Against a Rank Papist, Part 1 · Opinion 6
Censura.
¶The forbyddyng of marryage is aS. Paule. doctryne of deuyls, S. Paule sayth. i. Timothe. iiii. Where as the obseruing therof is a comely fulfyllynge of Gods institucion, whych Mary Christes mother honoured.
Obiectio.
☞All this is very true, beyng Gods wurd. But for what purpose ye brynge it in, I do not playnely see, except it be to subuert an other truth. As though the exhortacion or professynge of vyrgynite, or blamynge of menNo syght. that breake theyr vowes, were a forbyddyng of marryage, and so a doctryne of deuyls. It is to straunge to saye, that the commendynge of the hygher gyfte of chastyte, shoulde be a condempnynge of the lowar gyfte of marryage. EueryEvery man ones in hys lyfe, hath lybertyeLibertye. to marry, from the whych marryage no man forbyddeth hym.
But if he forsake hys lyberte, and bynde hymselfe by hys vowe to God, neuer to marry. Than he maye be lawefully forbydde to marry, not forbyddynge marryage, but byddynge hym kepe hys vowe.
It is a deuylyshe doctryne (as I thinke)Doctrine to forbydde a marryed man to marry, hys wyse beynge alyue.
And also to forbyd hym to marry, that hath consecrate his body and sowle to God, & professed to lyue chaste wythout marryage.
Responsio.
In case is thys hypocrite chaplayne, as was the deuil, whom Christ droue into thē A Deuyl.herde of swyne, Luke. viii. For this deuyl, called Region▪ both knew it and confessed it, that Christe was the sonne of God, as thys busye chaplayne confesseth, that it is both a manyfest truth and also the wurde of God, that is vttered here afore. Thys knowledge and confessyon notwythstandynge, yet thys deuyll enterynge into the swynysh byshoppes, prestes, and lawers, wythstode hys heauenly veryte, and pursued him for it to the very death. Who can thynke this malyciouse and frantike chaplayne, not to be possessed wyth thys deuyl?Possessed. He doth the same thynges that thys deuyll ded. He knoweth it and confesseth it to be a veryte of God, and yet he impugneth it wyth to the and nayle. If it be not a synne agaynst the holy Ghost, to wythstande a knowne & confessed verite, what is a synne against the holy Ghost? If he be not in thisAll true. pointe a sonne of perdicion, who euer was the sonne of perdycyon. Ye know (maister chaplaine) yt these sētēces be true, why do ye not than allowe thē? Yea ye know, they be very true, that is to say, certaynly, groundedly, and perfyghtly true, why thā beleue ye them not? Ye knowe also, they be the wurdes of God, why than do ye not honour them, louelove them, and folow them, but wyckedly impugne them?
Ye can not se, for what purpose I bring in these verytees, that the inhybycion of marryage is a doctryne of deuyls, that theA wyfe. takyng of a christen wyfe, is a folowynge of Gods institucion, and that Mary Christes mother honoured that holy order. For none other purpose do I brynge them in, than for that only purpose whych god appoynted, as for the allowaunce of matrymony, which is gods ordinaunce. Ye hauehave in tymes past, torne and taken away fromGospels. Christ, Homo quidā nobilis, in some churches, and Ego sum Pastor bonus, in the other churches, & giuen it to Thomas Be… ket the trayter, both at mattens and masse, vponupon hys ydolatrouse dayes. Homo quidā peregre, to your Romysh Apostle Augustyne, to Anselme, Cutbert, Chadde, Swithune, Dunstane, Erkenwalde, Oswald, Osmunde, Edmunde, and a greate sorte moo. Beati pauperes, to dead mens bonesGadders. and relliques, Euntes in mūdum, to gadders, pylgrymes, and ydoll sekers. Amen dico vobis, ye appoynted for battel, Petite et dabitur, for sycke beastes, Factum est in vna dierum, for fayre wether, Nolite soliciti esse, for rayne, Discumbente Iesu, for mourners, Surgens Iesus de synagoga, for pestilēce, & Dixit Simō Petrus, for S. Antonyes euill, bestowing Dixit Martha ad Iesum, for all christē sowles. ThysSoules. was a great study of yow, & a clerkely distributing of y• scriptures sūtyme. Ye cā not thinke my scriptures welbestowed, bicause they are not applyed to that vse and ende.
