Answer to Thomas More, Part 2
¶ Of worshepinge and what is to be vnderstonde by the worde.
COncerninge worshepinge or honouringe (which .ij. termes are both one) M. More bringeth forth a differēce / a distinecion or diuision of greke wordes / fayned of oure scolemen which of late nether vnderstode greke / latine or hebrue / called dulia / yperdulia and latria. But the difference declareth he not ner the propirties of the wordes / but with confused termes leadeth you blindfold in his mase. As for yperdulia I wold fayne wete where he readith of it in all the scripture and whether y• worshuppe done to his lorde the cardinalles hatte were dulia / yperdulia or idololatria. And as for dulia and latria we fynde them both referred vn to god in a thousande places.
Therfore that thou be not begyled with falshed of sophisticall wordes / vnderstond / that the wordes which the scripture vseth in the worshepynge or honouringe of god are these: louelove god / cleaue to god / dreade / serue / bowe / praye and cal on god beleue and trust in god and soch like. VvhichWhich wordes al we vse in the worshepinge of man also / how be it diuersly and the difference therof doeth all the scripture teach.
God hath created vsus and made vsus vntounto his awne likenes / and our sauioure christ hath bought vsus with his bloude. And therfore are we Gods possession of dutie and right and Christes saruauntes only / to wayte on his wil and pleasure / and ought therfore to moue nether hand ner fote ner any other membir / other hert What it is to honoure Godor mynd other wise then he hath appoynted. God is honoured in his awne person / when we receaue all thynge both good and bad at his hande / and louelove his lawe with al oure hertes / and beleue hope and longfore all that he promiseth ☞
The officers that rule the world in Gods / what it is to honoure rularsstede / as father / mother / master / husband-lorde and prince are honoured / when the law which almightye God hath committed vntounto them to rule with / is obeyed. Thi neyboure that is out of office / is honoured / when thou (as god what it is to honoure a mans neyghbourehath commaunded the) louest hem as thi selfe / countest him as good as thy selfe thinkest him as worthy of any thynge as thy selfe ād comest louyngly to helpe him at all his nede / as thou woldest be holpe thy selfe / because God hath made him like vntounto his awne image as well as the and christ hath bought him as well as the.
yf I hate the lawe / so I breake it in myne hert / and both hate and dishonoure God the maker what it is to dishonoure God / christ a ruler or a mans neybour…therof. If I breake it outwardly / then I dishonoure God before the world and the officer that ministreth it. yf I hurte my neyboure / thē I dishonoure my neyboure and him that made him and him also that bought him with his bloude. And even so iff I hate my neyboure in myne herte / then I hate him that cōmaundeth me to louelove him and him that hath deserued that I shuld at the lest way for his sake louelove him. If I be not ready to helpe my neyboure at his nede / so I take his due honoure from him / and dishhonoure him / and him that made him / and him also that bought him with his bloude / whose saruant he is. yf I louelove soch thinges as God hath lent me and committed vn to mine administracion / so that I can not find in myne hert to bestow them on the vses which God hath appoynted me / then I dishonoure god and abuse his creature in that I geue moare honoure vn to it then I shuld do / And then I make an Idole of it in that I louelove it moare then god and his commaundment and then I dishonoure my neyghboure from whose nede I withdraw it.
In like maner if the officer abusynge his power / compell the subiecte to doo that which god forbiddeth or to leue vndone that which god cōmaundeth / so he dishonoureth god / in withdrawenge his seruaunt from him / and maketh an Idole of his awne lustes / in that he honoureth them aboue god / and he dishonoureth his brother ī that he abuseth him contrary vn to the right vse which God hath created him for and christ hath bought him for / which is to wayte on gods commaundementes. For iff the officer be A true officer in the sight of God.other wise minded then this / the worst of these subiectes is made by the hondes of him yt made me / and bought with the bloude of him that bought me / and therfore my brother and I but his saruaunt only / to defende him and to kepe him in ye honoure that god and christ hath sett him / that no man dishonoure him: he dishonoureth both God and man. And therto if any subiecte thynke any otherwise of y• officer (though he be an emperoure) then that he is but a sarvaunt only / to ministre y• office indifferently / he dishonoureth y• office and goo that ordeyned it. So that all men / what so euer degre they be of are every man in his rowme / saruauntes to other / as the hand sarueth ye foote and every menbre one a nother. And the angels of heuen are also oure brethern and very saruauntes for Christes sake / to defend vsus from the power of the deuels.
And finally all other creatures that are nether angels ner man / are in honourelesse then man / and man is lorde ouer them / & they created to sarue him / as scripture testifieth / and he not to serue them / but only / his lord god and his sauioure Christe.
