Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Book 11 · Letters 1 · Letter 6
¶The aunswere of M. Latimer to the letter of Syr Edward Baynton aboue prefixed.
RIght worshypfull sir, and my singular good mayster,Answere of M. Latimer to M. Bayntōs letter. salutem in Christe Iesu, with due commendation and also thankes for your great goodnes towardes me &c. And whereas you hauehave communicate my last letters to certayne of your frendes, whiche rather desire this or that in me &c. what I thinke therein I wyll not now say, not for that there could be any perill or daunger in the sayd letters (well taken) as farre as I can iudge, but for that they were rashely and vndeuisedly scribled, as yee might well know both by my excuse, and by themselues also, thoughe none excuse had bene made. And besides that, ye know right wel, that wheras the Bee gathereth honey,The Bee. The Spinner. euen there the spinner gathereth venome, not for any diuersity of the flower, but for dyuers natures in them that sucketh the flower: As in times past, and in the beginning, the very truth: and one thinge in it selfe was to some,EueryEvery thing as it is taken. offence, to some foolishnes, to other otherwise disposed, the wisedome of God. Such diuersitie was in the redresse of hearers therof.
But this notwithstandinge, there is no more but eyther my wryting is good, or bad, if it be good, the communicatynge thereof to your friendes cannot be hurtfull to me? if it be otherwise, why shoulde you not communicate it to them, whiche both could and would instruct you in the truth, and reforme my errour.Had I wist. Let this passe, I will not contend: had I wyst commeth euer out of season. Truely I were not well aduised if I would not eyther be glad of your instruction, or yet refuse myne owne reformation, but yet it is good for a man to looke or hee leapeth, and God forbid that ye should be addict and sworne to me so wretched a foole, that you should not rather followe the doctrine of your frendes in truth, so great learned men as they appeare to be then the opinions of me, hauing neuer so christen a brest.
Wherefore doe as you will: for as I woulde not if I coulde so I cannot if I woulde, be noysome vntounto you, but yet I saye I would my letters had bene vnwrytten, if for none other cause, at least way, in asmuche as they cause me to more wrytynge, an occupation nothyng meete for my mad head: and as touching poyntes whiche in my foresayde letters mislike your friendes, I hauehave now little leysure to make an answere thereto for the great busines that I hauehave in my little cure, I knowe not what other men hauehave in their great cure seeyng that I am alone without anye Prieste to serue my cure without my scholer too read vntounto me,Example of a true diligent pastor. wythout any booke necessary to be looked vponupon, without learned men to come and counsell withall All whiche thynges other hauehave at hand abundantly, but some thing must be done,M. Latimer vnfurnished with outward helpe. how soeuer it be. I pray you take it in good worth, as long as I temper myne owne iudgement, affirming nothing with preiudice of better. First yee mislike, that I saye I am sure that I preache the truthe, saying in reproofe of the same, that god knoweth certayne truthe.M. Latimer blamed for saying he was sure of the truth which he preached. As God alone knoweth all truth so some truth he reuealeth to be certaine to his seruauntes. … presumption in a Preacher being certayne of that which he Preacheth, to shew it to the people. Let not man Preach except that he be certayne of that which he preacheth. In deede alonely God knoweth al certayne truth, and alonely God knoweth it as of himself, and none knoweth certayne truth but God, and those which be taught of God, as saith S. Paule: Deus enim illis patesecit: And Christ himselfe: erunt omnes docti a Deo: And your frendes deny not but that certayne truth is communicate to vsus, as our capacitie may comprehend it by fayth, whiche if it be trueth as it is, then there ought no more to be required of any man, but according to his capacitie: nowe certayne it is that eueryevery man hath not like capacitie. &c.
