The Obedience of a Christian Man, Title page – To the reader

The Obedience of a Christian Man · Title page – To the reader

The obediē ce of a Christen man and how Christē rulers ought to governe / where in also (yf thou marke diligently) thou shalt fynde eyes to perceave the crafty conveyaūce of all iugglers.

p. ij¶William Tyndale other wise called William Hychins vntounto the Reader.

GRace / peace and increase of knowleage in oure lorde Iesus Christ be with y^e Reader and with all that call on y^e name of the lorde vnfaynedly and with a pure cō science Amen.

Lat it not make the dispeare nether yet discorage y^e o Reader / that it is forbeden the in payne of lyfe and goodes or that it is made breakinge of the kynges peace or treason vntounto his hynes to reade the worde of thy soules health. But moch rather be bolde in the lorde & cōforte thy soule.The nature of Gods word is lo be persecuted. For as moch as thou art sure and hast an evidente token thorow soch persecucion that it is the true worde of God. Which worde is ever hated of y^e worlde / nether was ever without persecuciō (as thou seist in all the stories of y^e bible both of the new testamente and also of the olde) nether can be / no moare then the sonne can be without his lyghte.The pope is receaved and receaveth and persecuteth. And for as moch as contrary wise thou art sure that the Popes doctrine is not of God which (as thou seist) is so agreable vntounto y^e worlde / and is so receaved of the worlde or which rather so receaveth the worlde and the pleasures of the worlde / and seketh no thinge but the possessions of the worlde / and auctorite in the worlde / and to beare a rule in y^e worlde / and persecuteth y^e worde of God / and with all wilynes driveth the people from it / and with false and sophisticall reasons maketh thē aferde of it: yee curseth them and excomunicateth them / and bringeth them in belefe that they be damned / if they loke on it / and that it is but doctrine to deceave men / and moveth the blynde powers of y^e worlde to sley with fyre / water & swerde all that cleve vntounto it. For the worlde loveth y^t which is his / and hateth that which is chosen out of the worlde to sarve God in y^e sprite. As Christ sayeth to his disciples Iohānis. xv. Yf ye were of the worlde / the worlde wolde love his awne. But I have chosen you out of the worlde and therfore the worlde hateth you ¶A nother confort hast thou / that as the weake powers of the worlde defende the doctrine of the worlde so the myghty powere of God defendeth the doctrine of God.God defendeth his doctrine him selfe. Which thinge thou shalt evidētly perceave / yf thou call to mynde y^e wonderfull deades which God hath ever wrought for his worde in extreme necessite sens the worlde began beyounde all mans reason. Which are written as saith Paul (Romanorum. xv.) for oure lerninge p. iij(ād not for oure deceavinge) that we thorow pacience / and conforte of the scripture myght have hope.Gods worde fighteth agenst ypocrites The nature of Gods worde is to fyght agēst ypocrites. It began at Abell and hath euer sens cōtinued and shall / I doute not / vntyll the last daye. And the ypocrites have allwaye the worlde on their sydes / as thou seist in tyme of Christe.How oure master christ was entreated. They had the elders / that is to were the rulers of the Iewes / on their syde. They had Pilate and the emperours power on their syde. They had Herode also on their syde. Moare over they brought all their worldly wisdome to passe and all y^t they coulde thinke or imagen to serve for their purpose. Fyrst to feare the people with all / they excomunicated all that beleved in him / and put them out of the temple / as thou seist Iohn. ix.The crafte of the ypocrites. Secondly they founde the meanes to hauehave him condemned by the Emperours power and made it treason to Ceser to beleve in him. Thridly they obteyned to have him hāged as a thefe or a mortherer / which after their bely wisdome was a cause above all causes / that no man shulde beleve in him. For the Iewes take it for a sure token of everlastinge damnacion yf a man be hanged. For it is written in their lawe. Deuteromion. xxj. cursed is whosoever hangeth on tree. Moyses also in y^e same place commaundeth / yf any man be hanged / to take him downe the same daye and bury hym / for feare of pollutinge or defylinge the contrey / that is / lest they shulde bringe the wrath and curse of God apon them. And therfore the weked Iewes them selves / which with so venoumous hate persecuted the doctrine of Christ and did all the shame that they coulde doo vntounto him (though they wolde fayne have had Christe to hange still on the crosse and there to rotte / as he shulde have done by the Emperours lawe / yet for feare of defylinge their sabboth and of bringinge the wrath and curse of god apon them) bedgett of Pylate to take hym downe. Iohn. xix. Which was agenst them selves. Fynally when they had done all they coulde and that they thought sufficiente / and when Christ was in the herte of the erth and so many bylles and pollaxes aboute hym / to kepe hym downe / ād when it was past mās helpe: then holpe God. When mā coulde not brīge him agayne / Gods trueth worketh wonders and maketh the wisdome of the ypocrites folishnes.Gods trueth fette hym agayne. The othe y^t God had sworne to Abraham / to David and to other holy fathers and prophetes reysed hym vppe agayn / to blesse ād to save all that beleve in hym. Thus became the wisdome of the ypocrites folishnes. Loo this was writtē for thy lerninge and comforte.The captivite of the Israelytes vnderunder Pharao

How wonderfully ware the chylderne of Israel locked in Egipte? In what tribulacion p. iiij/ combraunce and aduersite were they in? The lōde also that was promised thē / was ferre of and full of greate cities walled with hie walles vppe to the skye and enhabited with greate geauntes. Yet Gods trueth brought thē out of Egipte & plāted thē in the lā de of the geauntes. This was also writtē for oure lerninge / For their is no powe… …gēst Gods ne…her any wisdom agēst gods wisdō / he is strōger & wiser thē all his enimyes What holpe it Pharao to droūde y^e mē child er ne? So litle / I feare not / shal̄ it at y^e last helpe y^e Pope & his bisshappes to burne ourePharao …eith the men childern. men childerne which manfully confesse that Iesus is y^e lorde and that there is no nother name geven vntounto men to be saved by / as Peter testifieth Actes in the .iiij. chapter. Who dryed vp the redd see? Who sl̄ew Golias? Who did all those wonderfull deades which thou readest in the byble? Who delyuered the Israelites evermore from thraldome and bondage / as sone as they repented and turned to God? Fayth veryly and Gods trueth and the trust in the promyses which he had made. Reade the .xj chapter to the Hebrues for thy consolacion.