¶ Of worthepinge of sacramentes / cermonies / images / reliques and so forth
NOw let vsus come to the worshepynge or honourynge of sacramentes ceremonies images and reliques. First images be not god / and therfore no confidence is to be geuen thē. They be not made after the image of god ner are the price of christes bloude / but the werkmansheppe Imagesof the craftes man and the price of money ād therfore inferioures to man₊
wherfore of all right man ys lord ouer them and the honoure of them is to doo man seruyce and mans dishonoure yt ys to doo them honorable seruyce / as vntounto hys better. Images then and reliques ye ād as christ saith / the holy daye to are seruantes vntounto man. And therfore it foloweth y• we can not / but vntounto oure damnacion put one a cote worth an hundred cotes / vppon a postes backe / and let the ymage of god and y• ☞price of christes bloude goo vpp & downe / therby naked. For yf we care more to cloth the deed image made by man and the pryce of seluer thē the liuely image of god ād pryce of christes bloude / thē we dishonoure the image of god ād hym that made him and the price of chrystes bloude and hym that bought hym₊
Vvherfore the right vse / office and honoure The vse of creatures inferyours to manof al creatures inferiores vntounto mā / is to do mā seruice / whether they he images / reliques / ornamentes signes or sacramētes / holidayes / ceremonies or sacrifices. And yt maie be on this maner ād no doute it so once was. If (for an ēsample) I take a pece of the crosse of christe ād make a litle The worshepinge of y• crossecrosse therof and beare it aboute me / to loke theron with a repētinge hert / at tymes when I am moued therto / to put me in remēbraunce that the body of christ was broken ād his bloudshed theron / for my sinnes / ad beleue stedefastly that the mercyfull trueth of god shall forgeue the sinnes of all that repent for his deeth sake ād neuer thinke on thē moare then it seruith me and I not it and doeth me y• same seruice as yf I red y• testamēt in a boke / or as iff the preacher preached it vntounto me. And in like maner if I make a crosse in my forehed / in a remēbraūce y• god hath promised assistence vntounto al y• beleue in him / for his sake yt died on the crosse / thē doeth y• crosse serue me ād I not it. And in like maner if I beare on me or loke vppon a crosse of whatsoeuer mater it be / or make a crosse vppō me / in remēbraunce that whosoeuer wilbe christes disciple must sofre a crosse of aduersite tribulaciōs ād persecucion / so doeth the crosse serue me and I not it. And this was the vse of y• crosse once / and for this cause it was at the begynnynge set vpp in the churches₊
And so yf I make an image of christ or of The worshepynge of imagesany thinge y• christ hath done for me / in a memory / it is good ād not euel vntill it be ab vsed.
And euen so / yf I take y• true life of a saynt ād cause it to be painted or carued / to put me in remēbraunce of the sainces life / to folow the saynt as the saint did christe / and to put me in remēbraūce of the greate faith of the saint co god ād how true god was to helpe him out of al tribulacion / and to se the saintes louelove to warde his neyboure / in that he so paciently sofered so paynefull a deeth and so cruell marterdome to testifie the trueth for to saue other / ād all to strēgth my soule with all and my faith to god and louelove to my neyboure / then doeth the image serue me and I not it. And this was the vse of images at the beginninge and of reliques also₊
And to knele before the crosse vntounto the word of god which the crosse preacheth is not euell Neyther to knele doune before an image in a… mās meditaciōs to cal the lyuinge of ye saint to minde for to desyre god of iyke grace to folow y• ensample / is not evell. But the abuse of ye thynge is euell / and to hauehave a false fayth: as to beare False worshepyngea pece of the crosse aboute a man / thynkynge that so longe as that ys aboute hym / spyrytes shall not come at him / his enimies shall do him no bodyly harme / all causes shall go on his side euen for beringe it aboute him / ād to thynke yt yf it were not aboute him yt wold not be so / & to thinke / if any misfortune chaunce / that it came for leauynge it of or because this or that ceremonie was lefte vndone / and not rather because we hauehave broken Gods commaundementes / or that God tempteth vsus to proue oure pacyence Thys ys playne ydolatrie / and here a man ys captyue / bonde and seruaunt vntounto a false faith and a false ymaginacyon / that ys nother god ner hys worde Now am I Gods only and ought to serue nothynge but god and hys worde. My bodye must serue the rulars of thys world and my neyboure (as god hath appoynted it) & so must all my goodes: but my soule must serue God only / to louelove hys law and too trust in hys promyses of mercye in all my nedes. And in like maner yt ys that thousandes / whyle the prest patereth Saynt Ihons Gospell in latine ouer S. Ioans gosspelltheyr heedes / crosse them selues wyth / I trow a legyon of crosses / behynde and before and wythe reuerence on the very arses ād (as Iack off napis whē he claweth him selfe) ploucke vp theyr legges ād crosse so moch as their heeles ād y• very soles of their fete / & beleue yt if it be done in the thyme that he readeth the gospell (and else not) that there shall no mischaunce happen thē that daye / because only of those crosses. And where he shuld crosse him selfe / to be armed and to make him silfe stronge to beare y• crosse with Christe / he crosseth him selfe to driue the crosse from him / and blesseth him selfe with a crosse from the crosse. And if he leaue it vndone / he thynketh it no small synne / and that god is hyly displeased with him and if any misfortune chaunce / thinketh it is therfore / which is also Idolatrie and not gods worde. And soch is the confidēce in the place or image or what soeuer bodyly obseruaunce it be: soch is. S. Agathes Supersticiousnesssletter written in the gospell tyme. And soch are the crosses on palmesondaye made in the passiō tyme. And soch is the beryng of holy waxe aboute a man. And soch is that some hange apece of S. Ihons gospell aboute their neckes. And soch is to beare the names of god with crosses betwene ech name aboute them. Soch is y• sayēge of gospels vn to wemen in childbed. Soch is the limeteriers sayenge of in principio erat verbum from housse to housse. Soch is the sayenge of gospells to the corne in the feld in the precessiō weke that it shuld the better growe. And soch is holy bred holy water and seruinge of all ceremonies and sacramentes in generall with out significaciō. And I praye you how is it possible that the people can worshepe images / reliques / ceremonies and sacramentes / saue supersticiously / so longe as they know not the true meaninge / nether wil the prelates sofre any mā to tell them: yee and the very meanynge of some and right vse no man can tell?
