the lawe prescribith apoyntith takyng thes workes for nothyng els then the fruites of faith but hipocrites what so euer thei doo of the lawe doo it for aface ascribinge thes workes notwithstanding to ther iustification P. Thes paraduenture be true but if it be lauful to vse other seremonies that is inuented by man nowe agayne a newe you will make vs subiecte to mans traditions and that againste the mynde of saincte Paule / whose wordes be thes / ye be bought with a price Cor. 7. be ye not made the seruaÌ„tes of men V. Ther be certaine rude feloes which wheÌ„ thei heare mention of libertie in sermones straightwayes with out iudgement despise all maners lawes honestie As though mens lyfe could be without lawes / but these defylers of the Israelites tentes must not in this matter be borne with wherfore we haue nede here in these thinges of great wisdom great iudgement finally of great caution that we do nothynge otherwyse then it becometh christians / for what do these lawes hurt the church yf they be not agaynst the worde / verely there be some constitucions both fyghtynge manyfestly with the worde of God layenge snares for oure consciences / as preestes synglenes monkyshe vowes sellynge of masses and a thousande suche other / froÌ„ these we be fre because they fyght with the worde of God And here the aucthorite of them which wylseme heades of the churche bynde no man in so moche that it is boldly to be despysed yf they wyll remytte nothynge of theyr tyrannie as in the actes when the apostles were forbydden to preache not only dyspysed theyr commaundemeÌ„t but also coÌ„tynued to preache most boldly the deathe and resurreccioÌ„ of Christ wherby health came to the world in so moch that by whippes they could not be dreuen from theyr wyll P. I commende this contempte V. There be other constitucions coÌ„maundynge of thynges indyfferent / those maye be despysed and kepte partly for charities sake partly for the common peace P. Heare I loke whether you wyll saye any thynge that shall please me / but hoo wheÌ„ must such tradicioÌ„s be brokeÌ„ or kept V. yf they shal neyther be takeÌ„ for the worshyppe of God nor haue nothynge a doo with iustification they muste be kepte bothe for the comon ease and also for a good ordre wherunto the youthe from theyr cradels must be vsed / accordynge to that 1. Cor. 14. Gal. 3. Amonge you let all thinges be done in a good ordre also that the lawe is a scole mayster to Christe Adde hyther the waye of offension which we must regarde by all meanes possible / for althoughe these indyfferent thynges haue lybertie adioyned with them / yet must we to the vttermost of our power endeuoure that that which we do be not done to the offence of oure weake brother As Paule suffred Timothe to be circumcided for certayne weake mennes causes wheras he wolde not suffre Titus to be circumcided of whome many requyred circumcision as necessarie for saluacion And who knoweth not that comune sayenge of Paule 1. Cor. 1â— All thynges be laufull for me but all thynges be not profitable but yf they shall be nombred amonge them whiche are bothe necessarie for saluacion and perteyne to the worshyp of God they muste then be dispised and the libertie which Christ hathe gyuen vs must be defended / for the lorde spoke not with out a cause by the prophete / they worshyp me in vayne Eze. 20. Mat. 16. by mennes commaundementes P. Extendeth oure libertie any further I haue hytherto thought that they which were taken in to libertie by Christ were deliuered from pensions and paymentes V. In this mater you were amysse for be it that the chyldren of the kyngdom be most free yet for loue and for escheuynge of offension they submytte them selues to comon burdens and that by Christes example whom we reade with Peter gaue a grote to them that were receiuers amoÌ„ge the Caphernaites and this loue althoughe I be free maketh me all mennes seruaunt for faythe maketh a man free but loue vonde fredome pertayneth to the soule bondage to the body They be free whose synnes are pardoned for Christes sake they are bonde which for Christes sake are equally in all mennes daunger So Paule althoughe he was free yet acknowledged hym selfe to be all mennes seruaunte WheÌ„ as loue can not be seperated from sayth nor heate from fyre so can not bondage be seuered from christian