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The devil

hath help

ed popes

to their

you. Read the stories of your popes and cardinals, and see whether the devil hath not helped them unto bigh dignities. And look whether your holy bishops come any dignities. otherwise unto their promotions, than by serving the devil, in setting all Christendom at variance, in shedding blood, in bringing the commonwealth to tyranny, and in teaching christian princes to rule more cruelly than did ever any heathen, contrary unto the doctrine of Christ.

The cause

Turks and
Jews can-

And as for the Turks and Saracens that ye speak of. I answer that they were christians once, at the leastway for the most part. And because they had no love unto the truth, to live thereafter, as ye have not, God did why the send them false miracles to carry them out of the right way, as ye be. And as for the Jews, why they bide out, not come to is only because they have set up their own righteousness, as ye have, and therefore cannot admit the righteousness that is in Christ's blood, as ye cannot, and as ye have forsworn it.

And when he saith, in that they have miracles and the heretics none, it is a sure sign that they be the true church and the heretics not. Had ye God's word with your miracles, and the heretics' doctrine were without, then it were true. But now, because ye have miracles without God's word to confirm your false imaginations, and they which ye call heretics have God's word confirmed with miracles, five hundred years together, it is a sure sign that they be the true church and ye not, inasmuch also as Christ saith, that the deceivers shall come with miracles; yea, and in his name thereto, as ye do. For when Christ saith, there shall come in my name, they shall he himself is Christ; who is that, save your pope, that will be Christ's vicar, and yet maketh men to believe in himself, in his bulls and calves' skins and in whatsoever he listeth? And who be those false anointed that shall come with miracles to deceive the elect if it were possible, save your pope with his gresiamus?

say

And when he repeateth his miracles, to prove that the

the truth.

Popish doceth mira

trine need

cle

cles, but Christ's

doctrine

needeth not now of

miracles, con by Christ cles.

for it was confirmed

with mira

Matt. xxiv.

The pope cometh in Christ's name with false miracles.

The

old holy doctors were good men in the right belief. I answer again, that the doctors which planted God's word watered it with miracles, while they were alive. And when they were dead God shewed miracles at their graves, to confirm the same, as of Elias. And that continued firmed the till the Scripture was full received and authentic. But ye cannot shew, nor shall any doctor which being alive while they preached your false doctrine confirming it with miracles, as God doth his Scripture.

preachers of God's

word con

same with

miracles

were alive.

God suffer

eth such as

have no

love to his truth, to be

deceived

with lying

miracles.

Why the pope fell.

Then saith he, God had in the Old Testament good men full of miracles, whose living a man might be bold to follow, and whose doctrine a man might believe by reason of their miracles, and then juggleth, saying: if God should not so now in the New Testament have doctors with miracles to confirm their doctrine and livings, but contrariwise should bring to pass, or suffer to be brought to pass, with false miracles, that his church should take hypocrites for saints, which expounded the Scripture falsely; then should he deceive his church and not have his Spirit present in his church, to teach them all truth, as he promised them. I answer, God suffereth not his church to be deceived; but he suffereth the pope's church because they have no love unto the truth, to live after the laws of God, but consent unto all iniquity, as he suffered the church of Mahomet. Moreover, the gift of miracles was not always among the preachers in the Old In the po Testament. For John Baptist did no miracle at all. pish church all miracles The miracles were ceased long ere Christ. And as for you in the pope's kingdom had never man that either confirmed God's doctrine, or your own with miracles. All your saints be first saints when they be dead, and then do first miracles, to confirm tithes and offerings and the poetry which ye have feigned, and not true doctrine. For to confirm what preaching doth St. Thomas of Canterbury miracles? He preached never, nor lived any other life than as our cardinal, and for his mischief died a mischievous death. And of our cardinal, if we be not dili

are

wrought by dead saints.

St.Thor as of Canterbury.

gent, they will make a saint also, and make a greater relic of his shoe than of the others.

Thomas de

Aquino.

And of your dead saints let us take one for an ensample. Thomas de Aquino is a saint full of miracles, as friars tell. And his doctrine was, that our Lady was born in original sin. And Duns doing no miracle at all, Duns. because, I suppose, no man wotteth where he lieth, improveth that with his sophistry, and affirmeth the contrary. And of the contrary hath the pope, for the devotion of that the gray friars gave him, ye may well think, made an article of the faith.