And as for the riches that is bestowed on images and reliques they can not proue but that it Riches bestowed on images or reliquesis abhominable / as longe as the pore are dispised and vncared for and not first serued / for whose sakes and to fynd preachers / offeringes tithes / londes rentes and all that they hauehave was geuen the spiritualtie. Obiectiō They will saye we maye do both. Solution Maye or not maye / I se that the one most necessary of both / is not done: But the pore are bereued of y• spiritualtie of all that was in tyme passed offered vn to them. Morouer though both were done / they shall neuer proue yt the sight of gold and siluer and of preciousstoues shuld moue amās hert to dispice soch thynges aftir the doctrine of Christe. Nether can y• riche cote helpe to moue thy mind / to folow the ensample of the saint / but rather if he were purtrayde as he sofred / in the most vngoodly wise. VvhichWhich thinge taken awaye / that soch thynges with all other seruice / as stekynge vpp candels / moue not thy mynde to folow the ensample of the saint / ner teach thy soule any godly lernynge: then the image serueth not the / but thou the image / and so art thou an Idolater / that is to saye in English / a serueimage. And thus it appereth that youre vngodly ād bely doctrine where with ye so magnifie the dedes of youre ceremonies and of youre pilgremages ād offerynge for the dede it selfe / to please god and to obtayne the fauoure of deed saintes (and not to moue you and to put you in remēbraunce of y• law of god & of y• promises which are in his sonne and to folow the ensample of the saynte) is but an exhortynge to serue images / and so are ye image seruers / that is / Idolaters / And finally the more deuocion m…n hauehave vn to soch dedes / the lesse they hauehave vn to gods commaundemēt / in so moch that they which be most wontte to offer to images and to shewe them / be so colde in offerynge to the pore / that they wyll scace geue them the scrappes which must else be geuen dogges / or their old shone / iff they maye hauehave new bromes for them.
¶ Pilgrimages.
TO speake of pilgrimages / I saye / that a christen man / so that he leaue nothinge vn done at home that he is bounde to doo / is fre to goo whother he will / only aftir the doctrine of the lorde / whose seruaunte he is and not his awne. If he goo ād viset the pore / the secke and the presoner / it is well done and a worke that god cōmaundeth. If he goo to this or that place / to heare a sermō or because his mynd is not quiet at home / or if because his hert is to moch occupied on his worldly businesses bi the reasons of occasions at home / he gett him in to a moare quiett and styll place / where his minde is me are abstracte and pulled from worldly thoughtes it is well done. And in all these places if whatsoeuer it be / whether liuely preachynge / ceremonie / relique or image stere vpp his herte to god and preach the worde of god and the ensample of oure sauioure Iesus moare in one place thē in a nother / that he thither goo / I am content. And yet he bydeth a lorde and the thynges serue him and he not them / Now whether his entent be so or no / his dedes wil testifie / as his vertuouse gouernynge of his housse and louynge demeanoure towarde his neyghboures: yee and gods worde wilbe all waye in his hert and in his mouth & he eueryevery daye perfecter then other.
For there can nothinge edifie mans soule saue that which preacheth him gods worde. Only the worde of god worketh the health of the soule And what someuer preacheth him that / cānot but make him perfecter.
But to beleue that god wilbe sought moare in one place then in a nother / or that god will heare the moare in one place thē in a nother / or moare where the image is / then where it is not ☞is a false faith and Idolatrie or imageseruice. For first god dwelleth not in tēples made with handes Actes. xvij. Item steuen died for the cōtrary god dwelleth not in any place Actes. 7and proued it by the prophetes Actes. vij. And Salomon in the .viij. off the thirde of the kinges / when he had byld his temple / testified y• same and that he had not byld it for god to dwell in / ye and that god dwelleth not in the erth / but that he shuld out of heuen heare the prayars of them that prayed there. And the prophetes did often testifye vn to the people that had soch a false faith that god dwelt in the temple / that he dwelt not their. Morouer god in his testamēt byndeth him selfe vn to no place ner yet the: But speaketh generally (concerninge where and when) sayenge psalme. xlix. in the daye of the tribulacion thou shalt call on me and I wil Psal. 49.deliuer the / and thou salt glorifie me. He setteth nether place ner tyme / But whersoeuer and when soeuer: so that the prayar of Iob vppon y• dongehyll was as good as Poules in the temple. And when oure sauioure saith Ihon. xvj. Vvhatsoeuer ye axe my father in my name / I Ioā. 16will geue it you / he saith not in this or that plase / or this or that daye: but whersoeuer & whensoeuer / as well in the feldes as in the toune and on the Monedaye as on the sondaye. God is a spirite and wilbe worsheped in the spirite Ihon. iiij. That is / though he be present euerywhere / Iohan. 4,yet he dwelleth liuely and gloriously in y• myndes of angell only and hertes of men that louelove his lawes and trust in his promises. And whersoeuer god findeth soch an hert / their he heareth the prayar in all places and tymes indifferently. So that the outward place nether helpeth or hindred / excepte (as I said) yt a man… minde be moare quiett and still from the rage of wordely businesses / or that some thynge stere vpp the worde of god and ensample of our sauioure moare in one place then in a nother.
¶ Vvhence Idolatrie or imageseruice springeth. ☜
NOw that thou maist se whence all this Idolatrie or imageseruice is sprounge / marke a litle / and then I will answere vn to ye argumentes which these imageseruars make agenst the open trueth. All the cerrmonies ornamentes and sacrifices of the olde testament were sacramentes. Sacramētes Circumcision.That is to wete / signes preachinge vn to the people one thynge or a nother. As circumcision preached vn to them / that god had chosen them to be his people / and that he wold be their god and defende them and encrease and multiplie them and kepe them in that londe and blesse the frutes of the erth and all their possessions And on ye other syde it preached / how that they had promised god agayne to kepe his cōmaundementes / ceremonies and ordinaunces. Now when they saw their younge children circumcised / iff they consented vn to the appoyntement made betwene god and them / moued by the preachinge of that same / then were they iustified thereby How be it the dede in it selfe / the cuttyn he off of the foreskyn of the manchildes priuey mēbir iustified them not ner was a satisfaccion for the childes synnes / but the preachynge only did iustifie them that receaued the faith theroffe. For it was a bage geuē indifferently as well vn to them that neuer consented in their hertes vn to gods lawe / as vn to y• electe in whose hertes the lawe was written. And that this was y• meaninge of circumcision maye be proued many wayes: But namely by Paul Romans. ij. where he saith / circumcision is moch worth / if thou kepe the lawe (whose signe it was) and else not. And Roma. iij. where he saith that god did iustifie y• circumcised of faith (whose signe it was on the other syde) and else not.