libertie bondage I meane whiche alwayes serueth her brothers comoditie But Philostatiê° whye hunt you after so carefully this outwarde no rather this carnall libertie seynge the holy scripture neyther teacheth it neyther any man proued luckely whiche at any tyme stumbled in this mater This I am able to proue by many examples of the olde men if we had not late examples / for as yet Muntzers endeuours be not forgoten / he also was of the mynde that he thought the holy scripture dyd teach the libertie of the fleshe wherin when he was a preacher to moche diligent it came to passe that he destroyed not hym selfe only but also a great nombre of vplandyshmen with hym Had it not bene better for hym here to haue bene content with the libertie of the soule then by sekynge the fleshly to cast hym into so great daungers bothe of body and soule / worked he not here hym selfe a displesure Adde hyther the example of the monasteriaÌ„as verie unserable but where in the furie of souldiours commytted nothynge otherwyse then was deserued / by sedicion they putte the aldermen out of theyr places they cast many good men out of the cytie they toke awaye other mennes goodes finally occupied the sworde neyther coÌ„mauÌ„ded nor called of God wherin when they were warned of certayne prynces and confederated cyties in vayne neyther any man by suche admonitions was moued to repeÌ„taunce at the lyngthe were thie punished for ther nough tines P. But I heare saye that Monasterians were destroyed not for the denieng of pensions but because they were Anabaptistes V. You erre nothynge at all so that you know the secte of Anabaptistes hath sedition ioyned wyth it / for what sought thes madde men els but the destruction of al thynges and the ruine of beest thynges They caule it a restoryuge they truely wil restore al thynges whiche be decayed but peraduenture on the same sort as MuÌ„tzer made the vplandish men free / the which when he craked that he woulde shake of our neckes the noble mens yocke not only loost his labour in a thynge seditious and nothynge godly but also doublid the selfe same yocke P. What then shall I doo seing the mater is so V. Medle not with thes destroyers of churches and troublers of the comon weale And seyng that in thys life we can not be with out thes comoÌ„burdens nether we ought for god hath not wyth out acause alowed officers the ciuile waye to liue we must endeuore that we obaye those thynges that perteine to the comon tranquillitie and that not only for necessitie but also for conscience Thou shalt paye thy tythes of thyne owne acorde thy yerely pensious of thyne owne acorde thy tribute of thyne owne acorde and that to whom the magistrates comaunde the. What nede you to care what thei be that receyue them so you doo the duty of a christiane and of a good man for thys aboue al thynges endeyuore that for as much as by nature we are desyrous of libertie thou mayest atteyne that libertie whiche is in danger of no faultes no desiers no noughtie affectioÌ„s and whiche maye remembre that for thys cause she is delyuered froÌ„ sinne to thintent she maye lyue only to rightuousnes and to hir neighbour / which kind of libertie Angustine speakith on this maner / whom true libertie delitith leat him desier to be free from the loue of thinges mutable / whom it delitith to raigne leat hym be subiecte to the only god the raigner ouer al / by louyng him more then him selfe / for so it shal come to passe that whiche you wolde haue done afore against your will and vnwillyngly ye shall doo it willyngly and merely P. Go to if it be so I wil vainquish my selfe and diligeÌ„tly doo that you exhort me Loke that you tell me of it yf I do any thyuge contrarie to my outie V. yf you wyll be taught and folowe me wheÌ„ I teache you I wyl easely bryng it aboute that you go not out of the waye for I knowe what is my dutie in that mater On the contrarie partie you must also remembre your dutie wyll you any thynge elles P. No forsoth but that you neuer do any worser theÌ„ I wold my selfe to doo ¶ Prynted at Cantorbury by I Mychell For E. Campion
