The Obedience of a Christian Man, Prologue
¶The Prologe vntounto the boke.
FOr as moch as oure holy prelates and oure gostly religious / which ought to defende Gods worde / speake evyll of it and doo all ye shame they can to it / and rayle on it and bere their captives in honde yt it causeth insurrection and teacheth the people to disobeye their heedes and governers / and moveth them to ryse agenst their princes and to make all comen and to make havoke of other mēs goodes. Therfore have I made this litle treatyse that folweth contayninge allThe obedience of monkes and freres is not here. For they ar not of God But of there awne fanynge obedience that is of God In which (who so ever readeth it) shall easely perceave / not ye cōtrary only and that they lye: but also the very cause of soch blasphemy and what stereth them so furiously to rage and to belye the trueth.
How be it / it is no new thinge vntounto the worde of god to be rayled apon / nether is this the fyrst tyme that ypocrites have ascribed to Gods worde the vengeaunce where of they themselves were ever cause.The ypocrites laye that to gods word whych they thē selves are cause of God warneth yer he strike. For the ypocrites with their false doctrine and ydolatry have evermoare lade the wrath and vengeaunce of God apon the People / so sore that God coulde no lenger forbere nor differ his puneshmente. Yet God / which is all wayes mercifull / before he wold take vengeaunce / hath …ver sente his true prophetes and true preachers / to warne the people that they myght repente. But the people for the most parte and namely the heedes and rulers thorow comforte and persuadinge of the ypocrites / have ever waxed moare harde herted then before / and have persecuted the worde of God and his prophetes. Then God which is also righteous / hath allwayes poured his plages apon them with out delaye. Whē God punisheth the ydolatry of the ypocrites: thē saye they: that new lernynge is cause the…e ofWhich plages the ypocrites ascribe vntounto Gods worde sayenge: se what mischeve is come apon vsus sens this new lernynge come vp and this new secte and this new doctrine. This seist thou Hieremias .xliiij. Where the people cried to goo to their olde ydolatry agayne sayenge: sens we left it / we have bynne in all necessite and have bynne consumed with warre ād hongre. But the prophete answered them / yt their ydolatry wente vntounto the herte of God / so that he coulde no lenger sofre the maliciousnes of their awne imaginacions or invē cions / and that the cause of all soch myscheves was / because they wolde not heare tho voyce of the lorde and walke in his lawe / ordinaunces and testimonies. Christ was accused of insurreccion.The scribes and the pharises layd also to Christes charge (Luke. xxiij.) that he moved the people to sedicion. And said to Pilate / we have founde this felowe pervertinge the people and for biddinge to paye tribute to Cesar / ād sayeth that he is Christ a kynge. And agayne in the same chapter / he moveth ye people (said they) teachinge thorow out all iury and beganne at Galile evē to this place. So like wise layd they to the Apostles charge / as thou maist se in the Actes. Saynte Cypriane also & saynte Augustine & many other moe made workes in defence of the worde of God agēst soch blasphemies: So that thou maist se / how that it is no new thinge / but an olde ād acustomed thinge with the ypocrites to wite Gods worde and the true preachers of all the mischeve which their lyinge doctrine is the very cause of?Why troubyll foloweth the preachynge of the Gospell
¶Never ye later in very dede / after the preachinge of Gods worde / because it is not truly receaved. God sendeth greate troble in to the worlde: partly to avenge him selfe of the tyrauntes and persecuters of his worde ād partly to destroye those worldly people which make of Gods worde no thinge but a clo…e of their fleshly libertie. They are not all good that folowe the Gospell. Christ (Matthei. in the .xiij. chapter.) likeneth the kyngdome of hevē vntounto a nette cas… in ye see yt ketcheth fishes both good & bad. The kyngdome of hevē is the preachinge of ye Gospel / vntounto which come both good & bad But ye good are few.Christis floc a litle flock Christ calleth thē therfore a litle flocke Luke. xij. For they are ever few that come to the Gospell of a true entente sekinge therin nothinge but the glory and prayse of God and offeringe them selves frely and willingly to take adversite with Christe for the Gospels sake and for beringe reporte vntounto the trueth / that all men maye heare it. The greatist nombre come and ever came and folowed even Christ hym selfe for a worldly purpose. As thou mayst well se (Iohn. vj.) how that allmost fyve thousand folowed Christ ād wolde also have made hym a kynge / because he had well fed them. Whom he rebuked sayenge: ye seke me not / because ye saw the myracles: But because ye ate of the bred and were fylled / and drove them awaye from hym with harde preachinge.
