Answer to Thomas More, Part 3
¶ The solutions and answeres vn to M. Mores first boke₊
IN the first Chapter to beginne the boke with al / to bringe you goodlucke ād to geue you a saye or a taste what trueth shall folowe / he fayneth a letter sent from no man.
ij.
In the seconde chapter / besydes worshepingethat it is vntrue this vse to hauehave bene euer sens the tyme of the appostles / he maketh many sophisticall reasons about worshepinge of sayntes reliques and images / and yet declareth not with what maner worshepe / but iugleth with y• terme in comune / as he doeth with this worde church and this word faith / when the wordes hauehave diuers significaciōs: for al faythes are not one maner faith and so forth / and therefore he begylyth a mans vnderstondinge. As if a man said / the boyes will was good to hauehave geuē his father ablowe / and a nother wold inferre / that a good wyll coude be no synne / and conclude / yt a man might lawfully smite his father. Now is good wyll taken in one sens in the maior and in a nother in the minor / to vse scolars termes / & therfore the conclusion doeth mocke a mās witte. Thē disputeth he / the seruaunt is honowred for the masters sake / and what is done to the pore is done to Christ (as the popish shall once fele / for their so robbynge them) And the .xij. appostles shall hauehave their setes and sitte and iudge with christe (as shall all that here preach him truely as they did) and Mary that powred the oyntement on christes heed before his passion; hath hir memoriall / ād therfore we ought to sett candles before images. First I axe him by what rule his argument holdeth. And secondaryly I answere that the true worshepynge of saintes True worshepynge of saintesis their memorial / to folow them as they did christe. And that honoure we geue them and so do not ye popish / but folow the steppes of youre father the pope / as he doeth the steppes of his father ye deuell. And as for stekinge vpp of cādels / I answere that God is a spirite and in the spirite must be worsheped only. faith to his promises and louelove to his lawes and longynge for the life that is in his sonne are his due honoure ād True worshuppinge of go…seruice. All bodyly seruice must be referred vn to oure selues and not vn to the person of God immediatly. All outward thynges which we receave of god ar geuen vsus / to take oure partes with thankes and to bestow the rest vppon oure neyboures. For god vseth no soch thinges in his awne person / but created them for to geue them vsus / that we shuld thanke him / and nor to receaue them of vsus / to thanke vsus: for that were our prayse and not his. Fastynge / watchynge / wolward goinge / pilgrimage and all bodyly excercice must be referred vn to the taminge of ye flesh Bodelye exercyse▪only. For as god deliteth not in the tast of mete drinke / or in ye sigthe of gold or seluer / no moare doeth he in my fast and soch like / that I shuld referre them vn to his person / to do him a pleasure with all. For god in him selfe is as good as he can be and hath all the delectacion that he cā hauehave. And therfore to wish that god were better then he is or had moare pleasure then he hath / is of a worldely imaginacyon
And al the spirites that be in heuen are in as good case as they can be & hauehave all y• delectaciō they can hauehave / & therefore to wish them in better case or to studie to doo them more pleasure then they hauehave / is fleyshly minded popishnesse. The pleasure of them that be in heuen is / that we herken to God and kepe his commaundementes / which when we doo / they hauehave all the pleasure that they can hauehave in vsus. If in this life / I sofre hell gladly / to winne my brother to folow god / how moch moare if I were in heuen shuld I reioyce that he so did? If in this world whē I hauehave nede of my neyboure / by the reason of mine infirmites / yet I seke nought of him / saue his wealth only / whate other thynge shuld Iseke of him / if I were in heuē ▪ where he can do me no seruice ner I vse any pleasure that he cā do me?
THe deuel desyred to hauehave his imaginaciōs worsheped as god / & his popish childern desyre y• same / and cōpell men so to honoure thē / and of their deuelish nature describe they both God and his saintes And therfore I saye / al soch fleshly imaginacions / as to fast the wenisdaye in y• worshepe of. S. Ihon or of. S. katerine or what saynt it be / or to fast sayntes euēs or to goo a pilgremage vntounto their images or to offer to them / to doo them pleasure / thinkynge therby to obteyne their fauoure and to make speciall aduocates of them / as a man wold winne the fauoure of a nother with presentes ād giftes / and thinkynge that if we did it not / they wold be angrie / are playne Idolatrye and imageseruice / for the saint deliteth in no soch. And when thou stekest vpp a candle before the image / thou mightest with as good reason make an holow hely in the image and powre in meate Candle.and drincke. For as the saynt nether eateth ner drincketh / so hath he no bodyly eyes to delyte in the light of a candle.
A nother is this / god geueth not the promises that are in Christ for bodyly seruice / but of his mercy only / vn to his awne glorie. ye and of the fathers goodnesse doo all naturall childern receaue Axe a litle boye / who gaue him his gaye cote / he answereth / his father. Axe him whi / and he answereth / because he is his father and loueth him / and because he ys his sonne. Axe him whether his father louelove him / and he saith ye. Ax him how he knoweth it and he saith / because he geueth me this or that. axe him whether he louelove his father / he saith ye. Axe him whi / he saith / for his father loueth him and geueth him all thynge. Axe him why he worketh / he answereth / his father will so hauehave it Axe him whi his father geueth not soch ād soch boyes cotes to. Nai saith he / they be not his sonnes / their fathers must geue them as myne doeth me. Goo now ye popish bond seruauntes ād receaue youre rewarde for youre false workes and robbe youre bethern & raigne ouer them with violence and cruell tirāny and make them worshepe youre pilars / polaxes images and hattes. And we will receaue of the mercifull kyndnesse of oure father and will serue our brethern frely / of very louelove and wilbe their seruauntes and sofre for their sakes. And therto oure good dedes which we do vn to oure neybours nede / springe out of oure rightwysenesse or iustifienge / which is ye forgeuenesse of oure synnes in Christes bloude / and of other rightwysnesse knowe we not before god. And cōtrari wise youre rightwysnesse or iustifienge which stondeth / as youre faith doeth / with all wekednesse / springeth out of youre holy workes which yee doo to no man frely saue vn to paynted postes.
And when he allegeth the sacrifices of the sacrifices.old law / I saye they were sacramētes and preached vn to the people (as no dout / oure candels once were) and were no holy werkes to be referred vn to gods person to obtayne his favoure / and to iustifie the people / and that the people shuld doo them for the werkes selues. And whē the people had lost the significacions and loked on the holynesse of the dedes / to be iustified therby / they were imageseruice and hatefull to god and rebuked of the prophetes / as it is to se thorow out all the old testament.
Then he iugleth with a texte of. S. Paule Rom. xiiij. let eueriman for his parte abounde / one in this Idolatrie and a nother in that: whē the sens of the texte is / let eueryevery man be sure of his awne conscience / that he doo no thinge / excepte he know well and his cōscience sarue him that it maye be lawfully done. But what care they to abuse gods worde and to wrest it vn to the contrary?