When the childerne of Israell were ready to dispeare for the greatnes and y^e multitude of the Geauntes / Moyses conforted them ever sayenge.Now Moses conforteth the israelites Remembre what youre lorde God hath done for you in Egipte / his wōderfull plages / his miracles his wōders / his myghty hāde / his stretched out arme / and what he hath done for you hitherto. He shall distroye them / he shall take their hertes from them and make them feare and flee before you. He shall storme them and stere vppe a tempest amonge them and scater them and bringe thē to noughte. He hath sworne / he is true / he will fulfill the promyses that he hath made vntounto Abraham / Isaac and Iacob This is written for oure lerninge.Gods trueth fighteth for vsus For verely he is a true God / and is oure God as well as theirs / and his promyses are with vsus as well as with them / and he presente with vsus as well as he was with them. Iff we aske we shall opteyne / yf we knocke he will open / yf we seke we shall fynde / yf we thurst / his trueth shall fulfill oure luste. Christe is with vsus vntyll the worldes ende Matthew the last. Lat litleflocke bebolde therfore. For if God be on oure side: what mater maketh it who be agenst vsus / be they bisshoppes / cardenals / popes or what so ever names they will.

Marke this also / yf God sende the to the see & promise to goo with y^e and to bringe the saffe to londe / God tryeth the fayth of his childern.he will reyse vp a tē pest agenst the / to prove whether thou wilt abyde by his worde / & that thou maist feale thy faith and perceave his goodnes / For p. vif it were all wayes fayre wether and thou never brought in to soch ieoperdy whence his mercy only delyvered the / thy fayth shulde be but a presompciō and thou shuldest be ever vnthankefull to God and mercylesse vntounto thy neyboure.

Iff God promyse riches / y^e waye therto is pouerte.God worketh backwarde. Whom he loueth him he chasteneth / whom he exalteth / he casteth downe / whom he saveth he dāneth fyrst. He bringeth no man to heuen excepte he sende him to hell fyrst. Iff he promise lyfe he sleyeth fyrst / whē he byldeth / he casteth all downe fyrst. He is no patcher / he can not bylde on a nother mans foundacion. He will not worke vntyll all be past remedy and brought vntounto soch a case / that men may se how that his hande / his power / his mercy / his goodnes and trueth hath wrought all to gether. He will let no man be partetaker with him of his prayse and glorie. His workes are wonderfull and contrary vntounto mās workes. Who ever save he delyvered his awne sonne / his only sonne / his dere sonne vntounto the deeth and that for his enimies sake / to winne his eni…e / to overcome him with love / that he myght se love and louelove agayne and of love to doo lyke wise to other men / and to overcome thē with well doinge?Ioseph.

Ioseph sawe y^e sonne and the mone and xi. sterres worshepinge him. Neverthelesse yer that came to passe / God layed him where he coulde nether se sonne ner mone nether any starre of the skye / and that many yeres and also vndeserved / to nurtoure him / to humble / to meke and to teach him Gods wayes / and to make him apte and mete for the rowme and honoure agenst he came to it that he might perceave and feale that it came of God / and that he myghte be stronge in the sprite to mynister it Godly.

He promysed the childerne of Israell a londe with rivers of mylke and hony.Israelites. But brought them for the space of fourty yeres in to a londe where not only ryvers of mylke and hony were not / but where so moch as a droppe of water was not / to nurtoure them and to teach them as a father doeth his sonne / and to doo them good at the later ende / and that they myght be stronge in there sprite and soules to vse his giftes and benefites Godly and after his will.

DauidHe promysed David a kyngdome and immediatly stered vp kynge Saul agenst hym / to persecute him / to hunt hym as mē doo hares with grehoundes & to feret hī out of every hole & y^t for y^e space of many yeres to tame him / to meke hī / to kyll his lustes to make hym feale other mens diseases / to make hym mercyfull / to make hym vnderstonde that he was made kynge to myniste… p. viand to serve his bretherne and that he shuld not thinke that his subiectes were made to mynister vntounto his lustes / and that it were lawfull for hym to take awaye from them lyfe and goodes at his pleasure.

O that our kynges were so nurtered now adayes / which oure holy bysshopes teach of a ferre other maner sayenge / your grace shal take his pleasure:How bisshopes instructe kynges. ye take what pleasure ye lust / spare nothinge. We shal̄ dispēce with you: we have power / we ar gods vicars. And lat vsus alone with the realme. We shal take payne for you & se y^• nothinge be well. your grace shal̄ but defēde y^e fayth ōly

