is no sinne in Christ the stocke so can there be none in y e quicke members that lyue and grow in hym by fayth And they that giue them selues to sinne haue neither sene knoweÌ or felt by fayth y â mercy that is in hym Our holy father then which forbiddeth Matrimonie and giueth his Disciples licences with his holy blessing to kepe whores and pluralities vnions and totquots to robbe the Parishes hath neither sene nor knowen Christ no more haue his Disciples that consent vnto his iniquitie And if they know him not they caÌ not truly describe him vnto vs. It foloweth then that their preachyng is but hypocrisie Litle children let no man beguile you He that worketh righteousnes is righteous as he is righteous Iudge men by their deedes For whosoeuer hath the light of God in his soule he will let his light shyne that men shall see his good woorkes And therfore where ye see not the righteousnes of woorkes in the members outward there be sure is no righteousnes of fayth in the hart in ward Let no man mocke you with vayne wordes Whosoeuer preacheth Christ in worde deede him take for Christes Vicare And them that would proue them selues his Vicares with Sophistrie and when it is come to the poynte make a sword onely their mighty arguments and liue coÌtrary to all his doctrine and in all their preachinges blaspheme and rayle on his blessed bloud take for the Vicares of Antichrist He that sinneth is of the deuill for the deuill sinneth from the begynneth But for this cause appeared the sonne of God Euen to destroy the woorkes of the deuill All that are borne of God do no sinne for his seede abideth in them and they can not sinne because they be borne of God And hereby are the sonnes of God knowen and also the sonnes of the deuill God and the deuill are two contrary fathers two contrary fountaines and two contrary causes the one of all goodnes the other of all euil And they that do euill are borne of the deuill and first euil by that byrth yer they do euil For yer a man do any euill outward of purpose he conceaued that euill first in his mynde and coÌsented vnto it and so was euil in his hart yer he wrought euill and yer he conceiued euill in hys hart he was borne of the deuil and had receaued of his seede and nature By the reason of which nature seede and byrth he worketh euill naturally and caÌ do no other As Christ saith Iohn 8. ye are of your father the deuill therefore will do the lustes of your father And on the other side they that do good are first borne of God and receaue of his nature seede and by the reason of that nature and seede are first good yer they do good by y t same rule And Christ which is coÌtrary to the deuill
beleued in Christ to bee incarnated and to suffer death what els meant the poore woman of Lanane by eating then to beleue wheÌ she aunswered Christ saying Ye say soth my Lorde But yet doe the little whelpes eate of the crummes that fall from their maisters table This dyd she aunswere in an allegory accordyng to Christes first aunswere vnto her she meanyng by y t eatyng of the crummes the belief of his woordes and Gospell to be scattered among the Gentils as Christ aunsweryng coÌfirmed her meanyng saying O woman great is thy fayth He sayd not thou art a great eater and deuourer of bread Here it is playne that to eate in the Scripture is taken to beleue as Christ him selfe expoundeth it so oft and so plentuously And I am here compelled to inculke iterate it with so many wordes to satisfie if it were possible this carnall fleshvowerer and fleshly Iew. Now to examine and to discusse this matter more depely playnly I shall compare the old passeouer with the new and supper of the Lord. And to shew you how the figures correspond their verities I will begyn my comparison at Baptisme comparyng it with the Lordes Supper which be the two Sacramentes left vs now vnder the grace of the Gospell And afterward to set foorth both these Sacramentes playnly I wil compare Circumcision with Baptisme the passe lambe with Christes Supper We by Baptisme as we testified vn to the congregation our entryng into the body of Christ take here Christes body as doth Paule for his congregation to dye to be buried and to ryse with him to mortifie our flesh and to be reuiued in spirite to cast of the old man and to do vpon vs the new euen so by the thankes giuyng for so did the old Greke doctours cal this Supper at Gods bourde or at the Lordes Supper for so doth Paule call it we testifie the vnitie and communion of our hartes glued vnto the whole body of Christ in loue yea and that such loue as Christ at this his last Supper expressed what tyme he sayd his body should be broken and his bloud shed for the remission of our sinnes And to be short As Baptisme is the badge of our fayth so is the Lordes Supper the token of our loue to God our neighbours where vppon standeth the law and the Prophetes For the end of the precept is loue out of a pure hart and good conscience and fayth vnfayned So that by baptisme we be initiated coÌsigned vnto the worship of one God in one fayth And by the same faith and loue at the Lordes Supper we shew our selues to coÌtinue in our possession to bee incorporated and to be the very members of Christes body Both these Sacramentes were figured in Moyses law Baptisme was figured by Circumcision the Lordes Supper by the eatyng of the passelambe Where lyke as by CircumcisioÌ the people of Israell were rekened to be Gods people seueral from the GeÌtiles so be we now by Baptisme rekened to bee consigned vnto Christes Church seuerall froÌ Iewes paynyms c. And as their passeouer that is to say their soleÌne feast yearely in eatyng their passelambe was an outward token of their perseueraunce in their religion and in remembraunce of their passage out of Egypt into the lande of Chanaan so is now the eatyng of the Lordes Supper whiche Christ and Paule called our passeouer a token of our perseueraunce in our Christen profession at Baptisme and also thankes giuyng with that ioyfull remeÌbraunce of our redemption froÌ sinne death and hell by Christes death Of the figure of this Supper our new passeouer thus it is written After ye be entred into that land whiche the Lord God shall giue you accordyng to his promise ye shall kepe this ceremonie And when your children aske you what Religion is this ye shall aunswere them It is the sacrifice of the passyng ouer of the Lord when the Lord passed foorth by the houses of the children of Israell in Egypt smityng the EgyptiaÌs and deliuering our houses This eatyng therfore of the passe lambe was the figure of the Lordes Supper ⪠whiche figure when the houre was come y â he would it to ceasse and giue place vnto the veritie as the shadow to vanish away at the presence of the body He sayd thus with a feruent desire do I long to eate this passeouer with you ere I suffer Agayne let vs compare the figure with the truth the old passeouer with the new and diligeÌtly consider the propertie of speakyng in and of either of theÌ Let vs expende the succession imitation and tyme how the new succeding the old mediatour Christ betwen both sitting at the Supper celebrating both with his presence did put out the old and bryng in the new For there is in either of them such like composition of wordes such affinitie and proportioÌ of spech such similitude and propertie in them both the new so correspoÌdyng in all thynges to the old that the old declareth the new what is it wherfore it was instituted and what is the very vse therof And to begyn at Circumcision the figure of Baptisme ye shall vn derstand that in such rites and SacrameÌtes there are two thinges to be considered that is to wit The thyng and the signe and of thyng The thynge is it wherfore the signe is instituted to signifie it as in Circumcision the thyng is the couenaunt to be of the people of God and the signe is the cuttyng of the foreskinne of the preuy meÌber In the passeouer the thing was the remeÌbraunce with thankes giuyng for the deliueraunce out of the hard seruitude of Egypt but the signe was the lambe rosted with such ceremonies as were there prescribed them So in baptisme The thyng is the promise to be of the Church of Christ the signe is the dippyng into the water with the holy wordes In our Lordes Supper the very thing is Christ promised and crucified and of faith with thankes giuing vnto the father for his sonne giuen to suffer for vs. But the signe is the dealyng and distributing or reaching forth of the bread and wyne with the holy wordes of our Lord spoken at his supper after he had thus dealt the bread wyne vnto his Disciples And here is it diligently to be noted That in all such rites ceremonies or Sacramentes of God thus instituted these two thinges that is to witte the thyng signified and the signe that signifieth be concurraunt and inseparable It is the common vse and propertie of spech in the Scripture to call the signe the thyng As is Circumcision called the couenaunt Euery manchild must be circumcised that my couenaunt might be in your flesh for a perpetuall bande And yet was it onely but the outward signe seale of the couenauÌt that the sede of Abraham should be his especial chosen people that he would
bloud Which precepte of the lawe and bycause that bloud is lyfe we affirme it to be set like as many other almost innumerable sacramentes of those Scriptures full of signes and figures of the preachyng to come whiche now is declared by our Lord Iesu Christ c. And I may interprete that precept to bee layed in a signe For the Lord doubted not to say This is my body when hee gaue the signe of his body And euen so is the bloud lyfe and the stone was Christ And yet when he sayd these wordes he sayd not the stone signified Christ but he sayd the stone was Christ whiche lest they should be taken carnally hee calleth it spirituall that is to say he teacheth it to bee vnderstand spiritually Where is now Mores litteral sense and materiall meate Now shall ye heare Chrisostome Nihil sensibile tradidit Christus licet dederit panem vinum non quod panis vinum non sint sensibilia sed quod in illis mentem haerere noluit Nam in suum corpus quod est panis vitae subuehit dicens Hoc est corpus meum perinde ac dicat Hoc licet panis sit significat tamen tibi corpus Thus it is in Englishe Christ geuyng bread and wyne gaue no sensible thyng not that bread and wine be not sensible but that he would not our mynde to sticke still in them For hee lifted vs vp into hys bodye which is the bread of lyfe saying This is my body as though he should say Though this be but bread yet it signifieth vnto thee my body Now iudge thou ChristeÌ reader whether M. More reporteth right of this maÌ that alledgeth these holy Doctours or no. Now haue ye the pure vnderstandyng of the wordes of the Lordes supper confirmed with the old holy Doctours That this is my body is as much to say as this signifieth my body And this is my bloud is this signifieth my bloud But yet was there neuer such maner of speaking in the scripture This is that that is to say This is conuerted and transubstanciated into that Or this is conteined in that the thyng conuerted and chaunged kepyng still her forme qualities quantities c. As to say This is my body that is to say This bread is conuerted into my body the bread abydyng still in his fashion tast colour waight c. For Christ when hee conuerted water into wyne dyd not leaue the fourme colour and tast still in the water For so had it bene no chaungyng But let our couetous conuerters choppe and chaunge bread and wyne till we there feele see tast neither bread nor wyne and then will we beleue them so they bryng for them the word of God For as for their false iugglyng we feele it at our fingers ende we see it had we but halfe an eye we tast it at our touÌgs end and know it with all our wyttes and vnderstandyng so manifestly that we perceiued them openly long agoe to be the very Antichristes of whom Christ and his Apostles warned vs to come in this last tyme. And if they say That this conuersion is made by miracles Then must euery one of them as hee say a Masse make vs many a miracle the very markes of M. Mores Churche For it is oue great miracle that Christs body should come so sodenly inuisible and so oft out of heauen and that such a miracle as the worde of God neuer knew An other that so great a body should be conteyned in so litle a place and that one body should be at once in so many places and two bodyes in one place An other that it is eaten neither the cater feelyng it nor the body eaten sufferyng nor feelyng the teeth of the eater With as many moe maruelous like miracles or rather absurdities of the bread and wyne that there must be the forme colour tast wayght broken c. and yet neither to be bread nor wyne in our belefe except we will be burned of theÌ bycause we beleue not their iugglyng castes O mischieuous miracle makers O cruell conuerters O bloudy butchers But hearke Christen reader and I shall learne thee to knowe Christes playne and true miracles from the sleighty iuggling of these crafty coÌneyers Christ would neuer haue done miracle had men beleued hym onely by hys woordes but when hee sayd first these wordes This is my body no maÌ doubted at them no man was in any vnbeleue of them wherfore these wordes must needes bee playne single and pure without miracle as these The iij. braunches are thre dayes without any subtile transubstantiation such insensible conuersion or any false miracle Christ wrought all his miracles for the glory of God to declare hym selfe both God and man so that all Christes miracles were coÌprehended vnder mans sences or commoÌ wyttes which bryng in such knowledge vnto the vnderstaÌdyng As when he chaunged water into wyne the miracle was first receiued with the sight open at the eye tasted with the mouth and so conuayed vnto the vnderstandyng And now though we neither see nor tast that miracle yet we heare it see it read it and so vnderstaÌd that it was once a miracle done of Christ wheÌ he restored the sight to the blynd healed the lame clensed the leprose reared the dead all was seen heard and so comprehended vnder our most swete senses that his very enemyes were compelled to coufesse them for miracles But our miracle makers that make dayly so oft and so many are so farre from this cleare poynt that their miracles in this matter be not neither shal be coÌtained nor compreheÌded vnder any of our fiue wittes but they rather delude and deceyue both sight tast feelyng hearyng and smellyng ye our fayth and vnderstandyng to Beware therefore of these mischieuous miracle makers for theyr owne glory and profite and will kill thee to if thou beleuest not their lyes Beware I say of those Marchauntes that will sell the wares which they will not suffer thee to see nor to tast nor to touch but when they shewe the white thou must beleue it is blacke If they geue the bread thou must beleue it without any word of thy fayth that it is Christes body and that of their owne makyng If thou tast see and feele it bread yet thou must say it is none though the Scripture calleth it bread xx tymes Beware beware I say of Antichrist whose commyng sayth Paule He is come alredy sayth Iohn now are there many Antichristes shall be after the workyng of Sathan with an almighty power with false signes and wouders lying miracles with all deceite of vnrighteousnes c. To be to curious in so playne a Sacrament and signe to cauill Christes cleare wordes with sophisticall soââ¦mes and to tryfull out the truth with tauntes and mockes as M. More doth is no Christen maner And if our Papistes and Scholasticall Sophisâârâ will obiect and
of Lemster was a great miracle 176. a Women aswell as men endewed with wisedome 252. a Women why they Baptise 287. a Women discrete may minister the sacramentes 322 b Women haue power to bynde and how 358. a World shall know Christ 410. a World knoweth not Christ 409. a. blynd in godly matters 423. b Wrold worse worse 55. b. a louer of wickednes 7. b World of whom ouercomen 421. a World must bee rebuked for lacke of iudgement 248. b Worldlynes in the Popes doctrine 416. a Worldly wisedome tendyng to Gods glory is commendable 455. b Worldly prefermentes are lettes to true Christianitie 340. a Worldly wisemen vnderstand not the Scriptures 88. a Worldly rulers how farre to be obeyed 385. b Worldly witte 113. a Word of the law and Christes promises contayned in the hart 31 b Word of God 34 a. the force therof 178. a. ground of fayth 302. b. maketh true fayth 170. b. trieth miracles 300. b Word beyng the Gospell before the Church 255. a Word saueth 18. b Word altered not Gods word 201. a Wordes honoryng God expresly 269 b Wordes of Christ are spirituall onely 460. a. are spirite and lyfe 465. b Worke made acceptable by fayth 243. b Workes 4. b. 16. a. 19. b. 219. a. 225. b. and. 331. b What they be and to what end 81. a. Gods workemaÌship 15. b. are Sacramentes 226. a. whiche be good 84. b. whence they be 331. b. how to be done 73. a. how accepted of God 18. b. must be seasoned with Gods word 219. b Workes their force 15. a. 384. b Workes of the law and fulfillyng the same two thynges 40. b Workes Papisticall 396. a. taught with crueltie 29. b. blynd ibidem Workes make hypocrites the true in tent away 228. b Workes without fayth 16. a Workes are made perfect with Christes bloud 31. a. without Christ in Gods sight damnable 70. a Workes our witnesses before God 69. a. a shew of fayth 55. a. cannot be separated from fayth 42. b. declare fayth 402. a. declare Gods goodnes 67. b. expressed by fayth 413. b. cannot bee done without fayth 73. b. where true fayth is 411. b. folowe true fayth 68. a. spryng from true fayth vniuersally 41. b. folow iustification 45. a Workes looked on 162. b. not to be presumed vpon 11. a. cannot fulfill the law 249. b. deserue not the reward promised 218. a Workes of the law iustifie not 41. a. 195. b. 185. b. and 335. a. no satisfaction for sinnes to Godward 39. a. satisfactory in no wise 398. a. deserue not the giftes of grace 386. b Workes are vnder the law 336. b Workes without the promise saue not 153. a Workes of ours can deserue nothing 333. a. must be done without hope of reward 69. a. must be done and not trusted in 85. a. must serue vs and not we them 273. b Workes all euill where faith lacketh 46. a Workes of ours how farre they extend 37. a. fulfill the law before the world 117. a. must not be done for reward 333. a. obtaine not Gods fauour 89. b Workes must procede of loue 335. b Workes to our neighbour workes to God 421. a. the fruites of lyght 392. a. of loue 88. b. of fayth 73. b Workes outward declare where true fayth is 68. b Workes whiche most meete to bee done 49. a. why they must be done 32. a Worker first of our worke GOD. 329. b Worke holy sophisters confounded 117. a Worshyp of Saintes and heathen Gods a lyke 424. a Worshyp of God truly 396. a Worshypping of Saintes 398. b. and 224. b. of the Crosse 270. b. of vncoÌsecrate hostes 298. b. of Images 271. a Worshypping of Images neuer established by miracles 300. b Worshypping and honoryng are one 26â a Worshyppyng in spirite 395. b Worthy receauyng of the Sacramentes encreaseth fayth 446. b Wrath of God styrreth vp destroyers of the Church 341. b Written Scriptures must confound vnwritten verities 255. b Writyng from the begynnyng ibidem Y. YOngest best beloued of parentes 264. a Yong widowes forbidden ministration 313. b Yong Timothy made a Byshop 252. b Yuye tree a similitude 352. b Z. ZAcharias the first Pope 348. a Zeale wtout knowledge nought 87. a Zeale of righteousnes what 192. b Zeale of ceremonies may not breake vnitie 237. b Zuinglius and Oecolampadius belyed of More 473. b ¶ The end of the Table of M. Tyndals workes Imprinted at London by Iohn Daye dwellyng ouer Aldersgate An. 1572. ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis I D THE WORKES of the excellent Martyr of Christ Iohn Frith DIEV ET MON DRIOT His lyfe and Martyrdome 1. His booke of Purgatory Fol. 1. 2. An auÌswere to Rastals Dialogue 7. 3. An auÌswere to Syr Thomas More 32. 4. Hys aunswere vnto Fisher Byshop of Rochester 51. 5. A Bulwarke against Rastall 60. 6. His iudgement vpon M. Tracyes will and Testament 77. 7. A letter written from the Tower to Christes congregation 81. 8. A mirrour or glasse to knowe thy selfe 83. 9. A treatise vppon the Sacrament of Baptisme 90. 10. An antithesis betweene Christ and the Pope 97. 11. A booke of the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ 107. 12. Articles for the which he dyed 170. A Table contayning the principall matters of all his workes ARISE FOR IT IS DAY The storie life and Martirdome of Iohn Frith with the Godly and learned workes and writings of the sayde Author here after ensueing THe sayd Iohn Frith was borne in Kent and was the sonne of Richard Frith Inholder in Senenock in the Countye of Kent This yong man so greatly profited in lerning that scarcely in his time there might bée anye found equall vnto him And vnto his great knowledge and learning was adioyned such an honest conuersation and godlynes of life that it was harde to iudge in whether of them he was more commendable Of the great godlines that was in him this may serue for experiment sufficient that not withstanding his other manifold and singular giftes and ornaments of the mynde in him most pregnant wherwith all hée might haue opened an easye way vnto honour and dignitie yet he chose rather wholye to consecrate him selfe vnto the Church of Christ excellently shewing forth and practising in him selfe the Precept so highly commended of the Philosophers touching the lyfe of man which life they say is geuen vnto vs in such sort that how much better the man is so much the lesse hée should liue vnto hym selfe but vnto other seruing for the common vtilitie And that we shoulde thinke a great part of our birth to bée due vnto our parentes A greater part vnto our countrey And the greatest parte of all to bée béestowed vpon the Church if we wil bee counted good men Fyrst of all he began his studie at Cambridge where he had to his tutor Stephen Gardiner who afterward was Byshop of Winchester And in the nature of this yong man being but a child God had planted meruelous
in lawe whom he did so valiauntly fight withall and confounde that he connerted Rastall to his part Then he was ââryed to Lambith before the Bishop of Caunterburie and afterward to Croydon where was present StepheÌ Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who had béene his tutor in Cambridge as aforesayd and séemed to owe vnto him greate loue and fauour but in the stéede thereof he found in the ende his great malice and tyrannye and last of all he was called before the Bishoppes in a Common assemblye at London where he so costantly defended him selfe that he had preuailed if he might haue bene heard as indéed he was not The order of his iudgment with the maner of his examinatioÌ and Articles which were obiected agaynst him are comprised and set forth by himselfe in a letter written to his frendes which letter also is imprinted and set forth in this booke After sentence geuen against him by the Byshop of London he was delyuered to the Maior Shirifes of the sayd Citie Syr Stephen pecocke a simple man being then Maior and forth with he was committed to new gate where he was put into y e Dungeon vnder the sayd Gate and laden with Boltes and Irons as many as he could beare and his necke with a Coler of Iron made fast to a post so that he could neyther stand vpright nor stoupe downe yet was he there continually occupied in writing of diuerse thinges namely with a candell both day and night for there came none other light into that place And in this case he remayned iij. or iiij dayes and then was from thence caried into Smithféelde y e iiij day of Iuly 1533. where with great pacience and constancy he suffered that most hâlly and cruell death of burning And when the fyer was set on the faggottes he embraced the same in his Armes and with all pacience commytted his spirite vnto almighty God But this one thing is yet to bee remembred that he being bounde to the stake with an other good Martyr which was a very simple young man named Andrew Hewet there was present one Doctour Cooke that was person of the Church called Allhalowes in hony lane scituate in the myddes of Chepesyde And the sayd Cooke made an open exclamation and admonished the people that they should in no wise pray for them no more then they would doe for a dogg At which wordes Frith smyling desired the Lord to forgeue him But the vngodly and vncharitable wordes of the sayd Doctour did not a litle offende the people And thus for the testimony of the true doctrine of Christ which the sayd Frith sealed with his bloud the day and yeare afore sayd he dyed in the xxiiij yeare of his age as some saye but his parentes reported in the xxx yeare of his age IOHN FRITH VNTO the Christen Reader GRace and peace bee with thee ChristeÌ reader I am sure there are many that will much meruell couÌt it a great presumptioÌ that I beyng so young and of so small learnyng dare attempt to dispute this matter against these thre personages of the which nuÌber two that is to say my Lord of Rochester and Sir Thomas More are auncient men both of great witte and dignitie Notwithstanding I will desire theÌ paciently to heare myne aunswere not aduertisyng who speaketh the wordes but rather what is sayd And as coÌcernyng myne youth let them remember what Paule monisheth i. Timot. iiij willyng that Timotheus should instruct the coÌgregration and that no maÌ should despise his youth for as the spirite of God is bound to no place cueÌ so is he not addict to any age or person but inspireth when hee will and where he will makyng the young to see visioÌs and espye the truth and the elders to dreame dreames and to wander in phantasies Actes 2. Ioel. 2. And as touchyng my learnyng I must nedes acknowledge as the truth is very small neuerthelesse that litle as I am bound haue I determined by Gods grace to bestow to the edifying of Christes congregation which I pray god to encrease in the knowledge of his word I would not that any man should admit my wordes or learnyng except they will stande with the Scripture and be approued therby Lay them to the touchstone and trye them with Gods word If they be found false and counterfaite then damne them and I shall also reuoke them with all myne hart But if the Scripture allow them that you can not deny but it so is then resist not y e doctrine of God but knowledge your ignoraunce and seduction and returne gladly into the right way For if you caÌ not improue it by Gods word and yet of an hate and malicious mynde that you beare to the truth labour to resist it condemne it that it should not spread I ensure you your sinne is irremissible and euen agaynst the holy ghost and the bloud of them that perish for fault of instruction shal be required on your handes Peraduenture some of you will say your fathers old progenitours ⪠with many holy men and Doctours haue so beleued that therfore you will abyde by the old I aunswere The wayes iudgementes of God are meruelous who knoweth whether God haue suffred his elect to erre and be seduced for a season to the entent that the vnfaithfull which would not beleue the truth but had pleasure in iniquity might stoÌble at their errour into their vtter confusion and ruine Although a man be neuer so faythfull and holy yet is there much imperfectioÌ in him as long as he is included in this mortall body how be it it is not imputed vnto him but through y e fayth in Christes bloud who lye pacified and forgeuen And therfore it is not sure that we folow their exteour workes or other imaginatioÌs but let vs euer coÌferre them vnto the pure word of God and as the Scripture testifieth so let vs receaue them My Lord of Rochester doth testifie him selfe writyng vpon the xviij Article that there are many pointes both of the Gospels and other Scriptures which are now discussed more diligeÌtly and more clearely vnderstand then they haue bene in tymes past And addeth furthermore that there are diuerse places in Scripture yet some deale darke which he doubteth not but that they shal be more open and light vnto our posteritie for why shal we dispaire of that saith he sith that the Scripture is for that entent left with vs that it may be vnderstaÌd of vs exactly and to the vttermost point Of this may you euidently perceaue that the old fathers and holy Doctours haue not sene all the truth But somewhat is also left through the high prouision of God to be discussed of their successours And therfore is it not mete that we straight wayes cleaue vnto their wordes with out any further ensearchyng the scriptures but we must examine all thyngs by the