But as to my presumption and arrogancye: eyther I am certayne or vncertayne that it is trueth that I preache, If it bee truth, why may not I say so, to courage my hearers to receaue the same more ardently, and ensue it more studiously? If I be vncertaine, why dare I be so bold to preache it? And if your frends in whom ye trust so greatly, be preachers themselues, after their sermon I pray you aske them whether they be certayne and sure that they taught you the truth or no, and sende me worde what they say, that I may learne to speake after them. If they say they be sure, ye know what followeth: If they say they be vnsure, whē shall you be sure that hath so doubtful teachers and vnsure? And you your selues, whether are you certayne or vncertayne, that Christ is your sauiour, and so foorth of other articles that yee be bounden to beleeue,EueryEvery true christian ought to be certayne of his fayth. or whether be ye sure or vnsure, that ciuile ordinaunces be the good workes of God, and that you doe God seruice in doyng of them, if ye do them for good intent: if ye be vncertayne, take heede hee be your sure friend that heareth you say so, and then, with what conscience do you doubt: Cum quicquid non est ex fide, peccatum sit? But contrary say you, alonely God knoweth certayne truth, and ye hauehave it but per speculum in enigmate:The doubting doctrine of the Catholickes. and there hauehave bene, qui zelum Dei habuerunt, sed non secundum scientiam: and to call thys or that truth, it requireth a deepe knowledge, consideryng that to you vnlearned, that you take for truth may be otherwise, not hauing sensus exercitatos (as Paule sayth) ad discernendum bonum & malum, as yee reason agaynst me, and so you do best to knowe surely nothynge for truth at all,Argumentes. but to wander meekely hether and thether, omni vento doctrinae. &c. Our knowledge here, you say, is but per speculum in enigmate? What then? Ergo it is not certayn and sure?
I deny your argument by your leaue: yea if it be by fayth, as ye say, it is muche sure, quia certitudo fidei est maxima certitudo as Duns and other schole Doctours saye: that there is a great discrepaunce betweene certayne knowledge,Aunswere. and cleare knowledge: for that may be of thinges absent that appeare not, this requireth the presence of the obiect,i. The … the most … certayn… …. Certa…ne knowledge. Cl…are knowledge. M. Latimer not … of the … Which … had knowledg without any …, while th…y knowing the will of God, doe nothing the… after. 1. …, that al…o which he … as not to hauehave it. And also seing it is true, that Gods … will not dwell in a body subiect to sinne, albeit he abound in carnall wisedome to much yet the same …rnall and Philosophicall vnderstanding of Gods …, is not the wisedome of God, which is hidde from the wi…e and i… reuealed to litle ones. EueryEvery Preacher ought to be su…e of the truth. There be many truthes, whereof a good man may well be ignoraunt. There be many thinges in Scripture in the profundities whereof a man may wade to farre▪ Agaynst preachers which take vponupon thē to define great subtilties and highe matters in the Pulpit. Vayne subtilties and questions to be declined. Simple and playne preaching of faith, and of the fruites thereof. Foolishe humilitye. I meane of the thinge knowne so that I certainely and surely know the thing whiche I perfectly beleeue, though I doe not clearely and euidently knowe it. I know your schole subtleties, as well as you, whiche … as though enigmaticall knowledge, that is to saye, darcke and obscure knowledge might not be certayn and sure knowledge because it is not cleare, manifest and euident knowledge: and yet there hath bene (they say) qui zelum Dei habuerunt, sed non secundum scientiam, which hauehave had a zeale, but not after knowledge. Truth it is, there hath bene suche, and yet be to manye to the great hinderaunce of Christes glorye, whiche nothing dothe more obscure, then an hote zeale accompanyed with great authoritie without right iudgement. There hauehave bene also, Qui scientiam habuerunt absque zelo Dei, qui viuitatem Dei in iniustitia detinentes plagis vapulabunt multis, dum voluntatem Domini cognoscentes, nihil minus quàm, faciunt, I meane not among Turkes and Saracens that bee vnchristened, but of them that be christined▪ and there hauehave bene also that hauehave lost scientiam Dei, id est, spiritualem diuini verbi sensum, quam prius habuerunt. i. The spirituall knowledge of Gods word whiche they had before, because they hauehave not ensued after it, nor promoted the same, but rather with theyr mother wits hauehave impugned the wisedome of the father, and hindered the knowledge thereof, whiche therefore hath bene taken away from them, vt iustificetur Christus in sermonibus suis, & vincat cum iudicatur, threatning Math. 13. Ei vero, qui non habet, etiam quod habet, id est, quod videtur habere, auferetur ab eo, cum abuti habito, vel non bene vti, sit non habere, nec non sit verum illud quoue, non habitaturam, videlicet sapientiam in corpore peccatis subdito, qui adhuc & si carnaliter sapiant plus satis, at stat, sententia, nem…e carnalem & Philosophicam scripturarum intelligentiam, non esse sapientiam Dei, quae à sapientibus absconditur, paruulis reuelatur. And if to call this or that truth, requireth a deepe and profound knowledge, then eyther eueryevery man hath a deepe and profound knowledge, or els no man can call this or that truth: & it behoueth eueryevery Preacher to hauehave so deepe and profound knowledge, that he may call this or that truth, which this or that hee taketh in hand to preache for the truth, and yet hee may be ignoraunt and vncertayne in many thinges, both this and that, as Apollo was: but which thinges, whether this or that, he will not attempt to preach for the truth. And as for my self, I trust in God, I maye hauehave sensus exercitatos well enough ad discernendum bonum & malum. Sensus exercised to discerne good and euill in those thinges which wythout deep and profound knowledge in many thinges I preache not, yea there be manye thinges in scripture in whiche I cannot certaynely discerne bonum & malum, I meane verum & falsum, not with al the exercise that I hauehave in scripture, nor yet with helpe of all interpreters that I hauehave, to content my selfe and other in all scrupulosity, that may arise: but in such I am wont to wade no farther into the streame, then that I may eyther go ouer, or els returne backe agayne, hauing euer respect, not to the ostentation of my little wit, but to the edification of them that heare me, as far forth as I can, neyther passing myne owne nor yet theyr capacitie.