Lat vsus therfore loke dilligently where vntounto we are called / that we disceave not oure selves.where vn to a christē is called. We are called / not to dispute as the Popes disciples doo / but to dye with Christe that we maye lyve with hym / and to sofre with hym that we maye regne with hym Oure fightī ge is to sofre while god fi… hteth for vsus▪. We be called vntounto a kī gdome that must be wonne with sofringe only / as a seke mā winneth health. God is he that doeth all thinge for vsus & fyhgteth for vsus & we doo but sofre ōly. Christ sayth Ioh. xx. As my father sent me / so sende I you. & Ioh. xv. Yf they persecute me then shall they persecute you. And Mat. x. saith Christe. I sende you forth as shepe amonge wolves. The shepe fyght not: but the sheparde fyghteth for thē and careth for them. Be harmeles as doves therfore / saith Christ / and wise as serpentes. The doves imagen no defence ner seke to avenge them selves.The wisdome of the serpente The serpentes wisdome is to kepe hys heed and those partes wherin his lyfe resteth. Christ is oure heed & Gods worde is that wherī oure life resteth To cleve therfore fast vntounto Christ and vntounto those promyses which God hath made vsus for his sake is oure wisdome. Beware of men (saith he) for they shall delyver you vp vntounto their councels and shall scourge you. And ye shall be brought before rulars and kynges for my sake. The brother shall betraye or delyver the brother to deeth and the father the sonne. And y^e childerne shall rise agenst father and mother / and put them to deeth. Here what Christ saith moare. The disciple is not greater thē his master nether the servaunte greater or better thē his lorde. Yf they have called the goodman of the house Beelzebub / how moch rather shall they call his housholde sarvauntes so? And Luke. xiiij. saith Christ. Which of you desposed to bylde a toure / sitteth not downe fyrst and counteth the cost whether he have sufficiēte to performe it? lest when he hath layed the fundacion and then not able to performe it / all that beholde beginne to mocke him sayēge / He maketh a mocke of him selfe that casteth not the ende ye… he begynne.this mā began to bylde and was not able to make p. vijan ende. So lyke wise none of you that forsaketh not all that he hath can be my disciple. Whosoever therfore casteth not this afore hande. I must ieoperde lyfe / goodes honoure / worshepe and all that ther is for Christes sake / disceaveth him selfe and maketh a mocke of him selfe vntounto the godlesse ypocrites and infidels. No man can serve two masters God and māmon / that is to saye / weked riches also Mathe. vj. Thou must love christ above all thinge. But that doest thou not yf thou be not ready to forsake all for his sake / yf thou have forsake all for his sake / thē art thou suer that thou lovest him.How is the pope sure which taketh all for Christes sake but forsaketh noughte: Tribulacion is oure righte baptim and is signified by plunginge in to the water / we that are baptised in the name of Christe (saith Paul Ro. vj.) are baptised to dye with hymTribulatio… is oure baptī.

The spirite thorow tribulacion purgeth vsus and killeth oure fleshly witte / oure wordly vnderstondinge and bely wisdome / and filleth vsus full of the wisdome of God. Tribulacion is a blessinge that cometh of God / as witneseth Christe Mathei. v. Blessed are they that sofre persecuciō for rightewesnessis sake / for thers is the kyngdome of heven.Tribulation is a blessynge Ys this not a confortable worde? Who ought not rather to chose and desyre to be blessed with Christe in a litle tribulacion / than to be cursed perpetually with the worlde for a litle pleasure?

Prosperite is a curse:Prosperite is a right curse and a thinge that God geveth vntounto his enymies. Wo be to you rich saith Christe Luke. vj. Lo ye have youre consolacion / woo be to you that are full / for ye shal hongre / woo be to you that laugh / for ye shall wepe / woo be to you when men prayse you. For so did their fathers vntounto the false prophetes: yee and so have oure fathers done vntounto the false ypocrites. The ypocrites with worldly preachinge have not goten the prayse only / but even the possessions also and the dominion and rule of the whole worlde.

Tribulacion for rigthteousnes is not a blessinge only.Tribulation is the gyfte of God. But also a gyfte that God geveth vntounto none save his speciall frendes. The apostles / Actes. v. reioysed that they were counted worthy to sofre rebuke for Christes sake. And Paul in the seconde pistle and thred chapter to Timotheum saith. All that will lyve Godly in Christe Iesu must sofre persecucion. And in the first chapter of his pistle to the Philippiens he saith. VntoUnto you it is geven not only to beleve in Christe: But also to sofre for his sake. Here se…st thou that it is Gods gyfte to sofre for Christes sake. And Peter in the fourth Chapter off his first Pistle saith. Happy are ye / yf ye sofre for the name of Christ / for the glorious sprite of God resteth in you. Is it not an happy thinge to p. viijbe sure that thou arte sealed with Gods spirite vntounto everlastinge lyfe? And veryly thou art sure therof / yf thou sofre paciently for his sake whereby then ar the pope ād bisshappes sure?. By sofrīge art thou sure. But by persecutinge canst thou never be sure.

¶For Paul in the fyft chapter to the Romayns saith. Tribulacion maketh fealīge / that is / it maketh vsus feale the goodnes of God and his helpe and the workynge of his sprite. And in the twelfe chapter of the seconde pistle to the Corrinthyans the Lorde sayde to Paul / my grace is sufficiēte for the. For my strength is made perfecte thorow wekenes. Lo Christ is never stronge in vsus / tyll we be weke. As oure strength abateth / so groweth the strēgth of Christ in vsus / when we are clene empted of oure awne strength / thē are we full of Christes strēgth. And loke how moch of oure awne strength remayneth in vsus / so moch lacketh there of the strength of Christe. Therfore saith Paul in the said place of his seconde Pistle to the Corrintheās. Very gladly will I reioyse in my weaknes / that the strength of Christ maye dwell in me. Ther fore hauehave I delectaciō saith Paul in infirmytes / in rebukes in neade / in persecucions and in anguysh for Christes sake. ffor when I am weake / then am I stronge / meanynge that the weakenesse of the flesh is the strength of the sprite.Flesh: And by flesh vnderstande witt / wisdome and all that is in a man before the sprite of God come / and what so ever springeth not of the sprite of God and of Gods worde. And of lyke testimonyes is all the scripture full.

Beholde God setteth before vsus a blessinge and also a curse. A blessinge verely and that a glorious & an everlastinge / yf we will sofre tribulacion and adversite with oure lorde and savioure Christ. And an everlastinge curse / yf for a litle pleasures sake we withdrawe oure selves from the chastisinge and nurtoure of God / wherwith he teacheth all his sonnes and fascioneth them after his godly will and maketh them perfecte (as he did Christe) and maketh them apte and mete vessels to receave his grace and his sprite / that they myght perceave and feale the exceadinge mercy which we have in Christe and the innumerable blessinges / and the vnspeakeable enheritaunce where vntounto we are called and chosen and sealed in oure savioure Iesus Christe / vntounto whom be prayse for ever Amen.

