The Cohabitation of the Faithful with the Unfaithful, Treatise (1 of 3)

The Cohabitation of the Faithful with the Unfaithful · Treatise (1 of 3)

p. 2Whether the dwellinge toge ther and familiar conuersacion of the godly withe the godles / the faithfull withe the faythles / the professor of Christes gospell withe the papiste be lawfull or no.

THe reasons bi whiche many do persuade them selues / and others also / that yt ys lawfull / Reasons prouing that it is lavvfull.for the faythfull to hauehave famylier conuersation / and to dwell together withe the vnfaythfull, are theise.

1 Christe Iesus dyd go vntounto the feastes and dyners of publicans and synners / and was there ac companyed and famyliarlie conuersaunte with them. In lyke maner beinge bydden of the phariseis to dyners / he went.

2 Also S. Paule dothe byd / that the faythful whi 1. Cor. 7.1 Cor 7…he is ioyned in mariage withe the vnbeleuer shol …e not be separated / yf the vnbeleuer will dwell wi …he the faythfull.

3 Againe he teacheth / if any of them whiche bele…e 1: Cor. 10.not byd you to a feaste / and if ye will go / what …oeuer ys sett before you / that eate / rc. In an other …lace he likwise sayethe: I wrote vntounto you in an epi 1. Cor. 5.1 Cor 5…le / that ye sholde not cōpanie withe fornicatours. And I meant not at all of the fornicatours of this worlde / or of the couetous / or of extorsioners / or of the Idolatrors / for then muste ye neades hauehave gone owt of the worlde. But nowe I hauehave written unto you / that ye companye not together. If any that is called a brother / be a fornicatour / or couetous / or a worshipper of Images / or a rayler / or a drunkard / or an extorsioner / with him that ys suche / see that ye eate not.

4 Abraham beinge called to go owt of Chaldee / Genes. 12.Gen 12ys commaunded to trauayle in those countries / in whiche the people were altogither vngodlye and wicked Idolatrours / that ys / in the lande of Canaan / and in Egypte.

5 Lot refused to continewe in the housholde / and Genes. 13.Gen 13familiar companie of Abraham / and did chose to dwell amonge the Sodomytes.

6 Naaman the Sirian 4. Reg. 5./ after that he was healed of his leprosie / dyd returne to his Idolatrous nation.

7 Christ our Sauior dyd not reteyne with him all Marc. 5.Mark 5those whom he dyd heale / but commaunded some of thē to returne vntounto their own famyliars / countrymē / and kinsfolkes (which yet were wicked / and infidels) among whom they sholde publishe and declare / what the lorde hade done for them.

8 The Iues both by the ciuile ād canon lawes ar not only permitted to lyue among the christians / but also to hauehave their synagoges: and tribute is taken of them.

9 Some heretiques hauehave libertie giuen them by p. 3ciuile lawes / to dwell amonge the faithfull: for the lawes do not apoynte them all to be punished by deathe. We reade that the Nouatians hade their Churches and congregations / permitted in Constātinople / in the tyme of Cōstantine the greate / ād Theodosius / whiche were moste godlie Emperours.

These are the reasons by whiche many do persuade them selues and others / thatyt ys lawfull for the godlie and faythful / to dwell together and to hauehave familiar conuersation withe the wicked and vnfaythfull /

To proue that their persuasions are false and The disposition of the Tretise.vntrulie gathered of thes places / I muste propounde certayn diuisions: whiche beinge done / I shall put forthe certayne propositions or sentences In the prouinge of which to be true / ye shall playn lye perceyue howe these places alledged / are abused of them to maynteyne their falfe opinion.

Firste / I muste deuide betwene the estates and The furst Diui…ionsortes ofmen: Some sortes ofmen / are Magistra tes and rulers: some other be subiectes and of the comen sorte of people.The secōd Diuision

The second diuision shalbe of cohabitation or dwelling together / of which one kinde ys free / that ys / where men be not compelled to cōmunica te withe wicked superstitions / vngodly rites and Idolatries.

An other kinde of cohabitation / or dwellinge together there is which ys not free / and that ys whe remen are compelled to communicate withe wicked supersticions / to be presente at Idolatries / and so to defyle them selues.

The thirde diuisiō shalbe of the godlie and faith The thred diuision.full men them selues / whiche are thus familiarlie conuersaunte withe the vnbeleuers. Either they are learned stronge and able to confesse the doctrine of truithe in religion / and to reproue and cōumce the false: orels they ar vnlearned / weake / and vnable to stande in the confession of the truithe / and reprouinge of vntruthe.

These three diuisions shall suffice. Nowe will I put forthe certeyne sentencis and propositions. The firste sentence and proposition / shalbe of those which in estate and condicyon are priuate mē and subiectes: Of that cohabitatiō and dwellinge whi che ys free. And of those men which are learned ād stronge: of all wich I make this proposition.

Priuate men and subiectes / which ar learned and stronge / dwellinge in that place where they be The fvrst proposition.free and not compelled to communicate withe wic ked supersticions / they maye be famyliarlie conuer saunte / dwell ād liue together with the vnbeleuers This maye they do / but yet vnderunder certeyn cōditiōs / and obseruinge certeyn rules.

Of which the firste ys this / that they do teache thos vnbeleuers with whom they do liue and are 1 Rules to bekept.familiarlie conuersaunte / and do instructe them in the truithe / trulye teachinge them and earnestlie callinge them / vntounto the knowledge of the truithe / p. 4and faythe in Christe. And this they muste not leaue of to do so longe as they be dwellinge and fami liar with them. To the end also that they maye do this the better / yt ys not vnlawfull / but moste conuenient for them to shewe them selues frendlie / gē till / and louinge unto the vnbeleauers withe whō they are familiarlie conuersaunte / and dwellinge / So that theise maye perceyue that the faythfull do louelove thē: els ys yt to be feared that they shall do no good withe them. for that doctrine ys moste redylie receyued of the hearer / which cōmeth from him / of whom the hearer ys persuaded / that he ys hys frende / and that he louithe hym indeede.

The second thinge that the faythfull must take heede of / ād Rule which they must obserue ys this: 2That they do lyue an holy lyfe / and that amonge the vnbeleauers their conuersacion be so godly / graue / comely / and agreing with their profession / that in no wise they do gyue any offence through the wickednes of their lyfel: for yf by their lyfe the vnfaythfull shuld be offendid / then shuld their my nistery be vnprofitable to the vnbeleuers / for that by their euell doings they shuld ouerthrowe what soeuer they labored to builde vpp in wordes.

The thred thinge that theise men must take heede 3of / and Rule which they must obserue is. That they do not communicate / with the vnfaythfull in their supersticiōs ād jdolatries / nor iet do so mutch as outwardly to seame to allowe them. Thys ys not to be doone in ony wise / no not in hope therby to wynne the vnbeleauer from hys supersticion / and Idolatrie: For this Rule of the holy ghoste Ro. 3Rom 3doth euer remain certain / Euell things ar not to be doone / that goode maye comme therof. This vnchaungeable rule must not be broken.

The fourth and last thing that theise men must 4take heede of / and Rule which they must obserūe is this. That they hauehave not ther familiar conuersaciō with the vnbeleuers for their own cause / as for their pleasure and recreacion / or for their gayn and profite / but only in respect of wynnynge them to the gospell of christe. Neither ys this conuersacion and companie / contynually to be hadd and kept with the vngodly and vnbeleuers / but so long as ther is goode hoope of wynninge / and conuerting thē to thē gospell of christe. For yf the vnbeleauers shall shew themselues so obstinate in their euell / that they gyue iuste cause to despaire of ther amen dement / then ar they vtterly to be forsaken / and no conuersacion or cōpanie is to be hadd with them / farther thē the necessitie of lyfe enforcith either par tie. As yff the vnbeleauers shuld be in such extreme necessitie / that they could not be releaued but at the hand of the faythfull: or yf theise shuld be in that necessitie / that they could not otherwise obtain thinges necessarie but of the vnfaithfull. Also in byinge and selling thinges necessarie for the lyfe / as garmentes / victuals / and such like: Agayn in such thinges as cyuile estates / and condicions do require / as of princes and Rulars to demaunde p. 5lawfull defence / and to obey them in thinges lawfull: to fathers / maried folke / masters / ād such lyke / to do thos duties which ar appointed in godds worde. In theise thinges to vse the vnbeleauers / or to minister vntounto them / ys not vnlawfull.