Aluta I thynke they condempne not the moderate vse of suche thynges but they moderate superfluitie Curi No they affyrme that God is worshyped nothynge at all by suche thynges What wyll you heare the trewe worship of God out of the gospel Iho. 4. The owre shal com sayth Christ when you shal worshyp the father neyther in the mountayne nor at Hierusalem you worshyp you cānot tell what we worship for saluation comyth from the Iewes but the houre shal come is nowe when the true worshipers shall worship in spirite trueth wolde god thys thynge chaunced not both to the thy sacrificers that Christe speakyth heare of the Iewes that is they wot not what they worship for seyng they binde the worshiping of god as they did to places tymes and sett houres I am afraied yt maye be aplied against them the which Christe aplied vnto the Iewes Aluta But the Iewes and the Christeanes be not a lyke that which ys spoken of the Iewes can not be aplied vnto the Christiāes Curi But what if they place the Iewes that is if for inwarde worshipe they folow carnal worship as the Iewes did must they not be here reproued and it is true that you saye the Iewes and the Christianes be not a lyke for the Iewish worshiping of God for the most parte was carnall whereas on the contrarie Christiās must pray worshyp God in spryte truth The sprite for the most part in the scriptures is contrarie to the flessh hipocrisie to trueth Nowe seing Christ takith from the Iewes spirite and trueth and giuith them to his Christianes it aperith that in that people was nothing but carnal worshiping and if you excepte a fewe euen were hipocrisie or elis he wold haue sayed as the Iewes haue prayed hitherto in spirite and trueth so my disciples shall praye here after wherfore wete you nowe that they worship god aright whiche feare him as the child the father trust vpon him caule vpon him caste on him al the care of this wreched lif the which worship afterwardes foloith almoste in dede to the poore Aluta As thoug god liked carnall thinges not the Iewissh seremonies for the worde knit with them and the commandment Curi Yes they pleased god but then only when faith was with them for what so euer she doth must nedes be acceptable vnto god because she alwayes eyeth hys worde and cōmādmēt but if ther were no faith it is manifest that those sacrifices were hated of god so muche they were from pleasing of him haue not all the prophetes in maner cōfessed this same Psal 50. Dauids sayenge is yf thou woldest haue had sacrifice I had gyuen the it for thou wylt not be delited with hole brent offe rynges The sacrifice to God is a lowely spirite thou wylte not despyse oh God a contryte and an humble harte Moreouer adde hyther that of Esaye Esa 1. Wherfore bringe you to me the multitude of sacrifices I am fylled with the hole burnt offrynges of youre rāmes and with the fatte of your fatlynges and desyred not the blood of youre oxen lambes and goates when you came to se my face who required this of you to treade myne aultares You se how boldly the prophetes reiecte the carnal worshyp cōmaunded by the law What thynke you they wolde say yf they lyued now of our worship ynges whiche haue not the wordes on theyr sydes and are mens mere dreames Aluta what worshyp then aloweth he Curi Althoughe this thynge were shewed afore and as it were by a lanise in fewe wordes yet out of the selfe same prophetes whom we sayde before set naught by this carnall worshyp it shall be manifestly declared you The psalme writer beynge aboute to shewe the trewe worshipinge of God sayth that he shall dwell in his tabernacle Psal 14. whiche walketh without spotte and worketh iustice Aluta What calleth the prophete there to walke with out spot Curi Who soeuer hathe goten a contrite spirite and beleueth suerly vpon Christ walketh without spotte for she as Peter wytnesseth in the actes purifieth our hartes on that sorte that we maye be ryghtfully nombred amonge those of whom it is spoken in an other place of the foresayd psalmes Psal 112 blessed are the vndefyled in the waye which walke in the lawe of the lorde for he feareth God trewly trewly trusteth God finally trewly worshypeth God Aluta What calleth he to worke rightuousnes for I thinke the prophete discenteth not from hymselfe as whiche alytle before ascribed as you saye ryghtuousnes to fayth no sayth the same cōsisteth by workes Heare I kyll you with youre owne darte Curi I said that to walke without spot is the same that to beleue because that faythe onely obtayneth the cleanes of the harte for Christes sake that cleanes I meane