Ye feare least this truth here expressed, should subuert an other truth. But ye nede not so to do▪ for it is not ye nature of a truth to subuert or destroy a truth, but rather to ratify, mainteyne, and vphold a truth. But parauēture it is some truth of your owne, that ye meane, and than is it a very falsehede.A truth. For yow are they that cal euill good, and good euyll, makyng darkenesse lyght, & lyght darkenesse. Esay. v. Your commen custome hath bene euermore (S. Paule saith) to wythholde Gods veryte in vnrighteousnesse, and to turne hys truth to a lye, Roma. i. Thys truth of yours, is an exhortacionEnemies. to a wyuelesse lyfe, or a professynge of vyrgynyte. Thys woorde exhortacion hath a fayre shewe, virginite semeth a bewtyful thynge. Undre thys pretensed coulour or fayre face of the serpent, your ye wyll hyde all the crafty persuasions ofSodomites. your religiouse sodomites, prestes, mōkes, and fryres, which hath compassed sea and lande to make proselytes, both by confessiō and other wayes. And in the ende ye wold hauehave them taken for vertuouse counsels & godly professions. But doubtlesse ye come to late. Ye wolde that neyther this, nor yet y• blamyng or rebuking of mē, that breakeUowes. theyr vnlawfull stynkynge popish vowes, shuld be iudged any forbydding of lawful marryage, or takē for a doctrine of deuyls. But it shall be so holdē, & axe yow no leaue so longe as y• tree is knowne by hys frute.
Ye wyll hauehave the braggynges and boastynges of a fayned and false chastyte, which is none other than a fylthynesse vnspeakable,Beastly. to be holden as a pure commē daciō of y• true chastyte. But it wyll not be graunted yow. That detestable professyon of a lyfe so enormiouse, shall be a prohybycion of Godly marryage and a doctrine of deuils in hipocrisy, though ye shew a thousād colours to y• contrary. What deuyll of hel hath inspired yow, so clerely to separate christen marryage from chastite, as it had no porcyon therwyth? What wyll ye make of lawfull marryage, ye synnefullMariage. Sodomytes and vtter enemyes of God, that ye thus cruellye seclude it from all kyndes of chaste honestie? Do ye iudge it a whore dome, an vnclennesse, a beastlynesse? or what do ye recken of it, yow that so malyciously thus handle it? Thys dare I be bolde to affyrme, and wyl stand in the opynion to the very death, that all kyndes of continency, of clennesse, and of chastyte in the olde testament, from the begynning of Genesis to the lattre ende of the Machabees,Cōmēded. hauyng the blessyng of God, pertayneth to marriage. There is no such vngodly separacion of virginite from marriage, but virgines were reckened ther, most fyt for that honest, comely, & godly estate.
Uirgynite without frute, is ther deplored, sorowed, lamented, and bewayled, as in the daughter of Iephte, Iudi. xi. Wher as marryage is called a chaste generacionMarriage wyth vertue, her memory being immortal afore God and man, Sapi. iiii. Uirginyte wythout frute, deserued no prayse, neyther in the lawe of nature, nor yet in the law of Moyses, but as a thynge not regarded, dwelt vndre contempte, obprobry, and rebuke, without benedicciō, as apered in An na. i. Reg. i. and in Helisabeth▪ Luc. i. Whā Uowes.vowes were of most value and of Gods allowaunce, they coulde not better virgynytie, how can they than now better it, beyng of lesse value, yea, wurkes of our own innention, and not of Gods commaundement? The blessynge continued in succession of Mariage, from age to age, and from generation to generation, tyll the promysed seade was come, whyche was Iesus Christ. Though he in the newe testament, beatyfyed virgynyte (as he also by many clere argumentes, dyd marryage) geuyng ther vntounto, the grace of prophecy, as apered in the. iiii. daughters of Philip the Euangelist,Uirginite. Acto. xxi. Yet ded he not licence yow to vowe it, to bragge of it, to huylde youre presthode vponupon it, to make it your bawde, your cloke, and your ydol of vnclennesse, to colour your sodometry wyth it, nor yet to contempne lawful marryage for it.