And in the last end / to vtter his excellent blindnesse / he saith / the wiseman Luther thinketh that if the gold were taken from the reliques / it wold be geuen vntounto the pore immediatly / when he seith the contrary / that they which hauehave their purses full will geue ye pore (if they geue ought) ether an halfe peny or in his contre the iiij. parte of a ferthynge. Now I axe master Mores conscience / seinge they hauehave no deuociō A sure token of a false faith ād imageseruicevn to the poore which are as christes awne person and for whom Christe hath sofered his passion that we shuld be kynd to them and whom to visett with oure almes is gods commaundement / with what minde doo they offer so greate treasure / to y• garnessinge of shrmes / images and reliques? It is manyfest that they which louelove not gods commaundement / can do nothynge godly. Vvherfore soch offeringes come of a false faith / so that they thinke them better then workes commaunded by god ād beleue to be iustified therby. And therfore are they but imageseruice.
And when he saith / we might as well rebuke the powringe of the annoyntment on Christes heed. Nay / Christe was thē mortall as well as we / and vsed soch thinges as we doo / and it refreshed his body. But and if thou woldest now powre soch on his image to doo him pleasure / I wold rebuke it.
iij.
IN the third Chapter he bringeth in miracles done at. S. Steuēs tōbe. I answere y• miracles.the miracles done at saintes tombes / were done for the same purpose yt the miracles which they did whē they were aliue / were done: evē to prouoke vn to the faith of their doctrine / and not to trust in the place or in bones or in the saint. As Paul sent his napken to heale the seke / not that men shuld put trust in his napkin / but beleue his preachinge.
And in the olde testament Eliseus healed Naaman the hethen man in the water of Iordayne Heliseus./ not to put trust in the water or to praye in that place / but to wonder at the power of god and to come and beleue / as he also did. And that his bones / when he was deed / reysed vpp a deed man / was not done that men shuld pray to him: for that was not lawfull then / by their awne doctrine / nether to put trust in his bones. For god to avoyd all soch Idolatrie / had poluted all deed bones / so that whosoeuer twitched a deed bone / was vncleane and all that came in his companye / vntyll he had washed him selfe: in so moch that if a place were abvsed with offeringe vn to Idoles / there was no beter remedie then to scater deed bones there / to driue the people thence / for beinge defiled and poluted. But his bones did yt miracle / to testifie that he was a true prophete and to moue men vn to y• faith of his doctrine.
And even so miracles done at the holy crosse / were done / to moue men vn to the faith of him that died theron / and not that we shuld beleue in the wodde.
He saith that pilgrimes put no trust in the place / as necromancers doo in their circles / and saieth he wotteth not what / to mocke out y• texte pilgrimagesof our sauioure of prayenge in the spirite. And in the ende he cōfoundeth him selfe sayenge / we reken oure prayers moare pleasaunt in one place then in a nother. And that must be by y• reason of the place / for god is as good in one place as in a nother and also the man. Morouer where a man pleaseth god best / thither is he most bounde to goo. And so that imaginacyon bindeth a man to the place with a false faith / as nicromancers trust in their circles.
And agayne if god had said that he wold moare heare in one place thē in a nother / he had bound him selfe to the place. Now as god is like good eueryevery where generally so hath he made his testament generally / whersoeuer mine hert moueth me and am quiet to pray vn to him / there to heare me like graciously.
And if a man laye to oure charge / that god bound them vn to the tabernacle and aftir to y• Templetemple in the old testament. I saye that he did it not for the places sake / but for the monumentes and testimonies / that their preached y• worde of god vn to them / so that though the prestes had bene negligent to preach / yet shuld soch thynges that there were hauehave kepte the people in the remembraunce of the testament made betwene god and them. VvhichWhich cause and soch like only shuld moue vsus to come to church / and vn to one place moare then a nother. And as lōge as I come moare to one place then a nother by cause of the quietnesse or that some thynge preacheth gods worde moare liuely vn to me there than in a nother / the place is my seruaunte and I not bonde to it: which cause and soch like taken awaye / I can not but put trust in y• place as necromancers doo in their circles / & am an imageseruer ād walke aftir myne awne imaginacion and not aftir gods worde.
And when he saith / we might as well mocke the obseruaunce of the paschall lambe. I answer / Phascall lambe.Christ oure paschall lambe is offered for vsus and hath deliuered vsus as Paul saith. 1. Cor. v. whose signe and memoriall is the sacrament 1. Cor. vof his body and bloude. Morouer we were not deliuered out of Egypte. And therfore in as moch as we be ouerladen with our awne / I se no cause why we shuld become Iewes / to obserue their ceromonies to.
And when he saith holy straunge gestures. I answere / for the holynesse I wyll not swere: Holy straunge gestures.but the straungenesse I dare well avowe. For eueryevery prest maketh them of a sundrie maner ād many moare madly then the gestures of Iackanapes. And when he saith that they were left from hand to hand sens the appostles tyme / it is vntrue. For the appostles vsed the sacramēt as Christ did / as thou maist se. 1. Corin. xj. Morouer the appostles left vsus in the light and taught 1. Co. 11.vsus all the counsell of God / as Paule wittenesseth Actes. xx. and hid nothinge in straunge holy gestures and apes playe the significacions wherof noman might vnderstonde.
And a Christen man is moare moued to pitie saith he / at the sight of the crosse / then with out it. If he take pitie as English men doo / for Pitiecompassion / I saye / that a Christen man is moued to pitie when he seith his brother beare the crosse. And at the sight of the crosse / he that is lerned in god / wepith not Christe with ignoraunt wemen / as a man doeth his father when he is deed: but morneth for his synnes / and att the sight of the crosse comforteth his soule with the consolacion of him that died theron. But their is no sight whether of the crosse or ought else / that can moue you to leue youre wekednesse / for the testamēt of god is not written in youre hertes. And when he speaketh of prayenge at church who denyeth him that men might not praye at church or that the church shuld not be a place of prayar? But that a man coude not praye saue at church / and that my prayars were not hearde as wel elsewhere / If I prayed with likeferuentnesse and stronge faith / is a false lye.
And when he speaketh of the presence of god in the temple. I answere that the prophetes testified / how that he dwelt not there / and so doeth Paul Actes. xvij. ād so doeth Steuen Actes. vij. and Salomon. iij. Of the kinges. viij Actes. 17. Actes. 7 9. Regū. 8And no doute as the mad Iewes mēt / he dwelt not there / ner as we moare mad suppose also. But he dwelled there only in his signes sacramentes / ād testimonies which preached his worde vn to the people. And finally for their false confidence in the temple / god destroyed it. And no doute for oure false faith ī visitynge the monumentes of Christe / therfore hath god also destroyed them and geuen the place vnderunder the infideles.
