Lent.

learn the freedom of conscience taught in the scriptures, and serve the Lord in singleness of heart, but put their whole devotion in outward observation of man's traditions, it may well be said, “Let them alone, they be blind, and guides of the blind.” It is the weak conscience that is to be borne with, as St Paul teaches, saying, "I had rather never eat flesh, than offend my brother;" and not the obstinate wilful blindness of the superstitious, that may learn and will not. When he has proved that the protestants upon their wilful lusts, and not for such necessary considerations as is here rehearsed, have contemptuously broken the fasting-days appointed by common order, he may well rebuke them: but there be too many witness, which have heard many of them, sundry times, out of the solemnest places and pulpits in the realm teach the contrary: therefore none can believe these his lying words to be true. Breaking thy fast stands not so much in eating any kind of meat, as in the quantity of it, or doing it with contempt of the higher powers and common order appointed; or else in offending the weak conscience, which has not learned his liberty given by God in his holy word.

Where he casts in our teeth the breaking of Lent, as though that were commanded by God's own mouth, and should be observed without all excuse, they that lust shall see how great diversities of fasting Lent have been in old time before, and then judge, whether this their one kind of fasting Lent be so necessary. Socrat. lib. v. cap. xxii. of his ecclesiastical history' writes of the diversities of sundry things in the church, as keeping of Easter, baptizing, marriage, and the communion, &c.; among which he touches the diversity of Lent fast, and says, that "the Romans fasted three whole weeks afore Easter, except

[ Ὅτι δὲ ἐξ ἔθους μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπὸ νόμου παρ' ἑκάστοις ἐξ ἀρχαίου τὴν παρατήρησιν ἔλαβεν, αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα δεικνύει. * * * αὐτίκα τὰς πρὸ τοῦ πάσχα νηστείας ἄλλως παρ ̓ ἄλλοις φυλαττομένας ἐστὶν εὑρεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν Ῥώμῃ τρεῖς πρὸ τοῦ πάσχα ἑβδομάδας, πλὴν σαββάτου καὶ κυριακῆς, συνημμένας νηστεύουσιν· οἱ δὲ ἐν Ἰλλυρίοις, καὶ ὅλῃ τῇ Ἑλλάδι, κ. τ.λ. * * ἐστὶ δὲ εὑρεῖν οὐ μόνον περὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν διαφωνοῦντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀποχὴν τῶν ἐδεσμάτων οὐχ ὁμοίαν ποιουμένους· οἱ μὲν γὰρ πάντῃ ἐμψύχων ἀπέχονται, οἱ δὲ τῶν ἐμψύχων ἰχθὺς μόνους μεταλαμβάνουσι· τινὲς δὲ σὺν τοῖς ἰχθύσι, κ. τ. λ. p. 249. Ed. 1544. It is needless to quote more at length. ED.]

Saturday and Sunday; some Grecians fast six weeks; some begin
seven weeks afore, and fast but fifteen days in that space, and
those not all together. They differed also in meats, for some
would eat nothing that had life; some would eat no lively thing
but fish; some would eat both fish and fowl; other forbare
berries and eggs; other forbare all things save dry bread; and
other would not eat that: some would not eat afore the ninth
hour, but then would feed of divers meats; some at one hour
of the day, some at another, &c." If all these christian men
served God, and yet had such diversities of fasting their Lent,
why should they be counted evil men, that do no worse than
they did, or swerve but a little from this their used Lent fast?
Is this so well, that nothing is well but this? And because
they stick so much to the Romish church, note that he says
the Romans fasted but three weeks; why should we then fast
six? Or how has Rome changed this old custom? Or may it
be changed? If it may not, why have they done it?
may, why blame they them that do it?
cap. ix. writes, that pope Gregory the first ordained fasting
of all Lent, who lived six hundred year after Christ: then it
lacks much of their authority and ancienty, that they crack so
much of.

and if it Polychronicon, lib. v.

We read that our Saviour Christ eat flesh at his last supper on maundy-thursday, which day of all in Lent is one of the holiest. If Christ then fasted Lent, I speak not this because I would have men to break the common appointed order of fasting without lawful cause; but that I would every man should know the liberty of conscience that Christ has given and taught us in his word. Let every man obey the ordinance of the rulers, which command not any thing contrary to God; and let them know also the freedom of conscience, that they be not boundmen to the creatures, which God of love has made to serve, and not to rule us. Surely these people were christened, and holy members of the church of Christ: and yet so shamelessly he cracks so much of the whole church to maintain their doings. Spiridion, bishop of a town in Cyprus, when his friend Sozo. lib. i. came to him on the fasting-day after dinner, bade his daughter Irene dress a piece of bacon, because he had no other meat in

[ Also in all the churches of Rome he ordained fasting every day in the Lent for forgiveness of sins. ED.]

[PILKINGTON.]

36

cap. 11.

Prayer.

Superstition.

Ethelothresceia.

the house: "Nay," says the man, "I am a christian man; I eat no flesh on the fasting-day." Why," says Spiridion, "because thou art a christian man, thou should eat1." O worthy lesson, teaching both the marriage of bishops, and also liberty of meats!