I coulde wel commende vyrginite many wayes, but not after your handelynge.Uirginite As it is Gods fre gyfte, I can praise it, but not as it is vnderunder band of your vowes, for I knowe the frutes to be fylthy. Ye call it the hyghar gyfte, and marryage, the lowar gyfte, therby eralting your shauelinges aboue the layte. This is a practyse of your olde scolemaysters the Pharisees, whych preferred theyr ydell tradycyons to Gods holy commaundementes. Math. xv. Bycause that vowed chastyte commeth from Rome, whych is beyonde the Alpes, wythThe alpes oylynges and wyth shauynges, therfore is it the hyghar gyfte, for none other vertues hath it. But if ye waye it by the sty…chyng frutes, ye shal fynde it the lowar gyft, and the gyuer out therof, a very meane gentilman, euen he that seketh whome he maye denouee. i. Pet. v. Moch boast is made of virginite, and yet they which bragge most of it, knoweth least of all what it is. Uyrgynite leadeth not towardes heauen, vnlesse it be coupled with ye wysdome of god.Wisdom. For we reade in the Gospel, that the. v. folyshe vyrgyns were put clerely backe, for not hauynge oyle and lyght in theyr lāpes, Math. xxv. Thys is an euydent example, that vyrginite is nothynge, wythout other Godly prouisyons. No better is that vyrginyte whych serueth it selfe alone, than is the talent hyd vnderunder the groūd. Mat. xxv.
I denye not, but it is an easy, pleasa…t, free, and commodiouse estate, but withoutmaidēhed. other vertues, it is of smal value. It is like a deade body whych hath no lyfe. Where S. Paule layeth fourth the frutes of the sprete, Galathyanes▪ v. whych all are wel allowed in marryage, he maketh no mencion of vyrgynyte. Thoughe Mary Christes mother be named a vyrgyne in ye gospell▪ yet is she muche more commended there for her faythe, than for virgynyte. Helisabeth full of the holy Ghost, proclamed her blessed amonge women, and not vyrgynes, blessed for her beleues sake▪ and not for vyrgynytees sake. Marriage shuldMariag: not seme all voyde of vyrgynyte, by that S. Paule sayth to the marryed Corinthyanes. Adiūxi enim vos vni viro, vt virginem castam exhiberetis Christo. I hauehave coupled yow to one man, to make ye a chaste vyrgyne to Christe. ii. Corinth. xi. The vyrgyns whych foloweth the lambe, whyther so euer he goeth. Apocalyps. xiiii. beynge hys vndefiled congregacion, were marryed people for the more parte. IohanTompson▪ Tompson an olde Doctoure of yours in hys abreuiacions of Ryde…aus commentaryes vponupon the Mythologyes of Fulgē tius, affyrmeth it oute of S. Augustyne, as a grounded doctryne, that Abrahams marryage was in dygnyte equall wyth the vyrgynyte of Sayncte Iohan Baptyste.
In marryage God preserued Sara from the vnlawfull handelynges of Abimelech. Genesis. xx. Where as he suffered Dina in a presumtuouse vyrgynyte to beDil…y. corrupted amonge the Sichemytes, Gen. xxxiiii. In the dyl…y or generall floude he saued the marryed how shold of Noe, ye fore… virgines peryshyng therin. Gen. vii. hys blessynge was vponupon the marryed for increase, Gen. i. viii. ix. xxxv. He also blessed in Abrahams sede, all peoples of the earth, Gene. xxii. Christe in thys fleshe at marryage was present, Ioan. ii. but neuer at orders gyuyng. Whan he delyuered the woman taken in aduoutry, he wrote vponupon the ground ye vnknowne faultes of the holy hypocrites, Iohan. viii. The Esseanes whych were chaste men wythout wyues,Esseanes. ye scriptures doth not allow, but rather cō dēpne them, Apo. xi. For thys special cause sprang the most worthy mē, Isaac, Iacob, Samson, Samuel, and Iohan Baptist of …arren women, that frutefulnesse in the fleshe shuld be knowne to be of God.