And when he speaketh of the piler of fire & cloude. I answere / that god was no nother wise The piler of firepresent there then in all fire and in all cloudes saue that he shewed his power▪ there specially by the reason of the miracle / as he doeth in the eyes of the blynde whom he maketh se / and yet is no nother wise present in those eyes then in other / ner moare there to be prayde to then in other. And in like maner he is no moare to be prayed to where he doeth a miracle then where he doeth nonne. Nether though we cannot but be in some place / ought we to seke god in any place / saue only in oure hertes and that in verite / in faith hope and louelove or charite acordynge to the worde of his doctrine.
And oure sacramentes / signes / ceremonies images / reliques and monumentes ought to be had ī reuerence so ferfoth as they put vsus in minde of gods worde and of the ensample of them that liued therafter and no further.
And the place is to be sought and one to be preferred before a nother for quietnesse to praye and for liuely preachynge and for the preachynge of soch monumentes and so furth And so longe as the people so vsed them in the olde testament / they were acceptable and plesaunt to god and god was saide to dwell in the temple. But when the significacions beinge lost / the people worsheped soch thynges for the thinges selues / as we now doo / they were abhominable to god and god was saide to be no lenger in the temple.
iiij.
ANd in the .iiij. he saith / y• god setteth moare Placeby one place then a nother. VvhichWhich doctrine besydes that it shuld bynde vsus vn to the place and god therto and can not but make vsus hauehave confidence in the place / is yet false. For first god vn to whose worde we maye adde nought / hath geuen no soch commaundement ner made any soch couenaunte. Nether is Christ here or there saith the scripture / but in oure hertes Mat. 24.is the place where god dwelleth by his awne testimonie if his word be there.
And when he proueth it / because god doeth a miracle moare in one place then in a nother I answere / if god wyll doo a miracle / it requireth a place to be done in. How be it he doeth it not for the place but for the peoples sakes whom he wold call vn to the knowlege of his name / and not to worshepinge him moare in one place thē in a nother₊
As the miracles done in Egipte / in the redse / in mount Sinay and so forth were not done that men shuld goo in pilgremage vntounto the places to praye there / but to prouoke them vntounto the true knowlege of god / that after warde they myght euer praye in the spryte / where soeuer they were. Christ also did not his miracles that men shuld praye in the places where he did thē / But to stere vpp the people to come and heare the worde of their soules health. And when he bringeth the miracle of Siloe / I answere / that Siloe Ioan 4. &. 9.the sayde miracle and that christ sent the blynd thither to receaue his sight / were not done / that men shuld praye in the pole: but the seconde miracle was so done / to declare the obedient faith of the blinde ād to make the miracle moare knowen / ād the first for the worde of God / that was preached in the tēple / to moue the contre aboute to come thither and lerne to knowe God / and to become a liuely temple / out of which they might euer praye and in all places. Nether was y• miracle of lazarus done / that men shuld moare praye in that place then in a nother / but to shew christes power and to moue the people thorow wōderinge at the miracle / to herken vntounto gods worde and beleue it / as it is to se playnly₊
Morouer God so loueth no church / but that the parish hauehave libertie to take it downe and to byld it in a nother place: ye and yf it be tymbre to make it of stone and to alter it at their pleasure. For the places / ye and the images must serue vsus and not god which is a spirite and careth for none moare then other ner is other wise present in one then in a nother. And likewise ys yt of sayntes bones we maye remoue them whother we will / ye and kreake all images therto ād make newe / or yf they be abused / put them out of the waye for euer / as was the brasen serpent So that we be lordes ouer all soch thynges ād they oure seruauntes. For if the sayntes were oure seruauntes / how moch moare their bones It is the hert and not the place that worshepeth god. The kechē page turninge the spitt maie hauehave a purer hert to god / then his Master at church / and therfore worshepe God better in y• kechen / then his master at church. But when wyll. M. More be able to proue yt miracles done at sayntes tombes / were done that we shuld praye vntounto the sayntes / or that miracles done by deed saintes whych a liue nether preached gods worde ner coude doo miracle are done of god?
God loueth none angell in heuen better thē The father careth most for ye yoūgestthe greatest sinner in erth that repenteth and beleueth in christ. But contrary wyse careth most for the weakest and maketh all that be perfecte their saruauntes / vntyll as paul saith. Eph. iiij they be growen vpp in the knowlege of god in to a perfecte man and in to the measure of age Ephe. 4.of the fullnesse of christ / that is / that we know al the misteries and secretes that god hath hyd in christ / that we be no moare childern wauerynge with eueryevery wynde of doctrine / thorow the sotiltie and wilinesse of men that come vppon vsus to bringe vsus in to erroure or begile vsus. So ferre it is of that he wold hauehave vsus kept downe to serue images. For with bodyly seruice we cā serue no thinge yt is a spirite. And therto if it were possyble that all ye angeles of heuē coude be mine enimies: yet wold I hold me by the testament that my mercyfull and true father hath made me in the bloude off my sauyoure / and so come vntounto all that is promised me and christ hath purchased for me / and geue not a straw for them all₊
v
IN the .v. chapter he falleth frō al yt he hath so longe swette to proue & beleueth not by the reason of y• miracles / but by y• comē consent of the church ād yt many so beleue. This man is of a ferre other complexion thē was the prophete Elias. For he beleued a lone as he thought / agēst the consent by all likelyhod / of .ix or .x. hundred thousand beleuers. And yet. M. Mores church is in no nother cōdicion vnderunder the pope / then was that church agēst whose cōsent Elias beleued a lone vnderunder ye kinges of Samary₊
vi
IN the, vi. chapter & vntounto ye. xviii. heproueth all most nought saue yt which neuer mā denied him / yt miracles hauehave bene done. But how to know the true miracles from the false were good to be knowen which we shal this wise do if as we take those for true sacramētes and ceremonies which preach vsus gods worde / euē so we count them true miracles only which moue vsus to herken therto₊
xvi