false glosse vnto the text and if that helpe not then fall they to a shameles boldnes and let not to deny the Scripture and all The place whiche hee reciteth is written 2. Macha 12. And to say the truth y t booke is not of sufficieÌt authoritie to make an article of our fayth neither is it admitted in the CanoÌ of the Hebrues Here he obiecteth that the Church hath allowed it and the holy Doctours as S. Hierome S. Austine and such other I aunswere S. Hieromes mynde is opened vnto vs by the Epistle which he wrote before y t Prouerbes of SalomoÌ his wordes are these Sicut Iudith Tobie Machabeorum libros legit quidem cos ecclesia sed inter canonicas Scripturas non recipit sic haec duo volumina legat ad aedificationem plebis non ad authoritatem ecclesiasticorum dogmatum confirmandum That is lyke as the Church doth read the bookes of Iudith Tobias the Machabées but receaueth them not amoÌg the canonicall Scriptures euen so let it read these twoo bookes he meaneth the booke of Sapience and Ecclesiasticus vnto the edifieng of the people and not to confirme the doctrine of the Church therby And it is nothyng lyke that S. Austen should dissent from S. Hierome for they were both in one tyme yea S. Hierome out lyued S. Austen And therfore the Church could not admit any such bookes either before S. Austens tyme or in his tyme but that S. Hierome should haue knowne of it And so may you gather that if S. Austen allow these bookes or els say that the Churche hath allowed them you may not vnderstaÌd that they haue allowed and receaued them as canonicall Scriptures for then you make S. Hierome a lyar But thus you must vnderstaÌd it that they haue receaued them to be read for the edifying of y e people and not to confirme the doctrine of the Church or articles of the fayth thereby according to S. Hieromes expositioÌ Now may you sée that our shote anker as he called it is so stroÌg that all his stormes and waues can not once moue it for we deny not but that the booke is receaued of the church to be read and we shew by S. Hierome for what entent it is receaued and read not to proue any article of our faith therby but onely to order our maner of liuyng therafter in such poyntes as are not repugnaunt vnto the canonicall Scripture But yet for this once to do the maÌ pleasure we will let slyppe our shote anker take the seas with him And for all their furious wyndes and frothy waues we wil neuer strike sayle so strong is our shyp and so well ballaunced Be it in case that this booke of the Machabées were of as good authority as Esay yet can he not proue this fury and paynefull Purgatorye therby For it speaketh not one word neither of fire nor payne but it speaketh of a sacrifice offred for the dead y t they might be losed froÌ their sinnes because there is a resurrectioÌ of y t ded which may wel be without any paine or fire So that this conclusion is very bare and naked It is good to offer sacrifice for the dead that they may be loosed from their sinnes Ergo there is a sensible fire which doth punishe the holy and chosen people of God I am sure there is no child but he may perceaue that this argument is naught Besides that is to bee doubted whether Iudas did wel or not in offering this sacrifice And therfore ought we not of a foolish presumption to solow his facte vntill we knowe how it was accepted Peraduenture thou wilt say that the déede is commended in the sayd text where it sayth But because he considered that they which with godlynes had entred their sléepe that is their death had good fauour layd vp in store for them therefore is the remeÌbraunce to pray for the dead holy wholesome that they may be loosed from their sinnes I aunswere that the persons whiche were slayne in the battayl for whom this prayer sacrifice was made were founde to haue vnder their clokes oblations of idols which were at Iamniam for that cause were they slayne as it is playne in the text yea and all the host praysed the right iudgement of God Now these men that were so slayne were damned by the law Deut. vij whiche sayth The images of their Gods thou shalt burne with fire sée that thou couet not the siluer or gold y t is on them nor take it vnto thée lest thou be snared therewith for it is an abomination vnto the Lord thy God Bryng not therfore the abomination vnto thine house lest thou be a daÌned thing as it is But vtterly defie it and abhorre it for it is a thyng that must be destroyed Of this may we euideÌtly perceaue that albeit Iudas dyd this thyng of a good mynde yet was he deceaued for his sacrifice could nothyng helpe them sith they were damned by the law and entred not their slepe with godlynesse as he supposed Furthermore it is euident that the Iewes had sacrifices for the sinnes of them that liued Leuit. 4. 5. 6. c. But how knew they that these sacrifices would extende them selues vnto the sinnes of the dead And they were coÌmaunded vnder the payne of cursing that they should adde nothyng vnto the word of God Deut. 12. Verely it is lyke that the Priestes euen at that tyme sought their owne profite abused the sacrifices deceaued the simple people M. More also sayth that the money was seÌt to buy sacrifices which shoulde be offered for the sinne of the slayne Now knoweth euery Christen that all maner of sacrifices offeryngs were nothyng but figures of Christ which should be offered for the sinne of his people So that when Christ came all sacrifices oblations ceased If thou shouldest now offer a calfe to purge thy sinne thou were no doubt iniurious vnto the bloud of Christ for if thou thought his bloud sufficieÌt then wouldest thou not séeke an other sacrifice for thy sinne Yea I will go further with you there was not one sacrifice in the old TestameÌt that purged or tooke away sinne For the bloud of oxeÌ or goates can not take away sinne Heb. x. But all the sacrifices which were theÌ offered did but signifie that Christ should come and be made a sacrifice for vs which shuld purge our sinne for euer Now were their sacrifices and oblations institute of God and yet could they not take away sinne but onely signified that Christ through his blâd should take it away What madnes then is come into our braynes that we thinke that our oblations whiche are ordained but of our owne imagination should take away sinne What if Iudas gathered such an offeryng in the old TestameÌt should it then folow that we must
c. that is I am a straunger and a pilgrime in the earth as all my fathers haue bene And therfore as a pilgrime he hasted vnto the common countrey of all saintes requiring for the filthines that he had receaued in this bodely mansion that his sinnes might be forgeuen him before he departed from thys lyfe For he that here hath not receaued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes shall not be there He shall not surely be there for he can not come vnto euerlasting life for euerlasting lyfe is the forgeuenes of sinnes And therfore he sayth forgeue me that I may be cooled before I depart Here may you euidently perceaue that S. Ambrose knew not of purgatory nor of any forgeuenesse that should be after thys lyfe But plainly affirmeth that he y t receaueth not forgeuenesse of hys sinnes here that is in thys life shall neuer come in heauen And for a more vehement affirmation he dubleth hys own wordes saying He that here hath not receyued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes he shall not be there he shall not surely be there He meaneth that he shall neuer come to Heauen which here hath not his remission SAint Hieromes minde may sone be gathered by hys exposition of the ix chapter of Ecclesiastes vpon thys text The dead haue no part in thys world nor in any worke that is done vnder the Sunne There addeth Sainte Hierome that the dead can adde nothing vnto that which they haue taken with them out of this life for they can neither do good nor sinne neyther can they encrease in vertue or vice Albeit sayth he some wyll contrarie thys exposition affirming also that we may encrease decrease after death Here are thrée things to be noted first that the Text sayth that the dead are not partakers of any work that is done vnder the sunne And there may you sée that all suffrages offringes and diriges for the dead are in vaine and profite them not for they are partakers of nothing vnder the sunne Secondarily you may sée S. Hieromes own minde that the dead can neyther do good nor euill neyther encrease in vertue nor vice And so is purgatory put out for if they can do no good what should they do in purgatory And agayne if they can not encrease in vertue they be lyke to lye long in purgatorye Peraduenture some man would thinke that they do no good but onely that they suffer good To that I aunswer that he that suffereth good doth good for if a man should suffer hys body to be burnt for the fayth of Christ would you not say that he did a good déed and yet doth he but suffer Thirdly ye may note that S. Hierome was not ignorant that certeine as they which did fayne purgatory would denye hys exposition and say that we might encrease and decrease in vertue and vyce after death yet notwithstanding he held his sentence condemning theyr opinion whych thing he would not haue done specially sith he knew that he should haue aduersaries for it except he had bene sure that his sentence was right Sée I pray you how that not onely scripture but euen theyr owne doctoures condemne this phantasticall purgatory and yet my lords are not ashamed to say that all make for them NEuerthelesse I wyll go further wyth hym Be it in case that all the Doctours dyd affirme purgatory as they do not what were my Lord the nearer hys purpose Verely not one iote for the authoritie of doctors by my lordes owne confession extendeth no further but is onely to be admitted whilest they confirme theyr wordes by Scripture or els by some probable reason For my Lorde writeth on this maner Article xxxvij The Pope hath not so allowed the whole doctrine of S. Thomas that men should beleue euery poynte he wrote were true Neither hath the church so approued eyther S. Austine or S. Hierome nor any other authors doctrine but that in some places we may dissent from them for they in many places haue openly declared themselues to be men and many times to haue erred These are my lordes owne words Now sith the doctours somtime erre and in certayne places are not to be admitted as he graunteth himselfe how should we know wheÌ to approue them and when to deny them If we should hang on the Doctoures authority then should we as well alow the vntruth as the truth sith he affirmeth both Therfore we must haue a iudge to discerne betwéene truth and falsehode And who shoulde that be the pope Nay verely for he being a man as well as the Doctours were may erre as they did and so shall we euer be vncertaine Our Iudge therefore must not be parciall flexible nor ignoraunt and so are all naturall men excluded but he must be inalterable euen searching the bottome ground of all thing Who must that be Verely the scripture and woord of God which was geuen by his Sonne confirmed and sealed by the holy Ghost and testified by miracles and bloud of all martyres This word is the iudge that must examine the matter the perfit touchstone that tryeth al thing and day that discloseth all iuggeling mistes If the doctours say any thing not dissonant from this woord then it is to be admitted and holdeÌ for truth But if any of theyr doctrine discorde from it it is to be abhorred and holden accurssed To this full well agréeth S. Austen whiche writeth vnto S. Hierome on this wise Deare brother I thinke that you wil not haue your bookes reputed lyke vnto the woorkes of the Prophetes and Apostles for I the Scripture reserued do read all other mens workes on that maner that I doe not beleue them because the author so sayth be he neuer so well learned and holy except that he can certifie me by the Scripture or cleare reason that he sayth true And euen so would I that other men should read my bookes as I read theirs These are S. AusteÌs wordes And thus haue I proued both by S. Austen and also by my Lordes owne wordes that no man is bound to beleue the Doctors except they can be proued true either by Scripture or good reason not repugnaunt to Scripture Therefore let vs sée what Scripture or good reason my Lord bryngeth to approue his doctours withall For els they can not helpe hym as we haue declared both by S. Austen my Lordes owne confession although they all made with hym as they do not First he bringeth in the sinne agaynst the holy ghost Math. 12. And Paule 1. Cor. 3. And. 1. Iohn 5. And Apoca. 5. which textes I passe ouer because I haue aunswered vnto them before in the seconde booke agaynst M. More THe first reason that my Lord hath which is not before soluted for as I sayd the reasons that are already dissolued will I now ouerhyp is this which he groundeth on diuers Scriptures Of the soules that are departed some
deliuer all men from hell if they be not damned already For sayth he whosoeuer hath committed a capitall crime hath therby deserued damnation and yet may the Pope deliuer hym both from the crime and also froÌ the payne due vnto it And he affirmeth that thre times in the xxj article for feare of forgetting Vpon this poynte will I a litle reason with my Lord and so wil I make an end If the Pope may deliuer any maÌ from the cryme that he hath committed also from the payne due vnto it as you affirme then may he by the same authoritie deliuer xx an hundred a thousand yea all the world for I am sure you can shewe me no reason why he may deliuer some and not all If he can do it then let him deliuer euery man that is in the poynte of death both from the crime and froÌ the payne so shall neuer man more neither enter into hell nor yet into Purgatory which were the best dede most charitablest that euer hée dyd yea this ought he to do if he could although it should cost hym his owne lyfe and soule thereto as Moses and Paule geue him exaÌple but yet there is no ieoperdy of neither other Now if he caÌ do it as you say and will not then is he the most wretched cruell tyraunt that euer lyued euen the very sonne of perdition and woorthy to bée damned in an hundred thousand helles For if he haue receaued such power of God that hée may saue all men yet wil not but suffer so many to be damned I report me vnto your selues what hée is worthy to haue Now if any man would solute this reason and say that he may do it but that it is not méete for hym to do it because that by theyr paynes Gods iustice may be satisfied I say that this their euasion is nothyng worth neyther yet caÌ I imagine any way wherby they may haue any appareÌce to escape For my Lord sayth hym selfe that the Pope must pacifie Gods iustice for euery soule that hée deliuereth from Purgatory and therefore hath he imagined that the Pope hath in hys hand the merites of Christes passioÌ which he may apply at his pleasure where he will And also he sayth that the merites of Christes passion are sufficient to redeme all the sinnes in the world Now sith these merites on their part are sufficieÌt to satisfie y e iustice of God and redeme the whole world also that the pope hath them in his hand to distribute at his pleasure then lacketh there no more but euen the Popes distribution vnto the the saluatioÌ of the world For he may pacifie Gods wrath and satisfie hys iustice sayth my Lord by applying these merites to them that lacke good workes And so if the pope wil Gods iustice may bée fully satisfied the whole worlde saued Now if hée may so iustly easely saue the whole world charitie also mouyng him vnto it and yet will not apply these merites so frutefully then is the faulte onely his and he the sonne of perdition and worthy more payne then can be imagined And so is not the reason improued but much more stablished and as I thinke ineuitable Beholde I pray you whether my Lord of Rochester hath brought our holy father in auauncyng hys power so high euen into y t déepest pit of hell which if my Lord sayd true it is impossible for hym to auoyde But it chaunceth vnto hym euen as it doth customably where such pryde raigneth for wheÌ they are at the hyghest then fall they downe headlong vnto their vtter confusion and ruine If any man féele himselfe gréeued and not yet fully satisfied in this matter let him write hys minde and by Gods grace I shall make hym an aunswere and that with spéede Pray christen Reader that the woord of God may encrease Amen ¶ An other booke agaynst Rastell named the subsedye or bulwarke to his first booke made by Iohn Frithe prysoner in the Tower IT neadeth not ChristeÌ reader I thinke now that thou hast ouerread and diligentlye pondered in thine inward senses that the treatise of Iohn Frith wherein he confuteth all the reason which Rastel More and Rochester made for the maintenance and vpholding of the bitter paynes of purgatory to commende vnto thee thys briefe worke folowing named a subsedy defence or bulwarke to the same And much les nedeth it to dehorte thee from the vayne childish feare which our forefathers haue had of that place of purgatory as theyr good woorkes which at this day remayne vppon the earth founded for theyr thence deliueraunce do testifie And forasmuch as thou art a Christen man and reioysest in Christ I dare boldlye affirme for thee that thou takest neyther pleasure nor ioy of that place like as some persons do which triumphed of late and with much ioy and clapping of handes sent tidinges into all partes that purgatorye was founde agayne because they read in a booke named the Institution of a Christen man this worde Purgatory And yet haue I not heard hetherto that the selfe same persons haue shewed any tokens of gladnes for Gods woorde translated into english so that to me they seeme to reioyce more to haue the sely soules purged with punishmentes when they be departed then to haue them purged with the worde of God while they be here Who wil think but as they haue vttered theyr hartes concerning Purgatory with theyr tongues euen so say they in theyr stomakes that their holy father the Pope whome we may as iustly call the Bishop of Rome seeing he is there the head of S. Peters church as we may call the head of S. Paules church in London Byshop of London hath recouered agayne here in England his old authority yea that he neuer yet lost because they finde in theyr churches copes ropes bels and beades with other lyke holinesse and on themselues long gownes shauen crownes and fingers annointed with the holy oyle of idlenes For who will say but that these holy reliques declare the byshop of Rome as clarkly as this worde purgatory proueth a place to be where soules after the departure from theyr bodies suffer paines and punishmentes Doth not this preaty pageant of purgatory signifie and prognosticate what Tragedye they will play hereafter when the word of God shall blow and scatter from the face of the earth the darke cloudes and mistes of mens inuentions and shall scoure away y t rust of fleshly vnderstanding of the scriptures in other things likewise as it hath done in this if ought may be found in that booke wherwith they may resist that such thinges may be picked out of it the fruite which commonly hath come of all counsels conuocations and synodes since the Apostles time very few excepted causeth me somewhat to feare for if a maÌ wey the good with the bad that hath sprong from them
he will perchaunce thinke that the lay people of all estates may well and iustly say farewell the one wyth the other and no maruayll for they haue not bene all the children of one father that haue bene in counsels as they haue not bene all sheepe that haue gone in sheepes clothing and oft times the greater part ouercommeth the better Which things gathered by experience and by reading causeth me oftentimes to wishe that they which would be counted sinceere and true ministers of the Gospell eyther might and would cleane abstayne from such counselles that they haue no part in them or els that they would geue no more place to the fruites of infidelitie I meane mans inuentions and carnall interpretations which the fayth in Christ neuer begatte then S. Paule gaue to Peter hys colleague when he left the table of the Gentiles and went to the Iewes which facte of Peter in my iudgement Paule might more conueniently haue approued seeing Peter did it to the entent he would not offeÌd his weake brethren the Iewes wyth hys eating then the true and sincere ministers of Christ in the Gospell may winke at many thinges vsed in these dayes among the disciples of the Gospell much lesse may they approue theÌ with the fashion of theyr own liuing and confirme them with the auctoritye of a Counsell and with preching they say it is not time to speake against theÌ yet is it time to leaue them and no longer to seeme to allow them vnlesse they entend alwayes to walk in them Had the author of this booke looked after a time as some do he had not written against Purgatorye when he did I feare me some maintaine blindnes more with theyr simulation then they open the lyght with theyr preaching But this haue I spoken good Reader besides my purpose which was none other then to admonish the that although Rochester More and Rastell haue all three as thou perceiuest by reading thys former treatise stiffely defended one heresie yet shouldest thou not haue of all three one iudgement or opinion More and Rochester were men of high dignitie in thys worlde the one a Byshop the other Chauncelor of this noble realme of England both auncient in yeares of so great wit and so singular erudition in all kinde of learning esteemed as well of themselues as of many other that no two lyke might in all this land be found it was thought that for theyr dignity no man durst for theyr yeares witte and learning no man was hable to gayââayt them wherfore they were perswââ¦d to be the most meete of all other to âake in hand the defence of the terrible paynes of purgatory eyther the very âouÌdatioÌ or els the chief building seâ vpoÌ y t fouÌdatioÌ of y e church of Rome Rastell had nothing coÌmon w t them But onely many yeares and a witte sophisticall which he called naturall reason As appartayning to Gods worde he acknowledged himselfe ignoraunt therof notwtstanding he had such opinion of his witte that he thought he could as well proue purgatory by it as the other two had done by the scriptures wherin I thinke he was not deceiued And as these three persons were not like so tooke they the aunswer made to them not a like More and Rochester thought foule scorne see what the glory of this world and high estimation of our selues doth that a yong man of small reputation shoulde take vppon him so cleane contrary to theyr opinion to write against them and to be short tooke the matter so greuouslye that they could neuer be at quiet in theyr stomackes vntill they had dronken his bloud Rastell though he perceaued his naturall reason to be sore sayd to yet was he not malicious as the other were and therfore wrote he agayne Which worke of Rastell came to his handes when he was prisoner in the Tower of London where he made the aunswere following to the same which aunswer after Rastel had read he was well content to count his naturall reason foolishnes and wyth harty thankes geuen to God became a childe againe and sucked of the wisedome which commeth from aboue and saueth all that be norished therewith In the which he continued to his liues end with the honor and glory of God To whome be prayse for euer Amen ¶ Here foloweth the Preface of this booke BRother Rastell I thaÌke you that it hath pleased you to be so fauourable vnto me a poore prisoner as to shew me a copie of your booke whiche you haue written to confute my reasons and Scripture that I haue alledged agaynst Purgatory for that hath caused me to make a subsidie defeÌce and bulwarke to my booke whiche by Gods grace shal be an occasion to open more light although not to you yet at the lestwise vnto them whose hartes the prince of this world hath not blinded but that the light of the Gospell and glorie of Christ may shyne in them And where as you write and protest that you will bryng no Scripture agaynst me But onely rehearse my Scripture agayne which I haue alledged vnperfeitly and wouÌde me with myne owne dartes and will but euen do as one that playeth at tennes with an other tossing the balle agayne I doe verye well admitte your similitude Notwithstanding you know right well that it is not inough for a man playing at tennes to tosse the balle agayne but he must so tosse it that the other take it not For if the other smite it ouer agayne then is the game in as great ieoberdy as it was before besides that hee must take heede that he neither smite to short of the line not yet vnder for then it is a losse and he had bene better to let it goe And finally sometyme a man smiteth ouer and thynketh all won and yet an vngracious post standeth in the way and maketh the ball to rebounde backe againe ouer the corde so loseth the game And that wil anger a man and I assartayne you that ye haue tossed neuer a ball but ye offende in one of these pointes yet besides that some tyme ye playe a touche of legerdemayne and cast me a ball which wheÌ it commeth I perceaue to be none of mine and all the court shall iudge the same These poyntes shal be declared when we come to them and now I will aunswere in order IN your Prologue you assigned two causes of the making of your first booke of purgatory with out allegyng any textes of scripture for y e profe therof which are the controuersie of two sortes of people One sorte you say be those that beleue not in Christ but deny Christ and his Scripture as bee the Turkes Paynimes and such other miscreauntes An other sort be they that beleue in Christ his scripture nor wil deny no text of holy scripture but yet they will construe expounde and interprete these texts after theyr owne willes and obstinate mynde c.