Ye saye, euerye man ones in hys lyfe tyme, hath lyberte to marry. I thynke ye meane eueryevery popyshe man, and not eueryevery christen mā. For the christē man (S PauleChristian. sayth) is alwayes, and not ones in his lyfe, at lyberte. ii. Cor. iii. From thys lyberte of marryage (ye saye) noman forbyddeth mē. We thanke ye for nothynge. Ye hauehave here forgottē your holy brethren the Tacianes, Eustachyanes, and Marcionistes, which vtterly detested marryage. I counte ye more peruerse in opinion, than your great Doctour Iulyane. For he sayth, cha. viii. De bono viduitatis. Nuptiarum bonum,Iulianus. semper est bonum. The cōmodite of marryage, is alwayes good. Et ca. xi. Hec disputo, ne arbitreris vel secundas nuptias crimen esse, vel quascunque nuptias, cum sint nuptie, malum esse. These thynges do I reason at large, least thu shuldest iudge the seconde marryages synne, eyther yet reckē any marryages at all to be euyll, beynge marryages in dede. What speake ye than, of your, ones in thys lyfe? I hearde neuer a more papist make vtteraunce. ButA papyst. if he forsaketh hys lyberte (say yow) meanynge your owne professed cattell. Than goeth he quite from Christ (saye I) and S. Poule confirmeth the same, Gala. v. And bynde hymselfe (say yow) by hys vowe to God, neuer to marry. If he be ones in the snare of the deuill (saye I) ye will hold him there styll.
God wil not agre to it (I saye) to be serued in bondage and not in freedome, takyngFredome. vsus for hys fre chyldren, and no bond seruauntes. HaueHave our fredome cost him so great a pryce, as is the dere bloude of hys blessed sonne, and now we wyll throw our selues agayne in bondage? What a lewde mocke is thys? What an ydiote fole is he, that wyl bynde hymselfe prentyse, hauing nothyng for it, at his fourth comming, and myght for hys fre seruyce, possesse hys fathers inheritaunce? I saye, he is well worthy to lose it. What rewarde lokeste thu to hauehave, for thy vnrequyred seruyce in forsakyng marriage, as thu here namest it,Seruyce. thu Priapus vower. Thu shalte hauehave the rewarde of Ouan the wycked sodomyte, whych spylled hys seede on the grounde, Gene. xxxviii. euē the maledyccion & great curse of God, with depryuacion of the life euerlastynge. Suche a wone, as thus byndeth hymselfe not to marry, maye lawfully (yow say) be forbydden to marry. That is true (say I) if mānis inuented tyrāny be a lawfulnesse, or if the greate customer ofTiranye. Sodome, or terryble termagaūt of Rome, be allowed for a lawe maker aboue God. Els not. For God by his Apostle, permytteth eueryevery man without excepcion to marry, that can not abstayne. i. Cor. vii.
Thys inhybition (yow say) is no forbiddyng of marryage, but a byddyng to kepe his vowe. Ther ar none of your mischefes wythoute a coloure to cloke them wyth. What is it els but a forbyddynge of marryage,A coloure whan ye saye, thu shalt not take a wyfe vndre payne of perpetuall enprisonment, or death? Nothyng is founde so perniciouse and contrary to your vowe, as is marriage. Ye mai kepe cōcubines, whores boyes, or bytches, and yet your vowe not broken, neyther yet any greuouse punyshment appoynted yow for it, of your owneFrindes generacion. Yea, and ye shall hauehave a much greatter nombre of the worlde to vpholde ye in your sodometry (I speake not of Iustices and lawers) than shall they whyche wolde gladly walke in the waye of ryghteousnesse. Ye thynke it (ye say) a deuylysh doctryne, to forbydde a marryed man to marry, hys wyfe beynge alyue. God is aTiranye. good God, whych suffereth yow, not only to erre for your vnbeleues sake, Roma i. but also to expresse and vtter your owne errour to rebuke and shame I saye, & wyll proue it, to the vtter confusion of your deuylyshe hypocrysy, that it is no deuylyshe doctryne, but a doctryne of God, to forbyd hym to marry whych is marryed and hath hys wyfe alyue. Wher, how, or whā, can ye appoynte hym to marry, whych i… marryed already, and hath his wyfe aliue?
