YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

EXPOSITIONS OF SCRIPTURE

PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

jFov ttt llubUcatton of ttft aauorfee of ttie ^atfiersi
anO aiavlp ^Mvittv^ of tl^e meformeti

EXPOSITIONS AND NOTES

SUNDEY PORTIONS

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES,
TOGETHER WITH
THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
BY
WILLIAM TYNDALE,
MARTYR, 1536.

EDITED FOR
BY THE
REV. HENRY WALTER, B.D. F.R.S.
RECTOR OF HASILBUH"X BRYAN, DOUSET ;
FORMERLY FELLOW OF ST JOHn's COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PBOFESSOK OF NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY IN THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S COLLEGE AT HAILEYEURY.

CAMBRIDGE :
PRINTED AT
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

M. DCCC. XLIX.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Pbologue to Exposition of St Matthew's Gospel  3
Exposition of Chaps, v. vi. and vii. of St Matthew's Gospel  16
Introductory notice to exposition of first Epistle of St John  133
Prologue to the same  136
Exposition of the first Epistle of St John  146
Marginal notes on first twenty-one chapters of St Matthew's Gospel 227
Introductory notice to Practice of Prelates  237
Preface to the Practiceof Prelates  240
The Practice of Prelates  249

EXPOSITION

UPON THE

FIFTH, SIXTH, AND SEVENTH CHAPTERS

MATTHEW.

[tyndale, ii.J

[INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
In the advertisement prefixed to the first volume of this reprint
of the writings of Tyndale, the editor announced the intention of ar
ranging them in three classes, viz. doctrinal and hortatory treatises;
helps to a right understanding of the scriptures, consisting of intro
ductory prefaces, expositions, and notes upon the sacred text; and
lastly his replies, and exposures of the adversaries of the Reformation.
The flrst volume has accordingly comprehended the whole of the
flrst class, and of the introductory prefaces, or prologues, as Tyndale
styled them. Proceeding, therefore, to the expositions, the present
volume will commence with Tyndale's exposition of the Sermon on
the mount, as coming flrst in the order of the scriptures, though not
published till 1532, and consequently some months later than his ex
position of the flrst epistle of St John*. For the following reprint,
that of Day in 1673, the peculiar readings of which will be marked D.,
has been collated with a copy of the exposition in the archiepiscopal
library at Lambeth,, numbered 401 in Dr Maitland's account of rare
books in that library, and of which he has said that it may be ft
specimen of the flrst edition. The readings of the Lambeth edition
will be distinguished by the letter L. ; and the marginal notes found
in it will have the initials W. T. attached to them, to mark that
Tyndale is to be held responsible for them alone, the other marginal
notes being probably composed by Foxe, as editor for Day.]
[' See Anderson's Annals, Vol. i. § 8 and 9; and Biogr. Notice of Tyndale, pp. li.
and lii.]

ITAN EXPOSITION UPPON THE V. VI. VII.
CHAPTERS OF MATHEW,
WHICH THBEE CHAPTERS AEJE THE KEYE AND THE DORE OP THE SCRIPTURE,
AND THE RESTORING AGAYNE OF MOSES LAW CORRUPTE BY THE
SCRIBES AND PHARISES. AND THE EXPOSITION IS
THE RESTORING AGAYNE OF CHRISTES LAWE
CORRUPTE BY THE PAPISTES.
If Item before the booke, thou hast a Prologe very necessarie, contayn-
ing the whole summe of the couenaunt made betwene God and
us, uppon which we be baptised to keepe it.
Set forth by William TyndaU^.

THE PROLOGUE.
Here hast thou, dear reader, an exposition upon the fifth, to dig the
sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew, wherein Christ, our Abraham
^ ^ ' ' IS to open
spiritual Isaac, diggeth again the wells of Abraham : which p°a^ "t^*^^
wells the scribes and Pharisees, those wicked and spiteful ww^tTff the
Philistines, had stopped and filled up with the earth of their go"!*™"'
false expositions. He openeth the kingdom of heaven, which
they had shut up that other men should not enter, as they
themselves had no lust to go in. He restoreth the key of
knowledge, which they had taken away, and broken the wards,
with wresting the text, contrary to his due and natural course,
with their false glosses. He plucketh away from the face of
Moses the veil which the scribes and Pharisees had spread
thereon, that no man might perceive the brightness of his
countenance. He weedeth out the thorns and bushes of their
pharisaical glosses, wherewith they had stopped up the narrow
way and strait gate, that few could find them.
The wells of Abraham are the scripture. And the scripture Abraham's
rt . . wells. W. T.
may well be called the kingdom of heaven, wliich is eternal The kingdom
life, and nothing save the knowledge of God the Father, and whauS
of his Son Jesus Christ. Moses' face is the law, in her right joiinxvii.
understanding ; and the law in her right understanding is the ihe key^'^'^"
key, or at the least way the first and principal key, to open w.V "'
the door of the scripture. And the law is the very way that iheiawis
... . . ^.i. . . . . ^-, ; ... rr^, the way that
bringeth imto the door Christ, as it is written. Gal. ui. " The '^*^^*^ j,
[2 Such is the title placed at the head of this Exposition in Day.]
1—2

4 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
Gal. iii. law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might
be justified by faith." And "the end of the law," that is to say.
Bom. X. the thing, or cause why the law was given, "is Christ, to justify
all that believe! :" that is to say, the law was given to prove
us unrighteous, and to drive us to Christ, to be made righteous
Law^what^ through forgiveness of sin by him. The law was given to
w't. ¦;""¦ make the sin known, saith St Paul, and that sin committed
Jioin. 111. ' - /» 1 rni 1 "1-
Rom. vii. under the law might be the more sinful. The law is that
thing which Paul in his inward man granted to be good) but
was yet compelled ofttimes of his members to do those things
which that good law condemned for evil.
utereth^sin, ^ho law makoth no man to love the law, or less to do or
o™dS!"' commit sin; but gendereth more lust, and increaseth sin. For
Ss^cto'l I cannot but hate the law, inasmuch as I find no power to do
^' ^' it ; and it nevertheless condemneth me, because I do it not.
Rom.r. The law setteth not at one with God, but causeth wrath.
Bom. iv. _ • 1 ¦» «- 1 I'l
Johni. 'The law was given by Moses, but grace and verity by
the?a^^''but Jcsus Chrlst." Behold, though Moses gave the law, yet he
Christ only ' . ° , ° , . .' ¦''
to'do'it^and §^^® ^° ™^i^ grace to do it, or to understand it aright ; or
aright!'*"*" WTote it in any man's heart, to consent that it was good, and
to wish after power to fulfil it. But Christ giveth grace to
do it, and to understand it aright ; and writeth it with his
holy Spirit in the tables of the hearts of men ; and maketh it
a true thing there, and no' hypocrisy.
The law, truly understood, is those fiery serpents that
Thebrasen stung the children of Israel with present death. But Christ
N^umi). xxi. ^® *^® brasen serpent ; on whom whosoever, being stung with
conscience of sin, looketh with a sure faith, is healed imme
diately of that stinging, and saved from the pains and sorrows
of hell.
Mth'ta o?"* ^* ^® °°^ thing to condemn, and pronounce the sentence of
S^Sns. *i6^th, and to sting the conscience with fear of everlasting pain:
w- 3^- and it is another thing to justify from sin ; that is to say, to
forgive and remit sin, and to heal the conscience, and certify
a man, not only that he is delivered from eternal death, but
also that he is made a son of God and heir of everlasting
life. The first is the office of the law : the second pertaineth
unto Christ only, through faith.
gsgture. Now if thou give the law a false gloss, and say that the
w. I, "''¦ ]} So Tyndale's Translation.]
[2 That is, detects.] p l. no; but D. none,-]

PROLOGUE UNTO THE READER. 5
law is a thing which a man may do of his own strength, even
out of the power of his free-will ; and that by the deeds of the
law thou mayest deserve forgiveness of thy fore* sins ; then
died Christ in vain, and is made almost of no stead, seeing thou oai. ii.
art become thine own saviour. Neither can Christ (where that
gloss is admitted) be otherwise taken or esteemed of christian
men, for all his passion and promises made to us in his blood,
than he is of the Turks : how that he was a holy prophet, and
that he prayeth for us as other saints do ; save that we Chris
tians think that he is somewhat more in favour than other
saints be (though we imagine him so proud, that he will not
hear us but through his mild mother and other holy saints,
which all we count much more meek and merciful than he,
but him most of might), and that he hath also an higher place
in heaven, as the Grey friars and Observants set him, as it
were from the chin upward, above St Francis.
And so, when by this false interpretation of the law Christ, christ is the
which is the door, the way, and the ground or foundation of way,' and
11 1 . . , . T • rt • • foundation
all the scripture, is lost concerning the chiefest fruit of his°f?",the
. ^ *-¦ . scriptures.
passion, and no more seen in his own likeness ; then is the
scripture locked up, and henceforth extreme darkness, and a
maze, wherein if thou walk, thou wettest neither where thou
art, nor canst find any way out. It is a confused chaos, and
a mingling of all things together without order, every thing
contrary to another. It is an hedge or grove of briars,
wherein if thou be caught, it is impossible to get out, but that
if thou loose thyself in one place, thou art tangled and caught
in another for it.
This wise was the scripture locked up of the scribes and when by
Pharisees, that the Jews could not see Christ when he came, ?«>¦ own .
. , imagmation
nor yet can. And though Christ with these three chapters t^e dear™
did open it again; yet by such glosses (for our unthankfulness' ^oJaf theni
sake, that we had no lust to Hve according) have we Christians iSS up""
lost Christ again, and the understanding of the most clear """"'¦
text, wherewith Christ expoundeth and restoreth the law again.
For the hypocrites, whatsoever seemeth impossible to their
corrupt nature, unrenewed in Christ, that they cover over
with the mist of their glosses, that the light thereof should
not be seen. As they have interpreted hei^e the words of
Christ, wherewith he restoreth the law again, to be but good
[¦* Fore, i. e. previous.]

6 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
christused counsels only, but no precepts that bind the consciences. And
no temporal «' ¦*¦ *¦ i i i i nln-n/4
!;^7f°'- thereto they have so ruffled and tangled the temporal and
spiritual regiment together, and made thereof such confusion,
that no man can know the one from the other : to the intent
that they would seem to have both by the authority of Christ,
which never usurped temporal regiment unto him.
Notwithstanding, most dear reader, if thou read this
exposition with a good heart, only to know the truth, for the
amending chiefly of thine own living, and then of other men's
(as charity requireth where an occasion is given) ; then shalt
thou perceive their falsehood S and see their mist expeUed
with the brightness of the inevitable truth.
Christ is a Auothcr conclusiou is this: all the good promises which
oniy^tottieni arc mado us throughout all the scripture, for Christ's sake,
that love the o rt.'1-iljljj'
profe™it. ^01" ^^ ^*'^®' ¦'^i^ passion or suftering, his blood-sheddmg or
^- ^' death, are all made us on this condition and covenant on our
party, that we henceforth love tbe law of God, to walk therein,
and to do it, and fashion our lives thereafter : insomuch that
whosoever hath not the law of God vwitten in his heart, that
he love it, have his lust in it, and record therein night and
He that^^ day, understanding it as God hath given it, and as Christ
hath no pSt ^^^ *^^ apostles expound it, the same hath no part in the
promises. promises, nor can have any true faith in the blood of Christ ;
^' because there is no promise made him, but to them only
that promise to keep the law.
Thou wilt haply say to me again. If I cannot have my
Works do sins forgiveu except I love the law, and of love endeavour
notjustify. . .
w. T. myself to keep it ; then the keeping of the law justifieth me.
I answer that the argument is false, and but blind sophistry,
and like unto this argument: I cannot have forgiveness of
my sin except I have sinned ; ergo, to have sinned is the
forgiveness of sins. And it is like to this also : no man can be
healed of the plague but he that hath it ; ergo, to have the
plague doth heal the plague.
And like sophistry are these arguments: If thou wilt
Matt. xix. enter into life, keep the commandments; ergo, the deeds
Bom. ii. of the law justify us. Item, " The hearers of the law are not
righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law shall
be justified;" ergo, the deeds of the law justify from sin.
And again : " We must all stand before the judgment-seat of
[1 So D., but L. falshepe.]

2 Cor. V.

PROLOGUE UNTO THE READER. 7
Christ, to receive every man according to the deeds which he
did in the body ;" ergo, the law, or the deeds of the law,
justify. These, and all such, are naughty* arguments. For ye
see that the king pardoneth no murderer but on a condition,
that he henceforth keep the law, and do no more so ; and yet
ye know well" enough that he is saved by grace, favour, and
pardon, ere the keeping of the law come : howbeit, if he
break the law afterward, he faileth again into the same
danger of death.
Even so, none of us can be received to grace but upon a By keeping
condition to keep the law, neither yet continue any longer in contimJ^n
grace than that purpose lasteth. And if we break the^^™'
law, we must sue for a new pardon; and have a new fight
against sin, hell, and desperation, ere we can come to a quiet
faith again, and feel that the sin is forgiven. Neither can
there be in thee a stable and an undoubted faith that thy sin is
forgiven thee, except there be also a lusty courage in thine
heart, and a trust that thou wilt sin no more ; for on that
condition, that thou endeavour thyself to sin no more, is the
promise of mercy and forgiveness made unto thee.
And as thy love to the law increaseth, so doth thy faith Faith, love,
in Christ ; and so doth thine hope and longing for the life to i™eparabi?°
.' , 1 . , , . , rt • 1 , in this life.
come. And as thy love is cold, so is thy faith weak ; and w. i.
thine hope, and longing for the Hfe to come, little. And where
no love to the law is, there is neither faith in Christ for the
forgiveness of sin, nor longing for the life to come ; but
instead of faith a wicked imagination, that God is so un
righteous that he is not ofifended with sin ; and instead of hope
a desire to live for ever here, and a greediness of worldly
voluptuousness. And unto all such is the scripture locked up, and made They that
impossible to understand. They may read it, and rehearse law cannot
rt ¦ 1 understand
the stones thereof, and dispute of it, as the Turks may ; and *^s^{^^ion^
as we may of the Turks' law. And they may suck pride, ^- ^•
hypocrisy, and all manner of poison there-out, to slay their
own souls, and to put stumbling-blocks in other men's ways, to
thrust them from the truth ; and* get such learning therein
as in Aristotle's Ethics and Moral philosophy, and in the
precepts of old philosophers. But it is impossible for them
[^ That is, worth nought.] [3 L. to get.]

8 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V, VI. VII.
to apply one sentence thereof to their soul's health, or^ to
fashion their lives thereby for to please God ; or to make them
love the law, or understand it; either to feel the power
of Christ's death, and might of his resurrection, and the
sweetness of the Hfe to come: so that they ever remain
carnal and fleshly ; as thou hast an ensample of the scribes,
Pharisees, and Jews, in the new Testament.
Care. Another conclusion is this : of them that believe in Christ
for the remission of sin, and love the law, are a thousand
How God degrees and not so few, one perfecter or weaker than another ;
careth for O i.il "l
the weak, pf -^phich a great sort are so feeble, that they can neither go
forward in their profession and purpose, nor yet stand, except
they be holpen and borne of their stronger brethren, and
tended as young children are by the care of their fathers and
mothers. And therefore doth God command the elder to care
Bom. XV. for the younger : as Paul teacheth, saying, " We that be
stronger ought to bear the feebleness of the weaker ;" and,
B^'bearing " Brethren, if any man be caught in any fault, ye that be
wea'kSSfwe spiritual," and are grown in knowledge, and have gotten the
OfChrist.'^" victory of your flesh, " teach such with the spirit of softness,"
not calling them heretics at the first chop, and threatening
them with fire and fagots : but, alter alterius onera portate
(saith he), and sic adiinplehitis legem Christi ; that is to say,
" Bear each other's burden, and so shall ye fulfil the law of
Christ." Even so verily shall ye fulfil the law of Christ ; and
not with smiting your brethren, and putting stumbling-blocks
before their weak feet, and killing their consciences, and
making them more afraid of shadows and bugs than to break
their Father's commandments, and to trust in words of wind
Rulers, why and vaulty more than in their Father's promise. And for
thev were #
ordainci their sakes also he hath ordained rulers, both spiritual and
temporal, to teach them and exhort them ; to warn them, and
to keep occasions from them, that with custom of sin they fall
not from their profession.
Why God Now when they that take upon them to be the elder
scourgeth *' ^
brethren are become hypocrites, and turned to wily foxes
and cruel wolves and fierce Hons, and the officers be waxen
evil and servants to mammon, ministering their offices for
their own lucre only, and not for the profit of their brethren,
but favouring all vices whereby they may have a vantage;
[1 So L., but D. has for.]

h W. T.

PROLOGUE UNTO THE READER. 9
then is God compelled, of his fatherly pity, to scourge his
weak himself, with poverty, oppression, wrong, loss, danger,
and with a thousand manner of diseases, to bring them again,
if they be fallen, and to keep their hearts fast to their pro
fession. So that diUgentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in
bonum : they that love God, that is to say, the law of God Hom. viu.
(for that is to love God), unto them God turneth all to the
best; and scourgeth them with the lusts of their own weak
ness, to their own salvation.
Another conclusion is this : God rieceiveth both perfect
and weak in like grace, for Christ's sake, as a father receiveth
all his children, both small and great, in like love. He The condi-
' ^ O ' _ tions of the
receiveth them to be his sons, and maketh a covenant with ^"=^^"'-
them, to bear their weakness for Christ's sake, till they be
waxen stronger ; and how often soever they faU, yet to forgive
them if they will turn again ; and never to cast off any, till
he yield himself to sin, and take sin*s part, and for affection
and lust to sin fight against his own profession to destroy it.
And he correcteth and chastiseth his children ever at home,
with the rod of mercy and love, to make them better ; but
he bringeth them not forth, to be judged after the condem
nation of the law.
Another conclusion is this : every man is two men, flesh Fiesh and
•' . ' spirit. W. T.
and spirit; which so fight perpetually one against another,
that a man must go either back or forward, and cannot stand
long in one state. If the spirit overcome the temptation,
then is she stronger, and the flesh weaker. But and if the
flesh get a custom, then is the spirit none otherwise oppressed
of the flesh, than as though she had a mountain upon her
back : and as we sometime in our dreams think we bear hea
vier than a miUstone on our breasts ; or when we dream, now
and then, that we would run away for fear, our legs seem
heavier than lead ; even so is the spirit oppressed and over
laden of the flesh through custom, that she struggleth and
striveth to get up and break loose in vain ; until the God of
mercy, which heareth her groan through Jesus Christ, come
and loose her with his power, and put his cross of tribulation
on the back of the flesh, to keep her down, to minish her
strength and to mortify her.
Wherefore every man must have his cross to nail his flesh cross, w. t.
to, for the mortifying of her. Now, if thou be not strong

10 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
Evil lusts and enough, and discreet thereto, to take up thy cross thyself,
affections are ® \ „ ,' x X,"
w.thtie'''""' ^^^ t° **™^ *^y ^^^^ ^^*^ prayer and fasting, watching,
ch°Stf° deeds of mercy, holy meditations and reading the scripture,
and with bodily labour, and in withdrawing aH manner of plea
sures from the flesh, and with exercises contrary to the vices
which thou markest thy body most incHned to, and with ab
staining from all that courage the flesh against the spirit ; as
readmg of wanton books, wanton communication, fooHsh jest
ing and effeminate thoughts, and talking of covetousness
i?ph. v (which Paul forbiddeth), and magnifying of worldly promo
tions; and takest, I say, up such a cross by thine ownself,
or by the counsel of other that are better learned and exer
cised than thou ; then must God put his cross of adversity
upon thee. For we must have every man his cross in this
worid ; or be damned with the world.
To sin under Qf this ve SCO the difference between the sin of them that
grace, and to J
!Lw™w.T.^ beheve in the blood of Christ for the remission of sin, and
consent and submit themselves unto the law, and the sin of
them that yield themselves unto sin, to serve it, &c. The
first sin under grace ; and their sins are venial, that is to say,
forgiveable. The other sin under the law, and under the
damnation of the law, and fight (for a great part of them)
against grace and against the Spirit of grace, and against the
law of God and faith of Christ, and corrupt the text of the
covenant with false glosses, and are disobedient to God, and
therefore sin deadly.
Lambs. Of this also ye see the difference between the lambs of
Swine. true believers ; and between the unclean swine, that follow
Dogs. w. T. carnal lusts and fleshly liberty ; and the churiish and hypo-
critish dogs, which, for the blind zeal of their own righteous
ness, persecute the righteousness of the faith in Christ's blood.
Swinehave The effeminate and careless swine, which continue in their
no laich. '
w-T- fleshliness, and cease not to wallow themselves in their old
puddle, think that they believe very weU in Christ's blood ;
but they are deceived ; as thou mayest clearly perceive, be
cause they fear not the damnation of evil works, nor love the
law of good works, and therefore have no part in the promise.
S.Xw.™"°' ¦^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ doggish hypocrites, which take upon them
to work, think they love the law ; which yet they never saw,
save under a veil. But they be deceived ; as thou mayest
perceive, by that they beheve not in Christ for the forgive-

W. T.

PROLOGUE UNTO THB READER. 11
ness of sin. Whereby also (I mean that they believe not)
thou mayest perceive that they understand not the law : for
if they understood the law, it would either drive them to
Christ, or make them despair immediately.
But the true believers behold the law in her own Hkeness, True faith
and see the impossibility thereof to be fulfilled with natural J^'^jhi'ilw
power ; and therefore flee to Christ for mercy, grace, and ^- ^'•
power ; and then, of a very thankfulness for the mercy
received, love the law in her own likeness, and submit them
selves to learn it and to profit therein, and to do to-morrow
that they cannot do to-day.
Ye see also the difference of all manner of faiths. The The differ-
ence of
faith of the true believers is, that God justifieth or forgiveth ; gj*|'tfff„
and Christ deserveth it; and the faith or trust in Christ's J't^o"df|[th
blood receiveth it, and certifieth the conscience thereof, and Jvv.'i"'''
saveth and deHvereth her from fear of death and damnation.
And this is that we mean, when we say faith justifieth : that
faith (I mean in Christ, and not in our own works) certifieth
the conscience that our sins are forgiven us for Christ's blood's
sake. But the faith of hypocrites is, that God forgiveth, and Faith of
works deserve it : and that same false faith, in their own w. t.
works, receiveth the mercy promised to the merits of their
own works ; and so Christ is utteriy excluded.
And thus ye see that faith is the thing that is affirmed to
justify, of all parties. For faith in Christ's blood (which is
God's promise) quieteth the conscience of the true behevers :
and a false faith, or trust in works (which is their own feign
ing), beguileth the blind hypocrites for a season ; till God for
the greatness of their sin, when it is full, openeth their eyes,
and then they despair. But the swine say, God is so good Faith of
. . swine. W. T.
that he wiU save devils and all; and damn no man perpe
tually, whatsoever he do.
Another conclusion is this : to believe in Christ for the
remission of sins, and, of a thankfulness for that mercy, to
love the law truly : that is to say, to love God that is the
Father of aU and giveth aU ; and Jesus Christ, that is Lord
of us all, and bought us all, with all our hearts, souls, power,
and might ; and our brethren for our Father's sake (because
they be created after his image), and for our Lord and master
Christ's sake, because they be the price of his blood ; and to

12 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
long for the life to come, because this life cannot be led with-
The right out sin. These three points (I say) are the profession and
w!'t.""" religion of a christian man, and the inward baptism of the
heart, signified by the outward washing of the body. And
they be that spiritual character, badge, or sign, wherewith
God, through his Spirit, marketh all his immediately and as
soon as they be joined to Christ, and made members of his
church by true faith.
Thechurch THc church of Christ, then, is the multitude of all them
OfChrist. rt . • • J? • J i"
w- T. that beheve in Christ for the remission ot sin ; and, ol a
thankfulness for that mercy, love the law of God purely and
without glosses; and, of hate they have to the sin of this
world, long for the life to come. This is the church that
cannot err damnably ; nor any long time ; nor all of them :
but as soon as any question ariseth, the truth of God's pro
mise stirreth up one or other to teach them the truth of
every thing needful to salvation out of God's word; and
lighteneth the hearts of the other true members, to see the
same, and to consent thereto.
And as all they that have their hearts washed with this
inward baptism of the Spirit are of the church, and have the
keys of the scripture, yea, and of binding and loosing, and
Whosoever do uot err ; even so they that sin of purpose, and will not
thTn|from '^ hear when their faults be told them, but seek liberties and
Christare privileges to sin unpunished, and gloss out the law of God,
church. and maintain ceremonies, traditions and customs, to destroy
the faith of Christ, the same be members of Satan, and all
their doctrine is poison, error and darkness; yea, though
they be popes, bishops, abbots, curates, and doctors of divi
nity, and though they can rehearse all the scripture without
book, and though they be seen in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin :
yea, and though they so preach Christ and the passion of
Christ, that they make the poor women weep and howl again.
They that For when they come to the point, that they should minister
law w"r°tten^ Christ's passiou uuto the salvation of our souls, there they
iTearts cannot poison altogether and gloss out the law, that should make us
understand \ . i • • /^ •
chrSfto"""'^^^^ our salvation in Chnst, and drive us in that point from
solvation. Christ, and teach us to put our trust in our own works for
the remission and satisfaction of our sins, and in the apish
play of hypocrites, which sell their merits instead of Christ's
blood and passion.

PROLOGUE UNTO THE READER. 13
Lo, now, dear reader, to believe in Christ's blood for the a short
remission of sin, and purchasing of all the good promises that w- 1.
help to the Hfe to come ; and to love the law ; and to long what the
for the life to come, is the inward baptism of the soul, the usm^'f the'
baptism that only availeth in the sight of God ; the new gene
ration and image of Christ; the only key also to bind and
loose sinners ; the touchstone to try all doctrines ; the lantern
and light that scattereth and expelleth the mist and darkness
of all hypocrisy, and a preservative against all error and
heresy ; the mother of all good works ; the earnest of ever
lasting life, and title whereby we challenge our inheritance.
And though faith in Christ's blood make the marriage
between our soul and Christ, and is properiy the marriage
garment ; yea, and the sign Thau, that defendeth us from the Thau. w. t.
smiting and power of the evil angels^; and is also the rock
whereon Christ's church is built, and whereon all that is built
, standeth against all weather of wind and tempests ; yet
might th« profession of the faith in Christ's blood, and of the
love to the law, and longing for the Hfe to come, be called all
these things, were mahee and froward understanding away ;
because that where one of them is, there will be all three ; Faith, hope,
and where all are not, there is none of them. And because areinsepari
.... ble. W. T.
that the one is known by the other, it is impossible to know
any of them truly, and not be deceived, but in respect and
comparison of the other.
For if thou wilt be sure that thy faith be perfect, then Faith, hope,
examine thyself whether thou love the law. And in like are known
,„ , .1, 11 11 11 ., one by the
manner, if thou wilt know whether thou love the law aright, other, w. t.
[1 Tyndale alludes to Ezekiel ix. 4 — 6, where the Latin, of the
Vulgate translation, makes the Lord say, " Put the sign of Thau on the
foreheads of the men.'' The Hebrew verb means setting a sign, or
marking; and the substantive formed from it, W^ signifies a sign, or
mark, and is also used as the name of the letter D, Thau, the last letter
of the Hebrew alphabet. Hence Jerome, copying the Hebrew substan
tive in Roman letters, translates, Signa Thau, where the Septuagint
renders, Aoy a-rifietov, and our authorised version, ' Set a marh.' Un
happily, too, though neither the Hebrew nor the Samaritan charac
ters for Thau bear any resemblance to a cross, the Greek and Roman
character for the corresponding letter, T, obviously has a resemblance
to it ; so that the text, as read by the Eomanists in their Vulgate, con
veys the idea of the outward sigu of the cross having a defensive power
in it.]

14 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
then examine thyself whether thou beHeve in Christ only for
the remission of sin, and obtaining the promises made in the
scripture. And even so, compare thy hope of the life to
come unto faith and love, and to hating the sin of this
Hfe; which hate the love to the law engendereth in thee,
And if they accompany not one another, aU three together,
then be sure that all is but hypocrisy. :
If you say. Seeing faith, love, and hope, be three vh-tues
inseparable; ergo, faith only justifieth not : I answer, though
they be inseparable, yet they have separable and sundry
The oflice of officos ; as it is above said of the law and faith. Faith only,
' which is a sure and an undoubted trust in Christ, and in the
Father through him, certifieth the conscience that the sin is
forgiven, and the damnation and impossibihty of the law
taken away, as it is above rehearsed in the conditions of the
covenant ; and with such persuasions moUifieth the heart, and
maketh her love God again and his law. And as oft as we sin,
faith only keepeth that we forsake not our profession, and that
love utterly quench not, and hope fail ; and only maketh the
peace again. For a true beHever trusteth in Christ only, and
not in his own works, or aught else, for the remission of sin,
Theofitoof And the office of love is to pour out again the same good
ness that she hath received of God upon her neighbour, and
to be to him as she feeleth Christ to herself. The office of
love only is to have compassion, and to bear with her neigh
bour the burden of his infirmities; and, as it is written,
James v. operit multitudiuem peccatorum, "covereth the multitude
of sins ;" that is to say, considereth the infirmities, and inter
preteth all to the best, and taketh for no sin at all a thousand
things, of which the least were enough (if a man loved not)
to go to law for, and to trouble and unquiet an whole town,
and sometime an whole realm or two.
The oflice of And the office of hope is to comfort in adversity and
make patient ; that we faint not and fall down under the
cross, or cast it off our backs.
And thus ye see that these three, inseparable in this life,
have yet separable and sundry offices and effects; as heat
and dryth*, being inseparable in the fire, have yet theu- separ
rable operations. For the dryth only expelleth the moistness
of aU that is consumed by fire ; and heat only destroyeth the
[1 Drought, or dryness.]

PROLOGUE UNTO THE READER. ¦ 1,5
coldness. For dryth and cold may stand together ; and so
may heat and moistness. It is not all one to say, the dryth
only, and the dryth that is alone ; nor all one to say, faith
only, and faith that is alone.
Go to then, and desire God to print this profession in
thine heart, and to increase it daily more and more; that
thou mayest be fuU shapen like unto the image of Christ, in
knowledge and love, and meek thyself, and creep low by the
ground, and cleave fast to the rock of this profession, and tie
to thy ship this anchor of faith in Christ's blood with the
cable of love, to cast it out against all tempests ; and so set
up thy sail, and get thee to the main sea of God's word. And
read here the words of Christ with this exposition following,
and thou shalt see the law, faith, and works, restored each to
his right use and true meaning ; and thereto, the clear differ
ence between the spiritual regiment and the temporal ; and
shalt have an entrance and open way into the rest of all the
scripture. Wherein, and in all other things] the Spirit of
verity guide thee and thine understanding. So be it^-
[2 Thus L., but D. has A-men.]

AN EXPOSITION UPON THE
FIFTH, SIXTH, AND SEVENTH CHAPTEES
OF
MATTHEW.

spirit.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF MATTHEW.
When he saw the people, he went up into a mountain and sat him
down, and his disciples came to him ; and he opened his mouth, and
taught them, saying : Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven ^-
Christ here, in his first sermon, beginneth to restore the
law of the ten commandments unto her right understanding,
against the scribes and Pharisees, which were hypocrites,
false prophets, and false preachers, and had corrupt the scrip
ture with the leaven of their glosses. And it is not without
Poverty in a great mystery that Christ beginneth his preaching at poverty
in spirit ; which is neither beggary, nor against the possessing
of riches, but a virtue contrary to the vice of covetousness,
the inordinate desire and love of riches, and putting trust in
riches.
Eiches.w.T Richos is the gift of God, given man to maintain the
degrees of this world, and therefore not evil ; yea, and some
must be poor and some rich, if we shall have an order in this
world. And God, our Father, divideth riches and poverty
among his children, according to his godly pleasure and
Neither wlsdom. And as riches doth not exclude thee from the
povlrty°ex- blessing, so doth not poverty certify thee; but to put thy
assure us of trust iu the Hviug God maketh thee heir thereof. For if
God'sbless- • 1 1- • /-w 1 .
>og- thou trust in the livmg God, then if thou be poor, thou
covetest not to be rich ; for thou art certified that thy Father
shall minister unto thee food and raiment, and be thy
[1 In these expositions Tyndale appears to have translated the
Greek text afresh, as each passage came before him, instead of copying
his own previously published version.]

CH. V. 3.] EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 17
defender : and if thou have riches, thou knowest that they be
but vanity, and that as thou broughtest them not into the
world, so shalt thou not#carry them out ; and that as they be
thine to day, so may they be another man's to-morrow ; and
that the favour of God only both gave and also keepeth thee
and them, and not thy wisdom or power ; and that they,
neither aught else, can help at need, save the good will of thy
heavenly Father only. Happy and blessed then are the poor who are
in spirit, that is to say, the rich that have not their confidence spirit, is here
1... rti-. » pithily de-
nor consolation in the vanity of their riches ; and the poor, "^'^^
that desire not inordinately to be rich, but have their trust in
the living God for food and raiment, and for all that per
taineth either to the body or the soul ; for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
And contrariwise, unhappy and accursed, and that with
the first and deepest of all curses, are the rich in spirit ; that Rich in
is to say, the covetous that, being rich, trust In their riches,
or, being poor, long for the consolation of riches ; and comfort
not their souls with the promises of their heavenly Father,
confirmed with the blood of their Lord Christ. For unto Markx.
them it is harder to enter into the kingdom of heaven, than
for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle. No ; they
have no part in the kingdom of Christ and God. There- Eph. v.
fore is it evident, why Christ so diligently warneth all
his to beware of covetousness ; and why he admitteth none
to be his disciples, except they first forsake all together. For
there was never covetous person true yet, either to God
or man. If a covetous man be chosen to preach God's word, he is covetMsness
f, , *s a thing
a false prophet immediately. If he be of the lay sort, soj™^aryto
joineth he himself unto the false prophets, to persecute the
truth. Covetousness is not only, above all other lusts, those ^*i/
thorns that choke the word of God in them that possess it ;
but it is also a deadly enemy to aH that interpret God's word
truly. All other vices, though they laugh them to scorn
that talk godly, yet they can suffer them to live, and to dweU
in the country : but covetousness cannot rest, as long as there
is one that cleaveth to God's word in all the land.
Take heed to thy preacher therefore, and be sure, if he Jy eovctous-^
be covetous and gape for promotion, that he is a false prophet, pj"!*^'
and leaveneth the scripture, for aU his crying, ' fathers, ^.7,"-
2
[tyndale, ii.J

God, and to
the ministers same.

IS EXPOSITION or [chap.
fathers,* 'holy church,' and 'fifteen hundred yearsf' and for
all his other holy pretences.
2. Blessed are they that moum, for they shall be comforted.
Th" world is This mourning is also in the spirit, and no kin to the sour
foSofn looking of hypocrites, nor to the impatient waywardness of
in*qutty?but those flesHly, which ever whine and complain that the world
ncs^r/"'" is naught, because they cannot obtain and enjoy their lusts
Sei°r°own °] therein. Neither forbiddeth it always to be merry, and to
Isftgh, and make good cheer now and then, to forget sorrow,
that overmuch heaviness swallow not a man clean up. For
' ~- ' the wise man saith, " Sorrow hath cost many their Hves."
Prov. xvii. . .And, " An heavy spirit drieth up the bones."] And Paul com-
phii. iv. 1 mandeth to " reioice ever." And he saith, " Rejoice with
Bom. XII. i . . ¦' -111
" j them that rejoice ; and sorrow with them that sorrow, and
'^' weep with them that weep :"i which seem two contraries.
mourning. '^^^''^ mouming is that cross without which was never any
^' ^' disciple of Christ, or ever shall be. For of whatsoever state
or degree thou be in this world, if thou profess the gospel,
As warmth there foUowcth thee a cross (as warmness accompanieth the
accompani- ^ ^
so'foiiowe'th ^'^^ shining), under which thy spirit shaU groan and mourn
tme^Mstian secretly, not only because the world and thine own flesh
™™" carry thee away, clean contrary to the purpose of thine
heart ; but also to see and behold the wretchedness and mis
fortunes of thy brethren, for which (because thou lovest them
as well as thyself) thou shalt mourn and sorrow no less than
for thyself. Though thou be king or emperor, yet if thou
knowest Christ, and God through Christ, and intendest to
walk in the sight of God, and to minister thine office truly,
'. thou shalt (to keep justice with all) be compeUed to do daily
that, which thou art no less loath to do than if thou shouldest
cut off arm, hand, or any other member of thine own body.
Yea, and if thou wilt follow the right way, and neither turn
on the right hand nor on the left, thou shalt have immediately
thine own subjects, thine own servants, thine own lords, thine
own counsellors, and thine own prophets thereto, against thee;
unto whose froward maHce and stubbornness, thou shalt be
compeUed to permit a thousand things against thy conscience,
[1 Alluding to the priests' common assertion, that the customs then
prevalent in the church were instituted by the apostles flfteen hun
dred years before Tyndale's time.]

V. 4.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 19
not able to resist them, at which thine heart shall bleed
inwardly; and shalt sauce thy sweet sops, which the world
weeneth thou hast, with sorrows enough ; and still mourning,
studying either alone, or else with a few friends secretly
night and day, and sighing to God for help to mitigate the
furious frowardness of them whom thou art not able to with
stand, that all go not after the will of the ungodly. What V'>'','
was David compelled to suffer all the days of his Hfe of his
own servants, the sons of Zeruiah^, beside the mischances of
his own children ! And how was our king John forsaken of King John.
W. T.
his own lords, when he would have put a good and godly
reformation in his own land!* How was Henry the second Henry the
1 • 1-1 /» 1 • 1 second.
compassed m like manner of his own prelates, whom he had w. i.
promoted of nought, with the secret conspiracy of some of his
own temporal lords with them ! I spare to speak of the
mourning of the true preachers, and the poor common people
which have none other help, but the secret hand of God, and
the word of his promise.
But they shall be comforted of all their tribulation, and The promise
1 • 1 n 1 1 • • . r, . OfGod's
their sorrow shaU be turned into loy, and that infinite and ^<"''i's*f
d d ' comfort of
everlasting, in the life to come. Neither are they without fn^thu world
comfort here in this world ; for Christ hath promised to send sake!*™' ^
them a Comforter to be with them for ever, the Spirit of
truth which the world knoweth not. And they "rejoice in John xiv.
hope" of the comfort to come. And they overcome through °'"'"''
faith, as it is written. The samts " through faith overcame Heb. xi.
[2 Seruia, D.]
[3 In so saying, there can be no doubt that Tyndale alluded to
what passed in 1207 — 9, as related by the monkish historian, Mat
thew Paris, who mentions how John forbade ecclesiastical appeals
to Eome ; telling Innocent HI., that ' Cum archiepiscopi, episcopi et
alii eeclesiarum prrelati, tam de regno Anglise quam aliarum terrarum
suarum, in omnium scientiarum plenitudine suflcienter abundent, si
necessitas coegerit, extra terras suas justitiam vel judicium ab alieni-
genis non emendicaret' ¦ also that by John's orders, ' Presby terorum
et clericorum focariae per totam Angliam a ministris regis captse sunt,
et graviter ad se redimendum compulsse:' and that John patronised a
preacher who afB.rmed, 'ad papam non pertinere de regum sive de
quorumlibet potentum laica possessione, vel subditorum regimine;
cum praecipue principi apostolorum Petro nihil a Domino nisi ecclesise
tantum ac rerum ecclesiasticarum sit coUata potestas.' — Matt. Paris.
Hist. Angl. {. 188 — 92. Lond. 1686.]
2—2

20 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Faith is our klngdoms, and obtained the promises." And " this is the
vr. t7* victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." But the
blind world neither seeth our comfort, nor our trust in God,
nor how God, through faith in his word, helpeth us, and
maketh us overcome.
How overcome they (wilt thou say) that be always per-
seeuted, and ever slain? Verily in every battle some of
them that win the field be slain : yet they leave the victory
unto their dear friends, for whose sakes they took the fight
upon them ; and therefore are conquerors, seeing they obtain
their purpose, and maintain that they fought for. The cursed
rich of this worid, which have their joy and comfort in their
riches, have since the beginning fought against them, to weed
By persecu- them out of the world : but yet in vain. For though thev
tlonand , , ,. •', , i-,
death for the havo always slain some, yet those that were slam won the
truth's sake . ni. . i-ii
we obtain victory for their brethren with their death, and ever in-
life, and get «/ '
the victory, croasod the number of them. And though they seemed to
die in the sight of the foolish, yet they are in peace, and
The moum- have obtained that everlasting kingdom for which they fought,
ers for right- o o »/ o
eousnessare And bcsldes all this, wheii God plaffueth the world for their
saved, when ^ ' r o
vengeSe* ^^°' t^ese that mourn and sorrow are marked with the sign
righteou?.' of Thau in their foreheads, and saved from the plague, that
Sekiix. they perish not with the wicked, as thou seest, and as Lot
was dehvered from among the Sodomites.
And contrariwise, cursed are they that laugh now, that
is to say, which have their joy, solace, and comfort in their
Lukevi. riches ; for they shall sorrow and weep. And as it was an-
Luke xvi. swered the rich man, " Son, remember how that thou re
ceivedst thy good days in thy life-time, and Lazarus likewise I
evU ; and therefore is he comforted and thou tormented."
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. i
J^olsesS -^y *^° ^^'"'^ understand all that we possess in this world; j
rte earth. ^hicH aU God will keep for us, if we be soft and meek. ;
And whatsoever trouble arise, yet, if we wiU be patient and
abide, the end will go on our side; as it is written in the thirty-
[Psai. xxxvii. sixth Psalm, " The wicked shall be weeded out, but they
that abide the Lord's leisure shaU inherit the earth." And
again : " Within a while the wicked shall be gone, thou shalt
behold the place where he was, and he shall be away; but the
meek (or soft) shall inherit the earth." Even as we say, ' Be

V. 5.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 21
still, and have thy wiU;' and, ,' Of little meddling cometh
much rest;' for a patient man shall wear out all his enemies.
It is impossible to dwell in any place where no displeasure
should be done thee. If it be done unwiUingly, as when thy
neighbour's beasts break into thy corn by some chance
against his will, then it is reason that thou be soft and
forgive. If it be done of malice and self-will, then with re
venging thou dost but, with pottering in the fire, make the
flame greater, and givest an occasion of more evU ta be done
thee. If any man raU on thee and rebuke thee, answer not
again, and the heat of his maHce shall die in itself, and go
out immediately ; as fire doth, when no more wood is laid
thereon. If the wrong that is done be greater than thou art Befer the
able to bear, trust in God, and complain with all meekness thy^^use to
unto the officer, that is set of God to forbid such violence. tra'te"'^om
J . . God appoint-
And II the gentlemen that dwell about thee be tyrants, be fieh vi^''"'''
ready to help to fetch home their wood, to plough their land, '™™-
to bring in their harvest, and so forth; and let thy wife
visit my lady now and then with a couple of fat hens, or a
fat capon, and such Hke, and then thou shalt possess all the
remnant in rest : or else one quarrel or other may be picked
to thee, to make thee quit of all together.
Choose whether thou wilt, with softness and sufl'ering,
have God on thy side, ever to save thee, and to give thee
ever enough, and to have a good conscience and peace on the
earth; or with furiousness and impatience, to have God
against thee, and to be polled a Httle and a little of all together,
and to have an evil conscience and never rest on earth, and
to have thy days shortened thereto. God hath promised, if
thou be meek and soft and suffer a Httle persecution, to give
thee not only the life to come, but also an hundredfold here
in this life : that is to say, to give thee his ownself, and to be Hundred
1 • • 1 11-1 fold. w. T.
thy protector, and minister to thee ever enough, which may
of right be called an hundredfold, and is a treasure passing
the treasure of all princes.
Finally, Christ teacheth here how every man must live The private
/»!. 1/1 1 1 1* -11 1* person may
for himself among them to whom he is a neighbour, and m not avenge,
o . , but the officer
private matters in which he is but as a neighbour (though he !™*^
be a king), and in which thou canst not be too soft. But
and if thou be an officer, then thou must be good, kind, and
merciful ; but not a milksop, and negligent. And to whom

22 EXPOSITION or [chap.
thou art a father, them must thou rule, and make obedient,
and that with sharpness, if softness wiU not be heard, and so
in all other offices.
4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be fulfllled.
Righteous- ! Righteousness in this place is not taken for the principal
" righteousness of a christian man, through which the person is
good and accepted before God. For these eight points are
but doctrine of the fruits and works of a christian man, before
which the faith must be there, to make righteous without all
deserving of works, and as a tree out of which aU such fruits
How this and works must spring. Wherefore understand here the out-
eousness ward righteousness before the world, and true and faithful
ought here o
s°ood™^"' dealing each with other, and just executmg of the offices of all
manner degrees, and meek obedience of aU that are under
power. So that the meaning is : happy are they which not
only do their duties to all men, but also study and help to
the uttermost of their power, with word, deed, counsel, and
exhorting, that all other deal truly also, according to the de
gree that every man beareth in the worid ; and be as desirous
to further good order and righteous dealing, , as the hungry
and thirsty be desirous to eat and drink^"?
And note, that it is not for nought that he saith, Hunger
and thirst. For except thy soul hunger and thirst for this
righteousness of her new nature, as the body doth for meat
and drink of his old nature, the devil and the children of this
Monks. world (which cannot suffer that a man either deal truly him-
Monks.^why self, or help other) will so resist thee, plague thee, and so
reii^on. weary thee, that thou hadst lever, of very mistrust, and
desperation that thy state' should be better, to forsake all,
and make thyself a monk or a friar, yea, and to run into
a strange country, and leave all thy friends, than to abide
in the world, and to let it choose whether it will sink or
swim. But to comfort us, that we faint not or be weary of
[ weU doing, Christ promiseth that all that have this thirst
and hunger shaU have their lust satisfied, and be translated
into a kingdom where none unrighteousness is ; besides that
[1 So D., but L. has fhat aught.]

V. 6.] • MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 23
thou shalt here at length^ see many come to the right way,
and help with thee, and many things that cannot be alto
gether mended, yet somewhat bettered and more tolerable ;
so that all righteousness shall not be quenched.
And contrariwise, " Cursed be all they that are fuU," as r-ukevi. [
Luke in the sixth saith ; that is to say, the hypocrites which,
to avoid all labour, sorrow, care, cumbrance, and suffering Monks
with their brethren, get them to dens, to Hve at rest, and to w-^-'
fill their bellies ; the wealth of other men not regarded. No,
it were a grief to them that other were better, that they
alone may be taken for holy ; and that whosoever will to
heaven, must buy it of them. Tea, they be so full, that they
prefer themselves before^ poor sinners, and look as narrowly
on them as the Pharisee did on the publican, thanking God
that he alone was good, and the other evil. Cursed are they
yet for all their fulness ; for they shall hunger with everlast
ing hunger, where none shall give them to eat, nor they have
any refreshing of their pains.
Blessed be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 6.
To be merciful is to have compassion and to feel another lobemerci-
,1. 1 -111 1 /. fuljWhatlt
man s disease ; and to mourn with them that mourn, and suf- ¦=• w. t.
fer with them that suffer ; and to help and succour them
that are in tribulation and adversity; and to comfort them
with good counsel, and wholesome instruction, and loving
words. And to be merciful is lovingly to forgive them that
offended thee, as soon as they knowledge their misdoing and
ask thee mercy. To be merciful is patiently long to abide
the conversion of sinners with a lusty courage, and hope that
God will at the last convert them, and in the mean time to
pray instantly for them ; and ever when he seeth an occasion
to exhort them, warn them, monish them, and rebuke them.
And to be merciful is to interpret all to the best; and to
look through the fingers at many things ; and not to make a
grievous sin of every small trifle ; and to suffer and forbear,
in his own cause, the malice of them that wiU not repent nor
be aknown of their wickedness, as long as he can suffer it, and
as long as it ought to be suffered ; and when he can no longer,
P So D., but L. heaor a-nd see.]
[3 So D., but L., compare themselves to open.]

24

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Monks. W. T.

Convent.
W. T.

Oil.
Holy oil
must be
avenged. W. T.

Zeal of
righteous
ness, what
itis. W.T.

Care.
How the
spiritualtycare for the
temporecommonwealth.
W.T.

then to complain to them that have authority to forbid wrong,
and to punish such evil doers.
But the hypocrites, clean contrary, condemn aU men for
grievous sinners, save them only that buy their hohness of
them. And because they wiU suffer with no man, they get
them to sUence. And because they will help no man, aU that
they have (say they) pertaineth unto the covent >, and is
none of theirs. And if they be offended, they wiU be avenged
immediately. And to cloak, that they should not seem to
avenge themselves, the matter (say they) pertaineth to God
and holy church, or to some saint, or to one or other holy
thing : as if thou smite one of them on the one cheek, he will
turn to thee the other, ere he wiU avenge himself; but the
injury of the holy oil wherewith he was anointed, that must
he avenge, and that with a spiritual punishment ; that thou
must be accursed as black as a collier, and delivered to Satan.
And if thou come not in, and ask absolution, and offer thyself
to penance and to paying thereto, they wiU not suffer till
the devil fetch thee, but will deHver thee to the fire, in the
mean time ; and all for zeal of righteousness, say they.
0 hypocrites ! the zeal of righteousness is to hunger and
thirst for righteousness, as it is above described : that is, to
care, and study, and to do the uttermost of thy power, that
all things went in the right course and due order, both
through all degrees of the temporalty and also of the spi
ritualty, and to jeopard Hfe and goods thereon.
All the world can bear record what pain ye take, and
how ye care, for the temporal commonwealth, that aU degrees
therein did and had their duty ; and how ye put your lives
in adventure to preach the truth, and to inform lords and
princes, and to cry upon them to fear God and to be learned,
and to minister their offices truly unto their subjects, and to
be merciful, and an example of virtue unto them. And how
help ye that youth were brought up in learning and virtue,
and that the poor were provided for, of food and raiment, &c.?
And how provide ye that your priests be all learned, and
preach, and do their duties truly every man in his parish ?
How provide ye that sects arise not, to poll the people and
lead them out of the way, under a colour of praying and
hypocritish holiness, living themselves idle, and being utterly
[1 Covent: convent.]

V. 7.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 25
unto the commonwealth unprofitable ? Who smeUeth not the
sweet odour of chastity, that is among you ? What righte
ousness is in your sanctuaries, and what indifferent equity is
in aU your exemptions, privileges, and Hberties ! By your
works we judge you, and your zeal to righteousness; and
not by your sophistical subtle reasons, with which ye would
claw our ears, bleer our eyes, and beguile our wits, to take
your tyrannous covetous crudeUty^ for the zeal of righte
ousness !
Finally, he that will not be merciful, to be blessed of God, as thou art
J . . f. merciful, so
and to obtain mercy of him, both here and in the Hfe to ^^^^^*^^„
come, let him be accursed with the unmerciful, and to him be fj^l '* ""
"judgment without mercy," according to the words of St James ii. j
James in the second chapter of his epistle.
Blessed be the pm-e in heart, for they shall see God. 6.
"That which entereth into a man defileth not a man,  ;
but the things that defile a man proceed first out of his
heart," as thou mayest see Matt. xv. "Thence come out The fiithiness
evil thoughts (saith Christ), as murder, adultery, fornication, what. w. i.
theft, false witnessings and blasphemies. These are the things
that make a man foul." A man then is not foul in the sight
of God, tUl his heart be foul. And the filthiness of the heart
are thoughts that study to break God's commandments.
Wherefore the pureness of the heart is the consenting and The pureness
1 1 r. ^ 1 1 1 of the heart,
studious' purpose to keep the law of God, and to mean truly what w.i
in all thy words and works, and to do them with a true
intent. It followeth then that thou mayest be pure-hearted, and
therewith do all that God hath commanded, or not forbidden.
Thou mayest be pure-hearted, and have a wife and get
children ; be a judge, and condemn to death them that have
deserved it; hang or behead evil doers, after they be by
a just process condemned. Thou mayest be pure-hearted,
and do all the drudge in the world. Lot was pure-hearted
among the Sodomites. Nicodemus, being in the council,
among them that conspired the death of Christ, was pure-
[2 Crudelity, i. e. cruelty, from the Latin form of the word ]
[3 Study and studious, are here used in that sense which they havo
in the Latin; that is, to desire, and desirous.]

26 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
heartedj and consented not with them to the death of that
innocent.
The end of If the kw be written in thine heart, it wiU drive thee to
the law is to , ¦» n i it
that byieve ^Jhrist ; which is the end of the law, to justify all that beheve.
»?™;''-.™' And Christ wiU shew thee his Father. "For no man seeth
[Matt. XI. in Mil
^¦'^ the Father but the Son, and he to whom the bon wiU shew
him." If thou beHeve in Christ that he is thy Saviour, that
faith will lead thee in immediately, and shew thee God with
a lovely and amiable countenance ; and make thee feel and
see how that he is thy Father, altogether merciful to thee, and
at one with thee, and thou his son, and highly in his favour
and grace, and sure that thou pleasest him, when thou dost
an hundred things which some holy people would suppose
themselves defiled if they should but think on them. And to
see God is the blessing of a pure heart.
hSi?ted'who Impure and unclean-hearted, then, are all they that study
are. w. T. ^q break God's commandments. Impure-hearted are aU that
believe not in Christ, to be justified by him. Impure-hearted
are all hypocrites, that do their work for a false purpose,
either for praise, profit, or to be justified thereby ; which
painted sepulchres (as Christ calleth them) can never see God,
or be sure that they be in the state of grace, and that their
works be accepted ; because they have not God's word with
them, but clean against them.
7. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children
of God.
Peace- To inherit this blessing, it is not only required that thou
what. ' have peace in thyself, and that thou take aU to the best, and
be not offended lightly and for every small trifle, and alway
ready to forgive, nor sow no discord, nor avenge thine own
wrong ; but also that thou be fervent and diligent to make
peace, and to go between, where thou knowest or hearest
malice and envy to be, or seest bate or strife to arise between
person and person, and that thou leave nothing unsought, to
set them at one.
Princes, And though Christ here speak not of the temporal sword,
what they i i i i .
ere they ^° ""* tcacheth how every man shaU live for himself toward his
make war. neighbour ; yet princes, if they wiU be God's chUdren, must
not only give no cause of war, nor begin any; but also
(though he have a just cause) suffer himself to be entreated, if

V. 9-] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 27
he that gave the cause repent ; and must also seek all ways of
peace, before he fight. Howbeit when all is sought, and
nothmg wiU help, then he ought, and is bound, to defend his
land and subjects : and in so doing he is a peace-maker, as well
as when he causeth thieves and murderers to be punished for
their evil doing, and breaking of the common peace of his
land and subjects.
If thou have peace in thyself, and lovest the peace of thy when thou
mavest as-
brethren after this manner, so is God, through Christ, at sure thyself
' ' o ' to be the son
peace with thee ; and thou his beloved son, and heir also. 0°"™ °'
Moreover, if the wrong done thee be greater than thou
mayest bear : as when thou art a person not for thyself only,
but in respect of other, in whatsoever worldly degree it be,
and hast an office committed thee ; then (when thou hast
warned, with all good manner, him that did it, and none
amendment wiU be had) keep peace in thine heart and love
him still, and complain to them that are set to reform such
things ; and so art thou yet a peace-maker, and still the son
of God. But if thou avenge thyself, or desirest more than vengeance
,,»,.ii ,. . ^1. pertaineth to
that such wrong '¦ be forbidden, thou sinnest against God in ^* °°'y-
taking the authority of God upon thee, without his command
ment. God is Father over all, and is (of right) judge over all
his chUdren, and to him only pertaineth all avenging. Who
therefore without his commandment avengeth, either with
heart or hand, the same doth cast himself into the hands of
the sword, and loseth the right of his cause.
And on tbe other side, cursed be the peace-breakers, pick-
quarrels, whisperers, backbiters, sowers of discord, dispraisers
of them that be good, to bring them out of favour, interpre
ters to evil that is done for a good purpose, finders of faults
where none is, stirrers up of princes to battle and war ; and
above all, cursed be they that falsely belie the true preachers
of God's word, to bring them into hate, and to shed their
blood wrongfully, for hate of the truth : for all such are
chUdren of the devU.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for 8.
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- If the faith of Christ and law of God (in which two all m the faith
. 1 . 1 .of Christ and
righteousness is contamed,) be written m thine heart ; that is, '^^j"^°f J?°^(g.
, 1 -r-x 1 ousness is
[^ So L., but D. lurongs.] contained.

28 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
if thou beHeve in Christ to be justified from sin, or for remis
sion of sin, and consentest in thine heart to the law, that it is
good, holy, and just, and thy duty to do it, and submittest
thyself so to do ; and thereupon goest forth, and testifiest that
faith and law of righteousness openly unto the world, in word
\ and deed ; then will Satan stir up his members against thee,
„•. ! and thou shalt be persecuted on every side. But be of good
'."' ' .. ; comfort, and faint not. Call to mind the saying of Paul, how
2 Tim. ill. " aU that wUl live godly in Christ Jesus shaU suffer persecu-
¦ tion." Remember how all the prophets that went before thee
Luke vi. were so dealt with. Remember the examples of the apostles,
and of Christ himself; and that the disciple is no better than
his master ; and that Christ admitteth no disciple, which not
rfchrutls a only leaveth not all, but also taketh his cross too. We be not
Fdence" ° ' Called to a soft living, and to peace in this world ; but unto
peace of conscience in God our Father, through Jesus Christ,
and to war in this world.
To suffer Moreover comfort thyself with the hope of the blessing of
in this. the inheritance of heaven, there to be glorified with Christ, if
be glorifled thou horc suffor with him. For if we be Hke Christ here in
with him m
come"'''* '° ^i^ passions, and bear his image in soul and body, and fight
manfully 1 that Satan blot it not out, and suffer with Christ
for bearing record to righteousness ; then shaU we be Hke him
in glory. St John saith in the third chapter of his epistle,
ijohniiL "Yet^ appeareth not what we shall be, but we know that
phiLiiL when he appeareth, we shall be like him." And Paul, "Our
conversation is in heaven, whence we look for a Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, which shall change our vUe bodies, and
make them like his glorious body."
It is an happy thing to suffer for righteousness' sake, but
not for unrighteousness. "For what praise is it" (saith Peter,
in the second of his first epistle), "though ye suffer, when ye
be buffeted for your offences ?" Wherefore in the fourth of
1 Pet. ii. iv. the same he saith, " See that none of you suffer as a murderer,
or a thief, or an evil doer, or a busy body in other men's
matters." Such suffering glorifieth not God, nor art thou
thereby heir of heaven. Beware therefore that thou deserve
not that thou sufferest. But if thou do, then beware much
more of them that would bear thee in hand, how that such
suffering should be satisfaction of thy sins, and a deserving of
[1 L. has yea that.] [8 L. has ^et it.]

v. 10.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 29
heaven. No ; suffering for righteousness, though heaven be No hodiiy
promised thereto, yet doth it not deserve heaven, nor yet ^ satisfaction
...„.*' ' J to God, save
make satisfaction for the fore sins : Christ doth both twain. Son!'' 'w! t.
But and if thou repent and beHeve in Christ for the remission
of sin, and then confess, not only before God, but also openly,
before aU that see thee suffer, how that thou hast deserved
that thou sufferest, for breaking the good and righteous law
of thy Father, and then takest thy punishment patiently, as
an wholesome medicine to heal thy flesh that it sin no more,
and to fear thy brethren that they faU not into like offence,
as Moses teacheth every where ; then, as thy patience in
suffering is pleasant in the sight of thy brethren which behold
thee, pity thee, and suffer with thee in their hearts, even so
is it in the sight of God, and it is to thee a sure token that
thou hast true faith and true repentance.
And as they be blessed which suffer for righteousness,
even so are they accursed which run away, and let it be
trodden under the feet, and will not suffer for the faith of
their Lord and law of their Father, nor stand by their
neighbours in their just causes.

Blessed are ye, when they revile you, and persecute you, and say all 9.
manner of evil sayings against you for my sake, and yet lie.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Even so
verily they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
Here seest thou the uttermost, what a christian man must
look for. It is not enough to suffer for righteousness ; but
that no bitterness or poison be left out of thy cup, thou shalt what the
A ./ r ' most cruel
be reviled and railed upon ; and even when thou art con- p"^^"',
demned to death, then be excommunicate and delivered to
Satan, deprived of the fellowship of holy church, the company
of the angels, and of thy part in Christ's blood ; and shalt be
cursed down to hell, defied, detested, and execrate with all
the blasphemous railings that the poisonfuF heart of hypo
crites can think or imagine ; and shalt see before thy face
when thou goest to thy death, that all the world is persuaded
and brought in belief that thou hast said and done that thou
never thoughtest, and that thou diest for that thou art as
guiltless of as the child that is unborn.

ion
W.T.

P So D., but L. poi.son hearts. See Vol. I. p. 17, n. 4.]

30 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Well, though iniquity so highly prevaU, and the truth,
for which thou diest, be so low kept under, and be not once
known before the world, insomuch that it seemeth rather to
be hindered by thy death than furthered, (which is of all
griefs the greatest;) yet let not thine heart faU thee, neither
despair, as though God had forsaken thee, or loved thee not :
but comfort thyself with old ensamples, how God hath suf.
fered aU his old friends to be so entreated, and also his only
Set the ex- and dear son Jesus; whose ensample, above aU other, set
ample of,. - llji
cMst before bofore thino eyes, because thou art sure he was beloved above
aU other, that thou doubt not but thou art beloved also, and
so much the more beloved, the more thou art like to the
image of his ensample in suffering.
Did not the hypocrites watch him in all his sermons, to
trap him in his own words ? Was he not subtUly apposed,
whether it were lawful to pay tribute to Caesar ? Were not
all his words wrong reported ? Were not his miracles ascribed
to Beelzebub ? Said they not, he was a Samaritan, and had
a devU in him ? Was he not called a breaker of the sabbath,
a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and smners ? Did he
aught wherewith no fault was found, and that was not inter
preted to be done for an evil purpose? Was not the pre
tence of his death the destroying of the temple, to bring him
into the hate of all men ? Was he not thereto accused of
treason, that he forbad to pay tribute to Csesar, and that he
moved the people to insurrection ? RaUed they not on him
in the bitterest of all his passion, as he hanged on the cross,
saying, " Save thyself, thou that savest other," " come down
from the cross, and we will believe in thee;" fie, wretch,
"that destroyest the temple" of God?
Yet he was beloved of God ; and so art thou. His cause
came to light also, and so shall thine at the last; yea, and
thy reward is great in heaven with him for thy deep suf
fering. And on the other side, as they be cursed which leave
righteousness destitute, and will not suffer therewith ; so are
JJ?sed°who ^^^^ ™°®* ^•^'"^^sed, which know the truth, and yet not only
w.'i.'" ¦ flee therefrom because they will not suffer, but also, for lucre,
become the most cruel enemies thereof and most subtle per
secutors, and most falsely He thereon also.
t^y noV"'" FinaUy, though God, when he promiseth to bless our
W.T,

V. 11, 12.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 31
works, do bind us to work if we wiU obtain the blessing or
promise ; yet must we beware of this pharisaical pestUence,
to think that our works did deserve the promises. _^For
whatsoever God comgoandeth, us t,0-...do, .thatJa.. our .duty to yl
do, iKough Jhere_ were no .such^ promise nia,de to us at all.^ 'I
TEe~promise therefore cometh not of the deserving of the
worker (as though God had need of aught that we could do),
but of the pure mercy of God, to make us the more willing
to do that is our duty, &c. For if, when we had done all
that God commandeth us to do, lie then gave us up into_thp
hands of tyrants, and kUled us, and sent us to purgatory
-^-f?vfficSmen so greatly fear), or to hell, and all the angels of
heaven with us; he did us no wrong, nor were unrighteous,
for aught that we or they could challenge of deserving : how
soever that God useth his creatures, he ever abideth righteous;
till thou canst prove that, after he hath bound himself with
his own word of mercy, he then breaks promise with them
that keep covenant with him. So now, if nought were pro
mised, nought could we challenge, whatsoever we did. And Notthe
therefore the promise cometh of the goodness of the promiser the'pure "
only ; and not of the deserving of those works, of which God is cause of
^ ^ the promise
hath no need, and which were no less our duty to do, though made unto.
there were no such promise.
Ye be the salt of the earth : but if the salt be waxen unsavom-y, what lo.
can be salted therewith? It is henceforth nothing worth, but to
be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
The office of an apostle and true preacher is to salt, not TheofBceof
a tru6
only the corrupt manners and conversation of earthly people, preacher.
bnt also the rotten heart within, and all that springeth out
thereof; their natural reason, their will, their understanding
and wisdom; yea, and their faith and belief, and all that
they have imagined without God's word concerning righteous
ness, justifying, satisfaction and serving of God. And the
nature of salt is to bite, fret, and make smart. And the sick
patients of the world are marvellous impatient, so that, though " j=^»j™-
with great pain they can suffer their gross sins to be rebuked 1f:^l^,,^ff-
under a fashion, as in a parable afar off ; yet, to have their ^- ^¦
righteousness, their holiness, and serving of God and his
saints, disallowed, improved, and condemned for damnable
and deviUsh, that may they not abide : insomuch that thou

32 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
must leave thy salting or else be prepared to suffer again;
even to be called a raUer, seditious, a maker of discord, and a
troubler of the common peace ; yea, a schismatic, and an
heretic also ; and to be Hed upon, that thou hast done and
said that thou never thoughtest, and then to be called coram
nobis^, and to sing a new song, and forswear salting, or else
to be sent after thy feUows that are gone before, and the
way thy Master went.
Salt True preaching is a salting that stirreth up persecution;
Whois meet and au office that no man is meet for, save he that is seasoned
to salt , ,
w-T. himself before with poverty in spirit, softness, meekness,
patience, mercifulness, pureness of heart, and hunger of
righteousness, and looking for persecution also^; and hath
all his hope, comfort, and solace, in the blessing only, and
in no worldly thing.
¦\Scherof ^^J> '^^^^ somo Say, a man might preach long enough
Sust'^ulcM without persecution, yea, and get favour too, if he would not
Few's plrS meddle with the pope, bishops, prelates, and holy ghostly
cution. people that live in contemplation and solitariness, nor with
great men of the world. I answer, true preaching is salting ;
and all that is corrupt must be salted : and those persons
are of all other most corrupt, and therefore may not be left
untouched. The pope's pardons must be rebuked ; the abuse of the
mass, of the sacraments, and of all the ceremonies must be
rebuked and salted. And selHng of merits, and of prayers,
must be salted. The abuse of fasting and of pUgrimage
must be salted. All idolatry and false faith must be rebuked.
And those friars that teach men to believe in St Francis'
coat, how that they shall never come in hell or purgatory,
if they be buried therein*, may not be passed over with
silence.
Monks, why The paiu and grief of salting made monks flee to their
cloisters. cloister. Nay (say they), we went thither of pure devotion to
pray for the people. Yea, but for all that, the more ye in
crease, and the more ye multiply your prayers, the worse the
world is. That is not our fault (say they), but theu-s ; tbat
[1 Be/ore us: the expression is taken from the old Latin form of a
magistrate's warrant, summoning the accused.]
[2 So D., but L. has longing for persecution too,]
[3 See Vol. I. p. 122, n. 2.]

V. 13.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 33
they dispose not themselves, but continue in sin, and so are
unapt to receive the influence of our prayers. 0 hypocrites !
if ye were true salt and had good hearts, and loved your
neighbours (if dead men be neighbours to them that are ahve),
and would come out of your dens, and take pain to salt and
season them, ye should make a great many of them so apt
that your prayers might take effect. But now seeing, as ye
say, they be so unsavoury that your prayers be to them un
profitable, though their goods be to you profitable, and yet
ye have no compassion to come out and salt them, it is mani
fest that ye love not them, but theirs ; and that ye pray not
for them, but, under the colour of praying, mock them and
rob them. FinaUy, salt, which is the true understanding of the law, ^l^^^,^^
of faith, and of the intent of aU works, hath in you lost her ^'^^sSi^^U,'^"
virtue; neither be there any so unsavoury in the world as^*^%^^^„f
ye are, nor any that so sore kick against true salting as ye : ""'"' *"'¦
and therefore are ye to be cast out, and trodden under foot,
and despised of all men, by the righteous judgment of God.
"Ifi salt have lost his saltness, it is good for nothing but spiritualty:
. . ,. 1 1 ™hy they be
to be trodden under foot of men." That is, if the preacher, ^f^^-
which for his doctrine is called salt, have lost the nature of
salt, that is to say, his sharpness in rebuking all unrighteous
ness, all natural reason, natural wit and understanding, and
all trust and confidence in whatsoever it be, save ih the blood
of Christ; he is condemned of God, and disallowed of aU
them that cleave to the truth. In what case stand they then
that have benefices and preach not? Verily, though they
stand at the altar, yet are they excommunicate and cast out
of the living church of almighty God.
And what if the doctrine be not true salt ? VerUy then ceremonies
11 • 1 A 1 niust be
is it to be trodden under foot: as must all wearish* andsaited.
... w. 1.
unsavoury ceremonies which have lost their significations, and
not only teach not, and are become unprofitable and do no
more service to man ; but also have obtained authority as
God m the heart of man, that man serveth them, and putteth
in them the trust and confidence that he should put in God
his maker through Jesus Christ his redeemer. Are the in
stitutions of man better than God's ? Yea, are God's ordi
nances better now than in the old time ? The prophets trod
[* Used by Ascham for sour. Johnson's Diet, weerish.]
r 1 ^
[tyndale, II.J

34 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
under foot, and defied the temple of God, and the sacrifices of
God, and aU ceremonies that God had ordained, with fastings
and prayings, and aU that the people perverted and com
mitted idolatry with. We have as strait a commandment,
to salt and rebuke aU ungodliness, as had the prophets. Will
they then have their ceremomes honourably spoken of ? Then
let them restore them to the right use, and put the salt of
the true meaning and significations of them to them again.
But as they be now used, none that loveth Christ can speak
honourably of them. What true christian man can give:
honour to that that taketh all honour from Christ? Who
can give honour to that that slayeth the soul of his brotheri
and robbeth his heart of that trust and confidence, which he
should give to his Lord that hath bought him with his blood ?
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot bS
hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick, and so giveth it light to all that are in the
house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and praise your Father that is in heaven.
Christ goeth forth and describeth the office of an apostle
and true preacher by another likeness; as he called them
before the salt of the earth, even so here the Hght of the
world : signifying thereby that all the doctrine, all the wis
dom, and high knowledge of the worid, — whether it were
phUosophy of natural conclusions, of manners and virtue, or
of laws of righteousness, — whether it were of the holy scrip-
AUknow- ture and of God himself, — was yet but a darkness, until the
ness, till the doctrinc of his apostles came ; that is to say, until the know-
knowledge *¦ p
bfood-lhed- l^dgo of CHrist camo, how that he is the sacrifice for our
the^eart" ^ius, our Satisfaction, our peace, atonement and redemption,
"^^ '^' our life thereto, and resurrection. Whatsoever hohness, wis
dom, virtue, perfectness, or righteousness, is in the world
among men, howsoever perfect and holy they appear; yet is
all damnable darkness, except the right knowledge of Christ's
blood be there first, to justify the heart, before aU other
holiness.
,' Another conclusion: As "a city bmlt on a hiU cannot be
hid," no more can the light of Christ's gospel. Let the world
rage as much as it wUl, yet it wiU shine on their sore eyes,
whether they be content or no.

V. 14  16.] MATTHEW V. VI. Vll. 35
Another conclusion: As " men Hght not a candle to whelm
it under a bushel, but to put it on a candlestick, to Hght all
that are in the house ;" even so the Hght of Christ's gospel
may not be hid, nor made a several thing, as though it per
tained to some certain holy persons only. Nay, it is the light
of the whole world, and pertaineth to all men ; and therefore
may not be made several. It is a madness that divers men
say, 'The lay people may not know it :' except they can
prove that the lay people be not of- the world. Moreover it The iay
will not be hid ; but as the lightning, that breaketh out of tiif gospeh ™
the clouds, shineth over all, even so doth the gospel of Christ.
For where it is truly received, there it purifieth the heart,
and maketh the person to consent to the laws of God, and to
begin a new and godly Hving, fashioned after God's laws, and
without aU dissimulation : and then it wUl kindle so great The propertv
love in him toward his neighbour, that he shall not only have w.!!^"^*^
compassion on him in his bodily adversity, but much more
pity him over the blindness of his soul, and minister to him
Christ's gospel. Wherefore if they say, ' It is here or there. The tme
in St Francis's coat, or Dominick's, and such like, and if thou™i '*^°^-
wilt put on that coat, thou shalt find it there,' it is false, ifthespiri-
For if it were there, thou shouldest see it shine abroad, iisht, as they
. oughtto
though thou creepest not into a cell or a monk's cowl, as te, they
o ... . . would make
thou seest the Ughtning without creeping into the clouds : yea, *o™/to™^
their Hght would so shine that men should not only see the Hch^b*"
light of the gospel, but also their "good works," which would ^her^oOT,
as fast come out as they now run in; insomuch that thou selves rich.
shouldest see them make themselves poor, to help other, as
they now make other poor, to make themselves rich.
This light and salt pertained not then to the apostles,
and now to our bishops and spiritualty, only. No ; it per
taineth to the temporal men also. For aU kings and all Kings ought
rulers are bound to be salt and light ; not only in example w. i.
of living, but also in teaching of doctrine unto their subjects,
as weU as they be bound to punish evil doers. Doth not the
Scripture testify that king David was chosen to be a shepherd,
and to feed his people with God's word? It is an evil
schoolmaster that cannot but beat only : but it is a good
schoolmaster that so teacheth, that few need to be beaten.
This salt and Hght therefore pertain to the temporalty also,
3—2

36 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
and that to every member of Christ's church : so that every
man ought to be salt and Hght to other.
The order Every man then may be a common preacher, thou wilt
how every */ •' ,,. i.1, 'j- "NT
m^^ayte gay, aud preach every where by his own autnority. in ay,
and how not yerily ; no man may yet be a common preacher, save he that
is caUed and chosen thereto by the common ordinance of the
congregation, as long as the preacher teacheth the true word
of God. But every private man ought to be, in virtuous
Hving, both Hght and salt to his neighbour: insomuch that
the poorest ought to strive to overrun ^ the bishop, and preach
to him in ensample of living. Moreover every man ought to
preach in word and deed unto his household, and to them
None ought that are under his governance, &c. And though no man
openly, but may preach openly, save he that hath the office committed
such as are t/ i ^ ¦ i ./ '
thfJirdtnaMe ^^^^ him, jet ought ovory man to endeavour himself to be
^e*auon°" ^ ^^11 learned as the preacher, as nigh as it is possible.
And every man may privately inform his neighbour; yea,
and the preacher and bishop too, if need be. For if the
preacher preach wrong, then may any man, whatsoever he
be, rebuke him ; first privately, and then, if that help not, to
complain farther. And when all is proved, according to the
order of charity, and yet none amendment had, then ought
every man that can to resist him, and to stand by Christ's
doctrine, and to jeopard life and all for it. Look on the
old ensamples and they shall teach thee.
Spiritual and The gospcl hath another freedom with her than the tem-
temporal re- i
Sto?"*" poral regiment. Though every man's body and goods be
under the king, do he right or wrong, yet is the authority of
God's word free, and above the king : #o that the worst in
the realm may tell the king, if he do mm wrong, that he
doth naught, and otherwise than God hath commanded himj
and so warn him to avoid the wrath of God, which is the
patient avenger of aU unrighteousness. May I then, and
ought also, to resist father and mother and all temporal
power with God's word, when they wrongfully do or com
mand that hurteth or killeth the body ; and have I no power
to resist the bishop or preacher, that with false doctrine
slayeth the souls, for which my master and Lord Christ hath
shed his blood? Be we otherwise under our bishops than
[} So D., but L. overcome.]

V. 14  16.] MATTHEW V. VI, VH. 37
Christ and his apostles and all the^ prophets were under
the bishops of the old law ? Nay, verily : and therefore may Acts v.
we, and also ought to do as they did, and to answer as the
apostles did, Oportet magis obedire Deo quam hominibus ; Kvery man
" We must rather obey God than men." In the gospel every phrist-sdoc-
V oru trine in his
man is Christ's disciple, and a person for himself, to defend <"?°p'"°°-
Christ's^ docte.ine.. ill. Jiis. owji..,pg^ra?r„The faith"orthe'15rsEopu ,f
win not help me, nor the bishop's keeping the law is sufficient '
for me. But I must believe in Christ for the remission of
all sin, for mine ownself, and in mine own person. No more
is the bishop's or preacher's defending God's word enough
for me ; but I must defend it in mine own person, and jeo
pard life and all thereon when I see need and occasion.
I am bound to get woridly substance for myself and for
mine household with my just labour ; and somewhat more
for them that cannot, to save my neighbour's body : and
am I not more bound to labour for God's word, to have
thereof in store, to save my neighbour's soul ? And when is
it so much time to resist with God's word and to help, as
when they which are believed to minister the true word do
slay the souls with false doctrine for covetousness' sake ? He whoso re-
. «' , ... . p fuseth to die
that is not ready to give his life for the mamtenance of ^°r chnsts^^
Christ's doctrine against hypocrites, with whatsoever name or ofchi^t''''*
title they be disguised, the same is not worthy of Christ,
nor can be Christ's disciple, by the very words and testimony
of Christ. Nevertheless we must use wisdom, patience, meek
ness, and a discreet process, after the due order of charity, in
our defending the word of God ; lest, while we go about to
amend our prelates, we make them worse. But when we
have proved* all that charity bindeth us, and yet in vain ;
then we must come forth openly, and rebuke their wicked
ness in the face of the world, and jeopard life and aU
thereon. [2 So L., but D. has the other prophets,]
[3 The words person and parson were not yet made two, by the
adoption of the letter a into the flrst syllable of .the synonyme for a
Christian minister, as a means of distinguishing between them. Tyn
dale has therefore employed the word person here in each sense. At
one period, in our language, the name of person was given to a rector,
when meant to be distinguished from a vicar. Of this examples are
given in Johnson, Diet.]
[* That is, tried; as in 1 Sam. xvii. 39.]

38 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
Ye shall not think that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets:
no, I am not come to destroy them, but to fulfil them. Por truly
I say unto you, till heaven and earth perish, there shall not one jot
or one tittle of the law scape, till all be fulfilled.
A Httle before Christ caUeth his disciples the Hght of the
world, and the salt of the earth ; and that because of their
doctrine, wherewith they should Ughten the bhnd understand
ing of man, and with true knowledge drive out the false
opinions and sophistical persuasions of natural reason, and
deHver the scripture out of the captivity of false glosses,
whicb the hypocritish Pharisees had patched thereto : and so,
out of the Hght of true knowledge, to stir up a new living,
and to salt and season the corrupt manners of the old blind
False doe- couversation. For where false doctrine, corrupt opinions,
evu works, and sophistical glosses, reign in the wit and understanding,
there is the living devilish in the sight of God, howsoever it
True doo- appear in the sight of the blind world. And on the other
of good side, where the doctrine is true and perfect, there foUoweth
works. . ¦* , .
w- T. godly Hving of necessity. For out of the inward beHef of the
heart floweth the outward conversation of the members. He
that believeth that he ought to love his enemy, shall never
cease fighting against his own self, till he have weeded all
rancour and malice out of his heart; but he that believeth
it not, shall put a visor of hypocrisy on his face, till he get
opportunity to avenge himself.
And here he beginneth to teach them to be that light
and that salt of which he spake, and saith: Though the
scribes and Pharisees bear the people in hand, that aU I do
is of the devil, and accuse me of breaking the law and the
prophets, (as they afterward raUed on the apostles, that they
drave the people from good works through preaching the
justifying and righteousness of faith;) yet see that ye, my
disciples, be not of that belief. For heaven and earth shall
sooner perish, than one jot or tittle of the law should be put
out. I come not to destroy the law, but to repair it only,
and to make it go upright where it halteth; and even to
make crooked straight, and rough smooth, as John the Bap
tist doth in the wUderness; and to teach the true under
standing of the law. Without me the law cannot be fulfiUed,
t'JJtS toough nor ever could. For though the law were given by Moses,
jesu^ohiist. yet grace and verity, that is to say, the true understanding

V. 17  19-] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 39
and power to love it, and of love to fulfil it, cometh and ever
came through faith in me.
I do but only wipe away the filthy and rotten glosses
wherewith the scribes and the Pharisees have smeared' the law,
and the prophets; and rebuke their damnable living, which
they have fashioned, not after the law of God, but after their
own sophistical glosses, feigned to mock out the law of God,
and to beguile the whole world, and to lead them in blindness.
And that the scribes and Pharisees falsely bely me, how that |
I go about to destroy the law, and to set the people at a j
fleshly liberty, and to make them first disobedient, and to |
despise their spiritual prelates, and then to rise against the j
temporal rulers, and to make all common, and to give Hcence j
to sin unpunished; cometh only of pure malice, hate, envyT^
and furious impatiency, that their visors are plucked from
their faces, and their hypocrisy discovered. Howbeit what I
teach, and what my learning is concerning the law, ye shall
shortly hear, and that in few words.
Whosoever breaketh one of these least commandments, and teacheth
men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But
he that doth them and teacheth them, the same shall be great in
the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever studieth to destroy one of the commandments
following, which are yet the least and but childish things, in
respect of the perfect doctrine that shall hereafter be shewed,
and of the mysteries yet Hid in Christ ; and teacheth other eiosses.
men even so, in word or ensample, whether openly or under They that de-
a colour, and through false glosses of hypocrisy; that same of ood with
' o o J r «/ ' glosses must
doctor shall all they of the kingdom of heaven abhor and Recast out.
despise, and cast him out of their company, as a seething-pot
doth cast up her foam and scum, and purge herself. So fast
shall they of the kingdom of heaven cleave unto the pure law
of God, without all men's glosses.
But whosoever shall first fulfil them himself, and then
teach other, and set aU his study to the furtherance and
maintaining of them, that doctor shall all they of the king
dom of heaven have in price, and follow him and seek him
out, as doth an eagle her prey, and cleave to him as burrs.
For these commandments are but the very law of Moses, (the
[1 So D., but L. has -which t'he scribes, &c. 'have smeared to.]

40

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

The church.
W.T.

Except a
man love
God's law, he
cannot un
derstand the
doctrine of
Christ.W.T.

draff of the Pharisees' glosses cleansed out,) interpreted ac
cording to the pure word of God, and as the open text com-
peUeth to understand them, if ye look dihgently thereon.
The kingdom of heaven take for the congregation or
church of Christ. And to be of the kingdom of heaven is
to know God for our Father, and Christ for our Lord and
Saviour from all sin. /And to enter into this kingdom it is
impossible, except the heart of men be to keep the command
ments of God purely ;'~^>as it is written, "If any man wUl obey
his wUl," that is to .-say, the wUl of the Father that sent me,
saith Christ, " he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God, or whether I speak of mine own head." For if thine heart
be to do the will of God, which is his commandments, he will
give thee a pure eye, both to discern the true doctrine from
the false, and the true doctor from the howHng hypocrite.
And therefore he saith,

The righte
ousness of
Pharisees.
W.T.

For I say unto you. Except yom- righteousness exceed the righteousneBS
of the scribes and Pharisees, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of
heaven.

Glory. He that
seeketh his
own glory
teacheth his
own doctrine,
and not his
master's. W.T.
Matt xxiii.

The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven
I is the true knowledge of God and Christ : ergo, the righteous-
l ness of the scribes and Pharisees neither knoweth God nor
v_Christ. He that is wiUing to obey the wiU of God, under
standeth the doctrine of Christ, as it is proved above: the
scribes and the Pharisees understand not the doctrine of
Christ : ergo, they have no will nor lust to obey the wiU of
God. To obey the will of God is to seek the glory of God :
for the glory of a master is the meek obedience of his ser
vants ; the glory of a prince is the TiumbTe obedience of his
subjects ; the glory of an husband is the chaste obedience of
his wife ; the glory of a father is the loving obedience of his
children. The scribes and the Pharisees have no lust to
obey the will of God : ergo, they seek not the glory of God.
Furthermore, the scribes and the Pharisees seek their own
glory : they that seek their own glory, preach their own doc
trine : ergo, the scribes and Pharisees preach their own doctrine.
The major thou hast Matt, xxiii.: the scribes and Pharisees
" do aU their works to be seen of men : they love to sit upper
most at feasts, and to have the chief seats in the synagogues,

v. 20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 41
and salutations in the open markets, and to be called rabbi."
And the minor followeth the text above rehearsed, " He that John vu.
speaketh of himself," or of his own head, " seeketh his own
glory :" that is to say, he that preacheth his own doctrine is
ever known by seeking his own glory : so that it is a general
rule to know that a man preacheth liis own doctrine, if he
seek his own glory.
Some men will haply say. The scribes and Pharisees had
no other law than Moses and the prophets, nor any other
scripture; and grounded their sayings thereon. That is
truth : how then preached they their own doctrine ? Verily it
followeth in the said seventh of John : " He that seeketh the hc that
1 ni-i 1-1 • 11- seeketh his
glory 01 him that sent him, the same is true, and there is no °,™j^fhSs
unrighteousness in him ;" that is to say, he will do his master's ™>st«'s

message truly, and not alter it : where contrariwise, he that ^' ^'
seeketh his own glory, will be false when he is sent, and will
alter his master's message, to turn his master's glory unto his
own self. Even so did the scribes and Pharisees alter the word word.
of God for their own profit and glory. And when God's word God's woni
•i/»ii . , /^i 14 altered is not
IS altered with false glosses, it is no more God's word. .A^ '^ ^'d-
when God saith, " Love thy neighbour," and thou puttest to
thy leaven, and sayest, " If my neighbour do me no hurt,
nor say me nay, I am bound to love him ; but not to give
him, at his need, my goods which I have gotten with my sore
labour ;" now this is thy law, and not God's. JSed's Jaw. Js
pure and single, "Love thy neighbour," whether he bg good
orTS31 and by"love Go3~imeaneth to help at need. Now Toioveisto
'' 1.. 1 1 help at need
when God biddeth thee to get thy living, and somewhat over w. t.
to help him that cannot, or at a time hath not wherewith to
help himself ; if thou, and thirty or forty with thee, get you
to wilderness, and not only help not your neighbours, but
also rob a great number of two or three thousand pounds
yearly, how love ye your neighbours? Such men help the
world with prayer, thou wUt say to me. Thou wert better J^^p^^/'
to say, ' they rob the world with their hypocrisy,' say I to 5;°^^{{;'„^tf
thee ; and it is truth indeed that they so do. For if I stick ^" ^"
up to the middle in the mire, like to perish without present
help, and thou stand by and wilt not succour me, but kneelest
down and prayest, will God hear the prayers of such an
hypocrite ? God biddeth thee so to love me, that thou put
thyself in jeopardy to help me ; and that thine heart, whUe

42 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
thy body laboureth, do pray and trust in God that he will
assist thee, and through thee to save me. An hypocrite, that
wiU put neither body nor goods in peril for to help me at
my need, loveth me not, neither hath compassion on me ; and
therefore his heart cannot pray, though he wag his lips never
John ix. so much. It is written, " If a man be a worshipper of God,
and do his wUl," which is the true worship, " him God heareth."
Now the wiU of God is, that we love one another, to help at
need : and such lovers he heareth, and not subtle hypocrites,
As love maketh thee help me at my need ; so when it is past
Love^ay-^ thy powcr to help, it maketh thee pray to God. Even so
where is no love, to make thee take bodily pain with me,
there is no love that maketh thee pray for me ; but thy
prayer is indeed for thy belly, which thou lovest.
Scribes and What woro the scribcs and Pharisecs ? The scribes, besides
Pharisees, t-.i • t i «.
were'w^T ^'^^^ ^^^J worc Phariseos, as I suppose, were also officers;
as our bishops, chancellors, commissaries, archdeacons, and
officials. And the Pharisees were religious men', which had
professed, not as now, one Dominick's, the other Francis',
another Bernard's rules, but even to hold the very law of
God, with prayer, fasting, and alms-deeds; and were the
flower and perfection of all the Jews : as St Paul rejoiceth of
Phil. ill. himself, saying, " I was an Hebrew, and concerning the law a
Pharisee, and concerning the righteousness of the law I was
faultless." They were more honourable than any sect of the
monks with us, whether Observant, or Ancre^, or whatsoever
other be had in price-
ThePharisees THose might mucH better have rejoiced to have been the
might better o j
{"^a^proved true church, and to have had the Spirit of God, and that they
churSi!than could not havo crrcd, than they whom all the world seeth
our spiritu-
W^'t. ^' [1 Religious men, or men of religion, having become equivalent to
members of some monastic order, Tyndale uses the word here to
taunt the monks.]
[2 Ancre, i. e. anchorite : a name derived from the profession of
retiring entirely out of the world into some solitude. Tria sunt in
JEgypto genera monachorum. Primum coenobitse, quod illi smsei
gentili lingua vocant, nos in commune viventes possumus appellare.
Secundum anachorita, quia soli habitant per deserta, et ab eo quod
procul ab hominibus recesserint, nuncupantur. Tertium genus est,
quod remoboth dicunt, deterrimum atque neglectum, et quod in nostra
provincia (the country about Bethlehem) aut solum, aut primum est.
— Hieron. Ep. ad Eustochium. De Oust. Virg.]