And the paschall lambe was a memoriall Paschall lambe.of their deliueraunce out of Egypte only ād no satisfaccion or offeringe for synne.
And the offeringe of their first frutes preached how they had receaued all soch frutes of y• Firste fruteshand of god / and that it was god that gaue thē that land and that kepte them in it / ād that did blesse and make their frutes grow. In token wherof as vn to a lorde roiall they brought him the first ripe frutes of their herueste. VvhichWhich remembraunce as longe as it abode in their hertes / it moued them to louelove god againe and their neyboure for his sake / as he so oft desyred thē. And out of this ceremonye was fett the blessynge of oure new ripe frutes for like purpose / though we hauehave lost the significacion.
And their other offeringes / as the sacrifices of doues / turtles / lambes / kyddes / shepe / calues …crifices.gottes and oxen were no satisfaccions for synne / but only a signe and token / that at the repētaunce of the hert / thorow an offeringe to come and for that seedes sake that was promised Abraham / their synnes were forgeuen them.
And in like maner the ornamentes and all Ornamentesother ceremonies were eyther an opē preachynge or secrett prophisies ād not satisfaccions or iustifienges. And thus the workes did serue thē and preach vntounto them and they not the workes ner put any confidence therin.
¶ False worshepynge. ☜
BVt what did the childrē of Israel and the Iewes? They latt the significacions of their ceremonyes goo and lost the meanynge of ☜them and turned them vn to the workes to serue them / sayenge that they were holy workes commaunded of god and the offerars were therby iustified and obtayned forgeuenesse of synnes and therby became good: as the parable of the pharesey and publican declare Luke. xviij. and as it is to se in Paul and thoroute all the Byble: and became captiue to serue and put Luc. 1…their trust in that which was nether god ner his worde. And so the better creature agenst nature did serue the worse. Vvhere of all likely hode god shuld hauehave accepted their worke by y• reason of them / if their hertes had bene right / & not hauehave accepted their soules for the bloudes sake of a calfe or shepe / for as moch as a man is moch better then a calfe or shepe / as Christ testifieth Matth. xij. For what pleasure shuld god hauehave in the bloud of calues or in the light of oure candeles? his pleasure is onlye in the hertes of them that louelove his commaundementes.
Then they went further in the imagination of their blynd reason sayenge / in as moch as god accepteth these holy workes / yt we be made righteous therby / thē it foloweth that he whyche offereth most / is most rightewesse and the best man: ye and it is better to offer an oxe thē a shepe / because it is more costly. And so they stroue who might offer most / and the prestes were well apayde. Then went they further in their ☞fleshly wisdome sayenge: if I be good for y• offeringe of a doue and better for a shepe and yet better for an oxe / and so euer the better thynge I offer / y• better I am / Oh how accepted shuld I be if I offered a man / and namelye him that I most loued? And vppō that imaginaciō / they offered their awne children and burnt them to asshes before images that they had imagined.
And to confirme their blyndnesse they layde for them (no doute) the ensample of Abraham which offered his sonne Isaac and was so accepted / y• god had promised him / how that in his seed / all the world shuld be blessed. Herof ye se vn to what abhominacion blynd reason bryngeth a mā / when she is destitute of gods worde.
And to speake of the sabbath (which was ordeyned Holyday.to be their saruaunte & to preach & be a signe vn to them / yt god thorow his holy spirite Ero. ….& worde did sanctifie them / in yt they obeyed his cōmaundementes & beleued and trusted in his promises (& therfore were charged to leaue workynge and to come on the holy daye & heare y• worde of god by which they vere sanctified) vn to it also they became captiue and bonde to sarue it / sayenge that they were iustified by absteynynge from bodyly laboure (as oures thinke also) in so moch yt though they bestowed not the holy day in vertue prayer and hearinge the worde of god / in almosede / in visitynge the sycke / y• nedie and comfortelesse and so forth / but went vp & downe ydlye / yet what soeuer nede his neyghboure had / he wolde not hauehave holpe hym on the saboth daye / as thou mayst se by the ruler of the synagoge which rebuked christ for healinge the people on the holy daye luke. xiij.Luke. 13.