Finally whom God choseth to regne everlastingly with Christe hym sealeth he with his myghtie sprite and powreth strength in to his herte to sofre affliccions also with Christ for beringe wittenes vntounto the trouth.The difference betwene the childern of God and of the deuell. And this is the difference betwene the childerne of God and of saluacion and betwene p. ixthe childerne of the devyll and of damnaciō / that the childerne of God have power in their hertes to sofre for gods worde which is their lyfe and saluacion / their hope and trust and wherby they lyve in the soule and sprite before God. And y^e childerne of the devyll in tyme of adversite fle from Christe whom they folowed faynedly / their hertes not sealed with hys holy and myghty sprite / and gett them to the stondert of their right father the devell / and take The devels w…ges.his wages / the pleasures of this worlde. Which are the ernest of everlastinge damnacion. Which conclusion the .xij. chapter to the Hebrues well confirmeth sayenge. My sonne despice not y^e chastisinge of the lorde / nether faynte whē thou art rebuked of hym. For whom the lorde loveth him he chasteseth: yee and he scourgeth All Gods childern are vnderunder chastisynge.every sonne whom he receaveh Loo persecucion and adversite for the trueth sake is Gods scourge and Gods rodde and pertayneth vntounto all his childerne indifferently. For when he saith / he scourgeth every sonne / he maketh none excepcion. Moare over saith the texte / yf ye shall endure chastysynge / God offereth him selfe vntounto you / as vntounto sonnes. What sonne is it that the father chastiseth not? Yf ye be not vnderunder correccion (where of all are partetakers) then are ye bastardes and not sonnes.

For as moch then as we must nedes be baptised in tribulacions and thorow y^e redde see and a greate and a fearfull wildernes and a lande of cruell Geauntes in to oure naturall contre: yee ād in as moch as it is a playne ernest / that ther is no Which waye goo the bisshapes to heven then?nother waye in to the kyngedome of lyfe / then thorow persecucion & soferinge of payne and of very deeth / after the ensample of Christe. Therfore lat vsus arme oure soules with y^e comforte of the scriptures. How that God is ever ready at honde in tyme of nede to helpe vsus. And how that soch tyrauntes and persecuters are but Gods scourge and his rodde to chastise vsus. And as y^e father hath allwaye in tyme of correcciō the rodde faste in his hande / so that the rodde doeth nothinge but as the father moveth it: even so hath God allThe tirātes have not power to do what they wolde: Tyrauntes in hys hāde ād letteth them not doo what so ever thei wolde / but as moch only as he appointeth them to doo and as ferforth as it is necessary for vsus. And as when the chylde submitteth him selfe vntounto his fathers correccion and nurtoure and humbleth him selfe all to gether vntounto the will of his father / thē the rodde is taken awaye: even so when we are come vntounto the knowleage of the ryghte waye and have forsaken oure awne will and offer oure selves clene vntounto the will of God / to walke which waye so ever he will have vsus: p. xthē turneth he y^• tyraūtes. Or else yf they enforce to persecute vsus any forther / he putteth thē out of y^e waye accordīge vntounto y^e confortable ensamples of the scripture.

Moare over let vsus arme oure soules with the promyses both of helpe & assistēce & also of the glorious rewarde that foloweth.The promises of God are cōfortable ye they are all comforte. Greate is youre rewarde in heven saith Christ Math. v. And he y^t knowleageth me before men hym will I knowlege before my father y^t is in hevē Mathe. x. And call on me in tyme of tribulacion & I will delyver the psalme .lxv. And beholde y^e eyes of the lorde are over thē that feare hym and over thē that trust in his mercy. To delyver their soules from deeth and to fede them in tyme of hongre psalme .xlvj. And in the .xlvij. psal. saith David: the lorde is nye them that are trobled in their hertes / and the meke in sprite will he save. The tribulacions of the righteous are many / and out of them all will the lōrde delyver them. The lorde kepeth all the bones of them / so that not one of them shalbe brosed. The lorde shall redeme y^e soules of his servauntes. And of soch lyke consolacion are all y^e psalmes full: wolde to God when ye reade them ye vnderstode thē / and Math. x. Whē y^e delyver you take no thought what ye shall saye. It shalbe geven you the same houre what ye shall saye. For it is not ye that speake: But the sprite of youre father which speaketh in you The very heares of youre heedes are numbred saith Christe also Mathe…. in the tēthe Yf God care for oure heares / he moch moare careth for oure soules which he hath sealed with his holy sprite. Ther fore saith Peter. j. Petr. iiij. Cast all youre care apon hym: for he careth for you▪ And Paul .j. Corint. x. saith: God is true he will not sofre you to be tempted above youre myghte. And psalme .lxxj. Cast thy care apō y^e lorde.

Let thy care be to prepare thy selfe with all thy strength for to walke which waie he will have the and to beleve that he will goo with the ād assiste the and strength the agenst all tyrauntes and delyver the out of all tribulatiō.A christē mās care But what waye or by what meanes he will do it / that committe vntounto hym and to hys Godly pleasure and wisdome and cast that care apon hym. And though it seme never so vnlikely or never so impossible vntounto naturall reason / yet beleve stedfastly that he will doo it. And then shall he accordinge vntounto his olde vse chaunge the course of the worlde / even in the twinkelinge of an eye / and come sodenly apon oure Geauntes as a thefe in the nighte / and compasse them in their wiles and worldly wisdome / when they crye peace & all is saffe / then shall their sorowes begynne / as the panges of a woman that traveleth with childe. And then p. xjshall he dystroye them / and delyver the / vntounto the glorious prayse of his mercy and trueth. Amen.