V. 20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 43
neither to keep God's laws nor man's, nor yet that devU's law
of their own making. For God had made them of the old
testament as great promises, that he would be their God, and
that his Spirit and all grace should be with them if they kept
his laws, as he hath made to us. Now seeing they kept the
uttermost jot of the law, in the sight of the world, and were
faultless; and seeing thereto that God hath promised neither The promises
us nor them aught at all, but upon the profession of keeping upon the pro-
° . ... -' - ^. f ~ - . ^ o fession ofthe
hJSJawa;, whether were more like to be the right church, ^^^^ng of
and to be taught of the Spirit of God that they could not err, gj°e''chSr?h'
those Pharisees or ours ? Might not the general councUs of keep "od""'
those, and the things there decreed without scripture, seem to promise that
be of as great authority as the general councils of ours, and er^.^ w!t!
the things there ordained and decreed both clean without, and
also against, God's word ? Might not the ceremonies which
those had added to the ceremonies of Moses, seem to be as
holy and well to please God as the ceremonies of ours ? The
things which they added to the ceremonies of Moses, were of
the same kind as those ceremonies were ; and no more to be
rebuked than the ceremonies of Moses : as for an ensample, if
Moses bade wash a table or dish, when an unclean worm had
crept thereon, the Pharisees did wash the table with a wet
clout before every refection, lest any unclean thing had
touched them unawares to all men, as we put unto our tithes
a mortuary for all forgotten tithes. What was then the The wicked-
wickedness of the Pharisees ? VerUy the leaven of their P*;™?f4'^_
glosses to the moral laws, by which they corrupted tbe com- w- t.
mandments, and made them no more God's ; and their false
faith in the ceremonies, that the bare work was a sacrifice and
a service to God, the significations lost; and the opinion of
false righteousness in their prayers, fastings, and alms-deeds,
that such works did justify a man before God, and not that
God forgiveth sin of his mere mercy, if a man believe, repent,
and promise to do his uttermost to sin no more.
When these thus sat in the hearts of the people, with the
opinion of virtue, hohness, and righteousness, and then- law
the law of God ; their works, works commanded by God, and
confirmed by all his prophets, as prayer, fasting, and alms- why the ^^
deeds, and they looked upon as the church of God that could i^^^^^^^'J^S',
not err ; and finaUy, they themselves either every where ^]^^y-
were the chief rulers, or so sat in the hearts of the rulers,

44

EXPOSITION OF

[CHAP.

against it
W.T.

that their word was beHeved to be the word of God ; what
other thing could it be, to preach against aU such, and to
condemn their righteousness for the most damnable sin that
can be, than to seem to go about to destroy the law and the
Why hypo- prophets? What other thing can such a preacher seem to
erisymustbe'- ^ . . i i ,• i • ,• i,
first rebuked, be, boforo the blind world, than an heretic, schismatic, sedi-
though It be ' .11 1 i» 1
irelcif^'" tious, possessed with the devil, and worthy ot shame most
vUe and death most cruel ? And yet these must be first re
buked, and their false righteousness detected, ere thou mayest
preach against open sinners. Or else, if thou shouldest con
vert an open sinner from his evil living, thou shouldest make
him nine hundred times worse than before : for he would
at once be one of these sort, even an Observant, or of some
like sect, of which, among an hundred thousand, thou shalt
never bring one to believe in Christ; where among open
sinners many beHeve at the hour of death, fall flat upon
Christ, and believe in him only, without all other righteous-
ness. It were an hundred thousand times better never to
pray, than to pray such Hp-prayers; and never to fast or
do alms, than to fast, and to do alms, with a mind thereby
to be made righteous, and to make satisfaction for the fore
sins.

Ye have heard how that it was said to them of old time, KiU not, for
whosoever killeth shall be in danger of judgment. But I say unto
you. Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of
judgment : and whosoever saith unto his brother Eacha, shall be
in danger of a council : but whosoever saith to his brother, Thou
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

The law is
restored W.T.

.- Here Christ beginneth, not to destroy the law (as the
/ Pharisees had falsely accused him), but to restore it again to
the right understanding, and to purge it from the glosses of
i the Pharisees. He that slayeth shaU be guilty, or in danger
of judgment : that is to say, if a man murder, his deed testi
fieth against him ; there is no more to do than to pronounce
dwe^xtend"^ sentence of death against him. This text did the Pharisees
ortcutoX e^te'id no farther than to kiU with the hand and outward
°hew"or%ed, members : but hate, envy, maHce, churlishness, and to with-
w uS°heSt draw help at need, to beguUe and circumvent with wiles and
subtle bargaining, was no sin at aU. No ; to bring him whom
thou hatest to death with craft and falsehood, so thou didst

Y. 21, 22.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 45
not put thine hand thereto, was no sin at all : as when they -. ,0 .''
had brought Christ to death wrongfully, and compelled PUate
with subtUty to slay him, they thought themselves pure ; in
somuch that they would not go into the hall, for defiling
themselves, and being partakers with Pilate in his blood.
And they said to the apostles, "Ye would bring this man's Acts v.
blood upon us :" as who would say, we slew him not. And
Saul (in the first book of the Kings in the eighteenth chapter), i sam. xviu.
being so wrath with David that he would gladly have had
him slain, determined yet that he would not defile himself;
but to thrust him into the hands of the Philistines, that they
might slay him, and he himself abide pure. And as our
spiritualty now offer a man mercy once, though he have
spoken against holy church ; only if he will but perjure,
and bear a fagot : but if he will not, they do but diet him
a season, to win him, and make him tell more ; and deliver'
him to the lay power, saying, He hath deserved death by ¦)]
our laws, and ye ought to kill him, howbeit we desire^ it p'
not. But Christ restoreth the law again ; and saith, to be "^^^Z^as
angry with thy neighbour is to slay him, and to deserve hlirt i'Sie
death. For the law goeth as well on the heart as on the ''*°*"
hand. "He that hateth his brother is a murderer." If then uohniu.
the bhnd hand deserve death, how much more those parts
which have the sight of reason! And he that saith Racha', ^"'¦^
' Lewd,' or whatsoever sign of wrath it be, or that provoketh
to wrath, hath not only deserved that men should immediately
pronounce sentence of death upon him ; but also that, when
death is pronounced, they should gather a councU, to decree
what horrible death he should suffer. And he that calleth
his brother fool hath sinned down to hell.
Shall then a man not be angry at aU, nor rebuke or J|5°"be™gry
punish ? Tes, if thou be a father or a mother, master or Sta&w.' t.
mistress, husband, lord, or ruler ; yet with love and mercy,
that the anger, rebuke, or punishment, exceed not the fault
or trespass. May a man be angry with love ? Tea, mothers
can be so with their chUdren. It is a loving anger, that
hateth only the vice, and studieth to mend the person. But
[^ 'nff'1 Raka; a word expressive of the greatest contempt; very
much used by the rabbinical writers, and very common in the mouth
of theu- people.'— Lightfoot Hor. Hebr. in Matt. v. 22.]

.46 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
here is forbidden not only wrath against father, mother, and
,|- aU that have governance over thee, which is to be angry, and
I to grudge against God himself, and that the ruler shaU not
ji be wrath without a cause against the subject ; but also all
I private wrath against thy neighbour, over whom thou hast
' no rule, nor he over thee, no, though he do thee wrong,
For he that doth wrong lacketh wit and discretion; and
cannot amend, tiU he be informed and taught lovingly.
Therefore thou must refrain thy wrath, and teU him his
fault lovingly, and with kindness win him to thy Father:
for he is thy brother, as well made and as dear bought
as thou, and as weU beloved, though he be yet childish and
lack discretion.
Love is the But somo wUl Say, I wUl not hate my neighbour, nor
theYaw. yet lovo Him or do him good. Tes, thou must love him : for
the first commandment, out of which all other flow, is, " Thoa
shalt love the Lord thy God with aU thine heart, with all
thy soul, and with all thy might :" that is, thou must keep
all his commandments with love. Love must keep thee from
kUling or hurting thy neighbour, and from coveting in thine
1 John iv. heart whatsoever is his. And " this commandment have we
of him, that he which loveth God love his brother also."
1 John iu. And again, " He that hath the substance of this world, and seeth
his brother have necessity, and shutteth up his compassion
from him, how is the love of God in him ? " He then that
helpeth not at need, loveth not God, but breaketh the first
commandment. " Let us love," therefore, saith St John, " not
with word and tongue, but in deed and truth." And again,
St John saith in the said place, " He that loveth not his bro
ther abideth yet stUl in death." And of love hath Moses
texts enough : but the Pharisees glossed them out, saying)
they were but good counsels, if a man desired to be perfect,
Exod. xxiii. but not precepts. " If thou meet thine enemy's ox or ass
going astray, thou shalt in any wise bring them to him
again." And, " If thou see thine enemy's ass fall down under
Lev. xix. his burden, thou shalt help him up again." And, " Thou shalt
ahifofto^'^'not hate thy brother in thine heart, but shalt in any wise
nTr™must robuke thy neighbour, that thou bear no sin for his sake'."
suffer with
them when
they be n mi i .
^njhed. [1 The authorised version has, 'that thou bear not sin for him,' in
its margin.]

V. 21, 22.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 47
For if thou study not to amend thy neighbour, when he sin
neth, so art thou partaker of his sins ; and therefore, when
God taketh vengeance and sendeth whatsoever plague it be,
to punish open sinners, thou must perish with them. For
thou didst sin In the sight of God as deep as they ; because
thou didst not love the law of God, to maintain it with all
thine heart, soul, power, and might. Is not he that seeth
his neighbour's house in jeopardy to be set on fire, and
warneth not, nor helpeth in time, to avoid the peril, worthy
(if his neighbour's house be burnt up) that his be burnt also ;
seeing it was in his power to have kept all out of jeopardy,
if he had would ; as he would, no doubt, if he had loved his
neighbour? Even so, when God sendeth a general pestilence in dome our
or war to thy city, to punish the sin thereof ; art thou not ther our
w « J- neighbour
worthy that thine house should be infected or perish, if thou ™,™'"\
« ^ ^ ^ J^ ' (although we
mightest have kept it from sinning, and thou hadst been P'g^™" ™"
wUling thereto ? But if thou do thy best to further the law "'^'^
of God, and to keep thy land or neighbours from sinning
against God ; then (though it help not) thou shalt bear no sin
for their sakes when they be punished. He therefore that
loveth the law of God, may be bold in time of pestilence and
aU jeopardy to beHeve in God. And again in the same place,
" Thou shalt not avenge thyself, nor bear hate in mind against
the chUdren of thy people ; but shalt love thy fellow as thy
self. I am the Lord." As who should say. For my sake
shalt thou do it. And, "The Lord your God is the God of Deut. x.
gods and Lord of lords, a great God, mighty and terrible,
which regardeth no man's person or degree, nor taketh gifts ;
but doth right to the fatherless and the widow, and loveth
the stranger, to give him raiment and food. Love therefore
the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."
And, " If a stranger sojourn by thee in your land, see that ye Lev. xix.
vex him not. But let the stranger, that dwelleth among you,
be as one of yourselves, and love him as thyself : for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord." As who
should say. Love him for my sake.
Notwithstanding, when thy neighbour hath shewed thee
more unkindness than God hath love, then mayest thou hate
him, and not before ; but must love him for God's sake, tiU when a man
he fight against God, to destroy the name and glory ofnel^hboL
God. '^' '

48 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Therefore when thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and there remem
berest that thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave there thy
gift before the altar, and go flrst and reconcile thyself unto thy
brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine ad
versary at once, while thou art in the way with him ; lest thine
adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to
the minister, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee,
thou shalt not come out thence, till thou have paid the uttermost
farthing. This text, with the simUitude, is somewhat subtle; and
bindeth both him that hath offended to reconcUe himself as
much as in him is, and him that is offended to forgive and be
Offerings or at One. The offerings were signs, and did certify a man that
what they God was at ouo witH him, and was his friend and loved him.
meant. /.«! iv»i i-i
w. T. Por the fat of beasts was offered, and wme thereto, as though
God had sat and eaten and drunk with them ; and the rest
they and their households did eat before God, as though they
had ate and drunk with God; and were commanded to be
merry and to make good cheer, fully certified that God was
at one with them, and had forgot all old offences, and now
loved them, that he would fulfil aU his promises of merey
with them.
Now wiU God receive no sacrifice (that Is to wit, neither
forgive, nor fulfil any of his promises), except we be first re
conciled unto our brethren, whether we have offended or be
Matt. vi. offended. In the chapter following thou readest, " If ye for-
Hos. vl. give, your Father shall forgive you." And, Hos. vi. " I love
mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than
I do burnt offerings : " that is to say, the knowledge of the
appointments made between God and us ; what he wiU have
us to do first, and then what he wiU do for us again. And
Isai. lviii. God rcfuseth fasting, and punishing of the body, that was
coupled with cruelty, and saith, that he desired no such fast;
gjjefast^that but saith, This fast require I, that ye be merciful and for-
eth. give, and clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, &c. " Then
call (saith he), and the Lord shall answer : cry, and he shall
say, See, here I am."
And that similitude wUl, that as a man here, If he will
no otherwise agree, must suffer the extremity of the law, if
he be brought before a judge, (for the judge hath no power
to forgive or to remit, but to condemn him in the uttermost

V. 23  26.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 49
of the law ;) even so, if we will not forgive one another here,
we shaU have judgment of God without all mercy.
And that some make purgatory of the last farthing, they Last farthing.
shew their deep ignorance. For first, no simUitude holdeth
every word and syllable of the similitude. Furthermore,
when they dispute, TUl he pay the last farthing; ergo, he
shaU pay : but not in heU ; ergo, in purgatory : a wise
reason ! Joseph knew not Mary till she had borne her first
son ; ergo, she bare the second ; or, he knew her after. I wUl
not forgive thee tiU I be dead or while I live ; ergo, I wiU do
it after my death : and a thousand Hke.
Ye have heard how it was said to them of old time, Commit not
adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever looketh on a wife,
lusting after her, hath committed advoutry with her already in his
heart. This commandment, ' Commit none adultery,' had the How cor-
Pharisees bUnded and corrupt with their sophistry and leaven, Pharisees did
^ r J ' attribute all
mterpreting the concupiscence of the heart, lewd toys, filthy |j"4°„|'°
gestures, unclean words, clipping, kissing, and so forth, not to
be imputed for sin ; but even the act and deed alone : though
Moses say in the text, ' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife,' &c. But Christ putteth to light and salt ; and bring
eth the precept to his true understanding and natural taste ^
again; and condemneth the root of sin, the concupiscence
and consent of the heart. Before the world I am no mur
derer, tUl I have kiUed with mine hand : but before God I
kUl, if I hate ; yea, if I love not, and of love keep me both
from doing hurt, and also be ready and prepared to help at
need. Even so the consent of the heart, with all other
means that follow thereof, be as well advoutry before God
as the deed Itself.
Finally, I am an advouterer before God, if I so love not
my neighbour, that very love forbid me to covet his wife.
" Love is the fulfilling of all commandments." And without Love is the
. . . .11. 1 , • P • • • . fulflUing of
love it IS impossible to abstain irom sinning against my «« jaw.
neighbour In any precept, If occasion be given.
Carnal love will not suffer a mother to rob her child ; no,
it maketh her rob herself to make it rich. A natural father
shall never lust after his son's wife ; no, he careth more for
[1 So L., but D. has oast.]
r 1 *
[tyndale, II.J

50

EXPOSITION OF

[chap,

Advoutry.
W.T.

her chastity than his son doth himself. Even so would love
to my neighbour keep me from sinning against him. ,
Advoutry Is a damnable thing in the sight of God, and
much mischief followeth thereof. David, to save his honour,
was driven to commit grievous murder also. It is unright,
in the sight of God and man, that thy child should be at an
other man's cost, and be another man's heir : neither canst
thou or the mother have Hghtly a quiet conscience to God, or
a merry heart, as long as it so is. Moreover what greater
shame canst thou do thy neighbour, or what greater dlsple*.
sure ? What If it never be known, nor come any child
thereof? The preciousest gift that a man hath of God in
this world is the true heart of his wife, to abide by him in
wealth and woe, and to bear all fortunes with him. Of that
hast thou robbed him ; for after she hath once coupled her
self to thee, she shall not lightly love him any more so truly;
but haply hate him, and procure his death. Moreover thou
hast untaught her to fear God, and hast made her to sin
against God : for to God promised she, and not to man
only ; for the law of matrimony is God's ordinance. For it
is written, when Potiphar's wife would have Joseph to lie
with her, he answered : " How could I do this wickedness and
sin against God ?" Tea, verily ; It Is Impossible to sin against
man, except thou sin against God first. FinaUy, read chro
nicles and stories, and see what hath followed of adultery.
Some doctors What shall we say, that some doctors have disputed and
have doubted . . ...
'"J*"?'^™. . doubted whether single fornication should be sin, when it is
which Christ ® , ,
condemned both by Christ and Moses too ? And Paul testi
fieth, that no fornicator, or whorekeeper, shall possess the
kingdom of God. It is right that all men, that hope In God,
should bring up their fruit In the fear and knowledge of God;
and not to leave his seed where he careth not what come
thereof.Wherefore if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from
thee : for it is better for thee that one of thy members perish, than
that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And even so if thy
right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. For it is
better for thee that one of thy members perish, than that thy
whole body should be cast into hell.
This is not meant of the outward members. For then
we must cut off nose, ears, hand and foot ; yea, we must

Gen. xxxix.

hath flatly
condemned. 1 Cor. vi.

v. 29, 30.] MATTHEW V. VI. Vll. 51
procure to destroy the seeing, hearing, smelHng, tasting, and
feeHng, and so every man klU himself. But It Is a phrase or
speech of the Hebrew tongue, and will that we cut off occa
sions, dancing, kissing, riotous eating and drinking, and the
lust of the heart, and filthy Imaginations, that move a man to Piithy.
concupiscence. Let every man have his wife, and think her
the fairest and the best-conditioned, and every woman her
husband so too. For God hath blessed thy wife, and made a wife, how
her without sin to thee, which ought to seem a beautiful ^°t^"""^'
fairness. And all that ye suffer together, the one with the
other, is blessed also, and made the very cross of Christ, and
pleasant In the sight of God. Why should she then be
loathsome to thee, because of a little suffering, that thou
shouldest lust after another, that should defile thy soul, and
slay thy conscience, and make thee suffer everlastingly ?
It is said, whosoever putteth away his wife, let him give her a testi
monial of the divorcement. But I say unto you, whosoever putteth
away his wife (except it be for fornication) maketh her to break
wedlock ; and whosoever marrieth the divorced, breaketh wedlock.
Moses permitted his Israelites in extreme necessity, as neut. xxiv
when they so hated their wives that they abhorred the com
pany of them, then to put them away, to avoid a worse
inconvenience ; whereof ye read also Matt. xix. And he Matt. xix.
knit thereto, that they might not receive them again, after
they had been known of any other persons. Which licence
the Jews abused, and put away their wives for every light or
feigned cause, and whensoever they lusted. But Christ ;
calleth back again, and Interpreteth the law after the first \
ordinance, and cutteth off all causes of divorcement, save
fornication of the wife's party, when she breaketh her matri
mony ; In which case Moses's law pronounceth her dead, and ¦
so do the laws of many other countries : which laws, where
they be used, there Is a man free without all question. Now
where they be let live, there the man (If he see sign of re
pentance and amendment) may forgive for once. If he may
not find In his heart (as Joseph, as holy as he was, could not
find in his heart to take Christ's mother to him, when he
spied her with chUd), he is free no doubt to take another,
while the law Interpreteth her dead : for her sin ought of no
right to bind him.
4 — 2

52 EXPOSITION OF [chap;
What shaU the woman do, if she repent and be so tempted
in her flesh that she cannot live chaste ? Verily I can shew
The office of you nothing out of the scripture. The office of the preacher
a^reac er. .^^ ^^ ppeacH the ten commandments, which are the law natural;
and to promise them which submit themselves to keep them,
of love and fear of God, everlasting life for their labour
through faith In Christ ; and to threaten the disobedient with
everlasting pain in hell. And his^ punishment Is, if any man
have offended through fraUty, and when he Is rebuked turn
and repent, to receive him unto grace, and absolve him ; and
if any man will not amend when he is rebuked, to cast hira
out among the Infidels. This I say, if the temporal power
shut her up as a convict person, appointing her a sober Hving,
to make satisfaction to the congregation for her damnable ex
ample, they did not amiss. It Is better that one mlsdoer
suffer, than that a commonwealth be corrupt.
Where the officers be negligent, and the woman not able
to put herself to penance, if she went where she is not known,
and there marry, God is the God of mercy. If any man in
the same place where she trespasseth pitied her, and married
her, I could suffer it ; were it not that the Hberty would be
the next way to provoke all other that were once weary of
their husbands to commit adultery, for to be divorced from
them, that they might marry other which they loved better,
Let the temporal sword take heed to their charge therefore.
For this Is truth : all the temporal blessings set in the law of
What follow- Moses for keeping their laws, as wealth and prosperity,
ingof'thr'^ long life, the upper hand of their enemies, plenteousness of
fruits, and cheap of all things, and to be without pestilence.

war and famishment, and all manner other
diseases and plagues, pertain to us as well as to them, if we
keep our temporal laws.
And all the curses and terrible plagues which are threa-
What fol- tened throughout the law of Moses, as hunger, dearth, war
breaking of aud dlssensIou, pestUence, fevers, and wonderful and strange
w!t. ¦ fearful diseases, as the sweat, plague, and falling sickness,
shortening of days, that the sword, hunger, and such diseases
shall eat them up In then- youth, that their enemies should
have the upper hand, that the people of the land should be
minished, and the towns decayed, and the land brought unto
[1 So D., but L. this,]

V. Sl, 32.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 53
a wilderness, and that a plenteous land should be made barren,
or so ordered that dearth should devour the Inhabiters, and
wealth be among few that should oppress the rest, with a
thousand such like, so that nothing they begin should have a
prosperous end ; all those curses (I say) pertain to us as well
as to them. If we break our temporal laws.
Let England look about them, and mark what hath
chanced them, since they slew their right king whom God iheenormi-
. •' . ° O ties that hath
had anointed over them, king Richard the Second. Their chanced
' o since the
people, towns, and vUlages are minished by the third part ; kf^g^Sichafd
and of their noble blood remaineth not the third, nor I believe Sfto S''
the sixth, yea, and if I durst be bold, I wene I might safely Engkni
swear that there remaineth not the sixteenth part. Their
own sword hath eaten them up. And though pastures be
enlarged above all measure, yet rot of sheep, murrain of
beasts, with parks and warrens, with raising of fines and
rent, make all things twice so dear as they were. And our
own commodities are so abused, that they be the destruction
of our own realm.
And right : for If we will not know God to keep his laws. Tyrants: why
1 11 1 /-^ 11 1 1 n 1 Godglvethus
how should God know us, to keep us, and to care ior us, and up, andieav-
' r ' _ ' eth us in the
to fulfil his promises of mercy unto us ? Saith not Paul, \^^^t^l^^
(Rom. i.) of the heathen, Sicut non probaverunt habere i^''i^,™''ery-
Deum in notitia, ita tradidit illos Deus ; As It seemed them ^°"'' '¦
not good, or as they had no lust, or as they admitted it not,
nor allowed for right In their hearts to know God as God, to
give him the honour of God, that Is, to fear him as God, and
as avenger of all evil, and to seek his will ; even so God gave
them up to follow their own bUndness; and took his Spirit
and his grace from them, and would no longer rule their wits?
Even so if we cast off us the yoke of our temporal laws, which
are the laws of God, and drawn out of the ten commandments
and law natural, and out of "Love thy neighbour as thyself;"
God shall cast us off and let us slip, to foUow our own wit.
And then shaU all go against us, whatsoever we take In hand :
insomuch that when we gather a parliament to reform or
amend aught, that we there determine shall be our own
snare, confusion, and utter destruction, so that all the enemies
we have under heaven could not wish us so great mischief
as our own counsel shall do us ; God shall so blind the wisdom
of the wise. If any man have any godly counsel. It shall

54 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
have none audience: error, madness, and dasingi gj^aH Jiaye
the upper hand.
Anadmoni- And let the spiritualty take heed and look weU abont
'^' them, and see whether they walk as they have promised God,
and in the steps of his Son Christ, and of his apostles, whose
offices they bear. For I promise them, aU the devils in hell,
if God had let them loose, could not have given .them worse
counsel than they have given themselves this twenty year
long. God gave up his Israehtes oftentime, when they would
not be ruled, nor know themselves and their duty to God;
and brought them into captivity under their enemies, to prove
and feel (saith the text) whether were better service, either
to serve God, and wiUingly to obey his law coupled with so
manifold blessings ; or to serve their enemies, and to obey
their cruelness and tyranny (spite of their heads) in need and
necessity. And let the temporalty remember, that because
those nations, under whicb the IsraHtes were In captivity, did
deal cruelly with them, not to punish them for their idolatry
and sin, which they had committed against God, but to have
their lands, and goods, and service only, rejoicing to make
them worse and more out of their Father's favour ; therefore
when God had scourged his children enough, he did beat the
other for their labour.
What rulers But to our purposo : what if the man run from his wife
ought to do, ^ •*¦
suchasf un ^^^ Icavo Her desolate ? Verily, the rulers ought to make a
tlfeir^wives™ ^^^' ^^ ^^J "^^ ^° ^^^ come uot again by a certain day, as
without just ^itjiiu tlie space of a year or so, that then he be banished the
country ; and if he come again, to come on his head, and let
the wife be free to marry where she will. For what right is
it that a lewd wretch should take his goods, and run from his
wife without a cause, and sit by a whore, yea, and come again
after a year or two (as I have known it) and rob his wife of
that she hath gotten in the mean time, and go again to his
whore? Paul saith to the Corinthians, that if a man or
woman be coupled with an infidel, and the Infidel depart,
the other is free to marry where they lust. And he saith:
Tim. v. " If there be any man that provideth not for his, and
namely for them of his own household, the same denieth
the faith, and is worse than an infidel." And even so Is this
man much more to be Interpreted for an Infidel, that causeless
[' So D., but L. daunsyng.]

V. 31, 32.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 55
runneth from his wife. Let, I say, the governors take heed
how they let sin be unpunished, and how they bring the
wrath of God upon their realms. For God will be avenged
of aU iniquity, and punish It with plagues from heaven.
In like manner, if the woman depart causeless and will
not be reconciled, though she commit none adultery, the man
ought of right to be free to marry again. And in aU other
causes. If they separate themselves of impatience that the one
cannot suffer the other's infirmities, th^y must remain un
married. If any part burn, let the same suffer the pain or Infirmities
of the other. And the temporalty ought to make laws to
bridle the unruly party.
Again, ye have heard how it was said to them of old time, foreswear
not thyself, but pay thine oaths unto the Lord. But I say unto
you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is the seat of God ;
neither by the earth, for it is his footstool ; neither by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great king ; neither shalt thou swear by thine
head, for thou canst not make a white hair or a black. But your
communication shall be, Yea, yea, nay, nay. For if aught be above
that, it proceedeth of evil.
As to hate in the heart, or to covet another man's wife, swearing.
. . . W. T.
was no sin with the Pharisees ; no more was It to hide one
thing in the heart, and to speak another with the mouth, to
deceive a man's neighbour, If it were not bound with an
oath. And though Moses say, ' Lie not, nor deceive any Levit. xix.
man his neighbour' or one another ; yet they Interpreted
it but good counsel, if a man desired to be perfect ; but no
precept, to bind under pain of sin : and so by that means,
not only they that spake true, but also they that lied to
deceive, were compelled to swear and to confirm their words
with oaths. If they would be believed.
But Christ bringeth Hght and salt to the text, which the
Pharisees had darkened and corrupt with the stinking mist of
their sophistry, and forbiddeth to swear at all, either by God
or any creature of God's ; for thou canst swear by none other to swear
>' . ' •' bv God.
at all, except the dishonour shall redound unto the name of w.t.
God. If thou swear ' By God it is so,' or ' By God I will
do this or that;' the meaning is, that thou makest God judge,
to avenge it of thee, if it be not as thou sayest, or if thou
shalt not do as thou promisest. Now If truth be not in thy

oaths.

56 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
words, thou sbamest thine heavenly Father, and testifiest that
thou beUevest that he is no righteous judge, nor wUl avenge
unrighteousness ; but that he Is wicked as thou art, and con
senteth and laugheth at thee, while thou deceivest thy
brother, as well created after the likeness of God, and as
dear bought with the precious blood of Christ, as thou. And
thus through thee, a wicked son, Is the name of thy Father
dishonoured, and his law not feared, nor his promises be
lieved. And when thou swearest by the gospel book, or
bible, the meaning Is, that God, if thou lie, shaU not fulfil
unto thee the promises of mercy therein written; but con
trariwise to bring unto thee all the curses, plagues and ven
geance therein threatened unto the disobedient and evU doers.
so'todeli' ^^^ eren so when thou swearest by any creature, as by
word's'^Sav ^^^^^ 01" salt, the meaning is, that thou desirest, that the
wuhout'any Creator thereof shaU avenge It of thee, if thou lie, &c. Where
fore our dealing ought to be so substantial, that our words
might be believed without an oath. Our words are the signs
of the truth of our hearts. In which ought to be pure and
single love toward thy brother ; for whatsoever proceedeth
not of love is damnable. Now falsehood to deceive him, and
pure love, cannot stand together. It cannot therefore be but
damnable sin to deceive thy brother with lying, though thou
add no oath to thy words. Much more damnable is it then
to deceive, and to add an oath thereto, &c.
Swearing, in HowbcIt all manner of swearing is not here forbidden, no
more than all manner of klUing, when the commandment saith,
" Kill not ;" for judges and rulers must kill. Even so ought
they, when they put any man in office, to take an oath of him
that he shall be true and faithful and dUigent therein ; and
of their subjects It is lawful to take oaths, and of all that offer
themselves to bear witness. But If the superior would compel
the Inferior to swear that [which] should be to the dishonour
of God, or hurting of an innocent, the inferior ought rather to
die than to swear : neither ought a judge to compel a man
to swear against himself, that he make him not sin and for
swear ; whereof It is enough spoken in another place. But
here is forbidden swearing between neighbour aud neighbour,
and In all our private business and daily communication. For
customable swearing, though we lied not, doth rob the name of
God of his due reverence and fear. And In our dally commu-

is lawful.

v. 33  37.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 57
nicatlon and business one with the other Is so much vanity of
words, that we cannot but In many things lie ; which to confirm
with an oath, though we beguile not. Is to take the name of
God in vain, and unreverently, against the second precept.
Now to He for the Intent to beguile Is damnable of Itself: how
much more then to abuse the holy name of God thereto, and
to call to God for vengeance upon thine own self !
Many cases yet there chance daUy between man and man, chantymo-
in which charity compelleth to swear : as if I know that my law.
neighbour is falsely slandered, I am bound to report the truth,
and may lawfully swear, yea, and am bound if it need, and
that though not before a judge. And unto the weak, where
yea and nay have lost their credence through tbe multitude of
liars, a man may lawfully swear to put them out of doubt : oath.
which yet cometh of the evil of them that abuse their lan
guage to deceive withal. Finally, to swear to do evil is to perform
damnable ; and to perform tbat is double damnation. Herod's is douwe sin.
oath made him not innocent and guiltless of the death of John
the baptist; though the hypocrite had not known what his
wife's daughter would have asked. And when men say a
king's word must stand ; that is truth, if his oath or promise
be lawful and expedient.
In all our promises it Is to be added, " If God will," and,
" If there be no lawful let." And though it be not added. It
Is to be interpreted, as added. As if I borrow thy sword, and
by the hour I promise to bring it thee again, thou be beside
thyself : if I promise to pay by a certain day, and be In the
mean time robbed or decayed by chance, that I cannot per
form it: I am not forsworn if mine heart meant truly when He is not
I promised. And many Hke cases there be, of which are whose heart
touched In other places. To He also, and to dissemble. Is not when he
. . 1 ..... promised.
alway sin. David told king Achish, the PhUistine, that he Toiieordis-
had robbed his own people the Jews, when he had been a some causes
roving among the Amalekites, and had slain man, woman, and i sam. xxvii!
child for telHng tales ; and yet was that He no more sin, than
it was to destroy the Amalekites, those deadly enemies of the
faith of one almighty God. Neither sinned Hushai, David's 2 sam. xvii.
trusty friend. In feigning and beguUing Absalom, but pleased
God highly. To bear a sick man in hand that wholesome
bitter medicine Is sweet, to make him drink it. It Is the duty
of charity, and no sin. To persuade him that pursueth bis

58 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
neighbour to hurt him or slay him, that his neighbour Is gone
another contrary way, Is the duty of every Christian man by
the law of charity, and no sin ; no, though I confirmed It with
an oath'. But to He for to deceive and hurt, that Is damnable
only, &c.
Ye have heard, how it is said, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
But I say unto you, that ye withstand not wrong. But if a man
give thee a blow on the right cheek, turn to him the other abo.
And if any man will go to law with thee and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloak thereto. And if any man compel thee to go a
mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh, and from him
that would borrow turn not away.
Christ here intended not to disannul the temporal regi
ment, and to forbid rulers to punish evil doers, no more than
he meant to destroy matrimony when he forbade to lust and
to covet another man's wife In the^ heart. But as he there
forbade that which defileth matrimony, even so he forbiddeth
here that which troubleth, unquieteth, and destroyeth the tem
poral regiment, and that thing which to forbid the temporal
regiment was ordained ; which Is, that no man avenge himself,
Christ meddleth not with the temporal regiment; but In all
this long sermon fighteth against the Pharisees' false doctrine,
and salteth the law, to purge It of the corruption of their filthy
glosses, and to bring It unto the right taste and true under
standing again.
For the Pharisees had so Interpreted that law of Moses,
which pertained only unto the rulers, that every private per
son might avenge himself, and do his adversary as much harm
again as he had received of him.
Now if he that Is angry have deserved that men pronounce
death upon him ; and he that saith Racha, hath deserved that
men should gather a council to determine some sundry and
cruel death for so heinous a crime ; and If he that caUeth his
brother fool have deserved hell, what deserveth he that smiteth
or avengeth himself with his own hand? Here Is forbidden
therefore private wrath only, and that a man avenge himself.
To turn the To tum the Other cheek, is a manner of speaking, and
what it is. ' not to be understood as the words sound; as was to cutoff

W.I.

[1 The apostle says that they who should say, 'Let us do eVil, that
good may come,' would justly be condemned.]
[2 So D., but Ij. thy.]

v. 38  42.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 59
the hand, and to pluck out the eye; and as we command
our children not only not to come nigh a brook or water,
but also not so hardy as once to look that way, either to look
on fire, or once to think on fire ; which are Impossible to be
observed. More Is spoken than meant, to fear them ; and to
make them perceive that it Is earnest that we command.
Even so Is the meaning here, that we In no wise avenge ; but
be prepared ever to suffer as much more, and never to think
it lawful to avenge, how great soever the Injury be : for he
himself turned not the other cheek, when he was smitten
before the bishop ; nor yet Paul, when he was -buffeted
before the bishop also. But ye have had a little above,
" Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth." Meekness.
Let all the world study to do thee wrong, yea, let them do
thee wrong ; and yet if thou be meek, thou shalt have food
and raiment enough for thee and thine. And moreover, if
the worst come, God shall yet set such a tyrant over thee,
that (if thou be meek and canst be content that he poll thee
properly, and even as thou mayest bear) shall defend thee
from all other. Who Is polled intolerably, that his Hfe Is Poiiing how
bitter and even death to him, but he that Is Impatient andw. t.
cannot suffer to be polled ? Yea, poU thyself and prevent
other ; and give the bailiff or like officer now a capon, now a
pig, now a goose, and so to thy landlord Hkewise ; or If thou
have a great farm, now a lamb, now a calf; and let tby wife
visit thy landlady three or four times In the year with spiced
cakes, and apples, pears, cherries, and such like. And be
thou ready with thine oxen or horses, three or four, or half
a dozen days In the year, to fetch home their wood, or to
plough their land : yea, and If thou have a good horse, let
them have him good cheap ^, or take a worse for him ; and
they shall be thy shield and defend thee, though they be
tyrants and care not for God, that no man else shall dare poll
thee. And thereto thou mayest with wisdom get of them
that [which] shall recompense all that thou doest to them.
All this I mean, if thou be patient, and wise, and fear God
thereto, and love thine neighbour, and do none evil. For if
thou keep thyself in favour with hurting thy neighbour, thine
end wUl be evil, and at the last desperation In this world, and
hell after. [3 See Vol. I. p. 122.]

60 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
But and If thou canst not poll thyself with wisdom, and
laugh, and bear a good countenance, as though thou rejolcest
while such persons poll thee, every man shall poll thee ; and
they shall maintain them, and not defend thee. Let this
therefore be a common proverb — ' Be contented to be polled
of some man ; or to be polled of every man.
Two manner Yo must Understand that there be two states or degrees
states and de- ^
limlnte."'^ In this world : the kingdom of heaven, which is the regiment
^' '^' of the gospel ; and the kingdom of this world, which is the
temporal regiment. In the first state there Is neither father,
mother,*son, daughter ; neither master, mistress, maid, man
servant, nor husband, nor wife, nor lord, nor subject, nor
man, nor woman : but Christ is all ; and each to other Is
Cbrist himself. There Is none better than other ; but all Hke
good, all brethren, and Christ only is Lord over all. Neither
is there any other thing to do, or other law, save to love one
another as Christ loved us. In the temporal regiment is hus
band, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, master, mistress,
maid, manservant, lord, and subject.
^very man is Now is every pcrsou a double person ; and under both
ofthl'tem'? the regiments. In the first regiment, thou art a person for
^raUy,both. ^{ijjie OWU solf, uudor Chrlst and his doctrine, and mayest
neither hate nor be angry, and much less fight or avenge;
but must after the ensample of Christ humble thyself, forsake
and deny thyself, and hate thyself, and cast thyself away,
and be meek and patient, and let every man go over thee,
and tread thee under foot and do thee wrong ; and yet love
them, and pray for them, as Christ did for his crucifiers.
For love is aU ; and what is not of love, that is damnable, and
cast out of that kingdom.
He that For that kingdom is the knowledge of God and Christ.
loveth not o o
bourhith ^"t ^® t^^* loveth not, knoweth neither God nor Christ;
fa?th rf'™' therefore he that loveth not, is not of that kingdom. The
w.'i'' minor Is on this wise proved : he that knoweth God and
Christ, seeth Hght, for Christ Is light ; but "he that hateth his
IJohnii. brother Is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and wotteth
not whither he goeth, for darkness hath blinded his eyes :"
ergo, he that hateth his brother knoweth not what Christ
hath done for him ; and therefore hath no true faith ; nor Is
of the spiritual kingdom of God.
To hate thyself, that shalt thou get, if thou considerest

V. 38  42.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 61
thine own sins, and the deep damnation that long' thereto,
with due repentance. And to love, that thou shalt obtain,
if thou behold the great and infinite mercy of God with strong
faith ; that there is none so great an enemy to thee In this
world, but thou shalt lightly^ love him, if thou look well on
the love that God shewed thee in Christ.
In the temporal regiment, thou art a person In respect of The temporal
other ; thou art an husband, father, mother, master, mistress,
lord, ruler, or wife, son, daughter, servant, subject, &c. And
there thou must do according to thine office. If thou be a
father, thou must do the office of a father, and rule, or else
thou damnest thyself. Thou must bring all under obedience,
whether by fair means or foul. Thou must have obedience of
thy wife, of thy servants, and of thy subjects ; and the other
must obey. If they will not obey with love, thou must chide
and fight, as far as the law of God and the law of the land
wUl suffer thee. And when thou canst not rule them, thou
art bound in many cases to deHver them unto the higher
officer, of whom thou didst take the charge over them.
Now to our purpose, whether a man may resist violence, Not to resist
¦ii/»i !• IPX -IP violence, how
and defend or avenge himself. I say nay, in the tirst state, ^J^J"'^'""
where thou art a person for thyself alone, and Christ's disciple, w t.
There thou must love, and of love do, study, and enforce ;
yea, and suffer all things (as Christ did) to make peace, that
the blessing of God may come upon thee, which saith :
" Blessed be the peace-makers, for they shall be the children
of God." If thou suffer and keepest peace In thyself only,
thy blessing Is the possession of this world. But If thou so
love the peace of thy brethren, that thou leave nothing
undone or unsuffered to further It, thy blessing is, thou shalt
be God's son, and consequently possess heaven.
But In the worldly state, where thou art no private man,
but a person in respect of other, thou not only mayest, but
also must, and art bound under pain of damnation to execute
thine office. Where thou art a father, thou must have
obedience by fair means or by foul ; and to whom thou art ^
an husband, of her thou must require obedience and chastity,
and, to get that, attempt all that the law of the land com
mandeth and will. And of thy servants thou must exact
[1 That is, belongs.]
[2 Without difficulty.]

62 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
obedience and fear, and mayest not suffer thyself to be despised.
Bulers must And whore thou art a ruler thereto appointed, thou must take,
punish, not /.ttixj. j.1
totfor'dS prison, and slay too ; not of malice and hate, to avenge thy-
peopifald self, but to defend thy subjects, and to maintain thine office.
rfthetwf Concerning thyself, oppress not thy subjects with rent,
fines, or custom at aU, neither piU them with taxes and such
like, to maintain thine own lusts : but be loving and kind to-
them, as Christ was to thee ; for they be his, and the price
of his blood. But those that are evU doers among them and
vex their brethren, and will not know thee for their judge
and fear thy law, them smite, and upon them draw thy sword,
and put It not up until thou hast done thine office ; yet with
out hate to the person, for his master's sake, and because he
is in the first regiment thy brother, but to amend him only ;
or if It cannot be but that thou must lose one to save many,
then execute thine office with such affection, with such com
passion and sorrow of heart, as thou wouldest cut off thine
own arm to save the rest of the body.
Take an example : thou art in thy father's house among
An example thy brethren and sisters. There if one fight with another,
of the two •« 1 , 1 •
regiments, or if auy do thce wrong, thou mayest not avenge nor smite ;
for that pertaineth to thy father only. But if thy father
give thee authority in his absence, and command thee to
smite If they will not be ruled, now thou art another
person. Notwithstanding yet thou hast not put off the first
person, but art a brother still, and must ever love, and
prove all thing to rule with love : but if love will not serve,
then thou must use the office of the other person, or sin
against thy father. Even so, when thou art a temporal per
son, thou puttest not off the spiritual. Therefore thou must
ever love ; but when love will not help, thou must with
love execute the office of the temporal person, or sin against
God. A mother can smite and love : and so mayest thou with
love execute the office of thy second state. And the wife,
son, servant, and subject are brethren in the first state, and
put not that person off by reason of the second degree ; and
Whatsoever therefore must they love ever, and with love pay custom,
bound Uj^do, tribute, fear, honour and obedience to whom they belong, as
^m.xiii. P^^^ teacheth, Rom. xui. And though the other do not his
duty and love thee, but rule thee with rigorousness, and deal
unkindly with thee, thou not deserving ; yet cleave thou to

v. 38  42.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 63
Christ, and love stIU ; and let not his evU overcome thy good
ness and make thee evU also.
And as, after the example above, thy father hath power
over thee, to command thee to use his power over thy
brethren, even so hath thy master, to give thee his authority
over thy feUows : which when thou hast, thou must remem
ber that thou art a fellow stiU, and bound to love stUl ; but
if love alone will not help, then put thy master's authority
unto thy love. And so hath the ruler power over thee, to
send thee to use violence upon thy neighbour, to take him, to
prison him, and haply to kiU him too. And thou must ever
love thy neighbour in thine heart, by the reason that he Is
thy brother In the first state ; and yet obey thy ruler and go
with the constable or like officer, and break open thy neigh
bour's door, if he will not open it in the king's name : yea,
and If he will not yield In the king's name, thou must lay
on, and smite him to the ground till he be subdued. And
look, what harm he getteth, yea, though he be slain, that be
on his own head. For thine heart loved him ; and thou
desiredst him lovingly to obey, and hast not avenged thyself
in that state where thou art a brother : but In the worldly
state, where thou art another manner person, in this case
thou hast executed the authority of him that hath such power
of God to command thee; and where thou wert damned of
God, if thou didst not obey.
And like Is It, if thy lord or prince send thee a warfare How to be a
w^rri or
into another land ; thou must obey at God's commandment, w. t. '
and go, and avenge thy prince's quarrel, which thou knowest
not but that it is right. And when thou comest thither, re
member what thou art In the first state with them against
whom thou must fight, how that they be thy brethren, and
as deeply bought with Christ's blood as thou, and for Christ's
sake to be beloved In thine heart. And see that thou desire
neither their Hfe or goods, save to avenge thy prince's quarrel,
and to bring them under thy prince's power. And be con- Thou mayest
• 1 1 • , 1 • 1 1 <¦ 1 •, *Sht with, or
tent with thy prince s wages, and with such part of the spoil ^'ay thine
,f r O ' ^ _ r ^ r enemies, and
(when thou hast won) as thy prince or his deputy appointeth Jh^m.™
thee. For If thou hate them in thine heart, and covet their
goods, and art glad that an occasion is found (thou carest not
whether It be right or wrong) that thou mayest go a robbing
and murdering unpunished ; then art thou a murderer in the

64 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
sight of God, and thy blood wUl be shed again for it, either
in the same war following; or when thou art come home,
as thou there didst in thine heart, so shalt thou rob and
steal, and be hanged for thy labour, or slain by some other
mischief.
Goods. ]\[o;y concerning the goods of this world, it is easy to
judge. In the first state or degree thou oughtest to be
thankful to Christ, and to love, to give, and to lend to them
that are bought with his precious blood, all that thou art able,
For all that thou owest to Christ, whose servant thou art to
Matt. XXV. do his wIU, that must [thou] pay them. And that thou
doest to them, that same thou doest to Christ ; and that thou
art not ready to do for them, that deniest thou to do for
Christ. But and any of thy brethren wUl withhold, or take
away by force above that thou mayest spare, by the reason
of some office that thou hast in the second state ; or Invade
thee violently, and lay more on thy back than thou canst
bear ; then hold thine heart and hand, that thou neither hate
or smite, and speak fair and lovingly, and let neighbours go
between. And when thou hast proved aU means of love in
vain, then complain to the law and the officer, that Is set to
be thy father and defend thee, and to judge between thee and
thy brother.
To go to law. Thou wilt say, 'The text forbiddeth me to go to law;'
for It saith, " If a man will law with thee and take thy coat,
thou must let him have gown and all." ' If I must suffer
myself to be robbed by the law,' wilt thou say, ' by what
right can I with law recover mine own ? ' I answer : Behold
the text diligently. For by no right of law can a man take
thy coat from thee ; for the law was ordained of God, to
maintain thee In thy right, and to forbid that wrong should
be done thee. Wherefore the text meaneth thus, that where
the law Is unjustly ministered, and the governors and judges
corrupt, and take bribes, and be partial, there be patient, and
ready to suffer ever as much more, whatsoever unright be
done thee, rather than of impatience thou shouldest avenge
thyself on tby neighbour, or raU, or make insurrection against
To rise the superiors which God hath set over thee. For to rise
j^dgeVma- against them is to rebel against God and against thy Father,
resist God. when He scourgeth thee for thine offence, and a thousand
times more sin than to avenge thee on thy neighbour. And

v. 38  42.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 65
to rail on them is to rail on God ; as though thou wouldest
blaspheme him, if he made thee sick, poor, or of low degree,
or otherwise than thou wouldest be made thyself.
Thou wilt haply say : ' The snbiects ever choose the Princes, whe-
.'¦•'•' , . , , . . thertheymay
ruler, and make him swear to keep their law, and to maintain be ^^'^^'^^
their privUeges and liberties, and upon that submit their selves "/cJ^fa aJJy'
unto him : ergo. If he rule amiss, they are not bound to obey ; ^f i.
but may resist him, and put him down again.' I answer :
Your argument is naught. For the husband sweareth to his
wife ; yet though he forswear himself, she hath no power to
compel him. Also though a master keep not covenant with
his servant, or one neighbour with another, yet hath neither
servant, no, nor yet neighbour (though he be under none
obedience) power to avenge ; but the vengeance pertaineth
ever to an higher officer, to whom thou must complain.
' Tea, but,' you will say, ' it Is not like. For the whole
body of the subjects choose the ruler. Now cujus est ligare,
ejus est solvere'^: ergo, If he rule amiss, they that set him up
may put him down again.' I answer: God, and not the
common people, chooseth the prince; though he choose him
by them. For God commandeth to choose and set up officers ; D^t. xvi.
and therefore is God the chief chooser and setter up of them :
and so must he be the chief putter down of them again ; so
that without his special commandment they may not be put
down again. Now hath God given no commandment to put
them down again : but contrariwise, when we have anointed
a king over us at his commandment, he saith, "Touch not
mine anointed." And what jeopardy it Is to rise against the
prince that Is anointed over thee, how evil soever he be, see
in the story of king David, and throughout all the books of
the Klngs^. The authority of the king Is the authority of ^hei^^e.^
God ; and all the subjects, compared to the king, are but autho'-'y-
subjects still, though the king be never so evil ; as a thousand
sons gathered together are but sons still, and the command
ment, ' Obey your fathers,' goeth over all as well as over one.
Even so goeth the commandment over all the subjects : obey
your prince and the higher power, and he that resisteth him,
resisteth God, and getteth him damnation. And unto your
[1 Whose office it is to bind, to the same belongs to loosen.]
P In this expression the two books of Samuel are to be understood
as included.] [tyndale, II.J

66 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
An answer to argument, Cujus est ligare, ejus est solvere, I answer: He
arlum^em.' that bindeth with absolute power, and without any higher
authority, his Is the might to loose again; but he that
bindeth at another man's commandment, may not loose again
without the commandment of the same. As they of London
choose them a mayor ; but may not put him down again, how
evil soever he be, without the authority of him with whose
Hcence they chose him. As long as the powers or officers be
one under another, if the inferior do thee wrong, complain to
the higher. But if the highest of aU do thee wrong, thou must
complam to God only. Wherefore the only remedy against
evil rulers Is, that thou turn thine eyes to thyself, and thine
own sin, and then look up to God and say : ' 0 Father, for
our sin, and the sin of our fathers. Is this misery come upon
us : we know not thee as our Father, to obey thee and to
walk in thy ways ; and therefore thou knowest not us as thy
sons, to set loving schoolmasters over us. We hate thy law,
and therefore hast thou, through the wickedness of unrighteous
judges, made that law that was for our defence to be a tyrant
most cruel, and to oppress us, and do us injury above all
other kinds of violence and robbing.' And amend thy Hving,
and be meek and patient ; and let them rob as much as they
wUl, yet shall God give thee food and raiment, and an honest
possession in the earth, to maintain thee and thine withaL
Goods. Moreover concerning thy goods, thou must remember
how that thou art a person in the temporal regiment; and
The kin^ as the klug, as he Is over thy body, even so is he lord of thy
thy body, so goods, and of him thou holdest them, not for thyseK only,
goods. but for to maintain thy wife, children, and servants, and to
mamtain the king, the realm, and the country, and town or
city where thou dwellest. Wherefore thou mayest not suffer
them to be wasted, that thou were not able to do thy duty;
no more than a servant may suffer his master's goods to go
to wrack negligently. " For he that provideth not for his,
and namely for them of his own household," saith Paul,
" denieth the faith, and is worse than an infidel." But every
man is bound to labour diligently and truly, and therewith so
soberly to live, that he may have enough for him and his,
and somewhat above for them that cannot labour, or by
chance are faUen Into necessity : and of that give and lend,
and look not for It again ; and If that suffice not thy neigh-

V. 38  42.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 67
hour's necessity, then speak and make labour to thy brethren,
to help also. For it is a common proverb, "Many hands
make Hght work ;" and many may bear that that one alone
cannot. And thy wife, thy children, and servants, art thou bound
to defend. If any man would force thy wife, thy daughter,
or thy maid, it is not enough for thee to look on, and say,
' God amend you.' Nay, thou must execute thine office and
authority which the king giveth thee. And by the way thou
must defend thy master and his goods, and the king's goods,
which thou hast to maintain thy wife and household withal,
and thine neighbour that goeth with thee, against thieves and
murderers. And against aU such persons lay about thee, and
do as thou wouldest do if thou were under the king's standard
against his enemies which had invaded the realm. For all
such persons are mortal enemies to the realm; and seek to
put down the king, and law, and all together, and to make that
it might be lawful to sin unpunished. And of this manner,
if thou mark weU the difference of these two states and
regiments, thou mayest soU all like doubts that shall be laid segiments.
against thee.
Moreover when I say, there be two regiments, the
spiritual and the temporal ; even so I say that every person, Every man is
baptized to keep the law of God and to believe In Christ, is raiments.
under both the regiments, and is both a spiritual person and
also a temporal, and under the officers of both the regiments ;
so that the king Is as deep under the spiritual officer, to hear
out of God's word what he ought to believe, and how to live,
and how to rule, as is the poorest beggar in the realm. And
even so the spiritual officer, if he sin against his neighbour, as the spi
er teach false doctrine, Is under the king's or temporal cor- rebuke kings-
. . o A Vices, so may
rection, how high soever he be. And look, how damnable it J'^bs use
' o ' temporal cor-
is for the king to withdraw himself from the obedience of the ^|°^°j"J (^^
spiritual officer, that is to say, from hearing his duty to do =i»"'"a"y-
it, and from hearing his vices rebuked to amend them ; so
damnable is it for the spiritual officer, how high soever he
be, to withdraw himself from under the king's correction, If
he teach false, or sin against any temporal law.
Finally, ye must consider that Christ here teacheth his a preacher
disciples, and them that should be the light and salt in living may use no
¦*¦ , , , c: o violence.
and doctrine, to shine in the weak and feeble eyes of the ^- 1-
5 — 2

68 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
world, diseased with the megrim S and accustomed to dark
ness, that without great pain they can behold no light; and
to salt their old festered sores, and to fret out the rotten flesh,
even to the hard quick, that it smart again ; and spare no
degree, but tell all men, high and low, their faults, and
warn them of the jeopardy, and exhort them to the right
Rulers do Way. Now such schoolmasters shall find small favour and
oFthelr °" friendship with the rulers of this world, or defence in their
faults. -r .
Matt. X. laws : as Christ warneth them, saying, " 1 send you out as
sheep among wolves. Beware therefore of men; for they
shall deHver you up to their councils, and shall scourge you
in their synagogues" or council-houses, " and ye shaU be
brought before the chief rulers and kings, for my sake;"
and there teacheth them, as here, to arm themselves with
patience, and to go forth boldly with a strong faith, and trust
In the succour and assistance of God only, and to plant the
gospel with all love and meekness, and to water it with their
own blood, as Christ did. Thou mayest not, in that state,
come with a sword, to defend either thyself or thy gospel,
and to compel men to worship thee as God, and to beHeve
what thou wilt. Nay, ye sheep, use no such regiment among
wolves. If thou be a sheep, thou art not in evil taking, if
thou canst bring to pass that the wolf be content with thy
fleece only, and to shear thee yearly.
" Give to him that asketh, and from him that would
borrow turn not away." Luke saith, " Give to whosoever
asketh thee : " that Is to say, wheresover thou seest need, or
seest not the contrary but there may be need ; to the utter
most of thy power there open thine heart, and be merciful
only. And of mercifulness, set God thy father, and Christ
thy lord and master, for an ensample : and enforce to be as
like them as thou canst. If thou be merciful, God hath
bound himself to be merciful to thee again. Lo, Is not this
an exceeding great thing, that God, which of no right ought
to be bound to his creatures, hath yet put it whole in thine
own hands, to bind him against the day of thy tribulation,
then to shew thee mercy ?
w°m"ust"®' Concerning lending, proceed by the foresaid rule of
m"e°of*° mercy. Many, In extreme need, yet ashamed to beg, shall
"""J^- desire thee to lend. Unto such, instead of lending, give ; or
[1 Old editions mygrim.]

V. 38 — .42,] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 69
say thus, 'Lo, here Is as much as ye require. If ye can
pay It again well, do, and ye shaU find me ready against
another time, to lend or give (if need be) as much more.
But and If ye shall not be able to pay It again, trouble not
your conscience, I give it you. We be all one man's children :
one man hath bought us all with bis blood, and bound us to
help one another.' And with so doing thou shalt win the
heart of him to thy Father.
Concerning merchandise and chapmen, the less borrowing
were among them, the better should the commonwealth be :
if it were possible, I would it were, ware for ware ; or money
for ware; or part money and part ware. But if It will not be,
but that a man, to get his living with, must needs lend, and
call for it again, to find his household, and to pay his debts ;
then in the lending be first single and harmless as a dove,
and then as wise as a serpent ; and take heed to whom
thou lendest. If when thou hast lent an honest man, God
visit him, and take away his goods, with what chance it be,
whether by sea or land, that he Is not able to pay thee;
then to prison him, or to sue him at the law, or once to
speak an unkind word, were against the law of love, and
contrary to shewing mercy. There thou must suffer with
thy neighbour and brother, as Christ did with thee' and as
God doth daily. If an unthrift have beguiled thee, and spent
thy goods away, and hath not to pay, then hold thine hand we must
«/ o d ' r d ' not revenge
and heart, that thou avenge not thyself; but love him, and JpJnoSr
pray for him, and remember how God hath promised to bless butrefer''our
the patient and meek. Nevertheless, because such persons Taim *''"''
corrupt the common manners, and cause the name of God the °
less to be feared, men ought to complain upon such persons
to the officer that is ordained of God to punish evil doers,
and the officer Is bound to punish them. If thou have lent
a fox, which with cavUlation wUl keep thy goods from thee;
then if the ruler and the law will not help thee to thy right,
do as it Is above said of him that wUl go to law with thee,
and take thy coat from thee ; that is to say, be content to
lose that and as much more to It, rather than thou wouldest
avenge thyself. Let not the wickedness of other men pluck
thee from God ; but abide by God and his blessings, and
tarry his judgment. LiberaUty Is mercifulness, that bindeth
God to be merciful again. Covetousness (the root of aU evil.

70

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Covetousness is the
root of all
evil.
James ii.

and father of aU false prophets, and the schoolmaster that
teaches the messengers of Satan to disguise themselves like
to the messengers of Christ) is mercUess, that shaU have
judgment without mercy ; and therefore exhorteth Christ all
his so dUigently, and above aU thing, to be Hberal and to
beware of covetousness.
Ye have heard, how it is said. Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies. Bless them
that curse you, do good to them that hate you. Pray for them
which do you wrong, and persecute you: that ye may be tho
cMldren of your heavenly Father. For he maketh his sun to arise
over the evil, and over the good, and sendeth rain upon the righteous
and unrighteous. For if ye love them that love you, what reward
shall ye have ? do not the publicans so ? And if ye be friendly to
your brethren only, what singular thing do ye ? do not the pub
licans likewise? Ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father,
which is in heaven, is perfect.
This text, of hating a man's enemy, standeth not In any
one place of the bible; but Is gathered of many places, In
The enemies vrHIch God commaudeth the children of Israel to destroy their
of God and . , r^ • ,. . , i , t •
his word are euemics, the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Amalekites, and
to be hated. ' ' ' '
other heathen people, as the Moabites, and Ammonites, which
sought to bring them out of the favour of God, and to destroy
the name of God. The Amalekites came behind them, and
slew all that were faint and weary by the way, as they came
out of Egypt. The Moabites and Ammonites hired Balaam
to curse them, and beguUed them with their women, and
made a great plague among them. These and Hke nations
were perpetual enemies to their land which God had given
them, and also of the name of God and of their faith : for
which cause they not only might lawfully, but were also
bound to hate them, and to study their destruction again;
howbeit they might not yet hate, of the said nations, such as
were converted to their faith.
Now by the reason of such texts as commanded to hate
the common enemies of their country, and of God and his
law, and of their faith, the Pharisees' doctrine was, that a
man might lawfully hate all his private enemies, without ex
ception, nor was bound to do them good. And yet Moses
Lev. xix. saith, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart."
Exod. xxiii. And again, "Thou shalt not avenge thyself, nor bear hate

V. 43  48.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 71
In thy mind against the children of thy people." And, " If
thine enemy's ass sink under his burden, help to Hft him up
again. And if his ox or ass go astray, bring them home
again : " which all, no doubt, the Pharisees did interpret for
good counsel, but for no precepts; wherefore Christ salteth
their doctrine, and proveth that a man is bound both to love
and to do good to his enemy ; and as a natural son, though
his brethren be never so evil, yet to love them, and shew
them kindness for his father's sake, and to study to amend
them. What hast thou to rejoice of. If thy rehgion be no
better than the religion of thieves ? For thieves love among
themselves : and so do the covetous of the world, as the
usurers and publicans, which bought in great the emperor's Puwieans,
tribute, and, to make their most advantage, did overset the w«- ". t.
people'. Nay, It Is not enough for thee to love thy bene
factors only, as monks and friars do, and them of thine own
coat and order, or the brethren of thine own abbey only;
for among some their love stretcheth no farther, and that
shall he that is removed out of another cloister thither well
find : yea, and in some places charity reacheth not to all the
cells of the same cloister, and to all the monks that were
professed In the same place. But lift up thine eyes unto thy
heavenly Father, and as thy Father doth, so do thou love as our hea-
„,•'_,, , ., 1 TT ¦ • 1 T • '>'™'y Father
all thy Father s children. He ministereth sun and ram to bestoweai
d his benefits
good and bad ; by which two understand all his benefits : "J^bf^so
for of the heat and dryth of the sun, and cold and moist of fo^sJ'^o'Jh"'
the rain, spring all things that are necessary to the life off"™'''""'
man. Even so provoke thou and draw thine evil brethren
to goodness, with patience, with love in word and deed; and
pray for them to him tha;t Is able to make them better and
to convert them. And so thou shalt be thy Father's natural
son, and perfect, as he Is perfect. The text saith not. Ye
shall be as perfect as God; but perfect after his example.
To be perfect, in the scripture. Is not to be a monk or a to be per-
rt . • Tl /^i • 11 1 1 ^^'^^, wnat it
friar, or never to sm. For Christ teacheth not here monks j™™^"'.
or friars, but his disciples and every christian man and woman.
And to be in this life altogether without sin is Impossible.
But to be perfect is to have pure doctrine without false
opinions, and that thine heart be to follow that learning.
[1 That is, they bought the gross produce of the tribute ; and over
charged the people in the collection of it.]

72 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
AN EXPOSITION OF THE SIXTH CHAPTER.
Take heed to your alms, that ye do it not before men, to be seen of
them, or else ye get no reward of your Pather which is in heaven,
Therefore when thou givest alms, make not a trumpet to be blown
before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, to be praised of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when thou givest alms, let not thy left
hand know what thy right hand doth, that thine alms may be in
secret. And then thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly.
Alms. As he rebuked their doctrine above, even so here he
rebuketh their works ; for out of devilish doctrine can spring
Deeds com- ^° godly works. But what works rebuketh he? Verily
Sl^scriptSe, such as God in the scripture commandeth, and without which
othlr'e°nd°^ HO man cau be a christian man ; even prayer, fasting, and
ought, are / alms-dcod. For as the scripture, corrupt with glosses, is no
deels." \ more God's word, even so the deeds commanded in the
' scripture (when the intent of them Is perverted) are no more
1 godly deeds. What said the scribes and Pharisees of him
' (think ye) when he rebuked such manner of works ? No
doubt, as they said, when he rebuked their false glosses,
how. he destroyed the law and the prophets, interpreting the
scripture after the literal sense which killeth, and after his
own brain, clean contrary to the common faith of holy churchy.
and minds of great clerks, and authentic expositions of old
holy doctors ; even so here what other could they say than,
'Behold the heretic ! and, Did not we tell you before whereto
he would come, and that he kept some mischief behind, and
spewed not out all his venom at once? see to what all his
godly new doctrine that sounded so sweetly is come ! He
preached all of love, and would have the people saved by
faith, so long till that now, at the last, he preacheth clean
against all deeds of mercy, as prayer, fasting, and alms-deed,
and destroyeth all good works. His disciples fast no more
than dogs, they despise their divine service, and come not to
church ; yea, and if the holiest of all St Francis' order ask
them alms, they bid him labour with his hands, and get his
living, and say that he that laboureth not is not worthy
to eat, and that God bade that no such strong lubbers should
loiter, and go a begging, and be chargeable to the congre
gation, and eat up that other poor men get with the sweat of

VI. 1  4.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 73
their bodies : yea, and at the last ye shall see, If we resist him
not betimes, that he shall move the people to insurrection, as
Calphas said, and the Romans shall come and take our land
from us.' As ye see in the text, Luke xxni. how, when they
could not drive the people from him with those pursuasions,
they accused him to Pilate, saying : " We have found this Luke xxui.
fellow perverting the people, and forbidding to pay tribute to
Csesar, and saying that he is Christ, a king." Wherefore
"thou canst not be Caesar's friend, if thou let him escape." John xix.
But after all these blasphemies, yet must the Holy Ghost
rebuke the world of their righteousness, yea, of their false
righteousness and false holiness, which are neither righteous
ness nor holiness, but colour of hypocrisy.
Christ here destroyeth not prayer, fasting, and alms-deed, it is the
but preacheth against the false purpose and intent of such anJlntent
works, and perverting the true use ; that Is to say, their deed^that
seeking of glory, and that they esteemed themselves righteous mar-
thereby, and better tban other men, and so despised and
condemned their brethren. With our alms (which is as much
to say as deeds of mercy), or compassion, we ought to seek
our Father's glory only, even the wealth of our brethren,
and to win them to the knowledge of our Father and keeping
of his law. He that seeketh the glory of his good works,
seeketh the glory that belongeth to God, and maketh himself
God. Is it not a blind thing of the world, that either they
wiU do no good works at all, or will be God for their good
works, and have the glory themselves ?
Concerning blowing of trumpets, and ringing of bells, or to wow
making a cry, to call men to fetch alms, (though the right what.''^w. r.
way be, that we should know In every parish all our poor,
and have a common coffer for them ; and that strangers
should bring a letter of recommendation with them of their
necessity, and that we had a common place to receive them
into for the time; and though also we ought to flee all occasions
of vain-glory,) yet while the world is out of order, It Is not
damnable to do It. So that the very meaning, both that we
blow no trumpets, and that the left hand know not what the Left hand.
right hand doth. Is, that we do as secretly as we can, and In
no wise seek glory, or to receive it if it were proffered ; but
to do our deeds in singleness of conscience to God, because it
is his commandment, and even of pure compassion and love

74 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
to our brethren ; and not that our good deeds, through stand
ing In our own conceit, should cause us to despise them.
y^'n^|iory. If thou be tempted to vain-glory for thy good deeds, then
Sarastit. ^°°^ ^^ tbi"^^ ^^^^ thereto, and put the one in the one balance,
^- ''^' and the other In the other. And then, if thou understand the
law of God any thing at all, tell me, whether weigheth heavier.
If that that thou doest do tempt thee, then consider what thon
doest not. If it move thee to set up thy comb, when thou
givest thy brother a farthing or a halfpenny, ponder In thine
heart how far thou art off from loving him as well as thyself,
and caring for him as much as for thyself. And be sure
how much thou lackest of that, so much thou art In sin, and
that in damnable sin, if God for Christ's sake did not pardon
thee, because thine heart mourneth therefore, and thou
fightest with thyself to come to such perfection. If a peacock did
look well on his feet, and mark the evil-favoured shrieking of
his voice, he would not be so proud of the beauty of his tail.
«f"noVfrom Finally, that many dispute. Because God hath promised
des'erreflfe t° reward OUP doods in heaven, that our deeds deserve
mSf '"^°' heaven ; and because he promiseth to shew mercy to the
merciful, that with our deeds we deserve mercy ; and because
he promiseth forgiveness of sins to them that forgive, that
our deeds deserve forgiveness of sin, and so justify us: I
answer, first, there Is enough spoken thereof In other places ;
so that to them that have read that it is superfluous to rehearse
the matter again. Furthermore, the argument is naught, and
holdeth by no rule. See ye not that the father and mother
have more right to the child and to all it can do, than to an
ox or a cow ? It is their flesh and blood, nourished up with
their labour and cost. The life of it, and the maintenance
and continuance thereof, is their benefit; so that it is not
able to recompense that it oweth to father and mother by a
thousand parts. And though It be not able to do his duty,
nor for blindness to know his duty, yet the father and
mother promise more gifts still without ceasing, and that such
as they think should most make it to see love, and to provoke
it to be wiUing to do part of his duty. And when It hath
done amiss, though It have no power to do satisfaction, nor
lust or corage 1 to come to the right way again, yet their love
[1 Used as in Vol. I. p. 417, not for bravery, but for the inclination
of the heart.]

VI. 1  4.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 75
and mercy abideth still so great to It, that upon appointment
of mending they not only forgive that is past, and fulfil their
promise nevertheless ^ but promise greater gifts than ever
before, and to be better father and mother to it than ever
they were. Now when it cannot do that thousandth part of
his duty, how could it deserve such promises of the father
and mother, as a labourer doth his hire ? The reward thereof
cometh of the love, mercy, and truth of the father and mother,
as well when the child keepeth the appointment, as when
they fulfil their promise when It hath broken the appointment;
and not of the deserving of the child.
Even so, if we were not thus drowned In blindness, we our reward
should easily see that we cannot do the thousandth part of ofourde'serts,
our duty to God : no, though there were no life to come, the love tLt
¦' . . . God beareth
If there were no life to come, it were not right that I should "s.*'?"?''
' ^ o ^ faith in Jesus
touch any creature of God otherwise than he hath appointed. '^^"^¦
Though there were no life to come, it had nevertheless been
right that Adam had abstained from the forbidden apple-tree,
and from all other too, if they had been forbid. Yea, and
though there were no Hfe to come, it were not the less right
that I loved my brother, and forgave him to-day, seeing I
shall sin against him to-morrow. Because a father cannot
give his children heaven, hath he no power to charge them
to love one another, and to forgive, and not to avenge one
another ? And hath he not right to beat them if they smite
each other, because he cannot give them heaven ? A bond
man that hath a master more cruel than a reasonable man
would be to a dog, If there were no heaven, might this bond
servant accuse God of unrighteousness, because he hath not
made him a master? Now, then, when we cannot do our
duty by a thousand parts, though there were no such pro
mises, and that the thing commanded is no less our duty
though no such promise were ; it is easy to perceive that the
reward promised cometh of the goodness, mercy, and truth
of the promiser, to make us the gladder to do our duty, and
not of the deserving of the receiver. When we have done all
we can, we ought to say In our heart, that It was our duty,
and that we ought to do a thousand times more ; and that God
(If he had not promised us mercy, of his goodness in Christ,)
he might yet of right damn us for that we have left undone.
P L., not the later.]

76 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
We may not And as touchlng forgiveness of sin: though forgiveness
challenge the O o • i i. l, ,
Su?mlri& °^ ^^^ ^® promised unto thee, yet challenge it not by thy
^^'risfs ' merits, but by the merits of Christ's blood ; and hear what
PhS^iii. Paul saith : " Concerning the righteousness of the law I was
faultless," or such as no man could rebuke ; " but the
things that were to vantage, I thought damage for Christ's
sake ; yea, I think aU thing to be damage, or loss, for the
excellent knowledge's sake of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for
whose sake I let all go to loss, and count them as chaff or
refuse," (that is to say, as things which are purged out,
and refused, when a thing is tried and made perfect,) " that I
might win Christ, and might be found in him, not having
my righteousness that cometh of the law, but that which
cometh of faith In Christ Jesus ; which righteousness cometh
of God through faith, and is to know him and the power of
his resurrection," (how he is Lord over all sin, and the only
thing that slayeth and vanqulsheth sin), " and to know also
the fellowship of his passions, that 1 might be made like unto
his death." So that when righteousness and true merits be tried, we
must be content that ours be the chaff, and Christ's the pure
corn ; ours the scum and refuse, and Christ's the pure gold.
And we must fashion ourselves like unto Christ, and take
Cross. W.T. every man his cross, and slay and mortify the sin In the
flesh; or else we cannot be partakers of his passion. The sin
we do before our conversion Is forgiven clearly through faith,
if we repent, and submit ourselves to a new life. And the
works,^ sin we do against our wills, (I mean the will of the Spirit; for
do. w. I. after our conversion we have two wiUs, fighting one against
the other,) that sin is also forgiven us through faith. If we
repent and submit ourselves to amend. And our dUigence in
working keepeth us from sinning again, and minlsheth the
sin that remaineth in the flesh, and maketh us pure and less
apt and disposed to sin ; and It maketh us merry In ad
versities, and strong In temptations, and bold to go unto God
with a strong and fervent faith in our prayers, and sure that
we shall be heard when we cry for help at need, either for
Negligence in ourselvcs OP our brethren. Now, they that be negligent and
doing good . 1 1 • . o o
todlspera- ^'°' ^^^ wought IU tcmptatiou uuto the point of desperation,
"on- and feel the very pains of hell ; so that they stand In doubt
whether God hath cast them away or no : and in adversity

VI. 1  4.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 77
they be sorrowful and discouraged, and think that God Is
angry, and punisheth them for their sins. When a child ^^9,f£'^j,
taketh pain to do his father's pleasure, and Is sure that he eviTdJin^.
shall have thank and a reward for his labour, he is merry,
and rejoiceth In work and pain that he suffereth ; and so
Is the adversity of them that keep theraselves from sinning.
But a child, when he Is beaten for his fault, or when he
thinketh his father is angry, and loveth him not, Is anon des
perate and discouraged : so is the adversity of them that are
weak, and sin oft. A child that never displeaseth his father
Is bold In his father's presence, to speak for himself or his
friend : but he that oft offendeth, and is correct or chid,
though the peace be made again, yet the remembrance of his
offences maketh him fearful, and to mistrust, and to think his
father would not hear him ; so is the faith of the weak, that
sin oft. But as for them that profess not a new living, how- Promise.
ever so much they dream of faith, they have no faith at all ; fesseth not a
¦' . 1 1 newlife, hath
for they have no promise, except they be converted to a new no promise of
d y ' r d mercy in
life. And therefore In adversities, temptation and death, they •'''"''¦ '^- t-
utterly despair of all mercy, and perish.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be like the hypocrites. For
they love to stand and pray in the synagogues, and in corners of
the streets, that they might be seen of men. Verily, I say unto
you, they have their reward. Thou therefore, when thou prayest,
go into thy chamber, and shut thy door, and pray to thy Father
which is in secret. And thy Pather, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly.
After alms followeth prayer. For as it Is a christian man's prayer.
part to help his neighbour, and to bear with him when he Is
overcharged, and suffer with him, and to stand one by another,
as long as we live here on this earth ; even so, because we be
ever in such peril and cumbrance that we cannot rid ourselves
out, we must daily and hourly cry to God for aid and succour,
as well for our neighbours as for ourselves.
To give alms, to pray, to fast, or to do any thing at all, works
whether between thee and God, or between thee and thy seasoned
•' with God 3
neighbour, canst thou never do to please God therewith, except J,°"''5hlii
thou have the true knowledge of God's word to season thy p''^* '^°''-
deeds withal. For God hath put a rule In the scripture,
without which thou canst not move an hair of thine head, but

78 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
that It Is damnable In the sight of God. As it is of the Jews,
though (as Paul beareth them record) they have a fervent
zeal to God, yea, and have the scripture thereto ; yet because
they have not the true understanding, all is damnable that
they do. Hypocrites with scraps of alms get an hundred
fold. And with prayer they get praise, (as thou seest here) ;
and pray thereto, and rob widows' houses, as thou readest
Matt, xxiii. Matt. xxiu. And with fasting they get fat beUIes, full dishes,
and ever more than enough. And yet there is none alms,
praying, or fasting among them, in the sight of God. With
their prayers they exclude all true prayers, and make it
impossible that there should be any among them. For
woiat it is. prayer is either a longing for the honour and name of God,
that all men should fear him, and keep his precepts, and
believe in him; and contrary to that, they seek their own
honour, that men should fear them and keep their ordinances,
and believe In their sweet blessings, prayers, pardons, and
whatsoever they promise : if they bid fast, thou must do it
or be damned, and be an heretic and rebellious to holy
church : If they dispense, and give thee clean remission
for to eat flesh on Good Friday, though thou be never so
lusty, thou must obey, or else thou art damned, and an
heretic, because thou dost not believe In holy church. Either
prayer Is, to give God thanks for the benefits received:
contrary to which, they will first have thanks of the world
for their prayers, and rob not only widows' houses, but also
lord, prince, emperor, and all the world, of house and
land ; yea, and of their wits too. And then they bind God
to thank them, and to give them (beside the thanks which
they have gotten in the world) not only heaven and a higher
place, but that he give heaven to no other man, save through
their merits. Either prayer is a complaining and a shewing
of thine own misery and necessity, or of thy neighbour's
before God ; desiring him, with aU the power of thine heart,
to have compassion and to succour. Contrary to this, they
have excluded with their prayers aU necessity and misery
from among them. They be lords over all, and do what they
wUl through the whole world. King and emperor are their
servants ; they need but say the word, and their wUl is ful-
filled. And as for their neighbours, they have no compassion
upon them, to bring their complaints before God; but with

VI. 5, 6.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 79
their prayers rob them of that Httle they have, and so make
them more miserable.
Of entering into the chamber and shutting the door to,
I say as above, (of that the left hand should not know what to shut thy
the right hand doth,) the meaning is, that we should avoid all door, what
111 • 1 ,. 1-1 -1 1 it meaneth.
worldly praise and profit, and pray with a single eye and true w. i.
intent according to God's word; and [It] Is not forbidden
thereby to pray openly. For we must have a place to come
together, to pray in general, to thank and to cry to God
for the common necessities, as well as to preach the word
of God in : where the priest ought to pray in the mother
tongue, that the name of God may be hallowed, and his word
faithfuUy taught and truly understood, and faith and godly
Uving increased ; and for the king and rulers, that God will
give them his Spirit, to love the commonwealth ; and for
peace, that God will defend us from aU enemies ; for weder-
ingi and fruits, that God wIU keep away pestilence and all
plagues. And the priest should be an example to the people
how they should pray. There be, of such things as the
priests and other babble (and not pray), many good collects,
that should much edify the people. If they were spoken in the
mother tongue. And then, while the priests sing psalms, let
every man pray privately, and give God thanks for such
benefits as his heart knoweth he hath received of God, and
commend to God his private necessities, and the private
necessities of his neighbours which he knoweth, and is privy
to. Neither Is there, in all such, any jeopardy of vain-glory.
But and If God hath given any man the spirit of praying, as
aU men have not Hke gifts, that he pray oft and when other
do not ; then to have a secret place to pray In, both for the
avoiding of vain-glory and speech of people, and that thou
mayest be free to use thy words as thou lustest, and whatso
ever gestures and behaviours do move thee most to devotion,
is necessary and good.
And, finally : whatsoever necessity thou hast, though thou
feel thyself a great sinner, yet if thine heart be to amend, let
not that discourage thee : but go boldly to thy Father,
seeing thou hast his commandment ever to pray, and promise God's com-
that he will hear thee, not for thy goodness, but of his "nd"pro-°
- . , « o jj^jgg should
goodness, and tor his truth. move us to
o ' pray.
[1 Saxon; psebepuns, inclement weather.]

80 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Moreover, when ye pray, babble not much as the heathen do. For
they think that they shall be heard for their much babbling's sake.
Be not, therefore, like unto them. For your Father knoweth of
what things ye have need, before ye ask him. Of this manner,
therefore, pray ye :
The Pater- Q[ Qur Father, which art in heaven, honoured be thy name, thy
no&ter. " ' j
kingdom come. Thy will be fulfllled, even in earth, as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive our trespassers. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory for ever. Amen.
As before he rebuked their false intent In praying, that
they sought praise and profit of that work, which ought to
be direct to God alone, either to give him thanks, that is to
say, to be aknowen, and to confess in the heart that all we
have cometh of him ; or to call upon him for aid and succour
That prayer In temptatlous and all necessity : even so here he rebuketh
wherein the a falsc kind of praying, wherein the tongue and lips labour,
joined with and all the body Is pained, but the heart talketh not with
the tongue. d r ^
God, nor feeleth any sweetness at all, nor hath any confidence
in the promises of God; but trusteth in the multitude of
words, and In the pain and tediousness of the length of the
prayer; as a conjuror doth In his circles, characters, and
superstitious words of his conjuration : as ye see now to be
among our friars, monks, canons and nuns, and even through
out all the spiritualty ; which (as I have proved above)
have, with their false Intent of praying, excluded all occasions
and the whole matter of true prayer, and have turned it into
False prayer a bodUy labour, to VOX the tongue, lips, eyes, and throat with
roaring, and to weary all the members; so that they say
(and may truly swear it) that there is no greater labour in
the world than prayer ; for no labour, whatsoever it be, when
the body is compelled, and the heart unwUling, can be other
True prayer than grlevous and painful. But true prayer (If they com
plained and sought help either for themselves, or for their
neighbours, and trusted In the promise of God) would so
comfort the soul and courage the heart, that the body, though
it were half dead and more, would revive and be lusty again,
and the labour would be short and easy : as for an ensample;
if thou were so oppressed that thou were weary of thy life,
and wentest to the king for help, and haddest sped, thy
spirits would so rejoice, that thy body would receive her

VI. 7  13.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 81
strength again, and be as lusty as ever It was ; even so the
promises of God work joy above all measure, where they be
believed in the heart.
But our hireUngs have no God's word, but trust In the
multitude of words, length of babbling, and pain of body, as
bond servants : neither know they any other virtue to be in
prayer ; as ye may see by the ordinances of all foundations.
King Henry the Fifth built Sion, and the Charterhouse of sion.
Shene' on the other side of the water, of such a manner that shene.
lip-labour may never cease. For when the friars of Sion
ring out, the nuns begin ; and when the nuns ring out of
service, the monks on the other side begin ; and when they
ring out, the friars begin again, and vex themselves night
and day, and take pain for God's sake ; for which God must
give them heaven. Yea, and I have known of some ere this,
that for very pain and tediousness have bidden the devil
take their founders. They call Lent the holiest time of the
year : but wherein Is that holiness ? Yerily, in multitude of
words, and the tedious length of service. For let them begin
at six, and it will be twelve or they can end ; in which time
they be so wearied, that by the time they have dined, they
have lust to nothing save to sleep. And in the end of all
they think no farther, than that God must reward their pain.
And If you ask how they know it ? they will answer : He
must reward It, or be unrighteous. Now, God looketh not Npt'hemui-
' o .... titude of thy
on the pain of the prayer, but on thy faith In his promise tt,y''ftith\n
and goodness ; neither yet on the multitude of thy words, SSS re%?c°tf
or long babbling : for he knoweth thy matter better than
thou thyself. And though the Jews and the heathen were
so foolish, through their unbelief, to babble many words, yet
were they never so mad as to mumble and buz out words
that they understood not. Thou wilt say, What matter
maketh it if I speak words which I understand not, or if I
pray not at all, seeing God knoweth my matter already?
I answer : He will have thee to open thine heart to him, to
Inform and edify thine ownself, (that thou mightest know
how all goodness is of him,) to put thy trust and confidence
In him, and to fly to him In time of need, and to be thankful,
and to love him and obey his commandments, and turn and
[1 Shene ; whose name Henry VH. changed to Kichmond, his own
early title.] r 1 6
[tyndale, ii.J

82

exposition OF

[chap.

The Pater
noster is
expounded. W.T.

To honour
God's name,
what it is.
W.I.

be converted unto thy Lord God; and not to run wUd as
the ungodly do, which know not the benefits of God, and
therefore be unthankful to obey his commandments.
And that thou mayest know how, and what to pray, he
giveth thee a short Instruction and ensample, saying. After
this manner pray :
Our Father, which art in heaven.
First, thou must go to him as a merciful Father ; which
of his own goodness and fatherly love, that he beareth to
thee, is ready to do more for thee than thou canst desire,
though thou have no merits, but because he Is thy Father,
only if thou wilt turn, and henceforth submit thyself to learn
to do his wUl. Honoured be thy name.
Honoured and praised be thy name ; or honoured and
praised be thou : for to honour God, and to honour the name
of God, is all one. And to honour the name of God is to
dread him, to love him, and to keep his commandments.
For when a child obeyeth his father, he honoureth and
praiseth his father : and when he is rebeUious and disobe
dient, he dishonoureth his father. This is, then, the under
standing and meaning of it. 0 Father, seeing thou art
Father over all, pour out thy Spirit upon all flesh, and make
all men to fear, and dread, and love thee as their Father,
and in keeping thy commandments to honour thee and thy
holy name. Thy kingdom come.
That is, seeing thou art king over all, make aU to know
notiiiir^nor theo ; aud make the kings and rulers, which are but thy
forbid to do ' b ' J
rant^M? to substitutes, to command nothing but according to thy word,
God's word, and to them make all subjects obey.
Thy will be fulfllled in earth as it is in heaven.
This is all one with that goeth before. Forasmuch, then,
as thou art Father and king over all, and all we thy children
and brethren among ourselves, make us aU as obedient to
seek and to do thy will, as the angels do in heaven. Make
that no man seek his own wiU, but all thine. But and If
thou withdraw thine hand, to tempt thy children, that the

Kings must
command

VI, 7  13.] MATTHEW V. VI, VII. 83
rulers command ought contrary to thy will, then make the
subjects to stand fast by thy word, and to offer themselves
to suffer aU extremity rather than to obey. Finally, when when we
we pray to thee in our temptations and adversities, desiring eJJf.j'Jf^^'
thee of whatsoever thing It be, and mean truly ; yet if thou, Jhatllfmif^
which knowest all, seest a better way to thy glory and our not^'ouS.*'"*
profit, then thy will be, and not ours : as thy son Jesus
gave us an ensample, when he desired (If It had been possible)
that that cup of bitter death might have departed from him,
saying, " Yet not as I wUl, but as thou wilt."
Give us our daily bread.
By bread is understood aU manner of sustenance, in the Daiiy bread,
Hebrew speech ; yea, and here is understood thereby all that understood
11 • <. 1 • !¦<¦ T/. ,1 1 allthatper-
pertameth unto the necessity ot this hie. It we have bread, tamethtothe
¦^ ^ ^ d ^ ^ ¦' necessity of
there is dearth of nothing that can pinch, namely ^ In that land. ""^ "'^¦
Give us our daily bread. Give us all that the necessity of this
Hfe daUy requireth. Give us It day by day as we need it.
We desire not to have store for many years, to exclude all
necessity of praying to thee, and to be, as it were, out of thy
danger, and to forget thee : but minister it day by day, that
we may daily feel thy benefits, and never forget thee. Or if
thou give us abundance above that we desire, then give us an
heart to use it, and to bestow it for that purpose thou gavest
it, and to deal^ with our neighbours, and not to love it inor
dinately ; but to think that it is thine, and that thou mayest
take it away every hour, and that we be content that thou
so do at thy pleasure ; and so ever to have it but for daUy
bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive our trespassers.
Because he knoweth that our nature is so weak that we
cannot but sin daily ; therefore he teacheth us daily to repent,
and to reconcile ourselves together, and daily to ask God
forgiveness. Seeing he commandeth us to ask, we may be
bold so to do, and to beHeve that he wiU forgive us. No man,
therefore, needeth to despair, that can repent and ask forgive
ness, however so deep he hath sinned. And, methinketh, if
we looked somewhat nearer to this text, we needed not make
[1 Namely, i. e. especially in the land of Canaan, where Christ was
when he spoke this prayer.]
[2 Deal, i. e. divide.]
6—2

84 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
the pope so great a god, for his pardons. For Christ (which
A surer way Is a man to bo believed) sheweth us here a more sure way ;
yea, and that a sensible way, by which we may feel that
we be pardoned, and our sins forgiven. We can have no
experience of the pope's things, whether they be so or no.
He can with all his pardons deliver no man of any purgatory
that God putteth us unto In this world. He cannot bless, or
heal any man so much as of a poor ague, or tooth-ache ; which
diseases yet (by his own confession) God putteth on us to purge
us from sin. But where we cannot see, feel, or have any
/. , ,' experience at all, that it so is, there Is he mighty. If Iwere
come home out of a land where never man was before, and
were sure never man should come, I might tell as many
wonders as Master More doth of Utopia, and no man could
rebuke me.
How thou But here Christ raaketh thee sure of pardon ; for if thou
Ufl ^ vest bfi
surcofpardon caust forglve thy brother, God hath bound himself to forgive
for thy sins. a ^ d ' o
thee. What if no man have sinned against me ? That were
Hardin this life; nevertheless yet. If that profession be in thine
heart, that thou knowest that it Is thy duty to forgive thy
brother for thy Father's sake, and art obedient to thy Father's
ordinance, and wouldest forgive, If any of thy brethren had
offended thee, and did ask thee forgiveness ; then hast thou
tbat same spirit which God desireth to be In thee. Mark what
Christ saith above. In the beginning of the fifth chapter:
Matt.v. "Blessed be the merciful, for they shall have mercy." Dost
thou pity thy brethren that sin, and dost thy best to amend
them, that thy Father's name may be honoured ? Then hast
thou that, whereby thou art sure of mercy as soon as thou
desirest it. And again: "Blessed be the peace-makers, for
they shall be God's children." Lo, if there be any variance
among thy brethren, that one have offended the other, do thy
best to set them at one, and thou hast tbe same thing that
God desireth of thee, and for which he hath bound himself to
forgive thee. Lead us not into temptation.
That Is, let us not slip out of thy leased but hold us fast;
give us not up, nor cease to govern us, nor take thy Spirit
[1 Lease, or Leash ; a cord or thong, by which the huntsman held
one or more dogs.]

