A Wholesome Antidote Against Anabaptists, Dialogue 4
The .iiii. treatie, or dialoge touchynge ſimplicitee and erudicion.
Symon.
IS this, to blynde the eies of the ſymple, & rude people, Chryſte hym ſelfe, did ſaie ſo, when he gaue thankes vntounto his father, becauſe y• he hath reuelated & ſhewed ſuch high, godly and diuine miſteries, not to the wiſes, but to the litell ones, & to the ſimple. Ma. xi. And againe, he did not choſe learned men but ſimple and idiots, to be his apoſtels .i. Cor. i. Therfore we hauehave no neede of great learnyng, but the ſimpler that any man is, the more apte is he, to this office.
Ioiada.
It is manifeſte and euident, that ye vnderſtonde not the woordes of Chryſt. For if by the ſymple, he ſhulde vnderſtond them, that lacke wiſedome and learnynge (for ſo ye expounde the wordes of Chriſt) truely no man ſhulde be more apt, than fooles and diſerdes, whiche be in dede ignoraunt in all maner of thinges. But eueryevery man dooeth ſee, that it is againſt al reaſon, to thinke any ſuch thyng. Therfore Chriſt vnderſtondeth by ſimplicitee an other thyng.
Symon.
Tell you what it is.
Ioiada.
He is called a ſymple man, not he that is without witte, without reaſon and wiſdome, but he whiche is playne and ſincere, and without fraude, he whiche is good, and true inwardly in his herte, beynge without crafte and deceit. Elles it woulde come to paſſe, that eueryevery man ſhoulde defende his errour, by ignorancie. Whiche thyng, what coulde be elles, but a carnall malice or libertee, wherby eueryevery man woulde begynne and goe about, to boaſte and ſette forthe hs ignorancie, and therewith to defende his errours? Who did euer ſee, ſuche temerarious audacitee, as theſe ſhamefull rennegates dooe vſe? that with theyr ignorancie and rudeneſſe dare defende any thynge? By ignorauncy truely, errours are detected, and not confyrmed.
Symon.
Yet, the apoſtels were ignoraunt and vnlearned, nor we dooe not reade, that Chryſt did chooſe any that were learned.
Ioiada.
Truely thei were endued with ſuch ſimplicitee, as we hauehave ſpoken of afore. But they were not vnlerned and ignoraunt. For they were familiarly cōuerſant with Chryſte, aboue three yeares, wt Chriſt, I ſay, in whom are, all y• treaſures wiſdō of & knowlage, yea, which is hymſelf, yt eternal wiſedome of y• heauenly father. Of this fountaine drāke they abundantly, by this maiſter, wer thei inſtituted and tawght, and at lengthe were ſo endued, and illuminated with the holy ghoſt that they were …unnynge in all tonges & ſcriptures. That may be ſene, bothe by their writyngs and alſo by theyr actes. As for that, that thou denaieſt, y• chriſt did call none, whiche were learned, doeſt thou not repugne here agaīſt y• manifeſt truthe? Paull was excedyngly well lerned.
Barnabas, Gamaliell, Nicodedemus, & Apollo y• Alexandrian were great clerkes. That in the meane ſeaſon, I ſhulde paſſe ouer all the other, that is to ſaie, Moiſes, whiche was learned in al the ſciences of the Egipcians Steauen, Eſaie, Timothe, loke better vponupon the .xiii. chap. of the firſt epiſtel, to the Corinthians, and vponupon the firſt chap. of the epiſtell, to Citus, and thou ſhalt fynde what erudicion and learnynge an ouerſeer or biſſhoppe ought to hauehave. Therfore, theſe arrogant & preſumptuous Anababtiſtes, can not excuſe nor defende, their impudent ignorancie, by ſimplenes, but that it is alredy manifeſt vntounto the world yt they are geuen into a reprobate ſence, as thei, that be not aſhamed, to boaſt, and to ſet forth vntounto all men, their ignorancie, in ſtede of good learnynge, as though children, do not ſmel alredy, their craft & ſubtiltee. But in y• meane ſeaſō, no man ought thus, to interprete our ſaiynges as though we ſhuld ſpeake here, of them, that are falſely, called learned men. For we ſpeake of ſuch, as hauehave ben taught, by god & to the glory of god. Of whom, there were many, in the primitiue churche, as Pātonus, Tertulian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Auguſtine, and many other.
Sy
Thou ſpeakeſte, with good reaſō. For we ought not to think that Chryſte did commend ſuch ſimplicitee, wherby the vnconnynger that a man is, the bolder he ſhoulde be. As many, whiche though thei can ſcarſely reade y• vulgare tonge, yet not withſtandyng, doe without ſhame, ingerate & thruſt them ſelues, in to y• office of preachers, ſtamering moſt foolyſſhely in the common pulpit, But becauſe thei ſhulde not be founde to bee ignoraunt, in ſome thyng: they begyn firſt to excuſe their ignorancie, with ſuch woordes. Be not ye offended, obretherne, that I am ignorant and vnlearned. For the father, doeth manifeſt hym ſelfe to the ſymple and vnlerned. Finally, ſeyng that Chriſte, doeth promeſſe, to his diſciples ſuche wiſedome, and eloquence, that their aduerſaries, ſhould not be able to withſtond it (where as, on the contrary part, theſe men doe recken their ignorancie, to be a glorious thyng vntounto them) I mai eaſily perceiue, that theſe are not ſuche ſimple perſons as Chryſte doeth ſpeake of, but rather ſuch, as doe clothe them ſelues, in ſheapes ſkinnes, faining them ſelues, to be ſheapes, but inwardely, within theyr hertes, are rauenyng wolues. But now, I praye the, to take that awaye quickely, whyche offendeth me in the ſeconde concluſion.
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