Thus and in thys manier / yt ys lawfull for a pri uate mā / which is lerned / ād constāt in godds trui the / being in that place wher no man ys compelled to be partaker of wicked supersticions / to dwell together / and vse familiar conuersacion with the vn beleuers and vnfaythfull / as theise named Rules and condicions / do appoint and suffer. And so hauehave ye this proposiciō declared and opened / The same ys cōfirmed / by the example of Christ our Sa uiour. He dyd resorte to the dyners / and feastes / where scribes and pharisees / publicanes and synners were / to thys ende onlie / euen to teache them and to winne them vntounto the Gospell. So saieth hierom. The lorde dyd go vntounto the feastes of synners Hiero in Matt. cap. 9.Matt 9that he mighte hauehave occasion to teache them and that he mighte gyue spirituall meates to them which dyd bydde hym: and after speaking how christe went ofte to feastes / Theare ys (saithe he) no other thinge reported / but what he dyd / and what he taughte there. That bothe the humblenes of the …orde in goinge to synners / and the power of hys doctrine in conuertinge the penitents / mighte be declared.

After the same maner / the prophetes in the olde …yme were conuersaunte with the Idolatrous peo ple. So were the Apostles famyliarlie conuersaun te with the vnbeleuinge Iues / and went also emō gest other vnbeleuing nations and men. S. Paule Act. 17.Acts 17when he came to Athens / dyd not thinke skorne so famyliarlie to behaue him selfe that he went in to the temples of their Idolls / and verye curiouslie searched the corners of the same / he dyd viewe their altars / the titles and inscriptions of ther altars / so that he founde owte that title / Ignoto Deo which was an altar dedicated vntounto the vnknowen God / wherof he dyd take occacion to make that same hys sermon in which he preached Christe vntounto them euen as yt were owt of their own bokes.

And thus / I thinke / that this our proposition / (which of yt owne selfe ys plaine and euident ynou ghe) ys sufficientlie proued. Namelie thys / that a priuate man / learned / and constaunte in the truithe / beinge in that place where no man ys compel led to communicate with wicked supersticions / maye be familiarlie conuersante with the vnbeleuers / so longe as in hys conuersation he doth obserue and kepe / the conditions before mencioned. Cōuersation vuith men excō municate.Here I thinke good to adde / as yt were by the waye of admonicion / that kepinge these rules and conditions / yt ys lawfull for the godlie to be conuersaunte with them which be excommunicate / euen to call them in to the waye of godlynes / and not to communicate with them in any euill or synne. The secūd proposition.Nowe will I put forthe an other proposition or sentence / whiche shalbe of those persons whych p. 6be of a priuate estate and are subiectes / of that cohabitacion which ys fre wher no man ys compelled to communicate with wicked supersticions / ād of suche men as be vnlearned in the knowledge of gods truithe / weake in faythe / and therfor vnable to make a christian confession of truithe. Thys collection agreeth with that which I gathered before / of which I made my former proposition / sauinge that wheras there / with the priuate estate and free dwellinge / I coupled men that were lear Ignoraūce in men is intollerable.ned and stronge to confesse the truithe / heare I do adde in the place of them / men vnlearned / vnable / and to weake to confesse the truithe. But herin thin cke not that I do alowe suche ignoraunce and una blenes in men. Suche ignoraunce in men is sharply to be reproued / for ther is none so ueri an idiote / so simple and vnlearned amonge Christianes / but he ys bounde in conscience to be able to rendre an accompte of hys faythe / ād also to be somwhat able to teache and instructe others / yea and to saye somwhat for the truthe / in all the principall poyntes of the christian faythe / which he maye do yf he be but meanlie instructed in the Catechisme. But bicause / partlie throughe the peruersnes of the ministers which do not their office to instructe men / partlie throughe the negligence of men which do not their dutie in seekinge to be instructed / suche ig noraunce there is / I admytt therfore into this my collection those ignoraunte / vnable / and weake men. And so I make this proposition. Those men which are of a priuate estate and condition / dwellinge or beinge in a place where they be not compelled to communicate with wicked supersticions. And are themselues vnlearned and vnable to con fesse ād defende the truithe / maye not vse famyliar conuersation with the vnbeleuers.

These men ar not in that condition that the lear ned be / of whom I dyd speake before / for they cannot teache the vnbeleuers / yea they be not able to defende the gospell of christe from the blasphemie of the vnbeleuers / neither can they deliuer them sel ues frō suche false snares as the vnbeleauers shall laye for thē: Wherfor they must not hauehave familiar conuersaciō with them / through which they shall thus throwe themselues into perill / and ieoperdie: Except that they can assure themselues of such strēghth / that they shall not yealde vntounto the wickednes of the vnbeleuers. Otherwise / if they shall happen to dwell togither in one place with the vn faithfull: Lett thē take goode heede that they do ly ue an holy lyfe amonge thē: And for the rest / let thē so far as the necessitie of lyfe / and ciuile businesses and affaires shall suffer them / vtterly abstayn frō the companie of the vnbeleauers.

But heere risith a question: Whether that such a A ques… tion.weake and vnlearned man / maye learn ony of the liberall artes / or philosophie / of such a master as is an vnbeleauer.

VntoUnto which I answer: that forbicause to lern such artes of an vnfaithfull master is not of such p. 7necessitie as can not be auoided / therfor the man that ys weake in faithe must not lern them of hym. Yt is a very daungerus thinge / to vse them which ar vnbeleauers as Masters and teachers: for often tymes in the myndes of the hearers ther arisith a gret admiracion and estimaciō of the teacher / and it maye easilye com to pas at the lēghthe / that they shall thincke and Iudge that theise teachers ar not deceyued in Religion / bicause they be of an exacte and perfect knowledge in these liberall sciences / ād philosophie. This (I saye) may happē of it that men ar wont to attribute mutch vntounto their teachers. Yea that it may be so / I will proue by the cō trarie. Origen by teaching the Mathematicalls / and such sciences / did bring many mē to the know ledge of christe. For furst he dyd begyn to reade among them such sciences with which they wer de lighted / In which he being expert / dyd shew vntounto his hearers suche connynge / that he dyd forthewith gett amonge them great estimacion / and so the more easili drawe them vntounto the doctrine of christe. Augustine likewise cam to Millaine / to heere Ambrose / bicause he was counted an ex cellent Rhetorician. And so whilst he desiru sly herd hym / at the lenghth by hearinge he was tourned form the sect of the Manichees / vntounto the true catholiques. As therfor by lerning of these sciēces of godly teachers / the vnbeleauers hauehave beene con uerted vntounto the faithe of christe / euen so / yea mutch more easilie it maye cōme to pas / that they which ar wea…e and vnlearned / may vnderunder vnbeleauinge masters / be drawn from christe to vngodlynes. Wherfor seing that this can not be doone without great perill and daunger / that such a weakling shuld vse an vnfaithfull Master / I thincke that he shuld abstayn alltogether from suche.