VI. 7  13.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 85
from us. For as a hound cannot but follow his game when
he seeth It before him, if he be loose ; so can we not but fall we cannot of
into sin when occasion Is given us, if thou withdraw thine faifintosin.
hand from us. Lead us not into temptation. Let no tempta
tion fall upon us greater than thine help In us; but be thou
stronger in us than the temptation thou sendest, or lettest come
upon us. Lead us not into temptations. Father, though we
be negligent, yea, and unthankful and disobedient to thy true
prophets ; yet let not the devil loose upon us to deceive us,
with his false prophets, and to harden us In the way In which
we gladly walk, as thou diddest Pharaoh with the false mi
racles of his sorcerers ; as thine apostle Paul threateneth us. 2 ihess. u.
A little thread holdeth a strong man, where he gladly Is. A
little pulling draweth a man, whither he gladly goeth. A little
wind driveth a great ship, with the stream. A light persuasion smaii occa.
or' ^ o r sions draw us
Is enough to make a lecherous man believe that fornication Is unto"wrare''
no sin ; and an angry man, that It is lawful to avenge himself, proS""''
and so forth, by all the corrupt nature of man. A Httle miracle
Is able to confirm and harden a man In that opinion and faith
which his blind reason believeth already. A few false miracles
were sufficient to persuade the covetousness of Pharaoh, and
his greediness to hold the children of Israel in bondage for
their service, that thy true miracles, shewed by Moses for
their deliverance, were not of thee, but of the same kind, and
done by the same craft, as were the miracles of his sorcerers,
and so to harden his heart.
Even so. Father, if thou give us over for our unkindness,
seeing the blind nature of man deUghteth in evil, and is ready to
beHeve lies, a little thing Is enough to make them that love not
to walk in thy truth, (and therefore never able to understand
thy Son's doctrine, John vii.) for to believe the feignings of John vu.
our most holy father, all his superstitious popery and invisible
blessings, and to harden them therein. As a stone cast up Into
the air can neither go any higher, neither yet there abide,
when the power of the hurler ceaseth to drive it ; even so,
Father, seeing our corrupt nature can but go downward only,
and the devil and the world driveth thereto that same way,
how can we proceed further In virtue or stand therein, if thy
power cease in us ? Lead us not therefore, 0 merciful Father,
into temptation, nor cease at any time to govern us.
Now, seeing the God of all mercy, which knoweth thine

86 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Infirmity, commandeth thee to pray in all temptation and
adversity, and hath promised to help, if thou trust in him ;
what excuse is it to say, when thou hast sinned, I could not
stand of myself; when his power was ready to help thee,
if thou haddest asked ?
But deliver us from evil.
First, as above, let us not fall Into temptation. Secondarily,
If we be fallen (as who liveth and faileth never ? For never to
wTio should fall were enough to make a man as evil as Lucifer, and to
to be without believe that he stood by his own power : If therefore we be
sin, were ^S-,, *^ i'i •
cifer'^ ^"' lallen) even to the bottom, howsoever deep it be, put in thme
arm after, (for it is long and strong enough,) and pluck us out
again. Thirdly, deliver us from evil, and pluck us out of the flesh,
and the world, and the power of the devil ; and place us In thy
kingdom, where we be past all jeopardy, and where we cannot
sin any more.
For the kingdom, and the power and the glory, is thine for ever. Amen.
Because that thou only art the king, and aU other but
substitutes. And because all power Is thine, and all otber
men's power but borrowed of thee; therefore ought all honour
and obedience to be thine of right, as chief Lord; and none to
be given other men, but only for the office they hold of thee.
Neither ought any creature to seek any more in this world
than to be a brother, tUl thou have put him in office ; then (if
brotherllness will not help, which he ought first to prove) let
him execute thy power. Neither may any man take authority
of himself, tlU God have chosen him ; that is to wit, till he be
chosen by the ordinance that God hath set in the worid, to
rule it. Finally, no king, lord, master, or what ruler he be,
hath absolute power in this world, and is the very thing
which he is called ; for then they ceased to be brethren stiU,
neither could they sin, whatsoever they commanded. But
now their authority is but a Hmited power, which when they
transgress, they sin against their brethren, and ought to re
concile themselves to their brethren, and to ask forgiveness ;
and they are bound to forgive.
Kings and Finally, lot klugs, rulers, and officers remember that God
In one afore is the vory king, and refer the honour that is given to them
for their offices' sake to him, and humble themselves to him,

VI. 13  15.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 87
and knowledge and confess In their hearts, that they be but
brethren, and even no better before God, than the worst of
their subjects. So be It^.
For if ye forgive men their faults, your heavenly Father shall forgive
you also. But and if ye do not forgive men their faults, no more
shall your Father forgive your faults.
This Is God's covenant with us, and a confirmation of the a coveriant
petition above rehearsed in the Pater-noster : "Forgive us our God is bound
/, . T/» -I "1 to forgive us,
trespasses, as we forgive our trespassers." If thou wUt enter andwetofor-
A ' o r ^ give each
Into the covenant of thy Lord God, and forgive thy brother ; "*«'¦¦ ^- ^¦
then whatsoever thou hast committed against God, if thou
repent and ask him forgiveness, thou art sure that thou art so
absolved by these words, that none in heaven nor earth can
bind thee; no, though our most. holy father curse thee as black
as coals, seven foot under the earth, and seven foot above,
and cast all his lightning upon thee, to burn thee to powder.
Keep the covenant of the Lord thy God therefore, and fear
no bugs. But and if thou wilt not come within the covenant ood-scove-
of God, or if, when thou hast professed it, and received the absoiutionTo
sign thereof, thou cast the yoke of the Lord from off thy neck, it. w. t.
be thou sure thou art bound by these words so fast that none
In heaven or In earth can loose thee ; no, though our earthlsh
god whisper all his absolutions over thee, and claw thee, and
stroke thine head with all his sweet blessings.
Furthermore, though forgiveness of thy sins be annexed
to thy work and forgiving thy brother; yet do not (as I said)
thy works justify thee before God. But the faith in Christ's
blood, and In the promises made to us for his sake, doth bring
righteousness into the heart. And the righteousness of the
heart by faith is felt and known by the work: as Peter, 2Pet. i.
in the first of his second epistle, commandeth to do good
works, for to make our vocation and election sure ; that we
might feel our faith, and be certified that It is right. For
except a man be proved and tried, it cannot be known, neither
to himself or other men, that he is righteous and in the true
faith. Take an example, lest thou be beguUed with sophistry.
Christ saith, "The kingdom of heaven is Hke leaven which a Matt. xin.
woman taketh and hideth in three pecks of meal till all be Leaven, tow
leavened," or sour. Leaven is sometimes taken In an evU iTSen.^'"'
[1 Thus L., but D. Amen.]

88

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Faith, what
power it is of,
and the fruits
that spring
thereof.

Love is
righteous uess. W. T.

Faith
bringethlove. W. T.
I John 11.

Works.

Love.
Faith. Kph. ii.

sense, for the doctrine of the Pharisees, which corrupted the
sweetness of the word of God with the leaven of their glosses;
and sometime in a good sense, for the kingdom of heaven, that
Is to say, the gospel and glad tidings of Christ. For as leaven
altereth the nature of dough, and maketh it thorough sour;
even so the gospel turneth a man Into a new life, and altereth
him a little and a little, first the heart, and then the members.
Faith in Christ first certifieth the conscience of the forgive
ness of sins, and delivereth us from the fear of everlasting
damnation ; and then bringeth the love of God and of his law
Into the heart, which love is the righteousness ofthe heart. Love
bringeth good works into the members ; which works are the
outward righteousness, and the righteousness of the members.
To hate the wUl of God Is the unrighteousness of the heart;
and causeth evil works, which are the unrighteousness of the
members : as when I hated my brother, my tongue spake
evil, my hands smote, and so forth. To love Is the righteous
ness of the heart; and causeth good works, which are the
righteousness of the members : as if I love my brother, and
he have need of me, and be in. poverty, love will make me put
mine hand Into my purse, or almonry, and to give him some
what to refresh him, &c. That the love of God and of his
commandments Is the righteousness of the heart, doth no man
doubt, save he that is heartless. And that love springeth of
faith, thou mayest evidently see, 1 John ii. : " He that loveth
his brother dwelleth in the Hght. But he that hateth his
brother. Is in darkness, and walketh In darkness, and wotteth
not whither he goeth ; for darkness hath blinded his eyes."
Why is he that hateth in darkness ? Verily, because he seeth
not the love of God in Christ : for If he saw that, he could
not but love his brother for so kind a father's sake. If any
man hate his brother, be thou sure that the same man Is in
darkness, and hath not the light of true faith, nor seeth what
Christ hath done. If a man so love that he can forgive his
brother, assure thyself that he Is In the Hght of the true faith,
and seeth what mercy Is shewed him in Christ.
This Is then the sum of all together : works are the out
ward righteousness before the world, and may be called the
righteousness of the members, and spring of inward love.
Love Is the righteousness of the heart, and springeth of faith.
Faith Is the trust in Christ's blood, and Is the gift of God ;

VI. 14, 15.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 89
whereunto a man is drawn of the goodness of God, and driven
through true knowledge of the law, and of beholding his
deeds in the lust and desire of the members unto the request
of tbe law, and with seeing his own damnation In the glass of
the law. For if a man saw his own damnation In the law,
he should immediately hate God and his works, and utterly
despair, except God offered him Christ, and forgave all that
were past, and made him his son, and took the damnation of
the law away, and promised that if he would submit himself
to learn and to do his best, that he should be accept as well
as an angel In heaven ; and thereto. If he fell of frailty, and not
of malice and stubbornness, it should be forgiven upon amend
ment, and that God would ever take him for his son, and only
chastise him at home when he did amiss, after the most
fatherllest manner, and as easily as his disease would suffer,
but never bring him forth to be judged after the rigorousness
of the law. And as thou couldest not see leaven, though thou Asieaven
1 cannotbe
brakest up a loaf, except thou smelledst or tastedst the seeninaloaf
¦^^ ^ ^ ^ without smell
sourness, even so couldest thou never see true faith or love, ™„'^'t%|?th
except thou sawest works ; and also sawest the intent and goolworks,"'
meaning of the worker, lest hypocrisy deceive thee. of thesam™'
Our deeds are the effect of righteousness, and thereto an appear."'^
outward testimony and certifying of the Inward righteousness,
as sourness Is of leaven. And when I say faith justifieth, the That faith
understanding is, that faith receiveth the justifying. God 'jS^')^^'"|™"
promiseth to forgive us our sins, and to impute us for full
righteous. And God justifieth us actively : that is to say,
forgiveth us, and reckoneth us for full righteous. And Christ's
blood deserveth it ; and faith in the promise receiveth it, and
certifieth the conscience thereof. Faith challengeth it for
Christ's sake, which hath deserved all that is promised ; and
cleaveth ever to the promise, and truth of the promiser ; and
pretendeth not the goodness of her work, but knowledgeth that
our works deserve it not, but are crowned and rewarded with
the deservings of Christ. Take an ensample of young children,
when the father promiseth them a good thing for the doing
of some trifle, and, when they come for their reward, daUIeth^
with them, saying: 'What, that thou hast done Is not worth
half so much : should I give thee so great thing for so Httle
a trifle?' they will answer: 'Ye did promise me: ye said, I
[1 So L., but D. delayeth.]

90

exposition OF

[chap.

Works are
sacraments. W.T.

Baptism.
W. T.

should have it : why did ye promise, and why then did ye
say so?' And let him say what he wIU to drive them off,
they will ever say again, 'Ye did promise me, so ye did : ye
said I should have It, so ye did.' But hirelings will pretend'
their work, and say, 'I have deserved it: I have done so much,
and so much, and my labour is worth it.'
Now at the first covenant-making with God, and as oft
as we be reconciled, after we have sinned, the righteousness
cometh of God altogether. But after the atonement is made
and we reconciled, then we be partly righteous in ourselves
and unrighteous; righteous as far as we love, and unrighteous
as far as the love is unperfect. And faith in the promise of
God, that he doth reckon us for full righteous, doth ever
supply that unrighteousness and imperfectness, as it is our
whole righteousness at the beginning.
FinaUy, our works which God commandeth, and unto which
he annexed his promises that he will reward them, are as It
were very sacraments, and visible and sensible signs, tokens,
earnest obligations, witnesses, testimonies, and a sure certifying
of our souls, that God hath and will do according to his pro
mise, to strength our weak faith, and to keep the promise In
mind. But they justify us not, no more than the visible works
of the sacraments do. As for example, the work of baptism,
that outward washing, which Is the visible sacrament or sign,
justifieth us not. But God only justifieth us actively, as cause
efficient or workman. God promiseth to justify whosoever Is
baptized to believe in Christ, and to keep the law of God;
that Is to say, to forgive them their fore sins, and to impute
righteousness unto them, to take them for his sons, and to love
them as well as though they were full righteous. Christ hath
deserved us that promise, and that righteousness. And faith
doth receive it ; and God doth give it and impute it to faith,
and not to the washing. And the washing doth testify it, and
certify us of It, as the pope's letters do certify the behevers of
the pope's pardons. Now the letters help not or hinder, but
that the pardons were as good without them, as with them^,
save only to stablish weak souls, that could not believe except
[1 Allege as giving a legal claim ; from the use of the word pr(X-
tendo in law Latin. So Gesner's Thesaurus, Barbaris proetemdere est
poS^tulare tanquam jure sibi suo debitum.]
p So L., but the last three words are not in D.]

VI. 14  18.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 91
they read the letters, looked on the seal, and saw the print of
St Peter's keys.
0 a merciful God, and a most loving Father, how careth
he for us I First, above all and beside aU his other benefits,
to give us his own Son Jesus, and with him to give us himself
and all ; and not content therewith, but to give us so many
sacraments, or visible signs, to provoke us and to help our
weak faith, and to keep his mercy In mind : as baptism, the
sacrament of his body and blood, and as many other sacraments
as they wIU have, if they put significations to them (for we
destroy none, but they destroy wbich have put out the signi
fications, or feigned some without), as wedlock, to signify that
Christ Is the husband and we his wife and partakers with him,,
as the wife with her husband, of all his riches, &c. And
beyond all those visible sacraments, to give us yet more sen
sible and surer sacraments, and surances of his goodness, even
in our ownselves: as if we love and give alms to our neighbour,
If we have compassion and pray for him, if we be merciful and
forgive him, if we deny ourselves, and fast, and withdraw all
pleasures from the flesh, for love of the life to come, and to
keep the commandments of God. For when such things being
before Impossible, and now are easy and natural, we feel and
are sure that we be altered, and^ a new creature, shapen in
righteousness after the Image of Christ and God our Father,
seeing his laws of righteousness are written in our hearts.
When ye fast, be not sad as the hypocrites are. For they fashion them Fast.
a new countenance, that it might appear unto men how they fast.
Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. Thou therefore,
when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that it ap
pear not unto men how thou fastest ; but unto thy Father which is in
secret : and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
As above of alms and prayer, even so here Christ rebuketh
the false intent and hypocrisy of fasting ; that they sought if fasting be
praise of that work that was ordained for to tame the flesh, other encf,''
and used such fashions, that all the world might know that *« "esh, that
o thereby we
they fasted, to praise them, and to say, ' O what holy men are "0^6^*^
these; how pale and pitiful look they, even Hke death, hanging •"SusS'''
down their heads, and beholding the earth, as men clean out of
the worid ! If these come not to heaven, what shall become of
us poor wretches of the world ? If these be not great In the
[3 So L., but in D. and ofa -new. Sic]

92 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
favour of God, and their prayers be heard whatsoever they ask,
In what case are we lay people ? Happy is he that may be a
brother among them, and partaker of their prayers and fastings,
and other holy living. In an unhappy (in an happy, I would say)
hour was he born that buildeth them a cell or a cloister, or giveth
them a portion of his land to comfort them good men in this
painful living, and strait penance which they have taken upon
them. Blessed were he that might kiss the edge of the coat
of one of them. Oh, he that might have his body wrapped
in one of their old coats at the hour of death. It were as good
to him as his Christendom ', &C.'' It appeareth also by that
they asked Christ, why his disciples fasted not as well as
the Pharisees, that they oft fasted when the common people
fasted not, and all to appear holy ; as ours fast advent, and
begin before lent at Septuagesima, when Laus tibi Domiiie'
cometh In.
Toanointthe And concemlng the anointing of thy head, &c. Is meant,
meaneth. as aforc of tumlng the other cheek, and of that the left hand
should not know what the right did : that is, that they should
avoid all vain-glory, and fast to God, and for the Intent that
God ordained it for, and that with a merry heart and cheerful
countenance, thereby to feel the working of God, and to be
sure of his favour. Such is the meaning, and not to bind
them that will fast to anoint their heads and wash their faces.
And the manner or phrase of speaking cometh of an usage,
that was among the Jews, to anoint themselves with sweet
and odoriferous anointments, when they were disposed to be
merry and to make good cheer, as ye see how Mary of
Bethany poured a box of precious ointment upon Christ's head
at supper.
Fasting. -^s concemlng fasting, it were good, that kings and rulers
did set an order of soberness among their subjects, to avoid
dearth, innumerable diseases, and the great heap of vices that
spring of intemperancy ; and that they forbid not only riot and
excess, but also all manner wanton, delicious, and customable
eating and drinking of such things as corrupt the people, and
[1 Christening.]
p Praise to thee, O Lord. From Septuagesima to Palm Sunday
the Roman breviary directs the omission of Te Deum in the Sunday
service ; and Laus tibi Domine is then added as a ninth responsorium
in its stead.]

VI. l6  18.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 93
make the men more effeminate than the women, so that there
remaineth no more tokens of a man In them save their beards.
Our fashions of eating make us slothful, and unlusty to labour The heap of
^, *' inconve-
and study ; unstable, inconstant, and Hght-mannered ; full of mcnces that
« ' ... . . spnng by m-
wlts, after-witted (as we call it), incircumspect, inconsiderate, 3™^"^^^-
heady, rash, and hasty (to begin unadvisedly, and without aSinkh?!
casting of perUs, the end not considered what may follow, nor
the means well looked upon, how and by what way the matter
might be brought to pass,N triflers, mockers, rude, unsavoury
jesters* without all manner of salt, and even very apes and
marmosets, and full of wanton and ribaldlsh communication and
lewd gestures. It corrupteth the wit with false judgment, and
Infecteth the body with lust, and maketh the whole man so
unquiet In himself, that the body cannot sit still and rest in
one place, and continue in his work, nor the mind persevere
and endure In one purpose.
Let them provide that there be diligent fishing In the sea,
and command the sea coast, and towns whither fish may easily
come, to fast Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday too, If need be, Fastmgdays,
and on the Friday to eat no white meat. And let the coun- abstmlnce,
tries which have none abundance of fish, yet have white meat Gained for
d common-
enough, fast Friday and Saturday from flesh only. And let "«»!'= «»•'«¦
those countries where scarcity of both is, fast Friday from
flesh only, and eat flesh Wednesday and Saturday ; but
abstain from supper, or from dinner, or eat soberly those
days. And let them so moderate their fasts that the people
may bear it, a provision made for the old, the sick, and
feeble, &c. : which fast shall be a temporal thing, for a tem
poral commonwealth only, and not a service to God.
Then let the priests preach first the law truly, and teach
the people to see their sins, and so bring them to repentance ;
and secondarily, the faith of Christ, and the forgiveness of sin
through faith ; and thirdly, alms, prayer, and fasting, which
are the whole life of a christian man, and without which
there Is no christian man alive. And let them preach the
true use of their alms, which Is to help thy neighbour with Aims.
counsel, with body and goods, and all that is In thy power ;
and the true use of prayer, which Is to bring his necessity Prayer.
and thine own before God, with a strong faith In his pro
mises ; and the true use of fasting, which Is to tame the flesh Fastmg.
[3 So L., but D. unsavoury jesture.]

94 EXPOSITION OF [chap,
unto the spirit, that the soul may attend to tbe word of God
and pray through faith.
Alms, By these three we keep the Spirit of God ; and both
prayer, and «/ ^ *¦
?ecS£ry°" contuiue, and also grow in righteousness, and wax perfecter
^- ^' and perfecter In soul and body. And If these faU, or that we
understand not the right intent, we lose the Spirit again, and
the righteousness of faith, and the true understanding of the
scripture, and all our learning shall be but pure darkness.
And then what a blindness is that, when the darkness of hell
Is called the light of heaven !
Alms, As It Is of alms and prayer, so it Is of fasting : judge
Sng'Tre llke^ of all three. Where any one of them is, there are they
w. T. ¦ all three : and where any one is away, there Is none at all.
We must have the profession of aU three ever written In our
hearts. I must ever love my neighbour and be ready to
help, and when occasion is offered, then do it. I ought to
consider and know that all cometh of God ; and to knowledge
that same to him in mine heart. And whatsoever we need, we
ought to know that we must receive that of God, and there
fore to call ever to him with a strong faith. Even so I must
ever fight against my flesh, and therefore ever withdraw from
it all that moveth It to rebel against the Spirit.
Fastingisnot So UOW fastlug staudetH not in eating and drinking only,
drinkinf*" and mucH less in flesh alone ; but in abstinence of all that
w. T. moveth the flesh against the Spirit, as long sleeping, idleness,
and filthy communication, and all worldly talking, as of
covetousness and promotion and such like, and wanton com
pany, soft clothes, and soft beds, and so forth ; which are
that right hand and right eye, that must be cut off and
plucked out, that the whole man perish not. And as ye can
put no general rule of alms or prayer, no more can ye of
fasting. But I must be always ready to cut off whatsoever
I perceive to strength the flesh against the Spirit. And I
must bave a dihgent eye to the flesh and his complexion;
and. If aught escape me in word or deed, seek whence the
occasion came, and at once cut off that right hand, and pluck
out that eye.
make h o- ^^ *^^® ^^^^ ^® truly preachod, then is fasting good, and
tme^i'nten't^ uot aforo, for making of hypocrites : as Christ would not let
beaway. jjjg (jigciples fast beforo they were learned, lest they should
[1 So D., but in L. like is wanting.]

VI. 16  18.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 95
thereby have been no better than the Pharisees. And then
the outward fasting, ordained by the temporal rulers, helpeth
much for the weak's sake. Yea, and though the land were so
plenteous, that it needed not to command such fast for to avoid
dearth, yet they ought to set such up, because of them that
cannot rule themselves ; for whose sakes they ought to forbid Ruiers be
...« ordained
excesses of taverns, and alehouses, and noting out of season. fg^^'lJI™ „t
For If the people could rule themselves, what need rulers ? 5"/™?™'
Moreover, if any man privately shew the priest his infirmities, ^" '^'
and the priest see any manner of abstinence or chastising apt
for the person, that let him counsel him to do for tbe subduing
of the flesh ; and not command as a tyrant, under pain of
damnation, and to make satisfaction. Thuswise let him say :
' Brother or sister, ye be bound under pain of deadly sin to
tame your flesh by some manner of way, that ye sin not
agamst God ; and I know no better than this : My counsel
and my desire therefore is, that ye use this, till either ye
have no more need, or till God shew you some better,' &c.
And let elders consider dihgently the course of their youth,
and with wisdom, counsel, and discreet governance help the
younger to avoid the perUs and jeopardies which they have
learned, by their own experience, to be in that dangerous
journey. Moreover, when the people be fallen from their profession,
and from the law ; as it shall be impossible for the preacher to The omce
1 • 1 1 •/• 1 ofa true
keep the great multitude together, if the temporal sword be ^'^|*"'-
slack and negligent in punishing open offences (as they ever Note this
have and vriU be, save in those points only wherein Heth the J^"p°'^
pith of their own profit and advantage, and the weight of their "*'*'•
honour and maintenance of their dignities) ; and when God also
(as his promise Is) hath brought upon them the curses ofthe law,
hunger, death, battle, pestilence and all manner of plagues, with
all misfortune and evil luck ; then let the true preachers be
importune, and shew the people the causes of their misery
and wretched adversity ; and expound the law to them, and
bring them to knowledge of their sins ; and so bind then-
consciences, and draw them to repentance, and to the appoint
ment and covenant of the Lord again : as many holy prophets. Prophets,
priests, and kings in the old Testament did call the people InlkmlT"
back, and brought them again In time of adversity unto the Testament,
appointment of the Lord ; and the priest, prophet, or king, v^aeheis.

96

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Papists have
often called
to the pope's
covenant, but
seldom to
the Lord's.

Objection.

Solution.

How God
delighteth
in our pain-
taking.W.T.

in God's stead smote hands with them, and took an oath of
them, to be the Lord's people, and to turn again to the
Lord's covenant, for to keep his law and to beHeve In his
promises : and God immediately withdrew his hand, and rid
them out of all captivity and danger, and became as merciful
as ever before.
But we Christians bave been very seldom, or never,
called again to the covenant of the Lord, the law of God, and
faith of Christ ; but to the covenant of the pope often : as
he now clucketh apace for his chickens, and wUl both prove
all his old policies, and seek and imagine new practices. And
If the people come again, let the priest or bishop, after the
ensample of the prophets and high priests of the Israelites,
take an oath, In God's stead, of the king and lords. And let
the king and lords receive an oath of the people, and follow
the ensample of the Ninevites in fasting and praying.
Some men wUl say. Seeing fasting Is to withdraw aU
pleasures frora the body and to punish the flesh, then God
delighteth In our pain-taking, &c. I answer : God delighteth
in true obedience, and In all that we do at his commandment,
and for the intent that he commandeth It for. If thou love
and pity thy neighbour, and help him, thy alms is acceptable.
If thou do It of vain-glory, to have the praise that belongeth
to God, or for a greater profit only, or to make satisfaction
for thy sins past, and to dishonour Christ's blood, which hath
made It already ; then is thine alms abominable. If thy
prayer be thanks In heart, or calhng to God for help, with
trust in him according to his promise, then thy prayer
pleaseth. If thou beHeve In Christ's blood for the remission
of sins, and henceforth hatest sin, that thou punlshest thy
body to slay ' thy lusts, and to keep them under, that thou
sin not again ; then it pleaseth God exceedingly. But and If
thou think that God deUghteth in the work for the work
itself, the true Intent away, and In thy pain for thy pain
itself, thou art as far out of the way as from heaven to the
earth. If thou wouldest kill thy body, or, when it Is tame
enough, pain him further that thou wert not able to serve
God and thy neighbour according to the room and estate
thou art In ; thy sacrifice were clean without salt, and al
together unsavoury in the taste of God, and thou mad and out

[1 SoL., butD.^e]

VI. 14  18.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 97
of thy wit. But and if thou trust in thy work, then art thou
abominable. Now let us look on the pope's fast. First, the intent The^Jj^"'
should be to tame thy lusts, not lechery only, but pride w.^iJ'"^'
chiefly, wrath, malice, hate, envy, and covetousness, and
to keep the law of God ; and therefore standeth not In meat
and drink only. But how they keep God's law, compare it
to their deeds, and thou shalt see. Secondarily, the fast of How the
1111 "111* 1 Jews did fast.
the old law was, to put on mourning clothes, as hair or sack, w. t.
and neither to eat nor drink until night, and all the whUe to
pray, and to do alms-deeds and shew mercy : and at even
they ate flesh, and what God gave, soberly ; as little as would
sustain the body, &c. The pope's fast is commonly only to The pope's
eat no flesh. I say not, look how lean they be ; but, consider
what a taming of the flesh it Is, to eat ten or twenty manner
of fishes, dressed after the costUest manner, and to sit a couple
of hours, and to pour In of the best wine and ale that may be a feasting
gotten ; and at night to banquet with dew (as they say) of ^' '
all manner of fruits and confections, marmalade, succade,
green ginger, comfits, sugarplate with malmsey and romney
burnt with sugar, cinnamon and cloves, with bastado, mus-
cadell and Ipocrass, &c. Think ye not that a piece of salt
fish or pickerel, with drinking and such dews, doth not tame
the body exceedingly ?
Furthermore, that the true Intent Is away, both of their The tme
fasting and prayers, It is evident ; first, by the multiplying of away from
them : for when the Jews had lost the understanding of their fastmg.
sacrifices, and did believe In the work, then they were mad
upon them, that well was he that could rob himself to offer
most ; insomuch that the prophets cried out against them,
that their offerings stank In the nose of God. And ours had
so multiplied their fasting, that they could no longer bear
them : at the beginning they were tolerable, for the van
tage, quia levis est labor cum lucro^ ; but when they had
purchased enough and enough again, they became intolerable.
And therefore all our monks, whose profession was never Monks
to eat flesh, set up the pope, and took dispensations, both for pope a end
that fast, and also for their strait rules, and made their pensations.
strait rules as wide as the hoods of their cowls. And
P Because lucrative labour is light.]
r 1 7
[TYNDALE, II.J

98 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
as for the hypocrisy of the fratry ^ where they eat but In
visible flesh, or that is interpret to be no flesh^, [it] Is spoken
of In other places. Another proof is that they so long a time
have given pardons, of the merits of their fasting, as though
they had done more than enough for themselves ; and of that
merchandise have gotten aU they have, and have brought the
knowledge of Christ's blood clean into darkness. And last of
aU, what shall I say of the open idolatry of innumerable
fasts ; of St Brandon's fast^ St Patrick's fast, of four holy
Fridays*, of St Anthony's between St Mary's days^ of our
Lady fast, either seven year the same day that her day faUeth
on In March, and then begin, or one year with bread and
water ^, and all for what purposes, ye know well enough; and
[1 The fratry, or refectory, was the dining-room of a monastery.
Posbroke has devoted his thirty-fifth chapter to a description of its
usages and luxuries. — ^Brit. Monachism.]
P The flesh of the otter came under this description ; being
counted no flesh, and therefore lawful food on fast days, because the
otter was supposed to live exclusively on fish. — Fosbroke, ch. xxxv.
p. 218. n. d. Third edition, 1843.]
p The wild legend, which tells the tale of this imaginary British
abbot and bishop must have been peculiarly offensive to Tyndale, from
the glaring way in which it teaches that works of charity will be re
warded, irrespective of faith in Christ. For it describes Brandon as
deserting the duties of his office to search the ocean for the terrestrial
paradise ; and as flnding Judas Iscariot in the midst of the sea, upheld
from drowning by sitting on a stone, which he said that he remembered
having put down in a muddy part of Jerusalem to save passengers
from falling into the dirt. — Catalogus sanctorum ; editus a Eev.'*™"
Petro de Natalibus; episc. Equilino. mdxiii. foL.cv. — See also Legenda
aurea, ccxxx.]
[4 The Fridays of the fasts Quatuor temporum; of which Bing
ham says, " Some think Gregory VII." (pope Hildebrand) "was the flrst
who ordered that the ordination fasts should concur with them." —
Origin. Eccles. B. xxi. ch. ii. § 1 and 1, Vol. vii. pp. 236 and 243.
Lond. 1840.]
[5 Antony, an Egyptian monk of the third century, was so popular
a saint, that it would seem that the fast of his vigil, kept on the six
teenth of January, was of more note than any other occurring between
the vigils preceding the festival of the Virgin's conception, ou the
eighth of December, and that preceding the festival of the puriflcation
on the second of February. — See Vol. i. p. 91.]
[8 The Lady fast here described seems to have been a species of
penance, whether voluntary or enjoined, in which the penitent had the

VI. 19 — -21.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 99
of such like, I trow, ten thousand In the world ? And who
hath rebuked them ?
See that ye gather not treasure upon the earth, where rust and moths
corrupt, and where thieves break up and steal: But gather
you treasure in heaven, where neither rust nor moths corru"pt, and
where thieves neither break up nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there will be your hearts also.
Note the goodly order of Christ's preaching. First he
restored the true understanding of the law, then the true
intent of the works. And here, consequently, he rebuketh
the mortal foe and sworn enemy both of true doctrine and
true living, which is covetousness ; the root of all evU, saith
Paul, (1 Tim. vi.) Covetousness is Image-service, (Col. III.) It ^"^'"^^^"t,
maketh men to err from the faith, (1 Tim. vi). It hath no Fus'."T!t.
part In the kingdom of Christ and God, (Eph. v). Covetous- coMii."''
ness hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that the faith of the ^''''' ^'
miracles of God could not sink Into it. Covetousness did
make Balaam, which knew all the truth of God, to hate it,
and to give the most pestilent and poisonful^ counsel against '
it that heart could imagine, even for to destroy it, if It had
been possible. Covetousness taught the false prophets in the
old Testament to Interpret the law of God falsely, and to
pervert the meaning and intent of all the sacrifices and
ceremonies, and to slay the true preachers that rebuked
them. And with their false persuasions they did lead all the
kings of Israel out of the right way, and the most part of the
kings of Judah also. And Peter, in the second chapter of his 2 Pet. ii.
second epistle, prophesieth that there should be false teachers
among us, that should follow the way of Balaam (that is to
say, for covetousness persecute the truth), and through covet
ousness with feigned words to make merchandise of the people,
and to bring in damnable sects too. And here ye have an covetous-
. *-• ... ness cannot
mfaUible rule, that where covetousness is, there is no truth; t|^'j"-
no, though they call themselves the church, and say thereto
that they cannot err. Covetousness kept Judas still in un-
choice of either fasting once a week for seven years, on that day of
the week on which Lady-day happened to fall, beginning his course
from that day, or of finishing his penance sooner by taking as many fast
ing-days together, which would obviously amount to one whole year.]
[' So D., but L. has poison counsel. — See Vol. i. p. 17, n. 4.]
7—2

100 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
belief, though he saw and did also many miracles In the name
of Christ, and compelled him to sell him to the scribes and
Pharisees ; for covetousness Is a thing merciless. Covetous
ness made the Pharisees to He on Christ, to persecute him,
and falsely to accuse him. And It made PUate, though he
found him an Innocent, yet to slay him. It caused Herod to
persecute Christ, yet in his cradle. Covetousness maketh
hypocrites to persecute the truth, against their own con
sciences ; and to lie to princes, that the true preachers move
sedition and make their subjects to rise against them : and
the said covetousness maketh the princes to believe their
wicked persuasions, and to lend their swords to shed innocent
blood. Finally, covetousness maketh many, whom the truth
pleaseth at the beginning, to cast it up again, and to be
afterward the most cruel enemies thereof, after the ensample
Acts viii. of Simon Magus ; yea, and after the ensample of sir Thomas
More. w. T. Moro, Kt, whIch knew the truth, and for covetousness forsook
it again, and conspired first with the cardinal to deceive the
king, and to lead him in darkness : and afterward, when the
light was sprung upon them, and had driven them clean out
of the scripture, and had delivered it out of their tyranny,
and had expelled the dark stinking mist of their devilish
glosses, and had wiped away the cobwebs, which those
poisoned spiders had spread upon the face of the clear text,
Covetousness SO that the Spiritualty (as they call themselves) were ashamed
eyes, and of their part, as shameless as they be; yet for all that,
liardened the «/ ' */ '
Thom"'™ covetousness blinded the eyes of that gleerlng fox more and
More. more, and hardened his heart against the truth, with the
confidence of his painted poetry, babblmg eloquence, and
juggUng arguments of subtle sophistry, grounded on his
"unwritten verities ^" as true and as authentic as his story of
Utopia. Paul therefore biddeth Timothy to charge the rich
[1 " When they (the Romanists) be not able to prove any of these
doctrines by the word of God written, then they fly to their unwritten
verities; that is, to certain things delivered, as they say, from the
apostles by word of mouth, without writing. . . . Whatsoever pleaseth
them and maketh for their purpose, profit, and lordly ambition, that is
an un-written verity, not to be gainsaid or denied." — The translator's
preface to "A Confutation of Unwritten Verities," in Archbishop
Cranmer's Remains, Vol. vi. p. 163. Jenkyn's ed. Oxf. 1833. Vol. ii.
p. 10, Park. Soc]

3 commo-

VI. 19  21. J MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 101
to believe In the living God, and not in their uncertain riches ;
for it is impossible for a covetous Idolater, or Image-server,
that trusteth In the dead god of his riches, to put his trust in
the Hving God.
One misery Is, that they which here gather and lay up, i^ec
cannot tell for whom. Another is rust, canker, moths, and a follow ravet-
thousand misfortunes besides; thieves, extortioners, oppressors, woridiy
and mighty tyrants, to the which the rich be ever a prey.
And though they prosper to the end outwardly, yet fear ever
gnaweth their hearts inwardly. And at the hour of death
they know and feel that they have gathered nought; and then
sorrow they, and are Hke one that dreameth of riches, and in
the morning, when he findeth nought, is heavy and sorry for
the remembrance of the pleasant dream. And finally, when
they be most loth to die, and hope to live long, then they
perish suddenly; after the ensample of that rich man, which mkexu.
intended to make him larger barns and store-houses. Happy
therefore is he that layeth up treasure in heaven, and is rich
in faith and good works; for the reward thereto promised shall
God keep sure for him : no man can take it away. Here
is not forbidden to have riches ; but to love It, to trust in it,
and to be careful for it. For God hath promised to care for
us, and to give us enough, and to keep that which is gotten,
if we will care to keep his commandments. Whatsoever office
or degree thou art in in this world, do the duty of thine office
dihgently, and trust In God, and let him care. If thou be an
husbandman, ear^ and sow, and husband thy ground, and let
God alone for the rest ; he will care to make it grow plente
ously, and to send seasonable weather to have it in, and will
provide thee a good market to sell, &c.
In like manner, if thou be a king, do the office of a king,
and receive the duties of the king, and let God care to keep
thee in thy kingdom. His favour shall do more for thee than
a thousand miUions of gold. And so of all other : he that hath
but a Httle, and is sure that God shall keep both him and it,
is richer than he which hath thousands, and hath none other
hope than that he and It must be kept with his own care and
policy. And, finally, mark one point in Luke xiv: "None of them, lukexiv.
that refuseth not all that he possesseth, can be my disciple ; "
[2 Bar: to plow ; as in 1 Sam. viii. 12. Author, version.]

102 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
that Is, he that casteth not away the love of all worldly things,
can be no scholar of Christ's to learn his doctrine. Then he
addeth that "salt is good; but, if the salt be unsavoury," or
hath lost his virtue, "what can be seasoned therewith?"
Covetousness Verily, nothing. Now, by salt Is understood the doctrine; and
St of God's the meaning is, if ye be covetous and love worldly things, it
voury. will coprupt the salt of your doctrine, so that whatsoever you
powder therewith. It shall be more unsavoury than before.
" Where your treasure is, there are your hearts." If your
treasure be In the world, so is the love of your hearts. And
If ye love the world, and the things of the world, the love of
God is not in you ; and the love of God is the love of his
commandments : and he that loveth not God's commandments
shall never preach them truly, because he loveth them not ;
Covetousness but sHall Corrupt them with glosses, that they may stand with
maketh a o ' d d
faiseprophet. that whlcH HIs Heart loveth, and until they have another sense
than ever God gave them. Ergo, no covetous person can be
a true prophet. It Is not for nought, then, that Christ so oft
and so dUigently warneth his disciples to beware of covetousness,
as of that thing which, he wist well, had ever corrupt the word
of God, and ever should.
The light of thy body is thine eye: wherefore, if thine eye be single, all
thy body shall be full of light ; but and if thine eye be wicked, then
shall thy whole body be dark. If therefore the light that is in thee
be darkness, how great is that darkness !
Darkness. Noto the concluslon with a proper similitude. The eye
is the light of the body ; and by the light of the eye aU other
members see and are governed. As long as the eye seeth,
hand and foot do their duties ; neither is there any fear that
a man should stumble, or fall into fire or water. But if the
eye be blind, all the body is blind ; and that so blind, that
there is no remedy at all : set a candle before him, he seeth
not; give him a lantern In his hand, and yet he goeth not
straight : bring him out into the sun, and point him unto
that which thou wouldest have him see ; it booteth not.
Covetousness Evou SO, If covetousnoss have blinded the spiritual eye, and
ness. w. T. pervcrtcd the right intent of the law of God, and of the works
commanded by God, and of the sacrifice, ceremonies, and
sacraments, and of all other ordinances of God, (which Intent
is the spiritual eye,) then is aU the doctrine dark, and very

VI. 22  23.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 103
bUndness : yea, and then how dark Is the darkness, when that
which Is pure blindness Is believed to be light ! How dark
is the doctrine of them that teach that a man may compel
God, with the works of free-will, to give him his favour and
grace ; or make God unrighteous ! How dark is the doctrine
of them which (to the rebulie of Christ's blood) teach that
works do justify before God, and make satisfaction for sins!
How bhnd are they which think prayer to be the pattering of
many words ; and will therefore not only be praised and paid
of the world, but also by the .title thereof challenge heaven,
and not by the merits of Christ's blood ! How dark is the
doctrine of them whose faith is only and altogether in
appointments which they themselves have feigned between
them and God, unto which yet God never subscribed : In
which also they assign what work, and how much they will
do, and what reward, and how great, God must give them, or
choose whether he will be unrighteous.
How dark is the doctrine of them that say stiffly, that the Darkness.
work of the sacraments In Itself (not referring it to stir up the
faith of the promises annexed to them) doth justify ; and
affirm, that bodily pain, for the pain itself, (not referring It
either to the love of the law of God or of their neighbour,)
doth please God ! How dark, damnable, and devilish. Is the The darkness
doctrine of them, which not only think lucre to be the service doctrln'e'Eere
of God, but also are so far past all shame, that they affirm peareth.
they be the holy church, and cannot err; and aU that they
decree must be an article of our faith, and that it Is damnable
once to doubt, or search the scripture whether their doctrine
will thereto agree or no ; but say their decrees must be
beHeved as they sound, how contrary soever the scripture be,
and the scripture must be expounded and made agree to them.
They need not to regard the scripture, but to do and say as
their Holy Ghost moveth them ; and if the scripture be con
trary, then make it a nose of wax, and wrest it this way and
that way, till It agree.
Faith of works was the darkness of the false prophets. Faith in
111 i. r ' worksisdark-
out of the which the true could not draw them. Faith of °'*^- '^¦'^¦
works was the blindness of the Pharisees, out of the which
neither John Baptist nor Christ could bring them. And
though John Baptist piped to them with reasons of the scrip
ture Invincible, and Christ thereto added miracles, yet the

104 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Pharisees would not dance. For John Baptist, as they
thought, was too mad, to live so strait a Hfe, and to refuse
to be justified thereby : and as for Christ and his disciples,
the Pharisees were much hoHer themselves, fasted oftener, and
prayed thicker ; yea, and uttered many more words In their
prayer than they. Faith of works is that belief of the Turks
and Jews, which driveth them ever away from Christ. Faith
of works hath been that Hght of darkness in which a great
part of us Christen 1 have walked ever since Pelagius and
Faustus 2, well about twelve hundred years, and ever more and
more ; and In which all our religious have walked aU, and more
too, this four or five hundred year; and Ln which the priests also
have walked a long season : the Lord bring them out again !
Darkness. Finally : how dark is the darkness, when a Pharisee and a
very Pelagian standeth up, and preacheth against the Phari
sees and the Pelagians, and is allowed of all the audience! And,
In conclusion, when the world, ever since it began, hath and
doth of natural blindness believe in their own works ; then,
if the seripture be perverted to confirm that error, how sore
are their hearts hardened, and how deep is that darkness !
No man can serve two masters : for he shall either hate the one, and
love the other; or cleave to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.
Mammon, MammoH Is rlchcs, or abundance of goods. And Christ
what It IS. o
^- ^- concludeth with a plain similitude, that as it is Impossible to
serve two contrary masters, and as It is impossible to be
retained unto two divers lords, which are enemies one to the
other, so Is it impcssible to serve God and mammon. Two
masters of one mind and one wUl might a man serve : "for
if one will, one mind, and one accord be In twenty, then are
they all but one master. And two masters, where one is under
the other and a substitute, may a man serve : for the service
of the inferior Is the commandment of the superior ; as to
serve and obey father, mother, husband, master, and lord. Is
God's commandment. But and If the Inferior be of a contrary
will to the superior, and command any contrary thing, then
[1 A plural, equivalent to Christians.]
p Pelagius, the noted author of the heresy which bears his name,
and Faustus, a defender of Manichasism, were propagators of error at
the close of the fourth century.]

VI. 24.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 105
mayest thou not obey : for now they be two contrary
masters. So God and mammon are two contrary masters :
yea, two contrary gods, and of contrary commandments. Mammon
God saith: "I thy Lord God am but one, and me shalt ''*^° '
thou serve alone :" that is, thou shalt love me with all thine
heart, or with thine whole heart, with all thy soul, and with
all thy might. Thou shalt neither serve, obey, or love any
thing save me, and that I bid thee ; and that as far, and no
farther than I bid thee.
And mammon saith the same : for mammon wUl be a
god also, and served and loved alone.
God saith : ' See thou love thy neighbour ; that thou
labour with thine hands to get thy Hving, and somewhat
above, to help him.'
Mammon saith : ' He Is called thy neighbour, because he
is nigh thee. Now who is so nigh thee as thyself? Ergo,
proximus esto tibi^ : that is, love thyself, and make lewd*
and vUe wretches to labour diligently to get thee as much as
thou mayest, and some scraps above for themselves. Or wilt
thou be perfect ? Then disguise thyself, and put on a grey Mammon
111 • 1 .: 1 • 11,. 1 • 1 ¦ ¦"^''eth men
coat, a black or a pied", and give thyself to devotion; despise f^UJfjJ^gj
the world, and take a covetous (I would say a contemplative) ^- ^•
life upon thee. Tell the people how hot purgatory is, and
what pains there must be suffered for small faults. And then
give mercifully a thousand fold for one, spiritual for temporal :
give heaven, and take but house and land, and foolish tem
poral things.'
God saith : ' Judge truly between thy brethren, and
therefore take no gifts.'
Mammon saith: 'It is good manners, and a point of
courtesy to take that is offered. And he that giveth thee,
loveth thee better than such a churl that giveth thee nought ;
yea, and thou art more bound to favour his cause.'
God saith : ' Sell and give alms.'
Mammon saith : ' Lay up, to have enough to maintain
thine estate, and to defend thee from thine enemies, and
to serve thee In thine age, &c.'
[3 Count thyself thy nearest neighbour.]
[* Ignorant.]
[6 Alluding to the different vestments by which different monastic
orders were distinguished from the laity, and from each other.]

106 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
The servants Fopasmuch then as God and mammon be two so contrary
of mammon ., /-i i j. •
are not of mastors, that whosoever wiU serve God must give up mam-
Christs ' 1. 1
church. W.T. mon, and all that wiU serve mammon must forsake God ; it
followeth that they which are the sworn servants of mammon,
and have his holy spirit, and are his faithful church, are not
the true servants of God, nor have his Spirit of truth In them,
or can be his true church.
Moreover, seeing that God and mammon be so contrary,
that God's word Is death in mammon's ear, and his doctrine
of mammoL polsou In mammou's mouth ; it foUoweth that if the ministers
prMcher^ of God's word do favour mammon, they wUl so fashion their
^' ^' speech, and so sound their words, that they may be pleasant
in the ears of mammon.
To he _ Finally, alonely to have riches is not to be the servant of
mammon s " d ^ . . , .
it^r"^!^' mammon ; but to love it, and cleave to it in thine heart.
For If thou have goods only to maintain the office which God
hath put thee in, and of the rest to help thy neighbour's
need, so art thou lord over thy mammon, and not his servant.
sfr^J^mfhow Of tJieoi th^t be rich, how shalt thou know the master of
heis^known. mammou from the servant? Verily, first by the getting:
secondarily, when his poor neighbour complaineth. If he be
mammon's servant, mammon will shut up his heart and make
him without compassion. Thirdly, the cross of Christ will try
them, the one from the other : for when persecution ariseth
for the word, then wUl the true servant of Christ bid mammon
adieu; and the faithful servant of mammon will utter his
hypocrisy, and not only renounce the doctrine of Christ, but
also be a cruel and a sharp persecutor thereof, to put away aU
surmise, and that his fidelity, which he hath in his master
mammon, may openly appear.
Therefore I say unto you. Care not for your lives what ye shall eat, or
what ye shall drink ; neither for your bodies what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than the
raiment ?
He that buildeth a costly house even to the tUIng, wUl
not leave there, and lose so great cost for so small a trifle
The goodness morc. No more will he that gave thee so precious a soul,
of God , , ... ,.,,.,. ^
mmwnd ^ ®° Deautiiul a body, let either of them perish again before
the day, for so small a thing as food or raiment. God never
made mouth, but he made meat for It ; nor body, but he

VI. 25  30.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 107
made raiment also. Howbeit, mammon blindeth our eyes, so
that we can neither see nor judge aright.
Behold the fowls of the air, how they sow not, neither reap, nor
gather into store-houses; and yet your heavenly Father feedeth
thera. And are not ye far better than they ? Which of you with
taking thought is able to put one cubit unto his stature ?
He that careth for the least of his creatures will much Jirds and
beasts teach
more care for the greatest. The birds of the air and beasts JJ^^° p^J^
preach all to us, that we should leave caring, and put our trust ^' ^•
in our Father. But mammon hath made us so dull and so
clean without capacity, that none ensample or argument, be It
never so vehement, can enter the wits of us, to make us see
or judge aright. Finally, what a madness it is to take
so great thought for food or raiment, when the wealth, health,
life of thy body, and all together Is out of thy power ! If all
the world were thine, thou couldest not make thyself one inch
longer, nor that thy stomach shall digest the meat that thou
puttest Into it. No, thou art not sure that that which thou
puttest Into thy mouth shall go through thee, or whether it
shall choke thee. Thou canst not make, when thou Hest or
sittest down, that thou shalt arise again; or when thou
sieepest, that thou shalt awake again, or that thou shouldest
Hve one hour longer. So that he which cared for thee, when
thou couldest not care, must care for thee stUl, or else thou
shouldest perish. And he will not care for thee to thy soul's
profit, If thou mistrust him and care for thyself.
And for raiment why take ye thought? Behold the lilies of the fleld,
how they grow : they labour not, neither spin. And yet I say to
you, that even Salomon in all his glory was not apparelled like one
of them. Wherefore, if the grass, whioh is to day in the flelds, and
to-morrow shall be cast into the furnace, God so clothe, how much
more shall he do the same unto you, O ye of little faith !
Not only fowl and beast, but also tree, herb, and all the care.
flowers of the earth do cry unto us, to trust God ; and to cast
away care, that is coupled with covetousness of more than
sufficient to bear the charges which we have in our hands by
the reason of the state we be In the worid, and all care that
is annexed with mistrust, that God should not minister enough
to bear aU our charges, if we endeavour ourselves to keep
his commandments, and to do every man his craft or office he

108

EXPOSITION OF

[ohap.

is in truly, and (when God, to prove us, suffereth us to have
need of our neighbours) we first complain to God, and desire
him to prepare the hearts of our neighbours, against we come
to desire their help.
But mammon pipeth another song, saying : ' If thou
shouldest make no other manner of labour for a benefice,
than as If thou caredst not whether thou hadst it or hadst It
not, it would be long ere thou gattest one ; all would be taken
out of thine hand.' I answer : As thy labour was to get it,
such shall be thy behaviour in it ; as thou flatteredst to have
it, so shalt thou in It ; and as thou boughtest and soldest to
get It, so shall thou sell in it, to buy favour and to be set
by in the world. If thy principal intent, that thou seekest a
benefice for, be lucre, then take heed to the example of thy
forefather Simon Magus. Let thy care therefore be to do the
office that God putteth thee In truly ; and the blessing, that
he coupleth thereto, that take with thanks, and neither care
nor covet farther.

Keep cove
nant with
God, and he
shall keep
promise with
thee. W. T.

Kingdom of
heaven,what.W.T.Righteousness of the
kingdom of
heaven, what it is.
W.T.

Take no thought therefore, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall
we drink, or what shall we put on ? All these things the heathen
seek. Yea, and your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all
these things. But seek flrst the kingdom of God and the righteous
ness thereof, and all these things shall be ministered unto you.
Be not like the heathen, which have no trust in God nor
his word, nor believe any life to come. Let them vex them
selves, and each be a devil to another, for worldly things.
But comfort thou thyself with the hope of a better Hfe In
another world, ever assured that thou shalt have here suf
ficient, only if thou keep covenant with the Lord thy God,
and seek his kingdom and the righteousness thereof above aU
things. The kingdom of God is the gospel and doctrine of
Christ. And the righteousness thereof Is to believe in Christ's
blood, for the remission of sins : out of which righteousness
springeth love to God, and thy neighbour, for his sake;
which is also righteousness, as I have said afore, so far as It Is
perfect, and that which lacketh Is supplied by faith In God's
word, In that he hath promised to accept that, till more come.
Then foUoweth the outward righteousness of works, by the
which, and diligent recording > of God's word together, we
[1 Calling to mind; meditating upon.]

VI. 31  34.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 109
grow and wax perfect, and keep ourselves from going back
and losing the Spirit again.
And these have our spiritualty with their corrupt doctrine
mingled together, (that is to say, the righteousness of the
kingdom of God, which Is faith In Christ's blood, and the
outward righteousness of the members,) that we ascribe to the
one that pertaineth to the other. Seek the kingdom of
heaven therefore, and the righteousness of the same ; and be
sure thou shalt ever have sufficient, and these things shall be
ministered unto thee, that is to say, shaU come of their own
accord, by the promise of God; yea, Christ promiseth thee an
hundred fold, even in this life, of all that thou leavest for his
sake. If that were true, would some say, who would not
rather serve him than mammon ? Tet Is It true : for first, if
thou be servant of mammon, thou must keep thy god, and
thy god not thee ; and every man, that is stronger than
thou, will take thy god from thee. Moreover, God wUl take
either thee from thy mammon, or thy mammon from thee,
ere thou wouldest; to avenge himself of thy blind unkindness,
that when he hath made thee, and given thee all, thou for
sakest him and servest his mortal enemy. But if thou follow if thou foi-
Christ, all the world (and let them take aU the devils In hell tSou^imst
to them) shall not be able to disappoint thee of a sufficient sufficient
Hving. And though they persecute thee from house to house
a thousand times, yet shaU God provide thee of another, with
all things sufficient to Hve by. Now compare the surety of
this with the uncertainty of the other ; and then the blessed
end of this (that heaven Is promised thee also) with the
miserable departing from the other so sore against thy wiU,
and then the desperation that thy heart feeleth that thou art
already In hell. And then may not this be well called a
thousand fold more than the other ?
Care not then for the day following; but let the day following care Care.
for itself. For the day that is present hath ever enough of his
own trouble.
If thou look weU on the covenant that Is between tfaee
and thy Lord God, on the one side, and the temptations of
the world, the flesh, and Satan on the other, thou shalt soon
perceive that the day present hath ever enough to be cared
for, and for which thou must cry instantly to God for help

110

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

What we
ought chief-
liest to care
for.

Why God
letteth his
children be
tempted with
adversity. W.T.

also, though thou do thy best. Now then, seeing the day
present is overcharged with her own care, what madness is
it to lade upon her also the care of the day following, yea,
the care of a year, yea, of twenty years, or as though thou
never intendest to die, and to torment and vex the soul through
mistrust and unbelief, and to make thy Hfe sour and bitter,
and as unquiet as the life of the devils In hell !
Therefore care day by day and hour by hour earnestly
to keep the covenant of the Lord thy God, and to record
therein day and night, and to do thy part unto the uttermost
of thy power. And as for God's part, let him care for It
himself; and believe thou his words stedfastly, and be sure
that heaven and earth shall sooner perish, than one jot bide
behind of that he hath promised. And for thine own part
also, care not of that manner as though thou shouldest do
all alone : nay, God hath first promised to help thee ;
secondarily, to accept thine heart, and that little that thou
art able to do, be It never so imperfect ; thirdly, though
wind, weather, and the stream carry thee clean contrary to
thy purpose, yet, because thou hidest stUl In thy profession,
ready to turn the right course as soon as the tempest Is a
little overblown, God promiseth to forglte that, and not the
less to fulfil his promises of one jot.
Doth Christ so defend his, that they never come in danger
of trouble ? Yes ; they come into such straits oft, that no
wit nor reason can see any way out, save faith only is sure
that God hath, and will make a way through. But that
temptation is but for an hour, to teach them, and to make
them feel the goodness of their Father, and the passions^ of
their brethren, and of their master Christ also. It Is but as
a loving mother, to make her child to perceive and feel her
kindness, to love her again and be thankful, letteth It hunger
In a morning; and when it calleth for his breakfast, maketh
as she heard it not, till for pain and impatience it beginneth to
cry agood : and then she stilleth It, and giveth it all It asketh,
and more too, to please it ; and when it Is peaced^ and
beginneth to eat, and rejoiceth and is glad and fain, she
asketh, 'Who gave thee that, thy mother?' and It saith,
' Tea.' Then saith she, ' Am not I a good mother, that
[1 Passions: sufferings.]
[2 Caused to be at peace.]

VI. 34.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. Ill
give thee all things?' And it answereth, 'Tea.' And she
asketh, 'WUt thou love thy mother?' &c. And it saith,
'Tea.' And so cometh It to the knowledge of his mother's
kindness, and Is thankful. Such Is the temptation of Christ's
elect, and otherwise not.
Here is not forbidden all manner of care, but that worldly what eare is
. 1 • 1 /* • i» 1 forbidden.
and devilish care, that springeth ot an inordinate love to w. t.
worldly things and of mistrust in God. As for an ensample :
I covet inordinately more than sufficient, or but even that I
have need of; and it (because I mistrust God, and have no
hope In him, and therefore pray not to him) cometh not.
Then I mourn, sorrow, and pine away, and am whole unquiet
In mine heart. Or whether I have too much, or but suf
ficient, and love It inordinately, then I care for the keeping :
and because I mistrust God, and have no hope In him that
he wUl help me ; therefore, when I have locked doors,
chambers, and coffers, I am never the nearer at rest, but care
still ; and cast a thousand perUs, of which the most part were
not in my might to avoid, though I never slept. And where
this care is, there can the word of God have no resting-place ;
but is choked up, as soon as it Is sown.
There is another care, that springeth out of the love of
God (for every love hath her care), and is a care to keep
God's commandments. This care must every man have, what care
For a man liveth not by bread only, but much more by every ought to
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The keeping ^^j^-^^j^
of God's commandment Is the life of a man, as well in this JSInwe.' '^
world as in the world to come. As, " ChUd, obey father and ^' ^'
mother ; that thou mayest long live on the earth." And by
father and mother Is understood all rulers; which If thou
obey, thy blessing shall be long life; and contrary, if thou
disobey, short Hfe, and shalt either perish by the sword, or
by some other plague, and that shortly. And even so shaU
the ruler, if he rule not as God hath commanded. " Oppress Exod.xxu.
thou a widow and fatherless chUdren (saith God), and they
shall cry to me, and I wIU hear their voice ; and then will
my wrath wax hot; so I will smite you with sword, and your
wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless."
Some wiU say, 'I see none more prosper, or longer why God
continue, than those that be most cruel tyrants.' What then? tySs to
Tet say I that God abideth ever true : for where he setteth ^°'''^^''

112

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

up a tyrant, and continueth him in prosperity, it Is to be a
scourge to wicked subjects, that have forsaken the covenant
of the Lord their God; and unto them his good promises
pertain not, save his curses only. But if the subjects would
turn and repent, and foUow the ways of God, he would shortly
deHver them. Howbeit yet, where the superior corrupteth
the inferior, which else is disposed enough to goodness, God
wIU not let them long continue.

Judging.

What judg
ing is re
buked. W. I.

AN EXPOSITION OF THB SEVENTH CHAPTER.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For as ye judge, so shall ye he
judged; and with what measure ye mete, with the same shall it
be measured to you again. Why lookest thou on the mote that is
in thy brother's eye, and markest not the beam that is in thine
own eye ? Or how canst thou say to thy brother. Let me pluck
out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, there is a beam in
thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, pluck flrst the beam out of thine
own eye ; and then thou shalt see clearly to pluck the mote out of
thy brother's eye.
This is not meant of the temporal judgments ; for Christ
forbade not that, but oft did stabHsh it; as do Peter and Paul
in their epistles also. Nor here Is It not forbidden to judge
those deeds which are manifest against the law of God; for
those ought every Christian man to persecute, yet must they
do It after the order that Christ hath set. But when he saith,
"Hypocrite, cast out first the beam that is in thine own
eye," it Is easy to understand of what manner of judging he
meaneth. The hypocrites will have fastings, prayings, kneeling,
crouching, ducking, and a thousand ceremonies of their own
invention ; and whosoever do not as they do, him they
count a damned soul by and by. To Christ they say,
" Why fast not thy disciples, as the Pharisees do ? Why
pluck they the ears of corn, and rub them in their hands,
(though thoy did it compelled with pure hunger,) and do that
is not lawful on the sabbath-day ? Why break ye the tra
ditions of our elders, and wash not when ye sit down to meat?
Tea, and why dost thou thyself heal the people upon the
holy day? Why didst thou not only heal lUm that was

VII. 1  5.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 113
bedrid thirty-eight years, but also badest him bear his bed ,^'J4|g„Y^
away upon the sabbath-day ? Be there not working days aee'd's^t'o^fhe
sufficient to do good deeds to the praise of God, and profit Indfhe''*"'*'
of thy neighbour, but tbat thou must break thy sabbath-day ? Se?ghb°o*u°r"'^
He cannot be but a damned person, that breaketh the holy
day, and despiseth the ordinance of the holy church.'
' He eateth butter on I'ridays, without a dispensation of
our holy father the pope; yea, and cake-bread, made with
milk and eggs too, and white meat in the Lent ; he taketh
no holy water when he cometh to the church ; he heareth
no mass from Sunday to Sunday. And either he hath no
beads at all, or else you shall not hear a stone cHnk^ In the
hand of him, nor yet his lips wag all the mass and matins
whUe,' &c. " 0 hypocrite ! Cast out first the beam that Is ^^ebeam.
in thine own eye, and then thou shalt see" better. Thou
understandest all God's laws falsely, and therefore thou keep
est none of them truly : his laws require mercy, and not
sacrifice. Moreover, thou hast a false Intent In all the works
that thou doest, and therefore are they all damnable in the
sight of God. "Hypocrite! cast out the beam that Is in thine
own eye;" learn to understand the law of God truly, and to
do thy works aright, and for the Intent that God ordained
them : and then thou shalt see whether thy brother have a
mote In his eye or not; and if he have, how to pluck It out,
and else not.
For he that knoweth the Intent of the law and of works, ceremonies:
he that
though he observe a thousand ceremonies for his own ex- ^{j^jj^f^^ ^eai
erclse, he shall never condemn his brother, or break unity SnS'uind-^^
with him. In those things which Christ never commanded, faw."°w°T.*
but left indifferent. Or if he see a mote In his brother's
eye, that he observeth not with his brethren some certain
ordinance made for a good purpose, because he knoweth not ceremonies.
the intent ; he will pluck it out fair and softly, and Instruct
him lovingly, and make him well content. Which thing If
our spiritualty would do, men would not so abhor to obey
their tyranny : but they be hypocrites, and do and command
all their works for a false purpose ; and therefore judge, slay,
and shed their brethren's blood mercilessly. God is the father
[1 Alluding to the custom of measuring the number of aves or
paternosters uttered, by dropping at the close of each one stone of
the string of beads.]
[tyndale, II.]

114 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
of aU mercy, and therefore gave not hypocrites such absolute
power to compel their brethren to obey what they list, or to
slay them without pity, shewing either no cause of their com
mandments at all, but ' So wIU we have it !' or else assigning
an intent damnable and contrary to all scripture. Paul
Rom. xiv. (Rom. xiv.) saith to them that observed ceremonies, that they
should not judge them that did not ; for he that observeth,
and knoweth not the intent, judgeth at once : and to them
that observed not, that they should not despise them that
observed ; he that observeth not ought not to despise the
weakness or ignorance of his brother, till he perceive that
he Is obstinate and will not learn.
Measures. Morcover, sucH measure as thou givest, thou shalt receive
again : that is, if thou judge thy neighbour, God shall judge
thee ; for if thou judge thy neighbour in such things, thou
knowest not the law of God, nor the intent of works, and art
therefore condemned of God, &c.
Give not that holy thing unto dogs, neither cast your pearls before
the swine, lest they tread them under their feet, and the other
turn again and all-to i tear you.
Dogs who The dogs are those obstinate and indurate, which for
they be, and o ^ '
fed^thereby!" ^^^ blind zoal of their leaven, wherewith they have soured
both the doctrine and also tbe works, maliciously resist the
truth, and persecute the ministers thereof; and are those
wolves among which Christ sendeth his sheep, warning them
not only to be single and pure In their doctrine, but also wise
and circumspect, and to beware of men : for they should
bring them before judges and kings, and slay them, thinking
to do God service therein ; that is, as Paul (to the Romans)
testifieth of the Jews, for bhnd zeal to their own false and
feigned righteousness, persecute the righteousness of God.
Swine truly The swluo are they, which, for all they have received
descnbed. . . ....
the pure gospel of Christ, will yet continue stUl In sin, and
roll themselves In the puddle and mire of their old filthy con
versation, and both before the ignorant, and also the weak,
use the uttermost of their Hberty ; Interpreting it after the
largest fashion and most favour of the flesh, as It were the
pope's pardon ; and therewith make that truth evil spoken of,
[1 An old idiom, which also occurs in Judges ix. 53, Author. Vers.,
as equivalent to entirely or utterly.]

VII. 6  11.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 115
that thousands, which else might have been easUy won, will
now not once hear thereof; and stir up cruel persecution,
which else would be much easier, yea, and sometimes none
at all. And yet will those swine, when it cometh to the
point, abide no persecution at all ; but offer themselves wUHng,
even at the first chop, for to deny all, ere they be scarcely
apposed of their doctrine. Therefore, lay first the law of
God before them, and call them to repentance : and if thou
see no hope of mending in them, cease there, and go no
farther ; for they be swine.
But, alas ! it ever was, and shall be, that the greater
number receive the words for a newness and curiosity (as
they say) ; and to seem to be somewhat, and that they have
not gone to school in vain, they wUl forthwith, ere they have
felt any change of living in themselves, be schoolmasters, and
begin at liberty, and practise openly before their disciples.
And when the Pharisees see their traditions broken, they
rage and persecute immediately. And then our new school
masters be neither grounded in the doctrine, to defend their
doings ; nor rooted In the profession of a new life, to suffer
with Christ, &c.
Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall flnd ; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you. Por all that ask receive ; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
For what man is there among you, if his son ask him bread, that
would proffer him a stone ? Or if he asked him flsh, would he
ofifer him a serpent? If ye then, which are evil, know to give
good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him 1
First, note of these words, that to pray is God's com- Prayer is a
.. 11* -/-ll 1/-,! 1 command-
mandment, as it is to believe in God, to love God, or to love ^ent
thy neighbour ; and so are alms and fasting also. Neither
Is it possible to believe In God, to love him, or to love thy
neighbour, but that prayer wUl spring out there-hence im
mediately. For to believe In God is to be sure that all thou to believe m
. *'. . 1111 1 /.I' 1*1 God, what
hast IS of him, and all thou needest must come ot him : which w. t.
if thou do, thou canst not but continuaUy thank him for his
benefits, which thou continually, without ceasing, receivest of
his hand ; and thereto ever cry for help, for thou art ever in
need, and canst no whence else be holpen. And thy neigh
bour is in such necessity also : wherefore. If thou love him, it
8—2

116

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Luke xviii.

By prayer
we win the
victory only,
and therefore
Is it of all
things the
most neces
sary. W. T.
Exod. xvii.

wIU compel thee to pity him, and to cry to God for him con-,
tmually, and to thank as well for him as thyself.
Secondarily, this heaping of so many words together,
"ask, seek, and knock," signify that the prayer must be
continual ; and so doth the parable of the widow, that sued
to the wicked judge : and the cause Is, that we are ever in
continual necessity, as I said ; and all our life [is] but even
a warfare and a perpetual battle ; In which we prevail as
long as we pray, and be overcome as soon as we cease
praying : as Israel overcame the Amalekites, as long as Moses
held up his hands in prayer ; and as soon as he had let down
his hands for weariness, the Amalekites prevaUed and had
the better. Christ warned his disciples at his last supper,
to have peace in him; affirming that they should have none
False pro- In the world. The false prophets shall ever Impugn the faith
phets what j. o
theirwicked- in Chrlst's blood, and enforce to quench the true under-
ness IS. ^ ...
w- T- standing of the law, and the right meaning and intent of aU
the works commanded by God ; which fight Is a fight above
all fights. First, they shall be In such number, that Christ's
true disciples shall be but a small flock in respect of them.
They shall have works like Christ's ; so that fasting, prayer,
poverty, obedience, and chastity, shall be the names of their
profession. For, as Paul saith to the Corinthians, the angels
or messengers of Satan shall change themselves into angels
or messengers of light and truth. They shall come In Christ's
name, and that with signs and miracles ; and have the upper
band also, even to deceive the very elect, If It were possible.
Tea, and beyond all this. If thou get the victory of the false
prophets, and pluck a multitude out of then- hands, there
shall immediately rise of the same, and set up a new false
sect against thee. And against all these Amalekites the only
remedy is to Uft up the hands of thy heart to God In con
tinual prayer : which hands If thou for weariness once let
fall, thou goest to the worst Immediately. Then, beside the
fight and conflict of the subtle sophistry, false miracles, dis
guised and hypocritish works of these false prophets, cometh
the dogs and wolves of their disciples, with the servants of
mammon, and the swine of thine own scholars : against which
all thou hast no other shield or defence but prayer. Then
the sins and lusts of thine own flesh, Satan, and a thousand
temptations unto evil In the world, wiU either drive thee to

Mark xiii.

Matt.

Thy heart
must be
joined with
thy prayer.

VII, 7  11.] MATTHEW V. VI, VII. 117
the castle and refuge of prayer, or take thee prisoner un
doubtedly. Last of all, thy neighbour's necessity and thine own will The rich
tT 1 1-1 -1 • must pray
compel thee to cry, " Father, which art in heaven, give us ^°^^''y
our daily bread ;" though thou wert as rich as king Salomon, w- '''•
For Christ commandeth the rich, as well as the poor, to cry
to God continually for their daily bread; and If they have
no such need, then is Christ a deceiver and a mocker. What
need I to pray thee to give, or lend me, that Is In mine own
possession already ? Is not the first commandment, that there
Is but one God, and that thou put thy whole trust In him ?
Which if It were written In thine heart, thou shouldest easily
perceive, and though thou hadst as many thousands as David
left behind him, and Salomon heaped more to them, that
thou hadst no more than the poor beggar that goeth from
door to door ; yea, and that the beggar (if that commandment
be written In his heart) is sure that he Is as rich as thou.
For first, tbou must knowledge that thou hast received
that great treasure of the hand of God. Wherefore, when
thou fetchest an halfpenny thereof, thou oughtest to give God
thanks in thine heart for the gift thereof.
Thou must confess, also, that God only hath kept It and J°,.*;°]^
thee that same night, and ever before ; or else be an idolater, pressed,
and put thy trust In some other thing than God. And thou ^''etrth'a"
must confess, that God only must keep it and thee, the day woiatryf' ''
and night following, and so continually after ; and not thine
own wit or power, or the wit or power of any other creature
or creatures. For if God kept it not for thee, it would be
thine own destruction, and they that help thee to keep it
would cut thy throat for it. There Is no king In Christendom
so weU beloved, but he hath enow of his own evil subjects (If
God kept them not down with fear) that would at one hour
rise upon him and slay him, to make havoc of all he hath.
Who is so well beloved throughout all England, but that
there be enow in the same parish, or nigh about, that would,
for his good, wish him to hell if they could, and would with
their hands destroy him, if God kept him not, and did' cast
fear on the other?
Now, then, if God must ever keep It for thee, and thou
[1 That is, did not keep him and cast fear, &c.]

118 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
must daily receive It of his hand (as a poor man doth receive
his alms of another man), thou art in no more surety of
thy daUy bread, no, though thou were a cardinal, than
the poorest Is. Wherefore, howsoever rich thou be, yet
must thou ever cry to God for thy daily bread. So now
it Is a commandment to pray, and that continually; short,
thick, and oft, as the psalms be, and all the prayers of
the bible.
be^'ota^dfo FinaUy, the third Is, that we be commanded to pray
ourjprayer. y^[^^ f^itji ^mj trust ; and that we beHeve in the Lord our
God, and doubt not in his promises, unto which Christ In
duceth us with an apt similitude, saying, " If ye being evil
can give good things unto your children, how much more
shall God fulfil his promises of mercy unto his chUdren, if
they cry unto him!" He is better and more merciful than
all men. Wherefore, seeing God commandeth thee to pray,
and forasmuch as thou hast so great necessity so to do, and
because he Is merciful, and hath promised and is true, and
cannot deny his own words ; therefore pray ; and when thou
prayest, look not on thine unworthiness, but on his command
ment, mercy, and goodness, and on his truth and faithfulness,
and believe stedfastly in him. Moreover, whatsoever thou
hast done, yet If thou repent and wUl amend, he promiseth
Thou^God that he will not think on thy sins. And though he defer
St^tkou" *^®®' think It not long, nor faint not In thy faith, or be slack
not faint, jjj ^jjy prayer: for he will surely come and give thee more
than thou desirest, though he defer for thy profit, or change
thy request into a better thing.
All things, therefore, whatsoever ye would men should do to you, so
do ye to them. This is, verily, the law and the prophets.
This is a short sermon, that no man need complain that
Doubts. he cannot, for the length, bear It away. It Is so nigh thee,
How to sou ' ° 1 P • T • • 1 1
doubts. that thou needest not to send over sea for it. It is with thee,
that thou needest not to be importune upon master doctor,
saying, ' Sir, I pray you, what say ye to this case and to
that; and Is not this lawful, and may I not so do, and so,
well enough ?' Ask thine own conscience, what thou mayest
or oughtest to do. Wouldest thou men did so with thee?
then do It. Wouldest thou not be so dealt with ? then do It

VII. 12.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 119
not. Thou wouldest not that men should do thee wrong and
oppress thee: thou wouldest not that men should do thee
shame and rebuke. He on* thee, kiU thee, hire thine house
from thee, or tice thy servant away, or take against thy
will aught that is thine. Thou wouldest not that m*n should Note.
seU thee false ware, when thou puttest them In trust to make
It ready, or lay it out for thee ; nor thou wouldest not that
men should deceive thee with great oaths, swearing that to
be good which indeed is very naught : thou wouldest not,
also, that men should sell thee ware that is naught and too
dear, to undo thee. Do no such things, then, to thy neigh
bour. But as loth as thou wouldest be to buy false ware,
or too dear, for undoing thyself, so loth be thou to sell false
ware, or too dear, for undoing thy neighbour. And In all
thy needs how glad thou wouldest be to be holpen, so glad
be to help thy neighbour. And so. In all cases, examine
thy conscience, and ask her what is to be done, in all doubts
between thy neighbour and thee; and she will teach thee,
except thou be more filthy than a swine, and altogether
beastly. He saith here, " This is the law and the prophets." And Note.
he saith, " Thou shalt love thy Lord God with all thine Matt. xxii.
heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind :" and, as
Mark addeth, " with aU thy might, and thy neighbour as '^™^^J^^^^^
thyself. In these two commandments hangeth the whole law ^''^^'^-
and the prophets." And Paul (Rom. xiii. and Gal. v.) saith,
that " love Is the fulfiUing of the law." And it is written,
that " Christ is" the fulfiUing or " end of the law." To make
all these agree, this thou must understand ; that to love God
purely is the final and uttermost end of all the law and the
prophets. To love thy neighbour is the end of all laws that The end of
is between man and man ; as are, kill not, steal not, bear no between
' ' ' ' _ man and
false witness, commit none adultery, covet not thy neigh- J^j^j^o
hour's wife, his house, ox, ass, maid, man-servant, nor aught ^'tiyS
that Is his, &c. Christ is the fulfilling of the law for us,
where we be Imperfect; and when we break and repent,
his fulfiUing is imputed unto us. And this text, " This Is the
law and the prophets," mayest thou understand as when
Paul saith, " Love is the fulfiUing of the law :" that is, to
[1 On is used for of or against,]

120

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Strait W. T.

gate.

The narrow
way. W. T.

Few flnd the
narrow way,
and why.
W. T.

do as thou wouldest be done to, is all the law that is between
thee and thy neighbour ; and that according to the true
understanding and interpreting of all true prophets.
Enter in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction, and many they be that go in thereat.
But strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto hfe,
and few they be that flnd it.
The strait gate is the true knowledge and understanding
of the law, and of the true Intent of works : which whoso
ever understandeth, the same shall be driven to Christ, to
fetch of his fulness, and to take him for his righteousness
and fulfilling of the law, altogether at the begianing, and as
oft as we fall afterward, and for more than the thousandth
part of our fulfilling of the law and righteousness of our best
works all our life long. For except the righteousness of
Christ be knit to the best deed we do, it will be too short
to reach to heaven.
And the narrow way is to live after this knowledge.
He that wUl enter in at this gate must be made anew : his
head will else be too great ; he must be untaught all that he
hath learned, to be made less for to enter in ; and disused
in all things to which he hath been accustomed, to be made
less, to walk through that narrow way ; where he shaU find
such an heap of temptations, and so continual, that It shall
be Impossible to endure or to stand, but by prayer of strong
faith. And note another ; that few find the way. Why ? For
their own wisdom, their own power, and the reasons of their
own sophistry, blind them utterly : that is to say, the Hght
of their own doctrine which is In them. Is so extreme dark
ness that they cannot see. ' Should God let his church err,'
say they ? ' Should our elders have gone out of the way ?
Should God have let the devU do these miracles,' and so
forth? And when Christ saith, "Few shall find the gate;"
' Tea,' say they, ' in respect of the Turks and Saracens,
which are the greater multitude.' Tea, but yet hear a Httle:
the scribes and Pharisees, which had all the authority over
the people, and taught out of the scripture, and the Sad
ducees, with all other false prophets that were when Christ

VII. 13  20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 121
came, were no Turks nor Saracens ; neither had God any
other church than was among them. And St Peter pro- Peter.
phesieth that it shall be so among us ; and that we shall be
drawn with false sects, of covetousness to deny Christ ; as
we now do, and believe no more in him. And Paul and p^ui.
Christ confirm the same ; that the elect should be deceived, christ.
if it were possible. Moreover, if It were enough to say, I
wiU beHeve and do as mine elders have done, as though they
could not err ; then was Christ to blame for to say, that
except thou forsake father, mother, and thine elders, thou
couldest not be his disciple. Christ must be thy master,
and thou must be taught of God; and therefore oughtest
thou to examine the doctrine of thine elders by the word
of God. For the great multitude, that Christ meaneth, are
the false prophets and them that follow them : as It shall
better appear hereafter.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing ; but
are within ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, either flgs of briers? Even so
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
nor a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit, is to be hewn down and to be cast into the
flre. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Here Christ warneth thee, and describeth unto thee those The false
captains that should so blind the great multitude that they who.W. T.
should not find the strait gate, and lead them the broad
way to perdition. Note first, that though they be false, yet
he calleth them prophets ; which word in the new testament
Is taken for an expounder and an interpreter of scripture.
And he saith, " They shall come to you," my disciples.
Then they must be our preachers and our doctors. Tea,
verily, they must be those our false preachers, which Peter
prophesied should be among us, and bring in damnable sects,
for to fulfil and satisfy their covetousness, and follow the way
and steps of their father Balaam. And they shall come
thereto in sheep's clothings : ergo, they be neither the Turks
nor yet Saracens. For they come clothed In iron and steel;
and wiU thereto suffer us to keep our faith, if we wUl submit
ourselves to them, as the Greeks do. And as for the Jews,

122 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
they be an hundred times fewer than we, and are every
where in bondage, yea, and for the great part captives unto
us. They also be not clothed in sheep's skins ; but maintain
openly their faith, clean contrary to ours.
Sheep's cloth- But what are tbcso sheep's clothings? Truly the very
meaneth. name of CHrlst. For saith Christ, "There shall come many
Matt xxiv. Jn juy name, and deceive many." And besides that, they
shall do miracles in Christ's name ; as It followeth In the text,
that they shall call Christ, Master, Master, and begin their
sermon, saying : ' Our master Christ saith in such a chapter.
Whatsoever ye bind upon earth shall be bound In heaven; see,
friends, these be not our words, but our master Christ's.' And
they shall do miracles in Christ's name thereto, to confirm the
false doctrine which they preach in his name. 0 fearful and
terrible judgment of Almighty God, and sentence of extreme
rigorousness upon all that love not the truth, when It is preached
them, that God, to avenge himself of their unkindness, shaU
, send them so strong delusions, that doctrine should be preached
unto them in the name of Christ, and made seem to follow
out of his words, and be confirmed with miracles done In calling
upon the name of Christ, to harden their hearts In the faith
2 Thess. 11. of lies, according to the prophecy of Paul to the Thessalonians,
In the second epistle !
i^n''g?''w°'T*' Another of their sheep's coats is, that they shall In every
sermon preach mightily against tbe scribes and Pharisees,
against Faustus and Pelagius, with such like heretics; which
yet never preached other doctrine than they themselves do.
And more of their clothing is, they shall preach that Christ
preached alms, prayer, and fasting; and profess obedience,
poverty, and chastity; works that our Saviour Christ both
preached and did. FlnaUy, they be holy church, and cannot
err.
Kavenin^^ But they be within ravening wolves. They preach to
other, " Steal not;" yet they themselves rob God of his honour,
and take from him the praise and profit of all their doctrine
and of aU their works. They rob the law of God of her
mighty power, wherewith she driveth all men to Christ; and
make her so weak, that the feeble free-wiU of man is not able
to wrestle with her, without calling to Christ for help.
They have robbed Christ of all his merits, and clothed

VII. 15  20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 123
themselves therewith. They have robbed the soul of man of
the bread of her life, the faith and trust In Christ's blood ; and
have fed her with the shales' and cods of the hope in their
merits and confidence in their good works.
They have robbed the works commanded by God of the
Intent and purpose that they were ordained for. And with
their obedience they have drawn themselves from under the
obedience of all princes and temporal laws. With their The obeiii-
^ * ence, povcr-
poverty they have robbed all nations and kingdoms; and so JJi^J^stYi'of
with their wilful poverty have enriched themselves, and have ""^^.'i.^'"
made the commons poor. With their chastity they have filled
all the world full of whores and sodomites, thinking to please
God more highly with keeping of a whore than an honest
chaste wife. If they say it Is not truth, then all the world
knoweth they He; for If a priest marry an honest wife, they
punish him immediately, and say he is an heinous heretic, as
though matrimony were abominable : but if he keep a whore,
then Is he a good chaste child of their holy father the pope,
whose ensample they follow; and I warrant him sing mass
on the next day after, as well as he did before, without either
persecution or excommunication : such are the laws of their
unchaste (I would say their own chaste) father.
If thou profess obedience, why runnest thou from father, obedience.
mother, master, and ruler, which God biddeth thee to obey,
to be a friar ? If thou obey, why obeyest thou not the king
and his law, by whom God defendeth thee both in life and
goods, and all thy great possessions ?
If thou profess poverty, what doest thou with the lands of Poverty.
gentlemen, squires, knights, barons, earls, and dukes ? What,
should a lord's brother be a beggar's servant? Or what,
should a beggar ride with three or four score horses waiting
on him ? Is It meet that a man of noble birth, and the right
heir of the lands which thou possessest, should be thine horse-
keeper, thou being a beggar ?
If ye profess chastity, why desire ye above all other men chastity.
the company of women ? What do ye with whores openly in
many countries, and with secret dispensations to keep con-
[1 It appears from a sentence which presently follows, where he uses
the expression shales -without kernels, that this word is equivalent to
shells.]

124 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
cublnes ? Why corrupt ye so much other men's wives ? And
why be there so many sodomites among you ?
Charity. Tour charity Is merciless to the rest of the world, to whom
ye may give nought again ; and only Hberal to yourselves (as
Is the charity of thieves) thirty or forty of you together In one
den: among which yet are not many that love three of his
neighbours heartUy.
Fasting. Tour fastiug maketh you as full and as fat as your hides
can hold ; beside that ye have a dispensation of your holy
father for your fasting.
Prayer. Tour prayer is but pattering without all affection ; your
singing is but roaring to stretch out your maws (as do your
other gestures and rising at midnight), to make the meat sink
to the bottom of the stomach, that he may have perfeot
digestion, and be ready to devour afresh against the next
refection.
Thorns bear "To sHall kuow them by their fruits." First, thorns bear
' ¦ no grapes, nor briers figs. Also, if thou see goodly blossoms
in them, and thinkest there to have figs, grapes, or any fruit
Theanswerof for the susteuauce or comfort of man, go to them In time of
such as shall need, and thou shalt find nought at all. Thou shalt find,
desire relief at i i • i •
their hands. ' l* orsooth 1 havo HO goods, nor any thing proper, or that is
mine own. It is the convent's. I were a thief if I gave it my
father, whatsoever need he had. It Is St Edmund's patrimony,
St Alban's patrimony, St Edward's patrimony, the goods of
holy church ; it may not be minished, nor occupied upon lay
and profane uses.' The king of the realm, for all that he
defendeth them above all other, yet getteth he nought, what
need soever he have, save then only when he must spend on
their causes all that they give, with all that he can get beside
of his poor commons. If the king will attempt to take aught
from them, by the authority of his office, for the defence of
the realm ; or If any man will entreat them otherwise than
they lust themselves, by what law or right it be, they turn to
thorns and briers, and wax at once rougher than a hedgehog ;
and will sprinkle them with the holy water of their maledictions
as thick as hail, and breathe out the Ughtning of excommuni
cation upon them, and so consume them to powder.
Acorrupttree Morcover "a corrupt tree can bear no good fruit:" that is,
mod fruit, where they have fruit that seemeth to be good, go to and prove

VII. 15  20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 125
It, and thou shalt find It rotten, or the kernel eaten out, and
that It Is but as a hollow nut. For faith In Christ (that we Paith is the
and all our works, done within the compass of the law of God, ^J^g""^ j,
be accepted to God for his sake) Is the kernel, the sweetness,
and the pleasant beauty of all our works In the sight of God;
as It Is written, " This Is the work of God, that ye believe in -fo^n vi.
him whom he hath sent." This faith is a work which God
not only worketh in us, but also hath therein pleasure and
delectation, and in all other for that faith's sake.
Faith Is the life of man, as it is written, Justus ex fide Faith maketh
. 11 1 . 1 • ^^^ work
vivit^; out of which hfe the pleasantness of all his works spring. g<""i »¦?')
r . . acceptable.
As for an ensample, thou art a shoe-maker ; which is a work ^- '^-
wlthin the laws of God ; and sayest in thine heart, ' Lo, God,
here I make a shoe as truly as I would for myself, to do my
neighbour service, and to get my living In truth with the
labour of mine hands, as thou commandest ; and thank thee
that thou hast given me this craft, and makest It lucky, that I
get my living therewith ; and am surely persuaded that both
I and my work please thee, 0 Father, for thy Son Jesus'
sake.' Lo, now this faith hath made this simple work
pleasant in the sight of God.
Another ensample : thou takest a wife, and sayest, ' 0 An example
Father, thou not only permlttest this, but also commandest all ^'K"' ^^^'^
that burn, and have their minds unquieted, to marry for fear Pjeeptobie™''
of fornication, and so forth. And, Father, I promise thee to ''^f°«G°'>-
love this woman truly ; and to care for her, and govern her
after thy laws ; and to be true to her, and to stand by her
In aU adversities ; and to take in worth as well the evil as the
good, and to bring up the fruit, that thou shalt give me of
her, In thy fear, and teach it to know thee.'^
The wUl that Abraham had to slay Isaac, and all that he
did till he came at the very point to slay him, were good
works ; and so had been the slaying also. And Abraham was
sure that he pleased God highly, and as well as in any other
work, and had as deeply sinned If he had been disobedient
therein, as though he had done any other cruel deed, for
bidden by God. 'Tea, but shoe-making Is not commanded
[1 The just liveth by faith.]
P The next illustration has been omitted ; as tuming upon a sub
ject too indelicate for profltable contemplation.]