COncerninge his .xvi. chapter of the mayde of Ipshwcih / I āswere / yt Moses warned The mayde of Ipswichhys Israelites yt false miracles shuld be done to proue thē / whether their hertes were fast ī y• lorde. And euē so christ ād y• apostles shewed vsus before yt lienge miracles shuld come / to peruerte y• very electe / if it were possyble. And therfore we must hauehave a rule to know the true miracles frō the false / or else it were impossible that any man shuld scape vndisceaued and cōtinue in the true waye. And other rule then thys ys there not: true miraclesthat the true are done / to prouoke men to come and herken vntounto gods worde / and the false to cōfirme doctrine that ys not gods worde. Now yt ys not Gods worde if thou reade all the scripture thorowe out / but contrary therto / that we shuld put soch trust and confidēce in our blissed lady as we doo / and cleane agenst the testament that is in christes bloude. wherfore a man nede not to feare / to pronoūce that the deuell dyd yt to mocke vsus with all₊
Neuer the later let vsus compare the mayde of Ipswich and the maide of kent to gether. The mayde of kentFirst they saye that the maide of Ipswich was possessed with a deuell & the maide of kent with the holy goste. And yet the tragedies are so lyke the one to the other in all poyntes / that thou cowdest not know the holy gost to be in the one and the deuell in the other by any dyfference of workes. But that thou mightest with as good reason saye that the deuell was in both / or the holy gost in both / or the deuell in the mayde of kent ād the holy gost in the mayde of Ipswich For they were both in like traunses / both raueshed from them selues / both tormented a lyke / both disfigured / lyke torreble ougly and grysely in sight / and theyr mouthes drawen a syde / euē vntounto the very eares of thē / both enspyred / both preach / both tell of wonders / wilbe both caryed vntounto our lady / and are both certified by reuelacyon that our lady in those places and before those images shuld deliuer them₊
Now as for the mayde of Ipswych was possessed off the deuell by theyr awne confession. Vvhence then came that reuelacion / y• she shuld be holpe and all hir holy preachinge? Iff of the deuell / then was the myracle and all of the deuell. Iff of the holy gost / then was she inspired with the holy gost and had the deuell within hir both at tonce. And in as moch as the mayd of kent was inspired by the holy gost by The mayde of kent.their confession / whence came that stopppnge of hir throte / that rauinge / those greuouse panges that tormentynge / disfigurynge / drawing of hir mouth awrye ād that ferfull and terreble countenaunce? If of the holy gost / and then whi not the revell and gamboldes of the maide of Ipswich also? and thē what mater maketh it whether a man hauehave the deuell or the holy gost in him. If ye saye of the deuell / then had she likewise both the deuell and the holy gost both at tonce. Morouer those possessed which Christ holpe avoyded christ and fied from him / so that other which beleued were fayne to bringe them vn to him agenst their willes. For which causes and many moo that might be made / thou maist conclude / that the deuell vexed them and preached in them / to confirme fayned confession and do me ceremonies and sacramentes with out significacion and damnable sectes / and shewed them those reuelacions. And assone as they were brought before oure ladies image / departed out of them / to delude vsus and to turne oure faythes from Christ vn to an old blocke. As we reade in the legend of S. Bartholomewe / how ye deuels hurte men in their lymmes and assone as they s. Bartholomewewere brought in to a certayne temple before an Idole / their they departed out of them ād so begyled …he people makynge thē beleue yt the Idole ha… healed them of some naturall diseases₊
Now be it let it be the holy gost that was in the maide of kent. Then I praye you what thinge worthy of so greate prayse hath oure ladye done? Our lady hath deliuered her of the holy gost & ēptyed her of moch hie lerninge which as a goodly poetisse / she vttered in rimes. For appose her now of christ / as scripture testifieth of him / and thou shalt finde her clene with out ryme or reason. The mayde was at home also in heuenly pleasures / and our lady hath deliuered her out of the ioyes of Orestes and brought her in to the miseries of middell erth agayne₊Orestes
xvii
AS for dulia / yperdulia and latria / though he shew not with which of them he worsheped the cardinalles hatt / ys answered vntounto hym all ready₊
xviii.
IN the xviii. where he wold faine proue yt y• popes church can not erre / he allegeth thynges Tradycyonswherof he myght be asshamed / yf he were not past shame / to proue that the bisshopes hauehave auctorite to lade vsus with tradicions nether profitable for soule nor body. He bringeth a false allegorie vppon the ouerplus that the Samaritane if it were layde out / promised to paye when he came agayne / for the bysshopes tradicions. Allegory.Nay. M. More / besydes that allegories which eueryevery mā maye fayne at his pleasure can proue nothynge / Chryst interpreteth it him selfe / that it betokeneth a kynde mynde and a louinge neyboure / whych / so loued a straunger / that he neuer left carynge for hym / both absent as wel as present / vntyll he werefull hole and comen out of all necessite₊
It signifieth that the prelates / if they were true apostles and loued vsus after the doctrine of christ / wold sell their myters / croses / plate / shrynes / iuels and costly showes to socoure the pore and not robbe them / of all that was offered vn to them / as they hauehave done: and to repare thynges fallen in decaye and ruine in the comen welth / and not to bedger the / realmes wyth false Idolatrye and imageseruice / that they hauehave not lefte them where wyth to beare the cost of the comen charges₊
And Morouer when the scribes and phareses taught their awne doctrine / they satt not vppō Moses sete / but on their awne. And therfore christ (so far it is off that he wold hauehave vsus herken vntounto mans doctryne) sayde / bewarre of the leuen of the scribes / phareses and saduces which is their doctrine ād rebuked thē for their doctrine and brake yt hym selfe and taught hys dysciples so to doo and excused them / and sayd of all tradicions / that what soeuer his heuenly father had not planted / shuld be plucked vp by the rotes And therto all the persecucion that y• appostles had of the Iewes / was for breakynge of tradycyons₊
Oure prelates ought to be oure saruauntes as the appostles were / to teach vsus christes doctrine / and not lordes ouer vsus / to oppresse vsus with theyr awne. Peter calleth it temptynge of the holy goste actes. xv. to lade the hethen with ought a boue yt whych necessite and brotherly Actes. 15.louelove required. And paul rebuketh his corinthians for their ouer moch obedience and the galathyans alsoo and warneth all men to stonde fast and not to sofre them selues to be brought in to bondage₊
And when he sayth peter and paul commaunded vsus / to obey oure superioures. That ys trouth / they commaunded vsus to obey the tēp…rall swerde whych the pope wyll not. And they commaunded to obey the bysshopes in the doctrine of christe and not in their awne. And we teach not to breake all thynges rashly / as M. More vntrulie reportethon vsus (which is to be sene in oure bokes / if mē wil loke vppon thē TradycyonsOf tradicions therfore vnderstond generally. He that maye be fre is a fole to bonde. But yf thorow wilinesse / thou be brought in to bondage: then yf the tradicion hurte thy soule and the fayth / they are to be broken immediatly / though wyth the losse of thy lyfe. If they greue the body only / then are they to be born tyll god take them off / for breakynge the peace and vnite.