which is most frutfull of good workes he therfor workyth rightuousnes which by the outwarde innocēcie of life and by doīg good alwayes to his nighbour declarith his faith openly for that trust can not be true if it worke not and aplie hir selfe holy to hir brethernes profites Moreouer seyng the scripture requirith not only the rightuousnes of the hearte but also outwarde rightuousnes as a witnes of faith it is necessarie that with inwarde cleanes we couple outwarde that is the workes of loue after thys maner to walke with out spotte must be aplied to faith to worke rightuousnes to the outwarde comendation of loue Esa 2 what saye you that Esaye saithe thes thinges be so be ye wasshed sayth he be ye cleane take ye awaye the naughtines of youre endeuours from my sight giue ouer troublyng learne to doo well seke for iugemēt amēde the troubled iudge the fatherles helpe the wydowe Fyrst of all the prophete commaūdeth that we become cleane from the fylth of our synnes and from all vncleanes Then that we hyn der no mā oppresse no man brefely that we be wel and trewly myn deo towardes all men The fyrste parteineth to fayth for we can not be wasshed from the acustomed fylth of synne but by fayth The other to loue that the sence maye be This is the very and trewe worshyp of God yf a man feare God truste of God confesse that Christ is verely in the father and the father in Christe call on God aright thanke god aright and finally loue his neighboure as him self Aluta Whie then do ye Lutheranes condemne all ceremonies all outward worshipyng of god Curi Nothinge lesse so that they be taken onely for an introducciō and fyght not with the gospell This is my mynde that nothyng ought to be in more estimacion amonge vs then feare faythe and loue After that ones we haue obtayned these thynges we maye gyue our iudgement of the ceremonies not leauynge the worde an ynch besides thys I disalowe not in the church a decent vse of clothes vessels and such other thinges so that we be not persuaded that we gett goddes fauour by those
thinges yf moreouer ther be some measure for the aparell amonge the Canons is so tragical that when they come to sacrifice a man wolde thinke they come to a stage And although they be so farre from faith loue innocencie of life knolege of the scriptures as the North is from the South yet they trustyng vpon thes their ceremonies so dispise so contēpne so excomunicate them that doe other wise that no thyng passith it Aluta They vse to excomunicate heretikes sowers of dissēsion and Lutheranes els none And whie be you moued with thys so greatly seing that all bisshopes the Pope and the Emperour strike you with the same thondre bolt if you will not be condemned if you will not be excomunicated if you will not be euill spoken of agree with the fathers with the church and hereafter vndouptedly no māshall hisse at you Curi Well thys dispising of other thys pride this sickenes of cōdemning other proue sufficiētly what maner of worshipinge thys of yours is for hypocrisie maketh suche dispysers suche slaunderers as with whom is alwayes pryde wherby she is proude and loketh at her neyghbour as crepynge as it were on the grounde in comparison of her selfe that to be so euen that one Pharesey in the gospel the father of thy Canons is able to proue Luk. 15. whiche was not content with full chekes to vaunte his workes his goodnes his fastes except he had dispysed with moost deuyllyshe iudgement the synner standynge a far of But trewe godlynes doth farre otherwyse / she as she dispay ryth of her owne workes measureth the worshyp of God onely by fayth / so she hath alwayes the workes of loue but chefely modestie wherby she submitteth her selfe to all men / remembrynge that no worke is acceptable vnto god yf it be not seasoned with this as a sauce acordinge to that I wyll mercy and not sacrifice Math. 9. Go thy wayes nowe and bragge of thy sacrificers ceremonies Aluta I knowe that they be good men whom you in mockage call sacrificers / wherfore I wyll not be separated from them neyther here nor in the world to com Curi what heare I a good man in dede / wyl not you leaue so holy a companye of good men Then trewly you do them a pleasure in so doynge especially yf youre wyfe be of the same mynde / but in earnest hither to I sought youre helthe / but because you