126 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
Handycrafts by God.' Tos ; and hath the promise of God annexed
are the com- d ^ l
of^God"™' thereto. For God hath commanded me, for the avoidmg of
^•'''- sin, to do my brethren service, and to live thereby, and
to choose one estate or other. For if thou wouldest receive
only of thy brethren, and do nought again, thou were a thief,
and an extortioner, and a tyrant. And I choose shoe-making;
or receive it at the obedience of mine elders. Now have I
God's commandment to work therein truly ; and his promise
annexed thereto, that he will bless mine occupation, and make
it lucky and fruitful, to bring me an honest living. Work I
not now at God's commandment, and have his promise that it
pleaseth him ?
Note this also : First, my craft Is God's commandment.
Secondarily, I believe, and am sure, that my work pleaseth
God for Christ's sake. Thirdly, my work is profitable unto
my neighbour, and helpeth his necessity. Fourthly, I receive
my reward of the hand of God with thanks ; and work, surely
certified that I please God In my work through Christ, and
that God will give me my daily bread thereby.
But if thou examine their doctrine, thou shalt find that
this faith Is away In all their fruits ; and therefore are they
worm-eaten, and shales without kernels.
The Jews and Noto again : the Turks and Jews give alms as well as we,
aimsas^we and as much, and yet abominable, for lack of faith and
lack of faith kuowlcdge of the true Intent. What saith the text? "He
it is abomi- ^ .
nabie. that rcceiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall have
the reward of a prophet." That is, because thou aidest him
in preaching of Christ's word, thou shalt be partaker with him
and have the same reward. And, " He that receiveth a dis
ciple in the name of a disciple, shall have," &c. And, " He
that giveth one of these little ones but a cup of cold water for
my name's sake, shall have his reward," If a king minister
his kingdom In the faith of this name, because his subjects be
his brethren and the price of Christ's blood, he pleaseth God
highly; and If this faith be not there, it pleaseth him not.
And If I sew a shoe truly, in the faith of his name, to do my
brother service, because he is the price of Christ's blood,
it pleaseth God. Thus is faith the goodness of all works.
"^efsed^when FlnaUy, wheu God giveth, and I receive with thanks, is
mufre"eive '*°* ^^^ ^® ^®^^ pleased as when I give for his sake, and he

vn. 15  20.] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 127
receiveth? A true friend is as glad to do his friend a good ws benefits,
, 1 p 1 • 1 1 • ^^ when we
turn, as to receive a good turn. When the father giveth his do ^'j^^fM
son a new coat, and saith, ' Am not I a good father, and wilt
not thou love me again, and do what I bid thee?' and the
boy receiveth it with thanks, and saith, 'Tea;' and Is glad
and proud thereof; doth not the father rejoice as much now
In the lad, as another time when the lad doth whatsoever it
be at his father's commandment? But the false prophets do
well to paint God after the Hkeness of their own visenomy ^ : glad
when he receiveth, yea, when they receive In his name ; but
sour, grudging, and evil content when he giveth again. But
thou pleasest God when thou askest In faith, and when thou
receivest with thanks, and when thou rejolcest In his gifts,
and lovest him again, to keep his commandments, and the
appointment and covenant made between him and thee.
And for a conclusion, besides that they expel faith, which Hypocrites
1 (. 1 • extolthelr
IS the goodness of all works, they set up works of their own 2"'°™ft|'"'
making ; to destroy the works of God, and to be holler than worksofGod.
God's works, to the despising of God's works, and to make
God's works vile.
With their chastity they destroy the chastity that God
ordained, and only requireth. With their obedience they
destroy the obedience that God ordained in this world, and
desireth no other. With their poverty they destroy the
poverty of the spirit, which Christ taught only ; which
is, only not to love worldly goods. With their fast they
destroy the fast which God commandeth, that is, a perpetual
soberness to tame the flesh. With their pattering prayer
they destroy the prayer taught by God, which Is either
thanks, or desiring help, with faith and trust that God
heareth me.
Their holiness is to forbid that God ordained to be re- The holiness
ceived with thanksgiving, as meat and matrimony. And their wheSn™ £'
own works they maintain, and let God's decay. Break theirs,
and they persecute to the death : but break God's, and they
either look through the fingers, or else give thee a flap with
a fox-tail, for a little money. There is none order among
them that Is so perfect, but that they have a prison more
cruel than any jail of thieves and murderers. And if one of
[1 Physiognomy.]

128

EXPOSITION OF

[chap.

Ask the Aus
tin Friars,
why they
murdered
one of their
fellows at
London. W.T.

1 Cor. 11.
Who is the
spiritualty.

their brethren commit fornication or adultery in the world, he
finisheth his penance therein in three weeks or a month ; and
then is sent to another place of the same religion'. But If he
attempt to put off the holy habit, he cometh never out,
and Is so straitly dieted thereto, that it Is marvel If he live a
year ; beside other cruel murder that hath been found among
them : and yet Is this shameful dieting of theirs murder cruel
enough. Be not deceived with visors 2, nor yet with miracles.
But go to, and judge their works ; for " the spiritual judgeth
all things," saith Paul. Who is that spiritual ? Not such as
we now call men of holy church ; but all that have the true
interpretation of the law written In their hearts, the right
faith of Christ, and tbe true Intent of works, which God
biddeth us work : he is spiritual, and judgeth all things, and
Is judged of no man.
Not all that say to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that fulflUeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say unto me at that day. Lord, did we not pro
phesy in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and did we
not in thy name many miracles ? Then will I confess unto them, I
never knew you ; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.
This doubling of "Lord" hath vehemency; and betokeneth
that they which shall be excluded are such as think them
selves better and perfecter than other men, and to deserve
heaven with holy works, not for themselves only, but also
for other. And by that* they prophesied, by which thou
mayest understand the Interpreting of scripture ; and by that
they cast out devils, and did mu'acles In Christ's name, (and
for all that, they are yet workers of wickedness, and do not
the will of the Father which is in heaven,) It is plain that
they be false prophets; and even the same of which Christ
warned before.
And now, forasmuch as Christ and his apostles warn us
[1 Monastic order.]
[2 L. has visures, i.e. visors, and this agrees with what follows
below: but D. has visions.]
[3 By that, or as we should say, Inasmuch as. The same idiom occurs
in our 13th Article, "For that they are not done."]

yu, 21  27.] MATTHEW V. VI, VII.

129

that such shaU come, and describe us the fashions of their is^»^^j';f«„t^
visors, (Christ's name, holy church, holy fathers, and if^^'^^j"^"'
fifteen hundred years, with scripture and miracles,) and
command us to turn our eyes from their visors, and consider
their fruits, and cut them up, and look within whether they
be found in the core and kernel or no, and give us a rule to
try them by ; is it excuse good enough to say, ' God will not
let so great a multitude err ; I will foUow the most part, and
beHeve as my fathers did, and as the preachers teach, and
wUl not busy myself: choose they, the fault is theirs, and
not ours ; God shaU not lay it to our charge If we err ?'
Where such words be, there are the' false prophets Fake
' ^ ^ prophets,
already. For where no love to the truth is, there are the ^^'^"jj;^"''
false prophets. And where such words be, there to be no ^^ w- '¦^•
love to the truth, is plain ; ergo, where such words be, there
be the false prophets In their full swing, by Paul's rule 2 ihess. ii.
(2 Thess. U.). Another conclusion: where no love to the truth
is, there be false prophets; the greatest of the world have
least love to the truth : ergo, the false prophets be the chap
lains of the greatest, which may with the sword compel the
rest ; as the kings of Israel compelled to worship the golden
calves. And by false prophets understand false teachers, as ^
Peter calleth them, and wicked expounders of the scripture.
Whosoever heareth these words of me and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man that built his house upon a rock : and there
fell a rain, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house ; but it fell not, for it was grounded upon a rock. And
all that hear of me these words, and do them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, that built his house upon the sand : and there
fell a rain, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and dashed
upon that house, and it fell ; and the fall thereof was great.
Christ hath two sorts of hearers, of which neither nother* Believers
' without
do thereafter. The one wUl be saved by faith of their owu ™Jk«l''"'
making, without works ; the other with works of their own Tre bulu o?'
making, without faith. The first are those voluptuous, which '^°''" "'^' ^"
have yielded themselves up to sin, saying, ' Tush, God is
merciful, and Christ died for us; that must save us only,
[* D. has neither of them; but L. and a small octavo edition, with
out date (probably by Copland, about 1540), have neither nother; i. e.
neither the cme nor the other.]
[tyndale, ii.J

130 EXPOSITION OF [chap.
for we cannot but sin without resistance.' The second are
the hypocrites; which wUl deserve aU with their own
imagined works only. And of faith they have no other ex
perience, save that it is a Httle meritorious where it Is painful
to be believed : as that Christ was born of a virgin, and that
he came not out the way that other chUdren do ; — fie, no, that
were a great inconvenience : but above, under her arm, and
yet made no hole, though he had a very natural body, and
as other men have ; — and that there is no bread In the sacra
ment, nor wine, though the five wits say all yea. And the
meritorious pain of this belief is so heavy to them, that
except they ha'd feigned them a thousand wise simUitudes
and lousy Hkenesses, and as many mad reasons to stay them
withal, and to help to captivate their understanding, they
were like to cast all off their backs. And the only refuge
of a great many, to keep in that faith, is to cast It out of
their minds, and not to think upon it : as though they for
give not, yet if they put the displeasure out of their minds,
and think not of it till a good occasion be given to avenge it,
they think they love their neighbour well enough all the
while, and be in good charity.
The papists And the faith of the best of them Is but like their faith
have that
*^*'n'iorks"' ^° Other worldly stories. But the faith, which Is trust and
shouidhave Confidence to be saved, and to have their sins forgiven by
Christ"' Christ, which was so born, have they not at all : that faith
have they in their own works only. But the true hearers
understand the law as Christ interpreteth It here, and feel
thereby their righteous damnation ; and run to Christ for
succour, and for remission of all their sins that are past, and
for all the sin which chance, through infirmities, shall compel
them to do, and for remission of that the law Is too strong
for their weak nature.
And upon that they consent to the law, love It, and
profess It, to fulfil It to the uttermost of their power, and
Faith, what then go to and work. Faith, or confidence In Christ's blood,
without help, and before the works of the law, bringeth all
Love. manner of remission of sins, and satisfaction. Faith is mother
of love ; faith accompanieth love in all her works, to fulfil as
much as there lacketh, in our doing the law, of that perfect
love which Christ had to his Father and us, in his fulfilling

VII. 24  29] MATTHEW V. VI. VII. 13l
of the law for us. Now, when we be reconcUed, then is love
and faith together our righteousness, our keeping the law,
our continuing, our proceeding forward In the grace which
we stand in, and our bringing to the everlasting saving and
everlasting life. And the works be esteemed of God accord
ing to the love of the heart. If the works be great, and love
little and cold, then the works be regarded thereafter of God,
If the works be small, and love much and fervent, the works
be taken for great of God.
And it came to pass, that when Jesus had ended these sayings, the
people were astonished at his doctrine : for he taught them as one
having power, and not as the scribes.
The scribes and Pharisees had thrust up the sword of the
word of God into a scabbard or sheath of glosses, and
therein had knit It fast, that it could neither stick 1 nor cut ;
teaching dead works without faith and love, which are the
Hfe and the whole goodness of all works, and the only thing
why they please God. And therefore their audience abode
ever carnal and fleshly-minded, without faith to God and
love to their neighbours.
Christ's words were spirit and Hfe : that Is to say, they john vu
.ministered spirit and life, and entered into the heart, and
grated on the conscience ; and, through preaching the law,
made the hearers perceive their duties ; even what love they
owed to God, and what to man, and the right damnation of
all them that had not the love of God and man written in
their hearts ; and, through preaching of faith, made all that
consented to the law of God feel the mercy of God In Christ,
and certified them of their salvation. For " the word of God Heb. iv.
is a two-edged sword, that pierceth and divideth the spirit
and soul of man asunder." A man before the preaching of
God's word is but one man, all flesh; the soul consenting
unto the lusts of the flesh, to follow them. But the sword The word of
of the word of God, where it taketh effect, divideth a man it taitSh"*
in two, and setteth him at variance against his own self; the divideth a
ai.i_T 11 ••I- 1 1 man into two
nesn haling one way, and the spirit drawing another; the ?»«=;»« is,
flesh raging to follow lusts, and the spirit calling back again, ^^^^l ^°'''
to follow the law and wiU of God. A man, all the whUe J? d *"'"'"*'
anoUier.
[1 Old English for pierce.]
9 — 2

132 EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW V. VI. VII.
he consenteth to the flesh, and before he be born again In
Christ, Is called souP or carnal: but when he is renewed
in Christ through the word of life, and hath the love of
God and of his neighbour, and the faith of Christ written in
his heart, he Is called spirit or spiritual". The Lord of all
mercy send us preachers with power ; that is to say, true
expounders of the word of God, and speakers to the heart of
man ; and deliver us from scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, and
all false prophets ! Amen.
[1 -ijfvxtKov. 1 Cor. XV. 46.]

THE
EXPOSITION OF THE
FIRST EPISTLE OF SAINT JOHN,
SET FORTH BY
M. WILLIAM TYNDALE,
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1531. SEPTEMB.

EXPOSITION

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF SAINT JOHN.
[As ancient edition of the following exposition is preserved in the
library of St Paul's Cathedral, and has been collated for the present
editor by George Offor, Esq. Its peculiar readings will be distinguished
by the letters P. C. L. ; whilst those found in Day's less ancient
edition of Tyndale's works will be denoted by the letter D. In the
former, Tyndale is found to have systematically avoided giving the
Eoman pontifl" the title of pope ; but in Day's reprint his editor John
Foxe has with like regularity substituted pope for the words ' bishop
of Rome,' or for any other periphrasis to the same purport; Another
difference is, that in the older copy the relative pronoun which is fre
quently found with the preflxed ; whilst Day has modernised this idiom
by omitting the. In the present edition Tyndale's manner of desig
nating the pope will be restored; but the obsolete idiom connected
with which will be relinquished, after Day's example; and these two
repeatedly recurring variations will not be farther noticed at the foot
of the page.
But, besides these unimportant differences, the volume in the
cathedral Ubrary contains an exposition of the second and third
epistles of St John, printed on the same paper and in the same type,
and followed by a table, or index, with references to the expositions of
all the three, as to one work ; whUst the want of a title-page prevents
us from knowing whether its editor announced the whole as Tyndale's,
or informed the public that the exposition of the two less epistles had
been ' added by another hand.' Tyndale himself has said in his pro
logue, 'I have taken in hand to interpret this epistle,' as though he
was not intending to expound the other two ; and Sir Thomas More,
in the preface to his ' Confutacyon' (date 1532), has said, ' Then have
we from Tyndale the flrst epistle of St John, in such wise expounded
that I dare say that blessed apostle, rather than his holy words were
in such a sense believed of all Christian people, had lever his epistle
had never been put in writing.' Day's edition of Tyndale was com
piled rather more than 40 years after he and More had spoken thus ;
and in it the reprint of the exposition of the flrst epistle is unac
companied by any notice of the existence of an exposition of the other
two by Tyndale: so that Foxe cither did not know of its existence,
or did not believe it to be Tyndale's. Indeed every known averment
of his having composed an exposition of all St John's epistles is
traceable to bishop Bale's introducing the words In epistolas Joannis
into his enumeration of Tyndale's works, in the Scriptorum illustr. Maj.
Britannioe Catalogus.
As however Tyndale might have composed a continuation of his
exposition of the first epistle, between 1531 and his death, though he
had not contemplated so doing; and as Bale's frequent inaccuracy

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 135
ought not to prevent his testimony from having considerable weight,
inasmuch as he was nearly 30 years of age when Tyndale suflfered mar
tyrdom ; it has been the present editor's duty to give the exposition
of the two less epistles a careful examination. But having done so,
he would not think himself justifled in reproducing it, either as
Tyndale's work, or as too valuable to be left in obscurity. The text
of those two epistles, incorporated into their exposition, is indeed nearly
identical with Tyndale's, having only such occasional verbal changes as
he has introduced into the text in his other expositions ; and one of
those changes, viz. that of senior into elder, is such as he had, in 1530,
announced his intention of making. But when sir T. More's cavils
drew from him that announcement, Tyndale added, ' He rebuketh me
also that I render this Creek word Agape into love, and not rather into
charity. Verily charity is no known English in that sense which
Agape requireth.' These words are followed by a whole section of
remarks on the impropriety of using the word <:harity, where there is
occasion to speak of that love which the scriptures commend. (Answ.
to sir T. More's Dial.). But the author of the exposition of the two
less epistles does not get through his second paragraph before he uses
charity twice for love, in the very manner to which Tyndale thus objected :
and short as the whole exposition is, he does not conclude it without
employing the same word three times more, where Tyndale would
have considered the word love as more plain English, and suflicient for
expressing what was meant to be said.
There are also such ungrammatical and ill-constructed sentences
in the exposition of the two less epistles, as Tyndale was too skilful
a writer to have penned. For example, in explaining verse 12 of
epistle III, the expositor has expressed himself as follows: 'It must
undoubtedly have been a man of marvellous integrity and unblameable,
this Demetrius, unto whom all the congregation of good men, yea, and
the truth also, beside that the apostle John, a man without guile, and
that had not learned to flatter, gave such verdict.' But besides these
discrepancies between his words and style, and those of Tyndale, this
expositor has indulged in such fancies as are not at all in harmony
with Tyndale's manner of commenting upon the scriptures. Thus on
verse 1 of epistle il, he says, ' John calleth the church or congregation
a lady, because she is the bride of the Lord Jesus; and the members
of the church he calleth children, remaining so still, in comparing and
alluding.' And in concluding his exposition, he says, of both epistles,
'The shortness hath a wondrous favour; and the briefness hath also
mysteries.' If Tyndale had written upon these epistles, and so thought,
he would have told his readers why he imagined there was a mystery
in the brevity, and what he supposed that mystery to mean. In another
place, on ver. 10 of Epist. ni, the expositor has said that 'it is the duty
of true herdsmen, to forgive nought.' It is incredible that Tyndale
would have expressed himself so rashly, or inculcated a rule of pro
ceeding so contrary to plain scripture.]

136 EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.

THE PROLOGUE.

We must
first learn
the profession
of our bap
tism. Ant. ed.

The profes
sion ofour
baptism,
what it is.

Gospel.

All our sins
for Je^us
Christ's sake,
and for his
deatii and
pas.sion, are
clearly for
given. Ant. ed.

t Except a man have the profession of his baptism in his heart,
he cannot understand the scripture.
As a man can by no means read, except he be first
taught the letters of the cross row, even so It is unpossible for
a man, of whatsoever degree or name he be of, to understand
aught In the scripture unto the honour of God and health of
his soul, except he be first taught the profession of his bap
tism, and have it also written in his heart.
Which profession standeth in two things : the one is the
knowledge of the law ' of God, understanding It spiritually, as
Christ expoundeth it Matt. v. vi. and vii. chapters, so that the
root and life of all laws Is^ this : Love thy Lord God with aU
thine heart, all thy soul, and all thy might ; and thy neigh
bour as thyself, for his sake : and that love only Is the ful
fiUing of the law (as Paul teacheth); and that whatsoever deed
we do, and not of that love, that same fulfilleth no law In the
sight of God.
And the other Is, to know the promises of mercy which
are in our Saviour Christ; understanding them also purely
without all leaven, after the mercIfuUest fashion as scripture
expresseth^ them, and after all fatherly love and kindness of
God, unto all that repent toward the law, and believe in
Christ. And to have this profession written In thine heart Is
to consent unto the law that it is righteous and good, and to
love It In thine heart, and to submit thyself thereunto for to
learn it, and to rule and square all thy deeds thereby ; and
then to believe in Christ, that for his sake all thy sins, which
thou diddest before the knowledge of this profession, are for
given thee clearly, both a poena et culpa*, to use the Romish*
[1 So P. C. L., in D. the words of ihe law are wanting.]
[2 So P. C. L., D. has he,]
p So P. C. L., but D. has soundeth.]
[4 From the penalty and guilt.]
[6 So P. C. L., but D. ha.^ pope's,]

PROLOGUE TO THE READER. 137
terms ; and that for none other satisfaction to God-ward than
Christ's blood; and even so, that aU the sin which we do
after this knowledge', either of chance, ignorance, infirmity,
negligence, or provoked and overcome of the flesh, is for
given us Hkewise, both poma et culpa, through repentance
and faith In Christ, without our satisfaction of works to
God-ward. Notwithstanding we, being all sons of one God, and Every
^, • 1 J 1 Christian
servants ot one Christ, must agree among ourselves ; and he man must
that hath offended must meekly knowledge his fault, and offer Jjjfi^f'it^""'
himself to make amends unto the utmost of his power ; and if ¦'^"'- ^''•
he have not wherewith, ask forgiveness for Christ's sake, and*
the otber Is bound to forgive him. Neither, without recon
ciling himself unto his brother, may any man be at the first
received unto the profession of Christ's faith, nor continue
therein, nor be received in again, If he be for his open
offences put thereout. For how can a man love his neigh-
bour as well as himself, and be sorry that he hath hurt him,
except he should offer himself to make amends ?
And we must from henceforth walk in the life of pen- The right
ance, (if ye will have it so called,) and after the doctrine of repemanii
Christ every man tame his flesh with prayer, fasting, and amendment
the continual meditations of Christ's penance and passions for •*^°'- ^''•
us, and of the holy saints, and with such abstinence, and AUouriife
kind of living, as every man thinketh most meet for his «» ft'^ end,
¦, . Tl /. . ,..„.. ^^ ta,me our
complexion ; the younger confessing their infirmities to the ^"'' ^'"'

serve our lOur.

elder, discreeter, and better learned, and asking their advice Anf ed"
and wholesome counsel for the repressing of their diseases ;
but aU to tame the flesh, and to serve thy neighbour, without
any superstitious mind.
But to God-ward Is there no satisfaction, save faith In Faith in
Christ's blood out of a repenting heart. For our outward bioot'with a
deeds cannot be referred unto God, to do him service in his hearu^the
own person, and to help him, or make him better therewith ti"n thatwe""
t\T J • 1 1 * -^ •" li". (,an make to-
W e can do no more with them, were they never so perfect, Tm\A°^'
and done with all love, than satisfy the law for the present
time, and do our duty unto our neighbours, and tame our
own flesh ; but not to make satisfaction to God for sin that Is
once past. The sin that Is once committed must God forgive
freely, ofa fatherly love, for Christ's sake.
[6 So P. C. L., in D. and is wanting.]

138 EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.
When God vislteth us with sickness, poverty, or what
soever adversity it be, he doth it not of a tyrannous mind, to
satisfy his lust In our suffering of evil, to make satisfaction for
The fatficr the sIu that Is past, of which we repent and be sorry ; but
reeteththe' of a fatherly love, to make us know ourselves and feel his
Ant.ed. mercy, and to tame our' flesh, and to keep us from sinning
again : as no natural father punisheth his child because
he delighteth in tormenting of him, to take satisfaction for the
sin that is past; but first teacheth kindly, and suffereth, and
forgiveth once or twice ; and then at the last, when he seeth
the body so wanton, that the child cannot continue In the
right way for the rage of wild lusts, he beateth him^, to
subdue the flesh only, and to tame It, that the doctrine of the
father may have her due course In the heart of the chUd, and
should not be choked with lusts and concupiscences of our
wicked nature^.
God as a Evou SO Is It of God : if any of his chUdren, that have
thereareth profcssed HIs law aud the faith of our Saviour, be negligent
for us, and r ^ ^ ' O O
rectet^'us'to *° tame his flesh with prayer, fasting, and good deeds after
ri|iS wiy.*° the doctrine of Christ, he will surely scourge him, to bring
Ant.ed. j^-j^j jjjj.Q |.jjg right way again, and to keep him, that the
doctrine of his soul's health perish not in him. But he taketh
not his mercy from us, nor thinketh on the sin that is past,
after that we repent and be full converted ; but absolveth us
both a poena et culpa for Christ's sake ; and Is as mighty
and as merciful to do it for Christ's sake, as the bishop of
Rome for money ; besides that he hath promised mercifuUy
so to do.
H The knowledge of our baptism is the key and the light of the
scripture.
rounder- And again, as he which knoweth his letters well, and can
baptism is to spcll perfectly, cannot but read if he be dUigent ; and as he
understand r r J > _ i i ii i
the law and whlcH Hath clcar eyes without impediment or let, and walketh
Ant. ed. thereto in the light and open day, cannot but see, if he attend
and take heed ; even so whosoever hath the profession of
baptism written in his heart, cannot but understand the
scripture, if he exercise himself therein, and compare one
[1 So D., but P. C. L. has the instead of our.]
p So P. C. L., in D. him is wanting.]
p The last six words are in P. C. L., but not in D.]

PROLOGUE TO THE READER. 139
place to another, and mark the manner of speech, and ask
here and there the meaning of a sentence of them that be
better exerclsed*-
For as the doctrine which we should be taught before we The key and
O light of the
were baptized, and for lack of age is deferred unto the years ^l^.^'^"'
of discretion. Is the key that bindeth and looseth, locketh and
unlocketh, the conscience of all sinners ; even so that lesson,
where It is understood, is only the key that openeth all the
scripture, and even the whole scripture in Itself, gathered
together in a narrow compass, and brought into a compen-
diousness. And till thou be taught that lesson, that thine
heart feel the sweetness of it, the scripture Is locked and How the
shut up from thee, and so dark that thou couldest not locked up
* . from our
understand it, though Peter, Paul, or Christ himself did {"J"^^'^"!-
expound it unto thee; no more than a Wind man can see,
though thou set a candle before him, or shewedst him the sun,
or polntedst with thy finger unto that thou wouldest have him
look upon.
Now we be all baptized; but, alas! not one, from the
highest to the lowest, ever taught the profession or meaning
thereof. And therefore we remain all Wind generally, as weU
our great rabbins for all their high learning which they seem
to have, as the lay people. Tea, and so much the more blind
are our great clerks, that where the lay people, for a great
number of them, are taught nothing^ at all, they be all
wrong taught, and the doctrine of their baptism Is all corrupt
unto them with the leaven of false glosses, ere they come to
read the scripture ; so that the Hght which they bring with
them, to understand the scripture withal. Is utter darkness,
and as contrary unto the scripture as the devil unto Christ :
by reason whereof the scripture Is locked up and become so
dark unto them, that they grope for the door, and can find
no way In ; and is become a maze unto them. In which they
wander as in a mist, or (as we say) led by Robin GoodfeUow,
that they cannot come to the right way, no, though they turn
their caps ; and the brightness thereof hath blinded their eyes
with maHce, so that though they believe not the scripture to if we be not
be false, yet they persecute the right understanding thereof, Golfwe^So
and cannot beHeve it true In the plain sense, which It speaketh deai^OTt of
[* In P. C. L. the words than he is are added here.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has naught,]

140 EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.
to them In. It Is become a turn-again lane unto them, which
they cannot go through, nor make three lines agree together.
And finally, the sentences of the scripture are nothing but
very riddles unto them, at the which they cast as the bUnd
man doth at the crow, and expound by guess, an hundred
doctors an hundred ways ; and one man In twenty sermons
aUegIng one text after twenty fashions, having no sure doctrine
to cleave unto; and all for lack of the right knowledge of the
profession of our baptism.
t He that hath the profession of his baptism written in his heart can
be no heretic.
Another conclusion Is this : as he which ever creepeth along
by the ground, and never climbeth, cannot fall from on* high;
He that un- cveu SO UO man, that hath the profession of his baptism written
theprofession In hls Heart, can stumble In the scripture, and fall unto heresies,
ofhis bap- ...
tism can be or becomo a maker of division and sects, and a defender of
no heretic. ...
Ant.ed. -jyii^ and vain opinions. For the whole and only cause of
heresies and sects is pride. Now the law of God, truly Inter
preted, robbeth all them In whose hearts It Is written, and
maketh them as bare as Job, of all things whereof a man can
or may^ be moved to pride. And on the other side, they
have utterly forsaken themselves, with all their high learning
The scripture aud wisdom, and are become the servants of Christ only, which
liness, and hath bouglit them with his blood ; and have promised In their
Ant.ed. hearts unfeignedly to follow him, and to take him only for the
author of their religion, and his doctrine only for their wisdom
and learning, and to maintain It in word and deed, and to*
keep it pure, and to build no strange doctrine thereupon, and
to be at the highest never, but fellow with their brethren, and
in that fellowship to wax ever lower and lower, and every day
more servant than another* unto his weaker brethren, after the
example and image of Christ, and after his commandment and
ordinance, and not in feigned words of the pope.
The seripture THis bc^ Said bocause of them that say that the scriptAU-e
hereura°° makoth men heretics, and corrupteth with false opinions,
W.T. [1 So P. C. L., but D. has an.]
P So P. C. L., but in D. or may is wanting.]
p P. C. L. has to, but Day so.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has other.]
p So P. C. L. . D. has he said.]

scripture in
vain. Ant. ed.

PROLOGUE TO THE READER. 141
contrary unto the profession of their baptism ; and the light
wherewith they should expound the scripture Is turned Into
darkness in their hearts, and the door of the scripture locked,
and the wells stopped up ere they come at It.
And therefore, because their darkness cannot comprehend
the light of scripture, as It is written, "The Hght shined In Johni.
darkness, but the darkness could not comprehend it ; " they io?our ^'"'"
turn it into blind riddles, and read It without understanding, ^e'S'tiir
as lay-men do our lady matins, or as it were Merlin's pro- vain,
phecies, having^ ever their minds upon their heresies. And
when they come to a place that soundeth like, tbere they
wrest, and wring out wonderful expositions, to stablish their
heresies withal'. Is it not a great blindness to say In the be
ginning of aU together, that the whole scripture Is false In the
literal sense, and killeth the soul ? Which pestilent heresy to
prove, they abuse the text of Paul saying, " The letter kiUeth ; " Jemnlth,"'to"'
because that text was become a riddle unto them, and they tSth\ri^
understood it not : when Paul by this word letter understood deS.^
the law given by Moses to condemn all consciences, and to rob
them of all righteousness, to compel them unto the promises of
mercy that are In Christ.
Heresy springeth not of the scripture, no more than
darkness of the sun ; but it ^ is a dark cloud that springeth out f^ff ^t^
of the blind hearts of hypocrites, and covereth the face of g^|^^5=
the scripture, and bUndeth their eyes, that they cannot behold US'ed.'^
the bright beams of the scripture.
The whole ^ sum then of all together Is this : If our hearts
were taught the appointment made between God and us in
Christ's blood, when we were baptized, we had the key to
open the scripture, and Hght to see and perceive the true
meaning of it, and the scripture should be easy to understand.
And because we be not taught that profession, is the cause
why the scripture is so dark, and so far passing our capacity.
And the cause why our expositions are heresies. Is because we
be wrong taught, and corrupt with false opinions beforehand,
and made heretics ere we come at the scripture, and have
P So P. C. L., but D. wants having, and has are after minds.]
P In D. Tyndale's last remark is followed by a jocular illustration,
for which there is no authority in the older edition.]
P So P. C. L. : in D. it is wanting ]
P So P. C. L., but D. interposes and.]

142

EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.

He that Is
sound in faith
sliall easily
attain to the
true sense of
the seripture.
Ant. ed.

The papists'
unwritten
verities are
not to be
credited.
Aut ed.

corrupt it, and It not us; as the taste of the sick maketh
wholesome and well-seasoned meat bitter, !wearlsh^ and unsa
voury. Nevertheless yet the scripture abideth pure In herself
and bright, so that he which Is sound in the faith shall" at
once perceive that the judgment of the heretics Is corrupt In
their expositions, as an whole man doth feel at once, even with
smelling to the meat, that the taste of the sick is infected.
And with the scripture shall they ever improve heresies and
false expositions: for the scripture purgeth herself, even as the
water once In the year casteth all filthiness unto the sides of
it^ Which to be true ye see by the authority of Paul, saying,
"All the scripture was given of God by inspiration, and Is
good to teach withal, to improve,'' and so forth ; and by the
example of Christ and the apostles, how they confounded the
Jews with the same scripture which they had corrupt, and
understood them amiss after their own darkness ; and as ye
see by the example of us now also, how we have manifestly
improved the hypocrites in an hundred texts which they had
corrupt to prove their false opinion brought In besides the
scripture, and have driven them off; and they be fled, and
openly confess unto their shame, that they have no scripture,
and sing another song, and say they received them by the
mouth of the apostles. Unto which stopping of theirs^, I
answer here grossly, seeing they are answered before ; that
as he were a fool, which would trust him to tell his money In
his absence, that hath picked his purse before his face ; even
so, sith ye have corrupt the open scripture before our eyes,
and are^ taken with the maner*, that ye cannot deny, we
[¦^ So P. C. L. edition : D. wants ofit.]
p So P. C. h., but D. has oyster instead of of theirs.]
p So P. C. L., but D. wants are.]
P In Numbers v. 13, our authorised version has introduced the
words 'with the manner,' in itaUcs, to fill out the brief Hebrew
expression 'she be taken.' Todd observes (Johnson's Dictionary),
that in our old law-books manner is written mainour in this phrase,
from the French manier, to seize with the hand. He adds that in our,
old Norman statutes it is written according to some, ' Pris ove manour,'
and explained, ' taken with the goods in the hand.' But Burn, enlarg
ing on 3 Ed. I. c. 15, says, ' Taken with the mainer, i. e. with the thing
stolen, as it were, in his hand.' Burn's Justice, vol. i. p. 138. In Day's
edition of Tyndale it is spelt maner; but so also is the word manner,
when used in its ordinary sense.]

PROLOGUE TO THE READER. 143
were mad to believe that which hath lien fifteen hundred years,
as ye say, In your rotten maws, should now be wholesome for
us ; ye have chewed and mingled It with your poison spittle.
Can ye bear us in hand, and persuade us, think ye, with your
sophistry, to believe that ye should minister your secret tra
ditions without ground truly, when we see you minister the
open scripture falsely ? Can ye bewitch our wits with your
poetry, to believe that ye should minister your secret traditions
for our profit, when we see you corrupt the open scripture to
the loss of our souls for your profit? Nay, It Is an
hundred times more Hkely that ye should be falser in secret
things than in open. And therefore in the very sacraments,
which the scripture testifieth that Christ himself ordained
them, we must have an eye unto your hand, how ye minister
them. And as we restore the scripture unto her right under- haveaS-^"
standing from your false glosses, even so deHver we the scr^^ture'Jand
sacraments and ceremonies unto their right use from your sacrament.
abuse. And that must we do with the scripture ; which can
corrupt no man that cometh thereto with a meek spirit,
seeking there only to fashion himself like Christ, according to
the profession and vow of our baptism : but contrariwise, he
shall there find the mighty power of God, to alter him, and
change him In the Inner man, a little and little In process,
untU he be fuU shapen after the image of our Saviour, In
knowledge, and love of all truth, and power to work there
after. Finally then, forasmuch as the scripture is the light and Thescripture
,...'' . ^ . ^ is the life of
hie ot God s elect, and that mighty power wherewith God '^'^ «'ect.
createth them, and shapeth them, after the simiUtude, like
ness, and very fashion of Christ ; and therefore sustenance,
comfort, and strength to courage them, that they may stand
fast, and endure, and merrily bear their souls' health, where
with the lusts of the flesh are^ subdued and killed, and the spirit
mollified and made soft, to receive the print of the Image of
our Saviour Jesus : and forasmuch^ as the scripture is so
pure of Itself, that it can corrupt no man, but the wicked
only, which are Infect beforehand, and, ere they come at It,
corrupt it with the heresies that' they bring with them :
[5 So P. C. L., but D. wants are.]
P So P. C. L., but D. wants /or-.]
P So P. C. L., but D. wants that.]

144 EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.
Hypocrites and forasmucH as the complaint of the hypocrites, that the
maiFe'tif* scrlpture maketh heretics, is vain and feigned ; and the
Ant'ed! reasons wherewith they would prove that the lay people
ought not to read the scripture, are' false, wicked, and the
fruit of rotten trees : therefore are they faithful servants of
Christ, and faithful ministers and dispensers of his doctrine,
and true-hearted toward their brethren, which have given
themselves up into the hand of God, and put themselves in
jeopardy of all persecution, their very life despised, and
have translated the scripture purely and with good conscience,
submitting themselves, and desiring them that can to amend
their translation, or (If it please them) to translate It them
selves after their best manner, yea, and let them sew to their
glosses, as many as they think they can make cleave thereto,
and then put other men's translation out of the way.
The trans- Howbelt, though God hath so wrought with them that a
lation of the . ° . . , , , n ,
not's'ufficient S^^^^ P*''*' ^^ translated; yet, as it is not enough that the father
mult be well ^^^ *^® mothor Havo both begotten the child and brought It
thepropie" '^^^° ^^^^ world, oxcopt they care for it and bring It up, till it
"Se^eml"'^ cau Help Itself; even so It Is not enough to have translated,
¦*"'¦ ° ¦ though it were the whole scripture into the vulgar and
common tongue, except we also brought again the light to
understand it by, and expel that dark cloud which the
hypocrites have spread over the face of the scripture, to
bhnd the right sense and true meaning thereof. And there-
introduc- fore are there ^ divers introductions ordained for you, to
tions made to, , «> n ,. , , ,• , p
bring you to toach you the proiession ot your baptism, the only light ot
derstanding tHc scrlpturo ; ouo upon the epistle of Paul to the Romans,
Ant ed ^"^^ another called " The Pathway into the Scripture." And
for the same cause have I taken in hand to interpret this
epistle of St John the evangelist to edify the layman, and to
teach him how to read the scripture, and what to seek
therein ; and that he may have to answer the hypocrites, and
to stop their mouths withal.
And first, understand that all the epistles that the
apostles wrote are the gospel of Christ, though all that is
the gospel be not an epistle. It is caUed a gospel, that Is to
say, glad tidings, because It Is an open preaching of Christ;
and an epistle, because it Is sent as a letter, or a biU, to them
that are absent.
[1 P. C. L. has is.] p So P. C. L. Day has at their.]

THE EXPOSITION
OF THE
FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.

Here beginneth the first epistle of St John.
THE FIRST CHAPTER.
That which was from the beginning declare we unto you, which we have i John i.
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and
our hands have handled of the word of life. Por the life appeared,
and we have seen, and bear witness, and shew unto you that ever
lasting hfe, which was with the Pather, and appeared imto us.
In that St John saith, " The thing which was from the st John wit-
beginning," and "the everlasting life that was with the ghmtis very
Father," he witnesseth that Christ Is very God; as he doth Anted.
In the beginning of his gospel, saying : " The word," or the
thing*, " was at the beginning, and the thing was with God,
and that thing was God, and all things were made by it."
And when he saith, " Which we heard, and saw with mat christ
is verv msn*
our eyes, and our hands handled" him; he testifieth that Ant. ed.
Christ is very man also ; as he doth in the beginning of his
gospel, saying : " The word," or that thmg, " was made
flesh," that is, became man. And thus we have in plain and
open words a manifest article of our faith, that our Saviour
Christ Is very God and very man.
Which article whosoever not only believeth, but also He that be-
belleveth In It, the same is the son of God, and hath ever- christ is the
1 • 1'*. • • 11 - 1 • son of God,
lasting hfe in him, and shall never come into condemnation : [J'jn^h"^};^'^
as It is written, John i. " He gave them power to be the sons f^rtasting
of God, In that they believed In his name*;" and John Ui., " He Mini?'
that believeth In the Son hath everlasting life ; " and a little jolin "?.'
before in the said chapter, " He that believeth In him shall
not be condemned." And to believe in the words of this
article is that eating of Christ's flesh, and drinking his blood,
P As the Hebrew word ~\'2'1 means alike word and thing, Tyndale
was led to consider the apostle as using Xoyor for its equivalent.]
P So Tyndale's translation of John i. 12.]
Ltyndale, ii.J

146

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

To believe
in Christ.
W.T.

To believe
that Christ
is God and
man is to
put all our
trust, hope,
and confi
dence in
him.
Ant ed.

Christ is OUT
life. W.T.

By nature
we are the
children of
wrath.Ant ed.
Eph. ii.

of which is spoken, John vi. " The words which I speak are
spirit and life, and the flesh profiteth not at all;" meaning of
the fleshly eating of his body, and fleshly drinking of his
blood. There Is therefore great difference between believing
that there Is a God, and that Christ is God and man ; and to
believe in God and Christ, God and man, and in the pro
mises of mercy that are in him. The first Is common to good
and bad, and unto the devils also, and Is called an historical
faith and beUef '. The second Is proper unto the sons of God,
and Is their life, as it Is written, " The righteous liveth by
faith ;" that Is, In putting his trust, confidence, and whole hope
In the goodness, mercy and help of God, In all adversities,
bodily and ghostly, and all temptations, and even in sin and
helP, how deep soever he be fallen therein.
But as he which feeleth not his disease can long for no
health, even so It is impossible for any man to believe in
Christ's blood, except Moses have had him first In cure, and
with his law have robbed him of his righteousness, and con
demned him unto everlasting death, and have shewed him
under what damnation they are in by birth In Adam, and
how all their deeds (appear they never so holy) are yet but
damnable sin, because they can refer nothing unto the glory
of God, but seek themselves, their own profit, honour and
glory : so that repentance toward the law must go before
this belief; and he which repenteth not, but consenteth unto
the life of sin, hath no part in this faith.
And when John calleth Christ the everlasting Hfe that was
with the Father, he signifieth that Christ is our life; as after
in the epistle, and in the first also of his gospel, saying, " In
him was life." For until we receive life of Christ by faith,
we are dead, and can be but dead, as saith John IU., "He that
beheveth not in the Son, can see no Hfe, but the wrath of God
abideth upon him." Of which wrath we are heirs by birth,
saith Paul, (Eph. Ii.) Of which wrath we are Ignorant, until the
law be published ; and walk quietly after our lusts, and love
God wickedly, that he should be content therewith, and main
tain us therein, contrary unto his godly and righteous nature.
But as soon as the law (whose nature Is to utter sin, Rom. in.,
[1 So P. C. L., but D. has devils th.ereto, and is called the faith and
belief of the history.]
P Tyndale probably adverted to Ps.xlix. 15, or Ixxxvi. 13.]

I. 1  i.j FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.

147

and to set man at variance with God) is preached ; then we
first awake out of our dream, and see our damnation, and
have^ the law which Is so contrary unto our nature, and Jh^eiaweon-
grudge against God thereto, as young children do against Ant. ed.
their elders when they first command, and count God a cruel
tyrant because of his law, In that he condemneth us for that
thing which we cannot love, nor of love fulfil.
But when Christ Is preached, how that God for his sake Christ
receiveth us to mercy, and forgiveth us aU that Is past, and
henceforth reckoneth not unto us our corrupt and poisoned
nature, and taketh us as his sons, and putteth us under grace
and mercy, and promiseth that he will not judge us by the
rigorousness* of the law, but nurture us with aU mercy and
patience, as a father most merciful, only if we wUl submit Jf ,'^|,^'^^^j'
ourselves unto his doctrine and learn to keep his laws ; yea, Sow'edge
and he wUl thereto consider our weakness*, and, whatsoever h^wiifof wl'
chanceth, never taketh away his mercy, till we cast off the ?eceivTus?^
yoke of our profession first, and run away with utter defiance,
that we will never come more at school ; then our stubborn
and hard hearts mollify and wax soft ; and In the confidence
and hope that we have in Christ, and his kindness, we go to
God boldly as unto our father, and receive life, that Is to
say, love unto God and unto the law also.
That which we have seen and heard we declare unto you, that ye may
have fellowship with us, and that om- fellowship may be with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write
unto you, that your joy may be full.
To bring unto the fellowship of God and Christ, and of Thetouch-
them that believe in Christ, is the final Intent of all the true doc-
• , 1 • • *. /-I 1 111 ^^^^^ ^"^
scripture, why it was given oi God unto man, and the only h?''*^"-
thing which aU true preachers seek; and whereby ye shall
ever know and discern the true word of God from all false
and counterfeited doctrine of vain traditions, and the true
preacher from the wUy hypocrite. We preach unto you,
saith St® John, that everlasting Hfe which we have heard,
and in hearing received through faith, and are sure of it, to
draw you to us out of the feUowship that ye have with the
P Probably a typographical error for hate.]
[* So D., but P. 0. L. has righteousness.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has meekness.]
P So P. C. L. ; but here and where Paul occurs, D. omits St.]
10—2

148

EXPOSITION OF TIIE

[CHAP.

2 Cor. xlL
The modest
and charita
ble manner
of St Paul's
doctrine. Ant ed.

St Paul
preachedChrist, and
not himself.
Ant ed.

damned devils in sinful lusts and ignorance of God ; for we
"seek you and not yours," as saith saint Paul, 2 Cor. xii.
We love you as ourselves in God, and therefore would have
you feUows and equal with us, and buUd you upon the
foundation laid of the apostles and prophets, which Is Christ
Jesus, and make you of the household of God for ever ; that
ye and we, fellows and brethren, and coupled together In
one spirit, in one faith, and In one hope, might have our
fellowship thereby with God, and become bis sons and heirs,
and with Jesus Christ, being his brethren and co-heirs, and
to make your joy full through that glad tidings, as the angel
said unto the shepherds, Lukeil. "Behold, I shew you great joy
that shall be unto all the people, how that there is a Saviour
born unto you this day, which is Christ the Lord." And these
tidings we bring you with the word of God only, which we
received of his Spirit, and out of the mouth of his Son, as
true messengers.
" We preach not ourselves, but Christ our Lord, and us
your servants for his sake :" we do not love ourselves, to
seek yours unto us, that after we had with wiles robbed
you of all ye have, we should exalt ourselves over you, and
separate ourselves from you, and make ourselves a several
kingdom, free and frank*, reigning over you as heathen
tyrants, and holding you In bondage to serve for^ our lucre
and lusts, tangling your conscience with doctrine of man,
which draweth from God and Christ, and fearing ^ you with
the bug of excommunication, against God's word ; or, if tbat
served not, shaking a sword at you.
And this is the tidings which we have heard of him, and declare unto you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that
we have fellowship with him, and yet walk in darkness, we lie, and
do not the truth. But and if we walk in light, as he is in light,
[1 Prank. He alludes to the expression Frank- almoigne : " Tenure
in Frank-almoign, in libera eleemosyna, or free alms, is that whereby
a religious corporation, aggregate or sole, holdeth lands of the donor
to them and their successors for ever. The service which they were
bound to render for these lands was not certainly deflned, but only in
general, to pray for the souls of the donor and his heirs, dead or alive ;
and therefore they did no fealty (which is incident to all other services
but this), because this divine service was of a higher and more exalted
nature." Blackstone's Comm. Vol. n. p. 101.]
[2 So P. C. L., but D. omits our.] [3 p. C. L. has fraying.]

I. 3  7.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 149
then have we fellowship together, and the blood of Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin.
As the devil is darkness and lies, so is God light and As God is
truth only ; and there is no darkness of falsehead and con- devu'is dark-
, . ness.
senting to wickedness in him. And the brightness of his Anted.
light is his word and doctrine, as the hundred and eighteenth*
Psalm saith, " Thy word Is a lantern unto my feet, and a psai. cxix.
light to my paths.',' And Christ Is "the light that lighteneth chnstand
aU men." And the apostles are called " the light of the are the iight.
world," because of the doctrine. And all that know truth
are Hght : " Te were once darkness," saith Paul, " but now ^ph. v.
light In the Lord ; walk therefore as the children of light."
And good works are called the fruits of Hght. And all that Good works
Hve In Ignorance are called darkness; as he saith afterwards, onight""
"He that hateth his brother walketh m darkness." For If
the Hght of the glorious gospel of Christ did shine In his
heart, he could not hate his brother.
By walking understand consenting, doing, and working.
If then we walk in darkness, that is, consent and work wick- walking m
edness, and say we have fellowship with God, we lie: foriniiS*"
to have feUowship with him is to know, and consent, and
profess his doctrine In our hearts. Now If the command
ments of God be written In our hearts, our members cannot
but practise them, and shew the fruit of them^. So whether
Hght or darkness be in the heart, it will appear in the walk
ing. For though our members be never so dead unto virtue,
yet if our souls knowledge the truth, and consent unto righte
ousness, we have the spirit of Hfe in us. And therefore^
Paul saith, " If the Spu-it of him that raised up Jesus from Rom. vui.
death be in you, then will he that raised up Jesus from death the'lpirit of
tiulcken your mortal bodies by the reason of the Spirit that*f°™"^«
r- , *'. d r '^ raise us up
dwelleth m you." So that it is not possible for him that cSt'""'
knoweth the truth, and consenteth thereto, to continue in'*^"'"'-
sin. And then, finally. If we have the light in our hearts^
and walk therein, then we have feUowship with God, and
are his sons and heirs, and are purged from aU sin through
Christ's blood.
P The 118th of the vulgate, but the 119th of the Hebrew and of
the English version. Day's edit, has, c and xix.]
P So P. C. L., but D. omits ofthem,]
[6 So P. C. L., though D. omits therefore.]

150 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the^ truth is
not in us.
He that saith If WC thluk there is no sin in us, we are beguUed and blind,
sin deceiveth aud tHo light of God's word Is uot In us ; and either follow
himself. ° '
Ant ed. sin as boasts without conscience at all ; or if we see the gross
sins, as murder, theft, and adultery, yet we have hanged a
vail of false glosses upon Moses's face, and see not^ the
brightness of the law, how that It requireth of us as pure
a heart to God, and as great love unto our neighbours, as
was In our Saviour Jesus, and ceaseth not before to condemn
us as sinners.
If we knowledge our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It we confess If we coufcss our sIus, uot In the priest's ear, (though
God'with" that tradition, restored unto the right use, were not damnable,)
and repent- but lu our Hoarts to God, with true repentance and fast
ance, he wm ^ ...
Anf'ed.""' belief; then is he faithful to forgive and to purge us, because
of his merciful truth and promise. For he promised Abraham,
that in his Seed all the world should be blessed from the
curse of sin ; and hath abundantly renewed his everlasting
mercy unto us In the new Testament, promising that our
sins shall be forgiven us in Christ's blood, If we repent, and
trust thereto.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us.
All men are For HIs word tcstlfieth against us, that we are all sinners ;
Ant.ed. yea, aud else Christ died in vain. Salomon saith, that
1 Kings Vlll. •'. 1-1 ./~ii «iT.i
"there is no man that sinneth not against God." And Paul
proveth by the authority of the scripture unto the Romans,
that we are all sinners without exception. And the scripture
witnesseth that we are damnable sinners, and that our nature
is to sin : which corrupt and poisoned nature, though it be
begun to be healed^, yet it Is never thorough whole until the
hour of death. For the which cause, with all our best fruits,
there grow weeds among. Neither can there be any deed
so perfect that could not be amended. When a blind bungler
[1 So P. C. L., but D. and Tyndale's version have not the.]
P So D., but P. C. L. has do not see nor perceive.]
P P. C. L. has cured amd healed.]

I. 8  10.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 151
wondereth at his glorious works, a cunning workman, that Nothing ran
hath a clear judgment, perceiveth that it Is unpossible to done, but
make a work that could not be made better. Now the law ^"™ed'''
requireth works of us in the highest degree of perfection,
and ceaseth not to accuse us, until our works flow naturally
as glorious in perfection as the works of Christ. And Christ
teacheth us to pray in our pater-noster, " Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive our trespassers." Whereby ye may
easily understand, that we sin daily one against another,
and aU against God. Christ taught also to pray, that our
Father should not let us slip into temptation ; signifying that
our nature cannot but sin, if occasions be given, except that
God of his special grace keep us back : which readiness* to
sin is damnable sin in the law of God. David prayed, " Let Psai. mx.
not the tempest drown me, let me not fall into the bottom,
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me :" as who should
say. First, keep me, 0 God, from sinning ; then, if I shaU ^"e'of min
chance to faU, as no flesh can escape, one time or other, then w.'t!"''
call me shortly back again, and let me not sink too deep
therein : and though I yet fall never so deep, yet. Lord, let
not the way of mercy be stopped : signifying that it Is un
possible to stand of ourselves, and much less to rise again.
Which impotency and feebleness is damnable In the law of
God, except that we saw It and repented, and were fled to
Christ for mercy; which he giveth abundantly unto them
that require it with a faithful heart, and not wavering faith^.
P So D., but P. C. L. has pronyte, i.e. proneness,]
P InD. the chapter ends at the word mercy: what follows is found
in the P. C. L. edition.]

We must
resist sin

152 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.

CHAPTER. II.
My little children, I write these things unto you, that ye sin not. And
though any man sin, yet we have an advocate with the Pather, even
Jesus Christ, which is righteous.
I write unto you on the one side, that God is light ; and
therefore that no man, which willingly walketh in the un
fruitful works of darkness, hath any fellowship with that light,
or part in the blood of his Son. And this I write and testify
unto you, my dear children, that ye sin not : that is, that ye
pqwerand" couseut not uuto sIu, uor sHould sin of lust and purpose
Ant'ed. maliciously ; but contrariwise that ye fear God, and resist sin
with all your might and power according as ye have promised.
Heb. vl. X. For whosoever sinneth of purpose after the knowledge of the
¦ truth, the same sinneth against the Holy Ghost remedUess.
And on the other side, I testify unto you, that we be always
sinners, though not of purpose and malice after the nature of
damned devils, but of Infirmity and fraUty of our flesh; which
b^ m?fraiit^y fl®s^^ ^o* ^"^^7 letteth us, that our works cannot be perfect,
ofyour flS' but also npw and then, through manifold occasions and
Anted. temptations, carrieth us clean out of the right way, spite
of our hearts. Howbeit (I say) if, when the rage is past,
we turn unto the right way again, and confess our sins unto
our Father with a repenting heart, he hath promised us
mercy, and is true to fulfil it. So that if we sin not devil
ishly against the Holy Ghost, refusing the doctrine which we
cannot Improve that it should not be true, but aftor the
fraUty of man, there is no cause to despair : for we have an
advocate and an Intercessor with the Father, even Jesus
Christ that is righteous.
Our advocate. The name of our advocate is "Jesus," that is to say, a
Matti. Saviour. " Call his name Jesus," said the angel to Joseph;
" he shall save his people from their sins." And this
advocate, and our Jesus, to save us from our sins, con-
Heb. vii. tinueth ever, as It is written; and hath sempiternum
Sacerdotium^, an everlasting ofiice, to make an atonement
for sin : by the reason whereof, saith the text, " he is able
ever to save them that come to God through him" with
repentance and faith, and liveth ever to speak for us. And
[1 An everlasting priesthood.]

H. 1  2.1 FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 153
j -¦
besides that, our Jesus is God, and Almighty. He took our Jesus, that
' ' . . , . , IS (iod and
nature upon him, and felt aU our Infirmities and sicknesses, J°™„' ^^^J^^'g
and m feeHng learned to have compassion on us, and for l^^"- ^°'
compassion cried mightily in prayers to God the Father for ¦*^°'- '*•
us, and was heard. And the voice of the same blood that
once cried, not for vengeance as Abel's, but for mercy only,
and was heard, crieth now and ever, and Is ever heard, as
oft as we call unto remembrance with repenting faith, how
that it was shed for our sins. He is also called Christus, christus.
that is to say, king anointed with all might and power over
sin, death and hell, and over all sins ; so that none that flieth
unto him shall ever come into judgment of damnation. He is
anointed with all fulness of grace, and hath all the treasure
and riches of the Spirit of God in his hand, with which
be blesseth all men, according to the promise made to Abra- Byjesus
ham; and Is thereto merciful, to glve^ unto all that call on him. are'madl
And how much he loveth us, I report me unto the ensamples Ant. ei
of his deeds.
And he is "righteous," both toward God, in that he never
sinned, and therefore hath obtained all his favour and grace ;
and also toward us, in that he is true to fulfil all the mercy
that he hath promised us, even unto the uttermost jot.
And he is the satisfaction for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also
for all the world's*.
That I call satisfaction, the Greek caUeth Ilasmos, and satisfaction,
the Hebrew Copar*: and it is first taken for the suaging of w. t.
P So P. C. L. but D. hss forgive.]
P In this exposition, as well as in that upon the Sermon in the Mount,
Tyndale translates as the subject proceeds, without appearing to have
had his own previous translation before him. In his first published
version he had rendered the first clause, " He it is that obtaineth grace
for our sins;'' and this inaccurate rendering is found in the latest
editions of his new Testament, in Coverdale's Bible, in Cranmer's,
and in the Genevan Bible of 1567, notwithstanding the obviously
greater correctness of the rendering which Tyndale had here given.]
P 'iXaiT^oj, "A propitiation, or rather a propitiatory victim, or
sacrifice for sin." Parkhurst, Lex. If Tyndale's explanation is to be
understood to belong to "123 , lexicographers have not confirmed his
- T
opinion respecting the primary meaning of this word, which they
declare to be that of covering by smearimg with somewhat. It first occurs
Gen. vi. 14, where Noah is directed to cover the ark with a smearing

faction for
our sins.
Ant ed.

154 EXPOSITION OF THB [cHAP.
wounds, sores, and sweUIngs, and the taking away of pain
and smart of tbem ; and thence Is borrowed for the pacify
ing and suaging of wrath and anger, and for an amends-
making, a contenting, satisfaction, a ransom, and making at
i^'thfitu™'' one, as It is to see abundantly In the bible. So that Christ
is a full contenting, satisfaction and ransom for our sins:
and not for ours only, which are apostles and disciples of
Christ while he was yet here ; or for ours which are Jews,
or Israehtes, and the seed of Abraham ; or for ours that now
believe at this present time, but for all men's sins, both for
their sins which went before and believed the promises to
come, and for ours which have seen them fulfilled, and also
for all them which shall afterward believe unto the world's
end, of whatsoever nation or degree they be. For Paul
Tim. 11. commandeth, 1 Tim. II. "to pray for aU men and all
degrees," saying that to be "acceptable unto our Saviour
God, which will have all men saved and come to the know
ledge of the truth;" that Is, some of all nations and aU
degrees, and not the Jews only. " For, " saith he, " there is
one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man
Christ gave CHrlst Josus, whlcH gavo himself a redemption" and full
there- Satisfaction " for all men." David also said In the eighteenth^
demptlon °
ofaifthe"™ Psalm: "Theh" sound is gone throughout all the earth, so that
ISttd. the benefit stretched on aU men^."
Let this therefore be an undoubted article of thy faith :
not of a history faith, as thou believest a gest of Alexander,
or of the old Romans, but of a lively faith and belief, to put
thy trust and confidence In, and to buy and sell thereon, as
we say ; and to have thy sins taken away, and thy soul
saved thereby, if thou hold it fast ; and to continue ever in
sin, and to have thy soul damned, if thou let it sHp ; that
our Jesus, our Saviour, that saveth his people from their sins,
Christ is king and our Christ, that is our king over all sin, death and heU,
heu, and sin. anolntod wlth fulness of all grace and with the Spirit of God,
to distribute unto all men, hath, according unto the epistle to
of pitch. Hence its secondary meaning is 'to blot out;' and, where
sin is spoken of, ' to obliterate sin by covering it with expiatory blood ;
to atone, expiate; or appease him from whose indignation the sin is
thus covered.' See Robertson's Clavis Pentateuchi, on Exod. xxix. 33.]
[1 The nineteenth of the Hebrew and of the Enghsh version.]
[2 So P. C. L. ; in Day's edition the last two sentences are omitted.]

II. 2. J FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 155
the Hebrews and all the scripture, in the days of his mortal
flesh, with fasting, praying, suffering, and crying to God
mightUy for us, and with shedding his blood, made full satis
faction both a poena et a culpa (with our holy father's leave)
for aU the sins of the world ; both of theirs that went before,
and of theirs that come after in the faith; whether it be
original sin or actual : and not only the sins committed with
consent to evU in time of ignorance, before the knowledge of
the truth, but also the sins done of frailty after we have
forsaken evil and consented to the laws of God In our hearts,
promising to follow Christ and walk in the Hght of his
doctrine. He saveth his people from their sins, Matth. i., and christoniyis
that he only: so that there Is no other name to be saved wfT"'"""^'
. . Matt i.
by. Acts iv. And "unto him bear all the prophets record, Acts'ivl
that all that believe In him shall receive remission of their
sins In his name." Acts x. And by him only we have an Acts x.
entering in unto the Father, and unto all grace. Eph. u. and Eph. u. ui.
m. and Rom. v. And as many as come before him are
thieves and murderers, John x. ; that is, whosoever preach- john x.
eth any other forgiveness of sin than through faith in his
name, the same slayeth the soul.
This to be true, not only of original but also^ of actual
[sin], and as well of that we commit after our profession as
before, mayest thou evidently see by the ensamples of the scrip
ture. Christ forgave the woman taken in adultery, John viii. qiristfor-
and another whom he healed, John v. And he forgave publicans fiTs seeiy for
1 • 1 . ,1 1 11 . *iis merey
and open sinners, and put none to do penance, as they call it, sake.
for to make satisfaction for the sin which he forgave through j"h°^"'-
repentance and faith ; but enjoined them the life of penance,
the profession of their baptism, to tame the flesh in keeping
the commandments, and that they should sin no more. And
those sinners were for the most part Jews, and had their
original sin forgiven them before through faith in the tes
tament of God. Christ forgave his apostles their actual sins
after then- profession, which they committed In denying him,
and put none to do penance for satisfaction. Peter (Acts u.) Acts u.
absolveth the Jews, through repentance and faith, from their
actual sins, which they did In consenting unto Christ's death;
and enjoined them no penance to make satisfaction. Paul
P So P. C. L., but D. omits also.]

156

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

Christ only
is our advo
cate.
Ant ed.
Acts ix.

Popish for
giveness.W.I.

The forgive
ness that we
have of God
for Christ's
sake is free.
Ant ed.

Faith in
Christ is ac
counted to us
for righteous-

also had his actual sins forgiven him freely, through repent
ance and faith, without mention of satisfaction. Acts Ix. So
that, according unto this present text of John, If it chance us
to sin of frailty, let us not despair ; for we have an advocate
and Intercessor, a true attorney with the Father, Jesus Christ,
righteous towards God and man, and [he] is the reconciling
and satisfaction for our sins.
For Christ's works are perfect ; so that he hath obtained
us all mercy, and hath set us In the full state of grace and
favour of God, and hath made us as well beloved as the
angels of heaven, though we be yet weak : as the young
children, though they can do no good at all, are yet as tenderly
beloved as the old. And God, for Christ's sake, hath pro
mised that whatsoever evil we shall do, yet If we turn and
repent, he will never more think on our sins.
Thou wilt say, God forgiveth the displeasure, but we
must suffer pain to satisfy the righteousness of God. Ah,* then
God hath a righteousness which may not forgive pain and
all, that the poor sinner might ^ go scot free without aught
at all! God was unrighteous to forgive the thief his pain,
and all through repentance and faith; unto whom for lack
of leisure was no penance enjoined ! And my faith is, that
whatsoever ensample of mercy God hath shewed one, that
same he hath promised all. Tea, will he peradventure for
give me, but I must make amends ? If I owe you twenty
pounds, ye wUl forgive me; that is, ye wUl no more be
angry with me, but I shall pay you the twenty pounds ! 0
popish forgiveness, with whom it goeth after the common
proverb. No penny, no pardon! His fatherhood giveth
pardon freely ; but we must pay money abundantly.
Paul's doctrine Is, Rom. Iv. If a man work, it ought not
to be said that his hire was given him of grace or of favour,
but of duty : " But to him that worketh not, but believeth
in him that justifieth the ungodly, bis faith" (he saith not,
his works, although he commandeth us dUigently to work,
and despiseth none that God commandeth), " his faith" (saith
he) "is reckoned him for his righteousness:" confirming his
saying with the testimony of the prophet David in the thirty-
second Psalm, saying, " Blessed is the man unto whom God
p Old editions A, an ancient mode of writing this interjection.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has should.]

IL 2.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 157
imputeth" or reckoneth "not his sin ;" that Is to say, which we are saved
^ * by grace, and
man, although he be a sinner, yet God layeth it not to his °f Jh^/ir"""
charge^ for his faith's sake. And In the eleventh he saith, ¦*^"'- "*¦
" If it come of grace, then It cometh not of works ; for then Hom. xi.
were grace no grace," saith he. For it was a very strange
speaking in Paul's ears, to call that grace that came of de
serving of works ; or that deserving of works which came
by grace ; for he reckoned works and grace to be contrary,
in such manner of speech. But our holy father hath coupled
them together, of pure liberality, I dare say, and not for
covetousness. For as his holiness, if he have a cause against The pope,
,^ , when any
any man, immediately breatheth out an excommunication ^g"^?*""*-
upon him, and will have satisfaction for the uttermost farthing, ^ujs-il'g'''
and somewhat above, to teach them to beware against another ¦*^°'' ^
time, ere he wIU bless again from the terrible sentence of his
heavy curse ; even so of that blessed complexion he describeth
the nature of the mercy of God, that God will remit his
anger to us upon the appointment of our satisfaction : whereas*
the scripture saith, Christ is our righteousness, our justifying,
our redemption, our atonement, that hath appeased God, and
cleanseth us from our sins, and all In his blood, so that his
blood is the satisfaction only.
And that thou mayest the better perceive the falsehead works can
bs no S3.tis-
of our holy father's fleshly Imagination, call to mind how factionfor
that the scripture saith, (John iv.) " God is a Spirit, and must Xnt''ed
be worshipped in the spirit :" that is, repentance, faith, hope, God"iia
and love towards his law, and our neighbour for his sake, is must'i)™wor-
hls worship In the spirit. And therefore whosoever wor- th^splrit"
shippeth God with works, and referreth his works to God, to
be a sacrifice unto him, to appease him, as though he dehghted
in the work for the work's sake, the same maketh of God an
image or idol, and is an image-server, and as wicked an
Idolater as ever was any blind heathen, and serveth God
after the imagination of his own heart, and is abominable unto
God: as thou seest in how many places God defieth* the
sacrifice of the children of Israel, for the said imagination.
So that whosoever supposeth that his candle-sticking before Popish
. ^'^ • 1 1 1 • ¦ -1 '""'^s.
an image, his puttmg a penny in the box, his going a pil- Ant ed.
P So P. C. L., but D. has when.]
P Disdaincth: expresseth scorn against. So in Auth. version,
Numbers xxiii. 7 and 8, where defy is the rendering of W^].]

158

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

God'sworship.
W.T.

God doth
pardon and
forgive all
our sins,
whatsoeverthey are, for
Chrisfs sake.
Ant ed.

grimage, his fasting, his woolward going, barefoot going, his
crouching, kneeling, and pain-taking, be sacrifices unto God,
as though he dehghted In them as we In the gestures of
Jack Napes, Is as blind as he that gropeth for his way at
noon. God's worship is to love him for his mercy ; and of
love to bestow all our works upon our neighbour for his sake,
and upon the taming of our flesh, that we sin not again,
which should be the chiefest care of a christian man; whUst
Christ careth for that that Is once past and committed already,
whether before our profession or after. For the conditions
of the peace that Is made between God and us In Christ's
blood are these : The law Is set before us, unto which if we
consent and submit ourselves to be scholars thereof, then are
not only aU our fore sins forgiven, both pcena et culpa (with
our holy father's licence ever) ; but also all our infirmities,
weakness, proneness*, readiness, and motions unto sin, are
pardoned, and taken aworth^, and we translated from under
the damnation of the law, which damneth as well those In
firmities as the sin that springeth of them, and putteth us
under grace, (Rom. vii.) : so that we shall not henceforth, as
long as we forsake not our profession, be judged by the
rigorousness* of the law ; but chastised. If we do amiss, as
children that are under no law. Now then if God in Christ
pardon our infirmities, by reason of which we cannot escape
but that we shall now and then sin; It followeth that he must
likewise pardon the actual sin which we do, compelled of
those Infirmities in spite of our hearts, and against the wiU of
the Spirit. For If thou pardon the sickness of the sick, then
must thou pardon the deeds which he doth, or leaveth undone,
by the reason of his sickness. If the madness of a madman be
pardoned, and under no law, then if he murder in his mad
ness, he may not be slain again. If children within a certain
age are not under the law that slayeth thieves, then can ye
not of right hang them, though they steal. What popish
pardoning were that ! This doth Paul (Rom. vii.) so confirm,
that all the world cannot quitch against It, saying : "I consent
unto the law of God that it Is good," and fain would I do it,
and yet have I not always power so to do, but find another
[1 Pronite in P. C. L.]
P See Vol. I. p. 463.]
p So Day, but P. C. L. has righteousness.]

II. 2.j FIKST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 159
thing In my flesh, rebeUIng against the will of my mind, and
leading me captive into sin, so that I cannot do that I would
do, but am compelled to do that I would not : " If," saith he,
"I do that I would not, then I do It not, but the sin that
dwelleth In me doth it." And then saith he, "Who shall
deHver me from this body of death," in which I am bound
prisoner against my will ? " Thanks be to God," saith he, Christ's
" through Jesus Christ our Lord," which hath conquered and w. t. '
overcome sin, death, and heU, and hath put the damnation of
the law out of the way unto all that profess the law, and
beHeve In him.
We be under the law to learn it, and to fashion our deeds
as like as we can ; but not under the damnation of the law,
that we should be damned, though our deeds were not*
perfect as the law requireth, or though of frailty we at a
time break It : as children are under the law, that they steal
not ; but not under the damnation, though they steal. So that
aU they that are graffed into Christ to follow his doctrine,
are under the law to learn it only, but are delivered from
fear of everlasting death and heU, and all the threatenings
of the law, and from conscience of sin, which feared us from
God. And we are come in to God through the confidence
that we bave In Jesus Christ ; and are as familiar and bold
with him as young Innocent chUdren, which have no conscience
of sin, are with their fathers and mothers, or them that nourish
them: which were unpossible, if God now (as the bishop of The popes
purffjitorv is
Rome painteth him) did shake a rod at us of seven years' 'f","''?'
punishment, as sharp as the pains of hell, for every trespass
we do ; which trespasses for the number of them were Hke
to make our purgatory almost as long as hell, seeing we
have no God's word that we shaU be delivered thence, until
we have paid the last farthing. And therefore could our
conscience never be at rest, nor be bold and famUiar with
God. If ye say, the bishop of Rome can deliver my conscience Bind and
from fear of purgatory (as his poetry only putteth me in fear), ^- ^•
and that by this text, "Whatsoever thou bindest on earth, &c. ;"
if thou this way understand the text, " Whatsoever thou,
being In earth, loosest any where ;" then might he loose in
hell, and bind in heaven. But why may not I take the text
[* So D., but P. C. L. has as after not.]

160 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
NotS this of Christ, John xvi. " Whatsoever ye ask my Father in my
Btaiing.and" name, he wUl give It you;" and desire forgiveness of all
pretSfngof together In Christ's name, both a poena et culpa; and then
Ant'ed.""'' remaineth no such purgatory at aU? Howbeit the text of
binding and loosing is but borrowed speech, how that after
the similitude of worldly binding and loosing, locking and un
locking, the word of God truly preached doth bind and loose
the conscience.
^^-'^- God saith to Jeremiah the prophet in his first chapter',
"Behold, I give thee power over nations and kingdoms to
pluck up by the roots, and to shiver In pieces, to destroy
and cast down, and to build and plant." How did he destroy
nations and kingdoms, and how did he build them ? Verily,
by preaching and prophesying. What nation, kingdom, or
city he prophesied to be overthrown, was so ; and what city
he prophesied to be buUt again, was so ; and what nation,
after they were brought Into captivity, he prophesied to
be restored again, were so ; and whom he prophesied to
perish, perished ; and whom he prophesied to be saved, was
saved. Even so, whomsoever a true preacher of God's
word saith shall be damned for his sin, because he, will not
repent and believe in Christ, the same Is damned : and
whomsoever a true preacher of God's word saith shall be
saved, because he repenteth and believeth in Christ's blood,
the same is saved. And this is the binding and loosing that
Christ meant.
Notwithstanding, ye must understand, that when we have
sinned, though our hearts were not to sin, and though we
repent ere the deed be done, yet the body. In sinning, hath
overcome the spirit, and hath gotten the mastery : so that
the spirit Is now weaker and feebler to virtue, and to follow
the law of God and doctrine of Christ, and the flesh stronger
to follow vice and sin. Wherefore as, when an old sore is
broken forth again, we begin, as It were, a new cure with
greater diligence and more care than before ; even so here
we must renew our old battle against the flesh, and more
sirug"i"V<' strongly go to work, to subdue it, [and to quench the lusts
sin. thereof, which are waxen so rank, that they bud out openly,]^
according to the profession of our baptism, which is the very
p So P. C. L., but Day, to Hieremias, cap. i.J
p The passage between brackets is not in the P. C. L. ed.] ¦

II. 2.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. " 161
sacrament or sign of repentance, (or, if they will so have It
called, penance,) by the mterpretation of Paul (Rom. vi). For
the plunging Into the water, as it betokeneth on the one part
that Christ hath washed our souls with his blood ; even so on
the other part it signifieth that we have promised to quench
and slay the lusts of the flesh with prayer, fasting, and holy
meditation, after the doctrine of Christ, and with all godly
exercise, that tame the flesh, and kill not the man.
Whereupon the bishops that succeeded the apostles, when Howpen-
^ . . . , , , anee came
men had done any open sins, enjoined them penance, as they up, and pur-
call It, by the authority of the congregation and governors •*^'"' '^¦
thereof, and advice of the most wise and discreet, and with
the wiUIng consent of the trespassers, to tame the flesh; as to
go woolward, to wear shirts of hair, to go bare-foot, and bare-
head, to pray, to fast bread and water, some once in the week,
some twice, or all the week, an whole year, two years, three
years, eight years, twenty years, and some all their lives long;
and to go in pilgrimage, to visit the memorial of saints^, to
strength them the better to follow their ensample, and such
Hke, and all to slay the worldly mind of the flesh : which
manner, when It was once received of the people by custom,
it became a law. And the bishops by little and little gat It
whole into their own hands.
When the bishops saw that, how they had gotten the How the
simple people under them In such humble obedience, they ws shave-
began to set up their crests, and to reign over them as abused pen-
princes, and to enjoin sore penance for small trifles, namely
if aught were done against their pleasure ; and beat some
sore, and spared other, and sold their penance to the rich,
and overladed the poor, until the tyranny was waxen so
grievous that the people would bear it no longer. For by
p Augustine tells us that Paulinus, bishop of Nola, wrote to him,
'quserens a me utrum prosit cuique post mortem, quod corpus ejus apud
sancti alicujus memoriam sepelitur.' In reply he composed his treatise
De cu/ra agenda pro mortuis; in which he explains the origin of the
name memoria or memorial, as follows : Non ob aliud vel memorise vel
monumenta dicuntur ea quse insignita fiunt sepulcra mortuorum, nisi
quia eos qui viventium oculis morte subtracti sunt, ne oblivione etiam
cordibus subtrahantur, in memoriam revocant, et admonendo faciunt
cogitari; nam et memorise nomen id apertissime ostendit, et monu
mentum eo quod moneat mentem, id est admoneat, nuncupatur. — Op.
Tom. VI. col. 515, 519, C]
r 1 11
[tyndale, II.]

ance.Ant ed.

162 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
this time, what with the multitude of ceremonies, and heap of
men's constitutions, whose right use was thereto clean forgotten,
and partly because our shepherds were busied to seek them
selves and their high authority, and exalted every man his
throne, and were become wolves unto the flock, the cause why
the people were disobedient unto wholesome counsel was, that'
the word of God was sore darkened, and no where purely
preached. And therefore the prelates, loath to lose their
high authority, and to let the people go free of their yoke,
began to turn their tale, and sing a new song, how that this
penance was enjoined to make satisfaction to God for the sin
that was committed ; robbing our souls of the fruit of Christ's
blood, and making us image-servants; referring our deeds
unto the person of God, and worshipping him, as an image
of our own imagination, with bodily work : saying moreover,
if we would not do such penance here at their injunctions, we
Here was must do it In another world ; and so feigned purgatory, where
purgatory O ^ jr o d '
Sinfled. we must suffcr seven years for every sin. And when the
kingdom of antichrist was so enlarged that it must have a
head, they set up our holy father of Rome, or he rather
usurped the realm '^ with violence ; and to him was given this
prerogative, to sell whom he would from purgatory ^
iSfon'of -^^^ *^® sacrament of penance they thus describe: contrl-
nfaTe^by the tioH, confesslou, and Satisfaction : contrition ; sorrow for thy
fft"ed. sins: confession; not to God and them whom thou hast offended,
but tell thy sins in the priest's ear : satisfaction, to do certain
deeds enjoined of them, to buy out thy sins. And in their de
scription they have clean excluded the faith In the satisfaction
of Christ's blood; which only bringeth life, and the spirit of Hfe,
Heb. xi. and righteousness, and without the which it Is impossible to
chiefest part pleasc God : lu whose stead they have put in the presumption
nfnfinancfi. ^ liipii/i.
of our own works. And for lack of trust in Christ's blood, our
contrition is but a fruitless sorrow In the respect of hell, which
maketh us hate the law still, and consequently God that made
it: where true contrition, annexed with faith, is sorrow in
respect of the law, unto which we consent that it is good, and
[1 So P. C. L. Day wants, was that.]
p So P. C. L. but Day has or raiher usurped that Ron-„eP^
[3 That is, to take a price for making over the merits of the saints
to a soul in purgatory, that it might be released.]

of penance.

II. 2.] FIRST EPISTLE QF ST JOHN. 163
love It, and therefore mourn, partly because we have offended
it, and partly because we lack power to fulfil it as we would.
These things to be true our prelates know by open histories,
as weU as that* when it is noon the sun is flat south. But it
delighteth them to r^sIst the Holy Ghost, and to persecute
the preachers of the things which, if they as well loved them
as they know them^ to be true, they would preach the same
themselves and live thereafter. Hereof ye may see our works our works
ini 1 11 ' J* ' "^an make
are but to tame the flesh only : and can be no satisfaction to jo satisfac-
V ' ^ tion, but
God, except we make him an image, and ourselves image- f^'j^rts*
servants. And hereof ye may see how out of this open ^'°t*e4.
penance came the ear-confession, satisfaction of works, purga
tory and pardons. For when they had put the satisfaction of
Christ's blood out of the way, then as they compelled men to
confess open sins, and to take open penance, even so they
compelled them* to confess secret sins, and to take secret pen
ance. And as they made merchandise of open penance, so did
they of secret. And for them that would not receive such The practice
*' and mer-
pardons feigned they pnrgatory, and for them that received JJ^°o^|2nd
them feigned they pardon, turning binding and loosing, with ^„^'|^"
preaching God's word, unto buying and selHng sin for money.
And since that time hitherto, the worse the people were, the
better were the prelates content, ever resisting that they
should be made better, through their blessed covetousness and
proud desire of honour.
And out of this false presumption of works sprang the vows of
, ^ r o rehgion.
wicked vows of religion ; which they vow to make satisfaction ¦^°'- "'•
for sin, and to be higher In heaven, Instead of the life of
penance which Christ taught us in the gospel, to tame the
flesh, and to crucify the members withal, that we henceforth
should walk in the ways of God's law, and sin no more.
And to speak of worshipping of saints, and praying unto worshipping
them, and of that we make them our advocates weU nigh above Ant'ed."
Christ, or altogether, though It require a long disputation, yet
it is as bright as the day to aU that know the truth; how that
our fasting of their eyens, and keeping their holy days, going
bare-foot, sticking up of candles in the bright day, in the wor-
P So P. C. L. : in D., that is omitted.]
p The two thems are wanting in D., hut found in P. 0. L.]
[6 The them here also, and men in the preceding clause are in
P. C. L. but not in D.] 11—2

164 EXPOSITION OF THB [CHAP.
shipping of them to obtain their favour, our giving them so
Thepopeand costly jowols, offering luto their boxes, clothing their images,
.setteth up shoeing them with silver shoes with an ouch of crystal in the
Ant ed. midst, to stroke the lips and eyes of the Ignorant, as a man
would stroke young chUdren's heads to entice them and bring
them In, and rock them asleep in ignorance, are with all Hke
service plain idolatry, that is, in EngHsh, image-service. For
the saints are spirits, and can have no delectation In bodily
things. And because those bodily deeds can be no service
unto the spiritual saints, and we do them not to be a service to
ourselves or our neighbours ; we serve the work and the false
imagination of our fleshly wit, after the doctrine of man, and
not of God, and are image-servants. And this Is It that Paul
calleth servire dementis mundi^, to be In captivity under dumb
ceremonies and vain traditions of men's doctrine, and to do the
work for the work itself; as though God delighted therein, for
the deed itself, without all other respect.
Thetruewor. But and ye will know the true worshipping of saints,
Ant'^ed hearken unto Paul, where he saith, "Ye shine as lights in the
Phil.ii. world, holding fast the word of life unto my glory, (or worship,)
against the day of Jesus Christ, that I have not run nor la
boured in vain." That Is to wete, the worship which all true
saints now seek, and the worship that all the true messengers
of God seek this day, or ever shall seek, is to draw all to
Christ with preaching the true word of God, and with the
Good lessons eusamplo of pure living fashioned thereafter. Will ye therefore
learned of worshIp saluts truly? Then ask ^ what they preached, and
Ant ed. believe their doctrine ; and as they followed that doctrine,
so conform your living like unto theirs : and that shall be
Thetruewor- unto thcIr High worsHIp In the coming again of Christ (when
foiiow'thSr ^^^ men's deeds shall appear, and every man shall be judged,
dnctrilil ^^^ receive his reward, according unto his deeds), how that
Ant. ed. ^jjgy jjQj. only, whUe they here lived, but also after their death,
with the ensample of their doctrine and living, left behind in
writing and other memorials, unto the ensample of them that
should follow them^ unto Christ, that were born five hundred,
yea, a thousand years after their death. This was their wor
ship In the spirit at the beginning, as they were spirits ; and
[1 To be in bondage to the elements of the world.]
p So P. C. L., but Day has hear.]
[8 So Day; in P. C. L. them follows Christ.]-

II. 2.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 165
Hghts were sticked before their memorials at the beginning. The sticking
to be a ceremony to put us in remembrance that we so praised before ima-
the saints, and boasted their Hvings, that we followed their
ensamples in our deeds ; as Christ saith, "Let your light so Matt v.
shine before men that they see your good works, and glorify
your Father that is in heaven." For preaching of the doctrine,
which Is light, hath but small effect to move the heart, if the
ensample of living do disagree.
And that we worship saints for fear, lest they should be
displeased and angry with us, and plague us or hurt us, (as
who is not afraid of St Laurence ? who dare deny St Anthony
a fleece of wool, for fear of his terrible fire, or lest he send the
pox among our sheep?) Is heathen image-service, and clean
against the flrst commandment, which is, "Hear, Israel, the Note this for
the first cora-
Lord thy God is one God." Now God In the Hebrew Is n^n^ment
called El, or Elohim in the plural number, strength or might.
So that the commandment is. Hear, Israel, he that Is thy ifwehearkento ths voice
power and might, thy sword and shield, is but one ; that Is, ofGod, he is
there is none of might to help or hurt thee, save one, which is ^f"^' '°
altogether thine, and at thy commandment, if thou wilt hear ¦*"'' "''
his voice. And all other might In the world Is borrowed of
him : and he wiU lend no might against thee contrary to his
promises. Keep therefore his commandments, and he shall keep
thee : and if thou have broken them, and he have lent of his
power against thee, repent and come again unto thy profession;
and he wUl return again unto his mercy, and fetch his power
home again, which he lent to vex thee, because thou forsookest
him and brakest his commandments. And fear no other
creature ; for false fear Is the cause of all idolatry.
Moreover all we, that are baptized in Christ, have pro- we must do
fessed to do good for evil, and not to avenge ourselves. And int ed! °'"''
many of us come unto such perfection, that we can be provoked
by no temptation to desire vengeance, but have compassion,
and meekly pray for them that slay us.
How wicked a thing then is It to think that the saints
trouble and* plague us, because we do them not such super
stitious honour, which is their dishonour and our shame ? It Apopshima-
Is verily a popish imagination, and even to describe the saints Sm."™'
after the nature of our prelates, which be meek and lowly tiU
they be where they would be ; but when they be once aloft,
[* So P. C. L,, but Day omits trouble and^^

Ant. ed.

166 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP
they play the tormentors if we wIU not honour them, and do
whatsoever they command more earnestly than that which
God himself hath commanded, and fear them above God
himself. And it can be but like abomination also, that we choose ofa
fleshly mind every man his several saint, or rather several gods,
to be our advocates, attornies, mediators (when there Is but one,
1 Tim. ii. 1 Tim. U.) and intercessors; and caU them our advourles, when
Advouries. .^^ might better caU them our adulterers ' ; and serve them, or
Idolatry. rather a painted post In their stead, with our image- service,
therewith to bind them for to help us, whensoever and for
whatsoever we call unto them, and to save our souls thereto
with their prayers and merits ; and will yet neither hear the
doctrine, nor follow the ensample of Hving (which is their only
honour) In the spirit of any saint, whose doctrine and living Is
authentic.
Godhath pro- For first, God, which alone hath power to help or hurt,
us'what'sS™ hath made appointment betwixt him and us, In Christ's blood;
ever we ask iiiii,. i^ . i i'i*
in Christ's aud hath bound himseli to give us whatsoever we ask in his
name, and o
sake'^'Ant'ed ^^^^' testifying thereto that there is no other name to be
saved by ; and that he will be a father unto us, and save us
both In this Hfe and in the life to come, and take us from under
the damnation of the law, and set us under grace and mercy,
to be scholars only to learn the law ; and that our unperfect
deeds shall be taken in worth, yea, and though at a time we
mar all through our Infirmity, yet, if we turn again, that shall be
forgiven us mercifully, so that we shaU be under no damnation:
which testament Is confirmed with signs and wonders wrought
Sainte can- through the Holy Ghost. Now, this indented obligation laid
Ant ed. apart, we make another, of our own imagination, between the
saints and us, in their merits for our image-service: which
can be but a false faith ; seeing It hath not God's word, unto
which alone we ought to cleave, but is also clean contrary
thereto.
The sainte And again, the saints were not saved through their own
Mved"by merits, but through Christ's. Neither were their deeds, which
[1 Advouryes : protectors. In Chaucer's Jacke Upland's questions
to the freres, the 29th is, ' Why clepe ye hem y our patrons and avowries P'
In French avouerie is protection. Tyndale writing the word advoury
makes it diflfer by but one letter from advoutry, which is with him a
synonym for adultery. See Vol. r. p. 17.]