disceatfulnes Then as meÌ past shame being both without feare of God and man spared not to put in executioÌ these abhominable doctrines insomuch that they deposed openly Princes and Emperours yea and assoyled all their subiectes from the obedience of them the commaundement of God not regarded But that my wordes should the better appeare to all men I shall recite some of their practises both out of AuteÌticke crownycles and out af their owne lawe ¶ Zacharias did depose the king of Fraunce not all onely for his iniquitie but also because he was vnprofitable for so greate a power and set tâ his ââéede Pipinum the Emperours father and did assoyle all Fraunce of their othe and alleagyaunce that they had made ânto the olde king The which thing the holy church of Rome doth oftimes by hir auctorite c. ¶ Now would to God your grace earnestly would looke on this lawe or at the least to suffer and géeue the worde of God into y e handes of your subiectes to compare the obedience that these men both preache and practice to it But fayne would I know of them all who hath deposed any king syth Christes passion sauiÌg they onelye who will bée kinges felowes yea and coÌtroulers sauing they only Is not this a subtile crafte of Antychrist to warne other men of heretykes and of traytours and in the meane season while men stand lokeing fhr traytours commeth hée in and playeth the parte of an open traytour sauing onely hée coloureth his name and calleth himselfe a true Byshop is ready to accuse other meÌ of treasoÌ that he might escape hymselfe but hée is sure that hée wil neuer accuse none of them that speake against the auctorite of Princes But if a man doe beginne but to open his mouth for to declare that hee hath no temporall power then rageth hée and cryeth out treason treason But let vs returne to their lawe sée how they can proue it by Gods word and how it standeth with true subiection Is this resonable that the Pope and they being by Gods lawe but subiectes shall depose a king what example have they of our master Christ or if any of his Apostles what scripture haue they to helpe them How dare they bée so bolde as to depose a king which is ordayned of God yea and by his holy worde hauing no example nor scripture for them Be they aboue God his blessed worde But they will say that the king was a wicked man I aunswere the crownicles geue contrary witnesse how y e he was a very good man and ryght simple And because hée was simple Therefore Pipinus which had all y e rule vnder him thought him self better worthy to rule then the king so wrote by a Byshop and by his chaplayne vnto the Pope desireth hym to geue senteÌce whether he was better worthy to bee king that had all the paynes and labours or hée that had no labour could doe nothing Now the Pope to make Pipinum his frend and trusting by that meanes to haue helpe of hym agaynst the Emperour with whoÌ hée had then béene at variance gaue seÌteÌce with him deposed the other and made hym a Monke that this falshod should not bée perceiued they fained that y e king had béene a MoÌke afore called Samuell This can I proue by good cronicles Now let your noble grace consider if it were right not onely to depose suche a king but also to make him a MoÌke Thus haue they done w t other noble kinges And no doubt but that same or worse will they attempt to doe vnto your grace if you displease them and at the least they will doe their vttermoste Let all the hole rable of theÌ tell your grace when a true preacher of Christes Gospell dyd such a déede There is no officer that hath néede to bée afrayde of Christes Gospell nor yet of the preachers thereof But of these preuye traytours can no man bée too wary But let vs graunt them that y e kyng was a wicked man The Scripture commaundeth vs to obey to wicked Princes and geueth vs none auctoritye to depose them as their owne glose testifyeth vpon this text Subdeti estote Who was more wicked then Herode yet S. Iohn suffered death vnder hym who was wyckedder theÌ Pilate And yet Christ did not put hym downe But was crucified vnder hym Bréeflye which of all y e Princes were good in the Apostles dayes yet they deposed none So that Gods worde and their owne learnynge and the practise of our Maister Christe and his holy Apostels are openly agaynst them Moreouer their owne glose sayth that he was not deposed because he was vnsufficient but because hée was wanton and lecherous with wéemen O my Lordes if you bee not afrayde of the vengeauÌce of God at the least take a litle shame of the worlde vnto you that haue so long tyme with so great tyranny defended these lawes that bée so openly agaynst Gods ordinaunce agaynst Gods word and agaynst the common ordinaunce and coÌsent of all the world And this haue you done to the great iniury of noble Princes to the intollerable subduyng of all noble bloud to the oppression of their true subiectes to the destruction of all common wealthes and finally to the euerlastyng damnation of many a Christened soule Tell me by your fayth doe you beléeue that there is a liuyng God that is mighty to punish his enemies if you beléeue it say vnto me can you deuise for to auoyde hys vengeaunce which bée so openly contrary to hys woorde What aunswere thinke you to make to hym Thinke you that hée will suffer your worde to be heard and let his godly word bee despised Thinke you that it will bée sufficient for you to say that they bée the lawes of holy Churche Thinke you that hee will bee thus taught of you Then were it tyme to plucke hym downe and set you vp Nay my Lordes hée is no childe nor you shall finde it no childes game thus to trifle and playe with hys holy word and hys blessed ordinauÌce yea and that to the despising of the maker both of heauen and earth Say what ye will ye are not able by no learnyng to defende this matter neither afore God nor yet afore our noble Prince nor afore any man of learnyng that will bee true to his prince For whiche way soeuer you turne you our master Christ all his blessed Apostles bee agaynst you will openly accuse you that you bée coÌtrary to their worde and to theyr déede Aunswere you to them aunswere not to me If I hold my peace they will speake Nor it will helpe you but litle to crye after your old maner heresie heresie a traytour a traytour for now you crye agaynst your selues of those thynges Christ and his Apostles doe accuse you Doe you thinke it with the ordinaunce of God that you shal depose a kyng
lege Lord. Ye I doe beléeue that if the kynges grace at this same day should desire of y e spirituality but halfe of this summe I dare say they wold neuer grauÌt him with their good will nor there shoulde not bée found one Diuine in England of the holy Popes Churche that could and would proue by good Diuinitie that the kyng might take it and the spiritualitie were bounde to geue it Alas what shall I say beléeue me I doe want wordes to y e settyng out of this matter where is natural affectioÌ where is naturall loue where is fidelitie where is truth of hart that men ought to haue and to beare toward their naturall Prince toward their natiue countrey toward their fathers and mothers toward their wiues and childreÌ yea toward their liues God of his infinite goodnesse hath geuen vs a noble Prince to the maintaynyng and defence of all these thynges and toward hym we haue litle or none affection But vnto this idole of Rome are we ready to geue both body and goodes and the more we geue the better we are content Was not this a merueilous poueryshyng to this Realme to sende out so many thousandes and to receiue nothyng agayne but deceitfull Bulles and shéepes skynnes and a litle péece of leade yea and worst of all to make men beléeue that their saluation dyd hange on it I dare say boldly that if we poore men which bée now condeÌned for heretickes and also for traytours against our kyng had not béen the Realme of England had not staÌd in so good a condition as it is for men had béene bounde still in their conscience for to obey this wretched idole Who durst haue kept y e innumerable summe of money within the realme y e yearely was sucked out by this adder if our godly learnyng had not instructed their conscience Let all the Liberaries bée sought in EnglaÌd and there shall not be one booke writteÌ in iiij C. yeares and admitted by the Church of Rome and by our spiritualtie founde that doth teach this obedience and fidelitie toward Princes and deliuereth our Realme from the bondage of this wicked Sathan the pope or els that is able to satisfie and to quiete any mans conscience within this Realme and yet I dare say hée is not in EnglaÌd that caÌ reproue our learnyng by the doctrine of our master Christ or els of his holy Apostles Yea meÌ haue studyed and deuised how they might bryng our mighty Prince and his noble Realme vnder y e féete of this deuill There could bée nothyng handled so secretly within this Realme but if it were either pleasaunt or profitable to the Pope to know then were all the Byshops in England sworne to reuelate that matter to him This may bee wel proued by their shamefull trayterous oth that they contrary to Gods law mans law and order of nature haue made to this false man the Pope The wordes of their othe written in their owne law be these I Byshop N. froÌ this houre forth shal be faithfull to S. Peter to the holy Church of Rome and to my Lord the Pope to his successours lawfully entryng into the Popedome I shall not consent in counsell nor in déede that hée shoulde lose either lyfe or lymme or that hée should bée taken in any euill trap His councell that shall bée shewed vnto me either by hym selfe or els by his letters or by his Legates I shall open to no man to hys hurt or damage I shall helpe to defend mayntaine the Papacie of the Church of Rome the rules of the holy fathers sauyng myne order agaynst all men liuyng I shall come to the Councell when soeuer I bée called onles I bée lawfully let The Popes Legate I shall honorablye entreate both goyng and commyng in his necessities I shall helpe him I shall visite yearely either by myne owne proper person or els by some sure messenger the sea of Rome onles I bée dispensed with So helpe me God and this holy Euangelist There hath béene wonderous packing vsed and hath cost many a thousand mens liues ere that the spiritualitie brought it to passe that all they should bée sworne to the Pope owe none obedience to any man but to him onely This matter hath béene wonderous craftely conueyed for at the beginnyng the Bishops were not sworne so straitely vnto the Pope as now For I doe read in the tyme of Gregory the thyrd which was in the yeare of our Lord. vij C. lix how their othe was no more but to sweare for to kéepe the fayth of holy Church and to abide in the vnity of the same and not to consent for any mans pleasure to the contrary to promise also to séeke the profites of the Church of Rome And if any Byshops did lyue agaynst the olde statutes of holy fathers with him they should haue no conuersation but rather forbidde it if they coulde or els trewly to shewe the Pope of it This othe coÌtinued a great many of yeares tyll that a mortall hatred sprang betwene the Emperour and the Pope for confirming of Byshops than as many Byshops as were confirmed of the Pope did sweare the othe that I haue first written For this othe that Gregory maketh mention of was not sufficient because that by it the Byshops were not bounde to betray their Princes nor to reuelate their counselles to the Pope The which thing y e pope must néedes know or els hee coulde not bring to passe his purpose that is to say he coulde not bée Lord ouer the worlde and cause Emperours and kynges to fetch their confirmation of him and to knéele downe and kisse his féete The which when hée had broght to passe hée procéeded farther adding more thinges in the Byshops othe to the maintayning of his worldly honour and dignitie as it shall afterward appeare But first wée wyll examine this othe how it standeth with Gods worde and with the true obedience to our prince I pray you tell me out of what Scripture or els out of what example of our mayster Christ his holy Apostles you haue takeÌ this doctrine to learne to swere to Saint Peter or els to the Church of Rome or els to the Pope What néede you to sweare to Saint Peter ye caÌ neither doe hym good by your fidelitie nor yet hurt by your falshode Othes be taken that hée that the othe is made vnto might bée sure of the true helpe and succour of hym that sweareth agaynst all men that could hurte hym Now Saint Peter hath none enymies and though hée had yet is not hée afearde of them neyther can you helpe hym nor deliuer hym if hée had néede But the verytie is that good S. Peter must here stand in the fore frunt to make men afrayde with and to make men beléeue that you are his frendes but God knoweth that you neyther fauour his person lrarnyng nor lyuyng For if S. Peters person
were here with his nette on his necke I thinke you would bid hym walke beggar if you called him not heretik Why doe you not sweare to folowe hys lyuing and to preach and teach his doctrine but that maketh nothing for your purpose Therefore you swerre all onely to S. Peters name But wherein wyll you bée faythfull to S. Peter to mayntane his worldly honours dignities or riches you know well hée sayth that hée hath forsaken all these thinges for Christes sake And for these thinges I thinke hée will require none othe of you Wherfore if you will néedes bée faythfull sworne vnto S. Peter it muste bée in mayntayning and in defending spirituall thynges as preaching of Christes Gospell purely and sincerely mynystring truelye after the institution of our master Christ y e blessed sacramentes of holy church and in vertuous lyuyng geuing example to the holy church of Christe But now if this bée your othe truely you are periured worthy to weare papers for you doe reken your selues to hye and to honorable to goe aboute such simple thinges as these bée And therfore you haue applyed your selues to other greater matters as to christening of belles to halowing of churches to blessing of candels to consecrating of holy oyle to halowing of chalesies vestementes and aulters and to geuing 40. dayes of pardon to them that receiueth your blessings in the streate and to some that visyte holy saintes such like greate matters which partayneth nothing to your othe wherefore I doe recken y e after the true forme of your othe we haue but few byshops but y e bée periured or abiured call it as you will both against God agaynst S. Peter and against their prince It foloweth And to the holy church of Rome what néedeth this what good can you doe to y e holy church of Rome Or what profyte is it to her that you sweare where is any request of her in holy scripture that you shoulde sweare Thinke you that she will compell you by your othe to bée true to her then must shee néedes sue you of periurie if you breake your othe But marke how y e church of Rome is set in your othe as the better person before the Pope wherefore it must néedes followe that y e Pope is vnder y e church and lesse then the church and no hed of the church except you will make hym a third person that neither pertayneth to S. Peter nor yet to holy Churche but is a thyng of him selfe and as your law sayth neither God nor man but middle betwéene them both that is as much to say after my learnyng as the deuill hym selfe But what meaneth it that you sweare onely to the holy Churche of Rome will you bée traytours to the holy Church of ConstaÌtinople or els to the holy Churche of England Or doe you thinke other Churches not holy tell vs what you meane for it séemeth a marueilous thyng and also a speciall thyng that you make such an othe all onely to the holy Church of Rome naming none other church Why are you not rather sworne to kéepe and to féede to norish and to bée true to your owne Church of the which you haue taken cure charge As S. Peter commaundeth you Sée that you féede Christes flocke which is among you For of these you haue taken your name lyuyng and dignitie You are called Byshop of Winchester of London and of Lyncolne And of these you are fed but these bée forgotten in your othe and these you litle regarde but to mayntayne the holy Churche of Rome that geueth you neuer a peny but robbeth all other Churches you must bée straitly sworne And why Antichrist must haue a cloke for his treason For now if hée bée a traytour hée is to bée excused why for hée is sworne to it But shall I tell you what I doe take out of it The truth is that you sweare to betray to kil and slay all members of all other Churches sauyng those that liueth after the whoredome and mischief that is vsed in Rome For if you should bee bounde to séeke out in Rome Christened men and those that doth liue after the liuyng of holy church I thinke you should finde but few Yea and vnto those you would thinke scorne to bée sworne Ergo it must folow that you are sworne to the worst sort of Rome and that your holy Churche of Rome is taken for such a sorte as liueth agaynst God agaynst his blessed worde agaynst the liuyng of holy Aposties agaynst the coÌditioÌs of our holy mother y e church I could say in all whoredome in all oppression in all Sodomytrie in all murther in all poÌpe pride summa summarum in all maner of mischief what toung caÌ tell or hart can thinke But I will not say so for men would reken me vncharitable and to vehement Neuerthelesse all the worlde knoweth that you doe recken your selfe by the vertue of your oth bouÌde to no men but vnto such as in very déede liueth after this vngracious maner and yet will you bée faithfull and true vnto them agaynst all men Yea I dare say if that their conscience had not coÌdemned them of such mischief they would neuer haue desired this assistence of you or els haue thought it necessary to haue required an othe of you But the veritie is they bée naught and haue néede of mayntainers in their mischief And also suspect you not to bée true except you made an othe to them yea and scarsly then onles that you in very déede at tyme and place conuenient doe betray your Princes for that is y e cause of your othe and other profite hath not the kyng by it I will bée reported by all practise that euer came out of your othe It foloweth And to my Lord the Pope I would gladly learne where the Pope hath got the dignitie of a Lord. This thyng is litle regarded of my Lordes the Byshops to bryng in such a worldly dignitie yea they will say it is but a trifle and mocke men for speaking agaynst it But the truth is if they durst as much now as in times past they would burne for this litle trifle the best Lord in England For I dare say it hath cost many a mans lyfe or euer they brought the Pope to Lordshyp Blessed S. Peter whose successour the Pope boasteth him selfe to bée knew nothing of this Lordshyp for bée sayth vnto hys felowes they shall not exercise no Lordshyp ouer the congregation And likewise S. Paule durst not take vppon him to commaunde as a Lord collections to bée made for poore men but mekely desires theÌ without any Lordshyp Also in an other place Let no man iudge vs but as the Ministers of Christ Blessed S. Paule rekeneth him selfe but a minister a seruaunt And yet y e day hath béene that he was so good as my Lord the Pope Our master Christ that
agaynst hym and when hée might saye and doe what he would And as your lawe commaundeth no man so hardye to aske hym why hée doth so Then began decrées ordinances depocytions disposycyons reseruations prouysions with like shamefulnes sor to spring and there is no remedy but they must contynue And why Because you are sworne to kéepe them your selfe and to compel other men also to kéepe them And out of the kéepinge of this part of your othe springeth out an other sentence that foloweth which is this All heretykes sysmatikes and rebelles towardes our sayd Lorde y e Pope to my power I shall persecute and withstand This is the cause that hath made vs poore men so great heretykes For it can neuer bée proued that euer we spake agaynst God or our king and yet bée we heretikes And why Forsooth because the Byshops are sworne to the Popes decrées the which condemneth all them for heretikes that speaketh against his holynes though hée bée as holy as my horse For hée sayth hym selfe in his lawe that hée nedeth not to bée holy hym selfe but it is sufficient that hée sytteth in an holy seat These be his wordes who doubteth but hée is holy y e which is exalted to so great a dignitie In whoÌ though good workes of his owne merites be wantinge yet are those good workes sufficyent the which were done by his predecessours Vpon the which texte their glose sayth that if it bée openly knowen that the Pope bée an aduoulterer or a murderer yet ought hée not to bée accused c. Now we poore men can not suffre such myscheuous vyces wherefore we must bée heretikes But why because my lords y e byshops are sworne to persecute vs. But neuertheles I trust to Gods grace and the Kinges that my Lordes the Byshops wyll not bée so hard in this poynt of their othe as they haue béene And why Because meÌ may nowe come to their aunswere Surely there bée many clauses in his last othe added that bée cleare iniury vnto princes against Gods lawe and mans lawe And yet our Byshops will swere them yea that which is worst of all they will accuse other men of treason rebellioÌ And there is no maÌ sworne to treason nor rebellion but they onely ¶ Wherfore most gracious prince with all mekenes and lowlynes that is due to soe noble a prince and also that doth béecome a true subiecte to doe I lowly and méekely require and desire your grace to Iudge betwéene the Byshops and me whiche of vs is trewest and faythfullest to God and to your grace I speake all onelye of those that hath and also would nowe if they durste defende the Pope and his lawes Agaynst them I make this supplication and agaynst them haue I declared the learning and doctrine that I haue both taught and wrytten And as for my factes déedes what I haue done agaynst God and your grace I require them to say their vttermost that they can proue or elles by your gracious fauour I am bere presente and offer my selfe to proue theÌ lyars And that vnder any maner of payne that your grace shal assigne And agaynst them I haue declared the learnyng and doctrine of theyr Churche and also brought examples of their factes and déedes with the whiche they haue put theyr doctrine in exercise Nowe if they bée gréeued or thinke theÌ selues wrongfully handled of mée then I require no more of your grace but indiffereÌtly and graciously to here both them and me the which thing no doubt as your grace doth knowe our heaueÌly father doth require of you who preserue your highnes in all honor dignite Amen The cause of my condemnation MOste gracious Prince y e your grace shoulde knowe what cause of heresye the Byshops had agaynst me for y e which they so vncharitablye and so cruelly hath cast me away Therefore haue I set out y e articles y e were layde agaynst me And as they were layd agaynst me as I will bée reported by their owne actes and bookes The which articles doubtles were vncharitably falsly gathered agaynst me in a sermon y e I made in CaÌbridge in S. Edwardes Churrh Wherfore I will beséech your grace with all méekenes lowlynes to bée my gracious Lord Prince And not to suffer me thus shamefully cruelly agaynst all law conscience vtterly to bée vndone cast away But of your most highe goodnes to suffer me to come to mine aunswere and then if I can not iustifie my cause I will be at your gracious commaundement to bée punished after right and conscience IF thou beléeue that thou art more bouÌd to serue God to morow which is Christmas day or of easter day or of whitsonday for an holynes that is in one day more then in an other then art thou no faythfull christean man but supersticious And S. Paule is against thée saying You doe obserue dayes yeares monthes and tydes For vnto a faythfull christean man euery day ought to bée Christmas day Easter day and whitsonday The which thinge the fathers considering that thou diddest not obserue yea that thou wouldest neuer obserue if it were lefte to thy iudgmeÌt because thou art geuen so much to worldly businesses For that cause they haue assigned thee certaine dayes to come to the certayn dayes to come to y e church to pray togither to heare the worde of God togither and to receaue the blessed sacrameÌt togither what faulte fynde you in this article because I say that one daye is not holyer then an other I pray you what is y e cause or what nature is in one day that is not in an other wherby that it should bée holyer then the other Because you will say that we halowe the remembraunce of Christes birthe and of Christes resurrection in one day and not in an other This thing I say must you doe euery daye for Christe is euery day borne euery day rysen euery day ascended vp And this must you beléeue euery day stedfastly This must you sanctifie in your hartes dayly and not one day ¶ Now vary we but in this thing You say that we are bound to sanctifie but one Christmas day in the yeare and that is supersticiousnes heresy say I not that I condemne your one day but that you set it to one daye all onely that we are bound to do euery daye Briefely my Lord of Rochester alowed this article saying he would not condemne it for heresy for an C. li. this was a great suÌme of money but it was folishely sayde quod hée to preach this afore the butchers of Cambryge As who say they were all butchers that were at the sermon And not y e most parte of y e vniuersity But the byshop of Bathe asked me whether we mighte labour on the holy dayes or not séeing it is written Thou shalt obserue thy holy day I aunswered