Sum do heere obiect and saye / that S. Paul to the Corinthians doth appoint no such Rule condi cion nor exception / as I hauehave spoken of / vntounto the weake and vnlearned: but he playnly saith. If ony of them which beleaue not / do bidd you to a feaste / … Cor. 10.and yf ye will go / whatsoeuer ys sett before you that eate / …c. In which wordes he teachith / that it is lefte vntounto our own will as a fre thinge to go / or not to go. I answer / that'ye must marcke well thos wordes of Paule / (and yf ye will go.) He doth not Hovv thei se vvordes, and if ye vvill go, ar to be vnderstonded.grant vntounto eueryevery mans will thys libertie / and fredom / but vntounto a goode and a right will he gyuith libertie to go. For yf a man wold go thether to drin cke droncken / glotonusly to fill the belly / or to gyue the tongue to filthie and vncomly talke / without doubt that man shuld syn / euen for the wickednes of hys will / and for hys corrupt entent▪ and purpose. Euen so / yf a man dowbted hys own strenghth / and dyd certaynly perceyue that he could not profi te them that shuld be there / and yet wold go thether / vndowbtedly with a safe cōscience and with a goode will he could not take that thing in hāde / for he can not direct hys doing to the glorie of godd / as he ys cōmaunded to do. Wherfor though p. 8…aul expressely doth not adde that rule / yt folowith not therfor / that yt is not to be added: yea that …t ys to be added I will proue by other places of the scripture. And to thend that we do not herin de …art from Paul / the same thing / and doctrine of will / he teachith in the. 7. chapter of the same epistle: wher he entreating of gyuyng or not gyuing… 1. Cor. 7.1 Cor 7… virgine to mariage saithe / That he doth well which …eapith his virgin / ād that purposith it sure …y in his harte / (addinge this condiciō) hauing no …eade / but hathe poure ouer his own will: For if he …huld do it otherwise then his daughter either wol …e / or then her necessitie required / then shuld he nei …her will / nor do well. Thus to do a goode worcke / …r to make an acte prefect / yt sufficithe not to take …eede that it be not euell of nature / or repugnant …nto gods worde / but vntounto this ys also required / …hat we do go about the same with an vpright and …erfect mynde and will. S. Paul / therfor / doth not …mply permitt this going / but with certayn circumstances. Which ar / to go with a goode will to …nstruct the vnfaythfull: Agayn to go with an assured purpose / not to be, ād taste of such strēghthe / that he shall not be ouerthrown. And thus this proposicion remaynith true / that the man whiche …s weake ād vnlearned / must separate himsel… frō the company and famyliar conuersacion of the vnbeleauers / so mutch as cyuile and naturall businesses and affaires will suffer / and as the necessi…e of lyfe shall require (as I saide before). Lykewise all houshold duties and offices appointed in gods worde must be obserued / els shall he offend / for as Paule saithe: He that prouidith not for hys / and 1. Timo. 5.especially for them of hys own how shold / the same hath denied the faithe / and ys wors then an Infidell. And to proue farther / that this vnlearned and weake man must abstayn from the familiar companie of the vnbeleauers / yea thoughe they be most deere vntounto hym / that Rule doth serue / which Matt. 5. 18.Matt 5:18Christe our Sauiour gyuithe sayinge. If thy hāde or fote offend the / and hinder the / cut yt of / and cast yt from the / …c. If thyn eye offend the / plucke yt out / and caste yt from the. We ar not commaunded in this place / to cut of the outward membres of our bodie / as Origen (yf it be true that sum do re port of hyme) dyd vntruly thincke / but as the sownd interpretours do write / thos frends and thinges / which ar most nighe and deere vntounto vsus / Theise ar they which must be cut of plucked out / and cast awaye from our familiaritie and companie / when they do plucke / ād separate vsus / from the true waye of saluacion / or be such a hinderaunce vntounto vsus as puttinge impedimentes and lettes in our waye / do hynder vsus from walking in gods lawe. Chrisostom entreating this matier / writithe. If the membre which ys misioined vntounto the bodie In Ioan. hom. 15.must be cut of / ar not then euell frends mutch more to be cut of▪ And agayn / he saith / If we do cut of that membre which ys rotten / and incurable from the bodie / for feare les yt shuld corrupt the p. 9other partes therof / (which we do not bicause we do neglect it / for who yet did euer hate his own fleshe, but to saue the rest) how mutch more is this to be done to them which ar euell ioyned vntounto us▪ Which yet we must not do as thoughe we did despise thē / but to prouide that our helthe and saluaciō be not brought in daūger by thē ▪ after that we do see that we can not profite them at all. To this also belōgith the lawe which christe did giuegive: Matth. 1….Matt 1That he which will not heere the brethern admonishing him / And doth contemne the voice of the churche when it reprouith / and correctith hym: he is then to be estemed and taken as an ethnicke / and a publicane. Which thing Paule puttith in practise when he biddith / that the Corinthians shuld ex communicat the fornicator / les that a litill leauē 1. Cor. 5.1 Cor 5shuld soure the whole lumpe of dowe. To the same purpose he usith the vearse of the poete Menander. Euell wordes do corrupt goode maniers. Ther 1. Cor. 15.1 Cor 15Paul teachith / that the true doctrine of the Resurrection was greatly hindered amonge the …orinthians / which wer but newly turned vntounto christe / bicause they dyd to lightly gyue eare to the vngod ly argumentes and reasons of philosophers / or ra ther of heretiques / which did contend and stryue agaynst that doctrine. No man can sufficiently consider / how the bewitching of wicked tales / and …alkes / do shake and hurt the tender conscience ād weake faithe / of the foeble ād weake brother. Wher …or it is most necessari and profitable to admonis he them which ar weake / that they do abstayn / and withdrawe them selues / from the felowshipp and familiar companye / of the vnbeleauers. The phi sicions / do cowncell … when a contagius disease hath enfected any nigh place / that thei which as yet ar sownd and not enfected / shuld not cōme vntounto them that be enfected alreadye and sicke / bicause that in the bodies of men / and the temperatures / and disposicions of the same / ther is such a commō passion and suffering / that the infection doth easily go from thē that be infected / vntounto the other. And though they which do not take heede and keape thē selues from that infection / do not presently feale the poyson and force therof / yeat inasmutch as by lytill and litill the infection / and poyson receyued doth growe / n…t long after they ar sure to feale the force and strenghthe of it. Seing this is so / and cich man maye worthily and godly take heede to auoide the diseases of the bodie / mutch more diligēt heede is to be taken of all men / that they do not frō ony man or place gett vntounto themselues infecting vices of the minde. Our Nature / and disposiciō through our naturall and birthe syn is now so cor rupt / (as both the holy scripture doth warn vsus / ād infinite examples of dayly experiēce do teache vsus) that we neade not to dowt at all / but that we shall easily receyue the poison / and infectiō of other mēs synnes / if we do not fle farr from them: And as with no great labour they will cleaue vntounto vsus / so after they be ons crept and roted into vsus / thē hard p. 10ly and not without great payn ād labor / will they be thrust out agayn. Wherfor Chrisostom in the afore in Ioēm. hom. …6.named place semith to say well. If (saithe he speaking of the vnbeleauers and wicked) we coulde make them better / and not hurt our selues / all thinges wer to be doone: But whē we can not pro fite them / bicause they be incurable / and such as will not be amended / and yet we hurt our selues / they ar vtterly to be cutt of. And to the end that he might the more strongly confirme his saying / he alledgith that sayinge of Paul: Put awaye the euell 1. Cor. 5.1 Cor 5from among yowe. Which wordes of Paule ar not to be vnderstonded of the synne / for the greke word is in the masculyne gendre / foreign / and therfor he meanith by it / the wicked man. The same wordes I will now sumwhat bend / vse / and turn / vntounto the profite of you that be weake / and thus saye vntounto yowe. Put awaye your own selues from the euell men that ar emongst you: for seing ye ar but priuate men / and vnlearned / and therfor can not put awaye the euell from among you / yet your selues ye may ridd / and conuey awaye from being emongst the wicked / and the euell men.