And of like blyndnesse they went and fett The brasen serpesout the brasen serpent (which Moses commaūded to be kepte in the arcke for a memorie) and offered before it: thinkynge (no doute) that god must be there present / for else how coude yt hauehave healed the people that came not nye yt / but stode afarre off and beheld yt only. And a thousand soch madnessesse did they₊
And of the temple they thought that god The templeherd them there better then any were else: ye ād he hearde them now here saue there. And therfore they coude not praye but there / as oures cā no where but at church and before an ymage. for what prayar can a man praye / whē the woorde of god is not in the temple of hys herte: ye ād when soch come to church / what is their prayer and what is their deuocyō / saue the blynde imageseruice of their hertes₊
But the prophetes euer rebuked them forsoch psal. 46.faythlesse workes and for soch false fayth in theyr workes. In the .xlix. psalme saith the prophete / I wil receaue no calues of youre houses ner gottes out of youre foldes / thinke ye y• I will eate the flesh of oxen or drynke the bloude of gottes? And Esaias saith in his first chaptre / what care I for the multitude of youre sacryfyces sayth the lorde. I am full. I hauehave no lust in the burnt offeringes of youre rammes or in the fatt of fatt beestes or bloud of calues / lambes or gottes: offer me no moare soch false sacryfyce. And therto youre swete cense ys an abhominaciō vntounto me. And thus he said because of the false fayth and peruertynge the ryght vse of them
And for their false fastinge / not referrynge Fastyngetheyr fast vntounto the tamynge and subduynge of theyr flesh vntounto the spirite / when they complayned vntounto god iustifienge them selues and saynge / how happeneth it / that we hauehave fasted and thou woldest not loke vppon it / we hauehave humbled oure soules and thou woldest not know it God answered them by the prophete Esayas Esai. 58.in the .lviii. chaptre / behold / in the daye of youre / fast / ye doo youre awne lustes and gather vpp all youre dettes. And how soeuer ye fast / ye neuer the later striue and fight and smyte with fyste cruelly. I hauehave chosen no soch faste ād humblynge of soule. & c̄ But that ye louse weked bondes and lett the oppressed goo fre / and to breake breed vntounto the hongrye and to cloth the naked and so forth₊
And concerninge the temple / Esaias sayth Templein hys last chaptre. what housse wyll ye bild for me or in what place shall I rest? heuen is my se te and the erth my fote stole. As who shuld saye Actes. 7. Actes. 17.I am to greate for any place that ye can make / and (as steuen sayth actes. vii. and paul actes. xvij. (I dwell not in a temple made with hādes
¶ How ceremonies sprange amonge vsus
VNderstond also (to se how we came yn to like blyndenesse) that before the comynge of christe in the flesh / the Israelites and Iewes were scatered thorow out all the world / to punish theyr imageseruice / both eest / west south ād north / as ye reade in the chronicles how Englonde was once full: so that there was no prouince or greate citie in the world where no Iewes were: god so prouydynge for the spedie preachynge of the gospell amonge the hethen thorow out the worlde. Now chryst / as he was promised / so was he sent / vntounto the Iewes or Israelites And what by chrystes preachynge ād the appostles after his resurrexion / there were innumerable Iewes conuerted haply an hundred thousand or moo in Ierusalem and Iewry and in the contres aboute / and abode still in the loude. Then paul rose vpp and persecuted them in Iherusalem and thorow out al Iewry and Damasco / Paulesleynge all that he coude catche or makinge them forswere christe. For feare of which persecucion they fied in to all costes and preached vntounto the Iewes that were scatered / prouinge yt Iesus was christ the sauioure of y• worlde / both by the scripture and also by myracles: so that agreate parte of the Iewes came to the faith eueryevery where / and we hethen came in shortely after / and parte a bode styll in vnbeleffe as vntounto this daye₊
Now y• Iewes beynge born & bred vp roted and noseld in ceremonyes as I hauehave shewed ād as ye maye better se in the .v. bokes of Moses / if ye wold reade thē / coude but with greate difficultie / depart frō thē as it is to se in al y• epistles of paul / how he fought agēst thē. but in processe they gatt the vpperhand. And therto the fyrst that were christened ād all the offycers and bisshopes of the church / euen so moch as the greate God of Rome were Iewes for the most parte a greate season₊
And Morouer / as paul saith. Ro. ix. not al that came of Israel are ryght Israelites nether are al they Abrahams sonnes that are Abrahās seed. whi so? because they folowed not the steppes of the fayth of their graundfathers. Even so / not all they that were called and also came vntounto y• mariage whych god the father made betwene christ hys sonne and all sinners / brought Matt. 22.their maryage garment wyth them / that is to wete / true faith wherwyth we be maryed vntounto chryste and made his flesh and hys bloude and one spirite with hym / his brethern and heyres with him and the sonnes of god also. But many of them (to fulfyll the sayenge of christ / that the kyngdome of heuen / which is the gospell / is like a net that ketcheth good and bad) were dreuen in to the net and compelled to confesse that Iesus was christ ād that seed yt was promised Abraham and Messias that shuld come: not off any inward fealinge that the spirite of god gaue thē / nether of any louely cōsent that they had vntounto the law of god that it was good / mornynge / both because they had broken it and because also they had no power to fulfill it and therfore to obtayne merciemercy ād power came to christ and vntounto the father thorow him / with the hert of naturall childern which receaue all thinge frely of their fathers bounteous lyberalitie and of louelove become saruauntes vntounto theyr brethern for theyr fathers sake: But were compelled only with violence of the scripture which everiwhere bare wittenesse vn to christe and agreed vn to al that he did / and ouercome also with the power of miracles that confirmed the same. That is to saye / they came with a storifaith / a popish faith / a faithlesse faith & a fayned faith of their awne makinge / and not as God in the scripture describeth the faith / so beleuinge in christ / that they wold be iustified by theyr awne dedes / which is the deinenge of christe. As oure papistes beleue. which moare mad then those Iewes / beleue no ☜thynge by the reason of the scripture / but only that soch a multitude consent therto / compelled with violence of swerde / with falsyfienge of the scripture and fayned lyes. which multitude yet is not y• fifte part so many as they that consent vn to the lawe of Mahomete. And therfore by their awne argumentes / the faith of the turkes is better then theirs. And their faith therto maye stond by theyr awne confession / with all misheue (as it well appereth by them) and with yeldynge them selues to worke all wekednesse with full delectacion / aftir y• ensample of the faith of their father the deuell / and with out repentaunce and consent vn to the law of god / yt it is good. which popish therto so beleue in Christ / and so wilbe his saruauntes / that they wilbe bond vn to domme ceremonies ād deed workes puttynge their trust and confidence in them & hopinge to be saued by them and ascribynge vn to them the thanke of their saluacion and rightte wysnesse