II. 2.J FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 167
thev did after they were received under grace, sufficient in their own
, „ ,X. . . „ •¦ , • merits, but
themselves to fulfil the law for the present time, save asbychrists merits.
Christ's merits did supply the imperfectness of them, and that Ant. ed.
which was lacking on their part through their infirmities.
And therefore as the saints' holy works made no satisfaction of the
d meritings
for the sin they did before they were received under mercy, ^^%'^^-
even so made they none for the deadly sins which they did
under mercy ; seeing the deeds were unperfect, and had sin
annexed unto them by reason of the flesh, and were insufficient
to excuse their own masters. What merits have they in store
for us then, seeing by all men's confession they now merit
not? If the most obedient chUd in the world disobey his
father's commandments, his fore good deeds cannot make that
disobedience no sin, or to be a satisfaction, that the child we must
' ' 1 1 • 1 humble our-
should presume in the confidence of his old deeds, and thmk J^'™y'°f*°
his father should do him wrong to punish him : but he must g^^^hty
knowledge his fault, and that he hath deserved punishment, ^- ^¦
and desire forgiveness, unto the glory of his father's merciful
ness, and not of his old deeds, though his old obedience be a
great presumption that he sinned of frailty, and not of pur
pose. Even so if I, being as holy as ever was Paul In his
most holiness, sin this day through the frailty of my flesh,
mine old deeds can be no satisfaction : but I must knowledge
my sin unto my Father, and grant that I have deserved
damnation, and meekly desire forgiveness, and chaUenge it by
the obUgation wherein God hath bound himself to me, unto
the glory of the mercy of G«d, and not to the glory of my
holy deeds : for If my deeds save me, it is my glory ; but if
he forgive us freely, without respect of my deeds, then it Is the
glory of his mercy, by Paul's doctrine unto the Romans.
Moreover if the saints be In heaven, then can they be The angeis
there in none other case than the angels ; in which state w. i.
Christ testifieth they shall be in the resurrection. Now the
angels are ministers sent of God to do service unto the elect, Heb.i.
which shaU be saved. And God hath bound himself, that
if I come In the right way, by the door of Christ's blood, and
ask help, that he wUl send me, if need be, an hundred legions
of angels or saints. But when God hath bound himself to
send me angels or saints, or an angel or saint, he hath not
promised to send this angel or that, or this or that saint. And
therefore, when I appoint God whom he shall send, and bind

168 EXPOSITION OF THB [cHAP.
him, where he hath not bound himself, to send me what saint
To choose I will, I tempt God. And thus this choosing of several saints
saints to be ' i i i •
Sesbmere ^^ but tempting of God. And yet we do worse than this:
A^t el- for we leave the way of Christ's blood, and go not to God
through him ; but run to the saints, in a testament of our own
making, and wUl that they either save us themselves for our
image-service, or compel God for their ^ merit's sake to save
us. Why goest thou not unto thy father thine ownself? ' I
am a sinner,' wiU they say, 'and dare not.' If thou go In the
right way, thou hast no sin. Christ hath taken all thy sins
from thee; and God hath no rod in his hand, nor looketh
sour, but merrily, that it Is a lust to behold his cheerful
countenance, and offereth thee his hand. But this way is
Christ is the stoppod up through Unbelief; and therefore we seek another,
thal'ieadeth' which Is UO wav to Hfo, but uuto evorlastlng death. We will
US to sal-
Ant°ed '^°* ''^^^ ^^ *^® '^^ ^^*^ °P®° oyes, and therefore have we no
due repentance, and so no lust to hearken unto the gospel of
glad tidings in Christ's blood. And where the right way
is set before us, and we of maUce will not walk therein,
God cannot but let the devil play with us, and juggle our
eyes to confirm us In blindness.
How Christ But after what manner doth Christ pray for us ? Verily
us. w. T. Christ In the days of his mortal flesh suffered and prayed for
all that shall be saved, and obtained and was heard, and had
his petitions granted. And he made satisfaction, and purged,
and purchased forgiveness, even then, for all the sin that
ever shall be forgiven. And his praying for us, and being a
mediator now, is that the remembrance of all tbat he did for
us Is present In the sight of God the Father, as fresh as the
hour he did them ; yea, the same hour is yet present, and not
Christ is a P^^t, in the slgHt of God. And Christ is now a king, and
hS^'p'ower reigneth ; and hath received power of all that he prayed for,
fo'reiveus, to do it himself; and that, whensoever the elect call for
us unto him- aught In HIs name, he sendeth help, even of the power which
Ant. ed. he hath received : yea, ere they ask, he sendeth his Spirit
into their hearts to move them to ask : so that it is his gift
that we desire aught In his name. And In all that we do or
think well, he preventeth us with his grace : yea, he careth
for us ere we care for ourselves, and when we be^ yet evil
[* So P. C. L. but D. omits their.]
P So P. C. Ii. but D. has were.]

II, 2.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 169
he sendeth to call us, and draweth us with such power that
our hearts cannot but consent and come, and the angels stand
by, and behold the testament of the elect, how we shall be
received into their feUowship, and see all the grace that
Christ shall pour out upon us. And they rejoice, and praise ^j^^*!
God for his Infinite mercy ; and are glad, and long for us ; he?ven7e-°^
and of very love are ready against .all hours, when we shall ire''gia*d!'to
call for help In Christ's name, to come and help. And Christ wuh tiiem, ^
sendeth them, when we call In his name ; and ere we call, mightjoy tofirethsr,
even while we be yet evil, and haply persecute the truth Ant ed.
of ignorance, as Paul did, the angels wait upon us to keep
that the devils slay us not before the time of our calling be
come. Now If an angel should appear unto thee, what wouldest
thou say unto him ? If thou prayedst him to help, he would
answer : ' I do. Christ hath sent me to help thee ; and
beHeve that the angels be ever about thee to help.' If thou
desiredst him to pray for thee, to obtain this or that; he
would say : ' Christ hath prayed, and his prayer Is heard for christ
whatsoever thou askest in his name;' and would shew thee us^md hls'
all that God would do to thee, and what he would also have E" '^
thee to do : and If thou believest so, then^ wert thou safe.
If thou desiredst him to save thee with his merits, he would
answer that he had no merits, but that Christ only is Lord
of aU merits ; nor salvation, but that Christ is Lord of salva
tion. 'Wilt thou therefore be saved by merits?' would the
angel say; 'then pray to God In Christ's name, and thou
shalt be saved by the merits of him, and have me, or some
other, thy servant immediately to help thee unto the uttermost
of our power, and to keep thee, and bring thee unto the
reward of his merits.' If thou wouldest promise him to image-
worship him with image-service, that Is, to stick up a candle Sorredof
before his Image, or such an image as he appeared to thee in ; Anted.
he would answer that he were a spirit, and dehghted in no
candle-light ; but would bid thee give a candle to thy neigh
bour that lacketh, if thou hadst too many. And so would he
answer thee. If thou wouldest put money in a box for him, or God hateth
clothe his image in cloth of gold, or put golden shoes upon his aE'."""-
image's feet. If thou saidst that thou wouldest build a chapel
in his name, he would answer that he dwelt in no house made
P So P. C. L. but in D. beliemest, so wert, ^c]

170 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
with stones, but would bid thee go to the churches that are
' ma^ lilready, and learn of the preachers there how to
believe, and how to Hve, and honour God In the spirit ; for
Churches the wHIcH cause churches were chiefly builded, and for quiet-
""reaching' ^^^^^ *o V^^J '• ^°^ ^^ there be no church, then to give of that
oS^thlnaL thou mayest spare, to help that one were builded to be a
w.'t.''' preaching and a praying house, and of worshipping God in
the spirit, and not of image-service.
And if Paul appeared unto thee, what other thing could
he answer also, than that he were a spirit, and would refuse
all thy image-service ? And if thou speak to Paul of his
merits, he can none otherwise answer thee than he answered
his Corinthians : That he died for no man's sins, and that no
man was baptized In his name, to trust in his merits. He
would say, ' I builded all men upon Christ's merits ; preaching
that aU that repented, and beHeved In his name, should
be saved, and taken from under the wrath, vengeance, and
damnation of the law, and be put under mercy and grace.
And by this faith was I saved from damnation, and put under
Christ hath mercy and grace, and made one with Christ, to have my part
change mth ^yith him, and he with me ; or rather to make a change, that
Spon^ta'aii h® should Havc all my sins, and I his mercy and the gifts of
granteTir'^ HIs graco, and become glorious with the ornaments of his
and'^ffte'of riches. And of my Saviour Christ I received this law, that I
Ant.%d. should love my brethren, all God's elect, as tenderly as he
loved them. And I consented unto this law, for It seemed
right ; and became a scholar, to learn it. And as I profited
in the knowledge, faith, and love of Christ, so I grew in the
love of my brethren, and suffered all things for their sakes,
and at the last waxed so perfect, that I wished myself damned
(If It might have been) to save my brethren. And aU my
brethren, that received Christ, received the same command
ment, and grew therein. And they that were perfect loved
me, and all their other brethren, no less than I loved them.
Love maketh ^^^ look, wlth what lovo I minlstered the gifts of grace,
rammSS which I received of Christ for the edifying of his congregation,
¦^'"' "*¦ upon my brethren, with the same love did they minister their
gifts again on me, which they had and I lacked ; and so love
made all common. And moreover, If they call my works my
merits, I bestowed all my works upon my brethren to teach
them ; and reaped the fruit thereof, even my brethren's

II. 2.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. l7l
edifymg and soul's health ; yea, and reap daily, in that I left
my doctrine and ensample of living behind me, by which
many are converted unto Christ daily. If thou desire there
fore to enjoy part of my merit, go and read in my gospel ;
and thou shalt find the fruit of my labour, the knowledge of
Christ, the health of the soul and everlasting life.
'And as I loved my brethren when I lived, so I love them
still, and now more perfectly. Howbeit my love then was
painful : for the more I loved, the more I sorrowed, feared, st Paui wao
and cared for them, to bring them into the knowledge of the cartflTi*^"
T) reacli 6f
truth, and to keep them in unity of faith, lest the false Ant ed. "
prophets should deceive them, or their own infirmities should
break peace and unity, or cause them to faU Into any sin.
But now my love Is without pain. For I see the will and
providence of God, and how the end of aU things shaU be
unto his glory and profit of the elect. And though I see
the elect shaU sometime fall ; yet I see how they shall arise
again, and how that their fall shaU be unto the glory of God
and their own profit. And we, that are In heaven, love you
all ahke : neither love we one more and another less. And
therefore if ye love us more one than another, that is fleshly ;
as mine old Corinthians once loved, and I rebuked them.
Neither can we be moved to come more to help one than a good say-
another ; but we wait when God will send any of us unto the Pa^ui.
elect, that caU for help in Christ's name. Wherefore, if thou
wilt be holpen of any of us, pray in Christ's name : and God
shaU send one of us, an angel or a saint, to keep the power
of the devils from you ; but not whom thou wouldest choose,
tempting God, but whom it pleaseth God to send.
'And if your preachers love you not after the same
manner, to edify you with the true doctrme of Christ and
ensample of Hving thereafter, and to keep you in unity of
faith and charity, they be not of Christ's disciples, but anti
christs, which, under the name of Christ, seek to reign over
you as temporal tyrants. And in like manner, if this be not
written in your hearts, that ye ought to love one another as
Christ loved you, and as ye had ensample of us his apostles,
ye go astray in vanities, and are not in the right way.'
And hereby are we sure that we know him, if we keep his command
ments.

Ant ed.

172 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
This Is clean against the doctrine of them which say.
The state of that WO caunot know whether we be in the state of grace or
grace. W. T. , °
no. John saith. If we keep his commandments, then we be
sure that we know Christ Is everlasting life. Then, contrary
to the bishop of Rome, christian men have doctrine to know
whether they be In grace or no.
te/th'e^' The keeping of God's commandments certifieth us that
mSiuare'in ^G be lu the stato of grace. But our pharlsalcaU doctors
graee^'^"' Have no doctrine to know when a man is in a state of grace:
wherefore it Is manifest that they keep not God's command
ments, nor be In state of grace, but of all ungraciousness.
Neither know such^ doctors whether they be in state of
grace, but* keep men's commandments : ergo, men's com-
whenwedo maudmeuts certify not that we be in state of grace. Though
g. tod to our d o D
t'hen'wem'ay ^^ou have a dcvotion to stick up a candle before a post, and
thafwe^are ^0 forth, yot thou caust uevcr be sure thereby, that thou art
office?'"' In the favour of God. But If thou have devotion to help thy
brother In all his misfortunes, because he Is the Image of God
and price of Christ's blood, then thy devotion certifieth thee
that thou art In the favour of God, or state of grace.
He that saith, I know him, and yet keepeth not his commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
A sure ar- Whou our Pharlsecs say, ' Do as we bid you, and not as
Snow false WC do; ' thcv tcstifv that they keep not God's commandments:
prophets by., . .
w- r. ' unto which testimony our eyes also bear record. And they
that keep not God's commandments, be liars and have no truth
in them : and then, when they preach, they cannot but preach
lies; and then, though they preach Christ, they preach him
falsely, unto their fleshly vantage, and not our souls' health.
1 Cor. V. And forasmuch as we may have no fellowship with them that
keep not God's commandments, and inasmuch as all such are
false prophets, void of all truth ; it followeth that we ought
to give our doctors no* audience, though their defenders
stood by them with their swords drawn; but rather to lay
down our heads, and stretch forth our necks to be slain.
[1 So P. C. L., but D. omits pharisaical.]
[2 So P. C. L., but in D. our doctors know not.]
[3 So P. C. L., but D. our doctors keep, Ifc]
P So P. C. L., but D. has none.]

IL 3  6.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 173
He that keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfect,
and hereby know we that we are in him.
That is, he that keepeth his commandments, loveth un
feignedly ; and Is thereby sure that he is in God. For to be j^'Jobe'ileTC'*
in God Is to beHeve in the mercy of God ; and to believe In '^f^^^^"'^"'^
mercy is cause of love, and love cause of working. And ¦*^°'- *'^-
therefore he that worketh for God's sake, is sure that he
loveth and that he trusteth In God ; which Is to be in God or
In Christ. And as by wilful keeping of the commandments a rule to
we be sure that we love God, and beHeve in God ; even so J^!jf^^"d,"'or
through wUful breaking of them, we may be sure that we ^^t1™ ™'"
neither love nor believe In him, and therefore that we be not
In him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought to walk as he walked.
AU that be baptized in Christ are washed In him, to put
off pride, wrath, hate and envy, with all their old conver
sation, by which they oppressed their neighbours; and have
promised to become, every man even as Christ himself unto
his brethren. In love and kindness both In word and deed.
They therefore which resist Christ's testament, and will not let
it be known, and walk In the testament of the arch-priest of
Rome^, with unions, pluraUtles and totquots, some one of
them robbing ten parishes of the tenth of all their yearly Look upon
? • 1 1 • 1. 1 y-1 1, 1 1 /. 1 thebishopof
increase, and withdrawing trom them God s word, the food Rome's own
«... fl .. decrees.
of their souls, and from the poor their daily sustenance, ''J^st.ti'and
which ought to have their part in the tithes and other rents, o*«rp'a<:es5.
when the preacher and other necessary ministers have out
their parts, (a due and lawful stipend,) are not In Christ :
for Christ neither so walked nor so taught.
P In D. the marginal note to this passage is, " They that be ene
mies to the testament of Christ, and are teachers of man's inventions,
are not in Christ." The marginal note given above is that found in
the P. C. L. ed. Qu. ii. of causa xu contains no less than 76 capitula,
the 26th of which, or Concesso, professes to be an extract from a
rescript of pope Gelasius, Clero et ordini et plebi Brundusii; in which
he says, Reditus et oblationes fidelium in quatuor partes dividat
[antistes] ; quarum unam episcopus sibi ipsi retineat ; alteram clericis
pro ofBiciorum suorum sedulitate distribuat ; fabricis tertiam ; quartam
pauperibus et peregrinis habeat fideliter erogandam; quarum rationem
divino est redditurus examini. The flve next capitula are made up
of decrees or aflirmations, by popes and others, to the same effect.
Corp. Jur. Can. Deer. 2''* pars, Thielman Kerver. 1616.]

174

EXPOSITION OF THE

[cHAP.

An old eom
mandment is
the word
which ye
heard from
the be
ginning. Anted.

He that
hateth his
brother Is

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old com
mandment which ye had at the beginning: for an old command
ment is the word which ye heard from the beginning.
I write no new precept, but only put you in remembrance
of that old, which was taught you when you were first bap
tized in Christ, to love each other as he did you : which Is
an old commandment, and was given at the beginning of the
world, and hath ever since been written in the heart of aU
that put their hope in God.
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which is true In him,
and also iu you ; for the darkness is past, and the true light now
shineth. The devU hath sown his darkness in the field where this
commandment should grow ; and the weeds of men's traiHtlons
had overgrown the corn of this old commandment ; so that It
was antlquate', and clean out of knowledge. But Christ, the
Hght of aU true doctrine, now shineth ; and hath scattered the
darkness, and plucked up the weeds by the roots, and restored
this old commandment again. And in him it is a true com
mandment ; for he loved truly. And In you it is a true com
mandment; for ye, for his sake, love one another truly also.
And by the reason of this renewing it is caUed a new com
mandment, as it Is now called a new learning, and may well so
be; for it hath lain long in darkness, and that in such darkness,
that many be shrined for holy saints, whose deeds and living
(when thou lookest upon them, conferring them to the light of
this old doctrine, that now shineth again out of darkness) are
abominable blasphemies to God's doctruie, the which they have
sworn to teach and follow^.
He that saith he is in the light, and yet hateth his brother, is in darkness.
For whosoever feeleth his own damnation under the law,
and beheveth In the mercy that Is in Christ, the same cannot
but love Christ, and his neighbour for his sake. And therefore
he that hateth his brother for any offence done to him, the
[- So D. but in P. C. L. waxen old.]
[2 Such is the conclusion of this paragraph in the P. C. L. edition ;
but in Day's ^ditipn a contemptuous account of Cardinal Wol^ey's death
has been substituted for it.]

II, 7  13.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 175
same seeth not what Christ hath done for him, but is in indarkneai,
and seeth
darkness stUl. '^t^it'-
He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is none
offending in him.
Abideth In the light; that is, continueth in the knowledge to abide in
111- «. T • 1 • 1 ¦ n 1. thelightis
of Christ. And there is none offending in him ; that is, nrst, *°^»*'^*«J°
he wiU wilUngly do nothmg, either in word or In deed, that J«^ge of
shaU offend his brother: for love wiU not let him. And-*^"''**-
secondarily. If aught be done or said, that may be weU done
or said, he taketh it to the best, and is not offended. And
thus ye see that the knowledge of Christ is cause of all good
ness, and the ignorance of Christ cause of all evil. And so
the doctrine of them Is not false, which say that faith in Christ Faith in
is root of all godly virtue, and the cause of keeping the com- rootofaii
"• O d ' X o 0oodness.

mandments; and where faith Is, thereto be no sin nor damnation; Ant ed.
and that say unbeHef to be the mother of all vice, and cause
of breaking the commandments, and to keep men In sin and
damnation only, as faith only looseth us thence.
And he that hateth his brother is in darkness ; and walketh in darkness,
and knoweth not whither he goeth: for darkness hath blinded
his eyes.
He that hateth his brother is In the ignorance of Christ He that
. 1 ,. • 1 . hateth his
and of his own sm, and without repentance and faith that his |"'°J5|J^'"
sins be forgiven him In Christ; and therefore is mercUess unto ¦*^°'-«''-
his brother, whom Christ commandeth him to pity and love.
And In that Ignorance he walketh, that is, worketh evil, and ignorance.
loveth the things of the world, and seeketh In them the lusts
of the flesh, which are the quenching of the Spirit and death
of the soul, and for love of them hateth his brother. And this
ignorance of Christ, which is unbelief, is the cause of all the
wickedness that we do unto our brethren.
I write unto you, little children, that your sins are forgiven you for his
name's sa,ke. I write unto you, fathers, that ye know him thit was
from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, how that ye
have overcome the wicked.
I write unto you, that are young in the faith and yet when we
weak, and therefore fall now and then, how that your sins are our brother,
- . .*' if we recon-
lorgiven you, as soon as ye repent and reconcUe yourselves '=''«™T^i"=5
unto your brethren whom ye have offended, even for his^""'*™

176

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

are our sms
forgiven.
Ant. ed.

We cannot
know the
Pather, but
by the Son.
Aut ed.

Faith in
Christ
overcomeththe world.
Ant ed.
Chap. V.

name's sake only, and not for our own deeds, whether afore
or after, or for any other man's deeds or satisfaction, save for
his only. I write unto you, that are fathers In the doctrine of God,
to teach other how that ye know him that was from the
beginning, and Is no new thing, though he newly received our
nature. And through knowledge of him which is the only
light, and the door unto the knowledge of God, ye are become
fathers in the scriptures. Or else ye had never understood
it, though ye had studied never so much : as It appeareth by
the Indurate Jews, and also by our own^ new Pharisees; which
persecute the scripture, and the true sense thereof, because
they be drowned in the Ignorance of Christ, as their deeds
and contrary Hving well testify.
I write unto you, young men, that are strong in suffering
persecutions, and fight for your profession, not with the sword,
but with suffering, how that ye have overcome that wicked
which poisoned the world at the beginning, and yet worketh
in the children of darkness and unbelief; and that in beUeving
the word of truth, as It foUoweth anon after.
I write unto you, young children, how that ye know the Father. I write
unto you, fathers, how that ye know him that was from the beginning.
I write unto you, young men, that ye be strong, and the word of God
dvrelleth in you, and that ye have overcome the wicked.
I write unto you, young children, how that ye know the
Father, whom ye love through knowledge of the Son ; or else
you had never known him as a Father, but as a judge and a
tyrant, and had hated him. I write unto you, fathers, as before,
how ye are fathers of all truth. In knowing the Son : or else
ye had ever continued In darkness remedUess.
I write unto you, young men, how that ye are strong,
and that your strength is tbe word of God, which dwelleth in
your breast through faith, in which ye have overcome the
wicked devil, and all his pomps; as it followeth: "This is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If a man love
the world, the love of the Pather is not in him. For all that is in
the world, as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the prido
of good, are not of the Father, but are of the world. And the world
[1 In P. C. L. own is wanting.]

II. 13  17.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 177
vanisheth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth ever.
The love of the world quencheth the love of God. Balaam, Avarice or
for the love of the world, closed his eyes at the clear light ^™t°"^°^'''
which he weU saw. For love of the world the old Pharisees The love of
blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and persecuted the manifest truth, draweth
I'll 11' -n 1 (.1 11 many from
which they could not improve. For love of the world many ^^^^^
are this day fallen away ; and many which stood on the truth's
side, and defended It awhUe, for love of the world have gotten
them unto the contrary part, and are become the antichrist
of Rome's mamelukes, and are waxen the most wicked enemies
unto the truth, and most cruel against It. They know the
truth, but they love the world : and when they espied that
the truth could not stand with the honours which they sought
In the world, they hated it deadly, and both wittingly and will
ingly persecuted it, sinning against the Holy Ghost : which
sin shaU not escape here unpunished; as It shall not be without
damnation In the world to come ; but shall have an end here
with confusion and shame, as had Judas Iscariot, the traitor ^-
By the lust of the flesh is understood lechery, which maketh The iust of
a man altogether a swine; and by the lust of the eyes Is of the eyes.
understood covetousness, which is the root of all evil, and
maketh to err from the faith. And then followeth pride : i mm.

Pride.

which three are the world, and captains over all other vices,
and occasions of all mischief.
And if pride, covetousness, and lechery be the world, as compare the
St John saith, then turn your eyes unto the spiritualty, unto pppe, ear
the Roman bishop, cardinals, bishops, abbots, and all other l^^^g^^'j.^"
prelates, and see whether such dignities be not the world, and inJ^e™''''
whether the way to them be not also the world! To get the old
abbot's treasure, I think it be the readiest way to be the new.
How few come by promotion, except they buy it, or serve
long for it, or both ! To be skilled in war and In poUIng, to
maintain war and lusts, and to be a good ambassador, is the
only way to a bishoprick, or to pay truly for It. See whether
pluralities, unions, totquots, and changing the less benefice
and bishoprick for the greater (for the contrary change I trow
was never seen), may be without covetousness and pride. And
then. If such things be the world, and the world not of God,
[' So P. C. L. ed., in D. there is another notice of Wolsey's death.]
[tyndale, ii.J

178 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
Pride. how is our spiritualty of God? If pride be seeking of glory,
John V. and they that seek glory cannot believe, how can our splritu-
covetous- alty believe In Christ? If covetousness turn men from the
iiess. W. T. faith, how are our spiritualty In the faith ? If Christ, when
the devil proffered him the kingdoms of the world and the
glory thereof, refused them, as things impossible to stand with
his kingdom, which is not of the world ; of whom are our
spiritualty, which have received them ? If covetousness be a
traitor, and taught Judas to sell his master ; how should he
not in so long time teach our spiritualty the same craft? —
namely when they be of all kings' secrets, and the ambassadors
of their secrets, and have thereto throughout all Christendom
a secret council of their own, of the which never lay-man was
partaker, and with which they turn the end of all appointments
unto their own honour and profit ? Covetousness hath taught
them to bring In damnable sects, according unto the prophecy
of Peter, and to corrupt the scripture with false glosses, and
Note. ^ to turn every good ordinance, that had a virtuous beginning.
The promo- unto a viclous end. The promotions of the spiritualty corrupt
tions of the . . i •, i . • i i n i i i i
spiritualty their miuds, while they be yet in the shell and unhatched :
corrupt their ' ^ d d
Ant'^ed ^"^ ^^^J como thither but for covetousness, and to avoid the
cross of Christ In the world ; except them that be compeUed
of their friends, or be so simple that they mark not their
falsehood beforehand. Who, knowing the truth and loving it,
would put his head in the Romish bishop's halter, that so
muzzleth men's mouths that they cannot open them to defend
any truth at all ? When temporal kings were in their high
authority, then the general council repressed the enormities of
the spiritualty. But since the antichrist of Rome, cardinals
and bishops, were exalted, and the emperor and kings became
Pones and their servants, they would suffer nought to be determined In
suffe7no"'" their councils that should reform the world of their devilish
shaif restrain prldc, Insatiable covetousness, and stinking lechery, which may
and covetous- stand wIth UO godly virtue. But the world, which is not of
Dess. Ant. ed. o »/ '
God, shall at the last have an end with confusion ; and they
only abide that do the will of the Father, which wUl Is, that
we believe in the Son, and love one another. Let them
therefore that have the world's good (I might say the world's
covetousness god) USO It, but uot lovo It; that they may be ready to bestow
blindeth the ? ' . ' p/-ii»iiii.ii
eyes of the it at the plcasure 01 God. And let them which have it not,
seeing. ... . .
Deut^xvi desire it not, for It blindeth the eyes of the seeing; (Deut. xvi.):

II. 15  19-] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 179
but let them put their trust in God, which shall not fail them, nor
leave them destitute of raiment and food, which Paul counselleth
to be content with. The rich (as .James saith) persecute the
true believers. The rich will never stand forth openly for the
word of God. If of ten thousand there spring one Nicodemus,
It is a great thing.
Little children, it is now the last hour: and as ye have heard that
antichrist should come, even so now are many antichrists come
already ; whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out
of us, but were none of us ; for had they been of us, they had con
tinued with us. But that fortuned that it might appear, how they
were not all of us.
Hour Is here taken for time ; the last hour Is as much to what the
say as the last time. Though the apostles might not know w. t. '
when the last day shall be, and how long the world should
endure, yet this was shewed them, and us by them, that
antichrist should first come ; and not only come, but also pre
vail, and be received after a worldly manner, and reign over
all ; and set up a long continuing kingdom, with damnable
sects and wonderful kinds of hypocrisy, that Is to say, false
hood cloaked under a contrary pretence, as testifieth Paul and
also Peter. Which antichrist began with the apostles, and Antichrist
sowed his doctrine among the doctrine of the apostles ; preach-
ing many things as the apostles did, and adding ever somewhat
of his own, that the weeds might ever grow up together with
the corn. Of which John gathered a sign, that the last
day drew nigh ; though he could not be sure how long it were
thereto. Antichrist Is one of the first that seeth the light, and cometh The worid-
and preacheth Christ awhile, and seeketh his glory In Christ's e^peUcf ' °
gospel. But when he espieth that there will no glory cleave b°rmgeth
unto that preaching, then he getteth him to the contrary part, Ant.'ed.
and professeth himself an open enemy, If he cannot disguise
himself, and hide the angle of his poisoned heresy under a
bait of true doctrine.
The apostles were clear-eyed, and espied antichrist at
once, and put him to flight, and weeded out his doctrine
quickly. But when charity waxed cold, and the preachers
began to seek themselves, and to admit glory and honour of
riches; then antichrist disguised himself after the fashion ofa
true apostle, and preached Christ wilily, bringing in now this
12—2

180

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

The papists
powdered the
doctrine of
Christ with
their dregs.
Ant. ed.

The pope
hath put
Christ from
his rule and
government Ant ed.

Antichristhath been
long among
us. IV. T.

tradition, and now that, to darken the doctrine of Christ ; and
set up Innumerable ceremonies, and sacraments, and Imagery,
giving them significations at the first; but at the last, the
significations laid apart, preached the work as an holy deed,
to justify and to put away sin, and to save the soul, that men
should put their trust In works, and in whatsoever was unto
his glory and profit; and under the name of Christ ministered'
Christ out of all together^, and became head of the congrega
tion himself.
The bishop of Rome made a law of his own, to rule his
church by, and put Christ's out of the way. All the bishops
swear unto the bishop of Rome, and all curates unto the
bishops; but all forswear Christ and his doctrine.
But seeing John took a sign of the last day, that he saw
antichrist begin, how nigh ought we to think that it Is, which,
after eight hundred years reigning In prosperity, see it decay
again, and his falsehood to be disclosed, and him to be slain
with the spirit of the mouth of Christ ; that Is, with that old
doctrine that proceeded out of Christ's mouth : for Paul saith,
when antichrist is uttered^, then cometh the end.

The holy.
W. T.

Anointed.
W.T.

The carnal
man know
eth not tbe
things of the
Spirit ofGod.
AjQt ed.

But ye have anointing of that holy, and know all things. I write not
unto you as though ye knew not the truth, but as unto them that
know it, and know that no lie is of truth.
Christ in the scripture is called The Holy ; because he
only sanctifieth, and halloweth us. And he is called Christ,
that Is to say, anointed ; because he anolnteth our souls with
the Holy Ghost, and with all the gifts of the same. Ye are
not anointed with oil in your bodies, but with the Spirit of
Christ In your souls : which Spirit teacheth you all truth in
Christ, and maketh you to judge what Is a lie, and what
truth, and to know Christ from antichrist. For except he
taught your souls within, the pouring in of words at your
ears were in vain. For they must be all taught of God :
and the things of God no man knoweth, save the Spirit of
God; and the carnal man knoweth not the things of the
Spirit of God ; when contrary, the spiritual, that is anointed
[} So D., but P. C. L. has mustered.]
P That is, so served Christ as to turn him out of the possession of
every thing.]
[3 Made conspicuous. See Vol. I. p. 12.]

II. 18  21.J FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 181
with the Spirit, judgeth all things. And therefore we are i cor. ii.
forbidden to call us any master upon earth ; seeing we have Matt xxiii.
all one master now in heaven, which only teacheth us with
his Spirit, though by the administration and office of a faithful
preacher: which preacher yet cannot make his preaching
spring In the heart, no more than a sower can make his corn
grow, nor can say, 'This man shall receive the word*, and
this not;' but soweth the word only, and committeth the
growing to God, whose Spirit breatheth where he Hsteth, and
maketh the ground of whose heart he lusteth fruitful, and
chooseth whom he wiU at his own pleasure, and for no other
cause known unto any man.
Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is Christ ? The same is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
' Forasmuch as antichrist and Christ are two contraries. Antichrist,
and the study of antichrist Is to quench the name of Christ, Anted.'
how can the Romish bishop and his sects be antichrist, when
they all preach Christ?' 'How was,' say I again to thee,
'Pelagius, whose doctrine the bishop of Rome defendeth In
the highest degree, antichrist, and all other heretics ?' Verily,
sir, the bishop of Rome seeketh himself, as all heretics did ;
and abuseth the name of Christ, to gather offerings, tithes
and rents in his name, to bestow them unto his own honour
and not Christ's, and to bring the conscience of the people 'rhe pope
.. 11" 11 •• /. 11 captivateth
into captivity under him through superstitious tear, as though the ""ler-
he had such authority given him of Christ. And every ^",{J'™5
syllable, that hath a sound as though it made for his purpose, ri'is and'™'
thathe expoundeth falsely and fleshly; and therewith juggleth Ant."™'^^'
and bewltcheth the ears of the people, and maketh them his
own possession, to believe what him listeth^ as though It made
no matter to them whether he preached true or false, so they
beHeve and do as he biddeth them. But all the texts that shew
him to do his duty ^, he putteth out of the way ; and all the
texts thereto, that set the consciences at liberty In Christ, and
prove our salvation to be in Christ only. And, with Pelagius, rfliSmeXd
he preacheth the justifying of works ; which Is the denying of ji'el.'"^
P So P. C. L., in D. ihe word is wanting.]
[s D. has lusteth.]
P So P. C. L., but in D. shew his duty to do,]

182

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

Jesus. Christus.

Emmanuel.

Thomas
Curteis, a
churl.Ant ed.

Dead men.
Poor men.

Christ Is no
di5;2:uised person.Ant ed.

Christ. He preacheth a false binding and loosing with ear-
confession, which is not in the trust and confidence of Christ's
blood-shedding. He preacheth the false penance of deeds;
not to tame the flesh that we sin no more, but to make satis
faction, and to redeem the sin that Is past: which what
other can It be, save the denying of Christ, which Is the only
redemption of sin? He maketh of the works of the cere
monies, which were wont to be signs and remembrances of
things to be believed or done, image-service unto God and his
saints, which are spirits, to purchase with the merits of them
whatsoever the bhnd soul imagineth ; which all are the
denying of Christ. For if thou wilt receive any anointing of
grace or mercy any whence, save of him, he is no longer
Christ unto thee. Christ is called Jesus, a Saviour ; he Is
called Christus, king anointed over all men, of whom they
must hold, and whose benefit must all they have. He is
called Emmanuel, God Is with us : for he only maketh God
our God, our strength, power, sword and shield, and shortly
our Father. He is called Sanctus, that is, holy, that hallow
eth, sanctifieth and blesseth all nations. And these be his
names for ever, and be no names of hypocrisy : as we some
times call him Thomas Curteis i, which is but a churl; and
as we call them curates, which care for their parishes as the
wolf for the flock ; and them bishops, that are overseers,
which will so oversee, that they will suffer nought to be
prosperous save their own commonwealth ; and as some call
themselves dead, which live In all voluptuousness ; and as
some call themselves poor, without having any thing proper^,
and yet live in all abundance ; and as they shave and disguise
themselves with garments and ornaments, to signify ever a
contrary thing than that they be.
Nay, Christ Is no hypocrite, or disguised, that playeth a
part in a play, and representeth a person, or state, which he
is not ; but is alway that his name signifieth, he is ever a
Saviotir, and ever anolnteth^ with grace, and ever maketh
P Archdeacon Todd in his edition of Johnson's Dictionary
traces the word courteous to the gothic Kurteis, as its earliest known
form.] p That is, of their own : he alludes to the vow of mortiflcation made
by all monastic orders; and that of poverty madeby the mendicant friars.]
P So D., but P. C. L. has anointed,]

II. 22  27.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 183
God with us, and ever sanctifieth. Neither Is there any other
to save and sanctify from sin, or anoint with grace, or to set
God at one with men. And these things, which his name
signify, doth he ever unto all that have trust and confidence
in his blood, as soon as they repent of the sin which they
desire to be saved and sanctified from.
Now though the bishop of Rome and his sects give '^^{l^/^
Christ these names, yet In that they rob him of the effect, and !„ rSiTt^'
take the significations of his names unto themselves, and make Tnt ed.'"'
of him but an hypocrite, as they themselves be, they be the
right antichrists, and deny both the Father and Son. For
they deny the witness that the Father bare unto his Son, and
deprive the Son of all the power and glory that his Father
gave him.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.
For no man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and to to know
whom the Son sheweth him. Moreover, if thou know not the Ant.' ed.
mercy that God hath shewed thee In Christ, thou canst not
know him as a Father. Thou mayest well, besides* Christ,
know him as a tyrant. And thou mayest know him by his
works, as the old philosophers did, that there is a God; but
thou canst neither believe In his mercy, nor love his laws,
which Is his only worship in the spirit, save by Christ.
Let therefore abide in you that which ye heard at the beginning. If
that which ye heard at the beginning shall remain in you, then
shall ye continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the
promise that he hath promised us, everlasting life.
If we abide In the old doctrine which the apostles taught, The aposties-
and hearken to no new learning^; then abide we in the Son ought we to
(for upon the Son build they us), and in the Father through w. t. ^'
leonfidence in the Son ; and are heirs of everlasting life.
These things have I written unto you, because of them that deceive
you. And the anointing that ye received of him dwelleth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you ; but as that anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is true, and is no lie, even as
it hath taught you, so abide therein.
When a true preacher preacheth, the Spirit entereth the
hearts of the elect, and maketh them feel the righteousness
[* That is, apart from.]
P In D. learning is omitted.]

184 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
of the law of God, and by the law the poison of their corrupt
nature ; and thence leadeth them, through repentance, unto
the mercy that is In Christ's blood; and as an ointment
healeth the body, even so the Spirit, through confidence and
trust in Christ's blood, healeth the soul, and maketh her love
the law of God ; and therefore is it called anointing or an
Anointing, ointment, and may well be signified by the oil of our sacra-
outwardou ment. But outward oil can neither heal the soul, nor make
availeth '
Ant'el' her feel, save as a sign, or as a bush at a tavern door quench
eth a man's thirst, neither Is It a thing to put trust In. Let
us therefore follow the teaching of the Spirit ; which we have
received as (Paul saith) an earnest, to certify our hearts, and
to make us feel the things of God, and not cleave unto the
traditions of men ; in which Is no feeHng, but that one saith
so, and another thus, confirming their assertions with glorious
persuasions of wisdom, but not after the wisdom of God :
which reasons another denieth with contrary sophisms; and
so riseth brawHng about vain words, without certainty ^
And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may
have confldence, and not be made ashamed of him at his coming.
We must Here are two things to be marked : one, if we cleave unto
do^ctrfneof' CHrlst after the doctrine of the apostles, and as they built us
AnS! "^' upon him, we shall be bold and sure of ourselves at his coming ;
as a servant, which In his master's absence doth only his
master's commandments, cannot be confounded at his coming
home again. But and If wc follow men's doctrine, how can we
be bold, yea, how should we not be ashamed with our teachers,
unto whom he shall then^ say (when they boast themselves
A sore saying how that they have been his vicars), 'I know you not;
crites and depart from me, ye that have wrought wickedness, and under
feisedoc- my name have brought In damnable sects, and have taught
Anted. your dlscIplcs to bellcve In other things than In me.' Now
the sum of all that the apostles taught, and how they built us
upon Christ, is the new Testament. But the bishop of Rome's
doctrine Is not there found, but improved*. Confounded there-
[1 In Day, without all certainty.]
P So P. C. L., but D. then he should.]
[3 So D., but P. C. L. has founded, but even improved. The reader
will remember that by improved T. means ry>roved.]

II. 28, 29.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 1 85
fore shall he be, which, witting and willing, shutteth his eyes
at the true Hght, and openeth them to beHeve his lies.
Another thing is this : all the scripture maketh mention
of the resurrection and coming again of Christ, and that all
men, both they that go before, and they that come after, shall
then receive their rewards together ; and we are commanded
to look every hour for that day. And what Is done with the
souls, from the departing of* their bodies unto that day, doth
the scripture make no mention ; save only that they rest In
the Lord, and In their faith. Wherefore he that determineth
aught of the state of them that be departed, doth but teach
the presumptuous imaginations of his own brain ; neither can
his doctrine be any article of our faith. What God doth with we must
them is a secret laid up In the treasury of God : and we resurrection,
1- •/»i/«i* ^^'^ "°' '° ^®
pught to be patient, being certified of the scripture, that they ^i°"V°^
which die in the faith are at rest, and ought no more to search ^^l ^^^s°Ie-
that secret, than to search the hour of the resurrection, which Ffey'freTno?
God hath put only in his own power. But this remember, that S^Antl'ed.
the whole nature of man Is poisoned and Infected with sin.
And the whole life of sin must be mortified. Now the root
of all sin, and first vice that^ we were infect with, Is, that we
.would be wise where God hath not taught us ; as ye see how
Eve would have been as God, in the knowledge of good and
bad. And therefore hath God hid many things In his power ;
and commanded that we shall search none of his secrets
further than he hath opened them in his scripture, to mortify
this poison of all poisons, the desire to appear wise, and that
we be ashamed to be ignorant in any thing at aU. Wherefore
they that violently make articles of the faith, without God's
word, are yet alive in the root of all sin and vice, and
grow out of the devU, and not out of Christ. And their
articles are of the bUndness of the devil, and not of the light
of Christ ; for Christ's Hght hath testimony of the scripture
everywhere.
If ye know that he is righteous, know that all that work righteousness
are bom of him.
Our nature Is to work wickedness, and so blind thereto
j;hat It can see no righteousness. And then it foUoweth that
P So P. C. L., but D. has their departing,]
p So P. C. L., but D. has and for now, and omits that.]

186 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
we must be born anew in Christ, ere we^ can either do or yet
know what is righteous. And In him we must first be made
righteous ourselves, ere we can work righteous works ; which
conclusion is contrary unto the bishop of Rome : for he saith,
that the works do make the man righteous ; and Christ's
doctrine saith, that the man maketh the works righteous.
rftht°popr A righteous man springeth out of righteous works, saith the
traryto"™' blsHop of Rome's doctrine : righteous works spring out of a
trine. rightcous mau, and a righteous man springeth out of Christ,
saith Chrisfs doctrine : the works make the man righteous,
which before was wicked, saith the bishop of Rome : the
works declare that the man Is righteous, saith Christ's doc
trine : but the man was first made righteous. In Christ ; and
the Spirit of Christ taught him what righteousness was, and
healed his heart, and made him consent thereto, and to have
his lust in righteousness, and to work righteously.

THE THIRD CHAPTER.
BEHOiiD, what love the Father hath shewed us, that we should bo
called the sons of God. For this cause the world knoweth you
not, because it knoweth not him. Dearly beloved, now we are the
sons of God, though yet it appeareth not what we shall be: but
we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him ; for we
shall see him as he is.
The love of God to us-ward is exceeding great, in that he
hath made us his sons, without all deserving of us ; and hath
given us his Spirit through Christ, to certify our hearts
thereof. In that we feel that our trust is In God, and that our
souls have received health and power to love the law of God;
which is a sure testimony that we are sons, and under no
damnation. Neither ought It to discourage us, or to make us
think we were less beloved, because the world hateth us, and
The world persecuteth us; for the world knoweth us not. Neither let*
know Christ any marvel ; for the world could not know Christ himself, for
all his glorious coming with miracles and benefits. In healing
the sick and raising the dead. But for all the oppression of
the world, we are yet sure that we are God's sons. And in
P In P. C. L., ere we be, or can.]
p So P. C. L., but D. wants Ut.]

IH. 1  3.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 187
like manner, though the glory, that we shall be in, appear
not, yet we are sure that we shall be Hke him, when he
appeareth. As darkness vanisheth away at the coming of
the sun, and the world receiveth a new fashion, and is turned
Into light, and suddenly made glorious ; even so when he J^^'j'^"''^^
appeareth, and we shaU see him as he is, we shall, with the ch"||-
sight* of him, be changed into the glory of his Image, and
made Hke him. And then shaU the world both know him
and us, unto their shame and confusion.
And all that have this hope in him purge themselves as he is pure.
The faith and hope of a christian man are no dead, idle, ^ °n.Jf*\^"
or barren things; but Hvely, working, and fruitful. For when n"ud?r^"
the law through conscience of sin hath slain the soul, then ¦^"'' '^
hope and trust in Christ's blood, through certifying of the
conscience that the damnation of the law is taken away,
quickeneth her again ; and maketh her to love the law, which
is the purifying of the soul, and her life, and serving the law
In the Inner man. And then the said gifts, of hope and faith,
stretch themselves forth unto the members, dead with natural
lust, consent, and custom to sin; and quicken them, and purge
them with the wholesome penance of Christ's doctrine ; and The faith of

make them serve the law outward, and bear wholesome fruit man

a christian
man.W.T.

of love unto the profit of their neighbours, according to
Christ's love unto us. For if the Spirit of Christ, with which
God anolnteth us and maketh us kings, and sealeth us and
maketh us his sure and several kingdom, and which he giveth
us in earnest (2 Cor. I.), and with which he changeth us Into 2 con.
the Image of Christ (2 Cor. in.), dwell in our souls through 2 cor. ui.
faith, the same Spirit cannot but quicken the members also,
and make them fruitful, (Rom. viii.) Wherefore the faith and ^™- ™i-
hope of the Roman bishop, which by their own confession Plf"??-'^
may stand with all wickedness, and consent unto all evil, and
be without repentance toward God's law (as It appeareth by
their three capital sins, touched of John a little above, pride,
covetousness and lechery), are no true faith and hope, but
vain words and visors only, according to his other disguising
and names of hypocrisy. p So D., but P. C. L. has light.]

188 EXPOSITION OF THE [CIIAP.
All that commit sin commit unrighteousness ; for sin is unrighteous
ness.
What sin is. That the English calleth here unrighteousness, the Greek
calleth anemia, unlawfulness or breaking the law : so that
all sin Is breaking of God's law ; and only the transgression
God'sTw?*^ of God's law is sin. Now aU God's laws are contained In
^' ^' these two points ; believe In Christ, and love thy neighbour.
And these two points are the interpreting and expounding of
aU laws : so that whatsoever edifieth in faith and love, Is to
be kept as long as it so doth ; and whatsoever hurteth faith
or love, is to be broken immediately, though bishop', king,
emperor, or an angel command It. And all Indifferent things,
that neither help nor hurt faith and love, are whole In the
hands of father, mother, master, lord and prince. So that
if they will sin against God, and overlade our backs, we may
well run away. If we can escape; but not avenge ourselves.
But and If they will break into thy conscience, as the bishop
of Rome doth with his dumb traditions, and saith, ' To do
this saveth thy soul, and to leave it undone loseth thy soul;'
then defy them as the works of antichrist, for they make
thee sin against the faith that is In Chrisfs blood, by which
only thy soul is saved, and for lack of that only damned.
breaketh -^^id how lovo breaketh the law, take an example. It Is a
Antl^ed'. good law that men come to the church on the Sundays, to
hear God's word, and to receive the sacrament of the body
and blood of Christ, in remembrance of his benefits, and so to
strengthen thy soul for to walk In his love, and in the love
of our neighbour for his sake, &c. ; yet If my father, mother,
or any other that requireth my help be sick, I break that good
commandment, to do my duty to my elders or my neighbour.
And thus all laws are under love, and give room to love:
and love Interpreteth them, yea and breaketh them at a time,
though God himself command them. For love Is lord over
all laws, and the thing that Christ commanded above all
others K
And ye know that he appeared to take away our sins; and there is no
sin in him.
Christ died not alone to purchase pardon for our fore-sins,
{} So P. C. L., but D. has king, emperor, pope.]
[2 So P. C. Ii., but this last clause is not found in D.]

III. 4—7.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 189
but also to slay all sin and the life of sin In our members.
For all we that are baptized In the name of Christ, saith Paul
(Rom. vi.), are baptized to die with him concerning sin ; and bo™i ''^.^_
that, as he after his resurrection dieth no more, so we after SapSsm.^""'
our baptism should walk In a new life, and sin no more. Our ^' ''^^
members are crucified with him. In all that pertaineth unto
the Hfe of sin. And if in Christ be no sin, then how can
there be wUful sin in the faith that is in him, or in the quick
members, that through faith grow out of him ? Every man
therefore that hath the true faith of Christ, purgeth himself,
as he is pure.
AU that abide in him sin not. And all that sin have neither seen him
nor known him.
As there Is no sin in Christ the stock, so can there be
none In the quick members, that live and grow In him by
faith. And they that give themselves to sin, have neither
seen, known, or felt by faith, the mercy that is In him. Our The filthiness
holy father then, which forbiddeth matrimony, and giveth his doctrine.
disciples licences, with his holy blessing, to keep whores, and
pluralities, unions, and totquots, to rob the parlshens^, hath
neither seen nor known Christ ; no more have his disciples,
that consent unto his Iniquity. And if they know him not,
they cannot truly describe him unto us. It followeth then,
that their preaching is but hypocrisy.
Little children, let no man beguile you. He that worketh righteousness
is righteous, as he is righteous.
Judge men by their deeds. For whosoever hath the where tme
Hght of God In his soul, he will let his Hght shine, that men proceedeth
1,1 , . 1 1 .11 rt Soo^ works.
shaU see his good works. And therefore where ye see not
the righteousness of works in the members outward, there, be
sure. Is no righteousness of faith in the heart inward. Let no
man mock you with vain words. Whosoever preacheth Christ
In word and deed, him take for Chrisfs yicar. And them that chnst's vicar.
would prove themselves his vicars with sophistry, and, when ^' ^'
It Is come to the point, make a sword only their mighty ar
guments, and live contrary to aU his doctrine, and in all
their preachings blaspheme and raU on his blessed blood, take
for the vicars of antichrist.
P Parishioners: see Vol. i. p. 257.]

190

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

The man is
first evil.
W.T.

John viil.

The man is
first good.
W.T.

The pope's
doctrine. Ant ed.

He that sinneth is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from the be
ginning. But for this cause appeared the Son of God, even to
destroy the works of the devil. All that are born of God do no
Bin: for his seed abideth in them; and they cannot sin, because
they be bom of God: And hereby are the sons of God known,
and also the sons of the devil.
God and the devil are two contrary fathers, two con
trary fountains, and two contrary causes : the one of all good
ness, the other of all evU. And they that do evU are born
of the devil ; and first evil by that birth, ere they do evU.
For ere a man do any evil outward, of purpose, he conceived
that evU first In his mind, and consented unto it, and so was
evil In his heart ere he wrought evil ; and ere he conceived
evil In his heart, he was born of the devil, and had received of
his seed and nature ; by the reason of which nature, seed and
birth, he worketh evil naturally, and can do no other : as
Christ saith, (John vni.) " Ye are of your father the devil,
and therefore will do the lusts of your father." For It is a
common proverb, the child followeth his father's nature'.
And on the other side, they that do good are first born
of God, an4 receive of his nature and seed ; and, by the
reason of that nature and seed, are first good ere they do
good, by the same rule. And Christ, which is contrary to
the devil, came to destroy the works of the devil In us, and
to give us a new birth, a new nature, and to sow new seed in
us, that we should, by the reason of that birth, sin no more.
For the seed of that birth, that Is to wete the Spirit of God
and the lively seed of his word sown in our hearts, keepeth
our hearts, that we cannot consent to sin ; as the seed of the
devil holdeth the hearts of his, that they cannot consent to
good^. This Is contrary unto the bishop of Rome in two
points : in the one, that he saith, that our good deeds make
us first good, and teacheth us not to believe in Chrisfs blood,
there to be washed and made first good ; and in another,
that he saith, God chooseth us first for our good quahties and
properties, and for the enforcement and good endeavour of
our free-will. What good endeavour Is there, where the devil
possesseth the whole heart, that It can consent to no good ?
[1 So P. C. L., but in D. the paragraph ends with the quotation
from John viii.]
p So D., but P. C. L. has God.]

in. 8  13.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 191
And, finally, there is great difference between the sin of The faithful
them that believe in Christ unfeignedly, and the sin of them fajftfuisin
that believe not. For they that believe sin not of purpose w- t.
and of consent to wickedness, that It Is good, casting and
compassing aforehand, without grudge of conscience, to bring
their purpose about: as ye see our hypocrites have vexed
all Christendom this twenty years, to bring a little lust to
effect^. Their fathers conceived mischief these eight hundred
years ago ; and the sons consent unto the same, and have
no power to depart therefrom : and therefore their sin Is
devilish, and under the damnation of the law. But if he that
believeth sin, he doth It not of purpose, or that he con
senteth unto the life of sin; but of infirmity, chance, and
some great temptation that hath overcome him. And there
fore his sin is venial, and under mercy and grace, though It
be murder, theft, or adultery ; and not under the damnation
of the law : so that his father shall scourge him, but not cast
him away, or damn him. Mark the sin of Saul and of David.
Saul ever excused his sin, and could not but persecute the
will of God; and David confessed his sin, with great re
pentance, at the first warning, whensoever he forgot himself.
All that work not righteousness are not of God; nor he that loveth
not his brother. Por this is the tidings which ye heard at the
beginning, that we should love one another, and not be as Cain,
which was of the devil and slew his brother. And wherefore slew
he him? For his deeds were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not my brethren though the world hate you.
The law of righteousness is, that we love one another as
Christ loved us; and he that hath not this love* Hving in
his heart, and, when the time is, bringeth not forth the fruits
thereof, the same Is not of God, but of the devil ; whose birth
and properties of the same ye see described In Cain, how he
resisted God, and persecuted the children of God for their
belief and works thereof. And as ye see In Cain and his
brother Abel, so shall It ever continue, between the children
of God and of the devU, unto the world's end. Wonder not
therefore, though the world hate you.
P This sentence is not in P. C. L., but is found in D. : and the
expression their fathers, in the next sentence, seems to require some
suoh antecedent as our hypocrites.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has law.]

192 EXPOSITION OF THB [cHAP.
"We know that we are translated from death to life, because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
All that hate their brethren are murderers ; and ye know that no
murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
If thou love thy brother in Christ, and art ready to do
and to suffer for him, as Christ did for thee, then thou art
sure thereby, that thou art the son of God, and heir of life,
and delivered from death and damnation. So have Christian
men signs, to know whether they be in the state of grace or
no. And on the otber side, he that hath no power to love
his brethren, may be sure that he Is In the state of death and
damnation. Another Is this, let every man look upon his
heart, and be sure that he which hateth his brother hath slain
him before God, and is a murderer. And murderers shall
^^-'" not obtain the kingdom of God, but are Cain's brethren and
the devil's chUdren, and are heirs of death, and ever under
damnation. Compare the regiment of the spiritualty, which
have had the temporal sword In their hands now above eight
hundred years, unto this doctrine of John ; and judge whether
they bave led us truly after the steps of Chrisfs doctrine,
or no'.
Hereby we are assured of love, because he left his life for us ; and
therefore ought we to leave our lives for our brethren. He then
that hath the substance of the world, and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the
love of God in him ?
If we felt the love of Chrisfs death, It would sure set our
heart on fire to love him again, and our brethren for his sake,
and should never cease to slay our resisting members, untU
we could not only be well content that our brethren were in
a more prosperous state than we, but also until we could bless
comJJlnse'^ them whcu they curse us, and pray for them when they per-
Modness. secute US, and to suffer death for them, to testify the word
of their soul's health unto them, and with love to overcome
them, and to win them unto Christ. If now every christian
man ought to have this rule of his profession before his eyes
to learn it, that he should love his brother as Christ did him,
to depart with his life for his brother's example, how far are
they off from good scholars, that cannot find in their hearts
P So P. C. L., but D. omits or no.]

HI. 14  19. ] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 193
to depart with a little of the abundance and superfluity of
their temporal goods, to help their neighbour's need !
My little children, let us not love in word, nor with the tongue ; but
with the deed, and of a truth. For thereby we know that we be of
the truth, and so shall we certify our hearts in his sight.
If we have power to work, then doth the work certify our
hearts that our faith In Christ, and love to God and our
neighbour for his sake, are unfeigned ; and that we are true
children, and no hypocrites. And then are we bold in our
conscience before God. And this is it that Peter meaneth Sr^whSe
(2 Pet. I.), where he biddeth us minister in our faith virtue 2, f^t^!^'''
godly Hving, and aU manner of good works, and therewith to
make our vocation and election, or our calling and choosing,
sure. For the sight of the work doth certify us, that God
hath called us and chosen us unto grace and mercy.
But and if, when the time of working is come, we fly and
have no power to work, then will our conscience accuse
us of sin and transgression within the heart before God ; and
so, for fear of the rod, we dare not be bold, but draw back
and stand aloof.
Let a child have never so merciful a father, yet if he
break his father's commandments, though he be not under
damnation, yet Is he ever chid and rebuked, and now and
then lashed with the rod ; by the reason whereof he Is never
bold In his father's presence. But the child that keepeth
his father's commandments, is sure of himself, and bold In his
father's presence, to speak and ask what he will. "They that iTim.m.
minister well get them good degree, and great confidence in
the faith that Is In Christ Jesus," saith PauP. He that worketh
Is bold before God and man : for his conscience accuseth him
not within, neither have we ought to wite* him withal, or to
cast in his teeth. And as without the sight of the works Jacob jamesu.
the apostle cannot see thy faith (James ii.), no more shalt thou
ever be sure or bold before God or man.
P So Tyndale has rendered ''Eirixoprj-y^a-aTe iv rfj mo-rei vfiav Trjv
apeTrjv &c., in his translation of 2 Pet. i. 5 : 'In your faith minister
virtue, and in virtue knowledge, &c.']
P For they that minister well get themselves good degree, and
great liberty in the faith which is in Christ Jesu. Tyndale's Trans.]
P Wite: blame. See Vol. i. p. 164.]
[tyndale, il]

194 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
But if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and
knoweth all things.
If our conscience accuse us of sin, God is so great and so
mighty that It cannot be hid.
Dearly beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then we trust to God
ward. And whatsoever we ask, that shall we receive of him;
because we keep his commandments, and do the things which are
pleasant in his sight.
Keeping of the commandments maketh a man see his faith,
and to be bold therein. And faith, when it Is without con
science of sin, goeth in to God boldly ; and is strong and
mighty in prayer to conjure God by all his mercies, and
therewith obtaineth whatsoever he asketh of all his promises.
And the text saith, "because we keep his commandments."
Yea, verily his commandments make us bold. But the keeping
of men's traditions and dumb ceremonies make us not bold
before God, nor certify our conscience that our faith is un
feigned. Thou shalt not know, by sprinkling thyself with holy
water, nor kissing the pax^, nor with taking ashes, or though
thou were anointed with all the oil in Thames street, that thy
faith Is sure. But and If thou couldest find in thine heart to
bestow both life and goods upon thy neighbour in a just cause,
and hast proved it; then art thou sure, that thou lovest Christ,
and feelest that thou hast thy trust in his blood.
And this is his commandment, That we believe in his Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave commandment.
Faith Is the first, and also the root, of all commandments:
commlnd- ^^^ out of faith sprlugeth love ; and out of love, works. And
ytf^^; when I break any commandment, I sin agamst love ; for had
I loved, I had not done it : and when I sin against love, I
sin against faith ; for had I earnestly, and with a full trust,
remembered the mercy that Christ hath shewed me, I must
have loved. Wherefore when we have broken any command
ment, there is no other way to be restored again, than to go
through repentance unto our faith again, and ask mercy for
Chrisfs sake. And as soon as we have received faith that
our sin is forgiven, we shall immediately love the command
ment again, and through love receive power to work.
[1 See Vol. I. p. 279.]

Faith is the

III. 20  24.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 195
And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in
him. And hereby we know that there dwelleth in us of his Spirit
which he gave us.
Through the works we are sure that we continue in
Christ, and Christ In us ; and that his Spirit dwelleth In us.
For his Spirit it is that keepeth us In faith, and through faith
In love, and through love in works.

THE FOURTH CHAPTER.

Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits
whether they be of God. For many false prophets are gone out
into the world.
Spirits are taken here for preachers, because of the ^^.^¦
preaching or doctrine, which, if It be good, then is it^ of the
Spirit of God ; and If It be evU, of the spirit of the devU.
Now ought we not to beHeve every man's doctrine unad- we may
visedly, or condemn any man's preaching ere It be heard and every doc-
seen what It Is : but a christian man's part Is to examine, taught and
X preached,
judge and try It, whether It be true or no. " Quench not the gj^'t'^J^ne
Spirit," saith Paul, " neither despise prophesyings ; but {'.^^h'^JOTe
prove all things, and keep that which is good." Destroy not wo?d,''arid
the gifts of the Spirit of God ; but try whether they be of receiv'eTt or
God, and good for the edifying of his congregation : and keep Ant? ed.
that which is good, and refuse that which is evil. And suffer
every person that hath any gift of God to serve God therein,
in his degree and estate, after a christian manner and a due
order. Why shall we try the doctrines? Verily, for there
be many false prophets abroad already. We told you before
that antichrist should come ; as our master Christ told us
that he should come : but now I certify you that antichrist's
kingdom is begun already ; and his disciples are gone out to
preach. Try therefore all doctrine. Wherewith shall we try Thetnaiof
it ? With the doctrine of the apostles, and with the scripture, w. r^ ""''
which is the touchstone : yea, and because ye love compen-
diousness, ye shall have a short rule to try them withal.
[2 So P. C. Ij., but D. omits then and it.]
13—2

196 exposition of the [chap.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of
God. And the same is that spirit of antichrist, of whom ye have
heard that he should come; and even now he is in the world
already.
wiiino?' Whatsoever opinion any member of antichrist holdeth,
cStls*^' *^o ground of all his doctrine Is, to destroy this article of our
eome in the fg^J^J,^ ^^^^ QJjj.Jg^ -g ^^^^ Jj^ ^J^g flggj^^ JIqj. thoUgh the mOSt
¦*""¦"*' part of all heretics confess that Christ is come In the flesh,
after their manner, yet they deny that he Is come as the
scripture testifieth, and the apostles preached him to be come.
The whole study of the devU and all his members is to
destroy the hope and trust that we should have in Chrisfs
flesh, and In those things which he suffered for us in his flesh,
and in the testament and promises of mercy which are made
us in his flesh. For the scripture testifieth that Christ hath
taken away the sin of the world in his flesh ; and that at the
same hour that he yielded up his spirit Into the hands of his
Father, he had full purged, and made full satisfaction for all
the sins of the world : so that aU the sin of the world, both
before his passion and after, must be put away through
repentance toward the law, and faith and trust in his blood,
without respect of any other satisfaction, sacrifice, or work.
For If I once sin, the law rebuketh my conscience, and setteth
variance between God and me : and I shall never be at
peace with God again, until I have heard the voice of his
mouth, how that my sin Is forgiven me for Chrisfs blood
Rom. v. sake. And as soon as I believe that, I am at peace with God,
and love his law again, and of love work.
And that Christ hath done this service in his flesh, deny
all the members of antichrist. And hereby thou shalt know
them. All doctrine that buUdeth thee upon Christ to put thy
The doctrine trust and confidence In his blood, Is of God, and true doctrine :
Rod. and all doctrine that withdraweth thine hope and trust from
W. T. . . . ...
1'he doctrine Christ Is of the devil, and the doctrine of antichrist. Examine
that IS of
wiedevu. ^jje Romlsh bishop by this rule, and thou shalt find that all
he doth is to the destruction of this article. He wresteth all
the scriptures, and setteth them clean against the wolP, to
[1 So P. C. L. and Day. 'Well was not an unusual way of spelling
will; and seems equivalent here to intent or purpose.]

IV. 2  6.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 197
destroy this article. He ministereth the very sacraments of
Christ unto the destruction of this article ; and so doth he all
other ceremonies, and his absolution, penance, purgatory,
dispensations, pardons^, vows, with all disgulsings. The Jf^U^^,"?
Romish bishop preacheth that Christ Is come to do away sins, g^^™° °^
jet not in the flesh, but In water, salt, oil, candles, boughs ^ ^-^
ashes, friars' coats, and monks' cowls; and In the vows of
them that forswear matrimony to keep whores, and swear
beggary to possess all the treasure, riches, wealth and plea
sures of the world ; and have vowed obedience, to disobey
with authority all the laws both of God and man. For
In these hypocritish and false sacrifices fteacheth he us to
trust for the forgiveness of sins, and not In Qhrlsf s flesh.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. For greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
He that dweUeth In you, and worketh in you through cod i» the
faith, is greater than he which dwelleth and worketh In them by fafth°h"a't
through unbelief. And in his strength ye abide by your him.^'^ '"
profession, and confess your Lord Jesus ; bow that he Is come
in the flesh, and hath purged the sin of all that believe
In his flesh. And through that faith ye overcome them in
the very torments of death : so that neither their juggUngs,
neither their pleasures, neither their threatenings, nor their
torments, nor the very death wherewith they slay your bodies,
can prevail against you.
They be of the world, and therefore they speak of the world, and the
world attendeth unto them. We be of God, and he that knoweth
God heareth us ; and he that is not of God heareth us not. And
hereby we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

rations in the
world.
W.I.

There be, and ever shall be, two generations In the world : Two gene
the one of the devU, which naturally hearken unto the false wo!?i '"
apostles of the devU, because they speak so agreeable unto ™ ^
their natural complexion ; and another of God, which hearken
unto the true apostles of God, and consent unto their doctrine.
And this Is a sure rule to judge spirits withal ; that we judge
them to have the spirit of truth which hearken unto the true
P P. C. L. omits pardons.]
[^ P. C. L. omits boughs.]

198

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

W.T,

doctrine of Chrisfs apostles, and them to have the spirit of
error, which hearken unto worldly and devilish doctrine,
abhorring the preaching of the apostles. And look whether
rfE^me?" *^® bishop of Rome's doctrine be worldly or no, if pride and
woridly! "^ covetousness be worldly, yea, and lechery too. For what
other is aU his doctrine, than of benefices, promotions, digni
ties, bishopricks, cardlnalships, vicarages, parsonages, prebends,
change of bishopricks and resigning of benefices, of unions,
pluraUtles, totquots, and that which cometh once into their
hands may not out again ; yea, and of whores and con
cubines, and of capti ving of consciences for covetousness? And
all that hearken to that doctrine abhor the doctrine of the^
apostles, and persecute it, and them that preach it.

He that
loveth God
is bom of
God. Ant ed.

Dearly beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God : and
all that love are born of God, and know God. And he that loveth
not, knoweth not God; for God is love.
John singeth his old song again; and teacheth an In
fallible and sure token, which we may see and feel at our
fingers' ends, and thereby be out of all doubt, that our faith
Is unfeigned, and that we know God, and be born of God,
and that we hearken unto the doctrine of the apostles purely
and godly, and not of any curiosity, to seek glory and honour
therein unto ourselves, and to make a cloak thereof to cover
our covetousness and filthy lusts : which token is, if we love
one another. For the love of a man's neighbour unfeignedly
The fountain Springeth out of the unfeigned knowledge of God In Chrisfs
blood : by which knowledge we be born of God, and love God
and our neighbours for his sake. And so he that loveth his
neighbour unfeignedly Is sure of himself, that he knoweth God,
and Is of God unfeignedly : and contrariwise, he that loveth
not, knoweth not God ; for God In Chrisfs blood is such a
love, that If a man saw It, it were Impossible that he should
not break out into the loye of God again, and of his neighbour
for his sake.

of love.
W.I.

Herein appeared the love of God unto us-ward, because God sent his
only Son into the world, that we should live through hira. Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son a satisfaction for our sins.

[1 In P. C. L. doctrine ofthe is wanting.]

IV. 7  ^10.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN.

199

If a man had once felt within in his conscience the fierce
wrath of God toward sinners, and the terrible and most cruel
damnation that the law threateneth ; and then beheld with the God first
eyes of a strong faith the mercy, favour and grace, the taking Sre"we
away of the damnation of the law, and restoring again of life, hta. Anted.
freely offered us In Chrisfs blood, he should perceive love,
and so much the more, that it was shewed us when we were
sinners and enemies to God ; and that without all deservings, Eom. v.
without our endeavouring, enforcing and preparing ourselves,
and without aU good motions, qualities and properties of our
freewUl; but when our hearts were as dead unto all good
working as the members of him whose soul Is departed.
Which thing to prove, and to stop the blasphemous mouths of
aU our adversaries, I will, of Innumerable texts, rehearse one,
m the beginning of the second chapter to the Ephesians, Eph. ii.
where Paul saith thus : "Ye were dead In trespass and sin. In
which ye walked according to the course of the world, and
after the governor that ruleth In the air, the spirit that worketh
in the children of unbeHef; among which we also had our
conversation in time past. In the lusts of our flesh, and fulfilled
the lusts of the flesh and of the mind," (so that the flesh and
mind were agreed both to sin, and the mind consented as well
as the flesh,) "and were by nature the children of wrath as
well as other. But God, being rich In mercy, through the Herein ap-
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead peat and °
in sin, hath quickened us with Christ; for by grace are ye mercy of
saved ; and with him hath raised us up, and with him has made God to-
, -^ ward us,
US sit In heavenly things, through Jesus Christ, for to shew in ^^rTy™
time to come the exceeding riches of his grace In kindness to ln"fed.
us-ward In Jesus Christ. For by grace are ye saved through
faith ; and that not of yourselves ; for it Is the gift of God,
and cometh not of works, lest any man should boast himself.
But we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesu unto
good works; unto which God ordained us before, that we
should walk in them." The text Is plain : we were stone dead,
and without life or power to do or consent to good. The whole
nature of us was captive under the devU, and led at his will.
And we were as wicked as the devU now is (except that he
now sinneth against the Holy Ghost) ; and we consented unto
sin with soul and body, and hated the law of God. But God,
of his grace only, quickened us in Christ ; and raised us out of

200 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
that death, and made us sit with Christ In heavenly things :
that Is, he set our hearts at rest, and made us sit fast In the
Hfe of Chrisfs doctrine, and unmoveable from the love of Christ.
And finaUy we are, in this our second birth, God's workman
ship and creation In Christ; so that, as he which is yet unmade
hath no life nor power to work, no more had we, tUl we were
made again in Christ. The preaching of mercy In Christ
quickened our hearts through faith wrought by the Spirit of
Christ, which God poured into our hearts, ere we wist.
Dearly beloved, if God so loved us, then ought we to love one
another. If we felt the love of God in Chrisfs blood, we could not
but love again, not only God and Christ, but also aU that are
bought with Chrisfs blood. If we love God for the pleasures
The use of that WO rccelve, then love we ourselves. But if we love him
" to do him pleasure again ; that can we no otherwise do, than
in loving our neighbours for his sake : them that are good, to
continue them in their goodness; and them that are evil, to
Love mak- draw them to good. Love Is the instrument wherewith faith
sons of God. makoth us God's sons, and fashloneth us like the image of God,
and certifieth us that we so are. And therefore commandeth
Matt. V. Christ, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray
for them that persecute you, that ye may be the sons of your
heavenly Father ; which maketh his sun rise over good and
bad, and sendeth his rain upon just and unjust:" yea, which
made the sun of his mercy shine upon us, and sent the rain of
the blood of his dear and only child upon our souls to quicken
us, and to make us see love, to love again.
No man hath at any time seen God. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfect in us.
No man hath ThouffH WO Cannot see God, yet If we love one another,
seen God. ^
w. T. ' we be sure that he abideth In us, and that his love is perfect
In us ; that is, that we love him unfeignedly. For to love God
truly, and to give him thanks, is only to love our neighbour
for his sake : for upon his person thou canst bestow no
benefit. And forasmuch as we never saw God, let us make no
Image of him, nor do him any image-service after our own
Thescripture Imagination; but let us go to the scripture, that hath seen him,
God. Ant.ed. and there wete what fashion he Is of, and what service he will

IV. 11  16.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 201
be served with. Blind reason saith, God Is a carved post, and
wiU be served with a candle : but scripture saith, " God is
love," and wiU be served with love. If thou love thy neighbour,
then art thou the image of God thyself ; and he dweUeth in
the hving temple of thine heart. And thy loving of thy
neighbour for his sake Is his service and worship In the spirit,
and a candle that burneth before him In thine heart, and casteth
out the Hght of good works before the world, and draweth all
to God, and maketh his enemies leave their evU, and come and
worship him also.
Hereby we know that we abide in him, and he iu us. For he hath
given US of his Spirit.
He that hath not Chrisfs Spirit, the same Is none of his. BytMs badge
If we have the Spirit of God, then are we sure. But how are known to
shaU we know whether we have the Spirit ? Ask John, and spintofGod.
'^ Ant ed.
he wUl say, ' If we love one another.'
And we have seen and do testify, that the Pather hath sent his Son, the
Saviour of the world. Whosoever confesseth that Jesus is the Son
of God, in him dwelleth God, and he in God. And we have known
and believed the love that God hath to us.
First, the apostles taught no fables, but that they saw
and received of God by the witness of his Spirit. Secondarily,
John ascendeth up step higher, from love to faith ; and saith,
"He that believeth that Jesus is God's Son, hath God In him." He that be-
And I doubt not but the bishop of Rome and his defenders Jesus is God's
wUl answer John, and say, 'Then the devil hath God In him, oodinhim.
and Is also In God:' for other faith, than such as the devU
hath, felt they never any. But John preventeth them, say-
ingS "We have known and believed the love that God hath
to us : " that Is, we believe not only with story faith, as men
believe old chronicles, but we beHeve the love and mercy that
God shewed us, and put our trust and confidence therein (and
so taketh scripture belief) ; we beHeve that Jesus is the Son of
God, became man and was slain^ for our sins, which is a token
of great love. And that love beHeve we, and trust thereto.
Where Paul saith. No man can caU Jesus Lord except the i cor. xu.
Holy Ghost have taught him, "but through the Holy Ghost;"
[1 So P. C. L., but D. omits saying.]
[2 So P. C. L., but in D. m,ade man and slain. ]

202 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
he meaneth, not with the mouth only, but in the heart, with
unfeigned faith, putting his hope and trust In the lordship
which he hath over sin, damnation, hell, and death. For so
could no man call Jesus lord, except the Holy Ghost had
Matt xvi. taught him; as Christ saith, (Matt, xvi.) "Flesh and blood
shewed thee not that,"
But yet how shall I see my faith ? I must come down to
love again, and thence to the works of love, ere I can see my
faith. Not always, but sometimes, thou shalt feel thy faith
without the outward deed ; as in great adversity and persecu
tion, when the devil assaulteth thee with desperation, and
layeth thy sins before thee, and would bear thee in hand that
God had cast thee away, and left thee succourless, for thy sins'
Faith taketh sako : then cometh faith forth with her shield, and turneth
Christ's back again the darts of the devil, and answereth: 'Nay; for
death and _ -in p /^ i i /->ii
deserving. Jesus IS tho Sou 01 God, yoa, and my very God and my very
lord, and hath taken away my sins and aU damnation. And
this trouble and adversity which is come upon me, by setting
on of thee and of thy limbs', Is only to make me feel the
mercy of my Father, and his power and help within In my
soul, and to slay the rest of the poison which remaineth In the
flesh.' God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him.
This have we heard above, and it Is easy to be under
stood.
Herefore^ is love perfect with us, that we should have confldence in
the day of judgment, [that as he is, even so are we in this world.]
Howsoever this text doth^ sound, this methinketh should
be the meaning : that we should provoke each other to love,
and ever have those examples of edifying before our eyes
Love maketh ^jiat sHould most movo US to lovo. For perfect love serveth
the faithful . , ^ ,
in'n°?o"b?"' to make a man bold, because it is the keeping of the com-
Anted. mandments. And therefore he that Is perfect in love, when
he seeth himself, yet In this world, to be unto his neighbour
as God is unto him, and to be like his heavenly Father In
[1 So P. C. L.: Day has, setting of thee and one ofthy limbs.]
[2 So both P. C. L., and D. ; but in Tyndale's translation of 1526
the word is herein. The clause in brackets is in that translation, but
omitted in D.]
P D. omits doth.]

IV. 16  18.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 203
aU example of kindness, is bold in the presence of God ; yea,
though he come to judge sinners : when, on the other side,
they that continue ever in then- wickedness, and grow not In
love, faU often ; and therefore their conscience ever accuseth
them, and putteth them in fear, by the reason of the fresh
memory of the offence, that they cannot at once be bold,
though they have never so great promises of mercy.
There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth out fear : for fear
hath painfulness. He therefore that feareth, is not perfect in love.
Love is not painful ; but maketh all things easy and Love.
pleasant : fear of punishment, for the trespass newly com
mitted. Is painful : therefore, where love Is perfect, there Is
no such fear. Love Is the fulfiUing of aU commandments:
and therefore, where love is perfect, there is no sin ; and
where the conscience doth not accuse of sin, there Is faith
bold to go in to God and to stand before him and look him
in the face, and to conjure him by all his mercies, and to
ask the petitions of his desire. Lack of love is the breaking
of the commandments, and cause of sin ; and where the con
science accuseth of sin, their faith is abashed, dismayed,
ashamed and afraid to go In, for fear of rebuke. Love
therefore serveth to make a man bold In the day of judgment,
and in all temptations.
John speaketh not generaUy of aU manner fear, but of Fear.
that only which the conscience of sin putteth a man In. For
divers fears there be that accompany love, and grow as she
doth. The more a woman loveth her chUd, the more she
careth for it ; and feareth, lest aught should chance unto it
amiss. Even so the more we love our brethren, the moreifweiove
we care for them, and fear lest any temptation should trouble then'"^""'^"^

are we
careful for

them : as Paul saith, (2 Cor. xi.) " Who Is sick, and I am them.
not sick ? Who Is offended or hurt, and mine heart burneth ^^^- ''•¦
not?" How cared he for Timothy, for Titus, and for aU
that were weak, and for the Corinthians, Galatians, and for
aU congregations! And how diligently wrote he to them in
his absence! And the more we love God, the more diligent The more we
and circumspect are we, that we offend him not. And teU more^mgen!
me, I pray thee, whosoever hast had experience, what a pain wswm!"""
and grief, yea, and what a fretting corosy* is it, unto the
P Corrosive. In P. C. L., corose.]

204

EXPOSITION OF THE

[cHAP.

Exod. xxxlL
Numb. xiv.

Where per
fect love is,
there is no
fear.Ant ed.
Rom. ix.

Faith is the
mother
of love.
W. T.

heart of a true lover of God, to hear the poison generation of
vipers, the pestUent sect of hypocritish Pharisees, wittingly
and wiUingly to blaspheme and raU on the open and manifest
truth of the Holy Ghost !
If ye wUl see how bold love is, go to Moses (Exod. the
thirty-second chapter, and Numb, the fourteenth chapter);
and there behold how he conjureth God, and among all
saith : " Forgive this people ; or put me out of the book that
thou hast written." As who should say, ' They be thy
people, and thou commandest me to love them ; and for thy
sake I love them, and teach them, and care for them, as a
mother that had borne them, and love them no less than
myself. Wherefore, if thou love me, as thou promisest me,
then save them with me; or If not, then cast me away with
them, and let me have such part as they take.' And Paul
said as much, Rom. ix. Look upon worldly love, and see
what pageants she playeth now and then, and how drunken a
thing it is: and be sure, where the love of God is perfect,
she will not only go between bodily death and her lover, but
also between him and hell. If a man would take of this,
that a man might be so perfect in this life that he might not
be perfecter, it would not follow. For though the spirit at a
time get the upper hand of the flesh, and winneth herself to
God, that she cannot teU whether she be in the body or no ;
yet the flesh will pull her down again, and not let her
continue, and now and then pluck off some of her feathers,
for mounting so high again. For Moses fell through unbelief
well enough after that ferventness.
We love him, because he loved us first.
We deserve not the love of God first ; but he deserveth
our love, and loveth us first, to win us, and to make us his
friends of his enemies ; and as soon as we believe his love
we love again. And so faith is mother of all love : and as
great as my faith Is, so great Is love, though faith cannot be
perfectly seen, but through the works of love and In the fire
of temptation.
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For
how can he, that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, love God
whom he seeth not ? And this commandment have we of him, that
he which loveth God, love his brother also.

IV. 18  21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 205
To love a man's neighbour in God is a sure rule to know a sure mie.
o ^ Ant ed.
that we love God : and not to love him is a sure token that
we love not God ; and to hate our neighbour is to hate God.
For to love God is to do his commandments ; as Christ saith, John xv.
 If y/Q love
"Ye are my lovers, if ye do those things which I have com- God, we must
d'd o , do his com
manded you." And the eommandment is, to love our neigh- ™^"^|^™J^'.
bours: then he that loveth not his neighbour loveth not God. Slov"™?'^
And likewise to hate the commandment Is to hate God that Anfw'er"'
commanded it : and the commandment Is to love our neigh
bours : he then that hateth his brother, whom God biddeth
him love, hateth God.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER.

All that believe that Jesus is Christ are born of God. And all that
Ioto him which begat, love him that is begotten of him. In this
we know that we love the sons of God, when we love God and keep
his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments. This Is a sure conclusion, that we be born of God through Faith
faith. And that faith maketh us God's sons, in that we God'fsom.
believe that Jesus Is Christ : as the first chapter of John also JohnV
testifieth, " He gave them power to be the sons of God, in
that they believed In his name."
What it Is to believe that Jesus is Christ, may be under- what it is to
J,, i<i'i ' d believe that
stood by that which is above rehearsed. It Is a far other cMst'^w t
thing than as the devU believed it, against his wiU and to his
great pain; or as they believe it, which, to fulfil their sin,
envy the glory of Christ, and persecute his gospel, forbidding
to preach it or to read In It. To believe that Jesus Is Christ,
is to believe in Christ : that Is, to believe earnestly, and to
put aU thy trust therein, and to lay the price of thy soul
thereupon; that the son of Mary, whom the angel commanded
to be called Jesus, because he should save his people from
their sins, is that Christ, that Messias, and that anointed, jesus the true
which God promised the fathers should come and bless all mfsalio™*
nations, and anoint them with the oil of his Spirit and with f/om tS'*
mercy and grace, and to deliver them from death of their '^"'¦^'i-
souls, which Is the consenting to sin, and to make them

206

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

All that love
God love all
that believe
in him.
Ant ed.

He that
loveth God
loveth also
the sons of
God.Ant ed.

alive with consenting unto the law of God, and in certifying
them that they be the sons of God ; and to put thy whole
trust In all that he suffered In his flesh for thy sake, and in
all promises of mercy that are In him ; and that thou be full
persuaded that there Is none other name under heaven, given
unto men to be saved from sin by, or to purchase forgiveness
of the least sin that ever was committed or ever shaU be In
this world 1.
Another conclusion is this, Whosoever loveth God loveth
all that believe In God. For all that love him that begetteth,
love them that are begotten of him : and aU that believe In
God are begotten of God through that belief, and made his
sons : then all that love God love all that believe in God.
Another conclusion is this. When we love God and his
law, then we love the sons of God. Which Is this-wise
proved : The love of God is to keep the law of God : by the
text, before and after, the law of God is to love our neigh
bours; and therefore If we love God, In keeping his laws, we
must needs love the sons of God.
But John should seem to be a very negligent disputer to
many men. In that he here certifieth us of the love of our
neighbours by the love of God, when above he certifieth us
that we love God because we love our neighbours. He
seemeth to do as I heard once a great clerk In Oxford stand
half an hour In a pulpit, to prove that Christ was a true pro
phet by tbe testimony of John Baptist ; and another half hour
to prove John the Baptist a true prophet by the authority of
Christ : as we say. Claw me, claw thee ; and as every thief
might Hghtly prove himself a true man, in bearing record to
another as false as he, and taking record of the same again.
Which kind of disputing schoolmen call Petitio principii,
the proving of two certain things, each by the other ; and is no
proving at all : as our holy father proveth the authority of
scripture by his decrees, (for the scripture is not authentic,
but as his decrees admit it;) and to make his decrees shine
and appear glorious, and to obtain authority, he allegeth the
scripture, after his juggling manner, to make fools stark mad.
But it is not so here: for both the demonstrations are
certain, both the proof of the love of God and his law by
the love of my neighbour, and the proof of the love of my
[1 So P. C. L., in D. the paragraph ends with committed.]

v. 1  3.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 207
neighbour by the love of God and his law. For when two
things are so joined together that they cannot be separated,
then the presence of the one uttereth the presence of the
other, whethersoever thou first seest : as If I see fire, I am
sure that something doth burn ; and if I smeU burning, I
am certified of fire. Even so the love of God is the cause The love of
God is cause
why I love my neighbour ; and my love toward my neigh- "' ^/,?„%|^-
bour is the effect of the love of God. And these two loves '^- ^•
are ever mseparable ; so that whethersoever I feel first, the
same certifieth me of the other.
John calleth the love of a man's neighbour the deeds of
love, after the Hebrew speech ; as to help at need, though he
were even an enemy to me ; to give the best counsel I can ;
to visit and relieve him If he be sick and needy, yea. If need
were, to bestow even my Hfe for him 2. For the deed de
clareth what the man Is within : neither can my love to
God, and faith, be seen to the world, save through the works :
and by the works doth Christ command us to judge. So
that. If a man have evil works, and continueth therein, he
loveth not God, nor knoweth God, no, though he call himself works set
. . ° forth and
master doctor or God's vicar: neither understandeth he God's deeiare faith.
Ant ed.
word, for all his high divinity ; but Is in all his preach
ing an hypocrite, a false prophet, and a liar, though his
preaching please the world never so well. Nevertheless, a
man is certified that he loveth God, ere he come at the work,
by the testimony of the Spirit, which Is given him In earnest.
"The Spirit," saith Paul, "testifieth unto our spirit, that we be Rom. viu.
the sons of God:" and then it testifieth that we beHeve in
God ; for through faith are we sons. And then it certifieth
me that I love God ; for faith and love are inseparable.
The Spirit through faith certifieth my conscience that my
sins are forgiven, and I received under grace, and made the
very son of God, and beloved of God: and then naturally
mine heart breaketh out into the love of God again, and I
seek how to utter my love, and to do God some pleasure ;
and because I can neither do service nor pleasure unto his
own person, my neighbour is set before me, to do God
service and pleasure In him, and to be to him as Christ is to ^°^° H^^^
me, because he is my brother, bought with Chrisfs blood as go" good""
I am. And I consent unto that law, and love It, ere I come at Ant"?d.
[2 So P. C. L., but in D. this sentence concludes with help at need.]

208 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
the deed, and long after the deed. And then, when I love
my neighbour In the deed, according to this law, I am sure
that I love him truly. Or else, if I examined not my love by
this law, I might be deceived. For some love their neigh
bours for pleasure, profit, glory, and for their doing service
only, as our spiritualty love us, and of that blessed love do
their busy cure * to keep us In darkness : which love is a sign
that a man hateth God, and his neighbour thereto, and loveth
himself only. But God's law Is, that I should abstain from
mine own pleasure and profit, and become my neighbour's
servant, and bestow life and goods upon him, after the
ensample of Christ. Wherefore if I love my neighbour out of
the love of Christ, and after the example of his law, I am
sure that I love him truly.
And his commandments are not grievous. For all that is born of God
overcometh the world : and this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith.
To love Is not painful : the commandments are but love,
therefore they be not grievous ; because love maketh the
A goodly commandments easy. The service that a mother doth unto
love. W.T. her child is not grievous, because she loveth it; but if she
should do the tenth part unto one that she loved not, her
heart would brast^ for impatience. Unto a man that feeleth
not the love of Christ it is as impossible to keep the com
mandments, as for a camel to enter through the eye of a
needle. But impossible Is possible, and easy too, where the
AU that are lovo of Chrlst Is bcHeved. For It followeth: "All that are
overcome" bom of God overcomo the world ; " that is to wit, the devil.
Ant ed. ¦ 'which Is the ruler of the world,) and his disciples, 'which have
their lust in his governance, and consent to sin both In body
and soul, and give themselves to follow their lusts without
resistance,^ and their own flesh,' which also consenteth to sin,)
do they overcome, with all that moveth to sin. By what
victory? Verily, through faith. For If our souls be truly
underset^ with sure hope and trust, and continual meditations
of Chrisfs love, shewed already, and of succour, help and
assistance that Is promised In his name, and with the continual
[1 Do their ofBce busily.]
P Burst.] p Underpropped.]

v. S  8.1 FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 209
memory of then- examples which In times past have fought
through faith and overcome ; then were it Impossible for the
world, with aU his chivalry, to overthrow us with any assault,
or with any ordnance that he could shoot against us. For
If that faith and meditation were ever present in us, then
love through that faith should easUy overcome whatsoever
peril thou couldest imagine. Read In the bible, and see what Th|^c™j
conquests faith hath made, both in doing and also suffering. ^jjh.^_^
The eleventh chapter unto the Hebrews mmlstereth unto
thee examples abundantly. How mighty was David, when
he came to fight ; and how overcame he through faith ! And
how mightier was he when he came to suffering, as in the
persecution of the king Saul I Insomuch that when he had
his most mortal enemy, king Saul, (that twelve years per
secuted him against all right,) In his hands*, to have done
what he would with him, through faith he touched him not,
nor suffered any man else to do, though he was yet all his
Ufe a man of war, and accustomed to murder and shedding
of blood : for he believed that God should avenge him on
his unrighteous king, upon whom it was not lawful to avenge
himself.
Who is it that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God?
If to believe that Jesus Is God's Son be to overcome the
world, then our prelates understand not what belief is ; which
aflu"m that the best belief and the worst man in the world
may stand together.
This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ ; not by water
only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that testifieth,
because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these
three are one. And there are three which bear record in earth, the
Spirit, water, and blood ; and these three are one.
Christ came with three witnesses, water, blood, and Spirit, christhad
TT 1-11 PI • ll.. three wit-
He ordamed the sacrament of baptism, to be his witness unto nesses.
x ^ Ant. ed.
US. And he ordained the sacrament of his blood, to be his
witness unto us. And he poureth his Spirit into the hearts of
his, to testify and to make them feel that the testimony of
those two sacraments are true. And the testimony of these
P So D., but P. C. L. has that when he had gotten him in, &c.]
r 1 14
[tyndale, II.J

210 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP.
three is, as it after foUoweth, that we have everlasting life
in the Son of God. And these three are one full witness;
suflScient at the most that the law requireth, which saith two
S'ne'S'the"' 01" three, at the most, is one fuU sufladent witness. But, alas !
IwayTom '^ we are not taught to take the sacraments for witnesses, but
Anted. for image-service, and to offer ^ the work of them to God
with such a mind as the old heathen offered sacrifices of
beasts unto their gods : so that whatsoever testifieth unto
us that we have everlasting life in Christ, that mouth have
they stopped with a leavened maunchet^ of their pharisaical
glosses.If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For
this is the witness that God hath borne of his Son.
If the witness of men, so' they be three. Is to be re
ceived ; much more Is the witness of God to be received.
Now the witness that these three, water, blood, and Spirit,
bear, is the witness of God, and therefore the more to be
believed. He that believeth in the Son of God, hath witness in himself. And he
that believeth not God, maketh him a liar, because he doth not
believe the witness that God hath testified of his Son. And this is
the witness, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. He that hath the Son hath life : and he that hath not
the Son of God hath not life.
Thefaithrui THo truc bcUevers have the testimony of God in their
have the true i,/./~ii • -i i-
God'tatheir hcarts, aud they glorify God, witnessing that he is true.
Arnilfd. They have the kingdom of God within them ; and the temple
of God within them ; and God in that temple ; and have the
Son of God, and life through him. And in that temple they
seek God, and offer for their sins the sacrifice of Chrisfs
blood, and the fat of his mercies in the fire of their prayers ;
and in the confidence of that sacrifice go In boldly to God
their father.
fui^wOTsWp' -^'1* *^® unbelievers blaspheme God, and make him false,
describing him after the complexion of their lying nature.