Morouer it happeneth that whilest the weake and vnlearned do thus familiarly accompanie the vnbealeuers / They cā not chose but they must heare many subtill reasons and see many other thinges which do mutch make against the true religiō …hat they do profes: Which thinges when they se …nd be not able to disproue and confute / They do it not: And so they rōne into two mischeifs. The furst is / That they ar as it wer witnesses of the blasphemie / and of the reproche that the vnbeleauers do to the truithe: The secōde / that they maie happ to hauehave summe stinge left sticking in their concience / with which they shalbe longer / more greuusly and daungerusly tormented / thē either they thincke of or do feare. Let us heere therfor the wise mā which doth saye. Who so touchithe pitche shalbe fy Eccles. 13.Sir 13led ther with all / and he that is familiar with the proude / shall become lyke vntounto hym: Take not a burthē vppon the / aboue thy poure / neither ioyne thow thi felf to hym that is more honorable / and ritche then thiself. These words of the wiseman / do for two causes belong to our purpos. Furst / bicause that they do teache / that other mens synnes ar lyke vntounto pitche / which doth stycke vntounto the fingars and garments of them that do touche it. Agayn / that eich man shuld well trie and consider his own poure and strenghth. Vppō which cowncell / I do gather two thinges. Furst / that the infirme and weake must not ioyn themselues in familia ritie with the wicked / for wickednes will then clea ue vntounto them: Secondly that eich man must so well consider / and iustly trie his own poure and strenghth / that he doth not ouermatch himself.

The churche of godd in all ages hath felt by expe rience that mutch euell hathe happened through this familiar companie / and felowshipp keapt betwene the weake in faithe and knowledge / and the p. 11vnbeleauers. In the Primitiue churche forthwith after christes ascension / bicause the Iues which wer conuerted vntounto christe did lyue a great while with thos gentils which hadd receyued the gospell / ther begon a very Iuishnes. For the Iues did enforce the ceremonies of Moses lawe / myng ling thē with the doctryne of the gospell / through which they did infect many congregacions of the christiās so sore / that scarsely and hardely at lēghth could that euell be roted out: Yea that euell hath so preuailed / that euen vntill our tymes / in Spayn namely / and in sum other places also / ther be many which do not only holde still the ceremonies of Moses lawe with the professiō of christe / but they do thincke them to be necessarie vntounto Saluacion. They emongst the Spaniards which be of this mynde / ar called Marrani. And vntounto this daye the churche of India is enfected with the same vice. But let the examples of the holy scripture / I praye you / teache vsus euen the same. The Israelites which wer captyues in Babilon / by the space of 70. yeares / when they hadd libertie gyuen them furst of Cyrus / then of Darius / thos two most noble Kinges to return / they did not all forthewith return / but a great nūber of thē / such namely as wer weaker in the lorde thē other / being delighted with the commodities ād pleasures of their houses / feildes / and traffique of merchandize / did abide still amon ge the chaldees: …ich men how sharpely they wer reproued of Esdras / Nehemias / Zacharias / and other prophetes / it dothe playnly appeare in the scripture to them that liste to seake and knowe it. How the Israelites wer infected throughe that conuersacion which they hadd with the Egiptiās / it appearith playnly by this / that whilest they wer in the desert / when as yet the wonderfull benefites of godd wer euen before ther eyes / they did fall frō the lord their dilyuerer vntounto Idolatrie / and vntounto that kinde of Idolatrie / which they wer acquaynted with all in Egipte. Ther they hadd seene howe the Egiptians worshipped an Oxe / they therfor violently trauailed with Aarō when Moses was Exod. 23.Exod 23absent / that he shuld make thē a calf to worshipp: which when he hadd doone / thē began they ioyously to crye: Theise ar thi godds / O. Israell / which brought the out of the lande of Egypt. Agayn / when by the desert wild and barren places / they wer comme to the coastes of the Moabites / and be Numer. 15.gan to waxe more familiar with them then became the poeple of godd / through that familiaritie they wer brought to this / that not only they did cō mitt most vile whordom with thos beastly womē / but also that they sacrificed vntounto their most shamefull Idoll / Baal peor / and suffred themselues to be coupled vntounto his sacrifices. for which they suffred many miseries and calamities. Peter likewise / Math. 26.Matt 26when he cāme into that wicked court of the cheif prest and was ther conuersant emongst thos dam sels and vngodly seruantes / most miserablie did he denie ād forsweare his master christe our Sauiour: p. 12which his fault / after he departed frō thence / he did bewaile with abundaunce of teares. By the se histories ye may playnly see / what happenith vn to the weake through that familiar conuersacion which they hauehave with the vnfaithful. Esaye the pro Esaiae 6.phet / when he did se the lorde sitting vppon his sea te of glorie / with his Angels about hym most pure ly publishing his prayse / though he semith not to thincke hymself greatlye gyltie of ony notable cryme or fault / yet cryeth he out / O wo is me / …. I dwell amonge a poeple that hath vncleane lyppes. This man of godd truly did thincke / that he hadd gotton no small corruption and infection / bi cause he hadd lyued long with an vncleane poeple.

The histories of the heathen do teache vsus the same thinge. Alexander that gret and mightie kinge of Macedonia / who by the force of armes / and most notable victories / hadd subdued the greatest parte of the whole worlde / Euen he hymself was ouercomme with the maniers of the Persians. And vppon whom of right / as vppon a conquered poeple / he shuld hauehave laied lawes / to hauehave brought them to that seuere kinde of lyfe which the Macedo nians vsed / euen he as a mā cōquerred ād ouercō me of ther maniers / suffered hymself to be so shame fully misused / that he did take vntounto hym their kinde of araye / their lewse delicacie / their pompe and pri de / and set…furthe hymself to be worshipped of thē as godd. And so being corrupted he did altogether fall from the maniers of the grecians / through which he did sustayn great reproche amonge the wise / and mutche hatred amonge his souldiours / ād that not vnworthilie. Besids this / we must kno we / that if these men do without ony Rule or godly end keape such companye / and be familiarly con uersant with the vnbeleauers / except that in theise the fruite of their conuercion do quickly appeare / and of the other also it be by all meanes ernestly sought / both in the reprouing of their vnbeleif / ād in alluring them to the truithe / It doth happen that ther conuercion is hindred by such companie and familiaritie. For whilest the vnbeleuers do se that the faithfull do lyue so frendly / and familiar ly with them / they do iudge forthewith that their supersticion / and vnbeleif / is not so wicked a thinge / nor yet a thinge so to be abhorred ād condēned / as it is reported / yea thus maye they be brought to imagin / that they maye be saued though they do perseuere / and contynue in their vnbeleif. For if it wer otherwise (shall they thincke) theise goode and godly men / wold not be thus familiar and frendly with vsus.

I do omitt to speake of this / that many other of the brethern ther ar / which by the example of this conuersacion / do persuade themselues that they maye do euen the self same thinge / and so do beare with the wicked / and do wincke at their euell / bicause that they hauehave seene other men do so before them And thus it commith to pas / that by the example p. 15of sum men / this euell spreadith itself abroa de so that in the end / our faith and Religion / is euē layed forth for the wicked and vngodly / to mocke / and contempn.

Often tymes also that thing happenith / which we reade to hauehave happened in Pauls tyme / amon ge the Corinthians / that the brethern by this conuersaciō / ar brought to be partakers of the wickednesses / 1. Cor. 10.1 Cor 10vile custumes / and Idolatries of the vnfaithfull: Which familiar conuersacion / dothe not only couple them with the vnfaithfull / but it is a meane to make them Idolatrours: for th auoiding of which / Paule cryeth out in the same place: fle Idolatrie. I do likewise passeouer with silence / 1. Cor. 10.1 Cor 10that wher our weake and vnlearned brethern / do thus ioyne themselues in familiar conuersacion with the vnfaithfull / it can not be but betwene them and the vnfaithfull / sumtyme ther will happen communicacion of Religion: And thē though it happ so that through want of learninge / our weaklinges do not slyppe and foile them selues / Yeat bicause they can not dissolue / and answer vntounto the arguments / and subtile reasons of the aduersaries aptly / ther arisith then contentius stryfes betwen them / and not only this / but euel speakinges / reproches / and hatreds / which thinges ar so farr from edifying / that they do altogether hynder and lett it: furthermor in these conflictes it hap penith / that our weaklinges at lenghth ar putt to silence / so that they neither speake to confes thtruithe / nor to reproue that whiche is fals: Now consider heere what a libertie these men do lose: which christian libertie is in free boldenes in speakinge / to reproue that which is fals / and to confes godd / and his truithe. This libertie of free speaking and confessing / no christen man ought so to gyue ouer / but that he in all his talke shuld and might use it.