And such manner of argumentes might well serue the Deuill contra pusillanimes, to occasion them to wander and wauer in the faythe, and to be vncertayne in thinges in whiche they ought to be certayne: or els it may appeare to make and serue agaynst such preachers which wil define great subtleties & high matters in the Pulpit, whiche no man can be certayne and sure of by Gods worde to be truth, ne sensus quidem habens ad discernendum bonum & malum exercitatissimos: as whether, if Adam had not sinned we should hauehave had Stockefishe out of Iseland: howe many Larkes for a peny if eueryevery Starre in the element were a flickering Hobby: how many yeres a man shall lye in Purgatory for one sinne if he buy not plenty of the oile that runneth ouer our lampes to slake the sinne withall, and so forget hel whiche cannot be slaked, to prouide for Purgatory.
Such argumentation (I say) might appeare to make well agaynst such Preachers, not agaynst me, which simply and playnly vtter true fayth and fruites of the same, whiche bee the good woorkes of God, quae preparauit deus vt in eis ambularemus. i. which he hath prepared for vsus to walke in, eueryevery man to do the thing that perteineth to his office and duety in his degree and calling, as the word of God appointeth, which thing a man may do with sobernesse, hauing sensus ad discernendum bonum & malum, vel mediocriter exercitatos. For it is but foolishe humilitye, willingly to continue alwayes infantulus in Christo & in infirmitate. i. an infant still in Christ, and in infirmity: in reproofe of which it was sayd … estis opus habentes lacte non solido cibo. For S. Paule sayth not: Estote humiles, vt non capiatis. For though he would not that wee shoulde thinke arrogantly of our selfe, and aboue that that it becommeth vsus to thinke of our selfe, but so to think of our selfe, vt simus sobrij ac modesti, yet he biddeth vsus so to think of our selfe, vt cuiue Deus partitus est mensuram fidei. i. as God hath distributed to eueryevery one the measure of fayth. For he that may not with meekenesse thinke in himselfe what God hath done for him, and of himselfe as God hath done for him, how shall he, or when shall he geue due thankes to God for his giftes? And if your frendes will not allow the same, I pray you enquire of them whether they may cum sobrietate & modestia be sure they preach to you the truth, and whether we may, cum sobrietate & modestia folowe S. Paules bidding, where hee sayth vntounto vsus all: Nolite fieri pueri sensibus, sed malitia infantes estote. i. Be not children in vnderstanding, but in malitiousnesse be infantes.A meane betweene to hie, and to low. God geue vsus all grace to keepe the meane, & to think of our selfe neither to high nor to low, but so that we may restore vntounto him, qui peraegre profectus est, his giftes agayne cum vsura, that is to say, with good vse of the same, so that aedificemus inuicem with the same, ad gloriam Dei. Amen.