Ye thinke to blynde vsus wt your bablynges,Pitchers. do ye not? No, no, go do your feate amonge olde dryed vp pytchers, for where as grace, wytte, and learnynge is, ye can do no great harme with these blacke thondre boltes. But your teaching is here none other, than ye hauehave for your tymes put in open practyse. The examples are to many in nōbre, to be here at this tyme rehearced. Ye folowe on styll wyth your matter, and call it also a doctryne of deuyls, to forbyd hym to marry, whych hath consecrate his body and sowle to God, and professed to lyue chaste wt out marryage. We consentAgrement with yow in this, & are glad we hauehave yow at yt aduauntage. For here ye condempne all your former argumentes, and confesse your whole proces to be a playne doctrine of deuyls. There lacketh nowe nothynge but an earnest repentaunce of your former euyls. I thynke it best to take good hold of yow, whils we hauehave ye in this good mode, for I feare me, it wyl not laste. Ye wyll … none turne agayne to your olde frenesye.Frenesy. O Forde, what a myracle is thys? that ye now confesse it a doctryne of deuils to forhyd them to marry, whych hath professed your presthode and monkery? I feare me your heade is to ydell, to persyst in thys true confessyon.
Obiectio.
☞ S. Augustyne sayth, libro. xxx. Contr… faustum Manicheum, ca. lx. Iterum si ad vir ginitatē sic hortaremini, quemadmodū hoy tatur apostolica doctrina, Qui dat nuptum,i. Cor. vii. bene farit, et qui non dat nuptum, melius facit, vt bonum esse nu…tias diceretis, sed melidrem virginitatem. sicut facit ecclesia, non vos spiritussanctus ita pronunciaret, dicens, prohibentes nubere, Ille enim prohibet, qui hoc malum esse dicit, non qui huic bono aliud melius anteponit, et cet. Marryage is lawful in eueryevery person…, but the mockynge of God,Mockyng breakynge of promyse, and intidelyte wyth God, goynge backe from a godly purpose after hys vowe, is dāpnable in eueryevery persone, as S. Paulc sayth, as I vnderstande hym.
Responsio.
I iudged afore, that this bnsy chaplaine wolde not longe perseuer in the truthe. He falleth now agayne, as a dogge, to his vomyte, and as the sowe that was washed, into hys olde fylthy puddell. ii. Pet. ii. ForA sowe. here he seketh to proue, that the tyrannouse enforcementes of Antichristes shauen captaynes, to the odyouse obseruaciyn of hys prophane vowes, is no forbyddynge of christen marryage. But he goeth here to preposterously …o wurke, to thryue by hys occupacion. For in these hys arsewarde procedynges, he woulde hauehave vsus iudged Manychees, that do affyrme christen marryage to be an ordre lawfull for all sortesAn ordre of people, which otherwise can not auoide fornicaciō. But he and his vngodly rable, shall supplye the rowme of those Manychers, so longe as they shall attempte by suche hypocrytycall colours, perpetually to seclude theyr sorcerouse shauelinges frō that godly estate, leauyng them weltering in the fowle lake of all fylthynesse. For the Manichees were not they, which affirmedmaniches. the christen estate of marryage to be lawfull, but cōtrary wise detested it as a thing horryble and hatefull, theyr selues leading lyues in all beastly abhompuacyons. And therfore thys typpet captayne, in bringing fourthe here S. Augustynes authoryte against Faustus the Manyche, is like to be pearced through wyth hys owne weapon, and proued a malygnaunt Manyche.