God in
image-ser-

[1 So P. C. L., Day has, tofore.]
[2 Maunchet or manchet : a small loaf of fine bread. Tyndale
presently gives the same name to the thin roU or wafer used in
the mass.]
p Thus D., but P. C. L. has when instead of so.]

V. 9  15.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 211
And because they be so full stuffed with lies that they can IZtfov^:
receive nothing else, they look for the kingdom of God in ^'"" "^
outward things, and seek God In a temple of stone, where
they offer their image-service and the fat of their holy deeds ;
in confidence whereof they go In to God, and trust to have
everlastmg Hfe. And though the text testifieth that this life
is only in the Son, yet they wIU come at no son, nor sun-
shming*; but, as unclean birds, hate the light.
These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the
Son of God, that ye may know that ye have everlasting life, and
that ye may believe in the Son of God.
They that have the faith of Chrisfs apostles know that jjhe wisb^
they have eternal IUe. For the Spirit testifieth unto their Sifs,'nei.
spirits that they are the sons of God (Rom. viu.), and re- know,°an'd''
ceived under grace. Our doctors say they cannot know they%^ on
whether they be In the state of grace ; therefore they have Aut. ed.
not the faith of the apostles. And that they know it not, is
the cause why they rail on it.
This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask aught ac
cording to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he heareth
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
ask of him.
Christ saith (Matt. vU.), "Ask and It shall be given Jg^f^™
you ; " and John (in chapter xvi.), " Whatsoever ye ask m Jf™- J^- ^'
my name, he shaU give it you." To ask in the name of Jesus •'°'" *^'-
Christ, and according to his will, be both one; and are nothing
else but to ask the things contained in the promises and tes
tament of God to us-ward, that God will be our father, and
care for us both in body and in soul ; and. If we sin of frailty,
and repent, forgive us ; and minister us all things necessary
unto this life, and keep us that we be not overcome of evil, &c.
Now If they which beUeve In Christ are bold with God that
he heareth them, and sure that he granteth their petitions, it
followeth that they which are not bold that he heareth them,
nor sure that he granteth their petitions, do not belieye in
Christ. They that go to dead saints, with which they never
spake nor wot where they be, be not bold that God will hear
P Thus P. 0. L., but D. omits son, nor. In Tyndale's time it was
usual to write sonne alike for son, and for sun : and this is continued in
Day's edition.]
14—2

212 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
„ ,, , , them, nor sure that he wIU grant themi ^j^eir petitions; there-
Such as lack ' f , , • i , , i
Christ wan- foi'e they believe not in Christ. That they be neither bold
n"t whfthen nor sure" appeareth first by their deeds, and secondarily by
their own confession; for they say, what should God hear
them or grant them aught, seeing they be unworthy? yea,
and they confirm it with a simUitude of worldly wisdom, that
they should be put back for their malapertness, and fare the
worse ; as if a rude feUow should break up into the king's
privy chamber, and press unto his own person without knock
ing, or speaking to any other oflficer : so that they beHeve it
an augmenting of sin to go to God themselves In the con
fidence of Chrisfs blood, as he bade them.
If a man see his brother sin a sin not unto death, let him ask ; and he
shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a
sin unto death; and for it I say not that thou shouldest pray.
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not to death.
Whatsoever sin we see in the world, let us pray, and not
Thejin to dospalr ; for God Is the God of mercy. But for the sin to
death, which is resisting grace, and fighting against mercy,
and open blaspheming of the Holy Ghost, aflfirming that
Chrisfs miracles are done in Beelzebub, and his doctrine to
be of the devil, I think that no christian man, if he perceive
It, can otherwise pray than as Paul prayed for Alexander the
Tim. iv. coppersmith, (the 2 Tim. the last,) " that God would reward
him according unto his works." They that go back again
after they know the truth, and give themselves wiUingly to
sin for to follow It, and persecute the doctrine of truth by
profession to maintain falsehood for their glory and vantage,
Heb. vi. X. are remediless : as ye may see Heb. vi. and x. Balaam sinned
so ; the false prophets in the old Testament sinned so ; the
Pharisees sinned so ; Alexander sinned so ; and now many sin
so, following their pride and covetousness.
We know that all that are born of God, sin not ; but he that is born of
God keepeth himself; and the wicked toucheth him not.
All that are As thou rcadcst In the third chapter, they that are born
caraof sTn.* of God canuot sin ; for the seed of God keepeth them. They
cannot cast off the yoke of Christ, and consent to continue in
sin, nor defy his doctrine, nor persecute it, for to quench it,
or to maintain any thing contrary unto it. But in whatsoever
[1 P. C. L. has tJiem, omitted by D.]

Ant. ed.

v. 16  20.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 213
captivity they be In the flesh, then" hearts yield not ; but
imagine to break loose, and to escape, and fly away, unto the
party and standard of their Lord Christ. And as men of war
they ever keep watch and prepare themselves unto war, and
put on the armour of God, the which Is God's word, the shield The armour
r . , , of a ehris-
of faith, the helmet of hope, and harness themselves with the «an man.
meditation of those things which Christ suffered for us, and
with the ensamples of all the saints that followed him, and
think earnestly that it Is their part to Hve as purely as
the best, and come after as fast as they can. And yet, in all
their works, they knowledge themselves sinners unfeignedly,
as long as one jot of the perfectness, that was in the deeds of
Christ, is lacking in theirs: so that the devil cannot touch
the hearts of them, neither with pride, nor vain glory of pure
living, neither to make them consenting unto the flesh In gross
sins. If at a time they be taken tardy, and catch a fall.
Whatsoever chance them, the devil can catch no hold of them,
to keep them stUl in captivity; but they will break loose again,
and repent and do penance, to chastise their flesh, that they
come no more under the devU's claws.
We know that we be of God, and that the whole world is set on
mischief. They that beHeve, that Is to say, put their trust in Christ,
see both their own glorious state in God, and also the wretched
estate of the world In their wickedness. But the world, as The world
they know not God, nor the glory of the sons of God, even so t^' th?n^
they see not their own miserable estate in wickedness, and ''"^•¦*'°'-"'-
damnation under the law of God; but the worse they are, the
bolder they be, and the surer of themselves, the further from
repentance, and the more standing in their own conceits, for
the darkness that Is in them. And therefore, say our doctors,
a man cannot know whether he be In the state of grace or no;
nor needeth to care therefore. And they be therefore the
blind leaders of the bUnd.
We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us under
standing to know hhn that is true : and we be in the truth through
Jesus Christ. He is very God, and eternal life.
Christ is all, and the fountain of all ; and of his fulness phnst omy
¦receive we aU. And as he poureth the gifts of his grace unon ^inlnd™"
.1 xl- i 1 T • 1 • 1 ... ° ^v" fulness of all
them that believe in him, so he giyeth them understanding to intld^'^

214

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

He that
seeketh any
other way
to eternal
salvation,than by
Christ shall
never come
there. Ant. ed.

Idolatry.

Idolater.W.T.

know the very God, and that they be in the very God, and
that they have obtained that through his purchasing ; and
leaveth not his sheep In darkness. And the same Jesus
Christ Is very God and eternal life : God and eternal Hfe was
he from the beginning, and became man for the great love he
had to us, for to bring us unto his eternal life. And he that
hath any other way thither, whether his own works, or other
men's, or works of ceremonies, or sacraments, or merits of
saints, or of aught save Jesus Christ only, shall never come
thither. The world seeth the bishop of Rome, and seeth that
they which be In him be lords in this world : and therefore
they care to be in the bishop of Rome ; but whether they be
in God or not, they say, it is not necessary to know.
Little children, beware of images.
Serve none image In your hearts. Idolatry is Greek, and
the English Is image-service : and an idolater is also Greek,
and the English an Image-servant. Be not idolaters nor
commit idolatry ; that Is, be none image-servants, nor do any
Image-service, but beware of serving all manner images. And
think it not enough to have put all the images of false gods
out of the way, If ye now set up the Image of very God and
of his true saints In their rooms, to do the same service unto
them which ye did unto the other. For ye may do as strong
t'o thrtaage'^ image-service unto the Image of God and of his saints, as unto
as wSby the Images of false Gods : yea, thou mayest commit as great
rommuted Idolatry to God, and yet before none outward Image, but before
Ant ed? ' the Image which thou hast feigned of God in thine heart, as
thou mayest before an outward image of the devil. The Jews
in the temple of God, where was none image of God, did as
great image-service to God, as the heathen unto their false
gods : yea, the Jews, In doing to God the things which God
commanded them, did commit worse idolatry, and sinned more
grievously against God, than the heathen did in offering unto
their false gods ; which thing to be true the prophets testify.
For when the Jews did their ceremonies and sacrifices (the
meaning and signification lost, and the cause forgotten, which
God ordained them for) to flatter and please God with the
glorlousness of the deed in itself, and to purchase aught of
him for the costliness or properness of the present; what other
made they of God in their imagination, than a child, whom, if

As great
idolatry may

V. 20, 21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 215
he cry or be displeased, men stiU with a puppet, or If we will
have hun to do aught, make him an horse of a stick, or such
Uke? If thou bring a bowl of blood and set it before God to Gross wor-
o shipping of
flatter him, to stroke him, and to curry and claw him, as he ood. Anted.
were an horse, and Imaginest that he hath pleasure and de
lectation therein, what better makest thou of God than a
butcher's dog ? If thou bring the fat of thy beasts to God,
for the same imagination, what makest thou of God, but one
that had need of grease to grease shoes or smear boots ? If
thou burnest blood and fat together to please God, what other
thing dost thou make of God, than one that had lust to smell
to burnt flotess'?
God commanded a courtesy of all first ripe fruits to be ceremonies.
offered : not to be an image-service, but a witness and testimony
that he had made them grow, that the people should not
forget God, but think on his benefits, and love him, and of
love keep his commandments. And Hkewise, If any had sinned
against God's law, God commanded that they should repent,
and then bring a beast and flay It, and offer the blood and
the fat of the Inwards ; not to make satisfaction, but to testify
only that God was appeased 2, and had of his mercy at the
repentance of the heart forgiven the sm. The sacrifices of sacrifices.
blood were ordained partly to be a secret prophesying of
Chrisfs blood-shedding, and partly to be a testimony and
certifying of our hearts, that the sin was forgiven, and peace
made between us and God ; and not to be a satisfaction : for
that were image-service, and to make an Image of God.
We read In the histories, that when a love-day', or a
truce, was made between man and man, the covenants were
rehearsed: and upon that they slew beasts, in a memorial and
remembrance of the appointment only. And so were the
sacrifices signs and memorials only, that God was at one with
us. For the Jew could believe no words, though an angel had The Jews
spoken, without a token ; as we hold up our fingers, and clap no"ii"gwia.
hands. And Hkewise whatsoever they were bid to do, they ^°t. ed!°^'
must have had a token of remembrance, though it had been
but a ring of a rush, as it is to be seen in the bible.
[1 Flotess ; scum.]
P So P. C. L., but D. has phased.]
[3 See Vol. I. p. 440.]

216

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

Sacramentsand cere
monies were
ordained only for re
membrances.
Ant ed.

Idolatry.

"We ought
to be frank,
and to dis
tribute to
our poor
brethren such as God
hath sent us.
Aut ed.

Even so our images, relics, ceremonies and sacraments,
were our memorials and signs of remembrance only ; and
he that giveth In his heart more to them than that, is an
image-servant. But when God is a Spirit, and worshipped
in the spirit, we for lack of faith, being spiritless, and having
no power to desire of God any spiritual thing, serve God In
the body with imagined service, for such wordly things as our
profession Is to defy. Who kisseth a relic, or beholdeth an
image, for love of the saints' living, to follow their example?
Nay, we will fast the saints' evens, and go barefoot unto their
images, and take pain to obtain greater pleasure In the world,
and to purchase worldly things ; as to maintain the body in
lusts, that the soul cannot once wish for power to live as the
saints Hved, or to long for the Hfe to come. If we went In
pilgrimage to keep the remembrance of the saints' Hving In
mind, for our example, and fasted and went barefoot to tame
the flesh, that It should not lust after such worldly things
which we now desire of the saints ; then did our fasting and
pilgrimage-going serve us, yea, and the saint were yet our
servant to edify us in Christ with the remembrance of his Hfe
left behind, to preach, and to provoke us to foUow his example.
For our bodily service can be no service unto the saint, which
is a spirit, except we Imagine him to be an Image.
St White must have a cheese once in a year, and that
of the greatest sort ; which yet eateth no cheese : it shall be
given to the poor in her* name, say they. First, that to be
false, we see with our eyes. Secondarily, Christ commandeth
to care for tbe poor, and give them all that we may spare, in
his name; saying, that what Is given them, is given him, and
what Is denied them Is denied him. If the law of Christ be
written In thine heart, why distributest thou not unto thy
brethren with thine own hands, in the name of thy Saviour
[1 It appears from the Britannia Saneta, a work published by
Meighan, a Romish bookseller, Lond. 1745, that our countrymen were
wont to venerate a St Witta, there said to have been 'a fellow-labourer
of Boniface' (or Winfrid the Saxon) 'in Germany, and consecrated by
him bishop of Buraburg near Fritzlar. Some authors call him Albuin,
by changing his name, which signifies White, into a Latin name.' Brit.
Sane. par. n. p. 221. The apparently feminine termination of this
saint's Saxon name was probably the cause of his being supposed to be
a female by persons who did not know his history. In Bishop Hooper's
works, Park. Soc. ed. p. 320, White is spoken of as a male saint.]

V. 21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 217
Jesus Christ, which died both for them and thee, as thou hast
vowed and promised to him in thy baptism ?
Moreover they say^, 'It is given unto St White's chap- superstitious
d d ' a. r popery is
lain.' St White's chaplain hath a stipend already, suflficient "loiatry.
for a christian man, and ought to receive no more, but there
with to be content, and to be an example of despising covet
ousness. Moreover, that priest that would follow the living
of Jesus Christj as St White did, and teach his parishens to
do so, were a right chaplain of Christ. And they have a
promise to be fed and clothed, as well as ever was their
master. In the name of Christ. And so be they, and ever
were; so that they need not to beg in the name of St
White. What shall St White do for thee again for that great
cheese ? For I wot well it Is not given for nought. Shall she
give abundance of milk, to make butter and cheese? All
we that beHeve In Christ are the sons of God, and God hath
promised to care for us, forasmuch^ as we care for the keeping
of his commandments; and hath promised that we shall
receive whatsoever we ask, to his honour and our need, of his
hand. If we then be the natural sons of God, why run
we from our father a begging to St White? St White
sendeth no rain upon the earth, nor maketh the sun shine
thereon, nor maketh the grass grow. Neither is there any
God's word that he wiU now do so much for us at her request.
But God hath promised, if we wIU keep his laws, to do soinaiiour
much for us at our own request, for the blood of his Son Jesus, mus'clfi
What other thing then is thy serving of St White, than iWe name
lack of faith and trust to God-ward In Chrisfs name ; and a chrSfand
false faith of thy own feigning, to St Whlte^ward, for thine f„["' ^^^
image-service or serving her with cheese, as though she were
a bodily thing ? And like disputation Is it of aU other saints.
And as we worship the saints with image-service, to
obtain temporal things, even so worship we God. And as
the Jews turned their sacrifices unto image-service, which
were given them of God to be signs to move them to serve
God In the spirit, even so have we our sacraments. And for
an example let us take the mass, which, after the Romish The mass
bishop's abuse of it, is the most damnable image-service that taag'eSr-

vice.

P So P. C. L., but this introductory clause is omitted in D.] ^' ^'
P So P. C. L., but in D. as much, omitting/or.]

218

EXPOSITION OF THE

[cHAP.

We must
ever cleave
unto God,
and submit
ourselves to
Ills mercy.
Ant ed.

The mass at
the first was
a declaration
of Christ's
passion.Ant ed.

The right use
of the mass.
W. T.
1 Cor. xi.
1 Cor. X.
and xli.
Eph. 1.

ever was since It began. Christ, according to the testimony
of the scripture, made in the days of his flesh satisfaction for
all the sin of them that had believed ^ or should believe In his
name; and obtained that they should be the sons of God,
and taken from under the damnation of the law, and put
under grace and mercy, and that God should henceforth deal
with them as a merciful father dealeth with his children that
run not away from him, no, though aught be at a time
chanced amiss, but tarry ever still by their father and by his
doctrine, and confess their trespass, and promise henceforth
to enforce themselves, unto the uttermost of their power, that
they do no more so negligently. And this purchase made he
with the things which he suffered in his flesh, and with the
strong prayers which he prayed. And to keep his testament
ever fresh in mind, that It were not forgotten, he left with us
the sacrament or sign^ of his body and blood, to strength
our faith, and to certify our conscience, that our sins were
forgiven, as soon as we repented and had reconcUed ourselves
unto our brethren, and to arm our souls, through the con
tinual remembrance of Chrisfs death, unto the despising
of the world, mortifying of the flesh, and quenching of the
lusts and thirst of worldly things : as they which have daily
conversation with the sick and miserable, and are present at the
deaths of men are moved to defy the world, and the lusts thereof.
And as Christ had Institute the sacrament of his body
and blood, so the bishops, in process of time, set signs of
all the rest of Chrisfs passion in the ornaments and gestures
of the mass ; so that the whole passion was daily described
before our eyes, as though we had presently looked upon it.
And mark also*, see for what cause they came unto the
sacrament. They reconciled themselves each one to other, if any
man had offended his brother, ere they were admitted Into the
congregation or body of Christ, to be members of each other,
knit together In one faith and love to eat the Lord's supper
(as Paul calleth it) ; for the congregation, thus gathered. Is
called Christ's body and Christ their head. And likewise. If
a man had been taken In open sin, against the profession
of his baptism, he was rebuked openly ; and he confessed his

P So P. C. L., but D. omits believed.]
[2 So D., but P. C. L. omits or sign.]
[3 So P. C. L., but D. has that thou mayest.]

V. 21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 219
sin openly, and asked forgiveness of God, and of the congre
gation, whom he had offended with the example of his evU
deed; and took penance, as they call It, of the congregation, whatpe-
that is, certain discreet injunctions how he should Hve and Ant%d.
order himself in time to come, and tame his flesh, for the avoid
ing of the said vice ; because his confession and repentance,
which he seemed to have, should be none hypocrisy, but an
earnest thing. For if an open sinner be found among us, we
must immediately amend him, or cast him out of the congre
gation, with defiance and detestation of his sin ; as thou seest
how quickly Paul cast out the Corinthian that kept his Grievous
T-" 111 iz-v smnotpassed
father's wife, and when he was warned would not amend. Or upon.^^
else, if we suffer such to be among us unrebuked, we cannot
but at once fall from the constancy of our profession, and
laugh and have delectation and consent unto their sin, as It Is
come to pass throughout all Christendom ; which Is ten
thousand times more abominable, than if we sinned ourselves.
For the best man In the world, that hateth sin, might at
a time through frailty of the flesh be drawn to sin. But it
is altogether devilish, and a sure token that the Spirit of
Christ Is not in us, nor the profession of our baptism written
In the heart, if we laugh at another man's sins, though we
ourselves abstain for shame, or fear of hell, or for whatsoever
imagination It be, or that we be so bhnd that we see no other
sin In us than our outward deeds. And the penance enjoined Discipline
i»'i 1 11 11 1 11 "*®^ *° the
trail persons, that could not rule themselves, was under the p?™"'^
authority ofthe curate, and the sad and discreet men of the Anted.
parish, to release part, or all at a time. If necessity required,
or when they saw the person so grown In perfectness that he
needed It not. But see whereto it is now come, and after
what manner our holy father that is at Rome dispenseth with
aU together! And see what our bishops' officers do, and
where the authority of the curate and of the parish is become !
If in ten parishes round there be not one learned and discreet
to help the other, then the devU hath a great swing among
us, that the bishops' oflficers, that dweU so far off, must abuse
us as they do. And If within a diocese or an whole land we can
find no shift, but that the bishop of Rome, that dweUeth at the
devil In heU, must thus mock us, what a stroke, think ye,
hath Satan among us ! And all Is because we be hypocrites, and
love not the way of truth, for aU our pretending the contrary.

220

EXPOSITION OF THE

[chap.

s^ripHonof And to begin withal, they said Confiteor'^, and know-
thl^l."' ledged themselves to be sinners. And then the priest prayed
In general for aU estates and degrees, and for increase of
grace, and In especial, if need required ; unto which prayers
the people hearkened, and said. Amen. And then the gospel,
and glad tidings of forgiveness of sins, was preached to stir
up our faith. And then the sacrament was ministered for
the confirmation of the faith of the gospel, and of the tes
tament made between God and us, of forgiveness of sins in
Chrisfs blood for our repentance and faith ; as ye see how,
after all bargains, there is a sign thereof made, either clapping
of hands, or bowing a penny or a groat, or a piece of gold,
or giving some earnest ; and as I shewed you how, after a
truce made, they slew beasts for a confirmation. And thep
men departed, every man to his business, fuU certified that
their sins were forgiven, and armed with the remembrance
of Chrisfs passion and death for the mortifying of the flesh
all the day after. And in all these was neither the sacra
ment, neither other ceremonies of the mass. Image-service
unto God ; and holy deeds, to make satisfaction for our
sins, or to purchase such worldly things as the gospel teacheth
us to despise. And now compare this use of the mass to
ours ; and see whether the mass be not become the most
damnable Idolatry and image-service that ever was In the
world.
The abo- '^q nevor reconcile ourselves unto our brethren which
minable use
Ant'ed?*^' W6 have offended ; we receive unto our mass the open sinners,
the covetous, the extortioners, the adulterer, the backbiter,
the common whore, and the whore-keeper, which have no
part in Christ by the scripture; yea, such are suffered to
say the mass, as the use is now to speak ; yea, such are we
compelled, with the sword, to take for our pastors and curates
of our souls, and not so hardy to rebuke them. Neither do
they repent, and confess their sins, and promise amendment,
or submit themselves to wholesome Injunctions for the avoiding
of such sins and taming of their flesh. We say Confiteor,
and knowledge ourselves to be sinners In Latin^, but never
p I confess. The title of a form of public confession of sins.]
[2 In the Roman breviary, after the priest has recited the Confiteor
for himself, the choir replies for the people: Confiteor Deo omni-
potenti, beatsB Marise semper virgini, beato Michaell archangelo, beato

V. 21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 221
repent in English. The priest prayeth in Latin, and saith
evermore a stIU mass, as we say : for though he sing
and strain his throat to cry loud unto them that be by him,
yet as long as no man wotteth what he prayeth, or whether
he bless or curse, he is dumb and speechless. And so. In
that part, we abide fruitless, and untaught how to pray unto
God. And the gospel is sung or said in Latin only ; and no
preaching of repentance toward the law and faith toward
Christ had. And therefore abide we ever faithless, and
without studying to amend our livings. And of the cere
monies of the mass we have none other imagination than that
they be an holy service unto God ; which he receiveth of our
hands, and hath great delectation in them, and that we
purchase great favour of God with them, as we do of great
men here in the world with gifts and presents : insomuch
that If the priest said mass without those vestments, or left
the other ceremonies undone, we should all quake for fear;
and think that there were a sin committed, enough to sink us
aU, and that the priest for his labour were worthy to be put
In the bishop of Rome's purgatory, and there to be burnt to
ashes'. And of the very sacrament Itself we know no other thing
than that we come thither to see an unseeable miracle, [which
they afiirm the angels in heaven have no power to do*; sed solis
presbyteris, quibus sic congruit, ut sumant, nec dent ceteris^:
how that bread is turned into the body, and wine into the blood. The abuse ot
the sacra-
Johanni Baptistae, Sanctis apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, Ant'ed.
et tibi, pater (that is, to the oflS.ciating priest), quia peccavi nimis
cogitatione, verbo, et opere; mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima
culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper virginem, beatum Mi
chaelem archangelum, beatum Johannem Baptistam, sanctos apostolos
Petrum et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te, pater, orate pro me ad
Dominum Deum nostrum. In feriali officio ad primam.— Ed. Colon.
Agripp. 1680, p. 33—4.]
P The papal law says. Cum sacerdos ad solemnia missarum accedit,
non aliter accedat quam orario utroque humero circumseptus, ita ut
de uno eodemque orario cervicem pariter et utrumque humerum
premens, signum in suo pectore prseparet crucis. Si quis autem aliter
egerit, excommunicationi debitae subjaceat.^Decret. prima pars,
Dist. xxm. c. 9. Ecelesiastica.]
[< See Vol. I. p. 380, n. 4.]
P "But [the power belongs] to the priests only, to whom it is so
fitted, that they may take [this power], but not give it to others."]

222 EXPOSITION OF THE [cHAP.
of Christ, to mock our seeing, smeUIng, feeling, and tasting ;
which Is a very strong faith, and more a great deal (I think) than
the text compelleth a man to^.] Nevertheless it were some
what yet, if they had been as loving, kind, careful and diligent
to teach the people to repent, and to believe in the blood of
Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, unto the glory of
the mercy of God, and of his exceeding love to us, and unto
the profit of our souls; and, upon that preaching, to have
ministered the sacrament as a memorial, remembrance, sign,
token, earnest, the seal of an obligation, and clapping of hands
together, for the assurance of the promise of God ; to quiet,
stablish and certify our consciences, and to put us out of all
wavering and doubt, that our sins were forgiven us, and
God become our father and at one with us, for which cause
only Christ ordained it; [as they were zealous and fervent
Half of the to maintain the opinion of so turning bread and wine into
sacrament ^ o
tSay"" ^^^ "°"y ^"^^ blood of Christ, that It ceaseth to be bread and
Ked. ^^^ ^ nature, unto their own glory and profit, without help
of scripture, but with subtle arguments of sophistry and with
crafty wiles: first, with taking away half the sacrament,
lest, if the people should have drunk the blood of Christ, they
should have smelled the savour and felt the taste of wine,
and so have been too weak to beHeve that there had been no
wine ; and secondarily, when they durst not rob the people
of all the sacrament, they yet took away common bread, and
imagined maunchets which may not be handled, and In sight
have no sImlHtude of bread, and In eating very little taste, if
there be any at aU; and thirdly, whom they could not
catch with those crafts, against him they disputed with the
sword.] For when they had^ taken away the signification
and very intent of the sacrament, to stablish the ear-con
fession, their merits, deservings, justifying of works, and like
invention, unto their own glory and profit; what had the
sacrament been, if they had not made of that opinion an
article of the faith'? But now, when they have destroyed,
[1 Those passages in this page and in the remainder of this ex
position which are included within brackets are found in D., but not
in the earlier P. C. L. edition.]
[2 In P. 0. L. now tliey have.]
[3 In P. C. L., what doth the sacrament admonish us, of reconciling
us to God 9]

y. 21,] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 223
for the nonce, that faith which profited, and have set up with
wUes, subtUty, falsehood, guUe and with violence, that faith
which profiteth not, we have good cause to judge and examine
the doctrine of the spirits, whether It be grounded upon God's
word or no.
[But I ask, wherefore we believe that Chrisfs body, and
his blood, is there present ? Yerily, as many heads, as many
wits; every man hath his meaning.] We take pains to come
thither to see strange holy gestures, whereof, say they to
their shame, who knoweth the meaning? [yea, or of the other
disguising ?] and to hear strange holy voices ; whereof, say I
also, that no man knoweth the understanding ; and to look
upon the sacrament ; and aU to obtain worldly things for that
service. Why, may not all men desire worldly things of
God? Tes, we ought to ask of God only sufficiency of all
worldly things, as we do spiritual things, yet not for bodily
service, seeing* God Is a spirit ; but for the goodness and
mercy of our Father, and for the truth of his promise and
deservings of his Son. And so, when we do men bodily service,
we ought to look for our wages of God, lest if he move not
the hearts of our masters, we be shrewdly paid ; and likewise
when we lend or bargain, we ought to desire God for pay
ment, lest through our negUgence he forget us, and the
appointments be not truly kept. Some there be yet, that
ask heaven but for bodUy service : which Is like abomination.
But who cometh thither with repentance and faith, for to
obtain forgiveness of his sins, and with purpose to walk in the
life of penance for the taming of the flesh, that he sin no more ;
and to stablish his heart in that purpose, and to arm his soul
against all that move to the contrary ; and when he goeth
home, is certified in his conscience, through that sign and
token, that his sins are 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 The fruitful
sign of circumcision, that God would fulfil to him and his ajie doctrine
° . ' ofthe sacra-
offspring aU the mercies that he had promised ; and as Abra- ke™t'frX
ham, when he asked a sign, to be sure that he should possess lm. ed.
the 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 de-
[* So P. C. L., but in D. when is substituted for seeing.]

224 EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP'
liverance ; 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 wiU suffer any such meat to be set before us, for fear of
overthrowing the foundation of their false buUding, whereof
springeth so great glory and profit unto them; which foun
dation, to buUd their Hes 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 bhnded
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 purga
tory, 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 the old Testament ; and at last they laid it unto
Chrisfs 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 Wicllffe'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
[I Compel them to come in. Luke xiv. 23.]
[2 A proverb taken from the appearance of this species of water
fowl, which has a callous white membrane spread over its forehead.]
[3 See Exposition upon Matthew, p. 63. Tyndale charges the

y. 21.] FIRST EPISTLE OF ST JOHN. 225
caused half England to be slain up, and brought the realm
Into such ruin and desolation that M. More could say, in his
Utopia, that as Englishmen were wont to eat sheep, even so
theh" 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 insur
rection : but ye shall see shortly that these hypocrites them
selves, after their old wont and examples. In quenching the
truth that uttereth their juggling, shall cause all realms
christian to rise one against another, and some against
themselves. Te shall see them 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 I have said because of them that deceive you, to
give you an occasion to judge the spirits.
popish clergy with what he accounted the guilt of deposing Richard
H., and of transferring the crown to the house of Lancaster, when the
hereditary right had devolved to the house of York.]

[tyndale, il] ¦'¦^

NOTES OR GLOSSES
OS
SAINT MATTHEW'S GOSPEL.
A.D. 1525.

[INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

Having arrived at the end of all that is known to be extant of
Tyndale's expositions, our promised course leads us to his notes on
scripture, of which we can present our readers with no more than
those he composed for the margins of his intended flrst edition of the
New Testament in English. It has been already mentioned (Vol. I.
p. 3), that the prologue preflxed to that edition was the flrst address
from an English reformer, printed by himself for the ediflcation of our
forefathers ; and the following notes, originally called glosses, and re
probated under that name by the Romanists (Vol. l. pp. xxiii, xxvi.) are,
in like manner, the flrst approach to a running comment upon the text
of scripture ever printed in the English tongue. They were copied by
the present editor from that fragment of the flrst sheets struck off by
Tyndale, of which an account was given in Vol. l. pp. 4, 5 ; and where
the fragment terminates, our knowledge of them ceases.]

MARGINAL NOTES
ON THE FIRST TWENTY- ONE CHAPTERS OP
ST MATTHEW'S GOSPEL.

CHAPTER I.
Abraham and David are first rehearsed, because that Christ ver. i.
was chiefly promised unto them.
St Matthew leaveth out certain generations, and describeth ¦>"- "•
Chrisfs lineage from Solomon, after the law of Moses. But
Lucas describeth it according to nature, from Nathan, Solomon's
brother. For the law calleth them a man's chUdren, which
his brother begat of his wife left behind him after his death.
Deut. xxv.
That Is to say, by the working and power of the Holy ^er. is.
Ghost. That Is, he would not put her to open shame, as he well '«'• '"•
might have done by the law. Also Matthew rejoiceth of the
goodness of Joseph, which, for love's sake, did remit of his
right. Jesus is as much to say as a Saviour; for he only saveth ver. 21.
all men from their sins by his merits, without their deserving.
Christ bringeth God : where Christ is, there is God ; and ver. 23.
where Christ Is not, there is not God.
Te shall not suppose that he knew her afterward. But ver. 25.
it Is the manner of the scripture so to speak. Gen. viii.
"The raven came not again till the water was drunk up, and
the earth dry." The scripture meaneth not, he came again
afterward: even so here. It followeth not that Joseph knew
our lady' afterward. CHAPTER II.
Of Matthew they are called Magi; and In certain countries ""- ¦•
in the east philosophers, cunning in natural causes and effects,
and also the priests, were so called.
Jewry is the land ; Judah is that tribe or kindred that ver. e.
dwelt therein.
[' In the notes to Tyndale's Test, of 1538, of which there is a copy
in the Bapt. Coll. Museum, Bristol, Mary is substituted for ov/r
lady.]
15—2

228 MARGINAL NOTES ON THE FIRST
y^- '8- Rachael was burled not far from Bethlehem ; and the
prophet signifieth that as she mourned her son Benjamin, la
whose birth she died, so should the mothers of those children
mourn. And here may we see how it goeth alway with the
right christian men before the world, for the faith's sake which
they have in Christ; notwithstanding they are wonderfully
maintained and defended alway of God against all power
of hell. CHAPTER HI.
yer. 4. Locusts are more ' than our grasshoppers ; and such men
used to eat in divers parts of the east.
^".9. Put your trust in God's word only, and not in Abraham.
Let saints be an ensample unto you, and not your trust and
confidence r for then ye make Christ of them.
^"- '*¦ All righteousness is fulfilled when we forsake all our own
righteousness, that God only may be counted he which Is
righteous, and maketh righteous through faith. This doth
John, In that he putteth from him his own righteousness, and
would be washed of Christ and made righteous. This also
doth Christ, In that he taketh not righteousness and honour on
him ; but suffereth himself to be baptized and killed : for
baptism Is none other thing than death.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
yer. 5. The world thinketh to possess the earth, and to defend
their own, when they use violence and power ; but Christ
teacheth that the world must be possessed with meekness only,
and without power and violence.
ver. 11. All these deeds here rehearsed, as to nourish peace, to
shew mercy, to suffer persecution, and so forth, make not a
man happy and blessed ; neither deserveth he reward of
heaven ; but declare and testify that we are happy and
blessed, and that we shall have great promotion in heaven ;
and certify us in our breasts that we are God's sons, and that
the Holy Ghost is in us : for all good things are given to us
freely of God, for Chrisfs blood sake and his merits.
yer. 13- Whcu the prcacHcrs cease to preach God's word, then
[1 That is, greater,]

TWENTY-ONE CHAPTERS OF ST MATTHEW. 229
must they needs be oppressed, and trod under foot, with
man's traditions.
Jot Is as much to say as the least letter ; for so Is the ver. is.
least letter, that the Greeks or Hebrews have, called.
This do they which say that these, Chrisfs command- ^^2\^^
ments, are not commandments but counsels.
"Called the least;" that Is to say, shaU be little set by
and despised.
" Called great ; " that Is to say, shall be much set by
and had In reverence.
The goodness of the Pharisees standeth in outward works ver. 20.
and appearance ; but Christ requireth goodness of the heart.
Racha Is the hoarse sound in the throat ; and betokeneth ver. 22.
all signs of wrath.
To pluck out spiritually is here commanded ; that is, ver. 29.
when the eyes' lust is put away, and killed in the heart.
All swearing and oaths, which a man of himself doth, ver. 34.
are here forbidden. Nevertheless when love, need, thy
neighbour's profit, or God's honour requireth It, then is it
well done to swear ; like as wrath Is forbidden, and yet is
laudable when it proceedeth of love, to honour God withal.
No man should avenge himself, or seek wreak, no, not by ver. 39.
the law. But the ruler, which hath the sword, should do
such things of himself; or when the neighbours, of love, warn
him and require him.
Publicans gathered rents, toll, custom, and tribute; and were ver. 46.
commonly heathen men, thereunto appointed of the Romans.
CHAPTER VI.
Te shall not think that our deeds deserve anything of ver. 4.
God, as a labourer deserveth his hire. For all good things
come of the bounteousness, liberality, mercy, promises, and
truth of God, by the deserving of Chrisfs blood only ; but
it Is a manner of speaking, as we say, ' Thy labour, or going
was weU rewarded,' unto him that hath but fett^ only the
promises of another man.
The eye Is single, when a man In all his deeds looketh ver. 22.
but on the will of God, and looketh not for laud, honour, or
any other reward In this world; neither ascribeth heaven, or
a higher room In heaven, unto his deeds, but accepteth heaven
[2 Brought away, carried ofi'.]

230 MARGINAL NOTES ON THE FIRST
as a thing purchased by the blood of Christ, and worketh
freely for love's sake only.
ver. 30. Mou Heat their furnaces and ovens with such things In
those countries.
ver. 34. Troublo 1 is the daily labour. He wUl It be enough that
we labour daUy, without farther care.
CHAPTER VII.
ver. 1-4. rp^ judge. Or condomn, belongeth to God only. Therefore
whosomever judgeth, without God's commandment, taketh
God's honour from him ; and that Is the beam in the eye.
ver. 6. The holy things are the word of God, that sanctifieth
all things. Dogs are the persecutors of the word. Swine
are they which are drowned In fleshly lusts, and despise the
word.
ver. 24. Here Christ requireth faith ; for where faith Is not,
there Is not the command fulfilled, Rom. xiii. And all good
works after outward appearance, without faith, are sin : con
trariwise, where faith is, there must the very good works
follow. Christ calleth here doing, to do with a pure heart,
Acts XV. ; and such goodness standeth fast against all winds,
that is to say, against all the power of hell ; for it is built on
the rock, Christ, through faith.
CHAPTER VIII.
ver. 2. Faith knoweth not, yet trusteth in the favour and good
ness of God.
ver. 4- Moses calleth the law a witness unto the people (Deut.
xxxi.); for the law accuseth us, and Is a testimony against our
sin. Likewise here, If the priests bare record that Christ
had cleansed this leper, and yet believed not, then testified
they against themselves.
ver- «• Centurion Is a captain of a hundred men ; whom I call
sometime a centurion, but for the most part a bunder-
captain.
"-'"''- ^'- Some pretend good works, because they would not follow
Christ and believe ; but Christ signifieth that such works are
dead and lost. CHAPTER IX.
^j. , This city was Capernaum.
[1 Each day's trouble is sufiicient for the self- same day. Tyndale's
Version.]

TWENTY-ONE CHAPTERS OF ST MATTHEW. 231
Mourn, that Is, to suffer pain. There Is pain in many ver. is.
ways : one way, of a man's own choice and election ; as is
the monks' rules, and as Baal's priests pricked themselves,
3 Kings xviu. : such pain doth aU the world, the Pharisees,
yea, John's disciples, esteem great; but God despiseth It.
Another ways is there pain, and ordained of God, without
our election ; as shame, rebuke, wrong, death : such to suffer
patiently, and with good-wUl, Is the right cross, and pleaseth
God weU : so Chrisfs disciples fast not, but are merry at the
marriage, while the bridegroom is yet with them ; yea, and
God had yet ordained no trouble for them. They fain^
themself no pain ; for it pleaseth not God. They must fast
after Chrisfs death, and suffer pain of God's hand and or
dinance. So now, whatsoever a man taketh on him by his
own election, that Is reproved ; yea, and where Christ shew
eth hiraself friendly, as a bridegroom, there must needs be a
merry heart.
With these words Christ driveth them from him, as them ver. le.
which understood not his learning, as concerning the liberty
of his disciples; and saith, "No man mendeth an old garment
with new cloth, for the old holdeth not the stitch:" as who
saith, " Such spiritual new learning cannot be comprehended
with old fleshly hearts." Preach to fleshly people, and they
wax worse ; as we see, when spiritual liberty is preached, the
flesh draweth it unto carnal lust.
The harvest are the people, ready to receive the evan- ver. 37.
gehon ; and the labourers are the true preachers.
CHAPTER X.
Beyond the sea, commonly, they have as well brasen ver. 9.
money as of gold and silver^. girdies.
That Is, see that ye take nothing of them, insomuch that ver. i4.
ye shake off the very dust from your shoes, that they may
know how ye sought not your own profit, but their health.
[2 Fain : desire. So Spenser. P. Q. Cant. iv. St. 47.]
[3 It was not till the reign of James I. that the English sovereigns
issued a copper coinage. As late as 1604 the royal mint issued pence
and halfpence in silver. Macpherson's Hist, of Commerce, pp. 242
and 256, under date of 1609. But " beyond the sea," in Ireland for
example, copper coin had come into common use in the reign of
Edward HI., who made a vain effort to restrain the Irish from buying
or selling with black money, as ho styled it.]

232

MARGINAL NOTES ON THE FIRST

ver. 2a Last That Is, ye shall not have converted or preached.
ver. 27. That is to say, openly, where every man may hear.
ver. 41. "In the name of a prophet ;" that is, in that he pertaineth
to God and to Christ.
rapofcou Compare deed to deed, so Is one greater than another;
''^'^'- but compare them to God, so are they all aUke, and one as
good as another ; even as the spirit moveth a man, and time
and occasion giveth. CHAPTER XI.
ver. 6. Hurt Hurtcd and offended, throughout all the new Testament,
offeSded in ' bctokeneth to decay and faule In the faith. For many, when
me. Auth. , 1 i /-hi • 1 , i
Ver. tney saw that Ohrist was but a carpenter s son, as they sup
posed, and he himself also a carpenter, and his mother and
kin of so low degree, moreover, when they saw him put to so
vile a death, fell clean from the faith, and could not beHeve.
ver. 11. Less, that Is Christ i.
He that is , , , .
kTn'domV When the consciences perceive the gospel, they thrust in.
vcHS.' '^'^' IJ^J^othlng can let them.
ver 20. To Upbraid Is to cast a man In the teeth.
ver. 30. The cross is an easy thing to them that perceive the
gospel. CHAPTER XIL
„j.7. The understanding of all commandments stands so greatly
in love, that the very commandments of God bind not where
love and need require.
ver. 25. That Is, wasted, destroyed, and brought to nought.
dMo'iate. Sin against the Holy Ghost is despising of the gospel and
his working. Where that hideth Is no remedy of sin: for
it fighteth against faith, which is the forgiveness of sin.
If that be put away, faith may enter in, and all sins depart.
vcr..n2. Where Matthew saith here, "Neither in the world to
come," Mark saith, "He Is in danger of eternal damnation."
ver. 34. A viper is after the manner of an adder, viz. a worm
most full of poison.
[1 In his answer to ch. viii. of B. ii. of More's Dialogue, [date 1531]
Tyndale gives a comment on these words of our Lord to the same
purpose, but at greater length. In his new Testament diligently
corrected, printed at Antwerp in 1534, this note is changed into the
following : " Christ which humbled himself to the cross was less."]

TWENTY-ONE CHAPTERS OF ST MATTHEW. 233
Here may ye see that words and deed declare out- ver. 35-7.
wardly what a man Is within, and are witnesses with him
or against him, but never make him good or bad ; as the
fruit declareth what the tree is, but maketh it neither good
nor bad. CHAPTER XIII.
Where the word of God Is understood, there it multlpHeth, ver. 12.
and maketh the people better. Where it Is not understood,
there It deer easeth, and maketh the people worse.
The seed is sown in the ground ; and the ground Is sown ver. 19-23.
with the word of God.
Tares and cockle are weeds that grow among corn. ver. 25.
There Is not so simple a thing In the world, or more ver. 32.
despised than the gospel; and yet It saveth and justifieth
them that believe thereon. The law and the works doeth
It not. Leaven betokeneth the gospel also ; for It changeth a man ver. 33.
Into a new creature.
Treasure hid Is the gospel, which giveth us grace and ver. 44.
righteousness without our deserving. Therefore we find it,
and make joy, and have a merry conscience ; a thing that no
man can obtain with works.
The pearl Is also the evangelien. ver. 46.
Old ; the law. New ; the gospel, or evangelien. ver. 52.
CHAPTER XIV.
Tetrarcha is he that hath rule over the fourth part of the ver. i.
realm, Jewry, with her pertenance, was then divided into
four lordships.
The night In the old time was divided into four quarters ; ver. 25.
and to every part was given three hours.
CHAPTER XV.
Mark the leaven of the Pharisees. God would that the ver. s.
son should honour his father and mother with his temporal ainlToffS,
goods ; and the Pharisees for their temporal lucre Interpreted doth'rrolt
it, saying, ' God Is thy father and thy mother ; offer to him.' t. v.
So were the Pharisees' dishes fuU with robbery and extortion ;
and the poor fathers and mothers perish for hunger and
need.

234 MARGINAL NOTES ON THE FIRST [cHAP.
ver. 9-13. Traditious of men must faU at the last. God's word
hideth ever. CHAPTER XVL
ver. 3 The signs are Chrisfs wonderful deeds and miracles,
which were prophesied of before, that they should be done In
Chrisfs time.
ver. 17-18. Peter in the Greek signifieth a stone in English. This
confession is the rock. Now is Simon Bar-Jona, or Simon
Jonas' son, called Peter, because of his confession. Whoso
ever then of this wise confesseth Christ is called Peter. Now
Is this confession common to all that are true Christians.
Then Is every christian man and woman Peter. Read Bede,
Austin, and Hierome of the manner of loosing and binding ;
and note how Hierome checketh the presumption of the Pha
risees in his time, which yet had not so monstrous interpre
tations as our new gods have feigned. Read Erasmus' Anno
tations, It was not for nought that Christ bade " beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees," Nothing Is so sweet that they
make not sour with their traditions. The evangeUon, that
joyful tidings. Is now bitterer than the old law, Chrisfs
burden Is heavier than the yoke of Moses. Our condition
and estate is ten times heavier than was ever the Jews', the
Pharisees have so leavened Chrisfs sweet bread.
ver. 23. It soundcth In Greek, 'Away from me, Satan;' and are
the same words which Christ spake unto the devil, when he
would have had him to fall down and worship him,
ver. 27. For the deeds testify what a man Is inward. The tree
shall be praised according to his fruit.
ver, 28. That Is, Whosocver believeth on me shall not see death.
CHAPTER XVII.
ver. 21. Strong faith requireth fervent prayer ; and prayer re
quireth fasting to subdue the body, that lusts unquiet not a
man's mind.
ver. 26. Though CHrlst were free, yet gave he tribute for his
neighbour's sake. So is a christian man free in all things,
as pertaining to his own part ; yet payeth he tribute, and
submitteth himself to all men for his brother's sake, to serve
his brother withal.

TWENTY-ONE CHAPTERS OF ST MATTHEW, 235
CHAPTER xvm.
Note here, All bind and loose. ver. i8.
CHAPTER XIX.
Laws permit and suffer many things, to avoid a worse ver. 8.
inconvenience, which God will judge and punish.
The third chastity must be ghostly understood, i. e. ver. 12.
d o d ' Have made
voluntary chastity ; or else it were all one with the second, 'J^™^'^'^^
which is outward In the flesh. ^- ^¦
As Christ speaketh, John viii. " My doctrine is not my ver. 17.
doctrine," even so saith he here, "I am not good;" for he
speaketh of his humanity, wherewith he ever leadeth us to
God. Perfectness Is properly the keeping of God's command- ver. 21.
ments. Therefore it appeareth evidently that this man had
not fulfilled God's commandments groundly, as he yet sup
posed; and that Christ declareth, when he putteth forth
unto him the right work of the commandment, and judgeth
that none of the rich men can be saved, of whose number this
young man was, yet shall all they be safe that keep God's
commandments. CHAPTER XX.
Seven o'clock with us is one with the Jews ; and nine is ver. 1— e.
three : twelve is six : three at afternoon is nine ; and five is
eleven with them, and six is eventide.
By this similitude may ye perceive that no similitude serv- ver. 8—12.
eth throughout; but some one thing contained In the similitude :
as this long parable pertaineth but hereunto, that work-holy
shall despise weak sinners ; which same work-holy shall not
there have their reward, as these which come first have here ;
but shall be reject and put away, because they challenge It of
merit, and not of mercy and grace.
The cup signifieth the cross and suffering: but the flesh ver. 22.
would be glorified yer ^ than crucified ; would be exalted and
Hft up on high, yer than cast down.
Redeem is to deliver out of bondage. .^^^ ^
As many as called him son of David believed that he was demp'tfcn'ot
very Messias, that great prophet promised of God, which t.V'
, ver. 31.
[1 Ere, before, sooner.]

236 MARGINAL NOTES, &C,
should come and redeem Israel, For it was promised that
Messias should be David's son.
CHAPTER XXL
ver. 9. Hosanna is as much to say as, 0 help ; or, 0 give good
luck and health.
ver. 25. Johu taught the very way unto righteousness. For he
interpreted the law right ; and damned man, and all his deeds
and righteousness, and drave men unto Christ to seek true
righteousness through mercy obtained by his blood,
ver. 44. j^w mug^ faU qj. stumblo at Christ ; some to their salvation,
some to their damnation.

[Title of first edition.]
Wi)t ^rartpsfe of prelatesf*
§ SSa^etber tiie fetnge's grace mage be separat£l)i
from j&g3 quene, because gj&e foas
iits brother's fogfe.
Marborch.
In the yere of cure Lorde,
MCCCCC. & XXX.

[Title of edition of 1548.]

d^ompgleir bg tfie fattiifull anti gotilg learnetr man,
2!5SgIIgam ©gnUale,
Imprintel) at Son&on, 6^ ^ntSong 5colo&er anO OTlKgam
Sbttei; tifojllgttgj bjstiont ®einpte=6arre in tj&e
5aboi! rentes. SCnno 1548. ©urn prU
btlegio al) impttment)um ^olutn.

[Title in Day's reprint.]
®]&e jirartfee of papisitirall prelates?,
maUe bg Sgagllt'am 'S^gn&ale,
In the yeare of our Lorde, 1530.

[INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
The earliest known production of Tyndale, belonging to the class
properly styled polemical, was ' The practice of prelates.' It issued
from Hans Luffs press at Marburg, in 15301; and the editor has
collated a copy of that flrst editions with the text of an edition pub
lished in the reign of Edward VI. by Scoloker and Seres 3, and with
that of Day's folio reprint of Tyndale, edited for him by Foxe in the
reign of Elizabeth. As the prelates whose conduct Tyndale intended
to expose were indisputably those of the church of Rome, it was
thought proper to mark this, in an edition issued after the establish
ment of a protestant prelacy ; especially when that prelacy had begun
to be assailed by men who might be tempted to cite Tyndale's words
as meant to condemn any inequality of ranks, amongst the presbyters
of a Christian church. Hence in Day's reprint this treatise is called
' The practise of papistical prelates,' and its running title, at the head
of Day's pages, is ' The practise of popishe prelates.'
But, besides this unimportant alteration, there are considerable
suppressions in both of the old reprints. Por when its author was
composing this treatise, it was notorious that Henry VHI. was bent
on having his marriage with Catharine of Aragon dissolved as unlawful;
and Tyndale, thinking that the king's popish prelates had instilled
needless scruples into his breast for treacherous ends, announced
in the original title-page, that the question of the lawfulness of put
ting her away was therein considered; and towards the close of the
treatise he contended at some length, that it was neither necessary
nor right to deny that Catharine was the king's lawful wife. As the
English reformers were eventually well nigh unanimous in holding
the contrary opinion, Scoloker and Seres omitted every passage
which bore upon this question, to make their edition more acceptable
to their protestant customers ; and as Day and Foxe must have felt
that arguments tending to prove the validity of Catharine's marriage,
must also tend to prove that it was not lawful for Henry to marry
Anne Boleyn, and consequently made the legitimacy of Elizabeth's
birth a disputable point, their attachment to their protestant sove
reign naturally led them to continue the like suppressions, though
they did not carry their caution to quite the same extent. The Parker
Society cannot follow the example of these editors ; for whilst it only
reproduces the works of such writers as appear to its council to
have been faithful expositors of scriptural truths, it does not desire to
have them regarded as infallible teachers. Its principle is to issue
[' See Biographical notice of Tyndale, pp. xxxix — xli.]
[' F. 13, 40 in the Cambridge University Library.]
P In the possession of the Parker Society. J

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 239
honest reprints of such works as it selects for republication ; leaving
it to its readers to compare what is written with " the law and the tes
timony;" that test which it was the glory of the reformers to have
restored to its due authority. In the present instance, suppression
could not have consigned to oblivion what may be objectionable ; for
the 'Practice of Prelates' was reprinted entire but a few years ago, in
the Rev. T. Russell's edition of Tyndale's works ; and respectable his
torians would have been unjustly made liable to the suspicion of
being either culpably heedless, or dishonest, if a treatise to which they
have referred had been republished as correct, after the excision
of passages which they have quoted.]

WILLIAM TYNDALE

CHRISTIAN READER.

When the old scribes and Pharisees had darkened the
scripture with their traditions, and false interpretations, and
wicked persuasions of fleshly wisdom ; and shut up the king
dom of heaven, which Is God's word, that the people could
not enter in unto the knowledge of the true way, as Christ
Matt. xxiii. complaineth in the gospel (Matt, xxiii.); then they sat in the
hearts of men with their false doctrine In the stead of God
and his word, and slew the souls of the people to devour
their bodies, and to rob them of their worldly substance.
But when Christ and John the Baptist had restored the
scripture again unto the true understanding, and had uttered
their falsehood, and Improved their traditions, and confounded
their false interpretations with the clear and evident texts,
and with power of the Holy Ghost, and had brought all
their juggling and hypocrisy to light ; then they gat them
unto the elders of the people, and persuaded them, saying,
«?e o'nH""" ' This man is surely of the devil ; and his miracles be of the
newirprae- dovil, UO doubt. And these good works which he doth fn
pope and hi healing the people, yea, and his preaching against our co-
pre a es . ygtousness, are but a cloak to bring him unto his purpose ;
that, when he hath gotten him disciples enough, he may rise
against the emperor and make himself king. And then shall
the Romans come, and take our land from us, and carry
away our people, and put other nations in our realm : and
so shall we lose all. that we have, and the most part of us
our lives thereto. Take heed, therefore, betimes, while there
is remedy, ere he go so far that ye be not able to resist him.'
ferm'cnteire '^^® cldcrs of the pooplo, whIch were rich and wealthy,
ciStatiiSity. though before they In a manner favoured Christ, or at the
[^ The marginal notes belonging to the Marburg edition will he
marked W. T. The others were probably penned by Foxe for Day's
edition.]

PREFACE TO THE READER. 241
least way were Indifferent, not greatly caring whether God
or the devil reigned, so that they might bide in their au
thority, feared immediately (as Herod did of the loss of his
kingdom, when the wise men asked where the newborn king
of the Jews was), and conspired with the scribes and Phari
sees against Christ, and took him and brought him unto
Pilate, saying, " We have found this fellow perverting the The Jews
people, and forbidding to pay tribute unto Csesar, and saying cused'iairist.
that he is a* king, and moving the people from Galilee unto
this place." Then Pilate, though he likewise was before in
different, put* now in fear of the loss of his office, through
such persuasions, slew innocent Christ. And in very deed,
as the scribes and Pharisees were all their lives before blind
guides, unto the destruction of their souls ; even so were
they at their last end bhnd prophets, unto the destruction of
their bodies. For after that they had slain Christ and divers The cruei
* Jews, by per-
of his apostles, and persecuted those poor wretches that be- ^^^"Ind
lieved on him, God, to avenge the poor Innocent blood that pJocS'th'e
bare witness unto his* truth, poured his wrath among them, God*to"°^°'
that they themselves rose against the emperor : and the t?^ivra°°
Eomans came (according as they bhndly prophesied), and
slew the most part of them, and carried the rest captive Into
all nations, and put other nations in the realm. But whose
fault was that insurrection against the emperor, and mischief
that followed ? Christ's and his apostles, whom they falsely
accused beforehand? Nay*, Christ taught that they should
give Csesar that which pertained unto Csesar, and God that
which belonged to God : even that they should give Cassar
their lawful bodily service, and God the heart ; and that
they should love God's law, and repent of their evil, and
come and receive mercy, and let the wrath of God be taken
from off them. And the apostles taught that all souls should The aposties
obey the higher powers, or temporal rulers. But their ob- obedienee.
stinate malice, that so hardened their hearts that they could
not repent, and their railing upon the open and manifest
truth, which they could not improve, and resisting the Holy
Ghost, and slaying of the preachers of righteousness, brought
[2 So Scoloker and Seres, ed. Day omits a, ]
[3 So Marburg ed. and Day ; S. and S. ed. has Imt.]
[* So both the older edd. Day has ihe.]
[s So M. ed ; S. and S. has No.]
r 1 16
[tyndale, ii.J

242

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

The gene
ration of
serpents.

the wrath of God upon them, and was cause of their utter
destruction.
The practice Evou SO our scrlbes and Pharisees, now that their hypo-
lates in these crlsy Is dlsclosod, and their falsehood so brought to light
that It can no longer be hid, get them unto the elders of the
people, the lords, gentlemen, and temporal officers, and to
all that love this world as they do, and unto whosoever Is
great with the king, and unto the king's grace himself ; and
after the same ensample, and with the same persuasions, cast
them into like fear of losing of their worldly dominions, and
roar unto them, saying, ' Ye be negligent, and care nothing
at all, but have a good sport that the heretics rail on us.
But give them space a while, till they be grown unto a
multitude, and then ye shall see them preach as fast against
you, and move the people against you, and do their best to
thrust you down also, and shall cry havoc, and make all
common.' 0 generation of serpents, how well declare ye that
ye be the right sons of the father of all lies ! For they,
which ye call heretics, preach nothing save that which our
Saviour Jesus Christ preached, and his apostles ; adding
nought thereto, nor plucking aught therefrom, as the scrip
ture commandeth; and teach all nien repentance to God and
his holy law, and faith unto our Saviour Jesus Christ, and
the promises of mercy made In him, and obedience unto all
that God commandeth to obey. Neither teach we so much
as to resist your most cruel tyranny with bodily violence,
save with God's word only ; intending nothing but to drive
you out of the temple of Christ, the hearts, consciences, and
souls of men (wherein with your falsehood ye sit), and to
restore again Jesus our Saviour unto his possession and in
heritance bought with his blood, whence ye have driven him
out with your manifold wiles and subtilty.
Take heed, therefore, wicked prelates, bhnd leaders of
the blind; indurate and obstinate hypocrites, take heed.
For if the Pharisees for their resisting the Holy Ghost,
that Is to say, persecuting the open and manifest truth, and
slaying the preachers thereof, escaped not the wrath and
vengeance of God ; how shall ye escape, which are far worse
than the Pharisees ? For though the Pharisees had shut up
the scripture, and set up their own professions; yet they
kept their own professions, for the most part. But ye will

A good ad
monition to
all blind
guides.

PREFACE TO THE READER. 243
be the chiefest in Christ's flock, and yet will not keep one ^^^J^P^^Jf^'^'
jot of the right way of his doctrine. Ye have thereto set up ^^^^{f^
wonderful professions, to be more holy thereby than ye think
that Christ's doctrine is able to make you, and yet keep as
httle thereof, except it be with dispensations ; Insomuch that swarms of
if a man ask you, what your marvellous fashioned playing by thf pope
coats and your other puppetry mean, and what your dis- Stes.'*^'^
figured heads and all your apish' play mean, ye know not:
and yet are they but signs of things which ye have professed.
Thirdly, ye will be papists and hold of the pope ; and yet, ""JfPfJH^
look In the pope's law, and ye keep thereof almost nought ffiMOTdf
at all. But whatsoever soundeth to make for your beUIes, SSpartofhB
and to maintain your honour, whether In the scripture, or In
your own traditions, or In the pope's law, that ye compel
the lay-people to observe; violently threatening them with
your excommunications and curses, that they shall be damned,
both body and soul. If they keep them not. And If that The pope's
help you not, then ye murder them mercilessly with the murderers.
sword of the temporal powers ; whom ye have made so blind
that they be ready to slay whom ye command, and will not
yet hear his cause examined, nor give him room to answer
for himself. And ye elders of the people, fear ye God also. For as a good ad-
d r r ^ d ^ ^ monition to
the elders of the Jews, which were partakers with the scribes ^" '^^"^^
and Pharisees In resisting the Holy Ghost, and In persecuting
the open truth, and slaying the witnesses thereof, and in
provoking the wrath of God, had their part with them also
in the day of wrath and sharp vengeance, which shortly after
fell upon them, (as the nature of the sin against the Holy
Ghost Is, to have her damnation, not only in the world to
come, but also In this life, according unto all the ensamples
of the bible and authentic stories since the world began;)
even likewise ye, if ye will wink In so open and clear light,
and let yourselves be led bhndfold, and have your part with
the hypocrites in like sin and mischief, be sure ye shall have
your part with them in like wrath and vengeance, that is
like shortly to fall upon them.
And concerning that the hypocrites put you in fear of
the rising of your commons against you, I answer : If ye
[1 M. ed. has apes.]
16—2

244 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
The common fear your commons, so testify ye against yourselves, that ye
Ssed"b?°ily- are tyrants. For if your consciences accused you not of evil
doing, what need ye to fear your commons ? What commons
were ever so evil, that they rose against their heads for well
doing ? Moreover, ye witness against yourselves also that
ye have no trust in God : for he hath promised the temporal
officers assistance, if they minister their offices truly ; and to
care for the keeping of them, as much as they care for to
keep his laws.
S^gyTre^ '^^^ hypocrltcs haply bid you take an ensample of the
liars. uplandish people of Almany, which they lie that Martin
Luther stirred up. For first, what one sentence In all the
writing of Martin Luther find they, that teacheth a man to
resist his superior? Moreover, If Martin Luther and the
preachers had stirred up the common people of Germany,
how happened It that Martin Luther and other like preachers
had not perished likewise with them ; which are yet all alive
at this hour'? Ye will ask me. Who stirred them up then?
I ask you. Who stirred up the commons of the Jews to resist
the emperor, after that the scribes and Pharisees, with the
elders of the people, had slain Christ and his apostles?
The wrath of Vorily, the Wrath of God. And even so here, the wrath of
God stirreth ^..-i.
toditro^The stirrod them up ; partly to destroy the enemies and
pers"c?to™'' persecutors of the truth, and partly to take vengeance on
of the truth, those camal beasts which abused the gospel of Christ, to
make a cloak of it to defend their fleshly liberty, and not to
obey It and to save their souls thereby.
If kings, lords, and great men, therefore, fear the loss of
de°fende?of ^^^ world ; let them fear God also. For in fearing God
pJhSet."* ; s^^^l t^^y prolong their days upon the earth ; and not with
; fighting against God. The earth is God's only; and his
favour and mercy doth prolong the days of kings in their
estate, and not their own power and might.
And let all men (be they never so great) hearken unto this,
kTngslnd ^^^ l®t t'^is b® an answer unto them. Wicked king Ahab said
^erSut"/' unto the prophet Ehas, " Art thou he that troublest Israel ?"
ntok^are And Ehas answered, "It is not I that trouble Israel, but thou
of rtemsdvls and thy father's household. In that ye have forsaken the com
and their d
realm, and no t. n«-
"?raeters being published in 1530; but in the edition of
preae ers. jg^g^ .j. .^ ^^^^^ ^.^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ insurrection alluded to, being
that headed by Munzer, occurred in 1525.]

)

PREFACE TO THE READER. 245
mandments of the Lord and follow idols." Even so the preachers
of the truth, which rebuke sin, are not the troublers of realms .
and commonwealths, but they that do wickedly ; and namely
high prelg,tes and mighty princes, which walk without the fear
of God, and live abominably, corrupting the common people
with then" ensample. They be they that bring the wrath of /
God on aU realms, and trouble all commonwealths with war, i
dearth, poverty, pestilence, evil luck, and all misfortune.
And unto all subjects be it said, if they profess the law as many as
of God and faith of the Lord Jesus, and will be Christ's discipfeso^f
._ , , , 1 1 1 Christ, must
disciples; then let them remember that there was never man leamofhim
X ' ^ _ meekness
so great a subject as Christ was ; there was never creature that |"^g° g'the
suffered so great unright so patiently and so meekly as he. p*^|js_
Therefore, whatsoever they have been in times past, let them
now think that it Is their parts to be subject In the lowest
kind of subjection, and to suffer all things patiently. If the
high powers be cruel unto you with natural cruelty ; then
with softness and patience ye shall either win them, or miti
gate their fierceness. If they loin them unto the pope, and ve must
persecute you tor your laith and hope which ye have in the ci>™t, that
L d d r d ye may joy
Lord Jesus ; then call to mind that ye be chosen to suffer J^'^yfjfo'"
here with Christ, that ye may joy with him in the hfe to ''°™-
come with joy everlasting, that shall Infinitely pass this your
short pain here. If they command that God forbiddeth, or
forbid that God commandeth, then answer as the apostles did,
(Acts v.), " That God must be obeyed more than man." If Acts v.
they compel you to suffer unright; then Christ shall help
you to bear, and his Spirit shall comfort you. But only see
that neither they put you from God's word; nor ye resist
them with bodily violence. But abide patiently awhile, till
the hypocrisy of hypocrites be slain with the sword of God's
word, and until the word be openly pubhshed and witnessed
unto the powers of the world, that their bhndness may be
without excuse: and then wUl God awake as a fierce lion, God waite
against those cruel wolves which devour his lambs ; and will up™nlraei
play with the hypocrites, and compass them in their own'^"^^""'
wiles ; and send them a dasing in the head, and a swimming
In then- brams; and destroy them with their own counsel.
And then those malicious and wilful blind persecutors, which,
refusing mercy when they were called thereto, chose rather
to have their part with hypocrites in shedding of innocent

causers of In
surrection.

246 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
blood, shall be partakers with them also in having their own
blood shed again, God giving an occasion that one wicked
shall destroy another.
ase'foiio^n ¦^'^'^ a® ^^^ wickedness, whence It springeth, and who Is
whoarelhe the causo of all Insurrection, and of the fall of princes, and
the shortening of their days upon the earth, thou shalt see
in the glass following, which I have set before thine
eyes, not to resist the hypocrites with violence (which
vengeance pertaineth unto God) ; but that thou
mightest see their wicked ways and abominable
paths, to withdraw thyself from after ^ them,
and to come again to Christ, and walk in
his light, and to follow his steps, and to
commit the keeping both of thy body
and soul also unto him, and unto
the Father through him,
whose name be glorious
for ever. Amen.
[I S. and S. edition omits after; but it is found in M. and in Day's
edition.]

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Prelates appointed to preach Christ may not leave God's word, and
minister temporal offices ; but ought to teach the lay-people the
right way, and let them alone with all temporal business.
Our Saviour Jesus Christ answered Pilate, that his kingdom Johnxvui.
was not of this world. And (Matthew, In the tenth,) he saith. Matt x.
" The disciple Is not greater than his master ; but it ought to
suffice the disciple, that he be as the master Is." Wherefore if Themmisters
r ' _ ... of Christs
Christ's kingdom be not of this world, nor any of his disciples ^^"^^^^^^^
may be otherwise than he was ; then Christ's vicars, which ^cPsf**
minister his kingdom here in his bodily absence, and have the
oversight of his flock, may be none emperors, kings, dukes,
lords, knights, temporal judges, or any temporal officer, or
under false names have any such dominion, or minister any
such office as requireth violence.
And, (Matt, vi.) " No man can serve two masters :" where Matt.vi.
Christ concludeth, saying, " Ye cannot serve God and mam
mon ;" that Is, riches, covetousness, ambition, and temporal
dignities. And (Matt, xx.) Christ called his disciples unto him, and said: Matt. xx.
" Ye know that the lords of the heathen people have dominion
over them; and they that be great do exercise power over them.
Howbeit, it shall not be so among you : but whosoever will
be great among you shall be your minister ; and he that will
be chief shall be your servant : even as the Son of man came
not that men should muilster unto him, but for to minister and
give his life for the redemption of many." Wherefore the The officers
officers in Christ's kingdom may have no temporal dominion kingdom
... ° " ^ . may have no
or jurisdiction, nor execute any temporal authority or law of ^o'^^ion
violence, nor may have any like manner among them : but
clean contrary, they must cast themselves down under all,
and become servants unto all, suffer of all, and bear the
burden of every man's infirmities, and go before them, and
fight for them against the world with the sword of God's
word, even unto the death, after the example of Christ.
And (Matt, xviii.), when the disciples asked who should be Matt. xvm.
greatest In the kingdom of heaven, Christ "called a young child
unto him, and set him in the midst among them, saying. Except
ye turn back, and become as children, ye shall not enter in the

248

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

To receive
a child In
Christ's
name, what
it is.

TJie pope Is
Woltin a
lamb's skin.

kingdom of heaven." Now young children bear no rule one
over another, but all is fellowship among them. And he said
moreover : " Whosoever humbleth himself after the ensample
of this child, he is greatest m the kingdom of heaven ;" that
is, to be (as concerning ambition and worldly desire) so child
ish that thou couldst not heave thyself above thy brother, is
the very bearing of rule, and to be great in Christ's kingdom.
And, to describe the very fashion of the greatness of his king
dom, he said, " He that receiveth one such child In my name,
receiveth me," What is that, to receive a child in Christ's
name? Verily, to submit, to meek, and to humble thyself,
and to cast thyself under all men ; and to consider all men's
infirmities and weaknesses ; and to help to heal their diseases
with the word of truth, and to hve purely, that they see no
contrary ensample In thee to whatsoever thou teachest them
in Christ ; that thou put no stumbling-block before them, to
make them fall while they be yet young and weak in the
faith: but that thou abstain, as Paul teacheth, (1 Thess. v.)
ab omni specie mala\ from all that might seem evil, or
whereof a man might surmise amiss ; and that thou so love
them, that whatsoever gift of God in thee Is, thou think the
same theirs, and their food, and for their sakes given unto
thee, as the truth is ; and that all their infirmities be thine,
and that thou feel them, and that thine heart mourn for them ;
and that with all thy power thou help to amend them, and
cease not to cry to God for them, neither day nor night;
and that thou let nothing be found In thee, that any man may
rebuke, but whatsoever thou teachest them, that be thou ;
1 and that thou be not a wolf In a lamb's skin, as our holy
father the pope is, which cometh unto us In a name of hy
pocrisy, and In the title of cursed Cham, or Ham^, calhng
himself Servus servorum, the servant of all servants, and is.
yet found Tyrannus tyrannorum, of all tyrants the most
[1 From every evil appearance.]
[2 The flrst letter in the name of this son of Noah having no exact
representative in our alphabet, the Latin vulgate puts ch for it, writing
the name Cham : but ch, as pronounced in EngUsh, produces a sound
more unlike that which belongs to heth, than is the sound of our A.
Hence Tyndale thought it better to write the name Ham; and that
improvement in the spelling of this and various other names, which his
knowledge of Hebrew enabled him to introduce into the English Old
Testament, has been preserved in our authorised version.]

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

249

cruel. This is to receive young children in Christ's name;
and to receive young children in Christ's name is to bear
rule in the kingdom of Christ. Thus ye may see, that Christ's
kingdom is altogether spiritual ; and the bearing of rule in It
is clean contrary unto the bearing of rule temporally. Where
fore none that beareth rule in it may have any temporal
jurisdiction, or minister any temporal office that requireth
violence to compel withal.
Peter was not greater than the other apostles by any authority given
him of Christ.
They say that Peter was chief of the apostles : yerily, as why Peter
Apelles was called chief of painters for his excellent cunning °'^^^ties."'^
above other, even so Peter may be called chief of the apostles
for his activity and boldness above the other. But that Peter Peter had no
, authority
had any authority or rule over his brethren and fellow apo- ^"'^^f'the
sties, is false, and contrary to the scripture. Christ forbade aposties.
it the last even' before his passion, and in divers times before,
and taught alway the contrary, as I have rehearsed.
Thou wilt say, ' thou canst not see how there should be
any good order in that kingdom, where none were better
than other, and where the superior had not a law and au
thority to compel the inferior with violence.' The world,
truly, can see no other way to rule than with violence : for
there no man abstaineth from evil, but for fear ; because the
love of righteousness is not written in their hearts. Andihepope-s
therefore the pope's kingdom is of the* world : for there one u!e™rTd?°
sort are your grace, your hohness, your fatherhood ; another, a rabbie of
my lord bishop, my lord abbot, my lord prior ; another, fJ'eS-Vs''^'
master doctor, father, bachelor, master parson, master vicar, ''^''s^-
and at the last cometh In simple sir John^. And every man
reigneth over other with might; and have every ruler his
prison, his jailor, his chains, his torments; even so much as
the friars Observants observe that rule, and compel every
man other with violence above the cruelness of the heathen
tyrants : so that what cometh once In may never out, for fear
of telhng tales out of school. They rule over the body with
violence, and compel it, whether the heart will or not, to ob
serve things of their own making.
[3 That is, evening.] [4 g. and S. ed. this.]
[6 See Vol. I. p. 277, n. 3.]

250 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Theminbters gut Jn t^e kingdom of God It Is contrary. For the Spirit
mu"t°go?era that bringeth them thither maketh them wilhng, and giveth
me*knis's?™' them lust uuto the law of God ; and love compelleth them to
and pauence. ,^^j.^^ ^.^^ Yo-re maketh every man's good, and all that he can
do, common unto his neighbour's need. And as every man is
strong in that kingdom, so love compelleth him to take the
weak by the hand, and to help him, and to take him that
cannot go upon his shoulders and bear him. And so to do
service unto the weaker is to bear rule In that kingdom.
And because Peter did exceed the other apostles in fervent
service toward his brethren, therefore is he called, not in the
scripture, but in the use of speaking, the chiefest of the
apostles ; and not that he had any dominion over them. Of
which truth thou mayest see also the practice In the Acts of
the apostles, after the resurrection. For when Peter had been
and preached in the house of Cornehus, an heathen man, the
other that were circumcised ehode him, because he had been
in an uncircumcised man's house, and had eaten with him :
for it was forbidden In the law, neither wist they yet that
Peter was the heathen should be called. And Peter was fain to give
enforced to , , • , • , n • • \ i
render an accounts uuto them (which IS no token of superiority), and to
account to ^ r d /'
rfws doings, shew them how he was warned of the Holy Ghost so to do.
letl XV. And (Acts XV,) when a council was gathered of the apostles
no plrfofhS and disciples about the circumcision of the heathen, Peter
but th" ^' brought forth, not his commandment and the authority of his
erofGod. vlcarshlp, but the miracle that the Holy Ghost had shewed
for the heathen; how at the preaching of the gospel tbe
Holy Ghost had lighted upon them, and purified their hearts
through faith; and therefore proved that they ought not to be
circumcised.
AUthe apos- And Paul and Barnabas brought forth the miracles also,
ties allege the o '
Gi'dinchr'ist, t^^t God had showcd by them among the heathen through
thority of" preachlug of faith. And then James brought forth a prophecy
their own. ^f ^j^^ ^j^ Testament for the said part : and therewith the
adversaries gave over their hold, and they concluded with one
assent, by the authority of the scripture and of the Holy
Ghost, that the heathen should not be circumcised ; and not
by the commandment of Peter, under pain of cursing, ex
communication, and interdicting, and like bugs, to make fools
and children afraid withal.
Aetsvui. -And (Acts viii.) Peter was sent of the other apostles unto

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES. 261
the Samaritans : which is an evident token that he had no f^^'f b"?Se
jurisdiction over them, (for then they could not have sent °i*/^Tf^eh
him,) but rather (as the truth is,) that the congregation had ™ ^™^"'-
authority over bim, and over all other private persons, to
admit them for ministers, and send them forth to preach,
whithersoever the Spirit of God moved them, and as they
saw occasion.
And in the epistle unto the Galatians thou seest also how Gai-ii.
Paul corrected Peter, when he walked not the straight ' way tuked Peter
to his face.
after the truth ot the gospel.
So now thou seest that in the kingdom of Christ, and in scripture is
his church or congregation, and in his councils, the ruler is of'the^os-
the scripture, approved through the miracles of the Holy
Ghost, and men be servants only ; and Christ is the head, and
we aU brethren. And when we call men our heads, that we w;e pve the
do not because they be shorn or shaven, or because of their reverence,
. •' not for them-
names, parson, vicar, bishop, pope ; but only because of the biJ^^'^^of
word which they preach. If they err from the word, then uJlt'they
may whomsoever God moveth his heart, play Paul, and correct "™''*'^-
him. If he will not obey the scripture, then have his brethren
authority by the scripture to put him down, and to send him
out of Christ's church among the heretics, which prefer their
false doctrine above the true word of Christ.
How the gospel punisheth trespassers, and how, by the gospel, we
ought to go to law with our adversaries.
Though that they of Christ's congregation be all willing ;
yet, because that the most part is alway weak, and because
also that the occasions of the world be ever many and great,
insomuch that Christ, which wist all thing before hand, saith,
(Matt, xviii.) " Woe be unto the world by reason of occasions Matt. xviu.
of evil:" and saith also, that it cannot be avoided but that
occasions shall come, therefore it cannot be chosen but that
many shall overfall; when a weak brother hath trespassed, by
what law shall he be punished ? Verily, by the law of love ; our brethren,
whose properties thou readest in the thirteenth of the first to offe''nd*must
the Corinthians. If the love of God, which is my profession ^y love, and
..... .... - d r > notbyrlgour.
be written in mine heart, it will not let me hate my weak
[1 So M. ed., but S. and S. ed. right.]

Matt, xvili.

252 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
brother when he hath offended me, no more than natural love
will let a mother hate her child when it trespasseth against
her. My weak brother hath offended me ; he is fallen, his
weakness hath overthrown him. It is not right by the law of
love, that I should now fall upon him, and tread him down
in the mire and destroy him utterly : but it is right by the
law of love, that I run to him and help him up again.
Howjremay gy what proccss we should go to law with our tres-
t^MpSrs. passers, Christ teacheth us, Matth. xviii. Tell him his fault
between him and thee with all meekness, remembering thou
art a man, and mayest fall also : if he repent and thou love
him, ye shall soon agree, and then forgive him. And when
thou forglvest thy neighbour, then thou art sure that God
forgiveth thee thy trespasses by his holy promise, (Matth. vi.)
Mattvi. If he hear thee not, then take a neighbour or two. If he
hear them not, then tell the congregation, where thou art:
and let the preacher pronounce God's law against him, and
let the sad and discreet men rebuke him, and exhort him
Open and uuto repentance. If he repent, and thou also love him
fend™ are to according to thy profession, ye shall soon agree. If he hear
be rebuked o t/ i ' «/ o
openly. not the congregatlou, then let him be taken as an heathen.
If he that is offended be weak also, then let them that be
strong go between, and help them. And in like manner, if
any sin against the doctrine of Christ and the profession of a
christian man, so that he be a drunkard and an whore-keeper,
or whatsoever open sin he do, or if he teach false learning ;
then let sucb be rebuked openly before the congregation, and
by the authority of the scripture. And if they repent not,
let them be put out of the congregation as heathen people.
If they then be not ashamed, we have no remedy but
patiently to abide what God will do ; and to pray in the
meantime, that God will open their hearts, and give them re
pentance. Other law than this Christ's gospel knoweth not,
nor the officers thereof.
The kingdom R is manifest, therefore, that the kingdom of Christ is a
ofChrist IS , , ¦ , ¦ ¦
spiritual. spiritual kingdom, which no man can mimster well, and a
temporal kingdom too, as It Is sufficiently proved; because
that no man which putteth his hand to the plough, and
looketh back, is apt for the kingdom of heaven; as Christ
Lukeix. auswcrcd (Luke ix.) unto him that would have followed him,

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES. 253
but would first have taken leave of his household. If a man
put his hand to the plough of God's word to preach it, and
look also unto worldly business, his plough will surely go awry.
And therefore, saith Christ unto another, that would likewise Lukeix.
follow him, but desired first to go and bury his father, " Let
the dead bury the dead: but come thou and shew, or preach,
the kingdom of God." As who should say, He that will preach
the kingdom of God (which Is Christ's gospel) truly, must
have his heart nowhere else.
What offlcers the apostles ordained in Christ's church; and what their
offices were to do.
Wherefore the apostles, following and obeying the rule, officers first
1 ¦ • 1 1 /. r, • T ^r • , . ordained in
doctrine, and commandment of our Saviour Jesus Christ, their chrisfs
1 .,.,.,. I , -church.
master, ordained m his kingdom and congregation two officers;
one called, after the Greek word, bishop, in English an over- bishop.
seer : which same was called priest after the Greek, elder in
English, because of his age, discretion, and sadness ; for he
was, as nigh as could be, alway an elderly man : as thou seest
both in the new and old Testament also, how the officers of
the Jews be called the elders of the people, because (as thou
mayest well think) they were ever old men, as nigh as could
be. For unto age do men naturally obey, and unto age
doth God command to give honour, saying, (Lev. xix.) " Rise f °3f "' *'
up before the hoar head, and reverence the face of the old ^'^- ""•
man." And also experience of things, and coldness, without in the a^ed
which It Is hard to rule well, is more in age than in youth, '^'^p^"™"*"
And this overseer did put his hands unto the plough of God's
word, and fed Christ's flock, and tended them only, without
looking unto any other business in the world.
Another officer they chose, and called him deacon after Deacon.
the Greek, a minister In English, to minister the alms of the
people unto the poor and needy. For in the congregation in the
of Christ love maketh every man's gift and goods common "hurch they
y ° .^ ° chosedeacons
unto the necessity of his neighbour. Wherefore, the love of |°f^™^^^J
God being yet hot in the hearts of men, the rich that had the
substance of this world's goods brought of their abundance
great plenty unto the sustentation of the poor, and delivered
it unto the hands of the deacons. And unto the help of the widows.
deacons were widows of sixty years old, holy, virtuous, and
destitute of friends, chosen to tend and wait upon the sick,

254 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
and to wash the saints' feet, that came from one congregation
unto another, whether for any business, or for fear of perse-
^S"°w. T; cution. And those common goods of the church, offered for
andSfvent ^^® succour of the poor, grew In all churches so exceedingly,
prfmSve *^ that in some congregation It was so much, that it was suffi-
church. cient to maintain an host of men ; insomuch that tyrants did
oft-times persecute the Christen' for those common goods, as
thou seest In the life of St Laurence, the deacon of Rome^,
ousne°s™f ^^^' ™oreover, the covetousness of the prelates was the
wi'the'^'''^ decay of Christendom, and the Increasing of the kingdom of
chrisVndom, Mahomct. For by the first springing of the empire of Ma-
fncreaslngof homct, the ompcrors, kings, and great lords of Christendom
of Mahomet, had givcu their treasure so mightily unto the church, what
after great victories, and what at their deaths, that their suc
cessors were not able to maintain battle against the Saracens
and Turks, (for the world was not yet in such captivity that
they could make their subjects swear on books what they
were worth, and raise up taxes at their pleasure ;) so that a
The proud Certain writer of stories saith : " The prelates gaped when
thl'^pent" the laymen would take the war upon them against the Turks;
the treasure iii iiii ii iii i>
of the poor, and the laymen looked when the prelates would lay out their
money, to make the war withal, and not spend it in worse
use, as the most part of them were wont to do ; spending the
money that was gotten with alms and blood of martyrs upon
goodly plate, and great vessels of gold and silver, without
care of things to come, despising God, whom they worshipped
[} Christen is frequently used in the earliest editions of Tyndale,
and in other old writers, for the plural of Christian, as men for plural
of man. Hence Christendom.]
[2 The church of Rome has dedicated the 10th of August to the
meraory of Laurence, and the lessons for that day, in the breviary, give
a florid account of his merits and martyrdom. It was in the year 268
that a mandate from the emperor Valerian occasioned that persecution
under which Sixtus II. bishop of Rome, was put to death ; and Platina
says that Sixtus bade his attendant deacon Laurence make haste to
distribute whatever might be in the church's treasury amongst the
poor. Laurence was soon arrested, and the prefect of Rome required
him to produce this treasure : upon which he produced the poor whom
that treasure had fed, telling the prefect that the poor saints were the
treasures of the Christian church. Por this, the legend says, the pre
fect ordered him to be bound upon a red hot iron hurdle, and burnt
over a fire. Platina, Vit. Pontiflcum, and Roman breviary.]

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES. 255
for their belly's sake only, and also man'." Moreover, It was
the custom even then, saith the author, to ask what the
bishoprick was worth*; yea, and to leave a worse for a better,
or to keep both with a union. And at the same time Isacius, isacius.
the deputy of the emperor, came to Rome to confirm the The election
. was con-
pope in his see with the emperor's authority; for the election f^''"g^*''|„j
of the pope was then nothing worth, except it had been con
firmed by the emperor : and he found so great treasure in
the church of St John Lateran, that for disdain which he had,
that they should have such treasure in store, and not to help
the emperor In his wars against the Turks, seeing his soldiers Note here
lacked wages, he took It away with violence against the will that the
of the prelates, of which he exiled some, and paid his own ^"fjj^'' *'
men of war with one part, and took another part unto him
self, and sent the third part unto the emperor : which must
needs have been a great treasure in one church ^
By what means the prelates fell from Christ.
The office of a bishop was a room, at the beginning, that ^^ I^^^'^p
no man coveted ; and that no man durst take upon him, save ^hurch^as™
he only which loved Christ better than his own life. For as ^'le."^""^
Christ saith, that no man might be his disciple, except that
he were ready to forsake life and all ; even so might that
officer be sure that it would cost him his hfe at one time or
another, for bearing record unto the truth. But after that
the multitude of the Christen were Increased, and many great
men had received the faith ; then both lands and rents, as
[3 The ' certain writer of stories' to whom Tyndale refers is Platina,
De vitis pontificum,, who says in his life of Boniface V. : Exspectant
sacerdotes ut a secularibus hoc tantum bellum et tam necessarium
sumatur. Exspectant item seculares ut presbyteri tuendse religionis
causa [against Mahometan invaders] pecunias in sumptus bellicos pol-
liceantur et sumministrent ; nec in pejores usus eflfundant, quemad
modum facere plerique consuevere, pecunias eleemosynis et sanguine
martyrum comparatas, in aurea et argentea vasa et prsegrandia quidem
pendentes, parum de futuro soUiciti, Dei, quem tantum utiUtatis gratia
colunt, et hominum contemptores.]
[¦* Quseritur enim quantum reddat episcopatus; non quot oves
pascuse in eo sint. — Id. Vit. Bonifacii III. Date about 606.]
[s This last sentence is nearly a translation of what Platina relates,
in the beginning of his account of Severinus, pope for but a few months
of A. D. 640  Plat. Vit. Honorii.]

256 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
well as other goods, were given unto the maintenance, as well
At te first of the clergy, as of the poor : because they gave then no
church there tlthcs to the prlcsts, nor yet now do, save In certain countries.
tithrap°aidto ^^^ ^t Is too much to glvc alms, offerings, lands, and tithes
themmisters. ^^^ ^^^ ^.^^^ ^j^g bIshops made them substitutes under
them to help them, which they called priests, and kept the
name of bishop unto themselves^.
AUcor- But out of the deacons sprang all the mischief: for
mptlon of 1 1 . 1 1 111-1 • •
thechurch through their hands went all things; they ministered unto
came first ~ o ' d ^
d^on?* the clergy, they ministered unto the poor, they were in favour
with great and small. And when the bishop's office began to
have rest, and to be honourable, then the deacons, through
Money pur- favour and gifts, clamb^ up thereunto; as lightly' he that hath
fement!'*' the old abbot's treasure succeedeth with us. And by the
means of their practice and acquaintance in the world they
were more subtle and worldly wise than the old bishops, and
less learned In God's word; as our prelates are, when they
come from stewardships In gentlemen's houses, and from sur
veying of great men's lands, lords' secrets, kings' councils,
ambassadorship, from war and ministering all worldly matters,
yea, worldly mischief. And yet now they come not thence.
The prelates but recelve all, and bide there still ; yea, they have enacted
BtiU in the by plain* parUament that they must bide in the court still, or

court, W. T.