For my life I trust in god that I neither hauehave, neither (by gods grace) shall I, neither in sobernesse, nor yet in drunkennesse affirme any trueth of my selfe, therewith entending to diuide that vnity of the Congregation of Christ, and the receiued trueth agreed vponupon by the holy Fathers of the Church consonant to the Scripture of God, though it be shewed you neuer so often, that an opinion or maner of teaching, whiche causeth dissention in a Christian Congregation, is not of God, by the doctrine of Saynt Iohn in his Epistle where he sayth: Omnis qui confitetur Iesum Christum in carne, ex Deo est. i. EueryEvery one that confesseth Christ in the flesh,Not eueryevery thing wher…pon dissē tion com…eth, i… the …. He … Pope and his Papists, which … not … the … K. Henry and … br…thers …. … may be taken where … is geuen. The church of the Galathians. is of God. First not eueryevery thing whereupon foloweth dissention, causeth dissention, as I woulde they that shewed you that, would also shew you, whether this opinion, that a man may not mary his brothers wife, be of God or of men, if it be of men, then as Gamaliell sayd, dissoluetur: if it bee of God, as I thinke it is, and perchaunce your frendes also, quis potest dissoluere nisi qui videbitur Deo repugnare? i. Who can dissolve it but shal seme to repugne against God▪ And yet there be many not heathennes, but in Christendome, that dissenteth from the same, which could beare full euill to heare sayd vntounto them: vos ex patre diabolo estis. So that such an opinion might seme to some to make a dissē tion in a Christian Congregation, sauing that they may saye perchaunce with more liberty then other, that an occasion is sometime taken and not geuen, which with theyr fauor I might abuse for my defence, sauing that, non omnibus licet in hac temporum iniquitate.
The Galathians hauing for preachers and teachers the false Apostles, by whose teaching they were degenerate frō the sweet liberty of the Gospell into the sowre bond of ceremonies, thoght themselues peraduenture a Christian Congregation when Saint Paule did write his Epistle vntounto them, and were in a quiet trade vnderunder the dominion of maysterly Curates, so that the false Apostles might hauehave obiected to S. Paule that this Apostleshippe was not of God, for as muche as there was dissention in a Christian Congregation by occasion therof, while some would renue their opinions by occasion of the Epistle some would opinari, as they were wont to do, and folow theyr great Lordes and maysters the false Apostles, whiche were not heathen and vnchristened, but Christened, and hie Prelates of the professors of Christ. For your frendes I know right well what Erasmus hath sayde in an Epistle set before the Paraphrases of the first Epistle to the Corinthians,Erasmus in … epistle set before the Para…rase, in … Cor. which Erasmus hath caused no small dissension with his pen in a Christian Congregation, in as much as many hauehave dissented frō him, not alonely in Cloysters, (men more then christened men) of high perfection, but also at Paules Crosse, and S. Mary Spitle: besides many that with no small zeale hauehave written agaynst him, but not without aunswere.
And I woulde fayne learne of your frendes, whether that S. Hieromes writing were of God, which caused dissension in a christian Congregation, as it appeareth by his owne wordes in the prologue before the Canonical Epistles, which be these: Et tu virgo Christi Eustochium, dum à me impensius Scripturae viritatē inquiris,… meam quodam modo senectutem inuidorum dentibus vel morsibus corrodendam apponis, qui me falsarium corruptoremque Scripturarum pronunciant: sed ego in tali opere nec illorum inuidentiam pertimesco, nec Scripturae veritatem poscentibus denegabo. I pray you what were they that called S Hierom falsarium and corrupter of Scripture, and for enuye would hauehave bitten him with theyr teeth? vnchristen, or christen? what had the vnchristen to doe with christen doctrine? They were worshipfull fathers of a Christian Congregation, men of much more hotter stomackes then right iudgemen…e, of a greater authoritye then good charity: but Saynt Hierome would not cease to do good for the euill, speaking of them that were nought, geuing in that an ensample to vsus of the same: and if this dissension were in Saynt Hieromes time, what may be in our time? de malo in peius scilicet.
And I pray you what meaneth your frendes by a Christian Congregation? All those (trow ye) that hauehave bene christened? But many of those bene in worse condition and shal hauehave greater dā nation, then many vnchristened. For it is not enough to a christian Congregation that is of God, to hauehave bene Christened: but it is to be considered what we promise when we be christened, to renounce Sathan, his woorkes, his pompes: Whiche thing if we busye not our selfe to doe, let vsus not crake that wee professe Christes name in a Christian Congregation, in vno baptismo. i. in one baptisme.