But marke fyrst of all, what plage doth folowe of thys chaplaynes inconstauncit? In bryngynge fourth the. xxx. boke of S. Augustyne, agaynst thys faustus the Manyche, for the maintenaunce of a mischefe,Augustinus. he allegeth the. lx. chapter, that whole boke not hauyng so many chapters by. liiii. And thus is hys allegacion in that. vi. and not. lx. chaptre, to be Englyshed. Agayne, if ye shulde so be exhorted to virginite, as the Apostolyque doctryne vseth to exhorte, As thus: He that ioyneth hys mayde in marryage, doth well, and he that ioyneth her not, doth better, that ye myght say, marryage were a good thynge, but virginite theBetter. better, like as yt church doth. et cet. Marke here the christen procedinges of S. Augustine. The Manichees iudged both meates & marriage to be things wicked & vnclene. And in detesting thē, vnderunder colour of abstinence & virginite, they maynteyued moste execrable mischefes, as ded of late yeares our vngraciouse papystes. He wylleth thē here by the Apostles doctryne, in suchePapistes. kinde to persuade virginite, that they therby semed not to condempne marryage, or at the least, to gyue matrymony a good reporte, which they had not done afore time. He denyeth it thē not, but that virginite or the lyfe single, is the better estate of liuing, that isto say, more cōmodiouse, easye, andEsyar. free without charges, cares, and sorowes. But not the more peyfight, for perfecciō is measured by fayth and not by maidēhede.
Thus defyneth the churche (sayth S. Augustine) que vere Christi est ecclesia, spe cially that churche whych is vnfaynedly Christes. These fyue latyne wordes, thysS. words chaplayne clerely bannyshed, declarynge therby (as I take it) yt he mēt nothyng lesse thā Christes true church. Now foloweth y• residue off. Augustines texte. If ye had so mēt it (saith he) ye holy Ghost had not thus detected yow, in calling yow ye forbidders of marriage. For he forbiddeth marriage, whych calleth it an euyllthing, and not he which to yt good thing preferreth ye better, etcet. If the Manychees had so preferredmaniches. maidenhed, that they had not condempned marryage, Gods sprete had not shewed or declared them as they were in very dede, euē deuilish teachers, seducers, deceiuers, mockers, hypocrytes, heretyques, & blasphemouse apostataes. Neyther had Gods open veryte condempned them, for preferrynge vyrgynyte as the better or more cō modyouse gyfte, or as S. Paule noteth it, more free to all godly funccions, hauyngeOffyces. alwayes the fewar impedymentes. i. Cor. vii. if they had not ther with vtterly forbidden marryage, namynge it a very naughty or detestable thynge, fallynge therby to many inconuenyencyes, as foloweth in the sayd. vi. chapter.
Denique vos eum precipue concubitū detestamini, qui solus honestus et coniugalis est, et quem matrimoniales quoqueCouenaū tes. tabule pre se gerunt, liberorum procreandorum causa, vnde viro non tam concumbere quam nubere prohibetis. Concumbitur enim etiam causa libidinum, nubetur autem non nisi filiorum. Nec ideo vos dicatis non prohibere, quia multos vestros auditores in hoc obedire nolentes vel non valentes, salua amicitia tolleratis. Illud enim habetis in doctrina vestri erroris, hoc in necessitate societatis. Furthermore, ye chesely detest that acte of generaciō, which only is honest and coniugall, & that whych the matrymonyall couenauntes also bearethHonest. or aloweth for increase. Wherupō ye forbid man, not only the acte of generaciō, but also the very lawfull offyce of marryage. Copulacion maye as well be for wanton lustes, as els, but marryage is only for propagacion. Therfor excuse not your selues, to be no condempners of marryage, bycause ye beare wyth a greate nombre ofBearers. your secte, which neyther wyll nor yet can be able in that pointe to obey yow, to hold them still in frendship. For the one (which is contempt of marryage) ye holde in your erroneouse doctryne, and the other (which is a tolleraunce among your selues) ye are compelled to suffer, least theyr more nombre wolde breake from yow.