[1 Tyndale seems to have held an opinion afterwards maintained by
Dr Hammond, and thus noticed by Bingham : " The learned Dr Ham
mond advances an opinion about this matter" [the original of pres
byters], " which is something singular. He asserts (Annot. on Acts xi.
30) that in scripture-times the name of presbyters belonged principally,
if not alone, to bishops ; and that there is no evidence that any of this
second order were then instituted, though soon after, he thinks, before
the writing of Ignatius' epistles, there were such instituted in all
churches. The authorities he builds upon are Clemens Romanus and
Epiphanius, who say that in some ohurches, at first, there were bishops
and deacons without any presbyters." Bing. Orig. Eccles. B. ii. ch. xix.
J 3, Vol. I. p. 252, ed. 1840.]
[2 Clamb : climbed. The reading of Day's edition is climed.]
[s Easily; and hence, ordinarily.]
[< The word is spelt playne in the black letter editions. Tyndale
probably meant to give a version of the old law phrase, Pleno parlia
mento, used to signify the indisputable authority of a legislative enact
ment; and had in view an act for 'Abridging spiritual persons from
having pluralities of livings.' It was an act which had just passed
through parliament, and its 28th clause was to the efi'ect he has stated;

THE BISHOP OF ROME. 257
else they may not have plurality of benefices. And then by
little and little they enhanced themselves, and turned all to
themselves, minlshing the poor people's part, and increasing
theirs, and joining acquaintance with great men, and with
their power clamb up, and entitled them to the choosing and
confirming of the pope and all bishops^, to flatter and pur- ho*- the^^
chase favour and defenders; trusting more unto their worldly ^^^''t^''^^-^
wisdom than unto the doctrine of Christ, which Is the wisdom vanced'thlm-
of God, and unto the defence of man than of God. Then, "'^™''
while they that had the plough by the tail looked back, the
plough went awry ; faith waxed feeble and falnty ; love
waxed cold ; the scripture waxed dark ; Christ was no more
seen. He was in the mount with Moses ; and therefore the wiien the
bishops would have a god upon the earth whom they might waxed rich,
^ or ^ do then they
see, and thereupon they began to dispute who should be ^^'P"i(f^e"''°
greatest. highest.
How the bishop of Rome became greater than other, and called
himself pope.
Then, quoth worldly wisdom, Jerusalem must be the Jerusalem
» 1 y^i . r, ,. • was the first
greatest, tor that was Christ s seat : Et factum est : so it seat of our
o ^ ^ ./ ^ high bishop.
came to pass for a season. And in conclusion, where a great
city was, and much riches, there was the bishop ever greater
than his fellows. Alexandria® In Egypt, and Antioch In Greece,
were greater than their neighbours. Then, those decaying,
Constantinople and Rome waxed great, and strove who should ^™'^°''"
be greater. And Constantinople said. Where the emperor is, ^'"°-
there ought to be the greatest seat and chiefest bishop : for
the emperor lay most at Constantinople, because it was (I
suppose) nigh the midst of the empire ; therefore I must be
the greatest, said the bishop of Constantinople. Nay, quoth
the bishop of Rome, though the emperor lie never so much how Bome
at Constantinople, yet he is called emperor of Rome, and thechiefest
for it provided that ' The act should not in any wise extend, nor be
prejudicial to any such chaplains as shall be daily or quarterly at
tending and abiding in the king's or queen's honourable households,'
and in like manner for the chaplains of nobles, &c. — 21 Hen. VIII.
c. 13, § 28.]
[6 He is here giving a sketch of the institution of cardinal presbyters
and of their progress to power. — See Bingham, B. ii. c. 19, f 18.]
[« Alexandre in the M. ed. and in Day; but Alexander in the S. S.
edition.] [tyndale, II.J

258 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Bome the Rome Is the head of the empire ; wherefore of right I must
seat and ^ °
w^MneL*" be the father of all whatsoever i- And thus, whether they
challenged their title by the authority of God or man, or by
Peter or poullng^, it was all one, so they might be greatest.
And great intercession was made unto the emperors of
both parties ; but in vain a great season : for the emperors
stopped their ears at such ambitious requests long time ; till
Phocas. at ^]^Q j^gj. there came an emperor called Phocas, which lay
long in Italy, and was a very soft man, and a prey for pre-
p°p^jBoti- lates : in whose time Boniface III. was bishop of Rome, a
thkd. v\r.T. man ambitious and greedy upon honour, and of a very subtle
wit, nothing inferior unto Thomas Wolfsee^, cardinal of York.
This Boniface was great with the emperor Phocas, and with
his wily persuasions and great Intercession together obtained
Phocas the of Phocas to be called the chiefest of all bishops, and that his
emperor first .,,,1 ..
ftr^ Ito the c^'i'"''" should be the chief church*: which authority as
Romliote ®°°^ ^^ ^® ^^^ purchased, he sent Immediately his command-
bishop?' ment, with the emperor's power, unto all the bishops of
Almany, commanding that every bishop should call all the
priests of his diocese, and charge them that every man should
The chasuty put away hIs wlfc, under pain of excommunication ; which
how it came tyranny, though great resistance was made against it, he yet
brought to pass with the emperor's sword and his own
subtilty together*. For the bishops were rich, and durst not
displease the pope, for fear of the emperor.
[1 This word has been printed waten in modern editions. In the
black letter copies it is wate, an abbreviation of whatsoever, still em
ployed by lawyers. When a pope is crowned, the cardinal deacon puts
the tiara, or regno, as it is called, upon his head, and says to him,
Accipe tiaram, tribus coronis ornatam ; et scias te esse patrem prin
cipum et regum, rectorem orbis.]
[2 To poll, or levy a tax, is spelt in the original edition poule, and
the name of the apostle is also spelt poul, though not uniformly. The
word pouling may therefore either mean here taxing, or assuming the
authority of a Paul, with reference to Peter just mentioned.]
[3 So the two oldest editions ; Day, Wolsee.]
[* So Platina of Boniface IH. : Patria Romanus, a Phoca imperar
tore obtinuit, magna tamen contentione, ut sedes B. Petri Apostoli,
quse caput est omnium eeclesiarum, ita et diceretur et haberetm- ab
omnibus.] [fi There seems to be some confusion here of times and persons.
Boniface III. died in 606, before he had been pope nine months; when
the emperor had no authority in Germany, neither were there any

THE CHIEF BISHOP IN THB GREATEST SEAT. 259
As soon as Nemroth, that mighty hunter, had caught Note here
¦ 11- the climbing
this prey, that he had compelled all bishops to be under him, up of the
and to swear obedience unto him, then he began to be great
in the earth; and called himself Papa^, with this interpretation.
Father of fathers. And when the pope had exalted his throne
above his fellows, then the unity that ought to be among
brethren In Christ's church brake ; and division began between Division in
' ° thechurch.
us and the Greeks ; which Greeks (I suppose) were at that w. t.
time the one half of Christendom. And when any pope since
exhorteth them to unity, they answer, 'That he which will
reign over his brethren with violence, breaketh unity, and
not they ; and that they will not be under his tyranny. The Greeks
•' ¦' J .J ' „j]j not be
whereunto he calleth them under a colour of unity.' And™'ie':the
. pope s
from henceforth, with the help of his bishops, which were tyanny.
sworn to be true liegemen unto him, when beforetime they
were admitted to their bishopricks of the emperors and kings,
he began to lay a bait to catch the whole empire into his
hands also. By what means the pope invaded the empire.
At that same season Mahomet, the author of the sect of Mahomet
111 ^"*^ ^^^ VO-pG
the Turks and Saracens, began. And as soon as he had got Jegan ato^
much people unto him with wiles and feigned miracles, he
regularly constituted churches in that country. But in 723, pope
Gregory H. gave the name of Boniface to the Anglo-Saxon monk,
Winfrid, for his good deeds in planting chm-ches in parts of Germany
near the Rhine, and desired the Prank ruler, Charles Martel, and all
persons in authority to attend to the injunctions of this Boniface, who
used the influence thus obtained to elevate the papal authority. Hence
some of his dicta were incorporated into the canon law (see Vol. i.
p. 328, n. 3), and some of these may have been so quoted as not to
distinguish their author from pope Boniface III. — See Hist, des papes,
aia Haye, 1733, Tom. i. pp. 518 — 50. Also Mosheim, Cent. viii. par.
1, cap. I. $ 2 — 4 ; and Lingard, Antiq. of Anglo-Saxon Ch., pp. 445 — 53,
2nd edition.]
[8 The word papa was in like use among the Greeks as with us.
The earliest known instance of its application to a christian minister
occurs in Tertullian, De pudicitia, a treatise composed early in the
third century. By the middle of that century it was become common
to address bishops by this endearing name ; but at what period the
bishops of Rome began to assume it as exclusively their own, cannot be
stated with precision. — Bp. Kaye on Tertullian, ch. rv. p. 241 : and
Bing. Orig. Eccles. B. ii. ch. ii. f 7.]
17—2

260 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
invaded the empire of Rome in those quarters. And look,
how busy Mahomet was in those parts, so busy was the pope
in these quarters, to Invade the empire, (with the help of his
sworn bishops, which preached all of none other God than the
pope,) while the emperor was occupied afar off in resisting
of Mahomet. And within few years after, when the kings of Italy now
and then vexed our holy fathers for their covetous ambition,
Gregory the then Gregory III. ioined amity with the Frenchmen, and
pope came odd d
p?enchmen, called them to help'; by whose power they gat all they have,
hecoMtoueoi ^"^d 3,lso maintain it unto this day. For if any man, smce
starw?T. that time hither 2, displeased the pope never so httle, he
immediately cursed him, and excommunicated him, and pro
claimed him no right inheritor, and that it was not lawful to
hold of him, and absolved his lords and subjects of their
allegiance, and sent his blessing unto the French king and
remission of sins to go and conquer his land ; the pope and
French king alway dividing the spoil between them : the
bishops, and all that served God for the belly, preaching the
pope's might, how that he had power so to do, and all things
to bind and loose at his will ; wresting the scriptures to serve
for their purpose, corrupting all the laws, both of God and
man, to prove his godhead withal.
Popeza- Then came pope Zacharias the first, in whose time Hil-
charias the ir r '
Hadericus. dorlcus^ was king of France, a man that governed his realm
(as it oft chanceth) by a deputy (as parsons* preach), one
Pepin. Piplne, a lord of his own, and his sworn subject. This PIpIne
sent a holy bishop to pope Zacharias, that he should help to
make him king of France, and he would be his defender in
Italy (as the manner of scalled horses Is, the one to claw the
[1 The French chronologist, president Hainault, confirms Tyndale's
statement, under the date of 740, in the following words: "Gregory III.
made more advantageous proposals to Charles Martel, when troubled
by the'king of the Lombards ; to wit, that he would cease to recognise
the [Greek] emperor's authority, and would proclaim Charles the consul
of Rome. Here we have the real epoch of the temporal power of the
popes."] [2 That is, from that time to the date of Tyndale's writing.]
[3 So Marb., but S. and S. ed. Hulderious. In French history he
is styled Childeric III., and began to reign in 742.]
[* So S. and S. ed. By the person, or parson of the parish was
meant the rector ; the vicar was his deputy.]

BISHOP OF ROME CALLED HIMSELF POPE. 261
other); and Zacharias answered, that he was more worthy to it.e poge put
be king, that ruled the realm and took the labours, than an ^f„h'FjfJ-*
idle shadow that went up and down, and did nought. And so "p ^''P'"'
upon that, the lords of France, by the persuasions of the
prelates, consented unto PIpine, and thrust down their right
king unto whom they were sworn, and made a monk of him; Thewngof
and both the lords, and also PIpIne, took dispensations for ma'di^r"'"
1 /¦ s ml. monk. W.T.
their oaths of our holy father, and were tors worn ^ ihus
was our holy father, the pope, crept up into the consciences
of men with his false interpretation of binding and loosing,
good eight hundred years agone^.
Then came pope Stephanus the second, out of whose gj'^J^^''™
hands Estulphus, king of Lombardy, would fain have scratched Estuiphus,
/. 1 1 . 1 1.1 /.I ll jx king of Lom-
somewhat ; for he thought that the holy fathers gathered too baroy.
fast, and had already raked too much unto them. But the
new king, Piplne of France, warned of his duty and service
promised, and mindful of old friendship, and hoping for part
of the prey, eame to succour the pope : and when he had ho^ uie
subdued the king of Lombardy, he gave unto our holy father, advanced.
or rather to St Peter, that hungry beggar, great provinces
and countries in Lombardy and in Italy, with the Isle Corsica,
and many great cities, of which some pertained unto the
emperor, being then at Constantinople ; and yet the emperor
had sent before unto kuig Piplne, that he should not give of
his towns unto the pope. But Pipine answered that he came
for the same intent, and to enhance our holy father. And
our holy father received them'f.
And thus the empire was divided Into two parts ; the pope
and the French king parting the one half between them.
And as the emperor decayed, the pope grew. And as the
[5 The history of this transaction is incorporated into the papal
law, where Decret. pars. 2^ can. xv. q. 6, cap. 3, is as follows. Pon
tificaUs auctoritas a juramento fidelitatis nonnullos absolvit. Alius
item Romanus pontifex, Zacharias scilicet, regem Francorum, non
tam pro suis iniquitatibus quam pro eo quod tantse potestati erat in -
utilis, a regno deposuit, et Pipinum Caroli Magni imperatoris patrem
in ejus locum substituit ; omnesque Francigenas a juramento fidelitatis
absolvit. — Corp. Jur. canonici. Th. Kerver, 1516.]
[8 The date of this transaction was about 751.]
['' Platina has not mentioned Corsica as part of Pepin's gift to
Stephen in his life of that pope ; but he mentions it as included in
that gift, when relating the life of Adrian I.]

262 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Seans Maho P°P® g^'^^j SO the soct of Mahomet grew ; for the emperor
Slat"'""'* (^^If ^^^ empire lost) was not able to defend himself against
"^•'^- the infidels. And the pope would suffer no help hence to
come, for two causes ; one, lest the emperor should recover
his empire again ; and another, because the prelates of the
Greeks would not submit themselves unto his godhead, as the
prelates of these quarters of the world had done.
Carolus. After PIpine reigned his son the great Charles, whom we
call Charlemagne, which knew no other god but the pope, nor
any other way to heaven than to do the pope pleasure. For
the pope served him for two purposes : one, to dispense with
him for whatsoever mischief he did ; another, to be established
in the empire by his help : for without his favour he wist it
The pope would uot be ; so great a god was our holy father become
becomea i i • i ,
sreatg^on already m those days.
This pope Stephen' in his latter days fell at variance
Desideriua. with Deslderlus, king of Lombardy about the archbishop of
Ravenna.
Pope Adrian After Stephen succeeded Adrian the first; with whom
Deslderlus, the king of Lombardy, would fain have made
peace, but pope Adrian would not. And shortly upon that,
the brother of this Charlemagne, which reigned with him In
half the dominion of France, died ; whose wife, for fear of
Charles, fled with her two sons unto Deslderlus, king of Lom
bardy for succour. Deslderlus was glad of their coming,
trusting by the means of these two children to obtain favour
among many of the Frenchmen, and so to be able to resist
Charles, if he would meddle, and to bring Italy unto the right
emperor again, and would have had that pope Adrian should
have anointed them kings In their father's room. But Adrian
refused that to do, (for he saw Charles mighty and meet for
The pope hls purposo,) and was as wily as Deslderlus; and thought to
Eecmpertj" keep out the right emperor, and be emperor of Rome himself,
though he gave another the name for a season, till a more
convenient time came.
Then Deslderlus warred upon the pope's jurisdiction;
and Adrian sent to Charles : and Charles came with his
[1 By the expression this Stephen, Tyndale has marked, though
obscurely, that the Stephen of Charlemagne's days is not the same
pope as the Stephen whom Pepin assisted. Stephen HI. became
pope in 768, and was succeeded by Adrian I. in 772.]

POPES MADE USE OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE. 263
army, and drave out Deslderlus and his son ; which son fled charies and
unto the right emperor to Constantinople. And Charles and diviSXthe
the pope divided the kingdom of Lombardy between them : Lombardy.
and Charles came to Rome ; and the pope and he were
sworn together, that whosoever should be enemy unto the one,
should be enemy also unto the other*.
This Adrian gathered a council immediately of an hundred ''^^p°^^^
and fifty-three bishops, abbots, and reHgious persons, and =™^»j{;j™<i
gave unto Charles and his successors the empire of Rome ; em^iKot"
and ordained that the right and power to choose the pope ^™^'
should be his, and that no bishop should be consecrate till he
had obtained of bim both consent and the ornaments of a
bishop also, (which they now buy of the pope,) under pain of
cursing, and to be delivered unto black Satan the devil, and
loss of goods. (Dist. IxIII.^)
And Leo the third, which succeeded Adrian, confirmed the Leothetwrd,
. . pope.
same ; and crowned Charles emperor of Rome for like service
done unto him. And then there was appointment made be- ^^p?reThe'°
tween the emperors of Constantinople and of Rome, and the ?°§f'"^^°
places assigned, how far the borders of either empire should
reach. And thus of one empire was made twain; and
therefore the empire of Constantinople, for lack of help, was
shortly after subdued of the Turks.
The said Leo also called Charles " The most christian Most christ-
klng*," because of his good service; which title the kings of w.r.
[2 Tbiswas a.d. 774.]
[3 The heading of Dist. lxiii. is, "Laici nullo modo se debent inse
rere electioni" [pontificum] ; and its first canon begins, Nullus laicorum
principum vel potentum semet inserat electioni aut promotioni patri
archs, metropolitani, aut cujuslibet episcopi. But its ca. xxn. is headed,
"Imperator jus habet eligendi pontificem ;" and the text of that canon
is as follows : Adrianus papa Romam venire Karolum regem ad defen-
dendas res ecclesise postulavit . . . Romam reversus [Karolus] constituit
ibi synodum cum Adriano papa in patriarchatu lateranensi, in ecclesia
S'' Salvatoris ; quaa synodus celebrata est cliii. episcopis, religiosis, et
abbatibus. Adrianus autem papa cum universa synodo tradiderunt
Karolo jus et potestatem eligendi pontificem, et ordinandi apostolicam
sedem, dignitatem quoque patriciatus ei concesserat. Insuper archie
piscepos et episeopos per singulas provincias ab eo investituram accipere
difSnivit ; ut, nisi a rege laudetur et investiatur, episcopus a nemine
consecretur; et quicunque contra hoc decretum ageret anathematis
vinculo eum innodavit  Corp. Jur. Canon Decret. par. 1™*.]
[* In the inscription on his tomb, "Magni Caroli Regis Chris
tianissimi Romanorumque Imperatoris." Platin. in Vit. Leon. III.]

son ofthe
holy seat.
W.T.

264 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
France use unto this day, though many of them be never so
Defender of unchrlsteued : as the last Leo called our king " The defender
the faith. o
Th'e^idest "^ *^® ^^^*'^ '" ^^^ ^^ *'^^®' P*^P® Clemens calleth the duke of
Guelder " The eldest son of the holy see of Rome," for no
other virtue nor property that any man can know, save that
Who is a he hath been all his life a pick-quarrel and a cruel and un-
king. righteous bloodshedder, as his father, that sitteth in that holy
see. Is. So now, above seven hundred years, to be a christian
chlries °' ^^°g ^^ *° ^g^* ^°^ *^^ P°P® ' ^"^^ ™*^®'' christian, that most
w. T. fighteth, and slayeth most men for his pleasure.
This Charles was a great conqueror; that is to say, a
great tyrant, and overcame many nations with the sword:
peiiedir™" as the Turk compelleth us unto his faith, so he compelled
obedimce rf them wlth vlolcnce unto the faith of Christ, say the stories.
epope. g^^^ alas! Christ's faith, whereunto the Holy Ghost only
draweth men's hearts through preaching the word of truth,
and holy living according thereto, he knew not ; but unto the
pope he subdued them, and unto this superstitious idolatry
which we use clean contrary unto the scripture.
Practice. Moreover, at the request and great desire of his mother,
he married the daughter of Deslderlus, king of Lombardy ;
but after one year, unto the great displeasure of his mother, he
put her away again ; but not without the false subtilty of the
pope, thou mayest be sure, neither without ¦ his dispensation.
For how could Charles have made war for the pope's pleasure
with Deslderlus her father, and have thrust him out of his
kingdom, and banished his son for ever, dividing his king
dom between him and the pope, as long as she had been his
The pope is wife? And therefore the pope, with his authority of binding
a dispenser ^ r i ' ^ d o
of th'^'hoS ^^^ loosing, loosed the bonds of that matrimony (as he hath
many other since, and daily doth for like purposes), to the
intent that he would with the sword of the French king put
the kingdom of Lombardy, that was somewhat too nigh him,
out of the way ; by the reason of whose kings his fatherhood
could not reign alone, nor assign or sell the bishopricks of
Italy to whom he lusted, and at his pleasure.
Charles a He kept also four concubines, and lay with two of his own
filthy whore- ^ 'J
monger. daughters thereto. And though he wist how that it was not
unknown, yet, his lusts being greater than great Charles, he
would not wete, nor yet refrain.
[1 i. e. the pope at the time of Tyndale's writing.]

of matri
mony.

CHARACTER OF CHARLEMAGNE, 265
And beyond all that, the saying is, that In his old age a
whore had so bewitched him with a ring and a pearl In it,
and I wot not what imagery graven therein, that he went a
salt after her as a dog after a bitch, and the dotehead was
beside himself, and whole out of his mind : insomuch that
when the whore was dead, he could not depart from the dead
corpse, but caused it to be embalmed, and to be carried with charies hath
him whithersoever he went, so that all the world wondered at carried wiui
him ; till at the last his lords accombered with carrying her
from place to place, and ashamed that so old a man, so great Thiswasan
r r ' ' o emperor for
an emperor, and such a most christian king, on whom and ^'JJ'iP^Po^^h.
whose deeds every man's eyes were set, should dote on a dead
whore, took counsel what should be the cause : and it was
concluded that it must needs be by enchantment. Then they
went unto the cofiin, and opened it, and sought and found
this ring on her finger ; which one of the lords took off, and
put it on his own finger. When the ring was off, he com
manded to bury her, regarding her no longer. Nevertheless,
he cast a fantasy unto this lord, and began to dote as fast^''^"""!
on him, so that he might never be out of sight ; but where
our Charles was, there must that lord also be ; and what
Charles did, that must he be privy unto : until that this lord,
perceiving that it came because of this enchanted ring, for
very pain and tediousness took and cast it into a well at
Aeon", In Dutchland. And after that the ring was in the
well, the emperor could never depart from the town ; but In
the said place where the ring was cast, though it were a foul
morass, yet he built a goodly monastery In the worship of our
lady, and thither brought rehcs from whence he could get
them, and pardons to sanctify the place, and to make it more
haunted*. And there he lieth, and Is a saint, as right Is: The pope
for he did for Christ's vicar as much as the great Turk for lecherous
n/T 1 1 1 • 1 1- 1 1 • 1 . emperor a
Mahomet ; but to save his holiness, that he might be canon- ="»int.
Ized for a saint, they feign In his life, that his abiding there so
continually was for the hot-baths' sakes which be there.
After Charlemagne Lewis the mild* was emperor, which Lewis oie
mUd,
[2 Aix la Chapelle.]
[3 Neither Eginhart, nor Aimon, nor their annotators, nor Gibbon,
nor Gaillard have taken any notice of the existence of the above wild
legend.] [4 Louis le Debonnaire.]

266 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
was a very patient man, (another Phocas, and another prey
for the pope,) and so meek and soft, that scarcely he could be
angry at any thing at all. When our holy fathers had seen
his water, and spied what complexion he was, they chose
Popestephen Stephen, the fourth of that name, pope, without his knowledge,
and bade him neither good morrow, nor good even, nor once
God speed about the matter, against their own grant unto his
The pope father for his good service. And his softness was yet some-
electedand ° . , . i ¦ c i
set up with- what displeased therewith, inasmuch as the election of the
out the assent r
MrOT°™" P°P^ pertained unto his right. But the pope sent ambassadors,
and wrote all the excuses that he could, and came after him
self to France to him, and peaced him, and crowned him there
emperor, and passed the time a season with him, and they
became very familiar together.
Pope Pas- After that they chose Paschalls pope, of the same manner ;
which Paschahs sent immediately legates unto the emperor
soft Lewis, excusing himself, and saying that it was not
his fault, but that the clergy and the common people had
drawn him thereto with violence against his will. Then the
The pope, emperor was content for that once, and bade they should no
abi7sed°the moro do SO, but that the old ordinance ought to be kept. The
softness of this Lewis did him much care : for he was after
prisoned of his own son, with help of pope Gregory the fourth.
The pope After this man's days the popes never regarded the
settethnotby tiii ^ -K i
the emperor, emporors, uor did the clergy oi Rome sue any more to the
emperor, either for the election or confirmation of the pope.
Moreover, after this Lewis, there was never emperor in
Christendom of any power, or able of his own might to cor
rect any pope ; neither was there any king that could correct
the outrageous vices of the spiritualty of his own realm after
this time. For this Lewis left three sons, among which he
divided the realm of France and all Dutchland i: which same,
for pride and disdain that one should have more than another,
fell together (as we say) by the ears, each destroying other's
power, so that France was afterward of no might to do any
^one. great thing. And then the pope reigned in Italy alone.
Pope Nicho- without care of any emperor : insomuch that Nicholas the
1.... .1... «,„* d r
first decreed that no secular prince or emperor should have
aught to do, or be at the councils ofthe clergy ^
[1 That is, Germany.]
[2 Approbante Ludovico imperatore instituit [Nicolaus], Ne prin-

las the first.

THE POPES AND CHARLEMAGNE. 267
And after that Adrian the second was chosen pope ; the Pope Adrian
. . \ p '^^ second.
emperor's deputy being in Rome, and not once spoken to of
the matter. And when the emperor's ambassadors disdained,
they answered, 'Who can resist the rage of the people?' and
prayed them to be content, and to salute him as pope*. And
Adrian the third decreed that they should not abide or tarry ^,°Pt|,ij*™"
for the emperor's confirmation or authority In choosing the
pope*, and that the pope only should call a general council,
and not the emperor ; or, if the emperor would presume that
to do, the council should be of none effect, though all the
prelates of Christendom were there, and though whatsoever
they did were but God's word. So mighty was the beast
now waxed, when he once began to reign alone. And from J^^^vfiiil
this time hitherto^ perished the power of the emperors and |mpero°r^p^°
the virtue of the popes, saith Platina, in the hfe of popes^. lhei.^^°^°'
For since that time, as there was none emperor of might, so
was there no pope of any virtue.
After this Lewis, the empire of France and of all Dutch-
land was divided between his three sons ; which, as I said,
fought one with another, and destroyed the strength of the
empire of France. And from that time to this, which is
above seven hundred years, thou shalt read of few popes that The popes
have not led their lives In bloodshedding ; insomuch that if on™ bS-
thou consider the stories well, thou shalt easily perceive that above seven
, 1 1 1 1 . 1 1 . » hundred
there hath been slain about their cause far above forty y^'^- w. t.
hundred thousand men ; beside that there hath been but few
princes in Christendom that hath not been busied and cum- aii christ-
bered, a great part of his life, about their matter ; either beenSoubiM
in wars begun at their setting on ; either in ceasing schisms pope's causes.
or division that hath been among the clergy, who should be
ceps ulius secularis aut imperator conciliis clericorum interesse auderet,
nisi de fide ageretur : licere tum ac par esse censuit. — Platina. D. V.
Pont.] [3 So Platina, a.d. 867 — 8.]
[* Hadrianus III. tanti animi fuit, ut initio pontificatus sui statim
ad senatum populumque retulerit ne in creando pontifice imperatoris
auctoritas exspectaretur. — Platina relating this gives the date 895 ; but
other chronologists assign the brief popedom of Adrian III. to 884.]
[6 S. and S. ed. hitherward.]
[« Nescio quo fato accidisse dicam, ut una cum industria impera-
torum simul etiam pontiflcum virtus et integritas defecerit. — Plat.
D. V. Pont, in vita Pormosi. A. D. 891 — 6.]

268 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
pope ; or striving of bishops, who should be greatest, as
between the bishop of Tork and Canterbury in England, and
between the bishops of England and Wales, whereof all the
chronicles be full; or In reforming friars or monks, or In
slaying them that uttered their false hypocrisy with God's
word. When the emperor was down, and no man In Christendom
of any power to be feared, then every nation fell upon other,
and all lands were at variance between themselves. And then,
as the Danes came into England, and vexed the Englishmen,
and dwelt there Ih spite of their hearts ; even so came strange
nations whose names were scarce heard of before In these
Vandals. quarters, (as the Vandals, Huns, and Goths,) and ran through-
Goths, out all Christendom by hundred thousands together, and sub
dued the lands and dwelt therein maugre the inhabiters ; as
thou mayest see In Dutchland, how divers nations are inclosed
In the midst of the land, of a strange tongue which no Dutch
men understand ; and that rule continued well eight or nine
The spiritual- scorc, or two hundred years. And in all this season, whoso-
ty clave to - . i . . , • i i i •
"h^vf tor^"' ever won the mastery, him the spiritualty received, and him
^Seyei'be'^ they crowued king, and to him they clave. And whatsoever
"^^^ any tyrant had robbed all his life, that, or the most part
thereof, must he deal among them at his death, for fear of
Building of purgatory. The spiritualty all that season preached the pope
Shrining of mightily, built abbies for recreation and quietness, shrining
them alway for saints which purchased them privileges, or
fought for their liberties, or disputed for the pope's power,
howsoever they lived, (but after fifty years, when their lives
were forgotten;) and if any resisted them, whatsoever mischiefs ^
they went about, him they noted in the chronicles as a cruel
tyrant: yea, and whatsoever misfortune chanced any of his
posterity after him, that they noted also, as though God had
plagued them, because their forefather was disobedient unto
holy church; and ever put the storied that uttered their
This was the wlckcducss out of the way ; and gathered relics from whence
fySepro- they could get them, and feigned miracles, and gave them-
ariseinthe sclvcs ouly uuto poctry^, and shut up the scripture: so that
Matt. xxiv. this was the very time of which Christ speaketh. Matt. xxiv.
[1 The two oldest editions have miscJiieuen.]
[2 Tyndale uses this word ironically torfetion.]

FRANK EMPERORS AND THE POPES. 269
in which false prophets should arise, and shew miracles and
wonders, to deceive the very elect. If it had been possible.
Finally, in this busy world, the kings of Lombardy gat
a little might, and came up again, and were divers times
emperors, though of no great might. And one Beringarius, Beringarius.
king of Lombardy, began to meddle with our holy father's
business. Wherefore the pope fled unto Otho king of the 0*0.
Saxons, which by that time had gotten might, and brought
him into Italy against Berlngarium ; which Otho overcame
Beringarlum, and was made emperor for his labour, and thus
came the empire first unto Dutchland*.
And Otho received the empire of one pope John (say ^^^^^^
they) with this oath: "I Otho do promise and swear unto the The oath of
lord John, by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and made to the
by this wood of the cross that maketh living*, and by these
rehcs of saints, that if I come to Rome, with God's help I will
exalt the holy church of Rome, and thee^ the governor of the
same unto my power. Neither shalt thou lose life nor mem
bers, or that honour that thou hast, by my will, counsel,
consent, or setting awork. Moreover, I will make In Rome
no constitution or ordinance, of anything that pertaineth unto
thee, or unto the Romans, without thy counsel. And whatso- Notehere
' d the dissimu-
ever of the lands of St Peter cometh unto our hands, I will i*"°",°"1f
^ pope, m can-
deliver it thee. And unto whosoever I shall commit the rule i^Jifs'lt pI!'
of Italy, I will make him swear that he shall help thee to sfonsr^'*^
defend the lands of St Peter unto his power."
And Gregory the fifth (when they had got at the last Popecregory
that which they long gaped for) made this ordinance of
choosing the emperor, to stablish it withal : that six lords of
[3 The events of this paragraph are told in Platina of the popedom
of Agapete U., but it is in relating the history ofhis successor John XII.,
that he says. Translate tum primum ad Germanos imperio; of which
however he confesses that some refer this transaction to the popedom
of Leo VIII. Hence Tyndale's expression of uncertainty they say, in
the next sentence. Agapete H. became pope in 946 ; Leo, 18 years
later.] [* Tyndale is here translating the words, vivificcs crucis. This oath
is incorporated into the canon law, where it forms ca. ,33. of Dist. lxiii.
Decret. pars 1""*.]
[5 Thee is wanting in D., but given in the two older editions, and
found in the Latin canon.]

270

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Almany, three of the spiritualty, and three of the temporalty,
The election with the kiug of Bohemia the seventh, to be the odd man and
e empe- ^^^^j^^^ should chooso him for ever, and send him to the pope
to receive his oath, and to be crowned i. Nevertheless tbe
pope, to keep the emperor afar off, sendeth him his coronation
home to him oft-times, much lever than that he should come
any nearer, as a meek spirited man that had lever hve
solitary and alone, than have his holiness seen.

i empe
ror apper-
tainetn to
the lords of
Germany.

The i^'y tree
springeth.

The manner
how tho
pope did
spring up to
his great au-
thonty.

The choosing
of the pope
and all
bishops per
tained unto
the emperor
and kings
once. W. T.

A proper similitude to describe our holy Pather.
And to see bow our holy father came up, mark the en
sample of an Ivy tree : first it springeth out of the earth, and
then awhile creepeth along by the ground till It find a great
tree. Then it joineth Itself beneath alow unto the body of
the tree, and creepeth up a httle and a httle, fair and softly.
And at the beginning, while It is yet thin and small, that the
burden is not perceived, it seemeth glorious to garnish the
tree In the winter, and to bear off the tempests of the weather.
But In the mean season it thrusteth roots Into the bark of the
tree, to hold fast withal ; and ceaseth not to climb up, till It
be at the top and above all. And then It sendeth his branches
along by the branches of the tree, and overgroweth all, and
waxeth great, heavy, and thick ; and sucketh the moisture so
sore out of the tree and his branches, that it choaketh and
stifleth them. And then the foul stinking ivy waxeth mighty
in the stump of the tree, and becometh a seat and a nest for
aU unclean birds, and for bhnd owls, which hawk in the dark,
and dare not come at the hght.
Even so the bishop of Rome, now called pope, at the
beginning crope along upon the earth ; and every man trod
upon him In this world. But as soon as there came a christ
ian emperor, he joined himself unto his feet and kissed them,
and crope up a little with begging now this privilege, now
that ; now this city, now that ; to find poor people withal,
and the necessary ministers of God's word. And he entitled
the emperor with choosing the pope and otber bishops ; and
promoted In the spiritualty, not whom virtue and learning,
[1 Plat, D. V. Pont, in Vita. Greg. V. whose popedom extended
only from 996 to 999.]

FRANK EMPERORS AND THE POPES. 271
but whom the favour of great men commended ; to flatter, to
get friends, and defenders withal. And the alms of the con- The aims
D ' /. 1 1 S^^^^ unto
gregation which was the food and patrimony of the poor and {,^^oP™'g\^_
necessary preachers, that he called St Peter's patrimony, St J^'^'^^'f p*"-
Peter's rent, St Peter's lands, St Peter's right; to cast a^-'^'
vain fear and a heathenish superstltiousness Into the hearts
of men, that no man should dare meddle with whatsoever came
once into then- hands for fear of St Peter, though they minis
tered it never so evil ; and that they which should think it
none alms to give them any more (because they had too much
ah-eady) should yet give St Peter somewhat, (as Nabuchodo- Dan. xiv.
nesser gave his god Beel) to purchase an advocate and an
intercessor of St Peter, and that St Peter should at the first
knock let them in. And thus, with flattering and feigning,
and vain superstition, under the name of St Peter, he crept ^^^1^^
up and fastened his roots in the heart of the emperor, and b^shops^'Lid*
with his sword clamb up above all his fellow-bishops, and th^mpSor.
brought them under his feet. And as he subdued them with
the emperor's sword, even so by subtilty and help of them
(after that they were sworn faithful) he clamb above the em
peror, and subdued him also, and made him stoop unto his
feet and kiss them another while. Tea, pope Ccelestinus
crowned the emperor Henry the fifth ^, holding the crown oi'^"''^''.
between his feet: and when he had put the crown on, he Note this de-
smote it off with his feet again, saying, that he had might to abominawe
make emperors and to put them down againt
And he made a constitution, that no layman should meddle ^j'f^j,
with their matters, nor be In their councils, or wit what they
[2 The pope was Coelestine III., but the emperor was Henry VL,
not the flfth. The date 1191.]
[3 This is related in Hoveden, a chronicler contemporary with
Coelestine HI., as follows : Deinde introduxit eos dominus papa in ec
clesiam, et unxit eum in imperatorem et uxorem suam in imperatricem.
Sedebat autem dominus papa in cathedra pontificali, tenens coronam
auream imperialem inter pedes suos ; et imperator inclinato capite
recepit coronam, et imperatrix similiter, de pedibus domini papae.
Dominus autem papa statim percussit oum pede suo coronam impera
toris, et dejecit eum [eam] in terra, signiflcans quod ipse potestatem
ejiciendi eum ab imperio habet, si ilie demeruerit : sed cardinales
statim corripientes coronam imposuerunt eam capiti imperatoris. —
Roger. Hoveden. Annal. Angl. p. 689, in Rerum Anglic, script, post
Bed. prsecip. Prancofurti. mdci.]

made pope.

272 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
did' ; and that the pope only should call the council ^ and the
emperor should but defend the pope ^ ; provided alway that
the council should be in one of the pope's towns, and where
the pope's power was greater than the emperor's*- Then,
The pope under a pretence of condemning some heresy, he called a
shaTOhngs"' general council, where he made one a patriarch, another car-
intodignities. ^j^^j^ another legate, another primate, another archbishop,
another bishop, another dean, another archdeacon, and so
forth, as we now see.
Quails pater. And as the pope played with the emperor, so did his
talis fibus; ,1.11 i-i i-
good natural brauchcs and his members, the bishops, play in every kmg-
^- ^- dom, dukedom, and lordship ; Insomuch that the very heirs
of them by whom they came up, hold now their lands of
them, and take them for their chief lords. And as the em
peror is sworn to the pope, even so every king is sworn to
[1 Dist. xxviii. cap. 17. De presbyteris non est laicis judicandum.
De presbyteris vobis qui laici estis nec judicandum est, nec de eorum
vita quidpiam investigandum. This sentence is incorporated into the
decretal from Nicolaus papa I. ad consulta Bulgarorum, c. 7. Date
866.] [2 Dist. xvii. cap. 5. Non est concihum sed conventiculum, quod
sine sedis apostolicse auctoritate celebratur. Item Pelagius papa II.
Multis denuo apostolicis et canonicis atque ecclesiasticis instruimur
regulis, non debere absque sententia Romani pontiflcis concilia cele-
brari. The same is aflSrmed in cap. 1 and 2 of the same Distinctio.]
[3 Uterque ergo est in potestate ecclesise, spiritaUs scilicet gladius et
materialis. Sed is quidem pro ecclesia, ilie vero ab ecclesia exercendus :
ilie sacerdotis, is manu regum et militum, sed ad nutum et patientiam
sacerdotis. Oportet autem gladium esse sub gladio, et temporalem
auctoritatem spiritali subjici potestati. Boniface VIII. Extrav. comm.
Lib. I. Tit. viii. cap. 1. Corp. juris canonici. Lugduni 1622.]
[* At the time of Tyndale's writing this it was notorious that the
emperor was urging Clement VII. to summon a council, and to let its
sessions be held in some German city: this however the pope de
clined. II papa, says father Paul, propose per luogo una delle cittS
dello stato ecclesiastico ; [dicendo] Non poter in alcun modo consentire
di celebrarlo in Germania, perche 1 'Italia non comportarebbe d'esser
posposta ; e la Spagna e Francia, che nelle cose ecclesiastiche cedono
air Italia per la prerogativa del pontificate, che e proprio di quella, non
vorrebbono coder alia Germania. Quanto al modo di deflnire le cose
in concilio, diceva il pontifice esser cosa chiara che nei concilio non
hanno voto, se non i vescovi per dritto del canone, e gli abbati per con
suetudine, ed alcuni altri per privilegio pontificio  Hist, del Concil.
Tridentine. Lond. 1619. p. 58.]

THE pope's KINGDOM UNLIKE TO CHRISt's. 273
the bishops and prelates of his realm : and they are the
chiefest in all parhaments ; yea, they and their money, and
they that be sworn to them, and come up by them, rule
altogether. And thus the pope, the father of all hypocrites, hath with me pope's
falsehood and guUe perverted the order of the world, and pared with
turned the roots of the trees upward, and hath put down the w. t. "
kingdom of Christ, and set up the kingdom of the devil, whose
vicar he is ; and hath put down the ministers of Christ, and
hath set up the ministers of Satan, disguised yet in names
and garments like unto the angels of light and ministers of
righteousness. For Christ's kingdom is not of tbe world
(John xviii.) ; and the pope's kingdom Is all the world. Johnxviii.
And Christ is neither judge nor divider in this world christ and
(Luke xii.) : but the pope judgeth and divideth all the world, comrared
and taketh the empire and all kingdoms, and giveth them to Lukexii.
whom he lusteth.
Christ saith, "Blessed are the poor In spirit:" so that u^jf .,,_
the first step in the kingdom of Christ Is humbleness, or hu
mility ; that thou canst find in thine heart to do serviee unto
all men, and to suffer that all men tread thee.
The pope saith, 'Blessed be the proud and high-minded,
that can climb and subdue all under them, and maintain their
right, and such as will suffer of no man :' so that he which
was yesterday taken from the dunghill and promoted this day
by his prince, shall to-morrow, for the pope's pleasure, curse
him, and excommunicate him, and interdict his realm.
Christ saith, " Blessed be the meek," or soft, that be
harmless as doves.
The pope blesseth them that can set all the world together
by the ears, and fight, and slay manfully for his sake, that
he may come hot from blood-shedding to a bishoprick ; as our
cardmal did^, and as St Thomas of Canterbury did, which
[5 ' The care of providing all that was requisite for the French war
of 1513 was confided to Wolsey. He attended the king to his campaign,
and became the principal person at his side, being deemed the author
of the expedition ; and he participated in all the reputation which it
gained. He was appointed bishop of the conquered town of Tournay,
and in the following year bishop of Lincoln, and also, on the death of
one of his patrons, archbishop of York.' Sh. Turner, Hist. Hen. VIII.
B. I. ch. 7, Vol. I. p. 179, 2nd ed.]
[tyndale, il]

274 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
was made bishop in the field. In complete harness on his
horseback, and his spear bloody In his hand^.
Christ hath neither holes for foxes, nor nests for birds,
nor yet whereon to lay his bead, nor promised aught in this
world unto his disciples, nor took any to his disciple but him
that had forsaken all.
The ivy-tree, the pope, hath under his roots throughout
all Christendom, In every village, holes for foxes, and nests
for unclean birds in all his branches, and promiseth unto his
disciples all the promotions of the world.
Christ The nearer unto Christ a man cometh, the lower he must
man low, but desccud, and the poorer he must wax. But the nearer unto
the pope ^ . Till
lifteth up on the pope ye come, the higher ye must climb, and the more
riches ye must gather, whencesoever ye can get them, to
pay for your bulls, and to purchase a glorious name, and
licence to wear a mitre, and a cross, and a pall, and goodly
ornaments.
How the pope receiveth his kingdom of the devil, and how he dis
tributeth it again.
The pope Shortly, the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of
receiveth his d ' o o d
ktagtomfof them, which Christ refused, (Matt, iv.) did the devil proffer
Matt^Iv!' unto the pope; and he Immediately fell from Christ, and
worshipped the devil, and received them. For by falsehead
(as he maintaineth them) came he thereto; and by false-
head do all his disciples come thereto. Who of an hundred
one Is pope, bishop, or any great prelate, but either by ne
cromancy, or simony, or waiting on great men's pleasures,
and with corrupting of God's word, and fashioning it after
then- lusts?
dterSiXth -^^^ t"^® pope, after he had received the kingdom of the
kingdom'^ world of the devil, and was become the devil's vicar, took up
In like manner all Christendom on high, and brought them
from the meekness of Christ unto the high hill of the pride
of Lucifer, and shewed them all the kingdoms of the earth,
saying : ' Fall down and worship me, and I will give you
these.' Unto the spiritualty he saith : ' Fall from Christ, and
[1 It is not historically correct to say that Becket was made
bishop in the field ; but the language of his chaplain and biographer,
William Fitz- Stephen, might seem to Tyndale to imply that he was
so.]

W.T.

MANNER OF THE POPE's KINGDOM. 275
preach me, and take thou that cardlnalship, thou that bishop
rick, thou that abbotship, and so forth ; thou as many bene
fices as thou wilt, and a dispensation for what thou wllt^.'
And to monks and friars In hke manner : ' Take thou that hole,
and thou that nest, with what privileges ye will desire, and
dispensations of your rules, If ye will preach me.'
And unto the temporalty he saith, first to the emperor :
'If thou wilt fall down and kiss my feet, and swear to hold of
me, and to defend me, I give thee the empire.'
And to all kings, in like manner, if they will swear to
defend his liberties, and to hold of him, he crowneth them.
And even so all temporal lords, from the highest unto the
lowest, and all oflicers, and all manner subjects. If they will
enjoy lands, rents, o£5ces, goods, and their very lives, they
must run the same way.
The very whores (God's honour unregarded), as long as
they despise not him and his ordinances, they shall nest In
his rents^, and among his prelates. And the thieves and
murderers shall have dens in his sanctuaries, whatsoever they
do against God, so long as they hang on him.
The apostles chose priests to preach Christ only, all The pope's
11 11 11- order eom-
other things laid apart, and chose none but learned and vir- f^l^^^J^^^^
tuous. The pope sha veth whosoever cometh, lever out of the ^'^'osties.
stews than from study : and when they be sworn, he sendeth pJiesS'w.T
them unto all great men's houses to preach his godhead, to
be stewards, surveyors, receivers, and counsellors of all
manner mischief; to corrupt wife, daughter, and maid, and to
betray their own master, as oft as it needeth to promote their
falsehood withal : for thereto are they sworn together. And
when they have done all mischief, there shall no man wot
whence it cometh.
The apostles chose deacons to minister the alms of the The pope-s
widows.
W. T.
P Clement VH. was neither withheld by the general outcry for a
reform of these abuses, nor by shame, from giving to his nephew.
Cardinal Ippolito de Medici, authority to take possession of all the
vacant benefices in the whole world, secular and regular, digmfied and
parochial, simple or with cure of souls, and to hold them in commendam
for six months, with faculty to dispose of and convert to his own use
all the fruits thereof. Concil. Trident, p. 246.]
[* Tenements, which pay rent immediately to the proprietor of the
soil. Certain tenements on the banks of the Thames, called the
bishop of Winchester's rents, were then in very ill fame J
18—2

276 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
rich unto the poor ; and to help the deacons, they chose
widows of sixty years old, holy, and destitute of friends, to
tend the sick. And the pope Instead of such widows maketh
whosoever cometh, whether she be young or old, but none
save them that be rich and able to pay twenty, thirty, or
forty pound for their profession ; to whom, for as much more,
he will give a dispensation on the morrow to marry again.
The pope's And Instead of such deacons, he maketh both deacons and
deacons.
¦^^•T- sub-deacons, which do nothing at all, but are vain names
without office; except it be that on some holy day. Instead
of ministering the goods of the church unto the poor, they
sing an epistle or gospel, to beg more from the poor.
And as his deacons minister the goods of the church unto
the poor, even so do his priests preach Christ's gospel unto
the flock. And the alms that was given to the sustentation of the
How the poor, which thou shalt read in stories that it was In some
pope ...
divideth the cities abovo twouty, thirty, and forty, yea, an hundred thou-
poor people s * " d'd'
alms. w;t. sand pound, and all the lands given for the same purpose,
they have stolen from them, and have divided It among them
selves. And therewith did they at the beginning corrupt the
great men of the world, and clamb up to this height, where
they now be. And for that have they striven among them
selves this eight hundred years : and, to maintain that
which they have falsely gotten, hath the pope stirred up a
sword of war In all Christendom this eight hundred year,
and hath taken peace clean out of the world.
When the bishops, priests, and deacons were fallen, and
had received of the pope the kingdom that pertained unto the
poor people, and had robbed them, and parted their patri-
mony among themselves, then sprang the orders of monks ;
WT. whose profession was, to abstain from flesh all their hves*,
to wear vUe raiment, to eat but once in the day, and that
[1 Carnem cuiquam monaeho nec sumendi nec gustandi est con
cessa Ucentia; non quod creaturam Dei judicemus indignam, sed quod
carnis abstinentia utilis et apta monachis asstimetur; servato tamen
moderamine pietatis erga segrotos. Quod si quis monachus violaverit,
et contra sanctionem regulse usumque veterum vesci carnibus prse-
sumpserit ; sex mensium spatio retrusioni et pcenitentise subjacebit. —
Corp. Jur. canon. Decret. pars m. De Consecr. Dist. v. can. 32. Lug
duni. 1622.]

PRIESTS, MONKS, AND FRIARS. 277
but butter, cheese, eggs, fruits, roots, and such things that
were not costly, and might everywhere be found. And they
wrote books, and wrought divers things, to get their living
withal. When the laymen saw that the priests were fallen
Into such covetousness, and that the monks were so holy, they
thought, ' These be meet men to minister our alms unto the
poor people: for their profession Is so holy that they cannot jf^^ks made
deceive us as the priests do:' and made the monks tutors ^S^poor!'"
and ministers unto the poor ; and gave great lands and riches
into their hands, to deal it unto the poor. When the monks
saw such abundance, they fell after the ensample of the priests;
and took dispensations of the pope for their rules and strait
profession, which now Is as wide as their cowls ; and divided
all among them, and robbed the poor once more. And out of Monks rob
„ . . . ^he poor.
the abbeys took he the most part of his bishopricks and ca
thedral churches, and the most part of all the lands he hath,
besides tbat there remain yet so many mighty abbeys, and
nunneries thereto.
As soon as the monks were fallen, then sprang these Begging
. . friars. W. T.
begging friars out of hell, the last kind of caterpillars, In a
more vile apparel, and a more strait religion; that, if aught
of relief were left among the laymen for the poor people,
these horse-leeches might suck that also : which drone-bees,
as soon as they had learned their craft, and had built them
goodly and costly nests, and their limiters had divided all
countries among them to beg In, and had prepared livings of
a certainty, though with begging; then they also took dis
pensations of the pope, for to live as largely and as lewdly as
the monks. And yet unto the laymen, whom they have thus falsely The charge
robbed, and from which tbey have divided themselves, and peopfe.""'
made them a several kingdom among themselves, they leave
the paying of toll, custom, and tribute (for unto all the
charges of the realms will they not pay one mite^), and the
[2 That is, guardians, defenders of their property.]
[3 In the Corpus Juris canonici, Sexti Decret. Lib. in. Tit. xxiii.
prrecipit personas ecclesiasticas pro rebus suis vel eeclesiarum nil laicis
solvere debere absque licentia apostolicBe sedis, sub quocunque colore
mutui, subventionis, doni, vel alio quolibet; ut etiam ipsi laici tallias
non exigant, vel recipiant; singulares contra facientes excommunicat;
et ab his sententiis solus papa absolvit, prseterquam in mortis articulo.]

278 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
finding of all the poor, the finding of scholars for the most
part, the finding of these foresaid horse-leeches and caterpillars,
the begging friars, the repairing of the high-ways and bridges,
the building and reparations of their abbeys and cathedral
churches, chapels, colleges; for which they send out their
pardons dally by heaps, and gather a thousand pounds for
every hundred that they bestow truly.
If the lay-people have war, or whatsoever charge It be,
they will not bear a mite. If the war be theirs (as the one
part almost of all war is to defend them), they will with false
hood make them bear the greatest part ; besides that they
must leave their wives and children, and go fight for them,
and lose their lives. And likewise In all their charges they
have a cast to poll the lay-people. The Scots cast down a
castle of the bishop of Durham's, on the Scottish bank,
called Norham castle ; and he gat a pardon from Rome for
the building of it again : wherewith I doubt not but he gat
for every penny, that he bestowed, threes-
How the And what do they with their store, that they have In so
bSow^their great plenty everywhere ; so that the very begging friars. In
w. T. ¦ short space, to make a cardinal or a pope of their sect, or to
do what feat It were for their profit, would not stick to bring
above a king's ransom? Verily, make goodly places and
parks of pleasure, and gay shrines, and painted posts, and
purchase pardons, wherewith they yet still poll and pluck
away that httle wherewith the poor, which perish for need,
and fall into great Inconveniences, might be somewhat holpen
and reheved ; and lay up In store to have alway to pay for
the defending of their faith, and for to oppress the truth.
How the pope made him a law, and why.
After that the pope with tyranny was clomb up above his
[1 Norham Castle, though on the Scottish border, is on the English
side of the Tweed ; and in a survey of the borders made by Sir Robert
Bowes and Sir Ralph EUeker, knts., Dec. 1542, it is reported to be
in a very good state, both in reparations and fortiflcations. But this
report was drawn up when Bp Tonstal was in favour at court. An
other report drawn up by Sir Robert Bowes but eight years later for
the marquess of Dorset, then warden of the Marches, says that " The
castle for lack of continual reparation is in much decay," and specifies
considerable decays at some length. — Hodgson's Northumberland,
Part III. Vol. n. pp. 190 and 197—9.]

CONDITION OF CLERGY AND LAITY COMPARED. 279
brethren, and had made all the spiritualty his subjects, and
had made of them and him a several kingdom among them
selves, and had separated them from the lay In all things,
and had got privileges, that whatsoever they did no man
should meddle with them ; and after also he had received
the kingdoms of the earth of Satan, and was become his vicar
to distribute them ; and after that the emperor was fallen in
like manner at his feet, and had worshipped him as god, to
receive his empire of him ; and all kings had done Hkewise to
be anointed of him, and to be crowned of him ; and after
that the world, both great and small, had submitted them
selves to receive the beast's badge; then, because that Christ's
doctrine was contrary unto all such kingdoms, and therefore Thepope
d ^ o ' ^ maketh laws.
had no law therein how to rule It, he went and made him a
several law of his own making, which passed In cruelty and
tyranny the laws of all heathen princes.
And in bis law he thrust In feigned gifts of old emperors The pope
that were out of memory, saying that the emperor Constan- the gS^ot
tinus had given up the empire of Rome unto St Sylvester^; what sub-
which Is proved a false lie, for divers causes: one, that StSsethto^"''^
Sylvester, being so holy a man, as he was, would not have kingdom.
received it contrary to his Master's commandments and doe-
trine ; another, that the emperors reigned In Rome many
years after, and all bishops sued unto the emperor, and not
to the pope, which was but bishop of Rome only, and not
called father of fathers : moreover, that no authentic story
maketh mention that any emperor gave them their patrimony,
but that PIpine, which falsely and with strength invaded
the empire, gave It unto him. Then put he In the grant
of Phocas; then the gift of PIpine confirmed by the great
Charles; then a feigned release of the election of the pope,
given up again unto pope Paschal by the emperor Lewis*.
For they themselves had granted unto Charlemagne and his
[2 In the papal law, Decreti pars l"% Dist. xcvi. can. 13, says,
Constantinus imperator coronam et omnem regiam dignitatem in urbe
Romana et in Italia et in partibus occidentalibus apostolico concessit.
Nam gestis beati Sylvestri (quod beatus papa Gelasius in conventu
lxx episcoporum a catholicis legi commemorat, et pro antiquo usu
multas hoc imitari dicit ecclesias) ita legitur. And then the pretended
deed of gift follows, and constitutes can. 14 of the same Distinctio.]
[3 His concession is incorporated in the papal law, as can. 30 of
Dist. Lxm. Decret. pars 1™*.]

280 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
successors for ever the election or denomination of the pope
and bishops, to flatter him withal, and to make him a faithful
defender, and that in a general council, which (as they say)
cannot err. Nevertheless pope Paschal, though he believed
the council could not err, yet he thought them somewhat
overseen to make so long a grant, and therefore he pur
chased a release of gentle Lewis, as they pretend. But verily
it Is more likely that they feigned that grant to excuse their
tyranny, after they had taken the election Into their hands
again with violence, when the emperors were weak, and not
able to resist them ; as they feigned the gift of Constantine,
after they had invaded the empire with subtilty and falsehood.
And, last of all, they brought In the oath of Otho, with the
order that now is used, to choose the emperor.
How the pope corrupteth the scripture, and why.
Thepope Moreover, lest these his lies should be spied, and lest
th"s"cnpture, haply tlio emperors following might say, 'Our predecessors had
no power to bind us, nor to minish our might;' and lest kings
following should say after the same manner, that the sword,
and full power to punish evildoers Indifferently, is given of
God to every king for his time, and therefore that their pre
decessor could not bind them contrary unto the ordinance of
God, but rather that it was unto their damnation to make
such grants, and that they did not execute their office;
therefore 1 the foul and misshapen monster gat him to the
scripture, and corrupted It with false expositions, to prove
that such authority was given him of God ; and challenged It
th'e'%'^' was ^J t^^ authority of Peter, saying that Peter was the head of
Christ's'"'^ Christ's church, and that Christ had made him lord over
church. ^jjg apostles, hIs feUows, in that he bade him feed his sheep
John xxi. and lambs ^, John the last; as who should say that Paul,
[1 Old editions, and tiierefore.]
[2 Igitur ecclesise unius et unicse unum corpus, unum caput, non
dua cnpita, quasi monstrum, Christus videlicet, et Christi vicarius
Petrus, Petrique successor, dicente Domino ipsi Petro, Pasce oves
meas, inquit et generaliter, non singulariter has vel illas, per quod
commisisse sibi intelligitur universas. Sive ergo Grasci sive alii se
dicant Petro ejusque successoribus non esse commissos, fateantur ne
cesse se de ovibus Christi non esse. — Corp. Jur. canon. Extrav. com
mun. Lib. I. Tit. vm. can. 1, Unam sanctam.]

THE POPE CORRUPTETH SCRIPTURE. 281
which came long after, was not commanded to feed as es- ah ministers
pecially as Peter, which yet would take none authority over acharge
the bodies or over the faiths of them which he fed, but was "f ?°1'"*,
Peter had.
their servant for Christ's sake, Christ ever the lord and
head ; and as though the other apostles were not likewise as
specially commanded as Peter ; and as though we now, and all
that hereafter shall love Christ, were not commanded to feed
Christ's flock, every man In his measure, as well as Peter.
Are not we commanded to love our neighbours as ourselves,
as well as Peter ? Why then are we not commanded to care
for his flock, as well as Peter ?
Moreover, if to feed Christ's sheep Is to be greatest, (as ^^^l^,^^
no doubt to feed Christ's flock is to be great, and most to preaSieSnot.
feed Is to be greatest ; In which office, though Peter was
great, yet Paul was greater;) how cometh It that the pope by
that authority challengeth to be greatest, and yet this eight
hundred years feedeth not at all ; but polsoneth their pasture
with the venomous leaven of his traditions, and with wresting
the text unto a contrary sense ?
Then came he to this text, (Matt, xvi.), " Thou art Peter, Matt. xvi.
and upon this rock I will build my congregation" or church.
Lo, saith antichrist, the carnal beast, Peter is the rock
whereon the church of Christ Is built ^ ; and I am his suc
cessor, and therefore the head of Christ's church : when
Christ meant by the rock the confession that Peter had con
fessed, saying, " Thou art Christ, the son of the living God,"
which art come Into this world. This faith is the rock Faith is the
1 .-Nl • 1 1*1 -1 T-i 1- ,1.^1. '^^''^ whereon
whereon Christs church is built, lor who is of Christ's Christ'schurch Is
church, but he only that beheveth that Christ is God's Son, """'• '^- ^•
come into this world to save sinners ? This faith is it, against
which hell-gates cannot prevail. This faith is it, which saveth
the congregation of Christ ; and not Peter.
[3 Ita Dominus ad omnium apostolorum officium pertinere voluit,
ut in beatissimo Petro apostolorum omnium summo principaliter col-
locaret: ut ab ipso quasi quodam capite dona sua, velut in corpus
omne dififunderet, ut exsortem se mysterii intelligeret esse divini, qui
ausus fuisset a Petri soliditate recedere. Hunc enim in consortium
individuse unitatis assumptum, id quod ipse erat voluit nominari, di
cendo, Tu es Petrus et super hanc Petram sedificabo ecclesiam meam ;
ut aeterni sediflcatio templi mirabili munere gratise Dei in Petri solidi
tate consisteret. — Corp. Jur. can. Deer. 1™* pars. Dist. xix. can. 7.]

282 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Then he goeth forth unto that which followeth : " Unto
thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
Binding and whatsoevor thou bindest In earth. It shall be bound In hea-
it'fs to°be"'" ven," &c. ' Lo, saith he, in that he saith, whatsoever thou
bindest in earth, he excepteth nothing ; therefore, I may
make laws, and bind both king and emperor >:' when Christ,
as he had no worldly kingdom, even so he spake of no worldly
The keys, binding, but of binding of sinners. Christ gave his disciples
the key of the knowledge of the law of God, to bind all
sinners ; and the key of the promises, to loose all that re
pent, and to let them Into the mercy that Is laid up for us In
Christ. Then cometh he unto another text, whieh Christ rehears-
Matt. xxviii. eth, Matthcw last, saying, "All power Is given me in heaven
and earth : go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost; teaching them to keep all that I commanded you:
?nt'ichriitr^ and bchold, I am with you unto the world's end." Lo, saith
wreiteththe the popo, Chrlst hath all power In heaven and earth without
exception, and I am Christ's vicar ; wherefore all power is
mine, and I am above all kings and emperors In temporal
jurisdiction, and they but my servants, to kiss not my feet
only, but my .n^. also, if I list not to have them stoop so low:
Christ's when Christ, as I said, because he had no temporal kingdom,
power is to i p
save_^sinners. evou SO ho meant of no temporal power, but oi power to save
sinners, which the process of the text declareth, by that he
saith. Go ye therefore, and teach and baptize ; that Is, preach
this power unto all nations, and wash off their sins, through
faith In the promises made in my blood.
o/thil"' Then he cometh unto another text, (Heb. vh.) which is,
judgeth he " The pricsthood being translated, the law must needs be trans-
texts, lated also." Now, saith thepope, 'The priesthood Is translated
unto me ; wherefore It pertaineth unto me to make laws, and
to bind every man.' And the epistle meaneth no such thing ;
[1 Item Adrianus Papa. Generali decreto censemus et constituimus,
ut execrandum anathema sit, et velut prsevaricator fidei catholicse
semper apud Deum reus existat, quicunque regum seu episcoporum
vel potentum deinceps Romanorum pontificum decretorum censuram
in quocunque crediderit vel permiserit violandam. — Decret. 2'^^ pars,
Cans. xxv. qu. 1. can. 11.]
[2 So both in the folio and M. and S. S. ed.]

W.T.

THE POPE CORRUPTETH SCRIPTURE. 283
but proveth evidently that the ceremonies of Moses must^t^^he ^^
cease : for the priests of the old Testament must needs have off^-^'g ^f
been of the tribe of Levi, as Aaron was, whose duty for ever cMemonief ^
was the offering of sacrifices; wherefore, when that priesthood chSst offered
ceased, the sacrifices and ceremonies ceased also. Now that for aii.
priesthood ceased in Christ, which was a priest of the order of
Melchlzedec, and not of the order of Aaron ; for then he must
have been of the tribe of Levi, and that he was not, but of
the tribe of Judah, and of the seed of David : wherefore they
that are under Christ's priesthood are under no sacrifices or
ceremonies. And of this manner juggle they with all the
scripture: which falsehood lest the laymen should perceive
with reading the process of the text, is all their fear, whatso
ever they pretend.
Moreover, that thou mayest perceive the pope's falsehood, christgave
mark, Christ said unto Peter, "I will give," and not "I give;" ^'^^^^^f^
neither said he, 'I will give unto thee only.' Therefore, look
In tbe twentieth chapter of John, where he gave tbem the John xx.
keys after his resurrection, and thou shalt see he gave them
unto all indifferently, saying, " As my Father sent me, so
send I you." Whither sent he them ? Unto all the world, and
unto all nations. What to do ? To preach the law, that the
people might repent; and the promises, that they might
believe in Christ for the remission of sins ; saying, " Receive
the Holy Ghost: whosoever's sin ye forgive, they shall be
forgiven." By which Holy Ghost he gave them understand
ing of the scripture, and of all that they should preach : as
thou mayest see, Luke last, where he opened their wits to Luke xxiv.
understand the scripture, and said, " That repentance and
forgiveness of sins must be preached In his name to all
nations," and that they were witnesses to preach It. Where- to bind and
. . ^ loose is to
by thou seest, that to bind and to loose Is but to preach and ^*''^*'-
tell the people their faults, and to preach mercy in Christ to
all that repent.
And when he saith, "All power is given me," he saith not, christsent Out 3.11 Ills
Go thou, Peter, and preach : but saith unto all Indifferently, ^^^H;.^''^
Go ye and preach this power given me of my Father to ^'™''-
save all that repent ; and to damn them that repent not, but
follow the lusts of their flesh, with full desire to live beastly,
being enemies unto the law of God.
And (Matt, xviii.) Peter asked Christ, how oft he should n°^^-^w,.t.

284

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Weare
bound to
forgive our
neighbours
as well as
Peter was.
Christbuilded his
church npon
the confes
sion of Peter,
and not
upon Peter.

Matt, xviii.

A woman
hath power
to bind.
W.T.

How a
woman may
bind and
loose.

To bind the
conscience,and to re
prove open
sinners,pertaineth to
the congrega
tion.

forgive his brother^ whether seven times? And Christ said,
" Seventy times seven times." As who should say. As oft as
he repenteth, and asketh forgiveness.
Now, though this was spoken unto Peter only, because
Peter only moved the question, yet pertaineth It not unto us
all as well as unto Peter? Are not we as much bound to
forgive our neighbours that repent and ask forgiveness as
Peter ? Yes, verily. But because Peter only asked the
question, therefore did Christ teach us by Peter. If another
had asked, he would have taught us by that other. And in
, like manner, when Christ asked, " Who say ye that I am ?"
if any other of the apostles which believed it as well as Peter
had said as Peter did, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the hving
God, which art come into the world of sinners, to save them ;"
unto him would Christ have answered as he did to Peter,
That upon the rock of that his confession he would have
built his church ; and would have promised him keys, as well
as he did Peter. Yea, and in the eighteenth chapter of Mat
thew Christ saith to all the apostles, yea, and to all congre
gations where sinners be. That whatsoever they bound should
be bound, and whatsoever they loosed should be loosed.
Moreover, every man and woman, that know Christ and
his doctrine, have the keys, and power to bind and loose ; in
an order yet^, and In their measure, as time, place, and occar
sion giveth, and privately. May not a wife, if her husband
sin against God and her, and take another woman, tell him
his fault between him and her secretly, and In good manner
humbly, and bind his conscience with the law of God ? And
if he repent, may she not forgive him, and loose him, as well
as the pope ? Yea, and better too, as long as the sin Is secret ;
inasmuch as he sinneth specially against her, and not against
the pope. And so may the son do to his father, and a servant to his
master, and every man to his neighbour ; as thou seest In the
said eighteenth chapter of Matthew. Howbeit, to bind and
loose in the conscience, by open preaching, pertaineth unto the
officers that are appointed thereto. And to bind and loose
open sinners, and them that will not repent, till they be complain
ed on unto the congregation, pertaineth unto the congregation.
[1 Marb. brether; S. S. ed. brother; Day, brethren.]
[2 So Marb. and S. S. ed. In day, yet is wanting.]

THE POPE CORRUPTETH SCRIPTDRB. 285
Finally, there were many that preached Christ at Rome, Reasons that
d ' d i ,.1 T-ii Peter was not
yer^ Peter came thither, if he came ever thither ; as Paul, ^^^-g^^^^
and many other. Had they not authority to bind and loose ? g'/g,",^^™
Or else how did they convert the people ? Peter also was an w- ^'•
apostle, and went from place to place as Paul did ; and as Paul
ordained bishops In every place to teach the people, so no
doubt did Peter. Why then might not those bishops challenge
authority by Peter, as well as they of Rome ? They say also Petcr had
In their own legends, that Peter had his seat at Antioch first", at Antioch.
Did he run to Rome, leaving no man behind him to teach the
people at Antioch ? God forbid. Why then might not that
laishop challenge Peter's authority? They will haply say,
sooner than prove It, that Peter died at Rome, and therefore
his authority Is greatest there. Then by that rule Christ's
power Is no where so full as at Jerusalem. But what hath
Christ's invisible kingdom to do with places ? Where Christ's chrisfs ,
gospel is, there is his power full and all his authority, as well the jiospei.
in one place as in another.
Finally, to get authority whencesoever they can snatch It, p^y, ;s mailed
they join Paul with Peter In their own laws, Distinctio xxii. w!'t.'''
saying, "By the authority of Peter and Paul :"^ which is clean
against themselves. For they say In their own law. In thej^t^^pr^.
presence of the superior the power of the inferior ceaseth, and gteaterftiic
is none at aU^ Now if Peter be greater than Paul, then, by ?heTess°er doth cease.
[3 Yer : ere.]
[* Marcellus Papa universis episcopis per Antiochiam constitutis,
epist. 1. Ipse enim [Petrus] caput est totius ecclesise, cui ait Do
minus, Tu es Petrus &c. Ejus enim sedes primitus apud vos fuit,
quse postea, jubente Domino, Romam translata est. Nec ab ejus dis-
positione vos deviare oportet, ad quam cuncta majora ecelesiastica
negotia, divina disponente gratia, jussa sunt referri. Deer. 2*^ pars.
Caus. XXIV. Qu. i. can. 15.]
[6 In the Corp. Jur. canon. Distinct, xxn. cap. Sacrosancta, contains
the following sentence : Prima ergo sedes est coelesti beneficio Romanse
ecclesise, quam beatissimi Petrus et Paulus suo martyrio consecra-
runt. But the next Distinctio, xxm, which begins with the decree of
pope Nicolas II., De electione summi pontiflcis, contains, in that decree,
more exact language to Tyndale's purpose : Quod si quis contra hoc
nostrum decretum synodali sententia promulgatum per seditionem &c.
electus fuerit, auctoritate divina et sanctorum apostolorum Petri et
Pauli, perpetuo anathemate a liminibus sanotse Dei ecclesise abjiciatur.]
[8 Distinctio xxi. cap. 4. Inferior sedes. Sole clarius exhibuimus,
non posse quenquam, qui minoris auctoritatis est, eum qui majoris

286 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
that rule, where Peter is present, there Paul is but a subject,
and without authority. And where Christ Is present bodily
and preacheth himself, there the apostles give up their au
thority, and hold their peace, and sit down at his feet, and
become scholars and hearken too. Wherefore, In that they
join Paul with Peter, and challenge their superiority as well
f ua'ifeiufw'^ by the authority of Paul as of Peter, there they make Paul
with Peter, fellow and equal with Peter. And thus It is false that Peter
was greater than his fellows. But the blind owls care not
what they howl, seeing It is night, and the day-hght of God's
word shut up, that no man can spy them.
Moreover, with this term, ' Peter's seat,' they juggle apace
(as with Infinite other), saying, 'That Peter's seat is the chief
seat ; ' but what Peter's seat is, that they tell you not : for
wist ye that, ye should soon perceive that they lie, Peter's
seat is no stool, or chair, (for what hath the kingdom of Christ
Matt, xxiii. to do with such baggage ?) but it Is a spiritual thing. Christ
Peter's seat, gaith lu the gospcl, "The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses'
what It IS. or'
seat." What was Moses's seat there, a chair, or the temple,
or the churches, or synagogue of the land ? Nay verily, for
Moses came never there. But Moses' seat was Moses' law and
PeteJ-r^^'' doctrine. Even so Peter's seat Is Peter's doctrine, the gospel
Peter's keys,* of Chrlst, whIch Potor taught. And the same doctrine is
one'thing' Petcr's kcys : so that Peter's seat, Peter's keys, and Peter's
doctrine is all one thing. Now Is Peter's doctrine Paul's
doctrine, and the doctrine of all the twelve apostles indiffer
ently; for they taught all one thing. Wherefore it followeth,
that Peter's keys and Peter's seat be the keys and seat of
Paul also, and of all the other twelve apostles, and are nothing
save the gospel of Christ. And thus, as Peter's doctrine Is no
better than Paul's, but one thing ; even so Peter's seat Is no
greater, nor higher, nor holier than the seat of the other
Peter's seat twclvc. Pctcr's scat UOW Is Chrlst's Seat, Christ's gospel, on
is Chnst's ' or'
gospel. which all the apostles sat, and on which this day sit all
they only that preach Christ truly. Wherefore, as antichrist
preacheth not Peter's doctrine (which Is Christ's gospel), so he
The pope sitteth uot OU Pctcr's seat, but on the seat of Satan, whose vicar
sitteth 1" . , , » .
selt'^wtose ^® ^^' ^^^ ^^ *'^® ®®^* °^ ^^^ ^^^ IsLws and ceremonies, and false
vicar he Is. doctrlue, whercunto he compelleth all men with violence of sword.
potestatis est judiciis suis addicere, aut propriis deflnitionibus sub
jugare.]

THE POPE CORRUPTETH SCRIPTURE. 287
Then he clamb to purgatory with the ladder of the said
text, " Whatsoever thou bindest in earth," &c. " Purgatory," Purgatory.
saith he, "is in earth^: wherefore I am lord there too." Thepope
Nevertheless, as he can prove no purgatory, so can he not PH"-gator^
prove that, if there were any. It should be In the earth.
It might well be in the element or sphere of fire under the
moon, as well as In the earth. But to bind and loose is,
as I have above said, to preach, and to feed, and with
Christ's doctrine to purge souls. And they that be dead be
not of the flock which Christ bade Peter feed, but they that
hve only.
Then clamb he up, with the same ladder still, over all vows vows.
and professions of all religious persons, and over oaths made oatiis.
between man and man, to dispense with them, and over all
men's testaments, to alter them. For what thou makest an Testaments.
hospital, that will he shortly make a college of priests, or a
place of religion, or what he lusteth. Then all manner monks The pope
and friars, and like draff, took dispensations of him, for the men's wins
ordinances of their old founders. And because, as they ments at his
« . V pleasure.
thought, they had prayed and distributed for their souls
enough to bring them out of purgatory, they thrust them out
of their bead-rolls, and took daily more and more.
But ever since they took dispensations of the pope, both
for their rules, and to divide all among them, they received
in the name, not of the poor, but of purgatory, to quench the j^^, ^^^^.^
raging fire thereof, which Is as hot as their belhes can feign It, '°^'''''>*''*s«-
and fools be out of their wits to believe it ; promising a mass
daily for forty shilhngs by the year, of which foundations
when they have gotten twenty, they will yet, with an union union.
purchased of the pope, make but one chauntry. For if they ^' ^'
should do all that they have promised, from the first founder
unto this day, five hundred monks were not enough In many
cloisters. Thinkest thou that men were ever so mad to make the
fashions that are now among them; to give the cellarer^
such a sum, and the prior, and the sub-prior, and the other
[1 Ordinarius purgatorii locus, qui proprie et communiter nomine
purgatorii intelligitur, est sub terra, vicinus inferno. — Tractat. select.
De quatuor novissimis. N. 27. P. Dens. op. Lovanii. 1776.]
[2 Marb. and Day selerar. S. and S. ed. sellerar. The monk who
had charge of the provisions.]

288 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
officers so much for their parts as they have yearly ; and to
The great oxompt the abbot from his brethren, and to send him out of
and shameful . , , , . i , i , p , , .
abbf s°^ the abbey into such parks and places ot pleasure, and give
him a thousand, fifteen hundred, two thousand, or three
thousand pounds yearly, to sport himself withal ? Nay, but
when through hypocrisy they had gotten land enough, then
pSS oT *^®y turned unto the pope, and took dispensations both for
thepope. their rules which were too hard for such abundance, and for
the wills of their founders, and served a great sort of
founders under one per Dominum^, and divided among few
that which was enough for a great multitude.
It was the pope that devised all these fashions, to corrupt
the prelates with abundance of worldly pleasures, of which he
wist that the worst would be most greedy, and for which he
wist also that he should find Judases enough, that would for
sake Christ and betray the truth, and be sworn false unto
Chopping him and his Godhead. He maketh of many chauntrles one,
and changing *'
used by tfie of an abbey a cathedral church, and out of the abbeys plucked
he the bishopricks. And as bishops pay for their bulls, even
so do an infinite number of abbots In Christendom, In all
lands some ; which abbots be bishops within themselves, and
immediately under the pope. And other abbots and priors
send after the same ensample daily unto Rome, to purchase
licence to wear a mitre ^ and a cross, and gay ornaments, to
be as glorious as the best, &c. And where, before God, no
man is a priest but he that Is appointed to preach Christ's
gospel unto the people; and the people ought not to give
aught unto the spiritualty, but for the maintenance of the
bestom°n "of pj^^^ichlug of God's word ; the pope taketh six or seven, yea,
uie"pope! '"'^ ^^^> twenty, and as many benefices as he listeth, and giveth
them unto one that preacheth not at all ; as he doth all other
dignities of the spiritualty. He that will purchase, and pay,
and be sworn, shall have what he will.
[1 Alluding to the ordinary conclusion of their prayers, viz.. Per
Dominum, he means that they put all their benefactors into one prayer,
to shorten their task.]
[2 In the county of Gloucester alone there were six abbeys, whose
abbots had obtained the pope's licence to wear mitres after the manner
of bishops. — Anderson's Annals, B. i. § 1.]

HOW COUNCILS ARE PROVED, 289
How they prove all their general Councils.
When the bishops and abbots and other great prelates
had forsaken Christ and his Uving, and were fallen down
before the beast, the vicar of Satan, to receive their kingdom
of him ; then the pope called together divers councils of such
holy apostles, and there concluded and made of every opinion,
that seemed profitable, an article of the faith. If thou ask
where is the scripture to prove it? they answer, ' We be the Thechurch
church, and cannot err; and therefore,' say they, 'what we w!t°.""'
conclude, though there be no scripture to prove it, it is as
true as the scripture, and of equal authority with the scrip
ture, and must be beheved as well as the scripture under
pain of damnation.' For, say they, ' Our truth dependeth
not ofthe truth of the scripture;' that is, we be not true in
our doing, because the scripture testifieth unto us that we do
truly; but contrary, 'The truth of the scripture (say they) j^^popg
dependeth of us:' that is, the scripture is true, because that icriptSf ""^

ure IS
true" not of

we admit it, and tell thee that it Is true. For how couldst itseif, but
thou know that It were the scripture except we told thee so^? aiiowethand
And therefore we need no witness of the scripture for that
we do : it is enough, that we so say of our own head ; for we
cannot err. Which reason is hke as though young monks, a similitude.
newly professed, should come by the rules of their order and
ordinances of their old founders, and would go about to keep
them ; and the old cankered monks should call them back
unto the corrupt and false manner, that now Is used, saying :
'Ye err. Do only as we teach you, for your profession Is
to obey your elders.' 'According unto the rules of our
order and ordinances of our founder,' shall they say. ' We
can teach you no other,' shall the old monks say, ' nor can
lie unto you : ye ought therefore to believe us, and to do as
[3 Nicolaus papa archiepiscopis, &c. per Gallias constitutis. — Quibus
ad hsec asserendum est, quoniam si vetus novumque testamentum re-
cipienda sunt, non quod codici canonum ex toto habeantur annexa, sed
quod de his recipiendis Sti Papso Innocentii prolata videatur esse sen
tentia, restat nimirum, quod decretales epistolse Rora. pontiflcum sunt
recipiendse, etiamsi non sint codici canonum compaginatse, quoniam
inter ipsos canones unum B. Leonis capitulum constat esse permistum,
quo ita omnia decretalia constituta sedis apostolicse custodiri man
dantur, vel si quis in ilia commiserit, noverit sibi veniam denegari. —
Deer. 1™ pars. Dist. xix. c. 1.]
[tyndale, il]

290

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

This doc
trine the
papists used
in those days.

The common
saying and
teaching of
the papists.

The abbots
keep the
monks In
ignorance,and the
bishops the
priests. W. T.

we bid you.' The young monks shall answer, ' We see that
ye lie, clean contrary unto all that Is written In our rules and
ordinances.' The old monks shall say, 'Ye cannot under
stand them except we expound them unto you, neither yet
know that they be your rules, except that ye believe that we
cannot lie unto you. For how can ye know that these be
your rules and ordinances, but as we your elders tell you so ?
Now when we tell you that these be your rules and ordi
nances, how can ye be sure undoubtedly, that it Is so, except
ye believe undoubtedly that we cannot lie ? Wherefore, If
ye will be sure that they be your rules and ordinances, then
ye must first believe that we cannot lie. Leave such ima
ginations and disputations therefore, and lay your rules and
ordinances out of your hands, and look no more on them ; for
they make you err : and come and do as we tell you, and
captivate your wits, and believe that we cannot lie unto you,
and that ye cannot understand your rules and ordinances.'
Even so, if thou say it is contrary unto the scripture ; they
answer, that thou understandest It not, and that thou must
captive thy wit, and believe that, though it seem never so
contrary, yet it is not contrary : no, if they determine that
Christ is not risen again, and though the scripture testify that
he is risen again, yet (say they) they be not contrary, if they
be wisely understood. Thou must believe, say they, that
there is some other meaning in the scripture, and that no
man understandeth It. But that we say, whether without
scripture, or against It, that must thou believe, that it is true.
And thus, because that the scripture would not agree
with them, they thrust it out of the way first, and shut up
the kingdom of heaven, which Is Christ's gospel, with false
expositions, and with such sophistry, and with false principles
of natural wisdom. And the abbots took the scripture from
their monks, lest some should ever bark against the abbots'
living ; and set up such long service and singing, to weary;
them withal, that they should have no leisure to read in the,
scripture but with their hps ; and made them good cheer to
fiU their beUies, and to stop their mouths. And the bishops
in like manner, to occupy their priests withal, that they
should not study the scripture for barking against them, set
up long service, wondrous intricate, so that In a dozen years
thou couldst scarce learn to turn aright unto It : long matins.

AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE SET ASIDE. 291
long even-songs, long masses, long diriges, with vantage yet Gain joined'
to mitigate the tediousness, quia levis est labor cum lucre ; ^jl^^^j^ing
for 'lucre' (say tbey) 'maketh the labour Ught:' ever noselUng
them In ceremonies, and in their own constitutions, decrees,
ordinances, and laws of holy church.
And the promises and testament, which the sacrament of
Christ's body and blood did preach daily unto the people,
that they put out of knowledge ; and say now, that it is a
sacrifice for the souls of purgatory, that they might the
better sell their mass. And In the universities they have
ordained that no man shall look on the scripture, until he be J^fvereitfe^s.
noseUed In heathen learning eight or nine years, and armed ^' ^¦
with false principles ; with which he Is clean shut out of the
understanding of the scripture. And at his first coming unto
university he is sworn that he shaU not defame the university,
whatsoever he seeth. And when he taketh first degree, he is
sworn that he shall hold none opinion condemned by the
church ; but what such opinions be, that he shall not know.
And then, when they be admitted to study divinity, because
the scripture Is locked up with such false expositions, and
with false principles of natural philosophy, that they cannot
enter In, they go about the outside, and dispute all their lives
about words and vain opinions, pertaining as much unto the
healing of a man's heel, as health of his soul : provided yet ^f^"°'
alway, lest God give his singular grace unto any person, that
none may preach except he be admitted of the bishops. Then
came Thomas de Aquino, and he made the pope a god with st Thomas de
his sophistry ; and the pope made him a saint for his labour, \^."'r.°'
and caUed him doctor Sanctus i: for whose holiness no man
may deny whatsoever he saith, save in certain places, where,
among so many lies, he said now and then true.
[1 The colophon to the work, which will provide us with evidence for
what Tyndale has here aflirmed, is as follows: Incipit Divi Thomse
Aquinatis opus vigesimum; de regimine principum. And the tenth
chapter of its third book is headed, Hic sanctus doctor declarat de
dominio hominis secundum gradum et dignitatem : et primo de do
minio Papse qualiter prsefertur omni dominio. In this chapter Aquinas
presently introduces Matt. xvi. 18, 19; and says of that text, Ubi
quatuor ponuntur clausulse, omnes signiflcativse dominii Petri suorum-
que successorum super omnes fldeles ; et propter quas merito summus
pontifex Romanus Christus diei potest, rex, et sacerdos. Si enim,
etc.— Th. Aquin. Opusc. f. 231. Lugd. 1662.]
19—2

292

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Thomas of
Canterbury.

ThomasBecket and
Thomas
Wolseycomparedtogether.

And in like manner, whosoever defendeth his traditions,
decrees, and privileges, him he made a saint also for his labour,
were his living never so contrary unto the scripture; as
Thomas of Canterbury', with mauy other like, whose life was
like Thomas cardinal's^, but not Christ's ; neither Is Thomas
cardinal's life anything, save a counterfeiting of St Thomas of
Canterbury. Thomas Becket was first seen^ in merchandise
temporal; and then, to learn spiritual merchandise, he gat
him to Theobald archbishop of Canterbury ; which sent him
divers times to Rome about business of holy church. And
when Theobald had spied his activity, he shore him deacon*,
lest he should go back ; and made him archdeacon of Canter
bury, and upon that presented him to the king. And the
king made him his chancellor, in which office he passed the
pomp and pride of Thomas cardinal, as far as the one's shrine
passeth the other's tomb in glory and riches. And after that
he was a man of war, and captain over five or six thousand
men in full harness, as bright as St George, and his spear In
his hand ; and encountered whosoever came against hini, and
overthrew the joUiest rutter^ that was In all the host of
France. And out of the field, hot from blood-shedding, was
he made bishop of Canterbury, and did put off his helmet,
and put on his mitre; put off his harness, and on with his
robes ; and laid down his spear, and took his cross, ere his
hands were cold ; and so came, with a lusty courage of
a man of war, to fight another while against his prince
for the pope^ ; where his prince's causes were with the
law of God, and the pope's clean contrary. And the pomp

[1 Thomas Becket.]
[2 Thomas Wolsey, the cardinal.] [8 Versed in.]
[* Made him submit to the clerical tonsure.]
[s From the old French ruitre ; which was however imitated from
the German reiter, a rider, especially a horse-soldier or knight.]
[6 Post reditum regis Anglise, comitibus omnibus recusantibus, solus
cancellarius [Becket] cum sua familia in Gallia remansit. Et postea tria
castra munitissima, et quse inexpugnabilia videbantur, ipsemet lorica
indutus et galea cum suis in manu forti cepit. Ipsemet, clericus cum
esset, cum valente milite Francorum, Engelramno de Tria, e regione
subditis equo calcaribus veniente armato, lancea demissa et equo ad
misso congressus, ipsum equo dejecit, et dextrarium lucrifecit. — Interim
diem suum postremum clausit archiepiscopus Theobaldus. Statuit ergo
rex Anglorum cancellarium suum in archiepiscopatum promovere,

BECKET AND WOLSEY COMPARED. 293
of his consecration was after his old worldly fashion. How
beit yet he is made a saint for his worshipping of the holy rewa?dJth his
seat of St Peter ; not that seat of Peter which Is Christ's highly when
gospel, but another, lied to be Peter's, and Is Indeed cathedra *'^ ^ ^^^^'
pestilentiw, a chair of false doctrine. And because he could
no skill of our Lord's gospel, he said of matins with our lady.
If any man understand the Latin, let him read his life, and
compare it unto the scripture ; and then he shall see such
holiness as were here too long to be rehearsed'. And every
abbey, and every cathedral church, did shrine them one god
or other, and mingled the Uves of the very saints with stark
lies, to move men to offer : which thing they call devotion.
And though In all their doings they oppress the tempo
ralty and their commonwealth, and be grievous unto the rich,
and painful to the poor ; yet they be so many, and so ex
ercised In wiles, and so subtle, and so knit and sworn together,
that they compass the temporalty, and make them bear them,
whether they will or will not (as the oak doth the ivy),
partly with juggUng, and beside that with worldly pohcy. ^"JV'
For every abbot will make him that may do most In the
shire, or with the king, the steward of his lands, and give
him a fee yearly ; and will lend unto some, and feast other,
that by such means they do what they wiU, And little master Jnit'tiT""^
parson, after the same manner. If he come Into an house, and ^aSon.
the wife be snout-fair, he wiU root himself there by one craft
or other; either by using such pastime as the good man doth,
or in being beneficial by one way or other, or he will lend
him, and so bring him Into his danger* that he cannot thrust
him out when he would, but must be compelled to bear him,
and to let him be homely^, whether he wIU or no.
intuitu meritorum personse; confld«ns quod sibi ad placitum et nutum
ut cancellarius fecerat, archiepiscopus obsequeretur. — Sparkes, Hist.
Angl. Scriptores varii e Cod. MSS. ed. Lond. 1723.]
[^ In Day, our lady. Such as understand the Latin, read &c. But
in the Marburg edition, 'and because he coude no skylle of our Lorde's
gospell, he sayde of mates with our ladye say they. If any ma under
stond the Latyn, let him reade his life,' &c.]
[8 A state of dependence.] [9 Domesticated.]