But in this cōpanie of vnbeleauers / these weaklinges do not / yea darre not vse it / les they in ther sayinges / shuld be snatched vpp / ād put to shame. Yet truly no men / nor ony companye of men shuld cause a christian to caste awaye this fredom and libertie.

For our purpose also makith that sayinge of … Cor. 6.S. Paul. Set your selues at large / for what felow shipp hath righteousnes with vnrighteousnes? Or what companie hathe light with darcknes? Or what concorde hath christe withe Beliall? Either what parte hath he that beleauith / with an Infidell? Or how agreith the tēple of godd / with Ima ges? These wordes ar so playn that they neede not to be expownded: In which / this conuersacion of which we now do entreate / is most simplye / and playnly forbidden. The figures and ceremonies of Moses lawe ar taken awaye / but yet the thinge figured / which is as I might saye / the strenghth / the pythe / and foundacion of them / doth remayn. Which thinge being true / I maye thē as…e this qu… …er. 15.stion. The lorde commaunded that the Iues shuld p. 14make gardes in the quartiers of their garmēts / ād to put vppon the garde / a ribande of yelow silcke / …c. My question now is. Whithe lorde did comma unde / that the Iues shuld differ from the gentils / not in circūcision only / but euen in their garmēts also? Euen for this cause verily / that they shuld be taught euen by their gardes also / that they wer gods peculiar people / and that they shulde separate themselues from the gentils / that they shuld not be conuersaunt with them / neither shuld they ioyne themselues in familiaritie withe them / farther then the necessitie of either of their lyues did re quire. The Iuishe gardes we do reiect / but this which is ment by the gardes we both do and must retayne. In many places the lorde commaunded the Iues also that they shuld not return into Egypte / and that they shuld not aske healpe of the Egi ptians / nor of the Assirians: Which he did partly to this end / that through such familiaritie as then must hauehave beene betwene theim and their healpers / the Israelites shuld not be infected withe their uices. The booke of the Iudges / doth playnly inough teache vsus this will ād pleasure of godd. For the Israelites did synne greunsly in this / that Iudic. 1.Judg 1they did put to tribute thos Idolatrus nacions / ouer whom the lorde hadd gyuen theun uictorie / and did couenant with thē / that they shuld dwell amonge theim in peace / which thinge godd hadd diuers tymes expressly forbidden theim to do / commaunding that they shuld vtterly destroye the inhabitātes of that lande: This he did partli bi cause / that through this they shuld not be brought by the Cananites / into the daūger of Idolatrie. Now the cause being such with theise weake / and vnlearned men / of whom I now do speake / they must likewise take goode heade to obserue that rule / which the lorde appointed vntounto the Israelites. It appearith playnly / that this commādement of god was kept longe tyme amonge the Iues: For they did not vse ony familiaritie / nor keape companie withe the Samaritans which did not truly worshipe the lyuynge godd / no not in christes tyme / as it appearith by the talke that he hadd with Ioan. 4.John 4the woman at the well. Morouer as the goode fathers in olde tyme / did esteme it as their singular ioye / when they might be familiarly conuersant with the godly / so how mutch they sorowed Whē they could not be so conuersaunt with the people of godd / and in godds house / Dauid is witnes: Who when he fledd from the face of Saul his persequtour / did mourn / and in the psalmes with most heauie complaintes / doth lamēt / that he was compelled to be conuersant amonge straungers / such as did not knowe the lyuyng godd / and to be as it wer an exile from godd / and his people. So shuld the companie hadd with the vnfaithfull / be heauy and bitter to the faithfull.

Daniell and his thre felows / might hauehave lyued / Daniel 1.Dan 1vppon the Kinges table / and hauehave eaten most fyne and delicate meates / but they did rather chose to ly p. 15ue together with potage / and water / and vtterly to forsake thos pleasures / and delicacies / then they wold defile them selues with the meates of the vnbeleauers. Moses also / as it is writon in the epistle to the hebrues / might if he wold hauehave beene ta Hebr. ….ken for the Sonne of Pharaos daughter / and so to hauehave beene in greate hoope of obtaynynge the kingdome of Egipte: but all this sett a parte / he did chose rather / forsaking all theise thinges / to go vntounto his brethern / which wer in miserable bondage / seruinge and laboring in claye / and bricke: Which thing to do / as it was a greate triall of his faithe / so the doinge of it doth commend / and sett furth his faithe / and shew what louelove he hadd to be conuersant with the poeple of godd. They which do not folowe these examples / do shew how litell they do regarde the glorie of godd / and the commu niō and felowship of sayntes / which they will not gayne nor redeame with losse / no thoughe it be of neuer so litill: And in this preferring of their own gayne welthe and commoditie / aboue the glorie of godd / and the felowlie communion of the godlye / they do most wickedly. Do we (saithe Paule to 1. Cor. 1….1 Cor 1the corinthians) prouoke the lorde? Ar we strōger then he? Theise weake brethern / which do not trie their own strenghth to fele their weaknes so / that they might seeke the encreace of strenghth in them selues / but being weake indeede / both dare and do thus desperatlie committ themselues vntounto this familiar conuersacion with the vnfaithfull / they do tempt godd / and do after a sort prouoke hym / as thoughe they wolde becōme stronger then he. Many more reasons might I bringe to proue this proposicion true. That a priuate man / being in a place wher he is not compelled to communicate with the supersticiōs of the vnfaithfull / and is vnlearned vnable / and to weake to confesse the truithe / must not ioyne in familiaritie / nor be familiarly dwelling and conuersant together with the vnfaithfull. But bicause I do suppose that it is sufficiently proued by the reasons which I hauehave alledged / I will now prepare myself to an other proposicion.

The thred proposicion shalbe / of Priuate men and subiectes / which ar lerned and stronge / and of them also which ar weake and vnlearned / of that dwelling which is not fre / wher as men ar compel led by lawes / and Tyrannye to communicate and to be partakers with the wicked in their supersticions and Idolatries: And of theise I make this proposicion / and sentence. Priuate men and sub The thred proposition.iectes be they learned or vnlearned / stronge or wea ke / which ar dwelling and abyding in that place wher men ar compelled to communicate / and be partakers withe Idolatrors / and to be present at vnlawfull supersticions and Idolatries / defiling thēselues with vncleane Religiō / maye not dwell together nor be familiarly conuersaunt / they may not ioyne in societie with suche Idolatrors: I saye / that this cohabitacion / and familiar dwelling together p. 16is vnlawfull / vngodlye / and not to be kept in ony wise: But in this case a faithfull man must either flye / or dye for the truithe / that he be not com pelled to defile hymself with Idolatrie. Ther is tru ly but one truithe / and that same must be holden with a pure cōscience / neither must it be forsakē for the pleasure of ony man. S. Paul saith to the Corin thians: flye ye Idolatrie. Then do men flye Idolatrie 1. Cor. 10.1 Cor 10when either they do depart frō the place wher Idolatrie is cōmitted / or when abiding still in the same place / they do gyue their lyues and suffer dea the bicause they will not cōmitt Idolatrie nor allowe it with ther presence. Paul therfor teachith by this sayinge / that in no wise the faithfull shuld come at the Idolatries of the vnfaithfull / but flye frō them: which sentence is so playn to the vnderstondinge of the most symple / that it neadith no exposicion at all. The lawe and the prophetes / the olde Te stament and the newe / ar full of such sentences / ād cōmaundementes / which do forbidd straūge worshippinge of godd and Idolatrie. Call to your myn de the historie of the Machabees / which I do not 2. Mach. 7.2 Macc 7…ecite as thoughe I wold gyue to that booke ony …yke autoritie with the Canonicall scriptures, but bi cause the historie is rehersed not only ther / but also …n Iosephus / and the examples of them ar profita…le for vsus / therfor I do alledge them. That godly Mother hadd rather hauehave the whole fruite of her …odie to be miserablie destroyed / thē ons to taste of …wynes fleshe.