And where they adde in vno Domino. i. in one Lorde, I reade in Math. 17. non omnis qui dicit Domine, Domine. &c. …. Not eueryevery one that sayth Lord, Lord. &c. And in Luke the Lord himself complayneth and rebuketh such professors and confessours,To pretend vnitye vnderunder the title of one Lord, is not inough. saying to them: Cur dicitis domine, domine, & non facitis quae dico? i. Why call you me Lord, Lord, and doe not that I bid you? euen as though it were enough to a Christian man, or to a Christian Congregation to say eueryevery day, Domine Dominus noster, and to salute Christe with a double Domine. But I woulde your frendes would take the paynes to read ouer Chrysostome super Mathaeum,Chrisost. Hom. 49. in Mat. cap. 24. hom. 49. cap. 24. to learne to knowe a Christian Congregation, if it will please them to learne at him. And where they adde, in vna fide. i. in one fayth, S. Iames sayth boldly: ostende mihi fidem ex operibus. i. shew me thy fayth by thy workes. And S. Hierome: Si tamen credimus, inquit, opere veritatem ostēdimus.To be in vnity of fayth, except the fayth be sound, is not inough. i. If we beleeue we shew the truth in working. i. He that beleueth God, attendeth to his commaundementes. Hieron. Tom. 5. in Hierem. Cap 26. How true preachers should order themselues, when the wicked Priestes be against them. Hieron. Tom. 6. in Naum cap. 30. i. The people which before were brought a sleepe by their Maners, must goe vp to the mountaynes, not such moūtaines which smoke when they are touched, but to the mountaines of the old and new testament, the Prophets, Apostles, and Euangelistes. And when thou art occupyed with reading in those mountaines yf then thou find no instructors, (for the haruest is great and the workemen be few) yet shall the diligent study of the people be flying to the mountaines and the slouthfulnes of the Maisters shalbe rebuked. And Scripture sayeth, qui credit Deo, attendit mandatis: And the deuils beleue to theyr litle comfort, I praye God to saue you and your frendes from that beleuing Congregation, and from that faythfull company.
Therefore all this toucheth not them that be vnchristened, but them that be christened and aunswere not vntounto theyr Christendome. For Saynt Hierom sheweth how true Preachers should order themselues, when euil Priestes and false Preachers and populus ab his deceptus. i. The people be by them deceiued, should be angry with them for preaching the truth. Tom. 5. in Hieremiam Capi. 26. exhorting them to suffer death for the same of the euill priestes and false Preachers and the people deceiued of thē, which euill Priestes and false Preachers with the people deceyued, be Christened as well as other: and I feare me that Saynct Hierome might appeare to some Christian Cōgregation, as they will be called, to write seditiously, to deuide the vnity of a great honest number, confessing Christ in vno baptismate, vno Domino, vna fide, saying: populus qui ante sub magistris consopitus erat, ibit ad montes, non illos quidem qui vel leuiter tacti fumigant, sed montes veteris & noui testamenti, Prophetas, Apostolos, & Euangelistas, & cum eiusmodi montium lectione versatus, si non inuenerit doctores (messis enim multa operarij autem pauci) tunc & populi studium comprobabitur, quo fugerit and montes, & magistrorum desidia coa…guetur. To. 6. in Naū. cap. 30.
I do maruell why our Christian Congregation be so greatlye greeued that lay people would read scripture, seyng that Saynct Hierom alloweth and approueth the same, which compareth not here the vnchristened to the christened, but the lay people christened to theyr Curates christened, vnderunder the which they hauehave bene rocked and locked a sleepe in a subtle trade a greate while full soundly, though nowe of late they hauehave beene waked, but to theyr payne, at the least way, to the payne of them that hauehave weakened them with the word of God: and it is properly sayd of S. Hierome to call them Maysters and not seruauntes, meaning that seruauntes teacheth not their owne doctrine, but the doctrine of theyr Mayster Christ, to his glory. Maysters teacheth not Christes doctrine, but theyr owne, to theyr owne glory: which Maysterly Curates cannot bee quiet till they hauehave broughte the people a sleepe agayne: but Christ the very true Mayster sayth: vigilate, & orate, ne intretis in tentationem. Non cogitationes meae cogitationes vestrae, neque viae meae viae vestrae, dicit dominus: & there hauehave bene, qui cogitauerunt concilia, quae non potuerunt stabilire. i. which hauehave gone about counsels, which they could not establish. I pray God geue our people grace so to wake, vt studium illorum comprobetur, and our maysters so to sleepe, vt non desidia illorum coarguatur. For who …s so blinde that he seeth not howe farre our Christian Congregation doth gaynesay S. Hierome, and speaketh after an other fashion. God amend that is amisse: for wee be something wide, ywis.