And finally, as for the miracles, they are to make a man Miracles. astonished and to wonder and to draw him to hear the word earnestly, rather than to write it in his heart. For whosoever hath no other sealing of the law of God, that it is good, than because of miracles, the same shall believe in Christ, as did Simon Magus and Judas, and as they that came out of Egypt with Moses, and fell away at every temptation; and shall have good works like unto our popes, bishops, and cardinals. And therefore when the Scripture is fully received, there is no need of miracles. Insomuch that they which will not believe Moses and the prophets when the Scripture is received, the same will be no true believers by the reason of miracles, though one arose from death to life to preach unto them by the testimony of Christ.

Our faith may not be grounded only upon miracles,

but upon

the word of God.

And again, how doth St. Jerom, Augustine, Bede and many other old doctors, that were before the pope was cropt up into the consciences of men, and had sent forth his damnable sects, to preach him under the name of Christ, as Christ prophesied it should be, expound this text, Thou art Matt. xvi. Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church; and this text, Peter feed my sheep; and, all power is given me in John xxi. heaven and in earth; and innumerable such texts clean con

trary unto all those new old holy doctors that have made the pope a God? They knew of no power that man should have in the kingdom of Christ, but to preach Christ

The apos tles of Christ

knew no

rity as the pope now usurpeth.

truly. They knew of no power that the pope should have to send to purgatory or to deliver thence, neither of such autho- any pardons, nor of any such confession as they preach and teach, neither were many that are articles with you, articles of their faith. They all preached forgiveness of sins, through repentance toward the law, and faith in our Saviour Christ, as all the Scripture plainly doth, and can no otherwise be taken, and as all the hearts of as many as love the law of God, do feel, as surely as the finger feeleth the fire hot.

AN ANSWER UNTO MASTER MORE'S
THIRD BOOK.

What if there had been no

IN his third book he proceedeth forth as before to prove that the opinions which the popish teach without Scripture are of equal authority with the Scripture. He asked what, if there had never been Scripture written? I answer, God careth for his elect, and therefore hath proScripture? vided them of Scripture, to try all things and to defend them from all false prophets. And I say moreover that if there had been no Scripture written, that God for his mercy and fatherly love and care toward his elect must have provided, that there should never have been heresies, or against all times when sects should arise, have stirred up preachers to confound the heresies with miracles. Take this ensample, the Greeks have the Scripture and serve God therein much more diligently than we. Now let us give that there were no Scripture, but that we received all our faith by the authority of our elders, and the Greeks by the authority of their elders. When I the Scrip- shall dispute with a Greek, about the articles of the faith which my elders taught me, and his elders deny, as ear confession, the holy pardons of the pope, and all his

Greeks.

God to a

void heresies caused

tures to be written.

power that he hath above other bishops, and many other things beside the Scripture, which we hold for articles of our faith, and they deny; if there be no other proof of either part, than to say, My elders, which cannot err, so affirm; and that he should answer, his elders, which cannot err, so deny, what reason is it, that I should leave the authority of my elders, and go and believe his, or that he should leave the authority of his elders, and come and believe mine? none at all verily. But the one party must shew a miracle, or else we must refer our causes unto authentic Scripture, received in old time, and confirmed with miracles, and therewith try the controversy of our elders.

And when he asketh, whether there were no true faith Noah. from Adam to Noah? I answer, that God partly wrote their faith in their sacrifices, and partly the partriarchs were full of miracles as ye may see in the Bible.

And when More, to utter his darkness and blind ignorance saith, that they which were overwhelmed with Noah's flood, had a good faith, and bringeth for him Nicolas de Lira; I answer, that Nicolas de Lira What faith delirat. For it is impossible to have a faith to be saved saveth. by, except a man consent unto God's law with all his heart, and all his soul, that it is righteous, holy, good, and to be kept of all men, and thereupon repent that he hath broken it, and sorrow that his flesh moveth unto the contrary; and then come and believe that God for his mercy will forgive him all that he hath done against the law, and will help him to tame his flesh, and suffer his weakness in the mean season, till he be waxed stronger : which faith, if they that perished in Noah's flood had had, they could not but have mended their livings, and had not hardened their hearts through unbelief, and provoked the wrath of God, and waxed worse and worse an hundred and twenty years which God gave them to repent; until God could no longer suffer them, but washed their filthiness away with the flood, (as he doth the pope's

Where true faith is, there is repentance

and admendment

of life.

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