Swynes fleshe / and Adams apple / of their very Gen. 2.Gen 2nature ar not so to be abhorred / for eiche of them is a goode creature of godd. But forsomutche as vntounto them godd hathe ioyned his worde to forbid the tasting of them / therfor euen as Adam could not eate the forbidden apple / so could not they eate swynes fleashe without committing of greate synne: which rather then they wolde do / the poore babes offer themselues to the deathe / and the godly mother doth most stronglye therto encorage thē and most constauntly abide the same herself.

In the church of christe ther hauehave beene innume rable martirs / as Eusebius / and others do write / which hauehave most constantly abidden deathe / bicau se they wold not depart from the Religion of christe / nor file thēselues with Idolatrie: They wold not put one grayne of franckinsence vppon the altars of the Idols / nor throwe one floure / nor ons bowe the knee before them / but suffered rather dea the. They hadd this alwais before ther eyes: Feare Matth. 10. Luc. 12.Matt 10Luke 12not hym that killithe the bodie / &c. And that he spea kith of killing the bodie / is likewise to be vnderston ded of taking awaye of goodes ād ritches: But he is to be feared / which after that he hath taken awaye bothe lyfe and goodes / can throwe the soule into euerlastinge fire / feare hym.

S. Paule to persuade the Corinthians that they shuld abstayn from meates offered vntounto Idols / vsith theise reasons: Bicause they wer the Temple of 7. Cor. 8.godd. They wer the membres of christe / and therfor p. 17they might not become the mēbres of an Idoll. Bicause they wer partakers of the lords table of which they could not be partakers and of the table of Deuels also. And the same thing that Paule said vntounto the Corinthians / do I also saye vntounto these our brethern of whom I do entreate.

Daniel his thre felows did gyue themselues / to Daniel. 3.Dan 3be thrown in to the burnynge fornace / rather then they wold worshipp the kinges golden Image. But theise thinges must now be applied vntounto thei se our most vnhappie Daies / in whiche / wher poperie rulith / the godly which do dwel togither with the vngodlie / the professours of christes gospell / I meane / With the papistes / ar compelled to be at ther Masses / and most vile and filthie Idolatries It is not lauufull to be present at the popy she Mas se and superstitionsand supersticions: vntounto them doth this pro posicion reatche / and of them therfor I do playnly affirme / and saye this / That it is not lawfull for thē to be present at the popishe Masses / at popishe superstitions and idolatries. It is to well knowne / that many fondlye do flatter / and indeede de ceyue them selues / imagining that it is lawfull for them to be present at this popish pelf. Againste whom with all ther clokes I vse this sayinge of Paule / flye ye Idolatrie. But here they resiste and saye / that this sayinge and suche other as before I hauehave alledged / are to be vnderstanded of the sacryfices done vntounto Idoles / and false goddes / and not of such supersticions as are nowe growen and vsed in papistrie / As of masses / and such like / for in the sacrifices of the gentils what so euer is done / yt is done vntounto Idolles / But here in the masse that whiche ys done is done as a worshippe vntounto god / for the name of godd is caled on: It hathe the begy nynge of Christes ordinaunce and institution, although that some nowghtie men abuse it: wherfore / seinge theis do thus differ from the other / … can not by these sentences / and like reason be forbiddē to them / as Idolatrie was to the Corinthiās: This they saye. But theis mē shuld considre and wel vnderstande / that theris no owtwarde worcke wiche is to be estemed as a worshippe and seruice of godd / but onlye that which is apoynted and ordeyned by godds worde so to be / which ordi naunce in the worde if it wante / it is vtterlie nothinge ells but mans inuention what so euer it be: for worshippings of god and goddes seruice are they not / but only when they hauehave godds worde to beare and warraunte them. God can not be truly worshipped with out faithe, for if faithe, be not in the worshippe that is done vntounto god / that worshippe the lorde dothe abhorre / as the Prophet Esaie dothe witnes. Incēse is an abhominable thin ge vntounto me / I maye not awaie with your newe moones. rc. I hate your holie dayes / rc. Thus dothe god reiect the seruice apointed in his worde / be cause it was done without faithe. If the seruice ād worshippe of God taughte in his worde maie be done with out faithe / and therfore displease god / mutch moore these worshippinges which hauehave not their ordinaūce in godds worde ar done withe out p. 18faithe / and therfor do displease godd: for faithe hathe no place at all where goddes worde is not: now these inuentions of men be they neuer so glorious to the eye / they be not ordeyned in godds worde / they can not therfor be doone in fay the / they can not please god / yea god dothe abhor… uuhat soeuer i… not of …aith … synne …o. 14.them / and accompte them as an abhomination / …e cause they be not so done / in faithe Imeane In faithe they be not done / because they are not tough… in godds worde / for where ther is no worde of god there is no faithe / and where no faithe is / there is no worshippe of godd / but a filthie hypocriste / and stinking abhomination. Nowe let the papistes shewe that ther masse is a worshippe of god / taughte in his worde / which we saie plainlie that they can not do / let them do it therfore if they can / and when they hauehave done yt / then will we saye with thē: But vntill they hauehave done it / their masse shall remaine a filthie and stinkinge abhomination before the lorde / and suche a thinge as the lorde dothe deteste and abhorre. If so be that we will do honour and worshippe vntounto men / we are accustomed principallie to obserue with what thing they are moste delighted / which thinge after that we hauehave per…eiued / we do it / and then do we thinke to hauehave be…towed our labour wel when we hauehave done it: God is delighted onlie with that seruice which he …athe set forthe in his worde / wherfore he that will …o godd acceptable seruice / muste do that which is worde teachethe / and in suche wi…e as it techethe / els as the lorde by the Prophet Esaie sayeth / he dothe detest and abhorre their sacrifices. And to proue that the masse with all suche popishe Isay. 1.Isa 1baggadge is verye Idolatrie / I neade not to bring mani reasons / for this one thing dothe easelie teache it. There is no true god that wilbe worshipped with this popishe seruice: for the true liuin ge god hathe in his worde plainlie apointed the ma ner howe he wilbe worshipped / in wich word this masse / and their popishe pelfis not taughte / but they ar cleane contrarie and repugnaunte vntounto it: wherfore whē the wicked papistes do their popish seruice vntounto a god (they saye) it is plaine that they do not worshippe that true lyuinge godd / whō the holy scripture teachith us to knowe and worship / but sum such other godd as they hauehave fayned in their fantesie to be their god / such a one as is deligh ted with these their seruices: But seinge that in verye dede there is no suche true god at all / as they do Imagine / the god then who m they serue is but a newe god / fantasied and invented in their owne myndes: wherfore by righte their god maye and must be called / an horribe Idoll / their masse likewise with all popishe seruice done vntounto him / abho minable Idolatrie / And they which do such popi / she seruice vile Idolatrors. But wher as they saye that those thinges wich be done and spoken in the masse hadde their begynnynge of the ordinaun ce of Christe, and that by the wikednes of men they are corrupted: This sainge helpethe not at all / for p. 19in these thinges / it is not the begyn̄ynge that is to be consydered only / or that can make them good onlie / seinge they are swarued from the truithe / but nowe their nature / and vse is to be tried / whether they do agree with the verie worde of god or no. what thinge hade a more pure begynynge numer. 