But nowe your frendes hauehave learned of S. Iohn, that omnis qui confitetur Iesum Christum in carne, ex Deo est. i. EueryEvery one that confesseth Iesus Christ in flesh, is of God. And I hauehave learned of Saynt Paule, that there hauehave bene, not among the heathē, but among the Christen, qui ore confitentur, factis autem negant i. which confesse Christ with theyr mouth, and deny him with their actes: So that Saynt Paule shoulde appeare to expounde S. Iohn sauing that I will not affirme any thing as of my selfe, but leaue it to your frendes to shew your vtrum qui factis negant Christum & vita, sint ex deo necne per solam oris confessionem: for your frendes knoweth well enough by the same. Saynt Iohn, qui ex Deo est, non peccat: and there both hauehave bene and be nowe too many, qui ore tenus confitentur Christum venisse in carne, whiche will not effectually heare the word of God by consenting to the same, notwithstanding that S. Iohn sayth, qui ex deo est, verbū Dei audit, vos non auditis quia ex deo nō estis: & many shal heare nunquam noui vos. i. I neuer knew you, which shall not alonelye be christened, but also shall prophetare, and do puissaunt thinges in nomine Christi: and Saynt Paule sayde there should come Lupi graues qui non percerent gregi. i. rauening Wolues which wyll not spare the flocke,i. Which wit… mouth onelyonly confesse Christ to come in flesh▪ meaninge it of them that shoulde confite…i Christum in carne in theyr lips, and yet vsurpe by succession the office, which Christ calleth speudoprophetas. i. false prophetes, & biddeth vsus beware of them, saying they shal come in vestimentis ouium, id est, in sheepes cloathing, and yet they may weare both satten, silke, and veluet, called afterwardes serui ne quam, nō pascentes sed percutientes conseruos, edentes & bibentes cum ebrijs,Naughty seruauntes not feeding but smitting their fellow seruauntes, eating and drinking with the drunken which shall hauehave their portion with hypocrites. i. Because they confesse Christ in flesh: and naughty they are called, because they deny him in their deedes, not geuing meat in due season, and excercising maistershippe ouer the flocke. August. in Ioan. Tract. 3. habituri tandem portionem cum hypocritis. They are called serui, seruauntes I trowe, quod ore confitentur Christum in carne: nequam vero, quia factis negant eundem, non dantes cibum in tempore, dominum exercentes in gregem: And yet your frendes reason as though there coulde none barcke and bite at true Preachers, but they that be vnchristened, notwithstandinge that S. Austen vponupon the same Epistle of Iohn calleth such confessours of Christ, qui…ore confitentur, & factis negant, Antichristos: a straunge n…me for a Christian Congregation: and though S. Augusten coulde defende his saying, yet his saying might appeare not to bee of God, to some mens iudgement, in that it breaketh the chayne of Christes charity, so to cause men to hate Antichristianismum, Antichristes, according to the doctrine of S. Paule: sitis odio persequentes quod malum est. i. Hate that is euill: and so making diuision, not betwene christened and vnchristened, but betwene Christians and Antichristians, when neither penne nor toung can deuide the Antichristians from theyr blind folly. And I would you would cause your frends to read ouer S. Austen, vponupon the Epistle of S. Iohn, and tell you the meaning thereof, if they thinke it expedient for you to know it, as I remember it is tractatu. 3. but I am not sure nor certaine of that, because I did not see it since I was at Cambridge: and here hauehave I not S. Austins workes to looke for it: but well I wot, that there he teacheth vsus to know the Christians frō the Antichristians, which both be christened, and both confesse Iesum esse Christum,Both Christians and Antichristians confesse the name of Christ. i. Let vsus not stand vponupon our talkes but attend to our doinges and conuersation of life, whether we, not onelyonly do not put our indeuour thereto, but also perswade our selues as though it were not necessary for vsus to accomplish such thinges. &c. but that it is inough to beare rule and authoritye ouer them, and to bestow our selues wholy vponupon secular matters, pleasures, & pompe of this world. In the people is required a iudgmēt to discerne, whether they tooke of their ministers chalke for cheese. The blind eateth many a flye. Intollerable secularitye and negligence in Churchmen. Better is in the Church a deforme disagreement so that Christ be truely preached, then vniforme ignorance agreeing in Idolatrye. if they be asked the question: and yet the one part denyeth it in very deed: but to knowe whether, non linguam sed facta attendamus, & viuendi genus, nū studeamus officia vocationis praestare an non studeamus, immo persuasi forte sumus non necesse esse vt praestemus, sed omnia in primitiuam ecclesiam & tempora praeterita. &c. quasi nobis sat sit dominari, & secula…ibus negotijs nos totos voluere, ac voluptatibus & pompae inhiare: and yet we will appeare, vel soli ex Deo esse: sed longe aliter Christum confitentur, qui confitēdo ex Deo esse comprobantur.