Thirdly, where he belies us, saying that we call prayer superstition, read the books of prayers which the protestants have made, the order that they teach to pray in; mark their prayers openly in their sermons, with what fervent zeal it is done; and judge then, how falsely he misreports them. But if he mean the prayers of monks, friars, nuns, &c. we will not greatly stick to grant them to be so indeed and good reasons we have out of their own doctors, why to say so. St Thomas in his secunda secundæ, Quæst. XCII. writes, that "it is superstition when a man is too holy." As when he is so pope-holy, that he believes things not to be believed, fears things not to be feared, worships things not to be worshipped, or does things as holy which be not holy indeed. Confer these sayings with monkish prayers, and such like, and see whether we say true. Things necessary to be believed are written only in the scriptures: so be things to be worshipped, to be feared as godly, or counted holy, are taught there only. Then he that believes more than the holy bible teaches, or worships, fears other gods than the only living God, or does any thing for the service of God, or counts holy that which is not taught there generally, he is superstitious, and the use of the thing itself is superstition.

The English word is the harder, because we use the Latin word superstition, and makes it English: but the Greek word makes the nature of it, and the things afore rehearsed, plainer by much. There be two Greek words signifying this superstition; Ethelothresceia [éeλoρýσкeia] and deisidæmonia [deiσidaipovía]. The further word signifies, as the interpretation of it μονία].

[ Ταύτῃ μᾶλλον, ἔφη, οὐ παραιτητέον· πάντα γὰρ καθαρὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς, ὁ θεῖος ἀπεφῄνατο λόγος. Sozomen. Eccl. Hist. n. 11. En.]

[ Dicitur enim superstitio esse religio supra modum servata, ut patet in Gloss. ad Coloss. ii. super illud, Quæ sunt rationem habentia sapientiæ in superstitione. Quæst. xcII. Artic. i. p. 266.-Simulata religio ibi dicitur, quando traditioni humanæ nomen religionis applicatur, prout in Glossa sequitur. Ibid. Artic. ii. p. 267. Antverp. 1575. ED.]

tions.

monia.

declares, all such religious worshipping of God, as man devises on his own head, and is not taught in the holy scripture. So says the Gloss. Coloss. ii. "When man's tradition is taken for religion, then it is superstition3:" as, either to worship any other God than the only true living God, or to worship the Superstionly God otherways than he has appointed us in his word, as with lady psalters, trentals, pilgrimages, &c. And because the chief part of godly worship stands in praying to God, and calling on him in our necessities with a stedfast belief of his holy word and promise; he that calls on any creature but God alone for help, or believes other doctrine necessary to salvation than God's book alone, he is well called superstitious. The latter word signifies that godly fear in their opinion which is due to DeisideGod alone; which whosoever gives to any other creature beside the true God, he is superstitious also: as they that to know things to come will counsel with spirits, or in their sickness or trouble seek help at their hands, hang upon the stars for lucky or unlucky days, or fear any creature more than the Lord and creator. All the pope's creatures therefore be superstitious, putting their holiness and religion in their cowls, cloisters, order invented of men, and fearing more to break the rule of Austin, Dominic, Benet, than of any apostle, evangelist, or Christ himself. They also be superstitious, that put holiness in meats, days, times, places, beads, holy water, palm, cross, pardons, St Agathe's letters for burning houses, thornbushes for lightnings, &c.

Learn therefore to put difference betwixt religion and superstition, and then ye shall easily know how we disallow no prayer but the superstitious. The scribes and Pharisees prayed at every corner of the streets, and fasted oft: yet our Saviour Christ rebuked them, not condemning prayer, but their misusing of it. So we will every man to pray in every time Prayer. and place; yet superstition we abhor in all sorts of men, prayer, time and place. What wicked blindness is this then, to think that bearing prayers written in rolls about with them, as St John's gospel, the length of our Lord, the measure of our lady, or other like, they shall die no sudden death, not be hanged, or if he be hanged, he shall not die!

There is

[See the preceding note. ED.]

too many such, though ye laugh and believe it not, and not hard to shew them with a wet finger.

Prayer then is of two sorts, either in begging that that we want, or giving thanks for that which we have received: and it is the earnest lifting up of a man's mind to God, or a familiar and reverent talk and complaint to our heavenly Father of our miseries, with a craving of his mercies, and trusting to obtain of his mercy that which shall be necessary; or else an humble thanksgiving for his liberal benefits, so plenteously bestowed on us undeserved. These stand in deep sighs and groanings, with a full consideration of our miserable state and God's majesty; in the heart, and not in ink or paper; not in hanging written scrolls about the neck, but lamenting unfeignedly our sins from the heart, accusing and condemning ourselves, and begging pardon for them; not in speaking a number of words with the lips unconsiderately, be they never so holy, but with bitter tears weighing from the heart every syllable that he thinks or [1 Sam. i.] speaks. Thus prayed Anna to have a son, 1 Kings i. so sor

Marriage of priests.

rowfully pouring out her griefs afore God in her mind, that the priest, seeing her lips move and hearing not her words, thought she had been drunken. Thus earnestly called Moses on God in his sorrowful meditation, that the Lord said to him, Why criest thou so to me?"-and yet we read not that he spake any word at all. The other is lip-labour in speaking much, or saying a great number of their own devised prayers, or else a charming; thinking that in certain words speaking they could make things come to pass as they lust. These, with such other as popery is full of, we say be superstitious.

Lastly, he burdens us with breaking all laws of the church, civil, canon, and the realm, in that we say, marriage of priests is lawful. This is that which may not be borne: this is thought so heinous, that christian men should not suffer it. If he were learned, he could never have heaped so many lies together. All writers confess, that the Greek church in the east part of the world (which is the greater part of christendom) never forbad their priests marriage, nor do at this day. For the west and Latin church now will I try a little, whether any such have been borne by law, or no. Hildebrand, commonly called Gregory VII. (who for his deeds might be turned and