21.euen by goddes commaundement, then the brasen serpent? It was erected god both willinge and commādinge it. It was sett forthe with miracles / for whosoeuer dyd beholde it he was deliuered from the bytinge of deathlie serpentes / But this not withstondinge when mē dyd worshippe the same serpent and offered incēse vntounto it / the godlie 4 Reg. 18.dyd so abhorre it / that Ezechias that moste holy kyn ge not regardinge at all the begynnynge of yt / dyd breake it in peces / and vtterlie destroyed the worshippinge of yt / Therfore it is not sufficiēt to cōsider the begynnynge of a thinge / but howe the ordre and vse of yt doth agree wyth the firste institution and ordinaunce. This acte of Ezechias is praised in the scripture. And wolde to god that we …ade now an Ezechias wich wold so handle the masse. ffurthermoore our men wolde hauehave this thinge to be consydered in them / that thoughe they go to the masse / yet they hauehave no mynde to decline …d departe frome god / but that they worshipp hym …her: vntounto this I answer / that the Israelites when they dyd compell Aaron to make them a cal…e to worshippe / they hade not indede that mynde …hat they wolde fall frō the true lyuynge god / so that they wolde no more confesse that he deliuered them out of Egypte / but this only was their mynde they wolde not reteyne that worship of the inuisible god which was deliuered them in worde / but they wolde worshippe the true God vnderunder some signe / and visible forme and shape / whiche sholde represent vntounto them the liuinge God their deliuerer: And that shape or forme they moste desyred to hauehave / wich they hade seene the Egyptians vse to represente vntounto them their god: They vsed the forme or shape of an oxe / the very same forme wolde the Israelytes nowe hauehave: And as the very heathen men mighte hauehave sayde that they worshipped the one only true liuinge god the Author and maker of all thinges / whose maiestie was shewed / figured / and set forthe vntounto them by those diuers signes / and formes / which they dyd worshippe: As that the signe of Minerua dyd set forthe his wisdom: the signe of Mars his mighte and power: the signe of Iupiter his Iustice and goodnes: So wolde the Israelites hauehave their god and deliuerer set forthe vntounto them in the shape of a Calfe / not that they mynded to turne awaye from him / or to denye him (as they thoughte) but because they wolde worshippe him as it pleased their fantesie. But we muste not apoynte the manier and ordre of godds seruice after our mynde and iudgment / or as they cōmonlye saye / after the goode intent of men: for this doinge in the Israelites god did not like / but for yt he punyshed them grevouslye: p. 20Nether dyd Moses alowe it / for he knewe that god wolde not so be worshipped. This cloke therfore must hauehave no place in this matier. but we muste see whether god will hauehave suche worshipe and seruice / whether goddes worde teachethe yt / whether it be clothed with the worde of truithe / which if it hauehave not / then dost thou not worship the true god with that worshippe which pleasethe him. Ieroboā thought mutch after this sorte / for his mynde was not to drawe the people awaye from the worshippe of the god Iehouah 3. Reg. 12.1 Kgs 12but he feared les if they sholde customablie go to the temple at Hierusalem / the people wolde fall from his kingdom and ioyne themselues agayne to the house ād stocke of Dauid: wherfore he se…inge his owne profite / sayde / that it was not nedefull that they sholde go up vntounto the temple / and to the Arke of the couenaunte when they wolde worship the true god: for the same god which was represented vntounto thē by the Arke of wodde ād the tēple / mighte euen aswell be represented vntounto them by these newe signes and golden calues: There is no chaunge but evē of the forme and owtwarde shape: for as at Hierusalem by the Arke / so here by the calues the liuinge god sholde be represented: And what make the yt matter what the signe be / so the worshippe be all oone: Therfore the same worshipp that ells they sholde do at Hierusalem / they mighte more commodiusli do yt in bethel / and dan. So that he dothe nothynge ells / but establishe this owtwarde worke / in wich he wolde hauehave thē worship the true god: but he hade no warraunte in godds worde for it / and that beinge ab sent / ther is nothinge in his acte remayninge but mans worcke / supersticion / and Idolatrie: so is it iudged. And therfor none of his subiectes shuld hauehave herckned to hym. So now / when Tiraunts / Kinges / Queenes / Bisshopps / and such other as ar the soudiours of Antichriste / the Pope I meane / do compel and constrayn men vntounto such vile and vngodly supersticions as the popishe bro od hauehave and do sett upp, althoughe they do pretend a goode well willing mynde vntounto their poeple and countrith (as thei saye) and that all shalbe for their wealthe: And thoughe they do also saye / that theise thinges ar of an auncient begyn̄yn ge and cōtynuaunce: Yet indeede they ar but popishe Idolatrours / and to Idolatrie do they trayn men. Therfor their subiectes must not herken vntounto them neither obey them herin / But do rather as S. Paule teachith. HaueHave no felowshipp with their vnfruitfull works / but rather reproue thē. He cal Ephes. 5.Eph 5lith theim their worckes, for gods worckes they cā not be called / bicause they do differ / ād swarue frō his worde: with thē (saithe he) hauehave no felowshipp What then is to be doon in that case? We must (Paule saith) reproue theim. And that so ost as neede shall require / to reproue theim with greate libertie and boldenes: So farr must we be from dissemblinge with them / that we must (he saithe) reproue them. If thou be a preacher / preache against them: If thow be noone / yet speake against them / reproue them / and condemn them. But our men do saye / That it wer very perillus to do thus: for then (saye they) shall we be burned / or hanged / we shall loose our goodes / londes / and promocions / I heare you well. And do yowe on the other part consider this as well / that ther is not one of us all which hath receiued christendome vnderunder such a conuenaunt and condicion / that with it he shuld hauehave and holde in safetie his lyfe / his ritches / and dignities without perseqution: But rather it is saide vntounto us / and in this case as a lawe layed vppon us all / that Except we do renownce Math. 16.Matt 16and vtterly forsake all our thinges and take upp our crosses and folow christe / we can not be his di sciples / and except we do lose our lyues we shall not saue them.