And therfore because / as I saide / the Iewes ye and the hethen to / were so accustomed vn to ceremonies and because soch a multitude came with a faithelesse faith / they went and cleane contrary vntounto the mynde of paul / set vp ceremonies in the new testamente / partely borowynge them of Moses ād partely imageninge like / as ye now …e / and called them sacramentes: yt is to saye / sygnes (as yt ys playne in the storyes) the sacrament of holy water / of holy fyre / holy bred holy salt and so forth. And they gaue them significacions. As holy water signifyed the sprinclinge what holy water sygnyfyethof christes bloude for our redempcyon. which sacrament or sygne (though yt seme superfluous / in as moch as the sacrament of christes body and bloud signifieth the same dayly) yet as longe as the significacion bode / it hurted not. And the kyssynge of the pax was settvpp to signifie / that the peace of christ shuld be euer amonge The paxvsus / one to louelove an other after hys ensample as the word yt selfe well declareth. For pax ys as moch to saye as peace₊
And as for cōfirmacion / it is no doute / but that it came this wise vp and that thys was y• vse / which the word it selfe well declareth. we confirmacyonreade in y• stories / that they wich were cōuerted vntounto ye faith of the age of discreciō / were ful taught in y• law of god (as right is) and in y• fayth of oure sauiour Iesus / yer they were baptised / and vppon the profession or promisinge to kepe that law and fayth / were baptised And thē for the socure ād helpe of younge childern / baptised before the age of discreciō / to know the law of god ād faith of christe / was cōfirmacion institute yt they shuld not be all waye ignoraunt and faithlesse / but be taught the professyon of theyr baptim. And thys / no doute / was the maner / as we maye wel gather by probable cōiectures and euident tokens. when the childern were of vj. or seuen yeres olde / their elders brought the vntounto the preest or deacon in eueryevery parish / which officer taught the children what their baptimment & what they had professed therin: that is to wete / the law of god & their dutie vn to all degrees / and the faith of oure sauioure. And then because it shuld not be neglecte or lefte vndone / an hier officerr as ye archdeacon (for it hath not bene I suppose in the bisshopes handes all waye as now / nether were it mete) came aboute from parish to parish / at tymes conuenient. And the prestes brought the children vn to him at .xj. or .xij. yere olde / before they were admitted to receaue the sacrament of Christes body haply. And he apposed them of the law of god & faith of Christe / and axed them / whether they thought that law good / and whether their hertes were to folow it. And they answered ye.
And he apposed them in the articles of oure faith / and axed them / whether they put their hope ād trust in Christ / to be saued thorow his deeth and merites. And they answered ye. Thē confirmed he their baptim sayenge: I confirme you / that is / I denunce and declare / by the auctorite of gods worde and doctrine of Christ / that ye be truely baptised within in youre hertes ād in youre spirites / thorow professynge the lawe of god and the faith of oure sauioure Iesu / which youre outwarde baptim doeth signifie / ād thervppon I put this crosse in youre forehedes that ye goo and fight agenst the deuell / ye world and the flesh / vnderunder the standarde of oure sauioure / in the name of the father / the sonne / and the holy gost. Amen. VvhichWhich maner I wold to god for his tender merciemercy were in vse this daye₊
But aftir that the deuell was broken lowse and the bisshopes beganne …o purchace / and the deacons to scratch all …o them / and the spiritualtie to clime an hye: then because the laboure semed to tediouse and paynfull / to appose ye childern one by one / they axed the prestes that presented them only / whether the childern were taught the profession of their baptim. And they answered ye. And …o vppō their wordes they cōfirmed them with out apposinge. when they no lēger apposed them / the prestes no lenger taught them / but committed the charge to their godfather and godmothers / and they to the father ād mother / dischargynge thē selues by theyr awne auctorite with in halfe an houre
And the father and mother taught them a m…n…us …a…n pater noster and an Aue and a crede. Which gibbresh eueryevery popiniaye speaketh with a sundrye pronunciacion and facion / so yt one pater noster semeth as many languages all most as the…e be tonges that speake it. How be it / it is all one / as longe as they vnderstonde it not. And in processe as the ignoraunce g…w… / they brought them to confirmacion streigh▪ from baptim: so that now oftimes they be vo…owed and bysshoped both in one daye / that is / we be confirmed in blindenesse to be kept frō knowlege for euer. And thus are we come in to this damnable ignoraunce and ferce wrathe of god thorow oure awne deseruinge / because when the trueth was told vsus we had no louelove therto. And to declare yu full & sett wrath of god vppon vsus / our plates whō we hauehave exalted ouer vsus to whō we hauehave geuē al most al we had / hauehave perswaded y• wordly princes (to whom we hauehave submitted our selues and geuen vpp our power) to deuoure vpp body and soule / and to kepe vsus / downe in darkenesse / with violence of swerde / and with all falshed and gyle. In so moch that if any do but lift vpp his nose to smell aftir the trueth / they swapp him in the face with a fire brande to sengge his smellynge / or if he open one of his eyes to once loke towarde the light of gods worde / they bleare and dase his sight with their false iuglynge: so that if it were possible / though he were gods electe / he coude not but be kepte doune and perish for lacke of knowlege of the trueth.
