Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans, Dialogue
The Synner
O oure father which art in hevē / what a greate space ys betwen the ād vsus? Howe therefore shall we thy children here on erth / baneshed and exiled from the in this vale of misery and wretchednes / come home to the into oure naturall countre?
God
The child honoureth hys hys father / and the servaūt hys master. Yf I be youre father wher ys myne honoure. Yf I be youre lorde where ys my feare. Malachias. j. For my name thorowe you and by youre meanes ys blasphemen rayld apon and evyll spoken of Esaias, lij.
The Sinner.
Alas O father that ys trueth / we knowledge oure synne and treaspace / neverthelesse yet be thou a mercifull father / and deale not wyth vsus acordīg to oure deservynges / nether iudge vsus by the rigorousnes off thi lawe / but geve vsus grace that we maye so lyve / that thy holy name maye be halowed and sanctified in vsus. And kepe oure hertes / that we nether do nerspeake / no / that we not once thynke or purpose any thinge / but that which is to thyne honoure and prayse / and above all thinges make thy name and honoure to be soughte of vsus and not oure awne name ād vayne glory. And off thi myghty power bringe to passe in vsus / that we maye love and feare the as a sonne hys father.
God
Sowe can myne honoure and name be halowed amonge you / when youre hertes and thoughtes are all wayes enclined to evyll / and ye in bondage and captivite vnderunder synne / moare ouer seinge that noman can synge my laude and prayse in a straunge countrepsal. cxxxvj.
The Sinner.
O father that ys trueth / we fele oure mēbres ye ād also the very hertes of vsus prone ād ready to sine ād that the world / the flesshe / ād the devyll rule in vsus / ād expell the due honoure of thyne holy name. Wherefore we beseche the moost mercy full father / for the love that thou hast vntounto thi sonne christe / helpe vsus oute of this miserable bō dage / and latt thi kingdome come / to dryve oute the synne / to loose the bondes off satan / to tame the flesshe / to make vsus ryghteous and parfecte / and to cleve vntounto the / that thou only mayst raigne in vsus / and that we maye be thi kingdome ād possession / and the obey with all oure power ād strengthe / both with in and with oute.
God
Whom I helpe them I destroye. And whom I make lyvinge / safe / riche ād good / them I kill cōdēne and cast thē awaye / make them bedgers ād bring them to noughte. But so to be cured off meye wil not sofre psalme .lxxvij. Howe then shall I heale you / ye and what can I do moare? Iesaias. v.
The Sinner.
That ys to vsus greate sorowe and greffe / that we can nether vnderstonde nor sofre thi wholsome hande / Wherefore helpe deare father / open oure eyes / ād worke pacience in vsus / that we maye vnderstonde thi wholsome honde / ād also paciently sofre thi Godly will to be fulfylled in vsus. Furthermore though thi moost wholsome cure be never so paynfull vntounto vsus / yet goo forewarde therewyth / punesh / bete / cutt / burn / destroye / brynge to noughte / damne / caste doune vn to hell / and do whatsoever thou wylte / that thi wyll only maye be fulfylled and not oures. Forbydde deare father and in no wyse sofre vsus to folowe oure awne good thoughtes and ymaginacions / nether to prosecute oure awne wyll / meanynge and purpose. For thi wyll and oures are clene contrary one to the other / thyne only good / though it other wyse appere vntounto oure blynde reasō / ād oures evyll / though oure blīdnes se it not.
God
I am well served and dalte wyth all / that mē love me wyth their lyppes and their hertes are farre from me / and when I take them in hande to make them better and to amende them / then runne they backeward / and in the myddꝭ of there curynge / whyle their health ys a workinge / they wythdrawe them selves from me / as thou readeste psalme .lxxvij. conversi sunt in die belli. they are tourned backe in the daye of batayle / that ys to saye / they whych began well and cōmitted them selves vn to me / that I shulde take thē ī hāde ād cure thē ar gōne backe frō me ī tyme of tēptacion ād kyllīg of the flesshe / ād ar retourned to sinne ād vn to dishonourīg of me agayne.