Then how sore maketh he christes burthen If yt be so sore / why is Master More so cruell to helpe the bysshopes to lade vsus with moare? But surelye he speaketh verye vndiscretelye. For christ did not lade vsus with one sillable moare thē we were euer boūde to / nether did he saue interpret y• law trulye. And besides yt / he geueth vn to al his / louelove vntounto the law: which louelove maketh all thynges easye to be born that were before impossible₊
And when he saith / ye be y• salt of the erth t. Mat 5.was spoken for the bysshops ād prestes only yt ys vntrue / but yt was spoken generally vn to all that beleue and know the trueth / that they shulde be salt vntounto the ignoraunt / and the perfecter vn to the weker / ech to other eueryevery man in hys measure. And Morouer yf yt be spoken vn to the prelates only / how fortuneth yt ☜that Master More ys so busye to salte the world with his hie lernynge? And last of all the salt of oure prelates which ys theyr tradycions and ceremonyes wyth out sygnificacion ys vnsauerye longe a goo / and therfore no moare worth but to be cast out at the dores and to be troden vnderfote₊
And that he sayth in the ende that a man maye hauehave a good faith with euell liuinge / I hauehave proued it a lie in a nother place. Morouer fayth / hope ād louelove be iii. sisters yt neuer can departe iii. sistersin this worlde / though in the worlde to come louelove shal swalowe vp ye other two. Nether can the one be strōger or weker thē that other. But as moch as I beleue so moch I louelove and so moch I hope: ye ād so moch I worke₊
xix
IN the .xix. he proueth yt prayinge to saintes is good & miracles yt cōfirme it are of god or els ye church saith he doeth erre. It foloweth in dede or yt y• popis church erreth. And whē he saith it is sinne to beleue to moch I saie we had ye moare nede to take hede what we beleue and to serch gods worde the moare dylygently that we beleue nether to moch ner to litle₊
And whē he saith god is honoured by prayenge to saintes because it is done for hys sake: I answere / if it sprange not out of a false faith but of the louelove we hauehave to god / thē shuld we louelove god moare. And morouer in as moch as all oure louelove to god spryngeth out of faith / we shulde beleue and trust god. And then if oure fayth in god were greater then oure feruent deuocyon to sayntes / we shulde praye to no sayntes at all / seynge we hauehave promyses of all thynges in oure sauyoure Iesu and in the sayntes none at all₊
IN the .xxv. how iugleth he / to proue that al yt perteyneth vn to ye faith / was not writtē / alleginge Ihon in the laste / that the world coude Ioan 21.not conteyne the bokes / if al shuld be writtē. And Ihon meaneth of y• miracles which Iesus did ād not of the necessarie poyntes of the …aith
And how bringeth he in the perpetuall virginite of oure ladye which though it be neuer so true / is yet none article of oure faith / to be saued by. But we beleue …t / with a story faith / because we se no cause resonable to thinke the contrary
And when he saith many misteries are yet to be opened / as the cominge of antichriste. Naye verelye ye babe is knowne well ynough ād al Pope.the tokens spide in him which the scripture describeth him by.
And when he allegeth Paules tradicions to the tessalo / to proue his phantasye. I hauehave answered rochester in the obedience / that his tradicions were the gospell that he preached.
And when he allegeth Paul to the corin. I Massesaye that Paul neuer knew of this word Masse. Nether cā any man gather there of any straunge holy gestures / but the playne contrary ād that there was no nother vse there thē to breake the breed amōge them at soper / as christ did. And therfore he calleth it christes soper and not Masse.
There was lerned the maner of consecracion. A greate doute / as though we coude not gather of the scripture how to do it. And of the water that the prest mingleth with the wine. A greate water.doute also and a perelouse case if it were left out. For ether it was done to slake the hete of the wine or put to after / as a ceremonie / to signifie that as the water is chaunged in to wine / so are we chaunged thorow faith as it were in to christe and are one with him / how be it all is to their awne shame / that ought shuld be done or vsed amonge vsus christen / where of noman wist the meaninge. For if I vnderstōde not the meanige / it helpeth me not. 1. corin. xiiij. and as experience teacheth. But if oure sheperdes had 1. Cori. 14bene as wel willynge to fede as to shere / we had neded no soch dispicience / ner they to hauehave burnt so many as they hauehave.
And as for that he allegeth out of the epistle ot Iames for the iustifienge of workes. I hauehave answered in the Mammon agenst which he can not hisse / and will speake moare in the .iiij. boke.
And as for the Saboth / agreate mater / we Sabothbe lordes ouer the saboth and maye yet chaunge it in to ye monedaye or any other daye / as we se nede / or maye make eueryevery tenth daye holy dage only if we se a cause why / we maye make .ij. eueryevery weke / if it were expedient & one not ynough to teach the people. Nether was there any cause to chaunge it from the saterdaye then to put difference betwene vsus and the Iewes and left we shuld become seruauntes vn to the daye aftir their supersticion. Nether neded we any holydaye at all / if the people might be taught with out it.
And when he axeth by what scripture we know that a woman maye christen. I answere / whi wemē baptiseif baptim be so necessary as they make it / then louelove thy neyboure as thy selfe doeth / teach wemen to baptise in tyme of neade: ye and to teach ād to rule there husbādes to / if they be besydes them selues.
And when he saith that of likelyhode / the laye people vnderstode the gospell of Ihon and Paules pistles better then greate clerkes now. I answere / the moare shame is theirs. How be it ther be .ij. causes why: the one is their diligēt sheringe: and a nother / they denye the iustifienge whi ye prelates vnderstond not the scriptureof faith where of both Paule and Ihon doo entreate and all most of nothynge else / if the significacyon of oure baptime which is the lawe of god and faith of christ / were expounded trulye vntounto vsus / the scripture wolde be easye to all yt exercised them selues there in. And sir in as moch as the prelates care so litle for the losse of y• vnderstondynge of the scripture and to teach the people / how happeneth it / that they care so sore for a bald ceremonie / which the significacion lost / though christ him selfe had institute it / we coude not obserue with out a false faith & without hurtynge of oure soules?
And finally to rocke vsus a slepe with all / he saith / yt he shall neuer spede wel / that wil seke in y• scripture whether our prelates teach vsus a true faith / though ten preach ech contrary to other in one daye. And yet christ for all his miracles ye cā not spede wel if ye trye the doctrine of oure prelates by y• scripture.sendeth vsus to ye scripture And for all Paules miracles / the Iewes studied the scripture ye diligenterly / to se whether it were as he saide or no. How be it he meaneth / that soch can not spede wel because the prelates will burne them excepte M. More helpe them ād make them forswere christ before hande.
IN the .xxvij. he bringeth Paul exhortynge to agre & to tell al one tale in ye faith which can not be saith Master More / excepte one beleue by the reason of a nother. yes verelye we al beleue that the fyre is hotte and yet not by the reason of a nother and that with a moch surer knowlege then if we beleued it the one by y• tellynge of a nother. And euen so they that hauehave y• law of god written in their hertes and are taught of the spirite to know synne and to abhorre it / and to fele the power of the resurreccion of christ / beleue moch surer then they that hauehave no nother certente of their faith / thē the popis preachynge confirmed with so godly liuinge
And it is not vnknowne to M. More that the churches of late dayes ād the churches now beinge hauehave determined thinges in one case the one cōtrarye to ye other / in soch wyse that he cānot denye but y• one hath or doth erre: y• which case I coulde shewe him if I so were minded. y• church must shewe a reasō of their doctrine.The olde popes / cardinalles and busshopes sayed yee to the thinge that I meane / where vntounto these yt now raigne saye naye. Now sir if you gather a generall counsell for ye matter / the churches of fraunce and Italye will not beleue the churches of spayne & douchlonde because they so saye: but will aske how they proue it. Neyther will Louayne beleue Parise / because they saye that they can not erre / but will heare first their probaciō. Also how shal we know yt ye old pope & his {pre}lates erred / because these yt are now so saye? whē y• old pope liued we were as moch bound to beleue yt he coude not erre / as we be now that this cā not: wherfore you must graunt me / yt god must shew a miracle for ye tone parte / or else they must brynge autēticke scripture.