And in like maner / because christ had institute the sacrament of his body and bloude / to kepe vsus in remembraunce of his bodye breakinge and bloud shedynge for oure synnes / therfore went they and sett vpp this facion of ye masse and ordeyned sacramentes in the ornamētes therof to signifie and expresse all the rest of his passion. The amice on the heed is the kercheue Amicethat Christ was blynd…olde… with / when ye soudioures buffeted him and mocked him sayenge: prophete vn to vsus who smote the? But now it maye well signifie yt he that putteth it on / is blynd and hath professed to leade vsus aftir him in darkenesse / acordynge vn to the begynnynge of The flappe on the amice. The albehis playe. And the flappe theron is the croune of thorne. And the albe is the white garmēt yt herode put on him / sayenge he was a fole because he held his peace and wold not answere him. And the .ij. flappes on the sleues and the other The flappes on y• albe. The fanō The stoleij. on the albe beneth ouer agenst his fete behind and before / are the .iiij. nayles. And the fanon on his hand / the cord yt his handes were bound with: And y• stole the rope where with he was bounde vn to the piler / when he was scorged: The corporescloth the altars.And y• corporiscloth / the sindon wherin he was buryed: & the altare is the crosse or haply y• graue and so forth. And the caftynge abrode of his hādes / the splayenge of Christ vppon the crosse And the …ight and stickinge vpp of candels and Candelsberinge of candels or tapers in procession happlye signifyed this texte. Mat. v. ye be the light Mat. 5.of the worlde / and let youre light so shyne before men / that they maye se youre good workes & Saltglorefye youre father which is in heven. And y• salt signifyeth the wysdome of Christes doctrine / and that we shulde therwith salt oure dedes and do nothinge with out the auctorite of goddes worde. So that in one thynge or other / what in the garmentes and what in the gestures all his playde / in so moch yt before he will goo to masse / he wilbe sure to sell him / lest Iudases ☞parte shuldbe left out.
And so thorow out all the sacramentes / ceremonies or signes (.iij. wordes of one significacion) there were significacions vn to them at the beginninge. And so longe as it was vnderstond what was ment by them and they did but serue the people and preach one thinge or a nother vn to thē / they hurted not greatly / though that the fre seruaunt of Christ ought not to be Austynebrought violently in to captiuite vnderunder the bondage of tradicions of men. As. S. Augustine cōplayneth in his dayes / how that the condicion & state of the Iewes was moare easy then ye christens vnderunder tradicions: so sore had the tyranny of ye shepardes in vaded y• flocke all redy in those dayes And thē what iuste cause hauehave we to cōplayne oure captiuite now / vn to whose yocke from that tyme hitherto / evē .xij. hundred yeres longe / hath euer some what moare wayght bene added to / for to kepe vsus downe and to confirme vsus in blindnesse? how be it / as longe as y• significacions bode / they hurted not the soule / Out of y• cerimonies sprange the ignoraunce off y• scripturethough they were paynful vntounto ye body. Neuer the lather I impute this oure greuous faull in to so extreme and horrible blyndnesse (wher in we are so depe and so dedly brought a slepe) vn to nothinge so moch as vn to the multitude of ceremonies. For assone as the prelates had sett vpp soch a rable of ceremonies / they thought it superfluous to preach the playne texte any longer and the law of god / feith of Christ / louelove toward oure neyboure and the ordir of oure iustifienge & saluacion / for as moch as all soch thynges were playd before the peoples faces dayly in the ceremonies and eueryevery child wist the meanynge: but gott thē vn to allegories / faynynge thē eueryevery man aftir his awne brayne / with out rule / all most on eueryevery silable / and from thence vntounto disputynge and wastinge their braynes aboute wordes / not attendynge the significaciōs vntyll at the last the laye people had lost the meaninge of the ceremonies and the prelates the vnderstondynge of the playne texte / and of the Greke Latine and specially of the Hebrue which is most of nede to be knowen / and of all phrases / the propir maner of speakynges and borowed speach of the Hebrues.
Remenbir ye not how with in this .xxx. yeres and ferre lesse / and yet dureth vn to this daye / the olde barkynge curres dunces disciples and like draffe called scotistes / the childern of darkenesse / raged in eueryevery pulpyt agenst Greke Latine and Hebrue / and what sorow y• scolemastirs that taught the true Latine tonge had with them / some betynge the pulpyt with their fistes for madnesse and roringe out with open ād fominge mouth / that if there ware but one tirens or virgill in the world and that same in their sleues and a fire before them / they wold burne them therin / though it shuld cost them their liues / affirmynge that all good lerninge decayed and was vtterly lost sens men gaue then vn to the Latine tonge? ye and I dare saye / yt there be .xx. thousand prestes curattes this daye in Englond and not so few / that can not geue you the right English vn to this texte in y• pater noster / fiat voluntas tua sicut in celo & interra and answere therto.
And assone as the significacion of the ceremonies was lost / and the prestes preached christ no lenger / then the comen people began to wax mad and out of their mindes vppon the ceremonies. And that trust and confidence which the ☞ceremonies preached / to be geuen vn to Gods worde and Christes bloude / that same they turned vn to the ceremonie it selfe as though a mā were so mad to forgett that the bosh at the tauern dore did signifie wine to be solde within / but wold beleue that the bosh it selfe wold quench his thirste. And so they became seruantes vn to the ceremonies / asscribynge their iustifienge and saluacion vn to them supposynge that it was nothynge else to be a christen man / then to serue ceremonies / and him most christen that most serued them / and contrary wise him that was not popish & ceremoniall / no christē mā at all. For I pray you / for what cause worshepe we our spiritualtie so▪ hiely or wherfore thynke we their prayars better then the pore laye mēs / then for their disgysynges and ceremonies? ye and what other vertue se we in the holiest of them / thē to wayte vppō dumme supersticious ceremonies?
