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forgiven him as Noah was certified by the sign of the rainbow that the world should no more be overrun with water and as Abraham was certified by the sign of circumcision that God would fulfil to him and his offspring all the mercies that he had promised and as Abraham, (Gen. xv.) when he asked a sign to be sure that he should possess that land of Canaan, was certified through the sign that God gave him thereof; and of the four hundred years that his posterity should be in thraldom in Egypt; and of their deliverance and as Gideon was certified by the sign of his fleece of the victory that God had promised him and as many other that believed in God, were certified by the signs that God gave them, of the promises which God made them? Verily no man. For our prelates which lay for themselves, Compelle intrare, compel not us to enter into any such feast, nor will suffer any such meat to be set before us; for fear of overthrowing the foundation of their false building whereof springeth so great glory and profit unto them, which foundation to build their lies upon, they could never have laid, except they had first thrust this doctrine of our soul's health clean out of knowledge. And as soon as they had blinded the light, they became leaders in darkness; and made of the mass image service; so that the strange holy gestures, and the strange holy voices, and strange holy vestures, with all other strange holy ceremonies, must be meritorious works to deserve long life, health, riches, honour, favour, dignity, and abundance of all that we have, forsaking our baptism, and to arm us from bearing of the › cross with Christ. And they have made of it a pill of two contrary operations; so that the same medicine that preserveth our souls from purgatory doth purge the body of house, lands, rents, goods and money, that it is made as bare as Job, and as bald as a coot. And the light that rebuketh them, they call seditious, that it maketh the subjects to rise against their princes. Which thing the hypocrites laid some time unto the prophets, as ye may see in

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the Old Testament. And at last they laid it unto Christ's charge, as ye may see in the gospel, and to the charge of the apostles, as ye may see in the Acts. But at all such times, the hypocrites themselves stirred up such a sword to maintain their falsehood, that evermore a great part of the world perished through their own mischievous incensing and provoking princes to battle.

These hypocrites laid to Wickliff's charge, (and do yet) that his doctrine caused insurrection: but they, to quench the truth of his preaching, slew the right king, and set up three false kings a row: by which mischievous sedition, they caused half England to be slain up, and brought the realm into such reign and desolation, that M. More could say in his Utopia, that as Englishmen were wont to eat sheep, even so their sheep now eat up them by whole parishes at once, besides other inconveniences that he then saw. And so the hypocrites say now likewise, that God's word causeth insurrection; but ye shall see shortly that these hypocrites themselves after their old wont and ensamples in quenching the truth that uttereth their juggling, shall cause all realms Christian to rise one against another, and some against themselves. Ye shall see then run out before the year come about, that which they have been in brewing (as I have marked) above this dozen years, &c.

¶ This much have I said because of them that deceive you, to give you an occasion to judge the spirits.

A

PATHWAY

THE HOLY

INTO

SCRIPTURE.

A PATHWAY

INTO

THE HOLY SCRIPTURE.

IDO marvel greatly, dearly beloved in Christ, that ever any man should repugn or speak against the Scripture to be had in every language, and that of every man. For I thought that no man had been so blind to ask why light should be shewed to them that walk in darkness, where they cannot but stumble, and where to stumble, is the danger of eternal damnation; other so despiteful that he would envy any man (I speak not his brother) so necessary a thing; or so Bedlam mad to affirm that good is the natural cause of evil, and darkness to proceed out of light, that lying should be grounded in truth and verity, and not rather clean contrary, that light destroyeth darkness, and verity reproveth all manner [of] lying.

Nevertheless, seeing that it hath pleased God to send unto our Englishmen, even to as many as unfeignedly desire it, the Scripture in their mother tongue, considering that there be in every place false teachers and blind leaders, that ye should be deceived of no man, I supposed it very necessary to prepare this Pathway into the Scripture for you, that ye might walk surely and ever know the true from the false. And above all to put you in remembrance of certain points, which are, that ye well understand what these words mean: The Old Testament.

Scriptures translated into every language.

should be

The cause of the ediPathway.

tion of this

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