Now sir god hath made his last and euerlastinge testament / so yt all is open / and no moare behynde then the apperinge of Christe agayne. And because he will not stere vpp eueryevery daye a new prophete with a new miracle to confirme new doctrine or to call agayne the old that was forgotten / therfore were all thynges necessarye to saluacion comprehended in scripture euer to endure. By which scripture the counseles generall and not by open miracles / hauehave concluded loch thinges as were in them determined / as stories make mencion. And by the same scripture we know which counseles were true ād whych false. And by the same scripture shall we / if any new question arise / determine it also. Abraham Luk. 16.answered the rich man / they hauehave Moses and the prophetes / let them heare them / and saide not / they hauehave the scribes and the phareses whom they shuld heare preachynge out of the sete of their awne doctrine with out scripture.
And when he allegeth / he that heareth you heareth me / and if any man heare not ye church Luke. x.take him for an hethen / concludynge that we Mat. 18must beleue whosoeuer is shauen in all that he affirmeth with out scripture or miracle / I wold fayne wete in what figure yt silogismus is made. Christes disciples taught Christes doctrine confirmynge it with miracles / that it might be knowen for gods and not theirs. And euen so must the church that I will beleue shew a miracle or bringe autenticke scripture that is come from the appostles which confirmed it with miracles₊
xxix.
IN the .xxix. he allegeth yt christ saide not y• holy gost shall write / but shall teach. It is not the vse to saye / the holy gost writeth / but inspireth the writer. I maruayle that he had not brought / as many of his brethren doo / Matthew in the last / where Christ commaunded the appostles to goo and teach all nacions / and saide Mat. 28not write. I answere / that this precepte / louelove thy neyboure as thy selfe and god aboue all thynge went with the appostles and compelled them to seke gods honoure in vsus / and to seke al meanes to continue the faith vn to the worldes ende. Now the appostles knewe before that heresies shuld come / and therfore wrote / that it might be a remedie agenst heresies / as it well appereth Ihō. xx. where he saith / these are written / Iona. 20. 1. Ioan. 2.that ye beleue and thorow beleffe hauehave life. And in the seconde of his first pistle he saith / these I write because of thē that deceaue you. And Paul and Peter therto warne vsus in many places. wherfore it is manifest / that the same louelove compelled them to leue nothynge vnwritten yt shuld be necessarily requyred / and that if it were left out / shuld hurte the soule₊
And in the last Chaptre to make all fast / he bringeth in the kinges grace how he confuted Marten Luther with this conclusion / y• church can not erre: where vn to I will make none answere for feare to displease his grace / neverthelesse because Marten coulde not soyle it / if his grace loke well vppon the matter / he shall finde that god hath assoyled it for him in a case of his owne.
And vppon that master More concludeth his first koke / that whatsoeuer the church / that is to wete / the pope and his brode saye / it is gods worde / though it be not written ner confirmed with miracle ner yet good liuinge / ye and though they saye to daye this and to morow y• cōtrarie / all is good ynough and gods worde: ye and though one pope cōdeme a nother (ix. or. x. popes arow) with all their workes for heretikes / as it is to se in the stories / yet all is right & ☜none erroure. And thus good night and good rest / Christ is brought a slepe and layde in his graue and the dore seled to / and the men of armes aboute the graue to kepe him doune with polaxes. For that is the surest argument / to helpe at nede and to be rid of these babillinge heretikes / that so barke at the holy spiritualtie with the scripture / beinge therto wretches of no reputacion / nether cardenales ner bisshopes ner yet greate benefised men / ye and with out totquottes and pluralities / hauynge no holde but the very scripture / whervnto they cleaue as burres so fast that they can not be pulled awaye saue with very singgynge them of₊
¶ A sure token that the pope is antichriste.
ANd though vn to all y• argumētes & {per}suasuasiōs Antichristwhich he wold blinde vsus with / to beleue yt the pope with his secte were the right church / and that god for the multitude will not sofre them erre / we were so simple that we saw not the sotiltie of the argumentes ner had wordes to solue thē with / but oure bare faith in oure hertes yet we be sure and so sure that we can therin not be disceaued / and doo both feale and se that the conclusion is false and the contrary true₊
For first Peter saith .ij. Peter. ij. there shal be false teachers amonge you whych shall secretly 2. Pet. 2brynge in damnable sectes / denyenge the lorde that bought them / and many shall folow their damnable wayes / by whom the waye of trouth shalbe evel spoken of / and with fayned wordes they shall make marchaundice ouer you? Now saith Paul Roma. iij. the law speaketh vn to them that are vnderunder the law. And Rom. 3.euen so this is spoken of them that professe the name of christe. Now the pope hath .x. thousand sectes cropen in / as pied in their consciences as in their cotes / settynge vpp a thousand maner workes to be saued by / whych is the denyenge of Christe. And we se many and all most all together folow their damnable wayes. And in yt Peter said that they shall rayle and blaspheme the trueth / it foloweth that there shalbe a litle flocke reserued by the hand of god to testifie ye trueth vn to them or else how coude they rayle on it? And it foloweth that those raylars shalbe the mightier parte in the world / or else they durst not do it. Now what truth in christ doeth not the pope rebuke and in settynge vpp false workes denie all to gether? And as for their fayned wordes / where findest thou in all the scripture purgatory / shrift penaunce / pardon / pena culpa / yperdulia ād a thousande fayned termes moo? And as for their marchaundice / loke whether they sell not all gods lawes and also their awne / and all synne and all Christes merites and all that a man can thynke. To one he selleth the faute only and to a nother the faute and the payne to / and purgeth his purse of his money and his braynes of his wittes / and maketh him so beestely / that he can vnderstonde no ☞godly thynge.
And Christ saith Mathew. xxiiij. their shal false anoynted arise and shew signes and wonders: yt is / they shall shew miracles and so preuayle Mat. 24.that / if it were possible / the electe shuld be brought out of the true waye. And these false annoynted / by the same rule of Paul and in yt christ saith also that they shal come in his name must be in the church of christ and of them that shall call them selves Christen / and shall shew their wonders before the electe and be a sore tēptacion vn to them / to bringe them out of the waye. And the electe which are few in comparison of them that be called and come faynedly / shall amonge that greate multitude bekepte by ye mightie hande of god agenst all naturall possibilite. So that the church and very electe shall neuer be soch a multitude to gether by them selues with out persecuciō and temptaciō of their faith / as the greate multitude vnderunder the pope is which persecute and sofre not. And these which the pope calleth heretikes shew no miracles / by ther awne cōfessiō / nether ought they / ī as moch as they bringe no new lerninge ner ought saue the scripture which is all redy receaued and cōfirmed with miracles. Christ also promiseth vsus nought in this world saue persecucion for 1. Cor. 10oure faith. And the stories of the olde testament are also. by Paulus. 1. Cor. x. oure ensamples. And there / though god at a tyme called with miracles a greate multitude / yet the very chosen that receaued ye faith in their hertes / to put their trust in God alowe and which endureth in temptacions were but fewe and euer oppressed of ther false brethern and persecuted vn to the deeth and dreuen vn to corners.