The synner
O father it is true / no man can be stronge in his awne strengthe / in the seconde chapter of the fyrst off the kinges. Ye and who is able to sofre and abyde before thyne hande / yff thou the silfe strengthe ād comforte vsus not. Wherefore moost mercifull father thake vsus vn to thi cure / fulfyll thi wyll in vsus / that we may be thi kyngdome ād enheritaunce / vn to thi lande ād praysyng. Also deare father strengthe and comforte vsus in soche busines with thi holy worde / geve vsus oure dayly breed / grave and printe thi deare sonne Iesus in oure hertes / that we strengthed thorowe hym maye cherefully and gladly sofre ād endure the destroyinge and killynge of oure will / ād the fulfyllinge off thi will. Ye and sheed oute thi grace apon all christente ād send learned prestes ād preachers / to reache vsus thi sonne Iesus purely / and to feade vsus with the worde off thi holy Gospell / and not with the dreeggꝭ and chaffe of fabelles and mens doctrine.
God
Hit is not good to caste pearles before swyne / nether to geve holy thinges and the childrens breed vntounto the dogges and boundes. Ye synne cō tinually with out ceasynge / ād though I lett my word be preached a monge you never so moche / yet ye folowe not / nether obeye / but despice it.
The synner
O father have mercy on vsus / and denye vsus not that breed of love / it greveth vsus sore / even at the very herte rotes of vsus / that we can not satisfye thi word and folowe it / we desyre the therefore to have pacience with vsus thi poure and wretched cheldren / and to forgeve vsus oure treaspace ād gylt / and iudge vsus not after thi lawe / for nomā is rightewes in thy presence. Loke on thi promyses / we forgeve oure treaspasers and that wyth all oure hertes / and vn to soche haste thou promysed forgevenes / not that we thorowe soch forgevenes are worthy of thy forgevenes / but that at thou arte true / and of thi grace and mercy haste promysed forgevens vntounto all them that forgeve their neghbours / in this thi promyse therfore is all oure hope and truste.
God
I forgeve you ofte and loose you ofte / and ye never abyde stedfaste. Children of lytle fayth are ye. Ye can not watche and endure with me a lityll while / but attonce faulle agayne in to temptacion / Matthew xxvj.
The synner
Weake ar we o father and feble / and the temptacion greate and many fold / in the flesshe and in the world. Kepe vsus father with thi myghty power / and lett vsus not faule in to temptacion and synne agayne / butt geve vsus grace thatt we maye abyde stondynge / and fighte manfully vntounto the ende / for with oute thi grace we can do nothynge.
God
I am ryghteous and ryghte ys my iudgemēt and therfore sinne maye not be vnpunesshed / ye and ye muste sofre evyll and affliccion / and as wytchinge that ye have temptacion theirby / that is youre sinnes faulte only / which compelleth me their vn to / to kyll it and to heale you / For sinne can with no nother medicine be drawen out of you / but thorowe adversite and soferynge off evyll.
The synner
For as moche then as adversite tribulacion affliccion and evyll which fyghte agaynste synne geve vsus temptacion / delyver vsus out of them / finishe thi cure and make vsus thorowe whole / that we loosed from synne and evyll maye be vn to the a kyngdome / to lande / to prayse and to sanctify the / amen. And seinge thou haste taughte vsus thus to praye / and hast promysed also to heare vsus / we hope and are sure that thou wylte graciously and mercifully graunte vsus oure peticions / for thi veritees sake / and to the honouring off thy trueth / Amen.
Finally some man wyll saye happly / what ād yff I can not beleve that my prayer ys heard. I answere. Then do as the father of the possessed dyd in the .ix. of marke / when Christ sayd vntounto hym / yff thou couldeste beleve / all thynges are possible vntounto hym that beleveth. The father answered I beleve lorde / helpe myne vnbelefe / that is to saye / heale myne vnbelefe and geve me perfecte belefe ād strengthe the weaknes off my fayth and encrease it.
End of the text · William Tyndale, Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans (1526)