simpliciter forbidden Also good lawes bée Gods gifts Wherfore it must néedes followe that wée may lawfully vse them But as men may misuse cunning and beautie so may meÌ also misuse the excellent gift of the lawes not that lawes bée euill but because wée vse them not to the intent that they were ordayned for No man doubteth but in vsing of all Gods creatures there must bée an epykya that is a meane a measure and an order so that no man may therby destroy his neighbour against the order of charitie which is a guide and a ruler in vsing of all creatures As for men to make a rumour in a whole countrey for a trifle or els for a maÌ to sue his neighbour which is not able by no meanes to paye hys debte and so vtterly to vndoe hym and to take none ende with him but after the extremitie of the lawe I say that this maner of sutes doe not become Christen men Vbi transgreditur equitatis et charitatis limites And that all men may clearely perceiue that these onely were both my words and intent I shall rehearse the occasion that moued mée to speake of the lawyers and sueters The cause was thys There was a poore man dead and had made an other poore man his executour and bequethed in his will to a Churche in Cambridge a kettell worth ij s. iiij d. the which kettel was afterwarde required by the Churche Warden But this executour beyng a poore man and not able to geue this bequest at that tyme therefore hée desired the Church Warden of longer respite but hée could not be heard for the Church Warden would haue the vttermost of the law and sued him be fore the Commissary and at the last condemned him vnto prison where hée lay and neither was able to pay his dette nor to helpe his wife children Now bicause I might doe somthing with y e Church Warden therefore the poore mans wife came wéeping and waylyng to me desiring me in the way of charitie to speake to the Church WardeÌ for to bée good to her poore husband wherby I was moued to send for this my frend his name is called Ihon Drake a maÌ well knoweÌ in Cambridge vnto whom I spake in this maner Countreyman I am very sory to heare of your vncharitable demeanour Here hath béene w t mee a poore woman wéepyng and waylyng and crying out howe you haue vndone her her poore husband and her miserable children for all they haue not one bitte of bread towardes their foode neither is shée able to labour Wherefore I marueile sore at you that you wil bée so extreme vnto poore men whom God visited with pouertie to proue your charity What mercy will you haue at Christes hand the whiche is so extreme vnto your poore neighbour whom hée hath bought with his precious bloud Vnto this hée made me aunswere on this maner how that thyng pertained not to hym but vnto the Church wherfore hée sayd that all Doctours of law did say that they must sue therefore vnder the payne of deadly sinne And if it were wrong why did they learne so Now I had many wordes with hym betwéene him and me as concernyng this maner But the next day when I preached by the reason that the selfe same maÌ stoode afore me in y e Church was I brought to remembraunce of the case that hée and I had commoned of And bicause I had not clearely coÌuerted hym therfore I recited the case in a parable that no man knew what I meant but hée I. And of this thyng was I moued as God knoweth to speake of suters the whiche I thinke in this case no Christen man can alow And therefore I say in myne Article these lawyers Now is there vtterly sinne among you sayth Paule bicause you goe to law one with an other why rather suffer you not wroÌg why rather suffer ye not your selues to bée robbed Also our master sayth If any man will sue at the lawe and take thy coate from thée let him haue thy cloke also May not I say these wordes wherfore were they written by the holy ghost but that they should bée learned Here our master Christ and S. Paule speaketh agaynst suters no man can denye it the text is so cleare Now what suyng can bée vnlawfull if this bée not vnlawfull against the which I did speake Here is a poore man wife and children destroyed and no charitable wayes taken with the poore man whereby hée might make restitution And my learning saith That Summum ius summa iniuria est Wherefore I will bée iudged by all Christen men if I ought not in this case to géeue my frende counsell not for to sue Or whether I bée worthy to bée condemned for an hereticke because I counsell my frende and brother rather to suffer wrong than for to vndoe a whole housholde for a naughtie leude kettel But let vs sée how the holy doctours that hath written ouer these places of scripture doth erpounde them First Athanasius on this text of Saint Paule that I bryng There is vtterly sinne among you that is to say It is to your condemnation and to your ignomynie that you doe exercise iudicials among you Wherefore doe you not rather suffer wrong Also saint Hierome It is sinne vnto you that you doe against the coÌmauÌdemeÌt of Christ that you haue iudgementes among you the which ought alwayes to kéepe peace yea though it were with the losse of your temporall goods Wherefore doe you not rather suffer wronge Where as ye ought by the commaundement of the Gospell and by the example of the Lorde patiently to suffer there doe you the contrary not all onely not suffer but you doe wrong vnto them that doe no wronge c. Marke how S. Hierome calleth it a precepte and a commaundement and no counsell and also calleth it sinne to doe against this coÌmaundement Likewise Haymo saith It is offence and sinne in you that you haue iudicials For accusation engendreth strife strife engendreth discorde discorde engendreth hatred And least paraduenture they woulde say this is no sinne to require mine owne Therefore sayth the Apostle Truely it is sinne vnto you for you doe against the coÌmaundement of the Lord the which sayth He that taketh away thy good aske it not againe Wherefore doe you not rather suffer losse that ye might fulfill the commaundement of the Lord. c. Marke how hée calleth it the commaundement of God and it is sinne to aske our owne with contention Now what haue I sayde in mine article that holy scripture and also holy Doctours do not say But after this came a Doctour of lawe whom I knew not and sayde that their lawe had condemned thys epinioÌ and declared those scriptures to bée but counsels But I denyed that and sayd I knew no such lawe And sodainely Doctour Steuen now Byshop of Winchester shewed mée their lawe whose wordes bée
these Illud euangelij si quis abstulerit c. non est precipientis sed exhortantis Now let euery Christen man iudge whether that these wordes of theyr lawe bée of sufficient auctoritie to refell the holy wordes of Scripture or no But than came doctour WolmaÌ and hée brought this texte If thy brother doe offende thée than tell the Church What is that sayd hée tell the Church to whom I aunswered that this place made not for his purpose aleaging Saint Augustine for mée For it speaketh of the crymes that should bée reprooued by the congregation and not of the correction of the temporall sworde It also foloweth If hée heare not y e church couÌte hym as an heatheÌ and as a publican This is the vttermost payne that our M. Christ assigneth there y e which is no payne of the temporall lawe But at this aunswere was hée sore moued and sayd if I did abide by it I should be burnt This was a sharp sentence of so greate a man as hée is Apppelles was a ioly wyse felowe that sayd once to a shomaker Ne sutor vltra crepidam But neuertheles let hym and them burne as many as they can yet it is playne that I haue spoken neuer a worde but the holy scripture and holy doctours say the same both in sentence and in wordes Wherefore I can not sée how they can condemne this article for heresye yea and I dare saye for them that they recken it none heresy nor they did not condeÌne mée for this article I Wyll neuer beléeue nor yet I can neuer beléeue that one man may be by the lawe of God a byshop of 2. or 3. cyties yea of an whole couÌtrey for it is contrarye to S. Paule which sayth I haue left thée behynde to set in euery citye a byshop And if you finde in one place of scripture y e they bée called Episcopi you shal finde in diuers other places that they bée called Persoiteri ¶ I was brought afore my Lorde Cardinall into his galary and there hée reade all myne articles tyll hée came to this and there hée stopped sayde that this touched hym and therefore hée asked me if I thought it wronge that one byshop shoulde haue so many cityes vnderneath hym vnto whom I answered that I could no farther goe then to S. Paules texte which set in euery cytye a byshop Then asked hée mée if I thought it now vnright séeing the ordinaunce of the church that one byshop should haue so many cities I aunswered y e I knew none ordinaunce of y e church as concerning this thinge but S. Paules sayinge onelye Neuertheles I did sée a contrary custome and practise in the world but I know not the originall thereof Then sayde hée y e in the Apostles tyme there were dyuers cities some 7. myle some vj. myle long and ouer them was there set but one byshop of their subbards also So likewise now a byshop hath but one citye to his cathedrall churche and the country about is as subbards vnto it Me thought this was farre fetched but I durst not denye it because it was so greate auctorite and of so holy a father and of so greate a deuine But this dare I say that his holynes could neuer proue it by scripture nor yet by any auctorite of doctours nor yet by any practise of the Apostles and yet it must bée true because a piller of the church hath spoken it But let vs sée what y e doctours say to myne article Athanasius doth declare this text of the Apostle I haue left thée behinde c. Hée woulde not commit vnto one bythop a whole ylde but hée did inioyne that euery cytye shoulde haue his proper pastor supposing y e by this meanes they shoulde more diligently ouer sée the people and also that y e labour should bée more easye to beare c. Also Chrisostome on that same texte Hée would not y e a whole countrey shoulde bée permitted vnto one man but hée enioyned vnto euery maÌ his cure by y e meanes hée knew that the labour shoulde bée more eaysye and the subiectes should bée with more diligeÌce gouerned if the teachers were not distract with y e gouerning of many churches but had cure and charge of one church onely c. Mée thinketh these bée plaine wordes and able to moue a man to speak asmuche as I did But graunte that you may haue all these cities yet can you make it none heresy For my lord Cardinall graunted that it was but agaynst hym and against you which bée no Gods But I poore man must bée an heretike there is no remedy you will haue it so And who is able to say nay Not all scripture nor yet God hymselfe IT can not bée proued by scripture that a man of the churche shoulde haue so greate temporall possessions But they will say if they had not so great possessions they could not kepe so many seruantes so many dogges so many horses as 40. or 50. maintayne so great pompe and pride and liue so deliciously what heresye fynde you in this Is it heresye to speake against your horses and your houndes and your abhominable lyuing And doubtles I did not say but that you myght haue possessions all onely I spake against the superfluousnes and the abuse of them for the which all y e world wondereth on you What mischiefe is there in the worlde vsed y e is more clerely and openly knowen then that you doe abuse the goodes of the Church And yet must I bée coÌdemned for an heretyke for speaking against it Alas doe you thinke that God will suffer this violence that you doe vse agaynst poore men I will staÌd in y e daunger proue how his Godly maiesty shall iudge this matter béetwéene you and mée I dare trust hym with it SUre I am that they can not by the law of God haue any iurisdiction seculer and yet they chaleÌge both powers which if they haue why doe they not put them both in vse For they must say as the Iewes sayde we may kill no man This is the article that dyd byte you for you can not bée content with the office of a byshop but you will bée also kynges Howe that standeth with Gods lawe and with your othe I haue declared it to our noble prince I doubt not but hée will put you to the tryall of it Haue not you this many yeres condemned many a poore man then deliuered hym to the temporall power to be put to death which knew nothing of his cause And if hée would y e yée shoulde put hym to death your selfe then answered yée how you might kyll no man So y t they were alwayes your hangmen THey say they bée the successours of Christ and of his Apostles but I can sée them folow none but Iudas For they beare the purse and haue all the money
And if they had not so great possessions I am sure an C. would speake agaynst them where now dare not one for losse of promotion As for this article I will ouercome you with the witnes of all the world you may well condemne it for heresie but it is as true as your Pater noster Iudas solde our maââ¦ter but once and you sell him as often as hée commeth in your handes But I would it were that yée coulde proue mée a lyer and that you folowed any of the Apostles sauing Iudas onely Yea I woulde that yée were in certayne pointes as good as Iudas was It had béene better for you that you had not medled against mée in these matters For now I am compelled to speake many thinges which I would for shame of the worlde neuer haue spoken But now that you will haue it so take it to you and make the best you can of it THere is not the greatest Pharisie in this Church but I am sure I pricke him with these wordes and hée knoweth that they bée true though hée say the contrary and that doe I well know This article did I speake because of Doctour Rydle which on a tyme graunted in maister Doctour Buttes house that the Byshoppes were cleane out of order And therefore I say that I know it THese ordynary Byshops and prelates doe followe that false Prophet Balaam For they woulde curse the people but by the prouision of God they were compelled to blesse them that is to say to teach them to liue well though they theÌselues liue most mischeuously And so the Asses which they ride vpoÌ that is the common people haue their liues in abhominaiton This is the haynous heresie For it speaketh against the holy fathers which bée almost as holy as Balaams Asse that did once speake the worde of God to a good purpose And so doe they neuer But I graunt that I did offende in caulling you ordinary Byshops for I shoulde haue called you inordinate butchers And as for that that I compared you to Balaam it is your owne lawe 2. quest 7. Secuti sunt And cap. Nos si And as for your liuing all the worlde knoweth it I coulde tell here many holy pointes of Byshops liuinge as kéeping of mens wiues and daughters but I will not for I shoulde bée reckened vncharitable But you may doe them breaking not your holy charitie THey set vp an Idoll to deceaue y e people withall whiche is called Baall Peor or Baall Phegor that is interpretated gasping as their lawes and constitutions the which gaspe and gape to maintayne theyr worldly honour They cause vs to do sacrifice by fayre women that is by their carnall affections and swéete wordes so that God of Israell is forgotten And thus by their swéete wordes and benediction they deceiue the simple These bée y e false maisters that Saint Peter speaketh of These bée the fountaines without water for they geue no good doctrine to the people Where is the heresie in this because I coÌpare your lawes to Baall But looke whether the interpretation of the worde doe agrée wyth the nature of your lawes or not What doe all your lawes but minish the auctoritie of Princes and of all other Lordes and exalte yours onely Call you not that a gasping Idoll Let this article stand till you be able to proue it heresie NOw they sell vs they sell the people they sell holy orders they sell church halowing there is no better marchandise in Chepeside Wilte thou knowe what is the price of a Church halowing no lesse than xl shillinges They sell pardons and remissioÌs of sinnes as opeÌly as a Cow and an Oxe is solde for they neuer graunt them without money The Suffragan of Ely did aske of maister Iohn Purgolde xl s. and the offring for halowing of S. Edwardes in CaÌbrige yea and hée woulde not doe it so good chepe quoth hée but because he had a Goddaughter buryed in the churchyarde But this may bée proued by examples ynough For bryng yée forth one church in all Englande that you haue halowed without money or without hope of money and I will graunt my conclusion false And as for your pardons all the worlde knoweth your handlyng I dare say it is the best marchaundise in the worlde as you handle it But was it not a maruaylous blindnes and a great presumption so cruelly to handle mée for these articles was there no middell to haue punished mée for speaking agaynste you but that I must néedes be an hereticke I dare say there is not one among you so shameles y e dare come forth now at this day and proue these articles heresie agaynst mee But doubtles as long as I liue and am not restored to my name and fame againe which you haue violently taken away from mée will I bée vnto you a deuill and a pestilence I require nothing of you but my good name and fame to the which I haue right and to the which you ought of your charitie restore mée though I neuer required you I thinke you haue punished mée inough for speaking of a foolishe worde or twayne against you WIlte thou know what their benedictions is worth They had rather géeue thée then benedictions then one halfepeny Is not this a sore heresie You ryde thorowe stréetes and townes blessing man and stone but you neuer géeue halfepenye to man nor childe NOwe is come a pardon wherby they say that they haue power to sende an hundreth soules to heauen And if they may so doe without any further respect then may they likewise sende an other 100. to hell For it foloweth in the text Quodcunque ligaueris that is what so euer thou byndest Is not this a sore heresye to say that you may not rule this matter at your iudgment But this is a marueylous texte Quodcunque ligaueris for it bindeth in hell and loseth in heauen and openeth mens purses cofers in earth it deposeth Princes it interditeth landes it looseth a man out of his coote yea and often tymes it loseth a man from his wife yea and the horse out of the carte And all is done by this texte Quodcunque ligaueris Is not this a merueilous text that hath so greate a power I know not such an other in all the Bible IT is abhominable to heare howe they preach and teach that they may absolue a poena and a culpa which I am sure is impossible as they vnderstand it Make of this what you can and looke of your owne scholasticall doctours The which learneth boldlye that the keyes of the church hath none auctorite ouer sinne nor yet ouer eternall payne But all onely hath auctorite to chaunge euerlasting payne vnto a temporall payne that the pope may chauÌge take away at his pleasure And amoÌg all temporall paynes you reken purgatory y e greattest Ouer the which y t pope hath full power This is
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 coÌmeth within your dauÌger 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 loÌg 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 substaÌciall 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 weÌt 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 discââ¦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 seÌtence 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
vnto your grace for my name and fame and estemacion all thinges that belong to an honest poore man in this world is takeÌ wroÌgfully from mée hereby and haue bene by y e space of 9. or 10. yeres which is no smale tyme compelled to liue in misery and obloquy Wherfore most gracious prince lamentably I cry call vnto your grace for gracious audience indifferent iustice It were to long a processe to troble your grace with to tell all the vncharitable hand lyng that the Cardynall and the byshops apoynted by hym dyd vse with mée But I wil make vnto your grace a short somme of it as neare as I can call now to remembraunce In the yeare of our Lorde 1525. yt. 24. day of December dyd I make a sermon at the request of the parish in S. Edwardes church in Cambrige out of the which sermon dyd myne aduersaries gather these articles which when I knew I offered my selfe to preach agayne the sonday folowing And to declare my selfe and my meanyng clearely But Doctour Rydley and Doctour Preston chaplens and kynsmen to y t byshop of London fouÌd the meanes y t the VicechauÌcelour did inhibet me to preach But I could neuer know any reasonable cause why but that alonely hée sayde it shoulde bée for my profyt to holde my peace And with this I was so content Tyll at the last that these foresayd doctours with one master Tyrell gathered in in writyng certayne articles and presented them to the vicechauncelour which sent for mée and asked mée what I sayd to those articles I aunswered that they were none of myne But certayne wordes and sentences there were in them that I had spokeÌ but that was left out y t should make for my declaratioÌ Wherefore I sayd they were none of myne And that I would bée reported by the audience To this hée sayde that I should take hede what I denied for if they brouht wytnes agaynst me theÌ must I nedes dye I aunswered that the witnes shoulde bée false for I neuer spake them Then sayde hée I could not proue a negatiue I aunswered that I woulde proue y t witnes false what so euer hée were Hée sayd whether they were true or false I must suffer for it if witnes come in agaynst mée for that was the lawe I sayd how y t was a piteous case And by that lawe they might condemne our M. Christ Hée sayd how y t I shoulde remember mée what I did for the matter was so daungerous and so haynous in the lawe that I might haue no counsell Then I aunswered sayd well let god helpe which knoweth all things This was in the vniuersite scholes the doores shut fast no man being w t in on my parte but I alone But of my aduersaries parte was there doctour Rydly doctour watson doctour Preston and a doctour of law whose name I haue forgotten their was also one master Fooke mayster Tyrel which was appoynted amonge them to bée the presenter of these articles Nowe the Vicechauncelour when hée coulde haue no more of mée in coÌmunication béetwéene vs bée asked mée what I would doe I answered hée should goe his way and set hym downe and heare their complaint And I would make such an aunswere as God should put in my mynde Hée required mée instantly not to cast my selfe away So hée went and set hym downe and I was called before him As soone as I came then stoode forth M. Tyrell presented a roule in the which were certayne articles as hée sayd gathered out of my sermon of y t which some of them sayde hée were contentious some were sedicious some were sklaunderous and some were hereticall When hée had thus spoken Then sayd I to hym Good M. Tyrell wyll you present any of these articles as heresye At this word spake y t vicechauncelour to mée good mayster doctour let that passe Wyll you bée content to submyt your selfe Then sayd I where so euer I haue spoken against Gods word or against the exposition of holy doctours I will bée content to bée reformed and to submyt my selfe But with this was not doctour Rydlye nor doctour watson content except I should adde vnto it If I had offended the lawes of the church But at that I stopped and sayde it was to large for I knewe not what they ment by the lawes of the church nor I was no doctour of lawe Wherefore I iudged it sufficient for mée to bée reported by Gods worde by the exposicion of holy doctours For that was my facultie TheÌ the Vicechauncellour rekened that it was sufficieÌt for mée But we could not agree in a great space in this thing Wherefore I sayd I woulde agrée to all maner of lawes y t were not gaynst Gods worde nor S. Agustine nor S. Hierome nor yet against none of the foure doctours So did it rest y t day at this poynt and no more was handeled For in this tyme was the whole body of y t vniuersitie gathered togither and knocked at the schoole doores and said they would heare the examination séeing the matter was manifest And these few persoÌs should not take auctorite on them onely to here and to determine such causes Than the Vicechauncelour sent the bedell to the doore requiring them to bée content but they were the more moued and knocked sorer So rose the Vicechauncelour and went hym selfe to the dore gaue them as good and as faire words as hée coulde But the conclusion was they woulde not departe except they might heare this matter iudged and as they sayd it apertained to learning And they were the body of the vniuersitie So ytVicechauncelour came backe agayne vnto vs all and sayde wée must geue ouer this matter for the vniuersitie is in a rumour so departed wée a sunder TheÌ within two or thrée dayes after was I cauled into Clare hall to ytVicechauncelours chamber where were also the foresayde doctours gathered agaynst mée There did they entreate mée with good wordes for to bée coÌtent to bee ordered after master Vicechauncelours councell I did require that master Vicechauncelour woulde indifferently heare mee and myne aduersaries togither And then if I had sayde any thing agaynst learning I woulde bée ordered at master VicechauÌcelours coÌmauÌdement TheÌ sayd they that it was done for my profyt that mayster VicechauÌcelour did not sit in iudgmeÌt For as they sayd they were all my frends and woulde bée lothe that my matter shoulde bée heard in iudgemeÌt For if there came any witnes against mée as they were sure there would theÌ were I but lost I aunswered what witnes soeuer should come to proue those articles as they were layde against mée I would proue them false For I had preached openly and many learned men were at my sermon and I doubted not but they would testify the truth for both partyes But then aunswere was made mée that if thre witnesses came agaynst mée then would thrée and
twenty not helpe mée for that was y t course of the lawe Then sayde I This is a pitious case y t a man shall not bée reported indifferently by his audience seing it was in the Vniuersite But by 2. or 3. false witnesses Wherefore I woulde abide the dauÌger let myne aduersaries doe their vttermost If I shall thus dye I must bée content sayd I I am no better then our master Christ Then was there many wordes vsed and many daungerous wayes shewed mée to haue withdrawen mée from this purpose but I did staÌd fast in it So they required mée to goe backe into a chaÌber they communed togither secretly alone And at y t last they sent vnto mée the Vicechauncelour which intreated mée very sore to bée content with their ordinaunce For by his coÌscience hée could not perceiue but they were all my frendes and intended to saue both my name and fame which they could not doe the lawe was so daungerous onles I would followe their counsell Then asked I M. VicechauÌcelour what they would that I should doe For truely said I these articles were falsely and vncharitably layde vnto mée Hée aunswered that there should bée no ieoperdy in y e matter and therfore I should bée conteÌted to graunt theÌ But vnto y t I would not agree in any wise Wherfore I desired hym to depart agayne vnto theÌ and I would come make them a resonable aunswer So came I in making this protestation first Right worshipful maisters I trust you bee all my frendââ and haue so much charity in you that you will not cast mée away onles you perceiue a great faute and obstinacy in mée the which I trust you shall not fynde for I did neuer intende to speake nor yet to boe agaynst Christs holy doctrine Notwithstanding seing that y t lawe is so daungerous as M. Vicechauncelour and you haue tolde mée Therfore I had rather put my selfe vnto your charitie then to stande to y t daunger of the lawe And for this purpose two of these articles that be layd vnto mée thus I aunswer These articles as they doe here stande were neuer mine nor I neuer intended to speake them as they bee here written But neuertheles I doe graunt y t here bée many of my words and also a great many of my seÌteÌces y e I did speake Wherfore I doe submit my self vnto you desiring you charitably to deale w t mée not to take my wordes to y t worst sence Then made they mée to bée sworne to stande to yeVicechauncelours determination At that I stopped a great while but at y e last I graunted to abide his determinatioÌ if it were not agaynst learning and charitie And vpon this the Vicechauncelour assoyled mée as they said Ab excoÌmunicacione iuris Now had they there standing vnknowen vnto mée a notary which did make an instrament of all my agreementes For I did not know but y t they dealt with mée as frendes and as priuate persons And this instrument made by the notary was afterward preseÌted vnto the court for witnes against mée when I was brought béefore the byshops And as we were thus talking in ytVicechauncelours chamber The Vniuersitie gathered togither so that y e bodye of ytVniuersitie was there And then sent they vp certayne maysters and bachelours of diuinity to ytVicechauncelour requiring him that they myght bée admytted to here the examination of mée in as muth as they had heard mée preach Aunswere was made agayne that there was no suche matter in hand but that they did deale with mée frendlye to deuise an ende moste to my profite By the reason of the which congregation we were compelled to departe a sonder as for that tyme. And so rested y e matter still the space of a moneth In the which tyme doctour watson and doctour Preston at the agréement of the Vicechauncelour wente wrote a reuocation and made it of euery article by it selfe making me in the reuocation to graunt y t articles as they were layde against mée Addyng also to euery article that béecause some men had so vnderstode mée therefore I should reuoke the article as in the fyrst article where I had sayde after the mynde of S. Hierome y t all dayes were of lyke vertue They added y e certaine men did take mée y e I would haue no holy dayes And therefore I must reuoke that article as heresye Item where I had spoken in myns articles agaynst the gorgious pompe and pride of spirituall ornamentes They did adâe y t certayne men dyd take out of my sayinge that I would haue no halowed chalices nor vestimentes nor yet any ornameutes in y t church And therefore I must reuoke that article as heresy And so in euery one of my articles where they coulde expounde a word to an euell sentence or els of malice make any mischeuous or sedicious saying that layd they to mée would haue me reuoke it as though it had béene my saying and meaning So there was neuer an article but that was either hereticall sedicious contentious blasphemous or els pijs auribus offensinus Moreouer I had in y t same place a good frende the which wrote the same reuocation priuely as fast for mée as hée did wright it for doctour Preston The which man is yet aliue Nowe when I had this thing in wrytyng I cauled into my chambre an eyght or tenne of y t best learned men y t were in Cambryge the which bée yet aliue as farre as I know sauing master George Stafforde and master Bylney Of all these I asked their counsell what they thought best to doe seing this reuocation was so vncharitably made and thinges falsly layde vnto my charge which were not in myne articles nor yet could bée charitably taken out of them They also concluded that it was neither right nor conscience that I should agrée to this reuocation Wherfore afterward when the Vicechauncelour called me agayne afore doctour Rydley doctour watson doctour Preston and master Tyrell and deliuered mée this reuocation in his chambre which I should rede openly y t sonday folowing in S. Edwardes church and should saye neyther more nor lesse then was therin written Yea and should also promyse that if I were afterward called forth by any hygher power spirituall to bée content and suffer all payne punyshment that hée or they shoulde lay vnto mée Then would I not agrée in no wise to this determination nor consent to these condicions For they were neyther agréeable to learning nor yet standing with charitie There were certayne articles condemned for heresie that were as true as S. Iohns Gospell And charity would not that I should bee blamed for that thing that I neuer spake nor thought but alonely malicious persons dyd take out of my sayinges false meaninges Wherefore here was a greate tragedy among theÌ For some sayde that I was periured by y t reason I was sworne to