resysted my warnynge stubburnely / and as yet wyllest not come into the waye I can be well contented that lyke companie with lyke fare well Of the honouringe and callynge vpon sainctes Sanderus Glandorpius HOwe nowe Glandorpius Glan Men can be at no rest S. As thoughe I knew not that / but I aske howe you do G. As they whiche miserably spende all theyr tyme in the scole S. yet you be lustie G. So so S. Chaunced there any newes here in myne absence G. Nothynge whiche can delyte you S. But I harde a late a very mery iest G. So it is commonly sene that they whiche goo in to stran̄ge contrees come home agayne loden eyther with tales or some pleasant histories But what newes harde you S. You wyl laugh when you heare them G. Then tell them S. A certayne citezen of Gotinga supped with me eyght dayes ago / a wyttie mā as farre as I coulde cōlecture of one metyng and worthy to be trusted for he had a sobre loke he after that we were set to our supper tolde vs that saynt Nicolas chapell whiche was not farre from Gotinga was brokē in the nyght tyme not many moneths ago and all the golde and syluer that the supersticious people had brought thether afore Luthers tyme / was vnchested and taken away G. you tell me the robbynge of a church S. There when a certayne cobler heard that the theues had taken theyr heeles and escaped luckely after they had worked their facte / sayth why shulde I seke for helpe of this saincte we haue beleued hytherto that many by prayenge to Nicolas broke the prisons and escaped the punishementes that they deserued / the whiche thynge yf it were not wrought by satans subteltie to destroye vs with all / howe chaunceth it that he whiche hathe delyuered many out of stynkynge prysons and from punyshmentes that they shulde haue suffred coulde not loke to hym selfe This mannes sayenge as the say enge of an vnlerned cobler was cetayned with laughter G. I knowe well ynoughe you remembred thē the comon prouerbe / many tymes a gardener speaketh trew thīgis S. I denie it not but there was a certayne other man present not knowne to this a very pleasaunt tester This man as thoughe he wolde correcte the other sayth / it is the gospell that he can not be Christes disciple which forsaketh not all he hath and foloweth hym naked Nowe seynge ryches haue ben hitherto the let that this wodden Nicolas coulde not folowe Christe it is very lyke that he is not greatly offēded that he being delyuered of this vnlucky burden maye nowe frely and somewhat more redely folowe Christe G. A mery man S. The thyrde felowe this sayd euyll goten euyll loste was that substance / sayde I then euyll goten / beware you speake nothynge folyshly agaynste the sainctes / which answered agayne I laughe not at saynt Nicholas which paraduenture was a good man / and reasteth in Abrahams bosom with the chosen / but at disceiptfull Satan whiche hathe deceyued vs so diuersely For I am not ignorant what resorte of people was there afore tyme / howe fouly that same disceypfull spirit brought them from the true trust on Christ to a most false opinion concerninge the helpe of sainctes whiche here loste not onely theyr mony but also theyr soules Howbeit I alowe not the robbynge of churches for those goodes myght haue bene turned to good vses but I abhorre the fraude gyle deceypte wherby they were gottē G. When you harde these thinges sayed you nothinge S. After that I had spoken a fewe wordes I helde my tonge / for when I perceyued that they were not greatly wyse whiche began that pastyme I thought it better to take pleasure of theyr talkinge by hearing then to seme wyse in a mater whiche euery man throughly knewe G. You dyd wysely but yet these men spake true for I wyll speake as I thynke this carnall worship ynge of saynctes as I thynke is a thynge very euyll S. I denye it not / for yf a man wyll seke more earnestly the cause of this thinge he shall perceyue that this supersticion came and toke his begynnynge of prophane fables / for as euery countrey in tymes past had seuerall Goddes haue not so amōge vs euery cytie euery castel euery towne fayned them selues peculiar patrones Christe in the meane tyme despysed or nought set by And howe imprudently reuerently I wolde haue sayd haue our sacrificers tryfled in theyr sermons of saynte Antone to whom also they haue comitted the defēce of our