ANd as perteynynge vntounto them y^t despise Gods woorde / countinge it as a phantasy or a dreame / and to them also that for feare of a litle persecucion fall frō it / set this before thine eyes.The dispisers persecuters and they that fall from the worde are threateaed. How God sens the beginnynge of the worlde / before a generall plage / ever sente his true prophetes and preachers of his worde / to warne the people / and gave them space to repente. But they for the grettest part of them hardened their hertes and persecuted the worde that was sente to save thē. And then God destroyed them vtterly and toke them cleane from the erthe. As thou seist what folowed the preachīge of NoeNoe in y^e olde worlde / what folowed y^e preachīge of LothLoth amō ge the sodomites & y^e preachīge of Moses & Moyses and Aaron:Aarō amōge the Egipciās / & that sodenly agenst all possibilyte of mans witte. Moare over as ofte as y^e childerne of Israell fell from God to y^e worshepinge of images / he sente his The prophetesProphetes vntounto thē. And they persecuted & waxed harde herted. And thē he sente thē in to all places of y^e worlde captive. Christe.Last of all he sente his awne sonne vntounto thē. And they waxed moare harde herted thē ever before. And se what a fearfull exāple of his wrath & cruell vengeaunce he hath made of them vntounto all the worlde now allmost fyftene hundred yeres.

VntoUnto the olde britons / also which dwelled where oure nacion now doeth / Preached Gyldas and rebuked them of their wekednes and prophesied both vntounto y^e spirituall (as they wil be called) and vntounto the laye men also / what vēgaunce wolde folow excepte they repēted.Gildas They be spirituall: that is develish: for the devill is a sprite. But they waxed herde harted. And God sente his plages & pestilences amonge them / and sente their enimies in apon them on every syde and destroyed them vtterly.

Marke also how Christe threatneth thē that forsake hym for what so ever cause it be: Whether for feare / eyther for shame / eyther for losse of honoure / frendes / lyfe or goodes? He that denieth me before men / him will I denie bifore my father that is in heven. He that loveth father or mother moare thē me / is not worthy of me. All this saith he Math the tenth. And in the .viij. of marke he sayeth. Whosoever is ashamed of me or my wordes amonge this advoutours and synnefull generacion: of him shall the sonne of man be ashamed / when he cometh in the glorie of hys father with his holy angels. And Luke. ix. also: None that layeth his hande to the plowe and loketh backe / is mete for the kyndome of heven.

p. xijNever the lesse yet yf any man have resisted ignorantly / as Paul dyd / let him loke on the trueth which Paul wrote after he came to knowlege.God receavith thē that come agayne Also yf any man cleane agenst his herte / but overcome with the wekenes of the flesh for feare of persecucion / have denied / as Peter did / or have delyvered his boke or put it awaye secretlye. Let him (yf he repente) come agayne & take better holde and not dispeare or take it for a signe that God hath forsaken hym.Why god letteth his electe fall: For God oftimes taketh his strength evē from his very electe / whē they other trust in their awne strength or are negligente to call to hym for his strength. And that doeth he to teach them and to make them feale that in y^e fyre of tribulacion for hys wordes sake nothynge cā endure & abyde / save his wor… & y^e strength only which he hath promysed For which strēgth he will have vsus to praye vntounto hym nyght and daye withall instaūce

THat thou maist perceave how y^t y^e scripture ought to be in y^e mother tōge and y^t y^e reasōs which oure sprites make for y^e cō trary are but sophistry & false wiles to feare y^e frō y^e lighte y^t, thou mighteste folowe them blyndefolde & be their captive / to honoure their cerimonies & to offer to their bely.That the scripture oughte to be in the english tonge

Fyrst god gave y^e child er ne of israel a lawe by y^e hōde of moyses in their mother tōge. & al y^e prophetes wrote ī their mother tōge. & all the psalmes were in y^e mother tonge. And there was Christe but fygured and described in cerimonies / in redles / in parables and in darke prophesies. What is the cause that we maye not have the olde testamente with the newe also which is y^e lighte of the olde and wherin is openly declared before the eyes that there was darkely prophesied? I can imagen no cause veryly excepte it be that we shulde not se the worke of Antychrist and iugulynge of ypocrites. what shulde be the cause that we which walke in the brode daye / shulde not se / as well as they that walked in the night / or that we shulde not se as well at none / as they dyd in the twylighte? Came Christe to make the worlde moare blynde? By this meanes Christe is the darkenes of the worlde and not the light / as he saith hym selfe Iohn. viij.

Moare over Moyses saith Deutro. vj. Heare Israel let these wordes which I commaunde the this daye steke fast in thine herte / ād whette them on thy childerne & talke of thē as thou sittest in thine house / and as thou walkest by the waye / & when thou liest doune / & whē thou risest vppe / & bynde thē for a token to thine hāde / & let thē be a remēbraūce betwene thine eyes / & write thē on y^e postes & gates of thine house. This was cōmaūded generally vntounto all p. xiijmē. how cometh it that Gods worde perteneth lesse vntounto vsus thā vntounto thē? Yee how cometh it that oure Moyseses forbydde vsus and cōmaūde vsus the contrary / & threate vsus yf we doo / & will not that we once speake of Gods worde? How can we whette gods worde (that is put it in practyse / vse and exercise) apon oure childerne & housholde / whē we are violently kepte from it & know it not? How can we (as Peter commādeth) geve a reason of oure hope when we wote not what it is that God hath promysed or what to hope? Moyses also cō mādeth in y^e said chapter: yf the sonne aske what the testimonies lawes and observaūces of the lorde meane that y^e father teach him. Yf oure childerne aske what oure cerimonies (which are mo thē the Ieweses ware) meane No ner syr Iohn his goostly childerneNo father cā tell his sonne. And in the .xj. chapter he repeteth all agayne for feare of for gettynge.