could vsed all maner of cruelnes to haue destroyed mée Neuertheles at y e last hée deliuered mée y â roole for to reade TheÌ was all y e people y â stoode there called to heare me For in y e other iij. dayes was there no man suffered to heare one worde that I spake So after their commaundement that was geuen mée I red it adding nothing to it nor saying one word that might make for myne excuse supposing that I should haue founde the Byshoppes the better After this I was commaunded to subscribe to it to make a crosse on it Then was I commaunded to goe knéele downe before the Byshop of Bathe and to require absolution of hym but hée woulde not assoyle mée except I woulde first sweare that I woulde fulfill the penaunce that hée shoulde enioyne to mée So did I sweare not yet suspectinge but theâe men had had some cromme of charitie within them But when I had sworne then enioyned hée mée that I should returne that nyght agayne to pryson And the nexte day which was Fastingam Sonday I should doe open penaunce at Paules And that the worlde shoulde thynke that I was a marueylous haynous heretyke the Cardinall came the next day with all y e pompe and pride that hée could make to Paules church and all to bring mée poore soule out of consayte And moreouer were there commaunded to come all y e byshops that were at London and all the abbots dwelling in London that dyd weare miters in so much that the prior of S. Mary spittell and an other moncke which I thinke was of Tower hill were there also in their myters And to set the matter more forth that the world should perfectly know perceiue that the spirituall fathers had determined my matter substancially The byshop of Rochester must preach there the same day and all his sermon was agaynst Lutherians as though they had coÌuicted me for one The which of truth and afore God was as farre from those thinges as any man could bée sauing that I was no tyraÌt nor no persecutour of Gods worde And all this gorgyous fasing with myters and crostaues abbotts and priors were done but to blinde the people and to outface mée God amend all thinges that is amysse I had béene well content to haue suffered all these thinges so I might haue come to a charitable end But I must returne agayne after this to prison there remayne tyll my Lord Cardinals farther pleasure The which pleasure I did abide fyrst and last ⪠2. yeares and thrée quarters yet could neuer bée at any poynt with theÌ For I sent vnto y â byshop of London that was then certayne worshipfull men of the Cyty of LoÌdon whose names bée these Mayster Lambert which hath béene Maior M. Raynold which hath béene shreue M. Palmer M. Petyt M. Iones and M. Pernell And desyred these men in the way of charitie to goe to the Byshop of London and to desire him to bée good and gracious vnto mée And if I had offended I would bée glad to make amends asmuch as hée should reasonably require of mée Desiring hym to shew theÌ what hée would of his charitie require me to doe they for to bée bound vnto hym y e I would kéepe it This they dyd But what aunswer y e they had of hym they bée men aliue for the most part they can tell And amongst all other maister Petit sayd vnto the byshop Alas my Lorde it is a petuous case If a man come in the daunger of your lawe there is no remedy to helpe hym out Yes saydâ the byshop What is that sayd maister Petyt This is a yong man hath good frendes which would bée right lothe to haue him cast away wherefore if there bée any remedy deuise you it and we wil bée bound for him At this the byshop was astonyed and sayde at the last that hée would speake to my Lorde Cardinal for mée Then these meÌ offered him to goe with him and to bée bounde for mée Hée sayde it should not néede But neuertheles hée spake so vnto them or they departed that wheÌ they came home there was not one of them that durst geue mée so much bread meat as hée durst geue his dog nor yet speake one word to mée Immediatelye after this the byshop founde y e meanes that I was sent to northaÌpton there to remayne as in a perpetuall prison Thus most gracious prince haue they handled me your poore Oratour I beseche your highnes to bée good and gracious vnto mée iudge if this bée charitable dealyng thus to coÌdemne mée for an heretyke not to shew mee the poynt wherefore But euen with a violent tyrannye to compeil mée to doe confesse what they will or els to bée put to death And if there bée any of them yet y e will come forth and proue any of these articles heresye I will not refuse to suffer any payne that your grace shall iudge me worthy Thus our Lord Iesus Christe preserue your noble grace euermore Amen Onely fayth iustifieth before God NOw if your grace doe not take vppon you to heare the disputation the probation of this article out of the grouÌd of the holy Scripture my Lordes the Bishops will condeÌne it afore they read it as their maner is to doe with all thynges that pleaseth them not and which they vnderstand not and then crye they heresy heresie an hereticke an hereticke hée ought not to bée heard for his matters bée condemned by the Church by his holy fathers and by all long customes and by all maner of lawes Vnto whom with your graces fauour I make this auÌswere I would know of them if all these things that they haue reckened can ouercome Christ and his holy worde or set the holy ghost to schole And if they can not why should not I then bée heards that doe require it in the name of Christ and also bryng for me his holy worde the holy fathers which haue vnderstand Gods worde as I doe Therfore though they will not heare me yet must they néedes heare them In holy Scripture Christ is nothing els but a Sauiour a redéemer a iustifier a perfect peace maker betwene God and man This testimony dyd y e aungell geue of him in these wordes Hée shall saue his people from theyr sinnes And also S. Paule Christ is made our righteousnes our satisfaction and our redemption Moreouer the Prophet witnesseth the same saying For the wretchednes of my people haue I striken him So that here haue we Christ with his properties Now if we wil truly coÌfesse Christ then must we grauÌt with our hartes that Christ is all our iustice all our redemption all our wisedome all our holynes all alonely the purchaser of grace alonly y e peace maker betwéene God and man Briefely all goodnes that we haue y e it is of hym by him and for his
haue charitie but y e iustified maÌ hée is a frée seruaunt vnto God for the loue y e hée hath vnto him The which loue séeketh not in God his owne profit nor his owne aduauÌtage for then were hée wicked but séeketh alonely the wyll of God and the profite of other men and worketh neyther for loue of heauen nor yet for feare of hell For hée knoweth well that heauen wyth all the ioyes thereof is prepared from the begynnyng of the world not by hym but by hys father And it must néedes folow as contrariwyse the Infidell and the wicked man doth not worke hys wicked déedes because hée woulde haue hell or euerlasting dampnation to hys rewarde but hée woulde rather the contrary Notwithstandyng hell and euerlasting dampnation must néedes follow his wicked déedes Finally a righteous man is a frée seruaunt of Gods and worketh not as an hyerelyng For if it were possible that there were no heauen yet woulde hée doe no lesse good for his respecte is to the maker of the worlde and the Lord of all rewardes There is also an other argument and that is thys Fayth is a worke but workes doth not iustifie Ergo fayth doth not iustifie Aunswere Truth it is that we doe not meane how that fayth for his owne dignitie and for hys owne perfection doth iustifie vs. But the Scripture doth say that fayth alonely iustifieth because that it is that thyng alonely whereby I doe hange of Christe And by my faith alonely am I partaker of y e merites and mercy purchased by Christes bloude and fayth it is alonely that receaue the promyses made in Christ Wherefore wée say with blessed S. Paule that fayth onely iustifieth imputatiue that is all y e merites and goodnes grace and fauour and all that is in Christ to our saluation is imputed and reckoned vnto vs because wée hange and beléeue of hym and hée can deceaue no man that doth beléeue in hym And our iustice is not as the schoole men teacheth a formal iustice which is by fulfillyng of the lawe deserued of vs for then our iustification were not of grace and of mercy but of deseruing and of duty But it is a iustice that is reckened imputed vnto vs for y e fayth in Christ Iesus and it is not of our deseruyng but clearely and fully of mercy imputed vnto vs. Now most honorable gracious Prince I haue declared vnto your highnes what faith it is that doth iustifie vs before God and also brought for my senteÌce not alonely the blessed word of God the which were sufficient in this cause but the exposition of holy Doctours that your grace might sée that I am not moued to this opinion of a light cause nor that this doctrine of myne is so new as men hath noted it Moreouer I haue declared vnto your grace how that I woulde haue good workes done would not haue a Christen mans life to bée an idle thyng or els a life of vncleannes but I would haue them to bée chaunged into all vertue and goodnes and to liue in good workes after the commaundement will of God So that your grace may well perceiue that myne aduersaries hath not reported truely on me when they haue sayd how that I would that men should neither fast nor pray nor geue almes nor yet bée penitent for their sinnes I haue neuer sayd it nor yet taught no lyke sentence I take God to recorde my workes and my déedes and all my writynges that euer I wrote or made Wherfore I doubt not if it please your grace graciously to here me but that I wil proue them vntrue in this cause many other mo This doth almighty God know to bée true Who euer preserue your moste royall maiestie in honour and goodnes Amen What the Church is and who bee therof and whereby men may know her THe name of the holy church haue those meÌ of long tyme vsurped presumptuouslye and w t out all shame they were the greatest enemyes that holy church could haue in earth For they did no more agrée w t the maners of holy church then darknes and light then God and y t deuyll For where holy church hard no man but Christ onely They would heare all manner of men sauing Christ and neuer heare him except it weare to to their profit or glory Where as holy church was ruled in this world they would rule all the world where as holy church would bée holy by Christ onely they would bée holy by their owne helpe And where as holy church was allwayes despised and persecuted of the world They would bée honored of y t world and persecuters of all men And where as holy church was inwardly decked with spiritual vertues they would bée outwardly shinyng in spirituall araye And where as holy church would bée chaste in spryte they would with their mouthes vow chastite and spend all their liues in whore dome And where as holy church dyd allwayes shew méekenes in the worlde they would bée so proude y t hart could deuise no more Breifely whatsoeuer thing y e was agreable with the church of that had they neuer a crumme but allonely by violence vsurped the name of holy church So that if a man had had a crowne or a long goune and a white smock ouer his gowne theÌ was there no remedy but hée must nedes bée of the church yea and holy church her self So y e if a Barber had made a Bul a crowne a Taylor Iack napes a loÌg gowne brought an Asse forth in a white rochet theÌ no maÌ might dout but y e there were holy church euerye man must fall downe to receyue clene remission a poena and a oulpa toties quoties for there came the successours of Peter Paule and they that haue the despensatioÌ of Christes bloud and the merites of holy saints and y e suffrages of holy church to distribute and the key bearers of heaueÌ and hell Who can denye but this is truth It is to opeÌ to néede an probation for wee sée it dayly before our eyes So that if a man will compare our M Christ y t is y e very head of holy church vnto these Prelates that call them selues his viccars hée shall finde but smale agréement betwéene the person and the vicar and hée that will consider S. Peter and S. Paule withall other Apostels shall think that eyther they were none of holy Church or els our prelals for they agrée in nothing Yea hée may reckeÌ that S. Peter S. Paule were starke fooles ryght mad men that liued so despectuous a lyfe What néede me to make many wordes or to tell their names that I speake of There is no doubt but that galde horse will béewray hym selfe But shortly if the deuyll would come in his owne person disguised tell me how it were impossible that hée could bée more contrary to Christ and hys apostels
then those men that call theÌ selues y e holy church yea take away the name of the church and set in her stéede the name of the deuyll how will you then know a byshop froÌ the deuyll By their workes nay trewly for they bée all one And yet will you bée the heades of Christes church yea the holy church her selfe not so yée wicked not so Wherefore that this blessed spouse of Christ may bée knowen from thée open and abhominable whores and harlotes therefore will I by gods grace set out what holy Church is and where by men shall know her This worde Ecclesia both in y e new testament and the olde is taken ofteÌtymes for the whole congregatioÌ and and the whole multitude of y t people both good and bad as it is in the booke of Numeri Why haue you brought the congregation or Church of God into wildernes Also in an other place The king turned his face and blessed the whole congregation or Church of Israell and all the Church of Israell stoode Likewise in the new testameÌt Saint Paule to the Corinthians I haue seÌt vnto you Tymothy the which shall learne you my wayes y e bée in Christ Iesu as I doe learne euery where in all congregations Also in an other place doe you despise the congregation of God and shame theÌ that haue not In all these places in many moe is it open that this greke word Ecclesia is taken for the whole congregation both of good bad Wherfore this is not y e church that we will greatly speake of for in this church are Iewes and Sarasens Murtherers and Theeues Baudes and Harlots though we know them not But there is an other holy Church of the which S. Paule speaketh you men loue your your wiues as Christ hath loued the Church and hath geueÌ him selfe for her that hée might sanctifie her and clense her in the fountaine of water through the worde of life to make her to him selfe a glorious Church without spot or wrincle or any such thyng but that she might bée holy without blame Here haue you the very true Churche of Christ that is so pure and so cleane without spotte But wherby is shée pure cleane not by her owne merites nor by her owne might not by exteriour araye not by gold nor siluer nor yet by precious stones neither by myters nor crosestaues nor by pillers nor pollaxes But wherby then by Christ onely which hath geuen him selfe for that inteÌt that hée would make her cleane and therefore sayth S. Paule Hée gaue him selfe that hée might sanctifie her that hée might clense her and make her to him selfe a glorious Church Also in an other place you are washed you are sanctified you are iustified in the name of Iesus Christ and in the spirite of God Sée my Lordes how the Church is washed by Christ by his holy spirite and not by your blessynges not by your spirituall ornamentes nor by your spirituall holy water for these thynges cannot helpe the holy Church for she is holy in spirite and not in outwarde hypocrisie she is also clensed by Christes blessed bloud not by outward disguisinges This doth S. Augustine wel proue saying Of Christ is the church made fayre first was she filthie in sinnes afterward by pardon and by grace was she made fayre c. Here S. Augustine sayth y t Christ hath made his Church fayre and that by his grace his pardon and not by your pardons nor by your grace For this Church staÌdeth by Christes election not by yours And if Christ haue not washed you chosen you then bée you none of this Church though you ride with a thousand spiritual horses and haue all the spirituall tokeÌs on earth For and if y e sonne of God haue deliuered you theÌ are you truely deliuered Ye can not make by all your power and holynes that we shall alwayes finde good ale or wyne where there hangeth out a gréene signe and will you with your spirituall signes and tokens make the Churche of God to folow you or by them assigne out where the Churche shall bée Nay nay my Lords it will not bée but they that beléeue y e Christ hath washed them from their sinnes and sticke fast vnto his merites and to the promise made to them in hym onely they bée the Church of God so pure and so cleane that it shall not bée lawfull no not for Peter to say that they bée vncleane but whether they bée Iew or Gréeke kyng or subiect carter or Cardinall butcher or Byshop tancardbearer or cannelrater frée or bounde Frier or fidler Monke or miller if they beléeue in Christes word sticke fast to his blessed promises and trust onely in the merites of his blessed bloud they bée the holy Church of God yea and the very true church afore God And you with all your spiritual tokens with all your exteriour cleannes remaine in your filthynes of sinne from the which all your blessings all your pardons all your spirituallitie all your holynes can not clense you nor bring you into this Churche Boast crake blast blesse curse till your holy eyes start out of your head it wil not helpe you for Christ chooseth his church at his iudgement and not at yours The holy ghost is frée inspireth where hée will hée will neither bée bound to Pope nor Cardinall Archbishop nor Byshop Abbot nor Prior Deacon nor Archdeacon Parson nor Vicare Nunne nor Frier Briefly come all the whole rabble of you togither that call your selues y e holy Churche and exclude all other yea and take sunne moone starres to helpe you with all the frendes you haue in heaueÌ and earth and yet shall you not bée of holy church except that you haue y t spirite of Christ bée washed in his blessed bloud For y e holy Churche of Christ is nothyng els but that congregation that is sanctified in spirite redéemed with Christes bloud and sticketh fast and sure alonely to the promises that hée made therein So that the Church is a spirituall thyng and no exterior thyng but inuisible from carnall eyes I say not that they bee inuisible that bée of the Church but that holy Church in her selfe is inuisible as fayth is and her purenes and cleanes is before Christ onely and not before the worlde for the worlde hath no iudgement nor knowledge of her but all her honour and cleanes is before Christ sure and fast And if there appeare any of her goodnes vnto the worlde of that shée maketh no reckenyng nor thinketh her selfe any thyng thyng the better that the worlde iudgeth well of her for all her trust is in Christ onely She suffereth the worlde to rage and blaspheme both agaynst her and agaynst Christ her maker Shée standeth fast and beléeueth sted fastly that that shal haue a shamefull ende and euerlasting
damnation to rewarde Briefly her meditations and her thoughtes are heauenly and all that shée doth is spirituall For shée can not erre shée cleaueth so fast to the worde of God that is the veritie And for this cause S. Paule calleth her the piller and grounde of truth not that shée is so sure of and in her owne strength but that shée sticketh so fast to the lyuyng God and to hys blessed worde that is the very true Church that is scattered thorow all the worlde and is neyther bounde to person by the reason of dignitie nor yet to any place by the reason of fayned holynes but shée is a frée thynge thorow all the worlde as S. Augustine doth witnesse in these wordes The holy Church are wée but I doe not say as one should say wée that bée here alonely that heare mée now but as many as be here faythfull Christened meÌ in this Church that is to say in thys Citye as many as bée in thys region as many as bée beyonde the sea as many as bée in all the worlde for from the rysing of the sunne till the goyng down is the name of God praysed so is the holy Church our mother c. Here haue you playnely that the holy Church is the congregation of faythfull men wheresoeuer they bée in the worlde And neyther the Pope nor yet hys Cardinalles bée more this Church or of thys Church then the poorest man in earth For this church standeth alonely in the spirituall faith of Christ Iesus and not in dignities nor honours of the worlde as Liranus doth declare in these wordes The Church doth not stand in men by reason of spirituall power or secular dignities For many Princes and many Popes and other inferiour persons haue swerned froÌ the fayth Wherfore that Church doth stand in those persons in whome is the true knowledge and confession of fayth and of veritie c. O my Lordes what will you say to Lyra I haue great maruayle that you burne hym not It is hye tyme to condemne hym for an heretike for hée speaketh agaynst your lawe xxiiij q. 1. Quodcunque Where as your glose declareth that God suffereth not the church of Rome for to erre And Lyra sayth playnely that many popes haue erred and also that the Church standeth not in dignitie but in confession of Christ and of hys blessed veritie But now here wyll bée obiected that I fayne such a Church as our Logitions doe intentionem secundam that is a thyng y t is no where Where shall a man finde a Church that is so pure and so cleane that hath neyther spot nor wrinckle in her and that is wythout all sinne séeyng that all men must of trueth saye forgéeue vs our trespasse And if any man say bée hée neuer so righteous that hée hath no sinne theÌ is hee a lyer and there is no veritie in hym To thys I aunswere that thys holy Church hath sin in her yet is shée pure and cleane Marke S. Paules wordes Christe hath geuen hymselfe for her that hée might make her glorious So that the cleannes of this holy church is the mercy of God toward her thorow Christ for whose sake he layeth nothing to her charge yea and if any other person woulde hée is ready to géeue her his cleanes and to let her by fayth clayme of right hys purenes for her owne For betwéene them all is common as betwéene man and wyfe So that if the Church looke on her owne merites and of her owne workes shée is full of sinne and must néedes say demitte mihi debita The which shée néeded not to say if shée had none But if shée referre her selfe vnto the merites of her blessed husbande Christ Iesus and to the cleanes that shée hath in hys bloud theÌ is shée without spotte For by the reason that shée sticketh by fayth so fast vnto her husband Christ and doth abyde in confession of her sinne requireth mercy for them therfore is there nothing layde to her charge but all thyng is forgéeuen her And therefore sayth S. Paule there is no damnation vnto them that bée in Christ Iesu And that this may bée the playner I wyll bryng you S. Augustines wordes the which was vexed of the Donatistes wyth thys same reason that is layd agaynst mée hys wordes bée these The whole Church sayth forgéeue vs our sinnes wherefore shée hath spottes and wrinckles but by knowledging of them her wrinckles bée extended and stretched out by knowledging her spottes are washed away The church abydeth in prayer that shée myght bée cleÌsed by knowledging of her sinnes As loÌg as we liue hereso standeth it and when wée shall departe out of thys bodye all such thynges bée forgéeuen to euery maÌ wherfore by thys meane y â church of God is in the treasures of God wythout spotte and wrinckles and therefore here doe wée not lyue wythout sinne but wee shall passe from hence wythout sinne c. Here haue you clearely that the church of God is clensed and purified by Christ for knowledgyng of her sinnes and not by her owne purenes Wherefore such a church there must néedes bée though that y e carnall eye can not sée her nor fleshly reason can iudge of her Wherefore wée beléeue thys article by fayth that holy church is a communion or felow shyp of holy men and know it not by séeyng or féelyng as wée doe the felowshyp of Drapers or mercers for then were it none article of the faith And it is playne that all your exterior signes wyth all your holy ornamentes as your holy myters your holy crossestaues your holy pyllers polaxis your holy red gloues your holy ouches and your holy rynges your holy annoynted fingers your holy vestmentes your holy challices and your holy golden showes yea take also to helpe you S. Thomas of Canterburyes holy showe wyth all the holy bootes of holy Monkes and all these togither can not make one crumme of holynes in you nor helpe you one pricke forward that you may bée wythin thys church For if these thynges coulde helpe then were it no mastery to make an Asse to bée of the church of God But our holy mother the Church hath an other holynes that commeth from God the father thorough the swéete bloud of his blessed sonne Iesus Christ in whom is all her confidence and trust Vnto whom she sticketh onely by sted fast fayth by whose purenes shee is also pure in that that she doth confesse her vnclennes for shee beléeueth stedfastly that she hath an aduocate for her sinne to y e father of heauen which is Christ Iesus and hée is the satisfaction for her sinnes hée of his mercy not of her merites hath chosen her for to bée his and because she is his therfore must she bée cleane so long as she abideth in him This is well declared in S. Iohn where our master Christe is
