All that not planted shall be plucked up by the roots. Bishops should be servants and not lords. Acts xv. The pope will not obey prin God have commanded him so to do. trine, and brake it himself, and taught his disciples so to do, and excused them, and said of all traditions, that whatsoever his heavenly Father had not planted should be plucked up by the roots. And thereto all the persecution that the apostles had of the Jews, was for breaking of traditions. Our prelates ought to be our servants as the apostles were, to teach us Christ's doctrine, and not lords over us, to oppress us with their own. Peter calleth it tempting of the Holy Ghost, (Acts xv.) to lade the heathen with aught above that which necessity and brotherly love required. And Paul rebuketh his Corinthians for their overmuch obedience, and the Galatians also, and warneth all men to stand fast and not to suffer themselves to be brought into bondage. And when he saith, Peter and Paul commanded us to obey our superiors; that is truth, they commanded us ces, though to obey the temporal sword which the pope will not. And they commanded to obey the bishops in the doctrine of Christ, and not in their own. And we teach not to break all things rashly, (as M. More untruly reporteth on us) which is to be seen in our books, if men will look upon them. Of traditions therefore understand generally : He that may be free is a fool to be bound. But if through wiliness thou be brought into bondage; then if the tradition hurt thy soul and thy faith, they are to be broken immediately, though with the loss of thy life. If they grieve the body only, then are they to be borne till God take them off, for breaking the peace and unity. Traditions. Christ's burthen is easy and gentle. Then how sore maketh he Christ's burthen! If it be so sore, why is M. More so cruel to help the bishops to lade us with more? But surely he speaketh very undiscreetly. For Christ did not lade us with one syllable more than we were ever bound to, neither did he any thing but interpret the law truly. And besides that, he giveth unto all his, love unto the law: which love maketh all things easy to be borne, that were before impossible. And when he saith, Ye be the salt of the earth; that it Matt. v. was spoken for the bishops and priests only, it is untrue; but it was spoken generally unto all that believe and know the truth, that they should be salt unto the ignorant, and the perfecter unto the weaker, each to other every man in his measure. And moreover if it be spoken unto the prelates only, how fortuneth it that M. More is so busy to salt the world with his high learning? And last of all the salt of prelates, which is their traditions and lates is unceremonies without signification, is unsavoury long ago, and therefore no more worth, but to be cast out at the doors and to be trodden under foot. And that he saith in the end that a man may have a good faith with evil living, I have proved it a lie in another place. Moreover faith, hope, and love, be three sisters, they never can depart in this world, though in the world to come love shall swallow up the other two. Neither can the one be stronger or weaker than the other. But as much as I believe, so much I love, and so much I hope, yea, and so much I work. THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER. IN the nineteenth, he proveth that praying to saints is good, and miracles that confirm it are of God, or else the church, saith he, doth err. It followeth indeed, or that the pope's church erreth. And when he saith it is sin to believe too much, I say, we had the more need to take heed what we believe, and to search God's word the more diligently, that we believe neither too much nor too little. And when he saith God is honoured by praying to saints because it is done for his sake: I answer, if it sprang not out of a false faith, but of the love we have to God, then should we love God more. And, moreover, inasmuch as all our love to God springeth out of faith, we should believe and trust God. And then if our faith in God were greater than our fervent devotion to saints, we The salt of our pre savoury. Faith, love, and charity, are three sisters. should pray to no saints at all, seeing we have promises of all things in our Saviour Jesus, and in the saints none at all. John xxi. The virginity of our lady. Antichrist is known. Paul's traditions were the THE TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER. In the twenty-fifth how juggleth he, to prove that all that pertaineth unto the faith was not written, alleging John in the last, that the world could not contain the books, if all should be written. And John meaneth of the miracles which Jesus did, and not of the necessary points of the faith. And how bringeth he in the perpetual virginity of our lady, which though it be never so true, is yet none article of our faith, to be saved by. But we believe it with a story faith, because we see no cause reasonable to think the contrary. And when he saith many mysteries are yet to be opened, as the coming of antichrist. Nay, verily, the babe is known well enough, and