And when Paul. ij. Tessa. ii. saith that Antichristes 2. Tessa. 2▪cominge / shalbe by the workynge of sathan with all power / signes and wonders of falshed and all disceaueablenesse for them that perish / because they conceyued not louelove vn to the trouth / to besaued by / & therfore shall god send thē stronge delusion or gyle / to beleue lies: y• texte must also pertayne vn to a multitude gathered to gether in Christes name of whych one parte & no doute the gretter / for lacke of louelove vn to the trouth yt is in Christe / to liue therafter / shall faull in to sectes & a false faith vnderunder y• name of Christe & shalbe induratt and stablished therin with false miracles to perish for their vn kyndnesse. The pope first hath no scripture y• he dare abyde by in the light / nether careth / but blasphemith that his word is truer then y• scripture. He hath miracles with out gods worde / as all false prophetes had. He hath lyes in all his legendes in all preachinges and in all bokes They hauehave no louelove vn to the trueth. which appereth by their greate synnes y• they hauehave sett vpp aboue all the abhominacion of all y• hethen yt ever were / & by their longe continuaunce therin: not of frailte: but of malice vn to the trueth & of obstinatt lust & selfe will to synne. Vvhych appereth in .ij. thynges: the one / yt they hauehave gotten them with wiles & falsehed from vnderunder all lawes of man & even aboue kinge & emproure / y• no man shuld constrayne their bodies & brynge them vn to better ordir / that they maye synne frely with out feare of mā. And on the other syde / they hauehave brought gods worde aslepe / yt it shuld not vnquiet their consciences / in so moch yt if any man rebuke them with that / they persecute him immediatly and pose him in their false doctrine & make him an heretike ād burne him and quench it.
And Paul saith .ij. Timothe. iij. in the later dayes there shalbe perelous times For ther shalbe men yt louelove thē selves / couetous / hye minded proud / raylars / disobedient to father & mother / vnthākfull / vngodly / churlish / promise breakers accusars or pick quareles / vnlouinge / dispicers of the goode / traytours / hedy / puffed vpp and yt louelove lustes moare then god / hauynge an apperaunce of godlynesse / but denienge y• power therof. And by power I vnderstonde the pure faith in gods worde which is the power & pith of all godlynesse & whēce all y• pleaseth god springeth And this texte pertayneth vn to thē yt professe-Christe. And in yt he saith hauinge an apperaunce of godlynesse & of that foloweth in the texte / of this sorte ar they yt entre in to mens howses & lead wemen captiue laden with synne / everaxynge & neuer able to atteyne vn to the trueth (as our hearers of confessions doo) it appereth yt they be soch as wilbe holier then other & teachers & leaders of the rest. And loke whether there be here any sillable yt agreeth not vn to oure spiritualtie in the hiest degre. LoueLove they not thē LoueLove thēselves.selues their awne decrees ād ordinaunces / their awne lies and dreames and despice all lawes of god and man regarde noman but them only ye be disgysed as they be? And as for their couetousenesse Couetouswhich all the world is not able to satisfie / tell me what it is that they make not sarue it? in so moch that if god punish the world with an evell pocke / they immediatly paynt a blocke & call it Iob to heale y• disease in stede of ☜ Hyemynded Proudewarnynge ye people to mend their lyuinge. And as for their hye minde & pride / se whether they be not aboue kynges & emproure & al the names of god / and whether any man maye come to beare rule in this world excepte he be sworn to thē and come vpp vnderunder them₊
And as for there raylynge loke in their excommunicacion Railarsand se whether they spare kinge or emproure or the testament of god And as for obedience to father and mother / Nay / they be disobedieent.immediatly vnderunder god and his holy vicar ye pope / he is their father ād on his ceremonies they vnthankefullmust wayre And as for vnthankefull / they be so kynde / that if they hauehave receaued a thousand pound londe of a mā / yet for all that they wold not receaue one of his off springe vn to a nightes herber at his nede / for their founders sake. And whether they be vngodly or no I reporte Vngodlye Churlysh.me vn to the parchment. And as for churlishnesse / se whether they will not hauehave their causes vēged / though it shuld cost hole regions / ye and al christendome / as ye shall se and as it hath cost halfe christendome all redie And as for their promise Promyse brakers.or trucebreakynge / se whether any appoyntement maye endure for their dispensacions / be it neuer so lawfull / though the sacrament were receaued for the confirmacion. And se whether they hauehave not broken all the appoyntementes made betwene them ād their founders. And se Accusars.whether they be not accusers and traytours also of all men / and that secretly and of their very awne kynges and of their awne nacion. And as for their heedinesse / se whether they be not Heedyeprone / bold and runne hedelonge vn to all mischeue / with out pitie and compassion or caringe what misery and destrucciō shuld fall on other men / so they maye hauehave their present pleasure fulfilled. And se whether they louelove not their lustes / that they will not be refrayned from them Louinge lustes. Apperaunce of godliuesse.ether by any law of god or mā. And as for their apperaunce of godlynesse / se whether all be not gods seruice that they fayne / ād se whether not all most all consciences be captiue ther to. And it foloweth in the texte / as the sorserers of Egipte resisted Moses / so resisted they the trueth. They must be therefore mightie iugulars. And to poynte the popish with the fingre he saith / men ar they with corrupte mindes and casta wayes concerninge faith / that is they be so fleshly minded / so croked so stoborn and so mōstrouse shapē / that they can receaue no facion to stonde in any buyldynge that is groūded vppō faith / but when thou hast turned them al wayes and done thy best to hew them and to make them frame / thou must be fayne to cast thē out with y• turkes and Iewes / to serue god with the imageseruice of their awne false werkes. Of these and like textes and of the similitudes that christ ☜maketh in the Gospell of the kingdome of heuē it appereth / that though the holy gost be in the chosen and teacheth them all trueth in Christe / to put their trust in him / so that they can not erre therin / yet while the world stondeth / God shall neuer hauehave a church that shall eyther persecute or be vnpersecuted them selues any season / aftir the fassion of the pope. But there shalbe in the church a fleshly seed of Abraham and a spirituall / a Caim and an Abel / an Ismaell and an Isaac / an Esau and a Iacob / as I have sayde / a worker and a beleuer / a greate multitude of them that be called and a small flocke of them that be electe and chosen. And the fleshlye shall persecute the spirituall / as Caim did Abel and Ismaell Isaac & soforth / and the greate multitude the smal litle flocke and antichrist wilbe euer the best christen man.