compared to the vyne and all the members of holy Churche to the branches that as the braunches can bring foorth no frute of them selues so caÌ holy church of her selfe bring foorth no goodnes except shee remaine in Christ by persite fayth This is wel proued by your owne law whose wordes bée these therfore is the Church holy because she beléeueth righteously in God c. Here you not the cause wherfore the Church is holy because she beléeueth righteously in God that is she beléeueth in nothyng but in him and she beléeueth nor heareth no worde but his as our master Christe beareth witnesse my shéepe heare my voyce and an other mans voyce doe they not know Also in an other place hée that is of God heareth the wordes of God How coÌmeth this that y e Church of God hath so sure a iudgemeÌt that she knoweth the voyce of Christ froÌ other voyces can not erre in her iudgement Because that Christ hath chosen her and because she is learned of God as our master Christ sayth and because she hath as S. Iohn sayth the inwarde oyntmeÌt of God y â teacheth his all maner of verity so that she can not erre But why can shee not erre because she may doe what she will Because that all thing that she doth is well done because she may make new rules and newe lawes at her pleasure Because she may inuent a newe seruice of God that is not in Scripture at her wil Nay nay my Lordes For she is but a woman and must bée ruled by her husbande yea she is but a shéepe and must heare y e voyce of her shepheard and so long as she doth so long caÌ she not erre because the voyce of her shepheard can not bée false This may be proued by your own law whose wordes bée these y e whole Church can not erre Also in an other place the congregation of faythfull men must néedes bée which also can not erre c. These wordes bée playne what Church it is that can not erre that is the congregation of faythfull men that bée gathered in Christes name whiche haue Christes spirite whiche haue the holy oyntement of God whiche abyde fast by Christes word and heare no other maÌs voyce but his Now my Lordes gather you all togither with all the lawes that you caÌ make and all the holynes that you can deuise and crye the Church the Churche and the Councels the Councels that were lawfully gathered in the power of the holy ghost all this may you say yet lye and if you haue not in déede the holy ghost with in you and if you doe heare any other voyce then Christes then are you not of the Churche but of the deuill and théenes murtherers as Christ saith For you come into the fold of Christ without him you bring not his voice but you come with your owne voyce with your owne statutes with your owne word your owne mandamus mandamus precipimus precipimus excommunicamus excommunicamus These bée the voyces of murtherers and Théeues and not of Christ therfore you can not but erre for you bée not taught of God you haue not the holy oyntment you haue not the worde of God for you you heare not the voyce of the true shepheard therfore must you néedes erre in all your counsells This is an other maner of rule then my Lorde of Rochester doth assigne to examine your counsels by for hée sayth where that the Pope and the counsell doth not agrée all in one there will hée suspect the counsell not to bée right Who did euer heare such a rule of a Christean man yea and of a bishop yea and of a doctor of Diuinite where hath hée learned this Diuinite to recken a counsell to bée trew because y e the Pope and so many men doe agree in one yea and that such men as haue so often tymes erred in their couÌcels as hée doth declare hym self rekening the counsell of Constantinople that had 330. Byshops and yet did erre and hée knew no other cause but bée cause the Pope did not agrée to them Is not this a resonable cause caÌ not the Pope erre let hym read his own lawe Distinctio 19. Anastasius Distinctio 40. Si Papa and also 24. q 1. Arecta in the glose and there shall hée fynde that the Pope hath erred Wherefore then should the matter stande in his iudgment Now how will hée by thys rule saue the counsels of constance and of Basell where in both counsels the Popes were condemned for heretykes As the same counsels make mencion also that the councels haue erred that grauÌted hée hymselfe but peraduenture hée will saye that they were not full Councels Now is it well amended what distinction is as conscernyng the veritie in a counsell that hath a thowsand byshops and in an other that hath fyve thowsand can the multitude helpe to the veritie Then had the Turke the veritie and we the falsed then had the Prophet Micheas the worsse part for hée was alone against iiij hundred so was y e verytie by y e Prophets of Ball and not by Elyas for they were foure hundred and fyftye hee was but one man Briefely Christes flocke is alwayes y e smallest nuÌber in this world but yet it is the best not the smallest number maketh Christes flocke but that Christes Church staÌdeth neyther by the greatest number nor yet by the smallest nor by the iudgmeÌt or numbring of man but by the callyng and eleccion of God Wherefore let my Lorde bring forth what counsell that hée will and if they haue not the word of God I will not all onely say they may erre but also that they doe erre in verye déede And that will I proue by the greatest lawyer that they haue called Panormitanus whose wordes bée these that Councels may erre as they haue erred as concernyng that contract of matrimony inter raptorem raptam and the saying of Saint Hierome was afterward preferred a boue the statute of the counsel as it is proued 36. q. 2. Tria for in thinges concerning the fayth is the saying of a priuat person to bee preferred afore the saying of the pope if hée haue better reasoÌs and scriptures of the new and of the olde testameÌt for him then the Pope nor it can not helpe to say that the counsell can not erre because that Christ did pray for his Church y e her fayth should not fayle For I auÌswere to this that though y e generall couÌcell doe represent y e whole vniuersall church neuertheles in very déede there is not y e very vniuersall church but representatiue For the vniuersal church staÌdeth in y e election of all fayth full men all faithfull meÌ of y â world make that vniuersall Church whose head and spouse is Christ Iesus the Pope is but the vicar of Christ and not the
learnyng will graunt that euill men bée the dead members of the Churche what they bée worth let other men iudge But M. More reckoneth that there is not such a Churche here in earth that is without spot and wrincle as S. Paul sayth For the Church sayth hée is here gracious and not glorious Truely I haue marueile what hée meaneth thus to expound Saint Paules saying for I thinke hée can not prooue but that S. Paules saying is verified of the Church that is here militant and not of the church triumphaunt But I will not at this tyme greatly dispute with M. More But and if hée were as hée hath béene I would say some thyng more to hym then I will doe at this tyme. Hée can neither mocke me nor iest me out of coÌceite and if I were disposed to couple with hym nor it is not hys foule shameles woorkes and vntrue sayinges that hée layeth to me that could feare me But now that it hath pleased God without any helpe or know ledge of me to bryng hym vnto this fall I will praye to God for hym to geue hym grace that hée may reuoke all such false doctrine as hée hath brought into the worlde For doubtles if hée abyde in the meanyng that hée is now in I doe not sée how hée can dye Gods seruaunt Yea his own knowen Church is agaynst hym whoÌ hée sayth men are bound to beléeue vnder payne of damnation But truely as God shall iudge me I am sory for hys trouble if I could helpe hym with any lawfull meanes I would doe my best so euill will beare I him But to procéede farther in my matter I will not greatly speake much of the Church by the reason that many other men sence my fyrst writinge haue declared this article much better then I can doe it Wherefore I will all onelye resite the places of holy doctours that I haue brought for mée in my fyrst booke and the intent wherefore I aleaged them to prooue that y e Church was afrée thing throughout all the world and not bounde eyther to place or to person I brought for me y e saying of S. Augustine saying these wordes The holy Church are wée But I doe not saye are we as one should say we that bée heare all onely that heare mée now but as many as bée heare faythfull christean men in this Church y e is to say in this Cytie as many as bée in this region as many as bée beyonde the sea as many as bée in all the whole world for from y e rysing of the sunne tyll the goinge downe is the name of God praysed So is y â holy Church our mother c. Also Lyra sayth The Church doth not stand in men by the reason of spirituall power or seculer dignitie For many princes and many Popes and other inferiour persoÌs haue swerued from the fayth Wherfore the church doth stand in those persons in whom is the true knowledge and confession of fayth and of veritye c. Here Lyra sayth as much as I doe in cleare wordes And M. More doth not nor yet caÌ refell hym Afterward I bring a saying of S. Augustine to prooue that the Church hath spottes and wryncles in her And yet by confessing of them and by stycking to Christes bloud they bée not imputed vnto her This is his saying The whole Church prayeth Lord forgeue vs our sinnes Wherfore she hath spottes and wryncles But by knowledging of them her wryncles bée streatched out and by knowledging her spottes are washed away The Church continueth in prayer y e shée myght bée clensed by knowledgeing of her synnes And as long as we here liue so standeth it And when euery maÌ departeth out of this body all such sinnes are forgeuen hym the which ought to bée forgeueÌ For they bée forgeuen by dayly prayer and hée goeth hence clensed And the Church of God is layde vp in the treasure of God for puregolde by this meane the Church of God is in the treasure of our Lord without spotte or wrynkell It foloweth Let vs therefore pray that God may forgeue vs and that we may forgeue our dettours séeing it is sayde and it shall be forgeuen vnto you We say this dayly and dayly we doe this and this thing is done dayly in vs. We are not here without sinne But we shall departe hence without synne c. Let euery man iudge whether that this place of S. Augustine maketh for my purpose or not that is to say whether that y e Church hath any spottes or wrincles in her or not And yet neuertheles shée hath no spottes nor wrincles For S. Augustine sayth y e Church of God is in the treasurie of God without any spotte so that through Gods mercy nothing is imputed vnto her Her cleannes is not y e shée hath no spots but béecause that for Christes sake there is nothing layd to her charge M. More maketh many wordes of âenyall synnes and deadly synnes But to speake after his owne schoole men it should bée to harde for hym to defende that exposition that hée here maketh of S. Augustine But to proue that the Church is cleane by the reason of Christ I brought for mée their owne lawe whose wordes bée these Therefore is y e Church holy because shée beléeueth righteously in God c. Furthermore to prooue that this congregation of faythfull men is the Church that can not erre I brought for mée their owne lawe Whose wordes bée these The holy Church can not erre c. Also in an other place The Congregation of faythfull men must néedes bée which also can not erre c. So that it is cleare first that there must nedes bée a congregation of faythfull men which bée neyther bounde to Rome nor to Hierusalem uor yet to any certayne place but it is spread abroade throughout the whole worlde and standeth in the vnitye of faythfull christen men And that is the church that God suffereth uot to erre in those thinges that belong to saluation Wherefore I dyd say in my other booke that the Popes councels were not the church that coulde not erre For for y â most part those couÌsels did not order themselues after Gods worde Wherfore I sayd they myght well erre And for that cause a pryuate person hauing scripture for hym ought to bée preferred afore a whole counsell if they had no scripture For Gods worde ought to bée iudge ouer all counsels and to prooue this I brought for mée the saying of Panormitanus which sayth The counsell may erre as it hath erred concernyng y e contracte of matrimony inter Raptorem Raptam And y e saying of S. Hierome was afteaward preferred aboue the statute of y â couÌsell as it is prooued 36. quest 2. Tria For in these thynges concernyng the fayth the saying of a priuate person is to bée preferred before the saying of the Pope if
hée haue better reasoÌs and Scriptures of the newe and olde testament for hym then the Pope hath Neyther it can helpe to say that the counsell can not erre because y e Christ did pray that the fayth of the church should not fayle For I aunswere to thys that though the generall counsell doe represent the whole vniuersall church yet neuerthelesse in very déede there is not the vniuersall church but representatiue For the vniuersall church standeth in the election of all faythfull men throughout the whole worlde whose head spouse is Christ Iesus And the Pope is but the Vicar of Christ and not y e very head of the church Thys is the Church that can not erre c. Here sayth this Doctour that same seÌtence of the church that I sayd I brought also for the same purpose the saying of Augustine whose words bée these Those counsels that be gathered in euery prouince must without doubt geue place to the auctoritie of the full counsels which bée gathered of all christendome And also those full couÌselles oftentymes must bée amended by the full counselles that come afterwarde if any thing bée opened by experience that was before shutte and if any thing bée knowne thaâ was before hydden And this must bée done without any shadow of superstitious pride without any boasted arrogaÌcy without any contention of malicious enuy but wyth holy méekenes with holy peace and with Christen charitie c. Here S. Augustine sayth plainly that the full counselles may erre and may bée refourmed After this I did declare how a maÌ should know this church by what fignes and tokens sayd that where as the worde of God was purely and sincerely preached and the sacrameÌts orderly ministred after the blessed ordinaunce of Christ and where as meÌ did patiently suffer for the veritie the hearers did apply their lyuing to Christes doctrine and with méeknes receaued the holy sacaments These I sayde were good and perfect tokens to iudge vppon that there were certayne members of Christes church And to prooue this I brought also S. Augustine saying Our holy mother the church through all the world scattered farre and wyde taught in her true head Christ hath learned not to feare the contumelies of the Crosse nor yet of death But more more is shée strengthened not in resisting but in suffering Also Chrisostomes wordes bée these They that bée in Iudea let them flye vp to the mountaines that is to say they that bée in Christendome let them géeue themselues to scriptures Wherfore commaunded hée that all christen men in that tyme should flie vnto scriptures For in that tyme in the which heresies haue crepte into the church there can bée no true probation of christendome nor no other refuge vnto christen men willing to know the verity of fayth but the scriptures of God Before by many wayes was it shewed which was y e church of God and which was the congregation of y e Gentiles But now there is none other waye to them that will knowe whiche is the very true Churche of Christ but alonely by scriptures By workes first was y e church of Christe knowne when the congregation of christen men eyther of all or of many were holy the which holynes had not the wicked men But now christen men bée as euill or worse then heretikes or Gentiles yea and greater continencie is founde amonge them then christen men Wherefore hée that will know which is the very church of Christ how shall hée know it but by scriptures onely And therfore our Lorde considering that so great confusion of thynges shoulde come in the latter dayes for that cause commaundeth hée that christen men willing to reserue y â stedfastnes of true fayth shoulde flée vnto none other thyng but vnto scriptures For if they haue respect vnto other thynges they shall bée sclaundered and shall pearishe not vnderstandinge which is the true church c. Maister More hath no great thing in this pointe agaynst mée sauynge that hée sayth these sayinges are none of Chrisostomes but of an other maÌ written in Chrisostomes name Neuerthelesse I let it passe let other men iudge betwéene vs both Afterwarde because that I sawe so great persecution vsed by the popes church agaynst all maner of sortes of good men whome M. More caulleth heretikes more for his pleasure then for theyr deseruynge For this cause I say I brought a saying of Hilarius to prooue that they that did exercise such tyranny were more to bée compared to the Arians then to Christes church his saying is this The church doth threaten with banyshmentes imprisonmentes and shée compelleth men to beléeue her which was exiled and cast in prison Shée hangeth on y e dignitie of her felowshop the which was consecrated by the threatenings of persecutours Shée causeth Priestes to flee that were encreased by the chasing away of Priestes Shée glorieth that shée is loued of y e worlde the which coulde neuer bée Christes except the worlde did hate her c. After this I brought a saying of S. Barnard to proue that the name of spirituall array gorgious apparell y e is vsed in y e Popes church dyd not make y e Church Hys saying is thus They bée the ministers of Christ but they serue Antichrist they goe gorgiously arayed of our Lordes goodes vnto whom they geue no honor And of these commeth the decking of harlots that thou séest dayly the game players disguising kings apparell Of this commeth golde in their brydells in their saddelles and in their spurres so that their spures bée brighter then the aulters Of this commeth their plenteous wyne presses their full sellers bolking from this vnto ye. Of this coÌmeth their tuÌnes of sweete wynes Of this bée their bagges so fylled For such thinges as these bée will they bée rulers of the Church As Deacons Archdeacons Byshops Archbyshops c. Men may make an exposition of S. Barnarde but it wil bée hard to frame hym to their purpose But for a conclusion M. More and I doe vary but in this poynt that hée sayth the very Church of God staÌdeth by them that bée good and bad and I say that the trew church of Christ standeth in theÌ onely that bée good men For the kingdome of Christ is distincted in very déede from the kingdome of y e deuyll For euell men bée doubtles the membres of the dyuell as Paule sayth Ephe. 2. Also our M. Christ sayth vnto the Pharysyes You are of your father the dyuell Wherefore it can not stande with no learning that wicked men which bée the members of the deuyll and bée gouerned by hym can bée members of Christs body though that in this present lyfe they bée not yet so declared vnto y e worlde God send vs all his grace y â we may bée of his holy Church and meÌbres of his blessed Sonne Iesus Amen FINIS What the keyes of
bée dons without any errour and that no man should doubt in it hée gaue them the holye ghost saying these wordes whose sinnes you doe forgeue shall bee forgeuen whose sinnes you doe retaine shall bée retained To these wordes addeth S. Luke TheÌ opened hée their wytte that they might vnder stand the Scriptures so that where S. Iohn sayth hée gaue them the holy ghost Luke sayeth hée opened their wytte to vnderstand Scripture It foloweth in Luke thus thus is it written that Christe must suffer death and rise agayne the thyrd day that repentauÌce remission of sinnes shoulde bée preached in hys name among all nations Now where Saint Iohn sayth whose sins you doe loose shall bée loosed c. That sayth Luke in these wordes remissioÌ of sinnes must bée preached in hys name So that whose sinnes you doe loose shal bée loosed is nothyng els but that you must preach remission of sins in my name and as many as receiue this word you shall loose them by this word as many as doe not receiue it you shall bynde them by that same word That this is the sentence of these two places it is opeÌ by that that they speake all of one story of that thyng that was done all in one day This doth also S. Paule prooue wel where hée reciteth the wordes of Luke saying Christ must néedes suffer ryse agayne from death and this Iesus is Christ Here is it plaine that s Paule losed men from their sinnes by preaching remissioÌ through Christ so that you haue openly here the practise of the holy Apostles how they did bynde loose by preaching the word of God They did bynde with the word when it was not beléeued They dyd loose by the worde when it was beléeued Thus dyd they by one word preache both saluation and damnatioÌ but vnto diuers men This vertue of the worde doth S. Paule declare in these wordes we are vnto God the swéete sauour of Christe both among them that are saued and also among them which perish To the one part are we the sauour of death vnto death vnto the other parte are we the sauour of lyfe vnto lyfe What is this sauour nothyng els but the Gospell which is vnto one sauour of lyfe that is nothyng els but loosing and remission of sinnes And vnto the other it is the sauour of death vnto death that is occasion of bynding and reteinyng in sinne This doth Paule also declare in an other place The preachyng of the crosse is to them that perish foolishnes But vnto vs whiche are saued it is the power of God What is y e power of God nothyng els but remission and losing from our sinnes What is foolishenes nothyng els but they despise the Gospell recken it of no value and of no power Wherfore they remayne bound in their sinne Thus is it declared that one word of God worketh in diuers meÌ diuers operatioÌs In y e one it worketh lyfe y e is remission of sinnes in the other worketh it death is taken for foolishnes that is it declareth them bounde and retained in their daÌnable sinnes and yet in him selfe hée is of one goodnes and of our nature but the diuersitie commeth of them that bée the receiuers This may bée proued by a naturall example The dew of heaueÌ coÌmeth downe indifferently vppon all grounde but in the one it bryngeth forth good corne swéete frutes and in the other it bryngeth forth nettles brombilles that bée nothyng worth but to the fier This exaÌple haue you in the epistle to the Hebrues for this same purpose Likewise by one word doe the holy Apostles Christes ministers loose and bynde but this doe they not by charmyng coungeryng iugglyng and whyslyng absolutions as you doe But by preachyng the holy word of God which when it is beléeued doth quiet and loose our conscience from all sinne and offereth it vs through Christ onely But when it is not beléeued then doth it bynde vs and retaine vs in sinne So that this holy worde is the very true keye of heauen for by it heauen is opened and shut This doth Chrisostome wel prooue in these wordes The key is the word and the knowledge of Scriptures whereby the gate of veritie is opened vnto men c. S. Augustine doth also witnes the same saying These keyes hath bée geuen to the Churche that what shée byndeth in earth shall bée bound in heaueÌ and what shée looseth in earth shall bée loosed in heauen that is to say who soeuer doth not beléeue that his sinnes bée forgeueÌ hym in the Churche they bée not forgeuen hym But hée that doth beléeue and auerte him selfe from his sinnes beyng with in the Church by that same fayth and amendement is hée made whole c. Here haue you openly that by bée leeuing the worde of God our sinnes bée loosed by vnbeléefe bée we bouÌde in our sins But now must we search to whom these keyes bée geuen They may not all onely bée geuen to Peter for then Paule and the two sonnes of thunder had them not Nor they may not bee geuen to one more then to the other For Christ was indifferent and they were all his Apostles their confession was all one Wherfore no doubt but these keyes weare geuen vnto all Christes Apostles vnto the whole Church as S. Augustine doth declare openly vpon Iohn This may bée also proued by the wordes of your owne lawe which bée these if Peter haue power all onelye to binde and to loose then doth it not the Church But if this bée donne in the Church then did Peter when hée receaued y e keyes sygnifie holy chucrh c. Heare haue you openly that Peter had not onely the keyes but hée receiued them in the name of the Church Wherefore they béelong to all Christen men This doth Origene well prooue in these wordes Tu es Petrus c. These wordes were spoken vnto Peter vnto all Apostles vnto all maner of perfect faythfull men for all they are Petrus in all them is builded the church of Christ and agaynst none of them can the gates of hell preuayle Doost thou recken that y t keyes of heauen were all onely geuen to Peter and that no other Christen man did receaue them c. Here is it clearely that all Christen men bée Peter and all they haue receyued the keyes of heauen and hell can not preuayle agaynst them S. Augustine doth also testifie the same in these wordes Wherefore the church which is founded and grounded in Christ of hym hath receyued in Peter the keyes of heauen that is to say power to bynde and loose c. Thus is it playne that those keyes are geueÌ to y e whole church of Christ for her fayth and they bée the coÌmon treasure of the Church and béelonge no more to one man then to
