Answer to Thomas More, Title page – To the reader
☞ An answere vntounto Sir Thomas Mores dialoge made by Vvillyam Tindale.
¶ First he declareth what the church is / and geveth a reason of certayne wordes which Master More rebuketh in the trāslacion of the newe Testament. ☜
¶ After that he answereth particularlye vn to everye chaptre which semeth to hauehave anye apperaunce of truth thorow all his .iiij. bokes.
☞ Awake thou that slepest and stonde vpp from deeth / and Christ shall geue the light Ephesians.
v.
Vvyllyam Tindale
THe grace of oure lorde / y• light of his spirite to se ād to iudge / true repētaunce towardes goddes lawe / a fast faith in the mercifull promises that are in oure savioure Christ / fervent louelove towarde thy neyghboure after the ensample of Christ and his sayntes / be with the o reader and with all yt louelove the trouth and longe for the redempcion of goddes electe. Amen.
Oure savioure Ihesus in the .xvj. chaptre of Iohan at his last souper whē he toke his leaue Ioa. 16of his disciples / warned them sayenge / the holye gost shall come and rebuke the worlde of iudgement. That is / he shall rebuke the worlde for lacke of true iudgement and discr…yon to iudge / and shall proue that the taste of their mouthes is corrupte / so that they iudge swete to be sowre and sowre to be swete / and their yies to be blinde / so that they thinke that to be the verye service of god which is but a blinde supersticyon / for zele of which yet they persecute y• true service of god: and that they iudge to be the lawe of god which is but a false imaginacion of a corrupte iudgement / for blinde affeccyon of which yet they persecute the true lawe of god & them that kepe it. And this same is it that Paule sayeth in the seconde chaptre of the first epistle to the Corinthians / how that the naturall mā that is not borne agayne and created anew 1. Cor. 2.with the spirite of god / be he never so greate a philosopher / never so well sene in the lawe / never so sore studyed in the scripture / as we hauehave ensamples in the pharises / yet he can not vnderstonde the thinges of the spirite of god: but sayeth he / ye spirituall iudgeth all thinges and his spirite sercheth the depe secretes of god / so that what so ever god commaundeth him to do / he neverleveth serchinge till he come at the botome / the pith / the quycke / the liffe / the spirite / the marye and verye cause why / ād iudgeth all thinge. Take an ensample / in the greate commaundement / louelove god with all thyne herte / the spirituall sercheth the cause and loketh on the benefites Mat. 22of god and so conceaveth louelove in his herte And when he is commaunded to obeye the powers Rom. 13and rulers of the worlde / he loketh on the benefytes which god sheweth ye worlde thorow them and therfore doth it gladlye. And when he Mat. 22is commaūded to louelove his neyghboure as himsilfe / he sercheth that his neyghboure is created of god and bought with Christes bloude and so forth / ād therfore he loveth him out of his harte / and if he be evell forbereth him and with all louelove and paciēce draweth him to good: as elder brothren wayte on the younger and serve them and sofre them / and when they will not come they speake fayre and flater and geue some gaye thinge and promise fayre and so drawe them and smite them not / but if they maye in no wyse be holpe / referre the punishment to the father and mother and so forth. And by these iudgeth he all other lawes of god and vnderstondeth y• true vse and meaninge of thē. And by these vnderstondeth he in the lawes of man / which are right and which tirannie.
If god shulde commaunde him to drinke no wyne / as he commaunded in the olde testament that the preastes shulde not: when they ministred in the temple and forbade diverse meates / the spirituall (because he knoweth that man is lorde ouer all other creatures and they his servauntes made to be at his pleasure / and that it is not commaunded for the wyne or meate it silfe that man shuld be in bondage vntounto his awne servaunt y• inferioure creature) ceaseth not to serch the cause. And when he findeth it / that it is to tame the flesh and that he be alwaye sobre / he obeyeth gladlye / and yet not so supersticiouslye that the tyme of his disease he wolde not drinke wyne in the waye of a medicyne to recouer his helts / as David ate of ye halowed breed and as Mose for necessite lefte the childrē of Israel vncircumcysed .xl. yeares / where of likelyhod 1. Reg. 21.some died vncircūcysed & were yet thought to be in no worse case then they that were circūcysed / as the children that died with in ye eyght daye were counted in as good case as they that were circūcysed / which ensamples might teach vsus manye thinges if there were spirite in vsus. And likewyse of the holye daye / he knoweth yt the daye is seruaunt to man / and therfore whē he findeth that it is done because he shulde not be lette from hearinge y• worde of god / he obeyeth gladlie / and yet not so supersticiouslye yt he wolde not helpe his neyghboure on the holye daye and let the sermon alone for one daye / or that he wolde not worke on the holydaye / neade requyringe it / at such time as men be not wont to be at church / and so thorow out all lawes. And even likewyse in all ceremonyes and sacramentes he sercheth the significatiōs and wil not serve the visible thinges. It is as good to him / yt ye preast saye masse in his goune as in his other apparell / if they teach him not some whate and that his soule be edefyed therbye. And as sone will he gape while thou puttest sonde as holysalt in his mouth / if thou shewe him no reason therof. He had as lefe be smered with on halowed butter as anoynted with charmed oyle if his soule be not taught to vnderstonde some whate therbye / and so forth