They will saye happly / y^e scripture requireth a pure mynde & a quiete mynde. And therfore y^e laye mā because he is altogether cōbred with wordly busynes / cā not vnd er stōde thē. Yf y^t be the cause / thē it is a playne case / that oure prelates vnderstōde not the scriptures them selves. For no laye mā is so tangled with wordly busynes as they are. The greate thīges of y^e worlde are ministred by them. Nether do y^e laye People any greate thinge / but at their assignemente

Yf the scripture were in the mother tōge they will saye / then wolde the laye people vnderstōde it every mā after his awne wayes. Wher fore serveth the curate / but to teach thē the righte waye? Wher fore were the Holidayesholydayes made / but that the people shulde come and lerne? Are ye not abhomynable Oure scolemasters take greate wages but teach not.scolemasters / in that ye take so greate wages / yf ye wyll not teach? If ye wolde teach how coulde ye do it so well and with so great profitt / as when the laye people have the scripture before them in their mother tō ge? For thē shulde they se by the order of the texte / whether thou iugledest or not. And then wolde they beleve it / because it is the scripture of God / though thy lyvinge be never so abhominable. Why the preachers ar not beleved whē they saye trouth.Where now because youre lyvinge and youre preachinge are so contrary / and because they grope out in every sermone youre open and manyfest lyes / & smell youre vnsaciable covetousnes they beleve you not / whē you preach trouth. But alas / the curates them selves (for the most parte) wote no moare what the newe or olde testamente meaneth / then do the turkes.The curates wotte not what a bibyll meaneth Nether know they of any moare then that they reade at masse / matēs and evensonge which yet they vnderstonde not. Nether care they but even to mumble vp so moch every daye (as the pye & popyngay speake the wote not p. xiiijwhat) to fyll their belyes with all. Yf they will not lat the laye mā have the worde of God in his mother tonge / yet let the prestes have it / which for a greate parte of thē doo vnderstōde no latine at all:The prestes vnderstonde no laten. but synge & saye and patter all daye / with the lyppes only / that which the herte vnderstondeth not.

Christ commaundeth to sherch the scriptures Iohn. v.Sherch the scriptures Though that miracles bare recorde vntounto his doctrine / yet desyred he no fayth to be geven ether vntounto his doctrine or vntounto his miracles / without recorde of the scripture. When Paul preached / Actes. xvij. the other sherched y^e scriptures dayly / whether they were as he alleged thē. Why shal not I lyke wise se / whether it be the scripture y^e thou allegest: yee why shall I not se the scripture and the circumstāces and what goeth before and after / that I maye know whether thyne interpretaciō be the right sence / or whether thou iuglest and drawest the scripture violently vntounto thy carnall and fleshly purpose? or whether thou be aboute to teach me or to disceave me.

Christ saith that there shall come false prophetes in his name and saye that they them selves are Christe / that ys / they shall so preach Christe that men must beleve in them in their holines and thinges of their imaginacion without Gods worde: yee and that agenst Christ or Antichriste that shall come is no thinge but soch false prophetes that shall iuggle / with the scripture and begile the people with false interpretacions as all the false prophetes / scribes ād pharises did in y^e olde testamēte. How shal I knowe whether ye are that agenste christe or false prophetes or no / seinge ye will not let me se how ye allege the scriptures? Christ saith:Agēst Christ is knowen by his deades By their deades ye shall know them. Now when we loke on youre deades / we se that ye are all sworne to gether and have separated youre selves from the laye people / & have a severall kīgdome amōge youre selves and severall lawes of youre awne makynge / where with ye violently bynde the laye people that never cōsented vntounto the makynge of thē.A severell kī gdom Seuerell lawes. what chrisi lowseth frely the pope byndeth to lowse it agayne for money A secret counsell A thowsande thynges forbydde ye which christ made free / and dispēse with them agayne for money. Nether is there any excepciō at all / but lacke of money. Ye have a secret councell by youre selves. All other mēs councels and secretes knowe ye and no mā yours. ye seke but honoure / ryches / promociō / auctorite and to regne over all / and will obeye no mā. Yf the father geve you ought of curtesie / ye will compell the sonne to geve it violētly whether he will or not by craft of youre awne lawes. These deades are agenst Christ. ¶When an hole parysh of vsus hyre a scolemaster to teach oure childerne / what reason is it that we shulde be compelled p. xvto paye this scolemaster his wages / ād he shulde have lycens to goo where he wyll and to dwell in a nother contre and to leve oure childerne on taught? Doeth not y^e Pope so? Have we not geven vp oure tythes of curtesy vntounto one for to teach vsus Gods worde? And cometh not the Pope and compelleth vsus to paye it violently to them that never teach? Maketh he not one Person…person which cometh never at vsus? yee one shall have .v. or .vj. or as many as he can get and wotteth oftentymes where never one of them stondeth. A nother is made Uicarvicare / to whome he geveth a dispensacion to goo where he will and to set in a Parish prestparish preste which can but mynister a sorte of dome cerimonies. And he because he hath most laboure and leest profit polleth on his parte and fetteth here a masse peny there a trentall / yonder dirige money and for his beyderoule with a confession peny and soch lyke. And thus are we never taughte and are yet neverthelesse compelled: ye compolde to hyre many costly scolemasters. Thes deades are veryly agenst Christ. Shall we therfore iudge you by youre deades / as Christe cōmaūdeth? So are ye false prophetes ād y^e disciples of Antichriste or of agēst Christe.

The sermons which thou readist in the Actes of y^e apos…les & all y^t the apostles preached were no doute preached in the mother tōge. Why thē mighte they not be writtē in the mother tonge? As yf one of vsus preach a good sermon why maye it not be written? Saynt hierom also trāslated the bible in to his mother tonge. Why maye not we also? They will saye it can not be translated in to oure tonge it is so rude. It is not so rude as they are false lyers. For the greke tonge agreeth moare with the english then with the latyne. And the The propirties of the hebrue tōge agre withe the english.propirties of the hebrue tonge agreth a thousande tymes moare with the english then with the latyne. The maner of speakynge is both one so y^t in a thousande places thou neadest not but to trās / late it in to y^e english worde for worde whē thou must seke a compasse in the latyne / and yet shalt have moch worke to trāslate it wel-faveredly / so that it have the same grace ād swetnesse / sence and pure vnderstandinge with it in the latyne / as it hath in the hebrue. A thousande partes better maye it be translated in to the english then in to the latyne. Yee and excepte my memory fayle me and that I have forgotten what I redde when I was a childe thou shalt fynd in the englesh cronycle how that kynge Kinge Adelston.Adelstone caused the holy scripture to be trā slated into the tōge that then was in Englō de and how the prelates exhorted him there vntounto.