Even so now (as ever) the most parte seke Libertie.libertie. They be glad when they here the vnsaciable covetousnes of the spiritualte rebuked: When they heare their falsheed and wiles vttered: When tyranny and oppression is preached agenst: When the heare how kynges ād all Officers shulde rule christenly and brotherly and seke no other thinge save the welth of their subiectes: and when they heare that they have no soch auctorite of God so to pylle and polle as they doo and to reyse vppe taxes and gaderinges to mayntene their fantasies and to make warre they wote not for what cause.God destroyeth one weked with a nother. Gods word is not the cause of evell. And therfore because the heedes will not so rule / will they also no lenger obeye / but resiste and rise agēste their evyll heedes And one weked destroyeth a nother. Yet is Gods worde not the cause of this nether yet the preachers. For though that Christe him selfe taught all obedience / how that it is not lawfull to resist wronge (but for the officer that is appoynted there vntounto) & how a man must love his very enimy and praye for thē that persecute hym ād blesse them that curse hym / and how that all vengeaunce must be remitted to God / and that a man must forgeve / yf he wilbe forgeven of God. Yet the people for the most parte receaved it not They were ever ready to ryse and to fyght. For ever when the scribes & phareses went aboute to take Christ they were afrayd of the people. Not on the holy daye (said they Math. xxvi). lest any rumoure aryse amonge the people. And Matth. xxi. They wolde have take hym / but they feared the people. And Luke. xx. Christ asked the Phareses a questiō vntounto which they durst not answere / lest the people shulde hauehave stoned themChristes disciples were longe weake ād worldly mynded
¶Last of all for as moch as the very disciples and Apostles of Christ after so lōge hearinge of Christes doctrine were yet ready to fyght for Christ cleane agēst Christes teachī ge. As Peter (Math. xxvi.) drewe his swerde but was rebuked. And Luke. ix. Iames & Iohn wolde have had fyre to come frō heven to consume the samaritanes and to avē ge ye iniury of Christ: but were like wise rebuked / yf christes disciples were so lōge carnal what wōder is it / yf we be not all perfecte ye fyrst daye?The popis doct…ine causeth: ye cōmaundeth murt…er Ye in as moch as we be taught even of very babes / to kyll a turke / to slee a Iewe / to burne an heritike / to fyght for ye liberties & right of ye church as they call it: ye and in as moch as we are brought in belefe yf we shede the bloude of oure even christen or yf the sonne shede ye bloude of his father that begate him / for the defence / not of the popes god heed only / but also for what so ever cause it be / yee though it be for no cause but that his holynes commaundeth it only / that we deserve as moch as Christ deserved for vsus when he died on the crosse: or yf we be slayne in the quarell that our soules goo / nay flye to heven / and be there yer oure bloude be colde. In as moch (I saye) as we have sucked in soch bloudy imaginacions in to the botome of oure hertes even with oure mothers milke / and have be so longe hardened therin / what wonder were it / yf while we be yet younge in Christ / we thought that it were lawfull to fyght for the true worde of God? Yee and though a man were throwly persuaded yt it were not lawfull to resist his kynge / though he wolde wrongfully take awaye lyfe and goodes: Yet might he thinke that it were lawfull to resist the ypocrites and to ryse / not agēst his kynge: but with his kynge to delyver his kynge out of bondage & captivite / wherin ye ypocrites holde him with wyles and falsheed / so that no man maye be sofered to come at him / to tell him the trouth.
This seist thou / that it is the bloudy doctrine of the Pope which causeth disobedience / rebelion and insurreccion.The popes doctrine is bloudy For he teacheth to fighte and to defende his tradiciōs & what so ever he dreameth with fyre / water & swerde & to disobeye father / mother / master / lorde / kynge & Emperoure: Ye & to invade what so ever lōde or naciō yt will not receave & admitte his godheed.Christes doctrine is peaceable Where ye peaceable doctrine of Christ teacheth to obeye & to sofre for ye worde of god & to remit ye vē geaūce & the defense of ye worde to God which is mighty and able to defende it / which also as sone as ye worde is once openly preached & testified or wittenesed vntounto ye world / God avēgeth his doctrine him selfe& whē he hath gevē them a season to repēte / is ready at once to take vēgeaunce of his enemies & shoteth arowes with heedes dipte in deadly poysō at thē & poureth his plages from hevē doune apō them & se…deth the morē and pestilēce amōge them / & sinketh ye cities of them & maketh ye erth swalow them / & compaseth them in their wiles and taketh them in their awne trappes and snares / & casteth them in to the pittes which they digged for other men / and sendeth them a dasynge in the heed and vtterly destroyeth them with their awne sotle cowncell.How a man oughte to behave him selfe in readynge of doctours and also in the scripture: Prepare thy mynde therfore vntounto this litle treatyse and reade it discretly and iudge it indifferently / and when I allege any scripture / loke thou on the texte / whether I enterpret it right which thou shalt easyly perceave / by the circunstance and processe of them / yf thou make Christe the foundaciō and ground and byld all on hym ād referrest all to hym / and findest also that the exposicion agreeth vntounto the comē articles of the fayth and open scriptures. And God the father of mercy which for his trouthes sake reysed oure savioure Christ vppe agayne to iustifie vsus / geve ye his spirite to iudge what is righteous in his eyes & geve the strength to abide by it & to mayntene it with all pacience and longe soferinge / vntounto ye ensample and edifienge of his cōgregacion and glorie of his name. AMEN.