But the worlde captyvateth his witte and aboute the lawe of god maketh him wonderful imaginacions vntounto which he so fast cleaveth y• ten Iohan Baptistes were not able to dispute them out of his hed. He beleveth that he loveth god because he is readie to kille a turcke for his sake that beleveth better in god then he / whom god also commaundeth vsus to louelove and to leave nothinge vnsought / to winne him vntounto the knowledge of the truth / though with the losse of oure lyves He supposeth that he loveth his neyghboure as moch as he is bounde / if he be not actuallye angrye with him / whom yet he wil not helpe frelye with an halfpenye but for avantage / or vayneglorye or for a wordlie purposse. If any man hauehave displeased him / he kepeth his malice in and will not chafe him silfe aboute it till he se an occasion to avenge it craftelye and thinketh that well ynough. And the rulars of the worlde he obeyeth thinketh he / when he flatereth them and blindeth them with giftes ād corrupteth ye officers with rewardes and begyleth the lawe with cautels and sotiltyes. And because the louelove of god & of his neyghboure which is ye spirite and the liffe of all lawes and wherfore all lawes are made / is not writen in his harte / therfore in all inferioure lawes and in all worldlye ordinaunces is he betell blinde. If he be cōmaunded to absteyne from wyne / that will he observe vntounto the deeth to / as the charter house monkes had lever dye them eate flesh: and as for the sobrenesse and chastisinge of the membres will he not loke for / but will powre in ale and bere of y• strongest with out measure and heate thē with spices and so forth. And the holidaye will he kepe so strayte that if he mete a flee in his bed he dare not kill hir / and not once regarde wherfore the holidaye was ordined to seke for goddes worde / & so forth in al lawes. And in ceremonyes & sacramentes / there he captiuateth his witte & vnderstondinge to obey holye church with out askinge what they meane or desiring to knowe but onlye careth for the kepinge and loketh ever with a payre of narow yies and with all his spectacles vppon them / lest ought belefte out. For if the preast shulde saye masse / baptize or heare confession with out a stole aboute his necke / he wolde thinke all were marred and doute whether he had power to consecrate / & thinke y• the vertue of ye masse were lost / & ye childe not wel baptized or not baptized at all / & yt his absolucion were not worth a myte He had leuer yt y• bisshope shuld wagge .ij. fingers ouer him / thē that a nother man shulde saye god saue him ād so forth. wherfore beloved reader in as moch as the holye gost rebuketh the worlde for lacke of iudgement / and in as moch also as their ignoraunce is with out excuse before whose faces ynough is sette to iudge by / if they wolde open their yies to se / and not captiuate their vnderstondinge to beleue lyes: and in as moch as the spirituall iudgeth all thinge / even the verye botome of goddes secretes / that is to saye / the causes of the thinges which god cōmaundeth / how moch more ought we to iudge oure holye fathers secrettes and not to be as an oxe or an asse with out vnderstondinge.
Iudge therfore reader whether the pope with his be the church / whether their auctorite be aboue the scripture: whether all they teach without scripture be equalle with the scripture: whether they hauehave erred / ād not onlye whether they can. And agenst the m… of their sophistrye take the ensamples that are past in the olde testamēt and autentike storyes and the present practise which thou seist before thyne yies. Iudge whether it be possible that any good shuld come out of their domme ceremonies and sacramentes in to thy soule. Iudge their penaunce / pilgrimages / pardons / purgatorye / prayinge to postes / domme blessinges / domme absolucyōs / their dōme pateringe ād howlinge / their domme straunge holye gestures with all their domme disgysinges / their satisfaccions and iustefyinges. And because thou findest thē false in so manye thinges / trust thē in nothinge but iudge thē ī al thinges. Marke at the last the practise of oure fleshlye spiritualtye and their wayes by which they hauehave walked aboue .viij. hundred yeares / how they stablish their lyes / first with falsifiynge the scripture / then thorow corruptinge with their riches wher of they hauehave infinite treasure in store: and last of all with the swerde. HaueHave they not compelled the emperoures of the erth and the greate lordes and hie officers to be obedient vntounto them / to dispute for thē and to be their tormentoures / and the samsumims them selves do but imagen mischefe and inspire them. Marke whether it were ever truer then now / the scribes / pharises / Pilate / Herode / Caiphas & Anna / are gathered to gether agenst god & Christ. But yet I trust in vayne / and that he that brake the counsell of achitophell shall scater theirs. Marke whether it be not true in the hyest degre / yt for the sinne of the people hypocrites shall rayne over them. Vvhat shewes / what faces and contrarie pretenses are made / and all to stablish them in their thefte / falsehed and dampnable lyes / and to gather them to gether for to contry vesotiltye to oppresse the truth and to stoppe y• light & to kepe all still in darkenesse. Vvherfore it is tyme to awake / and to se everye man with his awne yies ād to iudge / if we will not be iudged of Christ when he cometh to iudge. And rebembre that he which is warned hath none excuse / if he take no hede. Herewith fare well in the lorde Iesus Christ whose spirite be thy gyde and doctrine thy light to iudge with all₊
Amen. ☜