yee and how cometh it that a poore laye man hauinge wife and .xx. children and not able to fynde them / though all his neybours know his necessite / shall not gett with bedgynge for Christes sake / in a longe somers daye / ynough to fynde them .ij. dayes honestly / when iff a disgysed monster come / he shall with an houres lyenge in the pulpit / gett ynough to fynde .xxx. or .xl. sturdy lubboures a monethmonth longe / of which the weakest shalbe as stronge in y• bely when he cometh vn to the manger / as the mightiest porter in y• wey housse or best courser that is in the kynges stable? Is ther any other cause then disgisynge and ceremonyes? For the dedes of the ceremonies we count better then y• dedes which god cōmaundeth to be done to our neyboure at his nede Vvho thinketh it as good a dede to fede y• pore / as to stecke vpp a candle before a poste or as to sprencle him selfe with holy water? Nether is it possible to be other wise / as longe as the significaciō is lost. For what other thinge can y• people thinke / thē that soch deades beordeyned of god / and because as it is euident / they serue not our neyboures nede / to be referred vn to y• person of god and he though he be a spirite / yet serued therwith? And then he can not but forth on dispute in his blynde reason / that as god is greater then mā / so is that dede that is appoynted to serue god greater than that whych serueth man. And then when it is not possible to thinke them ordeyned for nought / what can I wother wise thynke then yt they were ordeyned to iustifie and that I shuld be holy therby / acordynge to yt popis doctrine / as though god were better pleased when I sprinkle my selfe with water or sett vpp a candle before a blocke / then iff I fedde or clothed or holpe at his nede him / whom he so tēderly loueth that he gaue his awne sonne vn to the deeth for him / and commaunded me to louelove him as my selfe?
And when the people beganne to runne y• waye / ye prelates were glad & holpe to heue aftir with sotle allegories & falsifienge the scripture / & went & halowed the ceremonies / to make them moare worshepful / yt the laye people shuld hauehave thē in greater estimacion & honoure / & be afrayde to twich thē for reuerēce vn to the holy charme yt was saide ouer thē / & affirmed also yt christes deeth had purchased soch grace vn to ye ceremonies to forgeue sinne & to iustifye. O monstre / Christes deeth purechased grace for mans soule / to repent of euell & to beleue in Christ for remission of synne / & to louelove the lawe of god ād his neyboure as him selfe / which is y• true worshepynge of god in the spirite / & he died not to purchesse soch honoure vn to vnsensible thynges / yt mā to his dishonoure / shuld doo them honourable seruice & receaue his saluaciō of thē₊
This I hauehave declared vn to you / yt ye mighte se & fele eueryevery thinge sensibly. For I entend not to leade you in darkenesse. Nether though twise .ij. cranes make not .iiij. wild gees / wold I therfore yt ye shuld beleue yt twise .ij. made not iiij. Nether entend I to proue vn to you yt Paules steple is the cause whi temes is broke in about Erith / or yt teynterden steple is the cause of Teynterden steple.the decaye of sandwich hauen as Master More iesteth. Neuer the lesse this I wold were persuaded vn to you (as it is true) yt the bildynge of them & soch like / thorow the false faith that we hauehave in them / is the decaye of all the hauens in Englande & of all the cities / townes / hie wayes & shortly of the hole comē wealth. For sens these false monstres crope vpp in to oure cōsciēces & robbed vsus of the knowlege of oure sauioure Christe / makynge vsus beleue in soch pope holy workes & to thynke yt ther was no nother waye vn to heuen / we hauehave not ceased to bylde them albayes / cloysters / coleges / chauntrees ād cathedrall churches with hie steples / striuinge & enuienge one a nother / who shuld do most. And as for the dedes / that pertayne vn to oure neyboures and vn to the comen wealth / we hauehave not regarded at all / as thinges which semed no holy workes or soch as god wold once loke vppon. And therfore we left them vnseneto / vntyl they were past remedie or past our power to remedie them / in as moch as our slow belies with their false blessynges had iugled a waye from vsus / yt wherwith they might hauehave bene holpen in dew season. So that that syly pore man / though he had haply no wisdome to expresse his mynde / or that he durst not / or that master More fa…ioneth his tale as he doeth other mennes to iest out the trouth / sawe yt nether good winsandes ner any other cause alleged was the decaye of sandwich hauen / so moch as yt the people had no lust to maynetene the comē wealthe / for blynde deuocion which they hauehave to popeholy workes, ☜
of their hertes. For as they write / so they beleue. Other felynge of y• lawes of god ād feyth of chryst hauehave they none / th…n that theyr God the pope so sayth. And therfore as the pope preacheth with hys mouth only / even soo beleue they wyth theyr mouth only what soeuer he preacheth / with out moare a doo / be it neuer so abhominable / and in theyr hertes consent vntounto all their fathers wekednesse and folow hym in theyr dedes as fast as they can runne₊
The turkes beinge in numbre .v. tymes mo then we knowlege one God and beleue many thynges of God moued only by the auctoryte of theyr elders and presume that God wyll not let so greate a multitude erre so longe tyme. And yet they hauehave erred ād bene faythlesse thys viii. hundred yeres. And the Iewes beleue thys daye / … moch as the carnall sorte of them euer beleued / moued also by the auctoryte of theyr elders only / and thynke that yt ys impossyble for them to erre / beynge Abrahams seed and the chyldern of them to whom the promysses of all that we beleue were made. And yet they hauehave erred and bene faythlesse thys .xv. h…dred yeres. And we of lyke blyndnesse beleue only by y• auctoryte of our elders and of lyke pryde thynke that we can not erre / beynge soch a multytude. And … we se how God in the olde testament did le… the greate multitud… …e / reseruynge alwaye a litle flocke to call the other backe agayne and to testifie vntounto them the right waye₊
¶ How this word church hath a double interpretacyon
T… ys therfore a sure conclusyon / as paul sayth. Ro. ix. that not all they that are of Israel are Israelites / neyther because they be Abrahās