Cōtrary preachingeMoareover seinge y^e one of you ever preacheth p. xvjcōtrary to a nother. And whē two of you mete / the one disputeth and bravleth with the other / as it were two scoldes. And for as moch as one holdeth this doctoure and a nother that.Contrari do… ctours One foloweth duns a nother saynte Thomas / a nother Bonaventure / alexander de hales / raymōde / lyre / brygo… / dorbell / holcott / gorrā / trūbett / hugo de sancto victore / de monte regio / de nova villa / de media villa & soch lyke out of nū bre. So y^t if thou haddest· but of every auctor one boke thou coudest not pyle thē vp in any ware house in londō / and every auctor is one cōtrary vntounto a nother. In so greate diversite of sprites how shall I know who lyeth and who saith trouth? Whereby shall I trye thē & iudge thē? Verely by gods worde which ōly is true. But how shal I y^t doo whē thou wilt not let me se the scripture?

Naye saye they / the scripture is so harde that thou coudest never vnderstande it but by y^e doctours. That is I must measure the mete yarde by the cloth. Here be twēty clothes of divers lengthes and of divers bredthes. How shall I be sure of the length of the mete yarde by them? I suppose rather I must be fyrst sure of the length of the mete yarde / and there by measure & iudge the clothes. Iff I must fyrst beleve the doctoure / then is the doctoure fyrst true & the trueth of the scripture dependeth of his trueth and so the trueth of God springeth of y^e trueth of man. Thus Antichriste turnith the rotes of the trees vppwarde.Antichrist turneth the rotes of the tre vpward. What is y^e cause that we damme some of Origenes workes and alowe some? How knowe we that some is heresy and some not? By the scripture I trowe. How knowe we y^t saint Augustine (which is the best or one of the best that ever wrot apon the scripture) wrot many thīges amysse at y^e begynnynge / as many other doctours doo? Verely by the The scripture is the triall of all doctrine ād the righte twich stonscriptures / as he him selfe well perceaved afterwarde whē he loked moare diligently apō them / and revoked many thynges agayne. He wrote of many thynges which he vnderstode not when he was newly converted / yer he had thorowly sene the scriptures / and folowed the opinions of Plato and the commune persuasions of mans wisdome y^t were then famouse.

Philosophy.They will saye yet moare shamefully / that no man can vnderstonde the scriptures without philautia / that is to saye philosophy. A man must fyrst be well sene in Aristoteles yer he can vnderstonde the scripture saye they. AristotellAristoteles doctrine is / that the worlde was without begynnynge and shalbe without ende / and that the fyrst man never was and the last shall never be. And that God doeth all of necessite nether careth what we doo nether will aske any accomptes of p. xvijthat we doo. Without this doctrine how coulde we vnderstonde the Scripturescripture that sayeth / God created the worlde of nought / and God worketh all thinge of his fre will and for a secret purpose / and that we shall all ryse agayne / and that God will have acomptes of all that we have done in this lyfe. AristotellAristotle saith. Geve a man a lawe and he hath power of hym selfe to doo or fulfyll y^e lawe and becometh righteous with workynge righteously.Paul But Paul and all the scripture saith / that the lawe doeth but vtter synne only and helpeth not. Nether hath any man power to doo the lawe / tyll the sprite of God be geven hym thorow fayth in Christ. Is it not a madnes then to saye y^t we coulde not vnderstōde the scripture without Aristotle.Aristotell Aristotles righteousnes & all his vertues springe of a mās fre will. And a turke and every infidele and ydolater maye be righteous and vertuous with that righteousnes and those vertues. Moare over Aristoteles felicite and blessednes stondeth in avoydinge of all tribulacions / and in riches / health / honoure / worshepe / frendes & autorite / which felicite pleaseth oure spiritualty well. Now without these and a thousande soch lyke poyntes / couldest thou not vnderstāde Script…escripture which sayeth y^t righteousnes cometh by christe & not of mās wil and how that vertues are the frutes and the gifte of gods sprite and that Christe blesseth vsus in tribulacions / persecucion & adversite? How / I saye / coudest thou vnderstōde the scripture without Philosophi.Philosophy / in as moch as PaulPaul / in the seconde to the Collossiēs warned them to beware lest any man shulde spoyle them (that is to saye / robbe them of their fayth in Christe) thorowe Philosophy and disceytfull vanytes / and thorow the tradicions of men & ordinaunces after the worlde and not after Christe.

By this meanes then / thou wilt that no man teach a nother / but that every man take the scripture & lerne by hym selfe. Naye verely / so saye I not. When nomā will teach. yf we desyre god will teach.Never y^e lesse / seinge that ye will not teach / yf any man thyrste for the trueth / & reade the scripture by hym selfe desyringe God to open y^e dore of knowlege vntounto hī / God for his truethes sake will & must teach hym. How be it my meanīge is y^t as a master teacheth his prētyse to knowe all y^e poyntes of the mete yarde / first how many enches / how many fote & the hal…e yarde / y^e quarter & the naile / & thē teacheth hī to mete other thinges therby: The order of teachingeevē so will I that ye teach the people Gods lawe / & what obedience God requyreth of vsus vntounto father and mother / master / lorde / kīge & all superiours / and with what frendly love he cōmaundeth one to love a nother. And teach thē to know that naturall vename & byrth poyson which p. xviijmoveth the very hertes of vsus to rebelle agenste the ordinaunces and will of God / and prove that no man is righteous in the sight of God / but that we are all damned by the lawe. And then (when thou hast meked them and feared them with the lawe) teach them the testamente and promises which God hath made vntounto vsus in Christe / & how mercyfull and kynde he is / and how moch he loveth vsus in Christe. And teach them the principles and the grounde of the fayth and what the sacramentes signifye and then shall the sprite worke with thy preachinge and make them feale. So wolde it come to passe / that as we know by naturall witte what foloweth of a true principle of naturall reason: even so by the principles of the fayth and by the playne scriptures and by the texte / shulde we iudge all mens exposicion and all mens doctrine / and shulde receave the best and refuse the worst. I wolde have you to teach them also the propirties and maner of speakinges of the scripture / and how to expounde proverbes and similitudes. And then if they goo abroade and walke by the feldes and medowes of all maner doctours and philosophers they coulde catch no harme. They shulde dyscerne the poyson from the hony ād bringe whome no thinge but that which is holsome.