And yet as long as they minister the word of God or his Sacramentes or any thing that God hath ordeined to the saluation of mankinde, wherewith GOD hath promised to be present, to worke with the ministration of the same to the end of the world, they be to be heard, to be obeyed, to bee honoured for Gods ordinaunce sake, which is effectuall and fruitefull, whatsoeuer the minister be, though he bee a Deuill, and neyther Churche, nor member of the same, as Origene saith, and Chrisostome, so that it is not all one to honour them, and trust in them, Saynt Hierome sayth: but there is required a iudgement, to discerne when they minister Gods woorde and ordinaunce of the same, and theyr owne, least peraduenture we take chalke for cheese, whiche wyll edge our teethe, and hinder digestion. For as it is commonlye sayd, the blinde eateth many a flye, as they did which were perswaded à principibus sacerdotum vt peterent Barrabam, Iesum autem crucifige…ent. i. Of the high Priestes, to aske Barrabas and to crucify Iesus: and ye know that to followe blinde guides is to come into the pit with the same. And will you know, sayth Saynt Augustine, how apertly they resist Christ, when men beginne to blame them for they… misliuing, and intollerable secularity, & negligence? they dare not for shame blaspheme Christ himselfe, but they will blaspheme the ministers and preachers of whome they be blamed.
Therefore, whereas yee will pray for agreement both in the truth, and in vttering of the trueth, when shall that be as longe as we will not heare the trueth▪ but disquiet with crafty conueiance the Preachers of the trueth, because they reprooue our euilnesse with the truth, And to say trueth better it were to hauehave a deformity in preaching, so that some would preach the truth of God, and that which is to be preached, without cauponation and adulteration of the word (as Lyranus sayth in his time few did, what they do now a dayes I report me to them that can iudge) then to hauehave such an vniformity, that the sely people should be thereby occasioned to continue still in theyr lamentably ignorance, corrupt iudgement, superstition and Idolatry, and esteeme thinges as they doe all, preposterously, doyng that, that they neede not for to doe, leauing vndone that they ought to doe, for lacke or want of knowing what is to be done, and so shewe theyr louelove to God, not as God biddeth (which sayth: Si diligitis me, praecepta mea seruate.i. If ye louelove me keepe my commaundementes. i. He that knoweth my preceptes and doth them, he loueth me. The state of Curates what it is. And agayne: Qui habet praecepta mea & facit ea, hic est qui diligit me) but as they bid qui quaerunt quae sua sunt, non quae Iesu Christi. i. Which seeke theyr owne thinges: not Christes as though to tythe mynt were more, then iudgement, fayth, and mercy.
And what is to liue in state of Curates, but that hee taughte which sayd: Petre amas me? pasce, pasce, pasce: Peter louest thou feede, feede, feede: which is now set aside, as though to louelove were to doe nothing els, but to weare ringes: miters, and rochets. &c. And when they erre in right liuing, how can the people but erre in louing, and all of the new fashion,The true honour of Christ turned to Piping playing, and Singing. to his dishonor that suffered his passion, and taught the true kinde of louing, whiche is nowe turned into piping, playing, and curious singing, which will not be reformed (I trow) nisi per manū Dei validam. And I hauehave both S. Austen, and S. Thomas, with diuers other, that lex is taken, not alonely for Ceremonies, but also for Mo…als, where it is sayd: N… estis sub lege: though your frendes reproue the same. But they can make no diuision in a christian congregation. And whereas both you and they would hauehave a sobernes in our preaching, I pray god send it vntounto vsus, whatsoeuer ye meane by it. For I see well, whosoeuer will be happy, and busye with vae vobis,He that wil… be busie with V… Vobis let him looke shortly for corā nobis. he shall shortly after come coram nobis.