This verily / this must we determyn with our selues / this must we appoint our selues vntounto / to do and abide this must we caste our acompt / To this eueryevery christian must be so readie and bent / that he shuld not doubt / no not deliberate or take aduise of this matier.

That example of Cyprian is to be sett before our eyes: When he was brought vntounto the place wher Ciprian.he shuld suffer deathe / The magistrate being very desirus indede to deliuer hym from deathe / sayde vntounto hym. Now I do gyue the space to deliberate and aduise thi self well / whether thow wilt thus Wrechedly dye / or obey / and be let go free. To whō this godly mā answered. In so holy a thinge / ther is no deliberacion or aduise to be taken. This readines must eueryevery christian hauehave in this case to beare the crosse ād to followe Christe as Christes dis…iple. Trulye they whiche be not this wise mynded / but to saue their lyues and goodes do defile them selues with masses / and wicked supersticions / arr greuouslye punished for it euen present lie: firste their owne conscience dothe miserably torment thē. Secondlie the light of goddes truithe which a greuus punishement.was opened vntounto their mynde is by lytell and lytell put owt. Then the louelove of the truithe and the hate of falshode waxeth colde in them▪ fourthly their mynde becommith nomore displeased or vnquieted for the euill that they do / but they begynne to please them selues in this their euill and dissemblinge / yea ād do go aboute to persuade others ūto the same. Laste of all they begyn to hate thē which do not harcken to their aduise and counsell / which is to do as they do / yea and they stirre vp againste thē sharpe persequtiō / for so moche as in thē lyethe. This hathe bene the moste vnhappie ende of many. But this is not the end of all their miserie / as ye may well perceyue / if ye do consider what is appointed to be their perpetuall porcion / which shalbe payed them full truly in the laste daye. Let them therfore beware of this bottomles pytt which feare to breake their neckes. But some there are which in this their dissemblinge are wonte to defende p. 23thē selues after this sorte: we do not theis thinges (saye they) with our hartes / we do only thusbehaue our selues in bodie / and in outward behauiour. To whom I do answer: god he is the lorde of harte and bodie / as he requireth the worshippe of the harte / euen as iustlie and seuerlie dothe he commaunde the owtwarde worshippe of the bodye: for these owtwarde doinges are a kinde of confession / and therfore as men owght to be sounde and vprighte in the beleif of harte / so owght they to be in owtwarde cōfessinge and expressinge of their go dlynes and religiō. The doinges of men be as it we re a tongue: The tongue dothe confes the thinge that lyeth in the harte by wordes: so doinges do giuegive a confession therof indede: As he therfore which denyethe with tongue is a denyer of Christe / so he thatin owtwarde worckes and doinges denyeth Christ / is iustlie called a deniar. Of whom Christe doth saye. he that denyeth me before men / mat. 10.him will I denye before my father which is in heauē: wherfore as the tōgue owghte not in the confession of godlines and religion to differ from the mynde / so muste not the owtwarde doinges of the body disagree from the same. And vntounto these men this also I saye / with paule / that the belefe of the harte doth iustifie / but the mouthe and owtwarde Rom. 1….Rom 1doinges do make the confession vntounto saluation / And therfore Christe dothe saie / he that is ashamed mar. 8.of me before men / of him will I also be ashamed before my father which is in heauen. Morouer I wold it wer well knowen vntounto these men / that it is no true faythe which doth not breake forthe in workinge that worke which dothe agree with faithe. As it writen of Christe / who verylie soughte the glorye of his father / The zeale of thy house hathe eatē me / This zeale dyd not lye in Chri stes brest only / but it brake forthe into wordes / as it apeareth by his sermons / and into deedes also / as yt apeareth ther / wher he withe a whippe dyd dryue the byars and sellers owt of the temple: This is a zeale / which only deseruyth the name of a christian zeale. And euen the same I saye of faythe. What zeale thē / what faithe / what studie or ca re for faithe is it / that these men do bragge of / that they hauehave shutt up so close in their brestes that it breaketh not forthe into wordes and dedes? As This true christian zeale / and their dissemblinge can not be together in oone man / euen so true and lyuely faith can not lurcke in such a dissemblinge breste. Furthermore / there are two kindes of worshippe due unto god / an inwarde / and an owtwarde worshippe / The inwarde worshippe is of the mynde / that is when we beleue goddes truithe / and do thinke of god true and wor thye thinges / The owtwarde worshippe is of the bodye / which is declared by those owtwarde signes that do belonge to the true worshippe of god / In lyke maner there are two kindes of Idolatries / one is inwarde / which is the Idolatrie of the mynde / that is when a man dothe not thinke p. 24well / nor beleue trulye …nthe true lyuing godd / but dothe fayne vntounto him selfe throughe false doctrine / either a straūge god in his owne mynde / or straūge worshippinge of god: An other is outwarde wich is Idolatrie of the bodie / and that is whē we do be stowe the worshippe wich is only due vntounto god vp pon creatures / And whē we do owtwardlye worshippe god other wise then he wilbe worshipped. Truly Theise dissemblers do not giuegive to god this worshipp of mynde and bodie which is due vntounto him / but the Idolatrie of mynd and bodie they do commytt / bothe because they owtwardlie do ioyne with papistes in their Idolatrie / and because in their mynde they do persuade them selues that it is lawfull for them so to do. We thinke / (saye they) as you thinke / and in our hartes we do reteyne the truithe / and so our mynde is pure. But your bodyes ye do giuegive ouer to the deuill and to Idolls. Thy bodye / sayeth Paule / is a membre of Christe / why doest thow make yt the membre of an harlot? 1. Cor. 6.1 Cor 6here they will saye againste me / that Paule spake this of whordome / I graunte that: But the prophettes do teache vsus that the moste vile and horri ble whordome is Idolatrie. Hieremie / Ezechiel / ād the other prophettes do speake so against the Iues and their Churche / that they name it to be euen like an harlot which hathe opened her legges vn… everye tree that hade any bowghes to Idolls and vngodlye Idolatries. Wherfore if thow maye not make thy bodye the membre of an harlot, thow mu ste not make yt the membre of an Idoll. This collation betuene whordome and Idolatrie is playne and true / taughte by the prophettes and Paule. Morouer howe vayne this ther excuse is / that sayinge dothe sufficyentlie declare / in which the lorde pronounceth. I hauehave lefte me seuen thowsand in Israell / of which neuer man bowed his knees vntounto 3. Reg. 19.1 Kgs 19baal / nor kissed hym with his mouthe. He sayeth not / which thinke well in their mynde / which do beleue well / but he sheweth the signe of owtwarde worshippinge / that is to bowe the knee / and kisse. which doth teache that ther is required vntounto the true worshipp of godd / not a pure mynde only / but the owtwarde sygne / tokē / and doinge of worshippe / and seruice. The lorde our god is not cōtent with halfes / he will not part stakes with the dyuel. All knees (saith the lorde) shall bowe vntounto me. God will not parte so / that he shall hauehave the mynde / and Esay. 45.Isa 45the dyuell the bodye. All is myne / saythe the lorde / and I will hauehave all or none / I will hauehave bothe the obedience of the harte and the bowinge of the knee: Which worship by these thy dissemblinges thou takest from god / and so thou dost robbe him of his honor / and bestowe it vponupon Idolles / euen po pishe masses. But thou saiste / I despise the Masse / and all Idolatrous poperie in my harte: why then doest thou prostitute thy body vntounto yt? My mynde ys pure thou saiest: yee / but god will hauehave mynde and bodye pure. If this thy reason and excuse were of any force / then mighte the Corinthiās hauehave sayde to Paule / why doest thou so reproue vsus? we also by the grace of god do knowe that there is no Idoll. A true opinion we kepe in our mynde of godd his truithe / let god be cōtent with that / and in the meane tyme our bodies shall serue for our cōmo dyties. But paule telleth them plainlye that they do 1. Cor. 10.1 Cor 10communicate with devills. The meates offered to Idolls of their owne nature were pure / yet when the corinthians do eate them with the Idolatrors in ther Idolatrie / then they become (saith paule) partakers of the table of deuilles: when ye then be present at a Masse / which is an Impure thinge / and do ther as the papistes do / mutch more iustly is it sayed of you / that then ye ar partakers of thos deulishe dragges which ar in the Masse. Again our men do obiecte and saye: It is not we that hauehave corrupted theis thinges / we wolde be gladde to hauehave them pure and incorrupte: ther impuritie must not be adscribed vntounto us. I answer: An other mans synne shall not indeede be imputed vntounto the / for eche man shall beare his owne synne: but yet this thinge I do reproue in the / that thou dost communicate with wickednes: This is thy synne / here thou art defyled. and for this shalt thou be iudged. Paule sayde vntounto the corinthians: Ar not they 1. Cor. 1….1 Cor 1which do eate of the sacrifice / partakers of the temple? what saye I then? that the Image is any thinge? or that it which is offered to Images is any thinge? …aie. but this I saie / that the thinges which the gentills do offer / they offer to deuels and not to god. I wolde not that ye sholde hauehave fellowshippe with the devills: ye can not drincke of the cuppe of the lorde / and of the cuppe of Deuels / ye can not be partakers of the table of the lorde and of the table of deuels. Thoughe corrupcion of meates offred vntounto Idols is not to be imputed to all them that be partakres of them / (which wer not indeede corrupt of thē selues (as I saide) but when they wer offered vntounto Idols that made them corrupte) yeat the veraye communicating and eating of them with Idolatrors is a fault iustly layed to their charge / from which they shuld hauehave keapte themselues aswell for the honor that they do owe vntounto godd / as for the conscience which they ought to hauehave to edyfie other men. If it wer not so / whi did paule thus rebuke the Corinthians? Yea whi wolde not our holy martirs of the primitiue churche communicat and be partakers in the Sacri fices of the heathē? The martirs might hauehave saide / we knowe …hat an Idoll is nothing / and to offer vp sence to them is but an owtward thing / we do it but in bodie / our spret and harte is pure / and tha… we do / against our will we do it &c. They veryly did know no suche excuse / but they cōsidered that godd required this / that they shuld outwardly confes hym / and reproue / and fle from Idolatrie: And therfor aswell for their duties sake towarde godd / as bicause they wold not offend the brethern by their example / they did gyue their lyfe in the quarel… without making ony such blinde excuses.