The disorder or overwar…e order of oure scole menBut now do ye clene contrary. Ye dryve them from Gods worde and will let no man come there to / vntyll he have byn two yeres master of arte. First they nosell them in sophistry and in benefundatū The scole doctrine: as they ca… it: corrupteth the iudgemētes o… …. And there corrupte thei their iudgemētes with apparente argumētes and with alleginge vntounto them textes of logycke / of naturall philautia / of methaphisick and morall philosophy and of all maner bokes of Aristotle ād of all maner doctours which they yet never sawe. Moare over one holdeth this a nother that. One is a reall / a nother a nominall. What wonderfull Dreamesdreames have they of their predicamentes / vniversales / seconde intencions / quidities hecseities & relatives. And whether species fundata in chimera be vera species. And whether this proposiciō be true non ens est aliquid. Whether ens be equivo cum or vnivo cū. Ens is a voyce only saye some. Ens is vnivocum saith a nother and descendeth in to ens creatum and in to ens increatum per modos intrinsecos. whē they have this wise brauled ▪viij x. or .xij. or moo yeres and after that their iudgementes are vtterly corrupte: then they beginne their Devinite.Scole diuinite Not at the scripture: but every man taketh a sondry doctoure / which doctours are as sondry and as dyvers / the one contrary vntounto the other / yet ī this they all agre: that noman is saved by Christ but by holy we…kes. And that christe hath gevē vp his godhed to the pope▪ And all his power and that the pope maye geve christes merites to whō he will and take them from whō he w…ll. Potters: ye mockers or rather iugular…as there are divers facions and monstrous shappes / none lyke p. xixa nother / amōge oure sectes of religiō. Every religion / every vniversite & all most every man hath asondry dyvinite. Now what so ever opiniōs every mā fyndeth with his doctoure / that is his Gospell and that only is true with him and that holdeth he all his lyfe longe / and every man to mayntene his doctoure with all / corrupteth the scripture & facioneth it after his awne imaginacion as a Potter doeth his claye. Of what texte thou provest hell / will a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the assumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother shall prove of the same texte that an Ape hath a tayle. And of what texte the graye frere proveth y^t oure lady was without originall sinne / of the same shall the blacke frere prove y^t she was conceyved in originall synne. And all this doo they with aparēte reasons with false similitudes and likenesses / and with argumentes and persuasions of mans wisdome.False similitudes▪ Now there is no other divisiō or heresy in the worlde save mans wisdome and when mans folish wisdome intetpreteth y^e scripture.Mans wisdome heresy Cotes Mans wisdome scatereth / divideth and maketh sectes / while the wisdome of one is that a white Cote is best to sarve God in / and a nother saith a blacke / a nother a grey / nother a blew: And while one saith that God will heare youre prayer in this place / a nother saith in y^t place: And while one saith this place is holier / Placeand a nother that place is holier / and this religion is holyer then that / and this saynte is greater with God then that and an hundred thousande lyke thinges. Mans One religiō is holier then a nother: Mans wisdome is ydolatry. What God yswisdome is playne ydolatry / nether is there any other ydolatry then to imagen of God after mans wisdome. God is not mans imaginacion / but that only which he saith of hym selfe. God is no thinge but his law and his promyses / that is to saye / that which he biddeth the doo and that which he biddeth the beleve and hope. God is but his worde: as Christ saith Iohn. viij. I am that I saye vntounto you / that is to saye / that which I preach am I. My wordes are spirite and lyfe. God is that only which he testifieth of hym selfe and to imagen any other thinge of God then that / is damnable ydolatry. Therfore saith the .cxviij … Psalme happy are they which sherch y^e testimonies of the lorde / that is to saye / that which God testifieth and witteneseth vntounto vsus. But how shall I that doo when ye will not let me have his testimonies or wittenesses in a tonge which I vnderstonde? Will ye resist god Will ye forbidde hym to geve his spirite vntounto the laye as well as vntounto you? Hath he not made the english tonge? Why forbidde ye hym to speake in the enhlish tonge then / as well as in the latyne?

p. xxFynally that this thretenynge and forbiddynge the laye people to reade the scripture is not for love of youre soules (which they care for as y^e foxe doeth for y^e gysse) is evidēte & clerer thē the sonne / in as moch as they permitte & sofre you to reade Reade what thou wilt: ye ād saye what thou wylt save the truethRobynhode & bevise of hāptō / hercules / hector ād troylus with a tousande histories & fables of love & wātones & of rybaudry as fylthy as herte cā thinke / to corrupte y^e myndes of youth with all / clene cōtrary to the doctrine of christ & of his apostles. For Paul (Ephes. v.) sayeth: se that fornicacion and all vnclenes or covetousnes be not once named amō ge you / as it becometh sayntes: nether fylthines / nether folysh talkynge / nor gestinge which are not comly. For this ye know that no whoremonger other vnclene person or covetous persone (which is the worsheper of images) hath any enheritaunce in the kyngdome of Christ & of God. And after / sayeth he / thorow soch thinges cometh the wrath of God apon the childerne of vnbelefe. Now seinge they permitte you frely to reade those thinges which corrupte youre mīdes & robbe you of y^e kyngdome of god & christe & brynge y^e wrath of god apō you how is this forbyddīge for love of youre soules?

A thousande reasons moo myght be made (as thou maist sein paraclesis Erasmi & in his preface to y^t paraphasis of Mathew) …nto which they shulde be compelled to holde their peace or to geve shamfull answares. But I hope that these are sufficient vntounto them that thirst the trueth. God for his mercy and trouth shall well open thē moo: ye and other secretes of his Godly wisdome / yf they be diligent to crye vntounto him / which grace graunte God. AMEN.