an other but because that all men can not vse these keyes all together for y e would make a confusion therofore doth the Church that is the congregation of faythfull men commyt the ministratiof these keyes that is of preaching y e worde of God vnto certayne men whome they thinke most able and best learned in the worde of God the which meÌ thus chosen bée but ministers of the commen treasure and no Lordes ouer it For the Churche may depose them y e is shée may take away the open and the common mynistration that shée committed vnto them if they vse it not well and then they bée but as other Christen men hauing no common office nor administration in the Church Wherfore they may neither preach nor yet minister sacramentes openlye but as other Christen men may doe pryuately in their owne houses or in other places where men bée gathered which wil heare of Christ there I saye both they and all other ChristeÌ men may speake and learne Christes worde and declare it after the gift y e is geuen vnto them of God And they that doe beléeue this word thus preached by Christen men bée by the power of y e keyes losed from their sinne and bound if they beléeue not For all the Church and euery part of the Church haue power to execute these keyes all onely that the open order bée not broken This doth S. Paule declare saying you may all interpretate scriptures but sée that all thinges sée done after an order Now to kéepe an order and that nothing should bée done after a confuse manner therefore the Church assigneth certayne men to be the open and the common mynisters of this treasure the which bée but all onely minysters and no Lordes And of this coÌmon treasure and not of their priuate treasure as S. Paule sayth let a man so reckeÌ vs as the ministers of Christ and dispensators of the mynystery of God Also in an other place what is S. Paule what is Appollo but mynisters by whom you haue beléeued Also S. Peter your predecessor commaundeth you that you shoulde not exercise any dominion ouer the congregations but geue example to the flocke Bée not these playne scriptures how you bée no Lordes but ministers of Christes treasure and you leaue the ministration and vsurpe auctoritie S. Petter whose successors you boast your selues to bée commauÌdeth you that you shoulde bée alonely but ministers keybearers of these keyes As Chrisostome prooueth in these wordes The keye bearers are priestes vnto whome is committed the worde to teach and to interprete Scriptures c. Heare you not how you bée but keybearers and teachers of y â worde of God This doth S. Ambrose witnesse in these wordes sinnes bée forgeuen by the worde of God whose interpreter is the Deacon c. Marke that sinnes bée forgeuen by the word of God of the which you bée but interpreters Where is now I pray you your Lordly power which you call the keyes of heauen is not Scripture and the practise of the Apostles and the exposition of holy Doctours opeÌly against you Will you vsurpe a thing that is contrary to all these I pray you where finde you in all holy Scripture but one that Peter or Paule did assoyle after the maner of your keyes And yet no doubt but they had the keyes yea and also dyd vse them Wherfore it is to mée great maruayle of whome you haue learned your vsage and where you haue gotten such keyes It maketh no matter to mée though you cry as you are wonte Fathers Fathers Counsels Counsels the Churche the Church For it wilnot helpe you You sée opeÌly that I haue the holy worde of god and our maister Christe which is elder then our fathers I haue also the practise of the holy Apostles that vnderstand this thynge better then all your counsels But let vs graunt that you haue fathers and counselles for you That is the next way to deceaue the church of God By whom can Christen men bée deceaued but by such men as bée of auctoritie and dignitie of y t world This you know that men can not bée deceaued by Horses nor by Calues but it must bée by men and not by foolishe meÌ for who will regarde fooles but by them that bée reckoned of wisdome and of reputation in the world And not by one wise man for an other wyse man may bée of as good reputation and wisdome as hée but it must bée by many or els it can haue no shyne nor colour of excellencie yea and by such a multitude that reason can not suspect So that there is neuer so great daunger vnto the church of God as when all these thynges come togither And therefore sayth y e holy Prophete Blessed is that man that foloweth not the counsels of wicked men You know that counselles caÌ bée no smale thing nor no foolishe nor the wicked men themselues doe recken it for no smale thinge but for the greatest thynge and the wysest thyng and the strongest that they can thinke or deuise And no doubte but it hath a fore reason and a fore all the worlde a great apparence of no smale wisdome and is so strong that euery man is compelled to receaue it Yea and also those men haue auctoritie for as the Prophet saith they sitte in the chayre the which doth both signifie great learning and and also great auctoritie And yet saith y e Prophet that blessed is hée that foloweth not their counselles nor sitteth in theyr chayre Now if these thynges coulde bée iudged by some reason or els they séemed so euill that all the worlde could iudge them What néede the holy Ghost to make such a dooe or to write so strongly agaynst them yea and to say that blessed is hée y e heareth them not Wherfore hée must néedes speke of such mischiefe and of such falshod and of such errours as haue all those thinges for them that you brynge for you That is fatherhod wysdome learning auctoritie multitude and long custome The which thyngs bée able to peruerte any man bée hée neuer so wise or neuer so holy if hée sticke not fast to the worde of God onely And therefore sayth the Prophet Blessed is hee whose wyll and meditation is night and day that is continually in the law of God Vnto the which if all your couÌsels all your fathers all your customes briefly all that you bring for you bée compared then shall wée sée whether it bée true and of God or not For of themselues they haue no truth but bée inuentions of corrupted reason and perswasions of the deuill to peruerte the holy church of God But my Lordes let vs goe to reason Tell mée by your honour is it reasonable that the holy Churche of God redéemed wyth Christes precious bloud and assoyled by hym from all her sinnes should bée now bounde vnto you and to your absolution and that shée
the foote Your grace may not consyder in this cause y t multitude nor the dignitie of men for you bée as good as the best of theÌ but your grace must consider that it is God omnipotentes cause it is Christes cause it is the word of God it is y t blessed bloud of Christ that is ouer troden it is the ordinaunce that commeth out of heauen and not out of counsels yea and geuen by God hymselfe and not by mans auctoritye And now shall your grace suffer thys thynge so lightly to bée broken béecause men doe inuent a carnall reason agaynst it the deuill was neuer without a reason but that proueth not the cause against Gods word King Saul had no smale reasoÌ for hym wheÌ hée dyd saue kyng Agag the best shéepe and OreÌ to offer to God was not this a resonable cause to saue the beastes to Gods honour and to offer theÌ vp vnto God was it not a goodly shine to saue the kyng rather then to kill hym What man will recken it euill to saue a maÌ what man can iudge it euill to saue beastes and that y t best to offer them to God Was not God best worthy was not this a good consideration was not this a good intent Finally it is ten tymes better then the reason of the counsell is and yet Saul with all his good reason wyth all his good deuotion with all his good purpose with all his fatte beastes is repelled of God for euer all bycause hée stucke to his good intention left the commaundement of God Some men will thinke it but a light thynge whether they receiue y t blessed bloud by it selfe or els with the body but as light as they thinke it yet is it Gods word yet is it Christes ordinauÌce yet did the Apostles obserue it yet did the holy Church so fulfill it And if y t word of God were away by reason it were but a light thyng to Baptise in water or in wyne but the worde of God is open that it must bée done with water and not in wyne and yet there is no cause why but the worde of God Moreouer by reason it was but a light thyng to say Bée glad y â daughter of SioÌ behold thy kyng coÌmeth to thée sittyng on an Asse on her fole This saying by reason is not alonely simple but also foolishe to say that a kyng shal come riding on an Asse yea and on a borowed Asse and therof to make so much a doe as though it wer a notable thyng who would not now mocke a kyng if hée dyd so ryde notwithstandyng all this these bée the wordes of God yea and also fulfilled in very déede of our maister Christ in his owne proper person Moreouer by reason it was but a madde token that the Sauiour of the world Christ Iesus was borne to say you shal finde a young child wrapped in cloutes layd in a cribbe what is this to purpose what is this to prooue that the sauiour of y t world is borne will not reason mocke this when wil reason bée persuaded by this token y t Messias whom all the Prophetes all the Patriarkes haue promised so many huÌdred yeares afore was now borne and yet this token came from heaueÌ yea and by the ministration of aungels and the shepheardes dyd beléeue y t word Briefly by reason what bée all the articles of the fayth where is Christ where is remission of sins where is y t lyfe to come Reason mocketh all these thynges but yet they bée true bycause alonely y t word of God speaketh them Wherfore most noble and excelleÌt Prince looke on the word of God and not of blynde reason and saue the honour therof for it shal saue your grace at your most néede Furthermore I doe exhorte and require with all honour yea and I doe coÌmaunde in the vertue of Christ Iesus and his blessed word all Dukes all Earles all Lordes all maner of estates hygh and lowe that will bée Christen men that will bée saued by the vertue of Iesus Christes blessed bloud that they doe sée this ordinauÌce of the God of heauen obserued to the vttermost of their power and when soeuer that they will bée houseled that they receiue the blessed SacrameÌt vnder both kyndes and at the lest desire it with all their hart of their curates and so desire it that they may bée discharged afore the immortall God of heauen whiche will not bée mocked nor auoyded with a damnable reasoÌ but what soeuer thyng there bée that is agaynst the holy word of God and the glorious ordinauÌce what collour so euer it bryng with it of holynes let it bée a cursed and reckened of the deuill This doth S. Cyprian learne vs saying what thyng soeuer it bée that is ordeined by mans madnes where by the ordinaunce of God is violated it is whoredome it is of the deuil and it is sacrilege Wherfore fly froÌ such contagiousnesse of men and auoyde their woordes as a canker and as pestilence c. These woordes bée playne of all maner of men of what estate what dignitie or of what honour soeuer they bée and what collour of holynes soeuer they bryng with them Wherfore in this present writyng I doe counsel and exhorte all true Christen men to take héede what they doe The word of god is so playne in this matter that they can desire it no playner It is no childes game to trifle with Gods worde God will not bée trifled with nor yet mocked But nowe to helpe poore men that bée vnlearned I will assoyle certeine of their damnable reasons The first is we will not geue it vnder that kynde of wyne lest that there shoulde by negligence either of the Priest or of the receiuer fall any droppe on the grounde I aunswere our Christ dyd know that such a chaunce might come you can not deny it except you will say that hée was not God as you would not greatly sticke to doe if you might haue maintenaunce and yet notwithstanding dyd hée institute it in both kindes Aunswere you to this Moreouer why doe not by this reasoÌ your owne priestes abstayne froÌ the wine séeing that this perill may also chauÌce to them as your cautelles of y t Masse doe graunt Also if it bée a reasonable cause that you shal not kéepe Christes ordinaunce béecause of auoyding of perilles then may you take away all the whole Sacrament to auoyde perilles for in receauing of it in y e kinde of bread is ieopardous least there remayne any crumme in the receauers téeth This reasoÌ is as good as yours so that now all the SacrameÌt in both kindes is taken away Furthermore if you will auoyde all perilles then may you géeue thys Sacrament to no man for you can not tell who is in deadly sinne who not for you know not their hartes it were a sore perell and greatly
this is if men would bée content and satisfied with reason ¶ Ex damaso Papa ad Hieronimum ex Platina Nauclero BVt let vs goe farther and sée how many Popes haue béene priestes children that this matter may bée opened by them and that Popes them selues may be witnes of this doctrine Fyrst is there Siluerius pope the which had a byshop to his father called Ormisda This Siluerius lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 524. Pope Felix the third of that name was y t sonne of Felix priest of Rome This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 474. Pope Deus dedit was the sonne of Stephane the subdeacon which lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 623. Pope Theodorus was the sonne of Theodore byshop of Hierusalem This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 634. Hadrian y t secoÌd was the sonne of Thalare the byshop This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 873. Pope Iohn the xv of that name was y t sonne of priest Leo This man lyued aboute the yeare of our Lorde 984. Pope Agapitus the fyrst of that name had a priest to his father called Gordianus hée lyued about the year of our Lord. 534. Pope Siluerius had a father called Siluerius a byshop of Rome This man liued about the yeare of our lord 544. Pope Boniface the fyrst of y t name was sonne to Iucundus priest Pope Osius was y t sonne of Stephan the subdeacon Pope Gelasius the fyrst had a byshop to his father called Valenus anno Domini 484. Iohn the. x. pope of y t name was sonne to pope Surgius about the yere of our Lord. 924. All these a great many more as the Popes lawe testifieth were the children of subdeacons deacons and Priestes and haue borne rule in the Church of Rome Wherefore I meruayle very fore that men doe recken it so new learning that priests should haue wiues séeing that it standeth with Gods holy word with the saying of the olde doctours with the determination of counsels with y t Emperours lawe and also with y t Popes olde decrées Moreouer Christes holy Apostels and many other holy men since their dayes haue liued in the holy estate of matrymony Finally there hath been many holy men and also holy women borne in the wedlocke of Priestes By what reasoÌ now can or wil meÌ damne all these thynges that bée of so great auctoritie If men wyll heare neyther God nor maÌ nor yet no good reason what néede men then so much to speake of learning séeing that they wyll heare nothyng but that they alonely iudge good Truely this is a great high minde of meÌ thus wrongfully to condemne other men for heretikes hauyng so good learnyng for them and yet they themselues are grounded onely of their owne sensuall mynde hauyng no learnyng nor reason for them But I wyll put this matter to Gods iudgement And let not men doubt if they béeléeue there is a God but that God wyll bée a reuenger of such wrongfull violence as men doe vse in thys case both agaynst hym and agaynst all his blessed company of Saintes But yet for to doe men pleasure and that they myght bée perswaded if it were possible I will declare vnto them how y t wée doe finde old monuments testifiyng clearely that priests were in peaceable possessioÌ of matrimony their childreÌ gotteÌ in that same matrimony were admitted to spiritual benefices In the tyme of Pope Alexander y t thirde there was a controuersie for the patronage of a benefice betwéene the pryor of PlimptoÌ in Deuenshyre and one Iohn de Valletorda Now were there deputed iudges Rychard Archbyshop of Caunterbury Roger Byshop of Wynchester béefore whome the pryor of Plympton prooued his patronage by the reason that hée was in possession and had géeuen it vnto diuers persons Fyrst hée sayth there was a Priest of PlymptoÌ called Alpheghe which had by y t gyft of the pryor of Plympton the benefice of Sutton which is now called Plymmouth This Alpheghe had a sonne cauled Sadda which had also the benefice after hys father And after Sadda was there an other priest cauled Alnodus which had the benefice likewyse This Alnodus had a sonne called Robert Dunprust which after the discease of his father Alnode had also the same benefice And after thys Robert Dunpruât William Bacon hys sonne enioyed the benefice lykewyse Here men may see that it is neyther so new learnyng nor yet so long agoe since priestes had lawful wyues Moreouer I reade in our owne Chronicles that in the tyme of kyng Henry the iij. which raygned y t yeare of our Lord 1101. priestes myght lawfully marry wiues in so much y t Anseline than Archbyshop of Caunterbury in a Seane that hée helde at London did make a decrée y t priestes should forsake their wiues the which was both agaynst Gods lawe and mans For the texte of our Mayster Christ is cleare Quos deus coniunxit Homo non seperet Marke these two wordes Deus and Homo And howe much the one passeth the other Farthermore the Pope hymselfe hath not greatly regarded Priestes chastitie if hée myght get any money for dispensations in the which thyng hée coulde not haue dispeÌsed if it had béene of Gods lawe And if it bée but but mans lawe what charitie is in the Pope to compell men so sore to kéepe it séeyng that it is so great dauÌger vnto priestes and that so many soules béene lost thorough it Yea what tyranny is in hym thus cruelly to kill men for breakyng alonely of hys commaundement the which is not in their power to kéepe To our purpose the Pope hath often tymes dispensed both wyth Priestes and religious men for their vowe hath géeuen them licence to marry It is not vnknowen to many men that there was an Abbot of Reading whom men for his perfecte lyuinge called Abbot Sancte This man béeyng in daunger of a certayne disease by the reason hée had no wyfe sente vnto the pope desiring hym to dispense wyth hym for hys vowe and y t pope dispensed wyth hym and gaue hym licence to marry a wyfe but vnder a condition that it shoulde bée secretly done and not In facie ecclesie By this men may sée that the Pope himself holdeth not so much of priests chastitie for then hée woulde not regarde more money then it And if the pope may dispence wyth thys Abbot for auoyding of a disease corporall how much more ought hée now to dispense with priestes séeing there bée so many soules in daunger Yea and also the order of priesthoode is sore defamed and sclaundered by the reasoÌ that priestes hath no wyues Moreouer wée doe reade that pope Celestine the third did dispense with a Nunne whose name was cauled Constatia Kyng Rogers daughter of Cecyll and gaue her licence to marry with Henry y t Emperour the sixt of that
and a carnall stocke full of passions and of affections Vnto a mortall Prince you make mediatours béecause hee knew not your hart and béecause hée is more affectionat to one man theÌ to an other and beecause hee iudgeth after the sight of hys eye and after y e percialnes and affection of his hart But so doth not God but alonely of mere mercy and grace But to your similitude you can not haue no Dukes to speake for you excepte you géeue them rewardes excepte they haue carnall affection to you therfore by your similitude you must likewyse doe to Saintes But S. Ambrose answereth clearly to this damnable reason of yours saying Men are wonte to vse thys miserable excusation that by these thinges may wee come to God as we may come to the kyng by Erles I aunswere wee doe come vnto the kyng by the meanes of Dukes and Erles because that the kyng is a man and knoweth not to whom hee may committe the common wealth but vnto God from whom nothing can bee hidde hee knoweth all mens merites wee neede no spokesman nor no mediatour but alonely a deuoute mynde c. Here are you clearely aunswered of S. Ambrose to youre carnall reason Item an other reason out of your lawe that Images bee vnto vnlearned men that same thyng that letters and writinges bée vnto them that bee learned that they may thereby learne what they ought to folow If your Images bee no more to vnlearned men then writinges be to learned men therefore they may no more doe to them then learned men doe to their letters woulde you suffer learned men to come and kneele and offer to my booke and sette vp candels before it and to make vowes to come yearely thereunto and to desire petitioÌs béefore my booke of those Saintes y t bée written therein Sée how your owne example maketh agaynst you and all thing that I can bringe Wherefore if there bée any grace in you or if there bée any shame in you of the worlde for Christes sake leaue of this false ⪠learnyng and colouring of Idolatrie For you doe not onely deceaue your simple brethren but you doe also blaspheme the immortall God of heauen which doubtles will auenge shortly this rebuke on you if you doe not amende whose violeÌce and might you are not able to withstand Wherefore I exhorte you in y e blessed name of Christ Iesus that you repent in tyme and take vpon you to learne the veritie which is how God is onely to bée honoured and onely to bée sacrificed vnto hée is onely to bée prayed vnto of hym onely must our petitions bee asked it is hée onely y t géeueth wealth prosperitie hée only must deliuer and comforte vs in all aduersities hée onely must helpe vs out of all distresse vnto whom as Saint Paule sayth be alonely glory and honour for euer Amen Now most excellent and noble Prince I haue here after the poore gifte that God hath géeuen mee set out vnto your grace certain articles which though they séeme at the firste sight to bee newe yet haue I prooued them openly with the euerlastynge worde of God and that not wroonge nor wrested after my lyghte brayne but after the exposition of clarkely doctours yea and that of the oldest of the best Wherfore most excellent Prince most humbly most méekely I beséeche your grace that I may finde so great indifferencie at your graces hand as that the Byshoppes shall not condemne this booke after the maner of their olde tyranny excepte they can with open Scriptures and with holy Doctours refell it as I haue prooued it But I would it should please your grace to call them beefore you and to commaunde as many as will condemne this booke euery one of them seuerally without others counsell to write their cause why they will condemne it and the scriptures whereby they will condemne it and to bryng them all to your grace and your grace may iudge betwéene both parties I doe not doute but they wil bring your grace maruailous probations and such as were neuer hearde And if thrée of them agrée in one tale if they bée deuided let mée dye for it and that your grace shall well sée The father of heauen and hys most mercifull sonne Iesus Christ kéepe your grace in honour to his pleasure and glory Amen Of the originall of the Masse and of euery part therof translated into English out of his booke De Doctorum Sententijs ¶ De consecratione Dist. 1. Cap. Iacobus ex 6. Synodo IAmes the brother of the Lorde as cconernyng the fleshe vnto whom was firste coÌmitted the Church of Ierusalem Basilius the Byshop of Caesaria gaue vnto vs the celebration of the Masse Sayth the glose that is to say the manner how to celebrate y t Masse For the woordes by the which the body is made were deliuered froÌ the Lord him selfe But afterward others also added some one péece some an other for comlynes and solemnitie And thus much sayth hée God Christian reader what can these men wholy addicted to lyes otherwise doe but beguile deceaue For this is their onely endeuour whiche although it may bée manifest vnto thée by many of their déedes not withstanding by this one ⪠of y t which they so greatly boast it is so manifest that none caÌ dony it To attribute the originall of the Masse vnto Iames the Apostle and to Basilius y e bishop is an errour not to bée suffered for asmuch as it is most false as by that which foloweth shall appeare Let them declare if they can what Iames made thereof and what Bastill added thereto Let them bryng foorth one of the Apostles that euer sayd Masse they shal haue y t victory Ieames died about the yeare of our Lord 62. And of Masse as they vnderstand it there was no mention made in the Churche by the space of 200. yeares Moreouer then this Basill tyed about the yeare after Christ 380. How then could hée agrée with Iames aboute the Masse But what Masse had the Church from after the death of Iames vnto Basiles tyme by what authoritie did Basill deliuer to vs y e masse Moreouer these meÌ doe adde their auctoritie out of the vj. Synode that their lye might bée the more notorious Bring foorth the vj. Synode in the whiche these thinges bée written I pray you what was handled in the vj. Synode The maner of celebrating Masse Or agaynst whom was y e vj. Synode gathered togither agaynst those y t would not say Masse Nothyng lesse but agaynst such as wickedly taught that there was one operation in Christ Read the actes of the Synode and you shall finde it to bée so But let vs grauÌt in the meane âeason that this was handled in y t Synode what doth it prooue We do not contende what matters were intreated of in the Synode but whether Ieames and Basill deliuered vnto vs
scattered far and long in her trew head Christ Iesus taught hath learned not to feare the contââ¦elyes of the Crosse nor yet of death but more and more is shee strengthned not in resistyng but in sufferyng c. 250. col 2 The Popes law sayth Therfore is the Church holy because shee beleueth righteously in God c. 246. col 2 The Popes law sayth The whole Church can not erre Also in an other place of the congregation of faythfull men must needes bee which also caÌ not erre c. 247. col 2 ¶ That the keyes of the Churche bee the Woorde of God and not mans power HIerome sayth vppon these wordes I shall geue thee the keyes of heaueÌ This place the Byshops the Priests not vnderstanding haue vsurped vnto them somewhat of the Phariseis pride so that they thinke that they may condemne innocentes and loose them that bee giltie wheÌ beefore God not the sentence of the Priest but the lyfe of the giltie is regarded c. 257. col 2 Augustine sayth That must bee called a key where by the hardnes of our hartes are opened vnto fayth where by y t secretnes of myndes are made manifest A key it is sayth hee the whiche doth both open the conscience to the knowledge of sinne and also includeth grace vnto the wholsomnes of euerlastyng mistery c. 258. col 1 This doth Chrisostome well proue in these wordes Thâ key is the word the knowledge of Scriptures wherby the gate of veritie is opened vnto men c. 261. col 1 Augustine doth also witnes the same saying These keyes hath hee geuen to the Church that what shee byndeth in in earth shall bee bounde in heaueÌ and what shee looseth in earth shal bee loosed in heaueÌ that is to say who soeuer doth not beleeue that his sinnes bee forgeuen hym in the Church they bee not forgeuen hym But hee that doth beleeue and auerte hym selfe from hys sinnes beyng within the Churche by that same fayth and amendement is he made whole c. 261. col 1 Origene vpon these wordes Tu es Petrus c. The wordes were spoken vnto Peter vnto all Apostles vnto all maner of perfect faythfull men for all they are Petrus and in all them is builded the Church of Christ and agaynst none of them can the gates of hell preâayle Doost thou reckeÌ that the keyes of heauen were alonely geuen to Peter and that no other Christen maÌ dyd receaue them c. 261. col 2 Augustine doth also testifie the same in these wordes Wherfore the Church whiche is founded and grounded in Christ of hym hath receiued in Peter the keyes of heaueÌ that is to say power to bynde and loose c. 261. col 2 Chrisostome sayth The key bearers are Priestes vnto whom is committed the word to teach and to interprete Scripture c. 262. col 2 Ambrose sayth Sinnes bee forgeueÌ by the word of God whose interpreter is the Deacon c. 262. col 2 Chrisostome sayth Behold I see meÌ that haue no trew sence of holy Scripture yea they vnderstand nothyng at all therof to passe ouer many things for I am ashamed to call them madde men triflers and wranglers they bee such as know not what they say nor of what thyng they speake but alonely bee they mightye and bolde to make lawes and to curse and coÌdemne those thynges of the whiche they know nothyng at all c. 265. col 2 The Popes ⪠law sayth If Peter haue power alonely to bynde and to loose then doth it not the Church But if this bee done in the Church then did Peter wheÌ hee receaued the keyes signifie holy Church c. 261. col 2 ¶ That free will of man after the fall of Adam of his naturall streÌgth can doe nothyng but sinne beefore God AVgustine sayth Lest any maÌ should suppose that the braunche of hym selfe could bryng forth at y t lest wayes a litle srute therfore saith hee nor with out me can you doe a litle but without we caÌ you doe nothyng Therefore whether it bee litle or much without him can it not bee done without whoÌ is nothyng done One of two thinges must the braunche needes doe either abyde in the vyne or els burne in the fire if it bee not in the vyne then is it in the fire c. 267. col 1 Barnarde sayth What shall we say is this alonely all the merite of freewill that hee doth alonely coÌsent yea doubtles Not that the same consent in the which is all his merite is not of God when that we can neither thinke the which is lesse then to coÌsent any thing of our selues as though we were sufficient of our selues These wordes bee not myne but the Apostles the whiche geueth vnto God and not to his free-will all maner of thinges that can bee good that is to say to thinke to will or to performe c. 267. col 2 Augustine sayth What goodnes can hee doe that is lost except that hee bee deliuered from his miserie Can hee doe good by his freewill God forbyd for man euill vsyng hys freewill dyd both loose him selfe and also his freewil and as man beeyng alyue doth kil him selfe and when he hath killed him selfe hee can not make hym selfe alyue agayne So likewise when we doe sinne by freewil and sinne hath the victory then is freewill cleane lost for of whom a man is ouercome vnto hym must hee bee seruaunt Doubtles this sentence is of Peter the Apostle the which seeing that it is true I pray you what maner of freedome caÌ a bonde seruaunt haue except it bee when it pleaseth him to sinne c. 268. col 1 Augustine sayth O cursed freewill without God we haue experieÌce what freewil can doe without God therfore are we miserable because we haue experience what freewill is able to doe without God Behold maÌ was made good by his freewill was hee made an euill man When shall an euill man by his freewill forsaking God make a man good hee beeyng good could not keepe him selfe good and now that he is euill shall hee make him selfe good when that hee was good hee kept not hym selfe good and now that hee is euill shall hee say I make my selfe good c. 268. col 2 Augustine sayth Hee that feedeth without mee feedeth agaynst mee c. 269. col 2 Augustine sayth Thou wilt say that can my will doe that can my freewill doe What will what manner of free-will except that hee guide thee thou fallest except hee lift thee vp thou lyest stil How canst thou then doe it by thy spirite seeing that the Apostle saith As many as bee led by the spirite of God bee the children of God Wilt thou doe of thy selfe Wilt thou bee led of thyne owne selfe to mortifie the deedes of the flesh what will it profite thee