SO now the church of god is dowble / afleshly This word church is takē .ij. maner wayes.and a spirituall: the one wilbe and is nor: the other is and maye not be so called / but must be called a lutheran / an heretike and soch like. Vnderstonde therfore / that god when he calleth a congregacion vn to his name / sendeth forth his mesingers to cal generally. which mesingers bringein a greate multitude amased & astonied with miracles and power of the reasons which the preachers make / ād ther with be compelled to confesse that there is but one god of power and might aboue all and that Christ is god and man and borne of a virgin and a thousand other thinges. And then the greate multitude that is called and not chosen / whē they hauehave gotten this faith comune as well to the deuels as them and moare strongly persuaded vntounto the deuels then vn to them / then they goo vn to their awne imaginacions sayenge: we maye no lenger serue Idoles / but god that is but one. And the maner of seruice they fett out of their awne braynes and not of the word of god / and serue god with bodily seruice as they did in times past their Idoles / their hertes seruynge their awne lustes still. And one will serue him in white / another in blacke / a nother in greye ād a nother Frires ☞in pied. And a nother to doo god a pleasure with all / wilbe sure / that his showe shal hauehave .ij. or .iij. good thicke soles vnderunder and will cut him aboue / so that in somer while the wether is whott / thou maist se his bare fote and in winter his socke. They wilbe shorn and shauen ād Saduces: that is to saye / rightewes / and phareses / that is / seperated in faciōs from all wother mē. ye and they will consecrat them selues all to gether vn to god and will annoynte their handes and halowe them as the chalice / from all maner laye vses: so that they maye serue nether father ner mother master lord or prince / for polutynge them selues / but must wayte on god only / to gather vpp his rentes / tithes / offeringes and al other duties. And al the sacrifice that come they consume in the altare of their belies and make Cal… of … / that is / a sacrifice that noman maye hauehave parte of▪ They beleue that there is a god: Col…▪But as they can not louelove his lawes / so they hauehave no power to beleue in him / But they put their trust and confidence in their awne workes & by their awne workes they wilbe saued / as the rich of this world / when they sue vn to greate men / hope with giftes and presentes to obtayne their causes. Nether other seruinge of God know they / saue soch as their eyes maye se and their belies feale. And of very zele they wilbe gods vicars and prescribe a maner vn to other and aftir what facion they shall serue god / and compell them therto / for the avoydinge of Idolatrie / as thou seist in the phareses.
But litle flocke / as sone as he is persuaded that there is a god / he runneth not vn to his awne imaginacions / But vn to the mesinger that called him / and of him axeth how he shall serue god. As litle Paul acte. ix. when christ had ouerthrown him ād taught him in his nett: axed sayenge: Actes. 9lord what wilt thou that I doo. And as the multitude that were conuerted actes. ij. axed of the apostles what they shulde doo. And Actes. ….the preacher setteth the lawe of god before thē / and they offer their hertes to hauehave it written therin / consentinge that it is good and rightwysse.
And because they hauehave runne cleane contrary vn to that good law they sorow and morne / and because also their bodies and flesh are otherwise disposed. But the preacher comforteth them and sheweth them the testament of Christes bloud / how that for his sake all that is done is forgeuen / and al their wekenesse shalbe taken a worth vn tyll they be strōger / only if they repent and will submitte them selues to be scolars and lern to kepe this law. And litle flocke receaueth this testament in his hert and in it walketh and serueth God / in y• spirite. And frō hence forth al is christ with him / ād christ is his ād he christes. Al that he receaueth / he receaueth of christe / and all that he doeth / he doeth to christe. Father mother / master / lord & prince ar ☞christ vntounto him / ād as christ he serueth thē withal louelove. His wife / childern / saruauntes and subiectes are christ vn to him / and he teacheth then to serue christ and not him selfe and his lustes. And if he receaue any good thinge of man / he tāketh God in christ / which moued the mans herte. And his neyboure he serueth as Christ in all his nede / of soch thynges as god hath lent / because that all degrees are bought as he is / with christes bloude.
And he wil not besaued / for seruinge his brethern / nether promiseth his brethern heuē for seruinge him. But heuen / iustifiēge / forgeuenesse all gyftes of grace and al that is promised them they receaue of Christ and by his merites frely. And of that which they hauehave receaued of christ they serue ech other frely as one hād doeth ye other / sekinge for their seruice nomoare then one hand doeth of a nother eche the others health / wealth helpe / ayde / succoure and to assiste one a nother in the waye of christ. And god they serue in the spirite only / in louelove / hope faith and dreade
Vvhen the greate multitude that be called and not chosen / Caim / Ismael / Esau ād carnall Israel that serue God night and daye with bodyly seruice and holy workes soch as they were wont to serue their Idoles with all / behold litle flocke that they come not forth in the seruice of god / they rore out / where art thou? whi comest thou not forth & takest holy watere? wherfore saith litle flocke. To put awaye thy sinnes. Nay brethern / God forbid that ye shuld so thinke / Christes bloud only washeth awaye the synnes of all that repent and beleue. Fire / salt / water / bred / oyle be bodyly thynges / geuē vn to mā ☜for his necessite and to helpe his brother with / & god that is a spirite cā not be serued therwith. Nether can soch thinges enter in to the soule to purge hir. For gods worde only is hir purgacion. No saye they / are not soch thinges halowed. And saye we not in the halowenge of them that whosoeuer is sprinkled with ye water or eateth of the bred / shall receaue health of soule and boby? Sir the blessynges promised vntounto Abraham for all nacions are in christ / and out of his bloud we must sett them / ād his word is the breed / salt and water of oure soules. God hath geuen you no power to geue thorow youre charmes soch vertue vn to vnsensible creatures / which he hath halowed him selfe and made them all cleane (for the bodyly vse of them that beleue) thorow his worde of promese and permission and oure thākes geuinge. God saith / if thou beleue saynt Ihons Gospell / thou shalt be saued / ād not for the beringe of it aboute y• with so many crosses / or for the obseruinge of any soch obseruances₊
God for thy bitter passion rore they out by and by / what an heretike is this? I tell the that holy church nede to allege no scripture for them for they hauehave the holy gost which inspireth thē euer secretly / so that they can not erre whatsoeuer they saye / doo or ordayne Vvhate wilt thou despice the blessed sacramentes of holy church wherwith god hath bene serued this .xv. hundred yere (ye verely this .v. thousand yeres / evē sens caim hithirto / and shall endure vntounto the ☞worldes end / amonge them that hauehave no louelove vn to the trueth to be saued therby) thou art a stronge heretike and worthy to be burnt. And then he is excomunicat out of the church. If litle flocke feare not that bogge / then they goo strayght vn to the kinge. And it like youre grace / perelons people and sedicious / and euen ynough to destroye youre realme / if ye se not to thē betimes. They be so obstinat and tough / yt they will not be conuerted / and rebellious agēst god and the ordinaunces of his holy church. And how moch moare shall they so be agenst youre grace / if they encrease and grow to a multitude. They wyll peruert all and suerly make new lawes and ether subdue youre grace vn to them or rise agenst you. And then goeth a parte of litle flocke to potte and the rest scather. Thus hath it euer bene and shall euer be / lett noman therfore disceaue him selfe. ☜ ☞ ♣