all the tokens spied in him, which the Scripture describeth him by. And when he allegeth Paul's traditions to the Thessalonians to prove his phantasy, I have answered Rochester doctrine of in the Obedience, that his traditions were the gospel that the gospel. he preached. And when he allegeth Paul to the Corinthians. I I say that Paul never knew of this word Mass. Neither can man gather thereof any strange holy gestures, but the plain contrary; and that there was no other use there than to break the bread among them at supper as Christ did. supper, and And therefore he calleth it Christ's supper, and not Mass. Christ's not mass. The conse cration. There was learned the manner of consecration. A great doubt, as though we could not gather of the Scripture how to do it. And of the water that the priest mixed with mingleth with the wine. A great doubt also, and a perilous case if it were left out. For either it was done to Water the wine. slake the heat of the wine; or put to after as a ceremony, to signify that as the water is changed into wine, so are we changed through faith as it were into Christ, and are one with him; howbeit all is to their own shame, that aught should be done or used among us Christians, whereof no man wist the meaning. For if I understand not the meaning, it helpeth me not, 1 Cor. xiv. and as experience 1 Cor. xiv. teacheth. But if our shepherds had been as well willing to feed as to shear, we had needed no such dispicience, nor they to have burnt so many as they have. And as for that he allegeth out of the Epistle of James for the justifying of works, I have answered in the Mammon, against which he cannot hiss, and will speak more tion of in the four book. And as for the Sabbath, a great matter, we be lords over the Sabbath, and may yet change it into the Monday or any other day as we see need; or may make every tenth day holy day only, if we see a cause why, we may make two every week if it were expedient, and one not enough to teach the people. Neither was there any cause to change it from the Saturday, than to put difference between us and the Jews, and lest we should become servants unto the day after their superstition. Neither needed we any holy day at all, if the people might be taught without it. And when he asketh by what Scripture we know that a woman may christen? I answer, if baptism be so necessary as they make it, then, Love thy neighbour as thyself doth teach women to baptise in time of need: yea and to teach, and to rule their husbands too, if they be beside themselves. And when he saith that of likelihood the lay people understood the Gospel of John, and Paul's Epistles better than great clerks now; I answer, the more shame is theirs. Howbeit there be two causes why: the one is their diligent shearing; and another, they deny the justifying of faith, whereof both Paul and John do entreat, and Justifica works. Sabbath. The Sabbath-day and holy days are made for us, and not we for them. Why women bap tize. Why the prelates understand not the Scripture. A good tale if it were long enough. Ye cannot speed well if ye try the doc almost of nothing else. If the signification of our baptism which is the law of God and faith of Christ, were expounded truly unto us, the Scripture would be easy to all that exercised themselves therein. And, sir, inasmuch as the prelates care so little for the loss of the understanding of the Scripture, and to teach the people, how happeneth it that they care so sore for a bald ceremony, which, the signification lost, though Christ himself had institute it, we could not observe without a false faith, and without hurting of our souls? And, finally, to rock us asleep withal, he saith, that he shall never speed well that will seek in the Scripture whether our prelates teach us a true faith, though ten preach each contrary to other in one day. And yet Christ for all his miracles sendeth us to the Scripture. And for all Paul's miracles, the Jews studied the Scripture the prelates by diligenterly, to see whether it were as he said or no. Howbeit he meaneth that such cannot speed well because the prelates will burn them, except M. More help them, and make them forswear Christ before hand. trine of our the Scrip ture. All believe in God that have the law written in their hearts. THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER. IN the twenty-seventh he bringeth Paul exhorting to agree, and to tell all one tale in the faith; which cannot be, saith M. More, except one believe by the reason of another. Yes verily we all believe the fire is hot, and yet not by the reason of another, and that with a more surer knowledge than if we believed it the one by the telling of another. And even so they that have the law of God written in their hearts, and are taught of the Spirit to know sin and to abhor it; and to feel the power of the resurrection of Christ, believe much surer than they that have none other certainty of their faith than the pope's preaching confirmed with so godly living. And it is not unknown to M. More that the churches of late days, and the churches now being, have determined |