of righteousnes what it is Carâ How the spirituality ⪠care for the temporall common wealth As thou ãâ¦ã â ãâã âo shalt ãâã ob ãâã mercy in y â life to come 6. The filthines of the hart what The purenes of the hart what The ende of the lawe ãâã to iustiâ⦠all that ââ¦leue Impure harted who are 7. Peacemaking what Princes what they ought to ãâã yet they make warre WheÌ thou maist assure thy selfe to be y â sonne and heyre of God VengeauÌce pertayneth to God onely 8. In y e fayth of Christ lawe of God ⪠all oâr righteousnes is conteyned Peace The peace of Christ is a peace of conscience To suffer with Christ in this worlde is to be glorified wyth him in the worlde to come Payne No ãâã payne caâ be a satisfaction to God ãâã Christes passion 9. What the most cruell persecution is Set the example of Christ before thee Cursed Most accursed who Workes iustifie noâ Not the worker but y e pure mercy of God is cause of the promise made vnto The office of a true preacher It is a leopardous thyng to salt hypocrisie Salt Who is mete to salt A true preacher of gods word must vse no parcialitie for feare of persecution Monkes why they runne to cloystures By salte is vndersteod the true vâdeââtandinâ of the ââ¦as of fayth of woâkes c ⪠Spiritualtie why ãâã be dispiââd Ceremonies must be salted Darcknes all knowledge is darcknes ãâã the knowledge of Christes bloud shedâing be in the hart Laye The laye ought to haue the Gospell Gospell The propertie of y â Gospell Gospell The trâe Gospell is not hid in dennes If y â spiritualty were a light as they ought to be they woulde make them ââ¦ues pore to make other riche but they make other poore and themselues riche Kinges ought to be learned The order how euery man may be a preacher and how not None ought to preach ââ¦ly but such as are admitted by y â ordinaunce of the congregation Spirituall and temporal reqâ⦠do biffer Euery maÌ must defeÌde Christes doctrine in ãâã owne person Whose refuseth tadâ⦠for Christes sake caÌ not be the disciple of Christ False doctrine causeth ⪠ãâã workes True doctrine is cause of good workes Grace and truth thorough Iesus Christ Gloses They that destroy the law of God with gloses must be cast out The Church Law Except a man loâe Gods law âe cannot vnderstand the doctrine of Christ The righteousnes of Phariseis Glorie He that seketh hys owne glory teacheth his owne doctrine not his masters Glory ⪠he that sekâ⦠came glory altereth his maââ¦s message Worde Gods worde altered is not his worde To loue is to helpe at âeede Prayer The prayer of MoÌkes robbeth helpeth not Loue prayeth Scribes Phâ⦠what they were The Phariseyeâ might better haue proued theÌselues the true Church theÌ our spiritualââe way The promises are made vpon the profession of the keepyng of the lawe of God so that the Church that will not keepe Gods lawe hath no promise that they caâot erre The wickednes of y â Phariseies what it was Preacher Why the true preacher is accused of treason and heresie Ipocrisie Why hipocrisie must be first rebuked though it be ieopardie to preach against it The lawe is restored The Phariseis ãâã exteÌd ãâ¦ã doinges or actes to y â outward shew ãâã deede and nothing to the hart The lawe ãâ¦ã wâât on the hart as the hand Racha How a maÌ may be angry without sinning Loue is y â keeping of the lawe Sinnerse He that helpeth not to mânde sinners must suffer with them when they be punished In doyng out best to further our neighbour in vertue although we preuaile not we are excused Hate When a man may hate hys neighbour Offeringes or sacrifices what they meant The faste that God requireâ⦠Last farthyng How corruptly the Phariseis dyd attribute all euil to the deede onely Loue is the fulfillyng of the law Aduoutrie Some doctoure âaue doubted in that which Christ hath flatly condemned Filthy A wife How good a thyng The office of a preacher Law What foloweth the kepyng of the law Law What foloweth the breaking of the law The enormities that haue chauÌced since y â slaughter of King Richard y e secoÌd vnto this realme of EnglaÌd Tiraunts Why God geueth vs vp and leaueth vs in the handes of titaunts and in all misery An admonition What rulers ought to do touching such as runne Flie from their wiues without âust cause Swearing To sweare by God Men ought so ãâã deale that their wordes may be credited without any othes Swearing in what sort it is lawfull ⪠Charitie moderareth the law Othe To performe an euill othe is doubleâ sinne He is not forsworne whose hart ment truly when hee promised To lye or dissemble ãâã some causes not culpable Cheke To turne the other cheke what it is Mekenes Pollyng how to auoyde it Two maner states degrees of regimeÌtes Euery maÌ is of the spiritualtie and of the temporalitie both ãâ¦ã He that loueth not his neighbour âath not y e true fayth of Christ The temporall regiment Violence Not to resist violeÌce how it is vnderstode Rulers must punishe âut for malice but for defence of the people and maintenaunce of y â lawes An example how to vnderstand y â two regimentes What soeuer thou art bound to do do it with loue How to be a warriour Thou ãâ¦ã or ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã Goodes Math. xxv To goâ ãâã lawe To rise agaynst the iudge or magistrate so to resiste God Princes whether they may be resisted or put downe of their subiectes in any case The king hath Gods authoritie An aunswere to the former Argument Goodes The kyng as âee is Lord of thy body so ãâã hee of thy goodes RegimeÌts Euery maÌ is vnder both regimentes As the spiritualitie may rebuke kings vices so may kyngs vse temporall correctioÌ agaynst the spiritualtie A preacher of ââ¦eâce Rulers do repene to heare of theyr ââ¦es In lending we must folow the rule of mercy We must not reuenge our selues vpon our euill detters but referre our cause to God and his officers ãâã Couetousnes is the roote of all euill Iaco. ij The enemies of God and hiâ wordâ are to be huted Leui. 19. Publicans what they were As our heaueÌly father bestoweth his benefites vpon good bad so ought we to loue both frend and soe To be perfect what it meaneth Almose Deedes coÌmanded by the scripture done to any other ende then they ought are âo good deedes ãâã xvi It is the purpose entent of our deedes that make or marrâ Trumpets To blow trumpetes what Lefte hand Vaine glorie A good remedy against it Workes iustifie not from sinne neither deserue the rewarde promised Our rewarde commeth not of our deserts but thâ⦠the loue that God beareth ãâã thorough faith in Iesus Christ We may not chaleÌge the proâ⦠by our merites but by Christes bloud Crosse Workes What
âeares Holy dayes are ordââned for ãâã and not man for the holy dayes The signification of thynges are to be sought and not to serue the visible signes Ceremonies with out some good doctrine are to be reiected Turkes are rather to be lameÌted for their ignoraunce and to be wonne with good doctrine example of good lyfe then to be hated and murthered We do nothyng well eââept we do it of loue from a pure hart Superstitious obseruations are rather the breakyng of the law then the kepyng of the same The world is to be rebuked for lacke of iudgement Iudge by these things whether the Pope haue erred or noâ Iudge what baggage is in the Popes doctrine and of his making Note the ãâ¦ã spiritualtie ãâ¦ã Christ Our ãâã is the cause that hypoâ⦠The practice of prelates Signification of the ãâ¦ã are ãâ¦ã The ministers of the ãâã are ãâ¦ã to preach to y t people sââ¦ly the woâ⦠of ãâã to pray in a ãâ¦ã vnderstand The lawe cannot be fulfilled w t workes or they neuer so holy A great abuse in prayer The church taken for the spiritualty King William King Iohn S. Thomas of Caunterbury Holy Church hath bornt a great swinge The Pope and his rable takeÌ for the church The church is a congââgation of people of all sortes gathered together The church of God how it is taken in Scripture Gal. 1. Actes 23. Gal. 1. Rom. 16. 1. Cor. 16. 1. Tim. 3. 1. Tim. 5. The church is a multitude of all them that beleue in Christ wheresoeuer âhey be gathered together A double significatioÌ of this worde church The cause why Tyndall traÌslated y t word church into this worde congregation Congregation is vnderstand by the circuÌstaunce Ecclesia is a greke worde and signifieth a congregation Actes 19. M. More was ââ¦ful in Poetry Iudas Balaaâ A good adâ⦠to M. More M. More did greatly fauour Erasmâs M. More was a âepe dissembler M. More ãâã captious M. More ãâ¦ã 1. Pet. 5. ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã Byshops ought to be bydârs in one place Note Women God poureth hys holy spirite ãâã wisdome ãâ¦ã aswell weâ⦠meÌ God is vnder no ãâ¦ã necessitie lawlesse The cause why young ãâã was preferred by ãâã to be a Byshop Paul was a faâherly instructer to ãâã ââ¦thy S. Paule was a worthy moât ââ¦ther instructour A great difference betwene teaching of the people and teaching of a preacher ââlyng ãâã shaâing ââ¦ny thing or any part of priestâ⦠Oââ¦âalt ãâã are ãâ¦ã âyle hath ââ¦o ãâã at all ãâ¦ã the ãâ¦ã â The minister amoÌg the ãâ¦ã were naâ⦠ãâã age Why âyn ãâ¦ã this worde ãâ¦ã rather ãâã Charitie hath ãâã significations Loue ãâã is ãâ¦ã vnderstaÌd Euery loue is not charitie nor euery charitie is not loue Why Tyndall sayth fauour and âot grace Knowledge and not confession repentauÌce and not penaunce The Papistes may not forbeare to haue their iugglyng termes Penaunce Penaunce was profitâ⦠to the Papistes ârue penaunce what it is Fayth in Christ ãâã get a true repentauÌce Deut. 17. â Balam The sinne agaynst the holy ghost â 2. Pet. 1. The chuch before y â gospell or the Gospell before the church Rom. 9. The word which is y â Gospell was before the church Ioh. 15. Ioh. 17. Note wâll thys Whether y â Apostles taught any thing that they did not write So much to written as is necessary âor ãâã saluation The scripture writteÌ must conâoânde the vnwritten verities Writing hath bene from the beginning God froÌ y â beginning hath ãâã ten ãâ¦ã y â hartes of his ãâã The Pope hath taken fro vs the significations of the Sacramentes Actes 7. There can no more be taught vs then to coÌteyned in the scriptures Purgatorye The HeatheÌ thought nothing more madder theÌ the doctrine of the resurrection The Apostles taught nothing that they were afrayde to write SacrameÌtes haue significations All y â Sacramentes taught eyther in the olde testament or new haue significations â The Popish Sacramentes ãâã one agaynste an other SacrameÌts with out significations are not to be ãâã Whether y â Church caÌâ⦠or not What y e very Church is what fayth saueth By fayth we are made the sonnes of God Ephe. ãâã ⪠Math. ãâ¦ã The offeryng of Christes body and bloud is y e onely satisfaction for our sinnes There is no way to saluation but by Christes death and passion Collos 1. Ephes 5. Rom. 8. 1. Iohn 3. Fayth and sinne can not âaâd together 1. Iohn 1. All fleshe deth sinne We sinne of frailtie weakenes We may erre yet be saued Who they be that erre from the way of âayth Faith is euer assailed with besperation All power readines to do good coÌâeth of God not of our selues A very good example The faythfull though they slââ yet they fall not Faith in y â good neâ of God is our staye Ioh. 15. If we consider how mercifull god is vnto vs we caÌnot chuse but submit our selues vnto hys lawes Christian meÌ must be patient Mercy waiteth euer on the elect Dauid The elect of God must haue patience be long sufferers God trieth his elect by suffering them to tell into temptation We may coÌaât sinne and yet not forget God The aÌpostles beyng amased w t teÌptations forgat all Christes myracles A great temptation layd vpoÌ y â Apostles The Apostles were very doubtfull Christ hys resurrectioÌ The Disciples were not without fayth but yet the âame was very doubtfull Peters fayth fayled not â Luke 22. A foolish glose made by M. More â 1. Pope The Pope his sect are not the Church of Christ 2. ãâã The Pope in forbyddyng mariage to Priestes doth not coÌseÌt that the lawe of god is ãâã The Pope licenceth whordome whiche God forbiddeth 3. The Popish Clergy are persecutours An abhominable wicked deuilish decree 4. Rom. 13. 5. 1. Cor. 5. The Pope is vtterly against the doctrine of Christ Their first reason A ãâã reason One Argument confuted with an other of like nature The solution The right fayth dyd neuer ãâã continue in the greater number of ãâã Church Math. 16. Math. 23. Hypocrites are crept vp in to the seate of Christ his Apostles ãâã Pet. 2. The Pope and hys Clergye haue corrupted the Scriptures of God with their traditions Iohn ãâã The scriptures beare witnes who are the right Church Christ Iohn Baptist Luke 1. â The doctrine of Iohn brought y â hart of the Iewes into the right way Our Popish hypocrites haue nede of a Iohn Baptist to conuert theÌ Those which depart from the fayth of hypocrites are the true Church Their second reasoÌ Note here this Popish Argument The Pope and his sect say they are the church and can not erre The solution Iohn Baptist was a true expositor of the law Math. 17. The Phariseis added false gloses to y â Scripture The Pa ãâã doctrine Purgatorye The Phariseis and papistes agree in the false interpreting of y â
doctrine nedeth not now of miracles for it was confirmed by Christ with myracles Math. 24. The Pope commeth ãâã Christes name with false miracles The preachers of gods word confirmed the same with miracles whyle they were alyue God suffeâeth such as haue no loue to hys truth to be deceaued with lying miracles Why the Pope tell In the Popish church all miracles are wrought by dead Saintes S. Thomas of CaÌterbury Thomas de Aquino Dunce â Miracles Our fayth may not be grounded onely vpon miracles but vpon the worde of God Math. 1â Iohn 21. The Apostles of Christe knew no such authoritie as the Pope now vsurpeth What iâ there had bene no scripture Grekes God to ãâ¦ã ââ¦de heresâ⦠caused the scriptures to be written ⪠Noe. What faith ââ¦th Where true faith is there is repentauÌce and ameÌdment of ãâã â Abraham The elderâ did erre The elders in y e time of the Iewes did erre The Scribes Phariseis and Elders did erre The scripture was aucthorised by true myracles False bookes set forth by the Papistes Erasmus The true church teacheth nothing but that which the scripture proueth and mainteineth The Pope hideth the scripture The Papistes hide y e scripture The scripture is the cause why men beleue y â scripture The Papistes docctrine is nââ to be beleued wiihouâ scripture Why the ãâã is not to be beleued wtout scripture why he is not the true church The doctrine of the Papistes hath bene ãâã resisted by y e scripture What thinges ãâã finde in scripture Rom. ãâã 1. Cor. â 1. Cor. 2. Iohn 5. Iohn 7. Heb. 8. The Papistes will neither by Gods lawe nor mans refraine froÌ their wicked liuyng Iohn 10. The Papistes will lose nothing that belongeth to them Christ deliuered the Iewes out of errour â None haue more care of the scripture then those that beleue it not M. More reasoneth agaynst himselfe â Actes 13. Iohn 8. They that preach not Christ truty are murtherers The end of hipocrites Predestination Balam Wit must first shew a cause and then will is sturted to worke More feeleth Purgatory Popish doe trine concernyng Purgatory The pope how he can both forgeue and receiue sinne Tyndall feeleth Purgatory Iohn 15. Iohn 13. Bodyly payne purgeth the body and not y e soule M. More âo of an euil opinion Faith in Châ⦠ãâã purchaseth forgâ⦠of sinne Ephe. 5. There is no purgatory for hym that dyeth repentâunt beleueth Iohn 15. 1. Iohn ãâã Payne of sinne ãâã popes ãâã Purgatory prâ⦠to y â Pope Purgatory to a tormenting Iayle as y â Pope maketh it Money dispatcheth Purgatory The Pope is Antichrist The fleshly children do naturally consent vnto lyes The fleshly mynded can neuer consent vnto Gods law The fleshly persecute them of the spirite The true church is not w t out a signe of a miracle to proue that it is Gods church The popes life doctrine is more wicked theÌ the Turkes all y e heatheÌ that euer were Euticus Actes 3. All glory and honour is to be geuen to the name of Iesu Iudges Deut. 17. Purgatory to the foundation of Abbeyes Colledges c. M. More is a commoÌâester and a scouÌer â The Papistes are cruell and vnmercyfull Sweryng The oth of a witnes may be taken but no maÌ may be coÌpelled to sweare be a witnes A godly lesson M. More is a lyer The Papistes are obstinate will not repent Iudas Prayers of an euill Priest profite not A fond saying To minister SacrameÌts with out signification is to be lead in darkenesse Sacrifice Heb. 10. Christes body in the SacrameÌt is not carnall but spirituall Christe was sacrificed on the crosse once for all More Deacons Tyndall Christes Deaââ¦s and the pââeâ Deacons differ much More Priestes Tyndall More Tyndall 1. Iohn 4. M. Mores fayth was a common fayth More Tyndall More Tyndall As good no lawe as a law not executed Age is to be preferred before âouth The chast vnchastirie of the Papistes is abhominable both to God and man S. Hierome The Pope iudgeth no sinne to bee sinne and sinne to be no sinne A Priest by the Popes order may haue a whore but not a wife Rom. 14. Mores doctrine is superstitious 1. Tim. 4. The Pope forbiddeth mariage Apparant godlynesse why the Priest may not haue y â secoÌd wife Christes benefites toward vs are figured by matrimony We were Idolaters when we came to Christ S. Paules doctrine is that priests shuld haue wiues Widowes More is a scoâfer The office of the wâddowes in y e primatine church Rom. 13 ⪠Young widowes were forbiddeÌ to minister in the commoÌ seruice Fishe no better then fleshe nor fleshe no better then fishe in the kingdame of Christ ãâã â Tyndall More Tyndall Three lyes at ââ¦ce ãâ¦ã Priestes must be endued wyth vertue and honesty Generall counsell Parlââ¦ment The ãâã vsed both in generall to ⪠ââ¦es and also ãâã parliamentes A practise vsed in all counsayles and Parlamentes The spiritualtie make heretickes of them that resist theyr power and will Why Priestes may haue no wyues The chastitie of the ââergy pertââneth to the tempoââ¦ie as much as to the spiritualtie Vowes No oth is to be kept that is agaynst charitie or necessitie The popes snares ãâã 2. 3. 4. 5. Tyndall doth here playnly proue More an hereticke That is euer best that moueth man to the kepyng of Gods commaundementes â Deuilish doctrine Math. 15. Christes natural body is not in the Sacrament The Sacrament of the body ãâã bloud of Christ how it must be receiued â S. Michael wayeth ãâã soules The true seruice of God what it is Whether it were best that priestes were gelded â Leuit. 10. More Tyndall Paphnutius More had two wiues therefore was Bigamus More Tyndall The Pope a cruell tyraânt More Tyndall The spiritualtie would not haue the scripture in Englishe Hunne More Horsey Tyndall If we be not giltie we neede no pardon More woulde excuse the murther of Hunne Hunne â More Tyndall Doetour Lolet Olde translation More was a subtill Poet. The hauyng of the Scripture in English is vtterly agaynst the myndes of the Popish Clergie More Tyndall The scripture was first deliuered to the pâopâe in their vulgere toung More Tyndall More Tyndall The ordinaâ⦠are hangmeÌ to such as desire the knowledge of the scripture None can vnderstand the Scripture except he knewe Christ to be his iustification More Tyndall More Tyndall Eare confession and pardons were neuer confirmed by miracle More Tyndall The Popish spiritualitie are tyrâunts persecutors More Tyndall Pope forbiddeth matrimony the eatyng of meates The wicked monstrous doynges of the Pope More Tyndall More Tyndall More Tyndall All Sacramentes teach vs what to do or what to beleue More Tyndall Eare confession destroyeth the beneâite of Christes bloud More Tyndall More Tyndall RepeÌtauÌce More Tyndall SacrameÌt More Fayth Tyndall The Pâpistes aââ slaundâââs of the Gospell More Woâ⦠Tyndall ⪠More Tyndall We can do no
de verbis Apostoli s ãâã The church of God is the treasures of God without spotte or wrinkle That which is of fayth can neither bee seene nor felt The true holynes that is of our right holye mother the Church 1. Iohn 2. Iohn 15. De con D. D. 4. c. prima igitur 1. Iohn 2. De pâne Dis 2. Si in glossa 24. q. 1. Arecta in Glossa The faythfull congregation can not erre The voyce of murtherers and theeues A rule that Rochester teacheth to know the difference betweene y â Pope and Councell The Councell erreth if the Pope agree not to their do ynges Popes haue erred Popes condemned for heretickes 3. King 2. 3. King 18. The litle flocke is y e flocke of Christ De electio c. significa The Councell of Meldelci dyd erre A generall Councell is not the vniuersall Churche Augustinus de bap li. 2. c. 3 contra Donatistas Councels haue erred and many erre The holy scriptures are the iudges of the Councels doings Math. 10. There are perticular Churches to whome wee may complayne 24. q. 3. Si. quis et c. cuÌ aliquis The communion felowship of Saintes is the vniuersall Church How a maÌ may know the church An example teaching how y e true church may be knowne Esay 55. Roma 10. Actes 10. 1. Thess 2. Good workes are the fruite of good fayth Charitie may be deceaued but fayth can neuer bee deceaued A saying of Chrisostome Chrisostome sendeth vs to scriptures to learne which is the holy Church not vnto them that call themselues y e holy church Ephe. 2. The holy Church is builte and founded vpon the Apostles Prophets Augustinus The true Church is a sufferer and no persecutor 2. Tim. 3. The Popes church are persecutors but no sufferers The glory of the Popes churche is in trash Hilarius cont Arianos Barnardus super can s 33. Note here the saying of Saint Barnard S. Barnard greatly reproueth the insaciable pride of the Popes Church xiiij quest i c. QuodeuÌque in verbo Reconciliat M. More would haue vs to thinke there is none other holy church but y e Pope and his Cardinals and Byshops c. Epes 5. Aug. de ver bis Domini serm l. Iohn 6. 1. Cor. 6. Now euill men be in the church What the very true church is Roma ãâã Homo mortuus non est homo Ephes 5. M. More layeth many thynges to me wroÌg fully Aug. Serm. 99. de tempore Lyra in Mar. ca. xix De verbo Apost ser xxix Anotable saying of S. Augustine De coâse D. iiij c. Igitur xxiiij q. i. Arâcta in glosa De electio c Significal 1. The counsell of Weldâus did erre Au. de Bapt. li. 2 cap. 3. The full counsels may erre How a man may knowe the church The church suffereth Chris in opere Im êsecto By scriptures men may know the veritie Hila. contra Arrianos Barn suêcaÌ serm 33. The true church of Christ staÌdeth onely in them that are good men 1. Tim. 4. The keyes of y e church is the openyng of Christ and the loosing of vs from sinne Psal 80. Scâtus 4. sent di 18. How DuÌs interpreteth the keyes Nicho. de orbel di vs supra Hiero. in M. c. 16. The saying of S. Hierome vppon the keyes Scotus 4. sen dist 15. Quest 1. August ser 2. de sane The nature property of the keyes of heauen Roma 10. Psal 118. Ibidem 1. Cor. 14. 2. Tim. 1. Psal 118. All thinges shal perish but y â word of God endureth for euer Hebr. 4. Roma 3. What power it is that the Priest hath The word of God is the true keye that openeth loseth Math. 6. Acte 2. The true maner of losyng and byndyng of openyng and shottyng Math. 10. The hearyng of the worde of God and beleuyng the same loseth vs from our sinnes Mark 6. Actes 18. Iohn 20. Luke 24. Luke 24. Preachyng of the word of God is losing from sinne Actes 17. How the worde of God byndeth how it loseth 2. Cor. 2. 1. Cor. 1. The worde of God is remission of sinne if it bee beleeued when it is preached Hebr. 6. By preaching of the worde of God heaueÌ is opened and shut Chriso in M. c. 15. De doctr christi li. 1. c. 15. es 18. Augustine in Ioan Trac 124. 24. q. 1. QuodcuÌque Origenes Super. M. Ho. 1. The church is builded vpoÌ the confession of all the Apostles and of all faithfull people Super Ioan Trac 124. c. 21. Preachers if they abuse their preaching maye bee deposed 1. Cor. 14. 1. Cor. 4. Item 3. 1. Pet. 5. The ministers of the Churche ought to be no Lordes In M. c. 23. li. de Cain et Abell The Byshops and cleargie abuse Christes keyes The false allegyng of fathers and Councels is the next way to deceaue the Churche of God Psal 1. Blessed are they whose meditation is in the law of God An exaÌple The ministration of the Church belongeth to the Byshops other ministers but the authoritie of the same belongeth to Christ An other example The doctrine and true preaching of the worde of God is the pardon and remission of our sins The authoritie of the churche belongeth to Christ onely Luke 7. August lib. Quinquaginta home liarum be 23. The popes Clergy is condemned by S. Austen to bee heretickes Money is the Popes best marchaunt Shamefull doyngs must bee shamefully rebuked The Pope selleth God and all his ordinauÌces The Pope will not folow nor obey to Christes commauÌdemeÌt for hee biddeth hym loose The Pope selleth hys ware very deare Math. 10. 1. Cor. 9. Hierome Chrisosto ad Ti. 5. S. Chrisostome is very straight to byshops and the rest of the Clergye Chri. s 6. de anathemate Byshops compared to popets and stage players Math. 26. Luke 11. A sore sentence of Christ agaynst vnpreachyng Prelates In what thinges we haue free-will and in what none Iohn 15. The frutes of freewill Freewill without gods grace can doe nothyng that is good Bona intentio Super Ioannem tract lxxi DuÌces doctrine ouerthrowen 2. Cor. 3. We of our selues as of our selues can not doâ so much as thinke a good thought Barnarde lib. arbit Math. 7. Math 12. Mans free-will without Gods grace can doe nothing that is good Roma ⪠3. In Enche ãâã â9 Man by vsâig of his freewill euill did lose both hymselfe his freewill De âerbis apost ⪠ser 11. Mans free-will caÌ doe nothing but sinne Roma 8. MaÌs fleshly wisdome is enemy to God Duns Marke 7. Roma 8. De verbis Domini ser xv Freewill without grace is sinne Roma 8. De verbis Apost ââ¦ij We can doe nothyng that is good without the spirite of God Who are y t children of God Bonus conatus verstum de congruâ Fleshly carnall reason reasoneth frowardly and crookedly As God is nothynge but goodnes so can hee commaunde nothyng but that which is good Why God hath