And where your frendes thinke that I made a lye, when I said that I hauehave thought in times past that the Pope had bene Lord of the world, though your frendes bee much better learned then I, yet am I sure that they knowe not what eyther I thinke, or hauehave thought, better then I, iuxta illud▪ nemo nouit quae sunt hominis. &c. as though better men then I hauehave not thought so, as Bonifacius (as I remember) Octauus,Iohannes do tu…e Cremata. the great learned manne Iohn of the burnt Tower: presbiter Cardinalis in his book where he proueth the Pope to be aboue the counsell Generall and Speciall, where he sayth that the Pope is Rex …egum,The Pope great Maister, Lord, and king, ouer all the world. & Dominus dominantium. i. The King of Kinges and Lord of Lordes, and that he is verus Dominus totius orbis, iure, licet non facto. i. the true Lord of the whole worlde by good right, albeit in fact he be not so: and that Constantinus didde but restore his owne vntounto him, when he gaue vntounto him Rome, so that in propria venit, as S. Iohn sayth Christ did, & sui eum non receperunt: and yet I heare not that any of our Christian congregation hath reclamed agaynste him, vntill now of late, dissention began.i. He came into his owne, and his owne receaued him not. Iohn. 1. Who be your frendes I cannot tell: but I would you woulde desire them to be my good maysters, and if they will doe me no good, at the least way do me no harme: and though they can do you no more good then I, yet I am sure I would be as loth to hurt you as they, either with mine opinions, maner of preaching or writing.
And as for the Popes high dominion ouer al, there is one Raphaell Maruphus in London, an Italian,The Popes dominion. Purgatory. Worshipping of Saintes. and in times past a Marchaunt of dispensations, which I suppose woulde dye in the quarell, as Gods true Knight, and true Martyr. As touching Purgatory, and worshipping of Sayntes, I shewed to you my minde before my Ordinary: and yet I maruelled something, that after priuate communication had with him, ye would (as it were) adiure mee to open my minde before him, not geuing mee warning before, sauing I cannot interpret euill your doinges towardes me: & yet neither mine Ordinary, nor you disalowed the thing that I sayd, and I looked not to escape better then Doctor Crome: …ut whē I hauehave opened my mind neuer so much, yet I shall be reported to denye my preaching, of them that hauehave belyed my preaching, as he was.i. I shall hauehave neede of great patience to beare the false reportes of the malignāt church. A priuye nippe to such as hauehave many cures and are resident to none. Sed opus est magna patientia ad sustinendas calumnias malignantis Ecclesiae.
Syr, I hauehave had more busines in my little cure since I spake with you, what with sicke folkes, and what with matrimonies, thē I hauehave had since I came to it, or then I would hauehave thought a man should hauehave in a great cure. I wonder how men can go quietly to bed which hauehave great cures and many, and yet peraduenture are in none of them all. But I pray you tell none of your frendes that I sayd so foolishly, least I make a dissention in a Christian Congregation, and deuide a sweete and a restfull vnion, or tot quot, with haec requies mea in seculum seculi. Syr I had made an end of this scribling, and was beginning …o write it agayne more truely and more distinctly, and to correcte it, but there came a man of my Lorde of Farleys, with a Citation to appeare before my Lord of London in haste, to be punished for suche excesses as I committed at my last being there, so that I coulde not perfourme my purpose: I doubt whether ye can read it, as it is. If ye can, well be it: if not, I pray you sende it me agayne, and that you so doe, whether you can reade it or not. Iesu mercy, what Worlde is this, that I shall be put to so greate laboure and paynes, besides great costes, aboue my power for preachinge of a poore simple Sermon? But I trow, our Sauiour Christ sayd true: Oportet pati,i. I must needes suffer and so enter: so perilous a thing it is to liue vertuously in Christ. & sic intrare: tam periculosum est in Christo pie viuere velle: yea in a christian Congregation. God make vsus all Christian, after the right fashion. Amen.
Here foloweth an other letter of M. Latimer writtten to K. Henry the 8. vponupon this occasion. Ye heard before of two sondry Proclamations set out by the Byshops in the time of K. Henry, the one in the yeare 1531. and the other set out an. 1546. In the which proclamatiōs b…ing authorised by the kinges name, were inhibited all english books either conteining or tending to any matter of the scripture. Where also wee hauehave expre…ed at large the whole Catalogue of all theyr errors & heresies, which the sayd Bishops falsely hauehave excerpted, and maliciously imputed to Godlye writers, with theyr places and quotations, aboue assigned in the page aforesayd. Now M. Latimer growing in some fauor with the king, and seing the great decay of Christes religion by reason of these Proclamations, and touched therfore with the zeale of cōscience, directeth vntounto K. Hēry this letter hereunder ensuing, therby entēding by all meanes possible to perswade the kinges mind to set opē again the freedome of Gods holy word amongest his subiectes. The copy and tenor of his letter here foloweth.