Whole Works, Tracts 1 · Tract 4 · Part 1 · Section 13
¶ Whether the Pope and his ſect be Chriſtes Church or no.
THat the Pope and his ſpirite …e not the Church may this wiſe be 1.proued. He that hath no fayth to be ſaued through Chriſt, is not of Chriſtes Pope.Church. The Pope beleueth not to be ſaued through Chriſt. For he teacheth The Pope & his ſect are not the Church of Chriſt.to truſt in holy workes for the remiſſion of ſinnes and ſaluation: as in the woorkes of penaunce enioyned, in vowes, in pilgrimage, in chaſtitie, in other mens prayers and holy lyuyng, in Friers & Friers coates, in Saintes merites, and the ſignificatiōs put out, he teacheth to beleue in yt dedes of the ceremonies & of the Sacramentes ordeined at the beginnyng to preach vntounto vsus and to do vsus ſeruice, & not that we ſhould beleue in them and ſerue them. And a thouſand ſuch ſuper…iciouſneſſes ſetteth he before vsus in ſtede of Chriſt, to beleue in, neither Chriſt nor Gods word, neither honorable to God nor ſeruiceable vntounto our neighbour nor profitable vntounto our ſelues for the tamyng of the fleſh, which all are the denying of Chriſtes bloud.
An other reaſon is this. Whoſoeuer beleueth in Chriſt, con…enteth that 2.Gods law is good. The pope contenteth not that Gods law is good. For he hath forbydden lawfull wedlocke … The Pope in forbyddyng mariage to Prieſtes, doth not cō ſēt that the lawe of god is ….vntounto all his, ouer whom he raigneth as a temporall tyraunt with lawes of his owne makyng & not as a brother exhortyng them to kepe Chriſtes. And he hath graunted vnlawfull whoredome vntounto as many as bryng money As through Dutchland, eueryevery Prieſt paying a gildren vntounto the Archdeacon ſhall frely and quietly hauehave his whore and put her away at his pleaſure and take an other at his own luſt. As they The Pope licenceth whordome whiche God forbiddeth.do in wales, in Ireland, Scotland, Fraunce and Spayne. And in Englād therto they be not few which hauehave lycēces to kepe whores, ſome of the pope and ſome of their ordinaries. And whē the Pariſhes go to law with them to put away their whores, the Byſhops officers mocke them, poll them & make them ſpend their …hr…res, & the Prieſts kepe their whores ſtil. Howbeit in very dede ſence they were rebuked by the preachyng of wickleffe, our Engliſh ſpiritualtie hauehave layd their ſnares vntounto mens wiues, to couer theyr abhominations, though they byde not all way ſecret.
Therto all Chriſten mē if they hauehave done amiſſe, repent when their faultes 3.be tolde them. The ſpiritualtie repent The Popiſh Clergy are perſecutours.not, but of very luſt and cōſent to ſinne perſecute both the ſcripture wherwith they be rebuked, and alſo them that warne them to amende, and make heretikes of them, and burne them. And beſides that, the Pope hath made a playne decree in which he commaundeth ſaying, though ye Pope ſinne neuer An abhominable, wicked & deuiliſh decree.ſo greuouſly and draw with him to hell by his enſāple thouſādes innumerable, yet let no man be ſo hardy to rebuke him. For he is head ouerall, & none ouer him, Diſtinct. … Si Papa.
And Paule ſaith Rom. xiij. let eueryevery 4. Rom. 13.ſoule obey the hyer powers that are ordeyned to puniſhe ſinne. The Pope will not, nor let any of his.
And Paule chargeth 1. Cor. 5. if he 5. 1. Cor. 5.that is a brother be an whorekeeper, a dronkard, couetous, an extortioner, or a rayler and ſo forth, that we hauehave no felowſhip with him: No not ſo much as to eate in his company. But the The Pope is vtterly againſt the doctrine of Chriſt.Pope with violence compelleth vsus to hauehave ſuch in honour, to receaue the ſacramētes of them, to heare their Maſſes, and to beleue all they ſay, and yet they will not let vsus ſee whether they ſay truth or no. And he compelleth. x. pariſhes to pay their tithes and offeringes vntounto one ſuch to goe and rūne at riote at their coſt, and to do nought therefore. And a thouſande ſuch like doth the Pope contrary vntounto Chriſtes doctrine.