In thys doth S. Augustyne declare the manyfest hypocrisyes of the Manychees, as we maye in these dayes the most deuylysh dyssymulacions of our papystes. SeDissemblynges. now what thys busy chaplaine hath wōne here. Now foloweth he wyth hys own cō clusion, as moche to the purpose, as to set Paules steple on the toppe of Charynge crosse. For though S, Augustyne speaketh here of virginite, yet maketh he no mencyon of vowes. Marryage (sayth thys chaplayne) is lawfull in eueryevery persone. Thys is true (saye I) for it is both Christes doctryne,Doctrine. Math. xix. and also S. Paules. i. Cor. vii. et. Heb. xiii. Why than doth hys wycked geueracion so tyrannously inhybyte any persone to set holde vpō it, as vponupon a refuge agaynst fylthy fornycacyon? For the mockynge of God (he sayth) in breakynge of promyse, is dampnable. All thys do I graunt hym, the promyse beyng made accordyng to yt rule of Gods wurd. But if it be fashyoned after the vayne deuysesDeuyls. of mannis ydell harte, eyther yet of Antichristes Romyshe decrees, whych is a wycked aduersary and mocker of God (I say) they are to be broken, set at nought, and vtterly abhorred, as present poysons, blasphemouse mockes, and daungerouse frutes of dampnacyon.
For the Lorde sayth, Deut. xii. Ye shall not do, yt semeth good in your owne syght. But se ye do those thynges only whych I commaunde yow, nothynge adding or dimynyshyng.Precepts. Neither is it a poynte of infidelyte agaynst God, in them whych hath braynyshly, vngodly, and dampnably vowed, nor yet a goynge backe from a godly purpose, the vowe beynge presumted, dyssembled, and fayned. For it is in the whole, toppe and tayle, length and bredth, begyunynge and endynge, but hypocrysye,Falsehede craste, and falsehede, hauehave it neuer so gloryouse a shyne of relygyon and holynesse.
Thys rashe vowe hath doubled the wyckednesse of Sodome, suche a preciouse thyng is it. For wher as afore it was a knowne wyckednesse, the worlde doth now, for thys vowes sake accepte it for an holy relygyon. O ydoll most perniciouse, and abhomynacion vnspeakeable. Thys chaplayne or proctour of hell concludeth, that the breakynge of thys vnaduised, yea, rather most vnhappy vowe is dampnablePopyshe. in eueryevery persone, wythout excepcion. Here were a gorgyouse lye, if he had hys full canonyzaciou. And se (I pray yow) how well fauerdly it is fathered vpō S. Paule. But it is as he vnderstandeth hym, wythout any texte. Were not S. Paule well set forwa…de (thynke yow) if he had many suche vnderstanders?
Concernynge vnaduysed vowes, they oughte of necessyte to be broken. For not onelyonly are they lyes in hypocrysye, but also false promyses, blasphemyes, mockes, dyssemblinges with God, takynges of hisMockes. holy name in vayne, and suche ydell wurdes as the generall iudge shall call men to a reckenynge for, at the latter daye. Therfor I counsell all men and women, which hath abused gods holy name in such ydell professyons, to breake them, forsake them, repente them, detest them, abhorre them, vtterly defye them, and to spytte atdetest thē. them, as at the most fylthy dyrte of the beuyll. Whan Dauid had made an earnest vowe to slee Nabal and all his mē seruaū tes, and was by the wysdome of Abigail, compelled to breake that promise, he neuer repented the breakyng therof, but lawded God and praysed the woman, callyng theDauid. breache of so vnaduysed a vowe, an hyghe preseruacion of God from doinge of most daungerouse euyl. i. Reg. xxv. The. xl. Iewes, whych bounde themselues by vowe, neyther to eate nor drynke tyll they had slayne Paule, neded none other penaunce for the breakynge therof, than the torment of theyr hūgry panches, Acto. xxiii. if they had not take fode till theyr vowe had beneThe iews. fulfylled. For God delyuered hym, & suffered them to dwell still in theyr vnaduised vowes, vnfulfylled.