294

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

King Harold.
Bobert of
Canterbury.W.T.

Remission of
sins to
conquer Englaud- W. X.

Note here
how Veil
Christ and
the pope
agree; Christ
biddeth save,
and the pope
biddeth kill.

The pope is
a cruel and
merciless tyrant.

Anselmus a
chaplain of
the pope's.

An example of practice out of our own chronicles.
Take an ensample of their practice out of our own stories.
King Harold exiled or banished Robert archbishop of Canter
bury 1 : for what cause, the English Polychronlcon speclfieth
not : but If the cause were not somewhat suspect, I think
they would not have passed It over with silence. This Robert
gat him immediately unto king WiUiam the conqueror, then
duke of Normandy : and the pope Alexander sent duke
WilUam a banner, to go and conquer England ^ and clean
remission unto whosoever would follow the banner, and go
with king William. Here mark how straight the pope fol
lowed Christ's steps and his apostles' ! They preached for
giveness of sins to all that repented, through Christ's blood
shedding ; the pope preacheth forgiveness of sins to all that
will slay their brethren, bought with Christ's blood, to subdue
them unto his tyranny. Whatsoever other cause duke WilUam
had against king Harold, thou mayest be sure that the pope
would not have meddled, if Harold had not troubled his
kingdom : neither should duke William have been able to
conquer the land at that time, except the spiritualty had
wrought on his side. What blood did that conquest cost
England, through which almost aU the lords of the EngUsh
blood were slain, and the Normans became rulers, and all the
laws were changed Into French ! But what careth the holy
father for shedding of laymen's blood ? It were better that
ten hundred thousand lay knaves lost their lives, than that
holy church should lose one inch of her honour, or St Peter's
seat one jot of her right.
And Anselmus, that was bishop In short time after, never
left striving with that mighty prince king William the second,
until he had compelled him, maugre his teeth, to deliver up
[1 Robertus, Episcopus Londoniensis, genere Normannorum, (Ead-
sino) successit; qui expulsus est de Anglia, et sedit annis duobus.
Steph. Birchington, Hist, de Archiep. Cantuar. ad ann. 1069.]
[2 Willelmus dux Normannorum, ne justam bellandi causam te
meritas deformaret, ad papam Alexandrum nuntios destinavit, ut sus
ceptum negotium auctoritate apostolica flrmaretur. Unde papa, con
sideratis utrinque litigantium causis, vexillum Willelmo in omen regni
transmisit. — ^Matt. Paris, Hist. Anglise.]

THE POPE ENCOURAGES STRIFE. 295
the investiture or election of bishops unto St Peter's vicar,
which Investiture was of old time the king's duty ^.
And again, when the said king William would have had
the tribute, that priests gave yearly unto their bishops for
their whores, paid to him : did not Ralph bishop of Chichester The pope is
^ ' 1111 ^^^^ pleased
forbid God's service (as they call it), and stop up the church '°j^^™^
doors with thorns, throughout all his diocese, until the king g^fn^t""""'
had yielded him up his tribute again ^? For when the holy *'"''•
father had forbode priests their wives, the bishops permitted
them whores of their own, for a yearly tribute ; and do still
yet in aU lands save In England, where they may not have
any other save men's wives only.
And agam, for the election of Stephen Langton, arch
bishop of Canterbury, wbat misery and wretchedness was in
the realm a long season! Then was the land interdicted
many years : and when that holp not, then Ireland rebelled
against king John immediately ; and not without the secret
workings of our prelates, I dare well say. But finally, when
neither the interdicting neither that secret subtilty holp, and Note here
when John would in no means consent that St Peter's vicar wicKednes^sof
should reign alone over the spiritualty, and over all that
pertained unto them, and that they should sin and do all
mischief unpunished, the pope sent remission of sins to the Remission
king of France, for to go and conquer his land*: whereof conquer.
king John was so sore afraid, that he yielded up his crown to
the pope, and sware to hold the land of him, and that his
successors should do so hkewise.
And again, in king Richard the second's days, Thomas Thomas
Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor, was exiled
with the earl of Derby. The outward pretence of the variance
[3 That is, the king's due, or right.]
[* William of Malmesbury confirms part of this statement, though
he does not say on what ground the money was to be paid. His words
are these: Religiosam contumaciam mandatis Henrici regis exhibuit,
volentis per totam Angliam a presbyteris pecuniam exigere. Id aliis
vel concedentibus, vel metu silentium tenentibus, in solo Radulfo rigoi-
pontificaUs emolliri nequivit, per totam siquidem dioecesin divina
vacare oflElcia, januas eeclesiarum spinis obstrui prsecepit, monachorum
cantum non inhibens, sed tamen laicis aditum arcens. He adds that
the king gave way. — De Gest. Pontif. Angl. — Rer. Anglic. Script.
Lond. 1596, fol. 146 vers.]
[5 See n. 4, p. 339 Vol. I.]

296 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
between the king and his lords was for the deliverance of the
town of Brest In Britayne. But our prelates had another
secret mystery a brewing. They could not at their own lust
slay the poor wretches which at that time were converted
unto repentance and to the true faith, to put their trust in
Christ's death and blood-shedding for the remission of theu-
Practiceof sins, bv the preachinar of John Wicliffe. As soon as the
archbishop was out of the realm, the Irishmen began to rebel
against king Richard, as before against king John ; but not,
hardly, without the invisible Inspiration of tbem that rule both
in the court and also In the consciences of all men. They be
one kingdom, sworn together one to help another, scattered
abroad in aU realms.
The pope's And howbelt that they strive among themselves who shaU
secre?Md bo greatest, yet against the temporal power they be always
spirators. at ouc; though they dissemble it and feign, as though one held
against the other, to know their enemy's secrets, to betray
them withal. They can Inspire prIvUy into the breasts of the
people what mischief they list, and no man shall know whence
it cometh. Their letters go secretly from one to another
throughout all kingdoms. Saint Peter's vicar shaU have word
in fifteen or sixteen days from the uttermost part of Christen
dom. The bishops of England at their need can write unto
the bishops of Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, Dutchland, France,
and Spain, promising them as good a turn another time; putting
them In remembrance that they be all one holy church, and
that the cause of the tone Is the cause of the tother^; saying,
' If our juggUng break out, yours cannot be long hid,' And
the other shall serve their turn, and bring the game unto
their hands ; and no man shall know how It cometh about.
¦\actic'™'" ^^ ®°°^ ^® '^^"S I^Ichard was gone to Ireland, to subdue
these rebelUons, the bishop came in again, and prevented the
king, and took up his power against him, and took him
prisoner, and put him down and to death most cruelly, and
crowned the earl of Derby king, 0 merciful Christ ! What
blood hath that coronation cost England I But what care
they ? Their causes must be avenged. He is not worthy to
be king, tbat wUl not avenge their quarrels. For do not the
kings receive their kingdom of the beast, and swear to wor-
[1 This antithetical form, tone and tother, is very common in Sir
Thomas More, and other writers of that age.]

PAPAL CLERGY SUBTLE CONSPIRATORS. 297
ship him, and maintain his throne ? And then, when the earl The papists
of Derby, which was king Harry the fourth, was crowned, up of wars
•' ' ° ¦' 1 (. /I 1 ™'' shedders
the prelates took his sword, and his son's Harry the fifth of wood.
after him (as all the king's swords since), and abused them,
to shed christian blood at their pleasure. And they coupled
their cause unto the king's cause (as now), and made It
treason to believe In Christ as the scripture teacheth, and to
resist the bishops (as now), and thrust them in the king's
prisons (as now), so that It Is no new Invention that they now
do, but even an old practice ; though they have done their
busy care to hide their science, that their conveyance^ should
not be espied.
And In king Harry the sixth's days, how raged they as
fierce lions against good duke Humphry of Glocester, the j^^,^^
king's uncle, and protector of the realm In the king's youth Humphry.
and childhood, because that for him they might not slay whom
they would, and make what chevisance^ they lusted! Would Papists are
not the bishop of Winchester have faUen upon him and op- ""^^ '
pressed him openly with might and power In the city of
London, had not the citizens come to his help ?
But at the last they found means to contrive a drift to
bring their matters to pass, and made a parliament far from a parliament
the citizens of London, where was slain the good duke, and The d^eathof
only wealth of the realm, and the mighty shield that so long ?uke of'^io-
before had kept it from sorrow, which shortly after his death tector'o^the
feU thereon by heaps. But the chronicles cannot tell where- Bng^nd.
fore he died, nor by what means. No marvel, verily : for
he had need of other eyes than such as the world seeth withal,
that should spy out their privy paths. Nevertheless the
chronicles testify, that he was a virtuous man, a godly, and
good to the commonwealth. Moreover the proctor of pur- This is sir
gatory saith in his dialogue, Quoth I, and quoth he, and mS™^
quoth your friend, how that the foresaid duke of Glocester
was a noble man and a great clerk, and so wise that he could
spy false miracles, and disclose them, and judge them from the
true;* which is an hateful science unto our spiritualty, and
[2 Sleight of hand ; fraudulent management.]
[3 Bargain.]
[* Tyndale calls Sir Thomas More The proctor of purgatory, in
allusion to his controversial treatise entitled 'The supplication of souls,'
which More composed in the form of an address ' To all good christen

298 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
The clergy morc abhorrod amongst them than necromancy or witchcraft;
cannot abide 11. 1,. ii-i tj 11
them that and a thine wherefore a man by their law, I dare well say, is
can judge o d ^ d
Seles"'" worthy to die, and that secretly. If it be possible. Now to be
IhyftT' good to the commonwealth, and to see false miracles, and
GioMster thirdly to withstand that France, then brought under the foot
dSir"^' of the Englishmen, should not be set up again, by whose
power the pope holdeth down the emperor and reigneth In
his stead, be causes why he might die, though by what means
Three causes, bc uot kuowu. For to bo good to the commonwealth Is to be
W T hurtful to the spiritualty, seeing the one is the other's prey,
as the lamb Is the wolf's. Secondarily, if a man be so clear-
eyed that he can spy false miracles, how can jugglers get
their living, and be In price, where such a fellow Is ? Thirdly,
to keep down the kingdom of France is to pull St Peter's
vicar out of his seat.
The pope is Now If the great bawd, the whore of Babylon, were de-
Ba^byion?"^ stroycd, then would the brothel and stews of our prelates
shortly perish. If Abaddon, that destroyer, king of the
grasshoppers which devour all that Is green, were destroyed,
then were the kingdom of our caterpillars at an end.
By what craft the pope keepeth the emperor down.
Another Mark auothcr practice of our most holy prelates. When
prelates." the empire was translated unto the Germans, though the em
peror was fallen down, and had kissed the pope's feet, and
was become his sworn servant, yet there was much strife,
and open war oft-times, between the popes and the emperors.
And the popes have put down many good emperors by help
of the bishops, which everywhere secretly persuaded the lords
to forsake the emperors, and to take dispensations of the pope
for their oaths.
And contrariwise, the emperors have now and then de-
people' from their 'late acquaintance, kindred, spouses, companions,
playfellows, and friends — now poor prisoners, the silly souls in pur
gatory.' But the ' dialogue of Sir Thomas More' is another work, and
is kept up by a repetition of Quoth I and quoth he ; and in the four
teenth chapter of the flrst of its four books. More relates, as what he
had heard from his father, the well-known tale of duke Humphry's
detecting the imposture, of a beggar who pretended to have been
miraculously healed of blindness at St Alban's shrine. — Works of Sir
T. More, Lond. 1657, p. 134.]

HUMPHRY, DUKE OF GLOCESTER. 299
posed divers popes, at the request of the cardinals and other ^oPjfe^"™
great prelates ; by whose help only they were able to do it. InfnKewise
For else verily, though all kings christened had sworn to ^'deposed
depose one pope out of his seat, if they had not the favour of ''°''^^"
other prelates thereto, they might haply, by the secret practice
of them, be put out of their own seats in the mean time.
The pope therefore, to be sure of himself, and out of the
fear and danger of the emperor, were he never so mighty,
and that the emperor should not see his daily open pastimes,
made friendship and amity with the Venetians on the one
side of him, and let them come into certain cities of the
emperor's in Italy ; and with the French king on the other
side, and let him also up into certain cities and possessions of
the emperor's, and he himself In the midst ; and shut out the
emperor from coming any more to Rome, and ever sent his
coronation home to him. And then he made a law that
no man should rebuke the pope for whatsoever he did ; no man
, iii> rebuke the
saymg, that the pope was above all, and judge over all, p"p'- w- t-
and none over him ; and therefore forbad in bis law, Dis
tinctio, xl. Si Papa, saying, " Though the pope be proved
negligent about himself, and also the soul-health of his bre
thren, and slack in his works, and speechless as concerning
any good, and draw with him by his example innumerable
people to hell, to be punished with him with divers torments
everlastingly; yet see that no mortal man presume once to
rebuke his faults here : for he shall judge all men, and no
man hlm^" 0 antichrist! Is he not antichrist, that will
not have his life tried by God's word ?
If the Venetians catch any of our holy father's towns or
possessions, whether by war, or that they have bought It, or Venetians.
that it be laid to mortgage unto them, or that the old pope
hath given It with the marriage of some daughter unto the Ti,e pope
duke of Venice ; then the holy father that succeedeth, whenSkelglin""*
he seeth his season, sendeth for It again, saying, ' That it is IndpiS^lre.
not lawful for laymen to withhold St Peter's patrimony.' If
they allege that they bought it, and so forth, his fatherhood
answereth, • That the old pope had none authority to make
any such chevisance with St Peter's Inheritance : he could
have but the use of it his life long, and after it must needs
return unto his successor again.' And upon that he interdict-
[1 See n. 3 to p. 328 of Vol. i.]

300

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

The Vene
tians care not
for the pope's
cursing nor

Frenchmen.

Englishmen.

The practice
ofthe pope
with all
kings and
princes.

The pope a
breaker of
peace.

eth them, and curseth them as black as coals, down to the
pit of hell.
But the Venetians, knowing more of our holy father's
practice, for their nighness, than we which dwell afar off, and
wiser than we of cold countries, perceiving also that their colour
changeth not with his cursing, and that they sink not, and
that their meat digesteth as well as before ^ therefore fear
not his Interdiction nor excommunication.
Then our holy father raiseth up all the power that he is
able to make In Italy against them, ajid sendeth for the
Souchenars^ to come and help. If he be not yet strong
enough, then he sendeth unto the bishops of France, warning
them that if his seat decay, theirs cannot long prosper ; and
therefore that they put their king In remembrance, how that
he is caUed most Christian king, and that they desire him to
do somewhat for his title against this disobedient rebellion
unto the most holy see of Rome, our mother, holy church.
If another time the Frenchmen come to our holy father,
as they be ever gaping for Italy, to bring the empire home
again to France; then that most holy vicar bringeth his
whole power against them, with the power of the Venetians,
and with his old friends the Souchenars^ If he be not yet
strong enough, then he sendeth to the bishops of England to
help their god, and to move their king to do somewhat for
holy church, putting him In remembrance of whom he holdeth
his crown, and of his oath, and how many caps of maintenance
have been ever sent unto his forefathers, and what honour it
was unto them, and that he may easily get as great honour as
they, and haply a more excellent title. If he will take our holy
father's part ; besides that he shall purchase remission of all
his sins. Then must, the peace, and all the appointments made be
tween us and France, be broken, and the king must take a
dispensation for his oath. For the king of France will at
tempt nothing In Italy, until he have sent his ambassadors,
and have made a perpetual peace with our king, the sacrament

[1 A coarse expression, which Tyndale says he borrowed frora
Erasmus, is here omitted.]
[2 Souchenars, Marb. ed. ; Zwitzers, S. S. ed. ; Sochenars, Day. By
each ofthese terms the Swiss are meant. See Vol. i. p. 186. n. 1.]
[3 S. S. ed. has here Zwitzers, again.]

THE POPE, THE EMPEROR, AND THE VENETIANS. 301
of the body of our Saviour broke between them to confirm the
appointment. But I suppose that the breaking signifieth that ^''/sacnT"^
the appointment shall not long endure : for a great deal of "'™'-
flour would not make so many hosts (as they call them), or
singing loaves*, as hath been broken In our days between
Christian princes (as they will be called), to confirm promises
that have not been kept. Other use of that blessed sacrament
wiU the princes none know : but Christ ordained It to be a
perpetual memory that his body was broken for our sins upon
the cross, and that all that repent should receive, as oft as
they eat of it, forgiveness of their misdeeds through faith.
If the kings of the earth, when they break that sacrament
between them, do say on this wise, 'The body of our Saviour
(which was broken on the cross for the sin of all that repent, how the sa-
and have good hearts, and would fain keep his law) be broke shouwbe
unto my damnation, if I break this oath ;' then is It a terrible tween kings
oath, and they had need to take heed how they make it, and,
if It be lawfully made, not to break it at all. But as they
care for their oath, which they make in wedlock, so they care
for this. Whatsoever need the pope hath, he will not send to the
emperor to come and help him in Italy, for fear lest he would
take to himself whatsoever he conquered of the Frenchmen, Thepope
¦¦¦ would not
and wax too strong, and minish our holy father's power, and ''eror'too^'"'
become our holy father's vicar, as he is St Peter's. Never- *'"'"^-
theless, if we Englishmen wiU hire the emperor to come and
fight against France, for the right of the church In these
quarters that be next unto us, his fatherhood is content to
admit his service.
When our king hath granted to take our holy father's
part, then tbe pretence and cloak outward must be, that the
king wiU chaUenge his right in France. And, to aid the king
in his right, must the commons be milked tiU they bleed again.
Then, to do the king service, the lords sell, or lay their lands
to mortgage. Then Is clean remission given, to slay French Eemission of
dogs. He that dieth In the quarrel shall never see purgatory, cieln^deliver-
but fly to heaven straight, even with a thought. purga°tory.
[* Loaves; though spelt in the oldest editions loves. The thin
loaves, or wafers of meal, intended to be used at mass were called
singing loaves, because a psalm was to be sung whilst they were in
making] .

302

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Popish prac
tices.

When the pope hath what he desireth In Italy, then must
we make peace with the Frenchmen again Immediately, that
France be not altogether trodden under the foot ; but that It
remain alway In a mean state, strong enough to match the
emperor and to keep him down, but not too mighty for
oppressing the pope. And then our prelates, to bring the
peace about, send Immediately a friar Forest, or a vicar of
A friar Po- Croydou, to preach before the king and his lords; which
™^''' of Oroy- preacher roareth and crieth unto them, as though he hallooed
his hounds, aud maketh exclamations, saying : 'Alas! whatwiU
ye do ? Spare Christian blood. Will ye slay your own souls?
Be not the Frenchmen as well Christians as ye ? Moreover,
ye slay poor innocents that never offended. Make peace for
the passion of Christ. Kill not one another, as though Christ
had not died for you ; but fight rather against the Turks.'
Then come In the ambassadors of France, and moneyj a
few prelates, and certain other the king's play-fellows, that be
sworn with them to betray both the king and the realm too ;
and then Is peace concluded. But outwardly there is nothing
save a truce taken for half an year, till our soldiers be at .
home again, for fear lest they would not be content. Then
cometh the whole host home beggared, both great and small ;
and the poor, that cannot suddenly get work, fall to steaUng,
and be hanged at home. This could More tell in his Utopia,
before he was the cardinal's sworn secretary, and fallen at his
feet to betray the truth for to get promotion^.
Take an example : the bishops sent king Henry the fifth
out to conquer France. The cause was, saith the chronicles,
that the king went about to take their temporalities from them;

Dissembled
truce.

Henry V.

[1 Money, i. e. bribe.]
[2 In the introductory dialogue to his Utopia, More represents a
foreign voyager as describing a conversation at Cardinal Moreton's table,
and saying: Laicus quidam. . .dieebat se mirari, cum tam pauci elaberen-
tur supplicio, quo malo fato fleret uti tam multi tamen ubique grassa-
rentur. Tum ego, Nihil mireris, inquam : nam ha3c punitio furum et
supra justum est, et non ex usu publico. Est enim ad vindicanda
furta nimis atrox, nec tamen ad refrsenanda sufliciens. Ssepe vel ab
externis beilis vel civilibus mutili redeunt domum, ut nuper apud vos a
Cornubiensi prselio, et non ita pridem a GallicC, qui vel reipubhcse im-
pendimt membra vel regi, quos neque pristinas artes exercere debilitas
patitur, neque setas novam discere. Utopia. Lib. i.]

THE pope's POLICY, 303
and therefore, to bring the king into another imagination,
they monied him, and sent him Into France^.
When they had sent out the king, he conquered more King Henry
than was their wiU, and more than they supposed possible for mOTeSn"*
him in so short space, and brought France clean under the thought he
1 111 1- ii- should do.
foot-; SO that our prelates had much secret business to set it
up again. But what Is Impossible unto so great gods ?
In king Henry's the sixth days, our holy father of Rome Henry vl
made the bishop of Winchester a cardinal; which went shortly
after into France, to treat of a truce between England and
France. And him met a legate of Rome, and cardinal also :
after which meeting Enghshmen bad ever the worse In France,
and their chiefest friend, tbe duke of Burgaine*, forsook them*.
For when cardinals and bishops meet together, they have The crafty
their secret council by themselves, wherein they conclude ?he po%?
neither what is good for England, nor yet for France, but what ^^*
is best for our holy father's profit, to keep him in his state.
When king Henry was of age, there was a marriage
between him and the earl of Armalnacke's^ daughter. In
Gyan^; with the which should have been given many castles
and towns In Gyan, and a great sum of money thereto. But
that marriage was broken, not without the secret working
of our prelates, and dispensation of our holy father, thou
[3 'This year [1513] the king [Henry V.] held his parliament at
Leicester, where among other things the foresaid bill put up by the
commons of the land, for the temporalities being in the church, was
again minded; in fear whereof, lest the king should thereunto give any
comfortable audience, as testify some writers, certain bishops and other
head men of the church put the king in mind to claim his right in
France, and for the exploit thereof they offered unto him great and
notable sums. By reason whereof the said bill was again put by, and
the king set his mind to the recovery of the same.' — Extract from a
copy of Fabian's chronicle in the library of St John's College, Cam
bridge ; having on its fly-leaf the following note in the hand-writing
of Baker the antiquarian. " This is the flrst and uncastrated edition
of Fabian, said to be bumed by order of cardinal Wolsey. — Bai. cent.
vm. 62."]
[4 Burgundy.]
[6 This had been the subject of Art. xiv. in a list of 21 charges
against cardinal Beaufort,,bishop of Winchester, presented to Henry VI.
by Humphry duke of Glocester, as printed in Foxe's Acts and Mon.
B. vl] [8 Armagnac] [1 Guienne.]

304 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
mayest be sure ; and a marriage was made between him
The marriage and the klug's daughter of Sicily, for which England
Henry VI. gavo up the wholc dukcdom of Gyan and earldom of Maine ;
whereby we lost all Normandy, whereof they were the key' ;
and beside that, the commons gave a fifteen and an half^, to
fetch ^ her In with pomp. And then was the good duke of
Glocester"^ Glocestor traltorously murdered; partly because he could judge
murdered!^ falso mlraclcs, and partly because of the deUverance of these
two countries : for, he being alive, they durst not do it.
And when king Edward had put down king Harry, a
marriage was made and concluded between him and the king
of Spain, this queen's mother that now is*- But ere the am
bassadors were come home, our prelates had bewitched king
FriarBungay. Edward by their apostle, friar Bungay*, and married him unto
[' Tyndale seems to have thought that, as Armagnac was an ira
portant part of the dutchy of Guienne, the castles &c. given with the
count's daughter would have enabled the king of England to secure
possession of the whole. It is well known that there was great popular
indignation at the setting aside of this match for one with Margaret
daughter of Regnier, a French prince who bore the titles of duke
of Anjou, and king of Sicily, Naples and Jerusalem, without possess
ing any corresponding territories.]
[2 A flfteenth was originally a tax to the amount of that portion of
the estimated value of every householder's property in moveables. But
in the sixth year of Edward III. it was commuted on terms which flxed
its amount at no more than £ 37,930 for all England. — Hollingshed.
Vol. I.p. 230. and Blackstone's Comment, pp. 308 — 9.J
[3 Fol. and S. S. ed. fette.]
[* The princess here meant must have been Isabella, Queen of
Castile, who afterwards married Ferdinand of Aragon, and became
mother to Catharine, the first wife of Henry VIII. Sir Thomas More
says, that ' after king Edward was in peaceable possession of the realm,
he sent over in embassiate the earl of Warwick to entreat and conclude
a marriage between king Edward and the king's daughter of Spain.
In which thing the earl of Warwick found the parties so toward, that
he speedily brought the matter to a very good conclusion.' Hist. Rich.
III. Works, Lond. 1557. p. 68. Tyndale seems to have used the word
king here as rex has been used, to distinguish a queen regnant from a
queen consort. The cry of the Hungarian magnates, 'Vivat rex noster,
Maria Theresa,' has been admitted into history.]
[8 In the flrst edition of Fabian's Chronicle, afterrelating the events
of the battle of Barnet, in 1471, he says: " Of the mists and other im
pediments which fell upon the lord's party, by reason of the incanta
tions by friar Bungay, as the fame went^we list not to write." fol. ccxxiii.]

HENRY v. AND HENRY VI. 305
a widow that was a knight's wife; lest, If Spain and England
had been joined together, king Edward should have recovered
France again. But what foUowed after the breaking off the
marriage between king Edward and the earl of Warwick ? c™ei^war
And what came of his children ? Tea, and what came on ^;,^sHennr
king Henry of Windsor's children also ? But what care our of Warwick.
prelates, what vengeance or mischief fall on princes, or on
their realms, so their kingdom prosper ?
In kmg Henry the seventh's days the cardinal Morton
and bishop Fox of Winchester delivered unto the king's grace confession in
the confessions of as many lords as his grace lusted. Whoso- a wicked""
ever was mistrusted, if he shrove himself at the Charter-houses, '"™" '™'
Sion, Greenwich, at St John's, or wheresoever It was, the
confessor was commanded by the authority of the pope to
deUver his confession written, and sworn that it was all. And
cardinal Morton had a licence of the pope for fourteen to Licence of
1. 1(1 Jl T pope
study necromancy, of which he himself was one ; and other 1 for fourteen
have heard named, which at this time I pass over with sUence. eromancy.
And how the holy friars observants carried feigned letters, to
try who was true, I pass over with silence also. Howbelt,
such temptations and feigned proffers were enough to move
them that never would have thought amiss : yea, and In con
fession men will shrive themselves of thoughts, which they
never went about in the outward deed.
When any great man is put to death, how his confessor
entreateth him, and what penance is enjoined him, concerning
what he shall say when he cometh unto the place of exe
cution, I could guess at a practice that might make men's
ears glow.
And did not the subtle counsel of the said two prelates a suwie
feign the siege of Boulogne, to make a pretence to gather in prelates.
a fifteen, when there was no more war between the king
of France and of England than is between a man's head,
that hath lust to sleep, and his pIUow ' ? which siege yet cost
many a man their lives, yea, and some great men thereto,
[8 Grafton's Chronicle tells how Henry VII. gathered treasure by
this threat of war, but ascribes the preparations to an object in which
our king was deceived by Maximilian. His account, however, is in
unison with Tyndale as to the desire of the French king Charles
VIII. to remain at peace with England.]
r ^ 20
[tyndale, II,]

306

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES,

He meaneth
cardinalWolsey.

Lev. xxvi.
Deut. xxviiii
xxix.

which knew not of that feigning'. The king's grace went
over with a ten thousand men to conquer all France, and
spent haply an hundred thousand pound, of which he saved
the fourth part in the dandy prats ^, and gathered at home five
or six hundred, or more. And two other such feigned
voyages could I haply rehearse, which I pass over for divers
causes, where many an Englishman lost his Ufe. But what
care they for men's lives ?
And did not our cardinal with like policy, think ye, (to
gather that which he thought would not well be paid, except
the commons saw some cause,) bring a great multitude of Scots
unto the English pale, either by some bishops of Scotland, or
by some great man whom he corrupted with some yearly
pension ? — against which the poor northern men must go on
their own cost, to keep them out. And general procession was
commanded at London thrice in the week, and throughout all
the land, while the king's receivers gathered the tax of the
common people. Which plague, and such like, after the
threatening ofGod, Lev. xxvi. and Deut. xxvni. and xxix., I am
sure will fall on all Christendom without cease, until they
either defy the name of Christ with the Turks ; or. If they
will be caUed Christians, they turn and look on his doc
trine. Tea, and what feigned the cardinal at that great loan, to
beguile his own priests, to make them swear what they were
worth, and the better wlUing to pay ! for the common priests
be not so obedient unto their ordinaries that they will pay
money, except they know why. Now it Is not expedient that
every rascal^ should know the secrets of the very true cause,
for many considerations ; and therefore another pretence
A practice of must be made, and another cause alleged : and therefore
the prelates , ' 1,1.1.
*'oor"riests *^® pricsts wcro charged by their ordinaries to appear before
the gentlemen of the country*, and temporal officers, and
swear what every man was worth. Now the priests had lever
be slain, and die martyrs, after the ensample of St Thomas of
[1 Grafton says, 'There was few or none killed, saving only one sir
John Savage, knt.,' and ascribes his death to his folly and pride.]
[2 The word is spelt dandeprats in Bailey's Dictionary, where
the meaning given is a dwarf, or a small coin issued by Henry VII.]
[3 That is, every unimportant personage.]
[* So Marb. ed. and Day; but in S. and S. it is ofthe court.]

HENRY VL, EDWARD IV,, HENRY VIL 307
Canterbury, than to swear before a lay judge ^; for they think
it greater sin than to slay their own fathers, and that then
the hberties of the church were clean lost, and they no better
than the vUe lay people. And when they were In that per
plexity, that they must either swear, or run into the king's
danger, and lose their gods (I would say their goods); then
my lord cardinal sent down his gracious power, that they
should swear unto their ordinaries only. And then the priests,
for joy that they were rid out of the laymen's hands, were so
glad and jo-yous, that they wist not what thanks to give my
lord cardinal, and so were obedient to swear, and to lend ; or
else for all the curses that my lord cardinal hath, and the pope
too, they would neither have sworn, or paid a penny.
The practice of our time.
When the king's grace came first to the right of the Thomas
crown, and unto the governance of the realm, young and un- ° ^^'
expert, Thomas Wolfsee, a man of lust and courage and bodily
strength, to do and to suffer great things, and to endure In all
manner of voluptuousness ; expert and exercised In the course
of the world, as he which had heard, read, and seen much
policy, and had done many things himself, and had been of
the secret counsel of weighty matters, as subtle as Sinon that The de-
betrayed Troy ; utterly appointed to semble and dissemble, earTinai "
to have one thing in the heart and another in the mouth,
being thereto as eloquent as subtle, and able to persuade
what he lusted to them that were unexpert ; so desirous and
greedy of honour, that he cared not but for the next and most
¦compendious way thereto, whether godly or ungodly ; this
wily wolf, I say, and raging sea, and shipwreck of all Eng
land, though he shewed himself pleasant and calm at the first
(as whores do unto their lovers), came unto the king's grace,
and waited upon him, and was no man so obsequious and ser
viceable, and In all games and sports the first and next at hand ;
and as a captain to courage other, and a gay finder out of
new pastimes, to obtain favour wIthaP.
[5 Because the canon law says, Clericum cujuslibet ordinis absque
pontiflcis sui permissu nullus prsesumat ad seonlarem judicem attrahere,
nec laico queiialibet clericum liceat accusare  Corp. Jur. Can. Deer.
2^*. pars, n. qu. 1. can. 3.]
[» His attached dependent and biographer George Cavendish has
20—2

308 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Sth^caiCld -^^^ thereto, as the secret communication went, which by
dm£°™'' ™^ny tokens thou mayest well conjecture and gather to be
true, he calked' the king's nativity and birth, (which is a
Bishops ^ common practice among prelates In all lands ;) whereby he saw
nativities, whereuuto the king's grace should be inclined aU his life, and
what should be like to chance him at all times.
And, as I heard it spoken of divers, he made by craft of
necromancy graven Imagery to bear upon him; wherewith he
bewitched the king's mind, and made the king to dote upon
him more than ever he did on any lady or gentlewoman; so
King Henry that UOW the lilug's graco followed him, as he before foUowed
cardinal the king. And then, what he said, that was wisdom ; what
Wolsey in "
gratestima- ho pralscd, that was honourable only. Moreover, In the
meantime he spied out the natures and dispositions of the
king's play-fellows, and of all that were great ; and whom he
spied meet for his purpose, him he flattered, and him he made
faithful with great promises, and to him he sware, and of him
he took an oath again, that the one should help the other :
for without a secret oath he admitted no man unto any part
of his privities.
And ever as he grew in promotions and dignity, so
gathered he unto him of the most subtle-wltted, and of them
that were drunk In the desire of honour, most like unto hlm-
The manner Self : and after they were sworn, he promoted them, and with
and practice . *^ ... .1
wS"*'™' great promises made them In falsehood faithful, and of them
ever presented unto the king's grace, and put them Into his
service, saying, ' This Is a man meet for your grace.' And by
tetrayeS '^ thoso spIcs, if aught worc done or spoken in the court against
the cardinal, of that he had word within an hour or two;
ascribed Wolsey's influence to the same sinful course. Speaking of
Wolsey when he was but dean of Lincoln, and the king's almoner,
he says : " He was most earnest and readiest among all the council to
advance the king's only will and pleasure, without any respect to
the case. The king was young and lusty, disposed all to mirth and
pleasure, and to follow his desire and appetite, nothing minding to
travail in the busy affairs of this realm. The which the almoner
perceiving very well, took upon him therefore to disburden the king
of so weighty a charge and troublesome business, putting the king in
comfort that he should not need to spare any time of his pleasure for
any business that should necessarily happen in the council." Caven
dish's Life of Wolsey, 1825. Vol. i. p. 18.]
[1 Calked; calculated.]

w. T.

CARDINAL WOLSEY. 309
and then came the cardinal to court with aU his magic, to
persuade the contrary. If any in the court had spoken
against the cardinal, and the same not great In the king's
favour, the cardinal bade him walk a vlUaln^, and thrust him
out of the court headlong. If he were in conceit with the
king's grace, then he flattered, and persuaded, and corrupted
some with gifts, and sent some ambassadors, and some he made
captains at Calais, Hames, Gulnes, Jersey, and Guernsey, or
sent them to Ireland, and Into the north; and so occupied
them, tUl the king had forgot them, and other were In their
rooms, or till he had sped what he Intended.
And in like manner played he with the ladles and gentle- ?'],\t''j^5|5
women. Whosoever of them was great, with her was he ^- '^-
familiar, and to her gave he gifts : yea, and where St Thomas
of Canterbury was wont to come after, Thomas cardinal went
oft before, preventing his prince, and perverted the order of
that holy man. If any were subtle-wltted, and meet for his Note this
purpose, her made he sworn to betray the queen likewise, and practice.
teU him what she said or did. I know one that departed the
court for no other cause, than that she would no longer betray
her mistress.
And, after the same example, he furnished the court with
chaplains of his own sworn disciples, and children of his own
bringing up, to be alway present, and to dispute of vanities,
and to water whatsoever the cardinal had planted. If among
those cormorants any yet began to be too much in favour
with the king, and to be somewhat busy In the court, and to
draw any other way than as my lord cardinal had appointed
that the plough should go, anon he was sent to Italy or to
Spain ; or some quarrel was picked against him, and so was
thrust out of the court, as Stokesly was.
He promoted the bishop of Lincoln that now is', his most The bishop
faithful friend and old companion, and made him confessor:
to whom of whatsoever the king's grace shrove himself, think
ye not that he spake so loud that the cardinal heard It ? And
not unright ; for as God's creatures ought to obey God and
[2 The expression seems to have been equivalent to 'Begone, vile
man.' We flnd in like manner, ' Walk, faytour ;' for, ' Begone, impostor.']
[3 John Longland, principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, was made
bishop of Lincoln in 1521, and so continued till 1547. He was a flerce
persecutor ofthe protestants.]

310 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES,
serve his honour, so ought the pope's creatures to obey the
pope and serve his majesty.
Cardinal Finally, Thomas Wolfsee became what he would, even
altogether, portor of heaveu, so that no man could enter into promotion
but through him.
The cause of all that we have suff'ered these twenty years.
About the beginning of the king's grace that now is,
France was mighty, so that I suppose that It was not mightier
King Lewis. thIs five hundred years. King Lewis* of France had won
Naples, and had taken Bononia from St Peter's see. Where-
Pope Julius, fore pope July* was wroth, and cast how to bring the
Frenchmen down, yet soberly, lest, while he brought him
lower, he should give an occasion to lift up the emperor
higher. Our first voyage into Spain was to bring the French-
story."^ '""^ men lower : for our meyny * were set in the fore-front and
borders of Spain, toward Gascoyne, partly to keep those
parties, and partly to fear the Gascoynes and to keep them
at home, while in the meantime the Spaniards won Naverne*.
When Naverne was won, our men came to house, as many as
died not there ; and brought all their money home again, save
that they spent there. Howbelt, for all the loss of Naverne,
the Frenchmen were yet able enough to match Spain, the
Venetians, and the pope, and all the Souchenars* that he
could make ; so that there was yet no remedy but we must set
on the Frenchmen also. If they should be brought out of Italy.
Then pope July wrote unto his dear son Thomas
Wolfsee, that he would be as good, as loving, and as helping
[1 Louis XII.J
p Julius II. pope from 1503 to 1513.]
[3 Meyny : many, a mixed multitude.]
[* Naverne is Navarre. In March 1511, Henry sent 1000 archers to
the aid of Ferdinand, as if to help him in combating the Moors; but
they were employed as Tyndale states. In the following November
Henry avowed a league with Ferdinand, and sent him a farther rein
forcement. Their proposed object was to aid pope Julius to recover
Bologna &c. by obliging Louis to draw off' his forces from Italy ; but
the result was the conquest of Navarre by the Spanish monarch. —
Sh. Turner's Hen. VIII. B. i. ch. v. and Rymer's Foedera, Vol. xm.
p. 342.] [5 In the S. and S. edition they are called Zwitzers, as in the
previous mention of the same people.]

wolsey's POLICY. 311
tp holy church as any Thomas ever was, seeing he was as
able. Then the new Thomas, as glorious as the old, took the The new
matter in hand and persuaded the king's grace. And then w."!."""'
the king's grace took a dispensation for his oath, made upon
the appointment of peace between him and the French king, Jjjf ^^'^'^y"
and promised to help the holy seat, wherem pope Peter never Hm^°f ui.
sat. But the emperor MaxImiUan might in no wise stand stiU, ¦"= soldier.
lest the Frenchmen should money him, and get aid of him, see
ing* the Almalns refuse not money whencesoever It be proffered :
then quoth' Thomas Wolfsee, ' Oh, and Uke your grace, what
an honour should it be unto your grace If the emperor were
your soldier! So great honour never chanced any king
qhristened ; It should be spoken of while the world stood ;
the glory and honour shall hide and darken the cost, that It
shall never be seen, though It shaU cost half your realm!'
Dixit et factum est^. It was even so. And then a parUa
ment, and then pay : and then upon the French dogs, with ^/^^f*°°
clean remission of all his sins that slew one of them ; or if he '^- '^-
be slain, (for the pardons have no strength to save in this
life, but In the life to come only,) then to heaven straight
without feeling of the pains of purgatory ^.
Then came our king with all his might, by sea and by
land, and the emperor with a strong army, and the Spaniards,
and the pope, and the Venetians, all at once against king
Lewis of France. As soon as the pope had that he desired in
Italy, then peace immediately : and Frenchmen were christian ^"'^Jjfre
men; and pity, yea, and great sin also, were It to shed their 1^^"^^^°'
blood; and the French king was 'The most christian king'
[6 So M. and S. S. ed. but Day since.]
[' Old editions, quod.]
[8 He spake and it was done. " The emperor Maximilian con
descended to become one of Henry's soldiers for a hundred crowns
a day." — Sharon Turner, B. i. ch. v.]
[9 In the "Artieuli bullae concessse regi et proflciscentibus cum eo ad
bellum contra Ludovicum Francorum regem," 1512, the second clause is
as follows : Item qui in castris aut locis dictorum exercituum aliquod
opus ad expeditionem hujusmodi necessarium vel opportunum fecerint,
aut victualia vel alia necessaria pro opere expeditionis hujusmodi com-
morantium per se vel alium detulerint, simili modo plenissimam
remissionem consequantur: — ^where the words 'simili modo' must be
understood to imply the same thing as was expressed in the words
"omnium peccatorum suorum de quibus corde contri ti et ore confessi
fuerint," in the flrst clause. — See Rymer, Vol. xm. p. 343.]

312

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

How king
Henry VIII.
with all his
army was
abused.

again. And thus was peace concluded, and our EngUshmen,
or rather sheep, came home against winter, and left their
fleeces behind them. Wherefore no small number of them,
while they sought them better raiment at home, were hanged
for their labour.

The prelates
see ever be
forehand what is like
to follow.

Papists are
great fore
casters of
perils.

Why the king's sister was tumed unto France.
When this peace was made, our holy cardinals and bishops
(as their old guise is to calk and cast forty, fifty, yea, an
hundred years before, what is like to chance unto their king
dom) considered how the emperor that now Is^ was most
hke to be chosen emperor after his grandfather Maximilian ;
for MaxImiUan had already obtained of divers of the electors
that It should so be.
They considered also how mighty he should be : first
king of Spain, with all that pertaineth thereto, which was
wont to be five, six, or seven kingdoms ; then duke of Bur-
gaine, earl of Flanders, of Holland, Zealand, and Brabande,
with all that pertain thereto ; then emperor ; and his brother
duke of Austria ; and his sister queen of Hungary. Where
fore, thought our prelates, if we take not heed betimes, our
kingdom is like to be troubled, and we to be brought under
the feet. For tbis man shall be so mighty, that he shaU with
power take out of the French king's hands, out of the hands
of the Venetians, and from the pope also, whatsoever pertain
eth unto the empire, and whatsoever belongeth unto his other
kingdoms and dominions thereto ; and then will he come to
Rome and be crowned there ; and so shall he overlook our
holy father and see what he doth : and tben shall the old
heretics rise up again, and say that the pope Is antichrist, and
stir up again, and bring to light, that we have hid and brought
asleep with much cost, pain, and blood-shedding, more than this
hundred years long. [They] considered also that his aunt Is
queen of England, and his wife the king of England's sister^ ;
considered the old amity between the house of Burgaine and
the old kings of England, so that they could never do aught
[1 Charles V.]
[2 Henry's sister Mary had been affianced, and actually married by
proxy, Dec. 17, 1508, to Charles, prince of Spain, the boy who was to
inherit so many kingdoms. The documents are in Rymer, Tom. xm.
pp. 171—215, 219—31, 236—9.]

THE EMPEROR, CHARLES V. 313
in France without their help ; and last of all considered the
course of merchandise that England hath in those parts, and
also the natural hate that Englishmen bear to Frenchmen.
Wherefore, if we shall use our old practice, and set the French
king against him, then he shall Ughtly obtain the favour of
the king of England, by the means of his aunt and his wife,
and aid with men and money : wherefore we must take heed
betimes, and break this amity ; which thing we may by this
our old craft easily bring to pass. Let us take a dispensation. Practice.
and break this marriage, and turn the king's sister unto the
French king : if the French king get a male of her, then we
shall Ughtly make our king protector of France, and so shall
England and France be coupled together; and as for the
queen of England, we shall trim her well enough, and occupy
the king with strange love, and keep her that she shall bear
no rule. And as the gods had spoken, so it came to pass.
Our fair young daughter was sent to the old pocky king of S'ter''l^nu(
France', the year before our mortal enemy, and a miscreant ^""''^•
worse than a Turk, and disobedient unto our holy father, and
no more obedient* than he was compelled to be against his
wiU. The cause of the journey to Calais.
In short space thereafter Thomas Wolfsee, now cardinal,
and legate a latere, and greatly desirous to be pope also,
thought it exceeding expedient, for his many secret purposes,
to bring our king and the king of France that now is ^ together,
both to make a perpetual peace and amity between them, and
that, while the two kings and their lords dallied together,
the great cardinals and bishops of both parties might betray Traitorous
them both, and the emperor and all christian kings thereto, p'^'"'^^-
Then he made a journey of gentlemen, arrayed altogether
in silk, so much as their very shoes and lining of their boots,
more like their mothers than men of war; yea, I am sure that
many of their mothers would have been ashamed of so nice
and wanton array ^. Howbeit they went not to make war, but
[» Louis XII. married the princess Mary Oct. 9, 1514, being then
very nearly three times her age.]
[* S. and S. ed. has yet.]
[6 Francis I. succeeded Louis XII. in 1515.]
[6 The kings of France and England met near Ardres, in the second

314

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

The pomp
and apparel
of the car
dinal and his
chaplains passed the
twelve apos
tles.

Salutation.W. T.

Cardinal Wolsey was
a subtle
worker.

peace, for ever and a day longer. But to speak of the pom
pous apparel of my lord himself, and of his chaplains, it pass
eth the twelve apostles. I dare swear that If Peter and Paul
had seen them suddenly, and at a blush, they would have
been harder of belief that they or any such should be their
successors, than Thomas Didymus was to believe that Christ
was risen again from death.
When all was concluded between the king of France and
ours, that Thomas Wolfsee had devised, and when the prelates
of both parties had cast their penny-worths against all chances,
and devised remedies for all mischiefs; then the right reverend
father in God, Thomas, cardinal and legate, would go see the
young emperor newly chosen to the room, and have a certain
secret communication with some of his prelates also ; and gat
him to Bruges, in Flanders, where he was received with great
solemnity, as belongeth unto so mighty a pillar of Christ's
church, and was saluted at the entering Into the town of a
merry fellow, which said, Salve rex regis tui atque regni
sui : " HaU, both king of thy king, and also of his realm."
And though there were never so great strife between the
emperor and the French king, yet my lord cardinal juggled
him favour of them both ; and finally brought the emperor to
Calais to the king's grace, where was great triumph, and
great love and amity shewed on both parties ^ ; insomuch that
a certain man marvelling at it asked the old bishop of Dur-
week of June, 1520. From the excessive pomp then displayed the
place of meeting received the name of ' the field of the cloth of gold.']
[1 Tyndale has here mingled statements which belong to two dif
ferent interviews between Wolsey and Charles V. The emperor had
come to Dover on the 25th of May, 1520, (where Wolsey had met him,)
and had remained with Henry, about to repair to Ardres, till the 31st.
On the 10th of July, Henry and the cardinal again met the emperor
at Gravelines, from whence Charles returned with the English court
to Calais. But it was on July 20th of 1521 that Wolsey, who had gone
to Calais to act the impartial umpire between the French and imperial
agents commissioned to meet him there, presently proceeded to Bru
ges, attended by English lords, knights and others, to the number of
460 horse, and was met by the emperor in person, a mile out of the
town, who did him 'high honour and reverence.' Grafton's Chron.
p. 1048. Sharon Turner says, 'The original letters from Henry, from
Charles, and the cardinal, preserved in the British Museum, shew the
knavery of this pretended mediation.' — Hist. Hen. VIII. B. i. ch. x.
2ud ed. Vol. I. p. 271. J

THE POMP OF THE CARDINAL. 315
ham^, how It might be that we were so great with the em
peror, so shortly upon so strong and everlasting a peace made
between us and the Frenchmen, the emperor and the king of
France being so mortal enemies ? My lord answered, ' That
it might be well enough, If he wist all : but there was a cer- a certain
.... . secret. W. T.
tain secret (said he) whereof all men knew not^' Tea, verily,
they have had secrets this eight hundred years; which though
aU the laymen have felt them, yet few have spied them, save
a few Judases, which for lucre have been confederate with
them, to betray their own kings and all other.
Then were we Indifferent and stood stUl ; and the emperor
and the French king wrestled together ; and Ferdlnandus,
the emperor's brother, won Milan of the Frenchmen, and the Milan.
emperor Tournay*, our great conquest; which yet, after so loumay.
great cost in building a castle, we delivered up again to the
Frenchmen, in earnest and hope of a marriage between the
Dolphine and our princess.
How the emperor came through England.
After that the emperor would Into Spain, and came through The emperor
England ; where he was received in great honour, and with England.
aU that pertaineth to love and amity. The king's grace lent
him money, and promised him more ; and the emperor should
tarry a certain years, and marry our princess : not that the
cardinal Intended that, thou mayest be sure ; for It was not
profitable for their kingdom ; but his mind was to dally with
the emperor, and to keep him without a wife, that (Insomuch
as he was young and lusty) he might have been noselled and
[2 Thomas Ruthal, lord privy seal, was made bishop of Durham in
1509, and was near the close of his life when these interviews took
place.] [3 Wolsey had secretly pledged his sovereign to invade France, with
permission to pretend to be the faithful ally of its king for eighteen
months more. But there was another secret article, by which the em
peror and he pledged themselves to coerce and prosecute all and every
one in their dominions, who should seem to entertain wrong opinions
concerning the catholic faith, or endeavour to disturb the catholic faith
or the apostolic see. The articles of this convention are dated Bruges,
Aug. 25, 1521, and are quoted by Sharon Turner, B. i. ch. x., from the
document in the Brit. Mus. Galba, B. 7. p. 104.]
[* Before the end of November, 1521.]

316 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
Nurturing of entangled with whores (which is their nurturing of kings), and
made so effeminate and beastly, that he should never have
been able to lift up his heart to any goodness or virtue ; that
cardinals and bishops might have administered his dominions
in the mean time, unto our holy father's profit'.
Practice. The king of France, hearing the favour that was shewed
unto the emperor, sent Immediately a defiance unto our klng^,
kingsendeth not without our cardluals' and bishops' counsel, thou mayest
a defiance to r ' d
!^'Jg^^°'y well wit : for Frenchmen are not so foolish to have done It
so unadvisedly and so rashly, seeing they had too many In
their tops already. Then our king spake many great words,
that he would drive the French king out of his realm, or else
the French king should drive him out of his. But had he
added, as the legate Pandulph taught king John, ' with the
pope's licence,' his words had sounded much better : for
there can no vow stand in effect, except the holy father con
firmed It.
Mminto W® sent out our soldiers two summers against the French-
France. men, uuto whoso chlef captains the cardinal had appointed how
far they should go, and what they should do ; and therefore
the French king was nothing afraid, but brought all his power
against the emperor In other places : and so was the emperor
ever betrayed. And thus the cardinal was the emperor's
Thccardinai friend opouly, aud the French king's secretly. For at the
was the em- r d ' o d
SpeSiy.S* Dioetlng with the French king beside Calais, he utterly betrayed
t^I-r^^ the emperor, yet for no love that he had to France, but to
cretly. \} Charles V. landed at Dover May 26, 1522, being met there by
cardinal Wolsey, who was attended by a splendid train at the king's
especial command. Rymer, p. 767. On the 6th of June the emperor
signed a document, preserved in Rymer, p. 769, obliging himself to pay
Wolsey a pension of 700O crowns of gold for his natural life, as an
indemnity for what he was likely to lose by a breach with Francis.
And on the third of July he signed another obligation pledging him
self to secure to Wolsey an annual pension of 2500 ducats from the
revenues of a Spanish bishoprick ; which obligation is also amongst the
documents printed in Rymer, Tom. xm. p. 770.]
[2 The contemporary chronicler, Grafton, says, that on the 21st of
May Clarencieux king at arms, the English herald, came to the French
king's chamber at Lyons ; and said to him, ' Sir, I am charged to tell
you that the king, my sovereign lord, holdeth you for his mortal enemy
from this day forth;' and that Francis replied, 'Hooked for this a
great while agone : for sith the cardinal was at Bruges, I looked for
none other.'— Grafton's Chron. Lond. 1569, p. 105.]

CHARLES V. AND FRANCIS I. 317
help the pope; yea, and to have been pope haply, and to save
their kingdom : which treason though all the world smelled
It, yet it brake not out openly to the eye till the siege of The siege of
Pavie. And the cardinal lent the emperor much money
openly ; and gave the F'rench king more secretly*. He played
with both hands to serve their secret that aU men know not,
as the bishop of Durham said. But whatsoever the French
men did, they had ever the worse, notwithstanding the secret
working of our holy prelates on their side.
Finally, unto the siege of Pavie came the French king p^via.
personally with sixty thousand men of war, of which twelve
thousand were horsemen, and with money enough. And the
emperor's host was under twenty thousand, of which were
but three thousand horsemen, with no money at aU* : for
he trusted unto the pope for aid of men, and unto our car- ^ Mse pope,
dinal for money. But the pope kept back his men, till that cardinSs.
the Frenchmen had given them a field ; and our cardinal kept
back his money for the same purpose^. And thus was the
silly emperor betrayed, as all his predecessors have been this
eight hundred years. Howbelt there be that say, that the
emperor's soldiers so threatened Pace, the king's grace's am- p^^^ ^^^
bassador, that he was fain to make chevisance with merchants faKaffi-
for money, in the king's name, to pay the soldiers withal. '**°''"
Wherefore the cardinal took from him aU his promotions, and
played tormentors with him, when he came home ; because he
presumed to do one jot more than was In his commission®.
[3 In January, 1525, the emperor's ambassador in London brought
Wolsey to confess, that an agent of the French queen regent had been
eight months in London, and in communication with him  Fiddes's
Life of Wolsey, pp. 331—6.]
[* The chronicler Grafton makes the French king's army contain
only half as many horse as Tyndale has stated ; but the accuracy of
Tyndale's information respecting the emperor's forces appears remark
able, when tested by the account transraitted to Henry from an English
agent in Italy. — See Sharon Turner, pp. 394 — 5.]
[8 In a letter now in the British Museum, Galba B. 8. 51, the
English ambassador says to Wolsey, writing ten days before the battle,
' As for the king's money, your grace knoweth my commission is after
battle stricken.']
[6 Wolsey afterwards persecuted Pace till he became a beggar and
a lunatic. S. Turner, B. i. c. xn. Vol. i. p. 355. But Mr. Turner
attributes this persecution to a bold remonstrance against Wolsey's
conduct, in a letter to the cardinal himself, penned by Pace in 1524.]

318 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
But, howsoever It was, the emperor's men, in tarrying for
Bourbon. help, had spent out all their victuals. Whereupon Bourbon,
the chief captain of the emperor, said unto his under captains :
' Ye see help cometh not, and that our victuals are spent ;
wherefore there Is no remedy but to fight, though we be un
equally matched. If we win, we shall find meat enough; If
we lose, we shall lose no more than we must lose with hunger,
though we fight not." And so they concluded to set upon the
Frenchmen by night. The king of France and his lords, sup
posing that the moon would sooner have fallen out of the sky
than that the emperor's host durst have fought with them,
were somewhat negligent, and went the same night a mum-
The emperor mlug that Bourbou sct upou them. The emperor's host
setteth upon ...
king^'by"''' therefore with their sudden coming upon them amazed the
night. Frenchmen, and drave them upon heaps together one on
another, so that they never could come in array again ; and
took the king, and divers of his lords, and slew many and
won the field. And there came out all the cardinal's privy
treason : for In the French king's tent (say men) were letters
found' ; and beside that In the French king's treasure, and
These ships in all the host, among the soldiers were English ships found
were English . ° . . ° '¦
lofd"'^ innumerable, which had come sailing a thousand miles by land.
But what wonder ? Ships be made to sail over the sea, and
wings to fiy into far countries, and to mount to the top of
high hills.
i^g'of ttie" When the French king was taken, we sang Te Deum.
Te^^elim"^ But for all that singing we made peace with Frenchmen^:
and great and the pope, the Venetians, France, and England, were knit
made'in together ; lest the emperor's army should do any hurt In
France. Whereby ye may conjecture of what mind the pope
and the cardinal were toward the emperor^ and with what
heart our spiritualty, with their invisible secrets, sang Te
[1 ' Searching of the king's treasure, in his coffers there was found
among them the league newly concluded between the king of England
and the French King under the great seal of England.' — Cavendish's
Life of Wolsey, by Singer, p. 80.]
[2 The peace was signed in England, Aug. 30, 1525. Id. p. 457.]
[8 The documents which afford evidence of Wolsey's personal
hostility to the emperor at this time, and of that sovereign's knowledge
of his abusive language, are cited by Sh. Turner, B. i. ch. xv. Vol. i.
pp. 449—65.]

CHARLES v. AND FRANCIS I. 319
Deum. And from that time hitherto the emperor and our
cardinal have been twain.
After that, when the king of France was delivered home
again, and his sons left In pledge, many ways were sought
to bring home the sons also : but In vain, except the French
king would make good that which he had promised the em-
pefor. For the bringing home of those children no man
more busied his wits than the cardinal. He would in any
wise the emperor should have sent them home ; and It had
been but for our king's pleasure, for the great kindness that
he shewed him in times past. He would have married subtie prac-
the king's daughter, our princess, unto the dolphine again, ca'dinai.
or, as the voice went among many, unto the second bro
ther*; and he should have been prince In England, and king in
time to come. So that he sought all ways to pluck us from
the emperor, and to join us unto France ; to make France
strong enough to match the emperor, and to keep him down ;
that the pope might reign a god alone, and do what pleaseth*
him, without controlUng of any overseer. And for the same The mart
' o d should have
purpose he left nothing unprovided to bring the mart from ^e™ a^ c^-
Antwerp to Calais*.

Why the queen must be divorced.
If the cardinal could by such means have made us French,
the queen had been queen yet ; yea, though she had not
been his wife. Neither would he have been more about to
separate her, than he hath been to separate other that Indeed
were not his wives, but hath been rather diligent to couple
them to him, to pluck him from bis right wife ; lest, if she
had been (as right is) in bis favour, she should have given his
grace better counsel for the realm than he hath followed ;
and lest also the prince's grace should have been moved
through her more to have favoured the emperor.
But when there was found no other way, he inspired the The wshop
,. , , .. ¦/.. 11-, \ r • , °^ Lincoln.
king that the queen was not his wite, by the bishop of Lincoln w. i.
\} At Amiens, Aug. 18, 1527, Wolsey stipulated with Francis that
the duke of Orleans should marry her. — Rymer, Tom. xiv. p. 202.]
[s S. and S. ed, has pleased.]
[s All that follows, of this treatise, except the last three paragraphs,
is omitted in S. and S. edition; and the largest part of it is also
omitted by Day.]

320 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
his confessor, as the saying was'; by whom he hath breathed
many things Into his grace, and by whom he hath heard his
confession, and by whom, and like hypocrites, he hath long
betrayed him to have married him unto the king's sister, of
France, as the fame went, by that means at the last to make
us French. And then the cardinal's doctors laid their heads
together to seek subtle arguments and riddles to prove his
divorcement. But all the chancellors of England (say men)
which be all lawyers, and other doctors, mumpsimuses^ of
divinity, were called up suddenly to dispute the matter (under
a colour to condemn BUney and Arthur, heard I say), which
is their old cast and subtilty, to pretend a contrary thing,
and to cast a mist before the eyes of the people, to hide their
juggling ; that no man should once surmise whereabout they
went. And the cardinal's secretaries ministered reasons nnto
them. And so the matter was discussed with a plain con
clusion that he must be divorced. When the queen was
warned, she desired learned counsel to defend her quarrel,
that she should have no wrong ; and it was granted her :
and she chose. But, alas ! what choice is there among the
fox's whelps ? All that be shaven be sworn together ; and
all that be promoted by them must play the Judases with
them. They may, to bUnd the world withal, dispute one
against another ; but tbe conclusion shall be the pope's profit,
prelates' pleasure, and the lusts of princes, which are their
defenders. Finally It Is concluded that the queen Is not his
wife; and the cause why they be not divorced, is peradventure
that our prelates are afraid. If they could have brought any
[' The contemporary historian, Polydore Vergil, confirms what
Catharine declared before Wolsey and Campegio, that Wolsey origina
ted the divorce, because she had censured his dissolute life ; and he
then adds, "Is [scil. Wolsey] proinde quod cogitarat cum spe magna,
id exequi cupiens, cum Joanne Longland, Lincolniensi episcopo, de
quaestione futura amice communicat, quod is esset qui regis confessio
nem audiret." — Angl. Hist. Lib. 27. p. 1730. Gand. 1557. He proceeds
to say, that after this Wolsey first mentioned it to the king, but made
little impression upon him, till Longland came to his aid.]
[2 The allusion is to the well-known tale respecting an ignorant
priest, who used to say ' Mu/mpsimus Domine' where his Latin service-
book had sumpsimus, and being told what he ought to say, replied
that he had used the word rnumpsimus for 30 years, and would not
leave his old mumpsimus for a new sumpsim-us,]

WHY THE QUEEN MUST BE DIVORCED. 321
marriage about, to join us unto France, it had been done long
since ; but because they cannot (for the French king's sister
knew too much of Christ to consent unto such wickedness),
haply they would it were undone'- I doubt not but they
bear the king's grace In hand that the pope dare not confirm
it for fear of the emperor ; but I doubt not. If they feared
not the emperor and the lords and commons, it had been done
aheady. After that my lord cardinal with More, his sworn secre
tary, and the bishop of London, that still Saturn, the imaginer
of all mischief*, went to France to juggle secretly, and carried
with him more than he brought home again. This is of a
truth, that he carried great treasure with him. The French
galleys lay long in Thames' mouth, and not for nought. The
fame went plain, yea, and I know also one that saw In my
lord cardinal's court letters sealed with the king's great
seal, wherein was contained that the French king should
haye of us money sufBcient for to find twenty thousand men
against the emperor In Italy, from the second day of July,
in the year of our Lord fifteen hundred twenty-seven, for
ward*. But among all other, as soon as the pope was taken*, the
cardinal wrote unto the emperor that he should make bim
pope. And when he had got an answer that pleased him not,
but according unto his deservings toward the emperor, then
be waxed furious mad, and sought all means to displease the
[3 Polydore Vergil^ in reference to the circumstance, says : ' Quamvis
re vera princeps ilia, mulier optima, noluerit quicquam audire de
nuptiis, quse nuptise non possent conjungi sine miserabili Catharinse
casu.' — p. 1735. It is well known that Margaret was favourable to tbe
reformation.] [* Grafton says, 'The 22 d day of July [1527] the cardinal departed
out of Calico, and with him was the lord Cutberd Tunstall, bishop of
London, Sir Thomas More, &e.' — p. 1151.]
[6 The treaty which the cardinal made with Francis is given in
Rymer.] [6 Day had omitted all the previous part of this chapter; and
begins this paragraph as follows ; ' But at that time the pope, taking
part with the French king, had war with the emperor ; and at the last
the pope was taken, &c.' The text of Day then proceeds in agreement
with that of the first, or Marburg edition, to the close of the next
paragraph, with which Day finishes the chapter.]
r 1 21
[tyndale, ii.J

322 THE practice OF PRELATES.
emperor 1, and Imagined thls^ divorcement between the king
and the queen, and wrote sharply unto the emperor with
menacing letters, that If he would not make him pope, he
A ruffler. would make such ruffling between christian princes as was
W T not this hundred year, to make the emperor repent : yea,
though It should cost the whole realm of England.
The Lord Jesus be our shield ! What a fierce wrath of
God is this upon us, that a misshapen monster should spring
out of a dunghill Into such a height that, the dread of God
and man laid apart, he should be so malapert, not only to
defy utterly the majesty of so mighty an emperor, whose
authority both Christ and all his apostles obeyed, and taught
The pride all other to obey, threatening damnation to all them that
gance of would uot ; but should also set so little by the whole realm
cardinal ' •*
Wolsey. of England, which hath bestowed so great cost and shed so
much blood to exalt and maintain such proud, churUsh, and
unthankful hypocrites, that he should not care to destroy it
utterly for the satisfying of bis villainous lusts.
The emperor "^^^ cmporor scut forth a little book in print, both in
against the Spanish aud also in Dutch, In which he answereth unto the
w.*"'"' cardinal's menacing, and unto many articles that the cardinal
layeth against him, and among all other repeateth this
threatening of the cardinal, ' Te will (saith the emperor)
to do me displeasure. If I will not make you pope, set such a
rufiling among christian princes as was not this hundred year,
though It should cost you the whole realm of England.'
Whereunto the emperor answereth, saying, ' Ye go about to
give your king another wife, which if you do, it may be the
next way to cost you the realm of England.' And I believe
verUy, that the prophecy of this caitiff Caiaphas, the cardinal,
through the mischief that he hath wrought for the divorce
ment of the marriage, shall be fulfiUed, and that it wiU cost
the whole realm of England, If it be not seen to betunes. By
what means, I will shew you after that I have spoken a word
or two of this divorcement.
[^ See Sh. Turner, Hist. Hen. VIII. ch. xx. Vol. ii. p. 150—1.]
[2 So M. ed., but D. has the.]

THE MOSAIC LAW. 323

Of the divorcement.

Ifjthejdngj most nobje_^ace wIU needs have another
wife, then let him seafcTi the laws of God, whether It be law
ful or^not ; forasmuch as he himself Is baptized to keep the
laws of God, and hath proposed them and hath sworn them.
If the law of God suffer it, then let his grace put forth a
little treatise in print, and even in the English tongue, that
all men may see it, for his excuse and the defence of his
deed, and say, 'Lo, by the authority of God's word do I
this.' And tben let not his grace be afraid either of the
emperbi^ or of his lords, of of "his "commons and subjects :
fo^Gi)dJiatL- promised^ io_Jkeep^gIftJJ[ja^^
If we care to keep his laws, he wUl care for the keeping of
us, for the truth of his promises. If It be found unlawful,
then let bis grace fear God, and cease to shame himself and
his blood, his lords, his subjects, and his realm, and specially
the blessed name of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and his holy
doctrine, and the profession of our faith : for whosoever
professeth the faith of Christ, and liveth contrary unto his
doctrine, shameth the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Moreover whatsoever God coupled, man may not loos^'no,
thou^^eTSme himself pope, ™Wherefore, if tbis'mirfiage n^^.
be of God, the pope cannot dispense with It : for God hath authorit
given no power against himself; but to preach his ordinances *¦ ''^•
only hath he given power. Therefore If we wlUsee tvhat-
Is'nght and what is wrong, let lis bring It unto the light of
God's law, and let us submit our causes unto the judgment
thereof, and be content to have our appetites slain thereby,
that we lust no farther than God's ordinance giyeth us libert
For verily to desire more than God permltteth, is to te
God, and to provoke wrath and indignation upon us, unto oui^v' I I I
destruction, as the children of Israel did under Moses, ana^i^ j i \
perished: whose froward deeds are warning for us (saith f VJ \
Paul, 1 Cor. x.) that we, feared with the terrible ensample ofJSTi]
their fall, should abstain from like wickednesses.
The controversy and strife of the matter, and all the doubt The cause
•' . . that maketh
and difficulty, standeth in this, that Moses m the xvuith of ^JJg^g^J'^'
Leviticus saith, "Thou shalt not unhele* the secrets of thy ^^l
brother's wife, for they are thy brother's secrets." Which is as ^f&^w. t.
[* Dnhele, i. e. uncover.]
21—2

324

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Lev. xvili.

The law ot
ceremonies.W.T.

Thelaw of
penalty.

The law
natural. W. T.

much to say as, thou shalt not take thy brother's wife. And
in the xxvth of Deuteronomy he saith, "That ifa man die with
out Issue, his brother must marry bis wife." Which two texts
seem contrary, the one forbidding, the other commanding, a
man to take his brother's wife. Wherefore, that we may come
unto the true sense and clear meaning of these two texts, and
that we may perceive also the ground of the reason that may
be made by both parties by the occasion of these texts, and
see which reasons do conclude, ye shall understand that the
law of Moses Is divided into three parts. Part of his laws
are ceremonies, that Is to say, signs that put men in remem
brance either of the benefits of God done already, as the
Easter lamb ; either signs of the promise and appointment
made between God and man, as circumcision ; or signs that
testify unto the people that the wrath of God Is peaced, and
their sins forgiven, as all manner sacrifices : which all ceased as
soon as Christ had offered up the sacrifice of his body and
blood for us ; and instead of them come the open preaching
of Christ, and our signs which we call sacraments.
Another sort are laws of penalty or punisbment to avenge
sin. If It break out and hurt a man's neighbour, as tooth for
tooth, eye for eye, and that the blood-shedder must have his
blood shed again, and the breaker of wedlock must be stoned :
which laws were given unto the Jews only, and we heathen or
Gentiles are not bound unto them, that we should punish every
sin after the same manner ; but it is enough that every land
punish their trespassers as it seemeth best for the common
wealth there, some of one manner and some of another.
Another part pertain unto faith and love; and that a man
believe how that there is but one God, and that he is true,
good and merciful In all things ; and therefore ought to be
believed, trusted and loved with all a man's heart, soul, mind
and strength ; and that a man love his neighbour as himself,
for God's sake, which hath created him and made him. And
this is the law of nature, and pertaineth unto all nations In
differently, with aU that dependeth or followeth thereof This
law was also before Moses ; Insomuch that though Moses had
never written it, yet had the Jews been no less bound thereto
by nature and by natural right and equity. For whosoever
Is of God, the same consenteth unto this law, and unto all
that followeth thereof naturally, when he heareth it preached;

LAWS PERTAINING TO FAITH AND LOVE. '325
as he consenteth that the fire Is hot, when he putteth his
finger In it.
Moreover, whosoever hath this law graven In his heart, Auiaws
this same keepeth all laws ; and whosoever hath It not written one."*w! t°^
in his heart, the same keepeth no law. For whosoever believeth
that there is one God, and loveth him with all his heart, with
aU his soul, mind and strength, (which Is the first of the ten
commandments pertaining unto the person of God,) the same
wIU worship nothing of his own Imagination without God's
word ; and then he can make none Image to worship it : which
is the second commandment pertaining unto the person of God,
He cannot also, for very love sake, take the name of God in
vain and swear by It unreverently : and so thou hast the third
commandment pertaining unto the person of God. Further
more, he that believeth God and hath his trust only in him,
and loveth him as I said, cannot but keep his holy day, not
after Moses's fashion, but spiritually : that is, he cannot but
observe a time to wait on God's word, to hear it, and learn it,
and to knowledge his sins to God, and to desire him of mercy,
according to his promises and testament which he hath made
with us : and so thou hast the fourth commandment pertaining
unto the person of God. Last of all, he that so loveth God
cannot disobey father and mother, in which two names are
contained all high powers; as grandfather, grandmother, aunt,
uncle, king, lord, master, husband, and so forth, persons
here In God's stead, by which he made us, and by which he
feedeth us, clotheth us, governeth us, teacheth and ruleth
us. And thus thou hast the five commandments, which all
pertain unto the person of God : for the obedience of father
and mother, and of all high powers which rule the world in
God's stead, pertaineth unto the person of God, and must be
done with love as unto God's self. ^
Furthermore, he that loveth God hath this commandment
also, that he love his brother or neighbour, in the fourth
chapter of the first epistle of John. For how can a man love i John iv.
the father, and hate the son, whom the father loveth ? Even
so how canst thou love God the Creator, and hate that
creature whom he hath created and made after his own
Ukeness ; and so loveth him, that he hath made him lord over
all other creatures, and thereto hath given his own Son unto
the death for his sake, to shew him kindness, that he might

326 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
see love, and to love again ? How also can I love our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and hate him whom he hath bought with his
blood ? Though the son be never so evil, yet if I love his
father heartUy, I cannot but be sorry that the son is evil, and
wish him good In mine heart, and help to the uttermost of my
power to make him better, even for his father's sake : until I
see him run so far that he go about to slay his father ; which
thing if he do, then I resist him unto the uttermost of my
power. Even so, though my neighbour be never so evil, yet
as long as I love God, and Christ our Saviour, with all mine
heart, I cannot but love him, and help to better him with all
my power; until he run so far, that he beginneth to fight
against God, and to destroy the law of God, and the testament
that God hath made unto man : then I resist him with all
my power, as God hath taught me to resist.
Now If I love my neighbour In God faithfully and unfeign
edly, then I cannot find in my heart to slay him : neither to
defile his wife : neither to steal bis goods : nor to bear false
witness against him : neither can mine heart covet his house,
wife, man-servant or maid from him, either ox, ass, or what
soever is his. And thus hast thou other five of the ten
commandments, pertaining all unto the person ofthy neighbour.
This is the law ofnature, whose servants Moses and the prophets
were, to teach it the Jews ; and whose servant Christ our
Saviour was, for our sakes, with his apostles, to teach it us.
And it is an everlasting law, and pertaineth Indifferently to
all nations, with all that hangeth thereof; insomuch that
though a man be never taught It, yet if it be not found
written in his heart, he is the heir of damnation.
Solutions. Now they that study to make this divorcement between
^' ^' the king's grace and the queen, will haply say, that the first
text is a law depending of the, law natural, (for, undoubted, it
Is no ceremony, nor yet law of penalty,) and therefore pertaineth
unto all men Indifferently, and ought to be kept of all nations ;
and that the second is a ceremony, and therefore ceaseth at
the coming of Christ. I answer : If It be a ceremony, then It
hlveTIJm- ^^ * ^^S°' ^°*^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ signification. It must signify some
^'''t_'- benefit of God done already, or some vengeance taken for sin,
or some promise, or something that I must do or leave undone
at the commandment of God. Now the signification of it they
wUl shew me, when our lady hath a new son.

LAWS REGARDING A BROTHER'S WIFE. 327
Moreover, there Is no ceremony of Moses, but that I may ceremonies
, -T.*:! -T/v. d be made of
keep it this day as an indifferent .thing ; howbeit, not as a '^"-f^i things
thmg so necessary unto my soul's health, that I should think
that I sinned if I did not. But I may eat the Easter lamb of
passover every year, when the time cometh. If I wiU. And I
may circumcise myself for my pleasure, as well as pare my
nails. If I Ust. And I may burn the blood and fat of oxen
and calves unto this day without sin, as an Indifferent thing ;
and give this signification thereto, that as the fat consumeth In
the fire, even so doth the sin of all men that repent consume
in the hot fire of the love of God to us-ward in Christ Jesus
the Lord ; and so forth. If It be a ceremony, then, how
happeneth it that this one ceremony is unlawful among all
other? Thereto, inasmuch as Moses In all his laws sought the
glory of God and the pureness of his people, as he boasteth
of himself, (Deut. iy.), saying, " What nation hath ordinances oeut. iv.
and laws so righteous as all this law, which I set before
you?" how cometh it that Moses was driven Into so great
a strait, that he would find nought to make a ceremony of,
but that which of his own nature Is damnable sin, and filthy
among the heathen ; which heathen inade as just laws, out of
the law natural graven In their hearts, as Moses did ? Might
not the heathen of good right say, " See what a filthy nation
it is, they marry every one his brother's wife, as hounds ?"
And so the law shamed the name of God, and honoured It
not. If Moses gave his people two contrary commandments,
then he was an Indiscreet lawgiver, yea, and devilish thereto ;
for then I cannot but be damned whatsoever I do. If a
man say that the first pertaineth unto us heathen, and the
last unto the people of Israel, that soundeth not ; for when
all the other laws contained in the same chapter, and In all
his books, pertained unto the same people, how should he,
among so many belonging unto them, mingle one for us hea
then only, to whom he was no lawgiver ; and namely when
he wist that one as wise as he should come and teach us,
which is our Saviour Jesus Christ ?
If a man will say, the first is a law, and the second a
permission, as the permission of divorcements, when a man
did hate his wife : nay, verily, it is not a permission, but a
flat commandment, and tbat under pain of great shame and

328 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
rebuke unto the man. If he did it not, and under the loss of
all her husband's possession unto the woman, if she offered
not herself. Of which law, also, because thou needest not to
dream of a ceremony, a man may shew a good natural reason,
profitable unto the commonwealth. For a woman, when she
is married, she forsaketh her father's kin, and bringeth her
dowry with her, and taketh ber name among her husband's
kin. Now If her husband die childless. It Is not reason that
she should be cast out of the kin empty, neither is it right
that she should carry her husband's possessions out of his
kin away with her, and that a stranger should get a child
of her, to possess them. Thou wilt say, that the lands might
return unto the next of his kin, and the wife have a portion
her life long only. Then should great possessions come into
the hands of one man, and so should there many tyrants
rise among the people : which to avoid, God ordained that
the lands should be scattered ever among as many as might
be of the same kin ; and for the same cause would suffer no
man to buy any lands for ever. For God thinketh It better
for his commonwealth, that twenty should spend twenty or
forty shiUings apiece, than that one should spend twenty or
forty pounds, and nineteen never a whit : for then must
many poor hang on one rich ; which rich for the most part
be of corrupt minds, and so sensual that they will look on
no man to do him good, except It will be on such as will
follow their lusts. And so should the people follow the wiU
of man, and not of God ; and be compelled to Uve wickedly,
and to murder, steal, and oppress their brethren, to fill their
belUes withal.
Moreover, it was a law in the time of the law natural,
four hundred years before Moses, that a man should marry
Gen. xxxviii. hls brother's wife, as thou seest Genesis xxxviii. Also, Moses
forbiddeth not a man, when his wife Is dead, to marry her
sister. If one man may marry two sisters, why may not
one woman marry two brethren ? Are not two sisters as
nigh of kin as two brethren ?
fel7i^il he Wherefore I see no remedy, but that a man must under-
understoocL gfand the text thus : That Moses forbiddeth a man to take
his brother's wife as long as his brother Uveth ; as In the
text foUowing, when he forbiddeth a man to take his neigh
bour's wife, he meaneth while his neighbour liveth ; for

LAWS REGARDING A BROTHER'S WIFE. 329
after his death it is lawful. And therefore John rebuked
Herod for taking his brother's wife from him, his brother
being yet alive. Or at the uttermost, if they wIU strive
and shew no cause why, it can extend no further than that
a man may not take his brother's wife, if he have issue by
her; which I suppose an Indifferent thing to have her or
not, as they can agree : but if his brother die childless, then
he ought to have her, and that she Is bound to offer herself
to the other brother, by the law of Moses ; and that it is
lawful now, tbough no commandment.
If It be understood of a man's brother's wife, he being
alive, then haply ye will say that it Is superfluously added of
Moses; for it is included in that which followeth Immediately,
that a man shall not take his neighbour's wife. Nay, verily :
for it Is another sin, and a more greater sin for a man to
take his brother's wife than his neighbour's wife, that is no
kin to him ; because that my neighbour's shame Is not my
shame. For let my neighbour be hanged, and no man
casteth that in my teeth. But my brother's shame is my
shame, and the shame of my father and mother, and of all
my kin. For let whatsoever rebuke bechance my brother,
and It Is cast In my teeth, and In the teeth of my father and
mother, and of all my kin Immediately. Wherefore, to be
so forgetful of natural honesty, that I should defile my bro
ther's wife unto mine own shame and all my kin, is more
grievous and heinous (as they say), and springeth of greater
lewdness or malice, than to take my neighbour's wife which
is not of my kin. And this doth the xxth chapter of the said
Leviticus prove, where Moses saith. If a man lie with his i-'^- ""¦
brother's wife, they shall die immediately, and not tarry the
birth : as Judah would have burnt Tamar, his daughter-In- o™. xxxviii.
law, being yet great with child.
They will haply say also, that if it be to be understood
of a man's brother's wife, while his brother Uveth, then they
wUl understand of the father's and uncle's wives also, while
the father and uncle live. Nay, verily. It Is far unlike. For
my father's wife and mine uncle's wife are my superiors, and
persons unto whom I owe obedience by the means of my
father and uncle. Now If I should marry them, then I should
make them my servants, (for the wife must obey her husband;)
and so pervert I the law of nature and natural equity and

330 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
honesty. Te wiU say that when my father and uncle be
dead, the obedience is loosed. Verily, it might weU stand
with the pope's doctrine; for he thrusteth kings down and
emperors thereto, and exalteth their sworn subjects into
their rooms : he raketh one out of the dunghUl on the one
day, and out of the most low and vile kind of subjection,
and maketh him on the morrow superior unto his own prince,
and to all the lords of his realm. In worldly pomp and dignity.
But God teacheth his children to humble themselves; and
Christ teacheth his disciples to come lower and lower. I
suppose, therefore, that a man ought much more to do them
service, and obey them, and to give them honour and reve
rence now after the deaths of their husbands, than before.
Moreover, ye see that a man may not marry his daughter-
in-law after his son's death, by the story of Judah. And
again, ye see that David, after the death of bis son Absalom,
would not meddle with his own wives, which his son Absalom
had before corrupt, but shut them up in perpetual widowhood.
Now if the father, after the death of bis son, abstain from
her that was one flesh with his son, for natural reverence ;
how much more ought the son, after the death of his father,
to abstain from her that was one flesh with his father, to
whom also, by the reason of his father, he oweth obedience
thereto !
Moreover, if a woman should find a man-child by tbe
streets, and bring him In, and find him up of nought ; I
would not by my wUl that she should after marry with him,
for perverting of due obedience, which she should haply as
unnaturally, even so shrewdly, give unto him again. If she
obeyed not, with what face should he correct her? If he
corrected her, what would she cast in his teeth, and what
wondering would neighbours make ? What reverence and
service then suppose ye would nature (if we were not so cor
rupt-minded) teach us to give unto the father's and uncle's
wife? And to go through aU the degrees that are forbidden :
the mother, grandmother, aunts, father's wife and uncle's
wife, are persons to be obeyed as God, with aU reverence
and serviee. The daughter and daughter's daughter, and
son's daughter, are a man's wife's flesh. The wife's mother
and grandmother are persons to be obeyed, besides that the

OF UNLAWFUL MARRIAGES. 331
wife Is your flesh. Now between a man and his wife's sister,
when she Is dead, and his brother's wife, when his brother Is
dead, is there no such cause as between these persons.
And concerning the maid-children, though they be under
the obedience of their uncles ; yet because, if any be married
unto her uncle, she hideth In obedience stiU, therefore it is
not utterly forbidden. And ensamples there be, that maidens
have married unto their uncles : which thing yet I could not
have drawn into a common use without necessity, or for a
commonwealth. And concerning the sister; she Is of egal birth to her
brother. It is to be feared, therefore, lest her obedience
would be less to her brother than to a stranger. Then note
the grief of father and mother, if they agreed not. Moreover,
If he were an unkind husband, then had she double sorrow ;
first, because he Is unkind, and also because she hath lost the
comfort of a brother. Then the familiar bringing up together.
And beside all those and such Uke^ there is yet another,
(which I think the chiefest of all,) that the sending out of
daughters into another kin, and receiving again out of another
kin. Is the greatest cause of peace and unity that is in tbe
world. And therefore the heathen people forbad that degree
in the laws.
Nevertheless, the marriage of the brother with the sister
is not so grievous against the law of nature (thinketh me) as
the degrees above rehearsed. And therefore it seemeth me,
that it might be dispensed with in certain cases, and for divers
considerations. It would be hard to prove that Sarah was not
Abraham's sister, whom I think he married because there was
none other faithful woman that believed in God. Moreover,
the greatest cause to send the daughter out is unity and peace
between divers kindreds.
Wherefore, if greater peace and unity might be made with
keeping her at home, I durst dispense with It : as, if the king
of England had a son by one wife, heir to England, and a
daughter by another, heir to Wales ; then, because of the
great war that was ever wont to be between those two
countries, I would not fear to marry them together, for the
making of a perpetual unity, and to make both countries one,
for to avoid so great effusion of blood. For which cause, I
would God that our princess had been married unto the king

332 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
of Scots. And I doubt not but that had been concluded
long ago, If it had been as greatly unto the profit of the pope
and his pllpates, (I would say prelates,) as it were to the
honour of God. But It Is not profitable for them that any
kingdom should be strong and mighty, lest, if God should open
the eyes of the king, the pope should have too much ado to
resist him, and to send In other kings upon him, to conquer
his realm. I did my diligence a long season, to know what reasons
our holy prelates should make for their divorcement; but I
could not come by them. I searched what might be said for
their part, but I could find no lawful cause of myself, by any
scripture that I ever read : I communed with divers learned
men of the matter, which also could teU me no other way than
I have shewed. Then I considered the falsehood of our spiri
tualty, how that it is but their old practice, and a common
custom ; yea, and a sport to separate matrimony, for to make
division where such marriage made unity and peace. Where
fore I could not but declare my mind, to discharge my con
science withal ; which thing I had done long since, if I could
have brought it to pass. Howbeit, I had lever now do it at
the last, than that any man should cast me in the teeth In
time to come, when this old marriage were broken, and a new
made, why I had not spoken rather'? Neither can the king's
grace, or any other christian man, of right be discontent with
me. For It is not possible that any person baptized In the
heart with repentance of evil, and with faith of forgiveness In
the blood of Christ, and stedfast purpose and profession of
heart to walk henceforth after the steps of Christ, in the law
of God, should once desire or wUl to do aught openly, with long
deUberation, that he would not have compared with the law of
God, to see whether it were right or not.
Some man might haply say, that though a great man
would be content to have his deeds compared unto the laws
of God, he would disdain yet to have so vile a wretch as I am
to dispute bf them.
I answer, that It is not my fault, but God's, which for the
most part even chooseth of the vilest to confound the glorious ;
which not only clothed his Son with our vile nature, but made
him also of the very lowest sort of man, even five hundred
[* That is, earlier.]

PERIL TO THE REALM OF ENGLAND. 333
steps beneath the degree of a cardinal, and sent him to rebuke
the scribes and the Pharisees which sat on Moses' seat, for
their evil doing and false doctrine, beside the law of Moses.
And the glorious scribes and the Pharisees, for all their holiness,
rebuked not Herod ; nor Calphas and Annas, for all their high
ness ; but vUe John the Baptist. By what authority ? Verily,
by the authority of God's word; which only, whatsoever
garment she wear, ought to have all authority among them
that have professed It. That word is the chiefest of the apos
tles, and pope, and Christ's vicar, and head of the church, and
the head of the general council. And unto the authority of
that ought the children of God to hearken without respect of
person ; for they that are of God, hear God's word. (John vi.) John vi.
And Christ's sheep hear Christ's voice (John x.), yea, though ^*° *•
he speak by a calf.
Te wUl haply say, my reasons be not good. They may
be the sooner solved, and shall thereto make the contrary
part better, and set it out, and make it appear to all men's
sight, and stabUsh it ; and so they shall do good every way.
By what means the divorcement should cost the realm.
Now to that I promised, how that I would shew you by
what means this marriage might cost the realm of England,
according to Calphas the cardinal's blind prophecy. This Is
first as sure as the winter followeth the summer, that our
prelates have utterly determined that this marriage that is
between the king and the queen must be broken ; and so is
the princess disinherited, and the king of Scots next to the
crown. And we may fortune to find one at home, which,
because be is near hand, would look to step In before him ;
and it may chance thereto that another yet will look to come
In, as soon as any of both : peradventure, the third born at
home may make friends likewise; yea, and so forth. And
then, while ye shed each other's blood, our prelates will sit
and laugh, and look upon you out of sanctuary ; and when
every man hath done his best, they will think to make them
a defender, wheresoever shall please them best.
The king's grace, will ye say, shall have another wife,
and she shall bear him a prince, and he shall break strife.
Who hath promised him a prince? Moreover, if his new
marriage be not well proved, and go forth with good authority.

334 . THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
SO shall we yet follow the princess still ; or, if she be sent
another way, some other, whom we shall suppose more right
eous Inheritor : and so the new prince Is like to go after
king Henry of Windsor's prince, and king Edward's children.
And I wiU teU you yet another sport. As soon as the
cardinal had sent the emperor a defiance, and upon that defi
ance had arrested the emperor's ships in England, and our
ships and men were arrested also in all regions of the emperor ;
then went the common fame throughout all Dutchland, that
the emperor's councU, Holland, Braband, and Zealand, had
determined, if the war had proceeded, to have set up the king
of Denmark that was, to have challenged his right in England.
For the Danes challenge England, as we challenge France ;
and the king of Denmark writeth himself king of England, as
our king writeth himself king of England and France. And
this Is once : the old king of Denmark, with his son, a goodly
prince if he had lands, shaU never come in Denmark again, of
any likelihood'. Wherefore, if ye faU together by tbe ears,
may he not by some chance, If God be angry with you, make
an appointment with the king of Scots to come in upon you
on the one side, and make for his part what friends he can in
Dutchland, and send unto the new king of Denmark, and
give up his title for ever to get rid of him, so to come in on
the other side, and conquer you ? And twenty other ways
are ye Uke to come In danger ; which I commit unto your own
consideration. The putting down of the cardinal 2.
mSe°y^a -^^^ finally, concerning the cardinal's puttmg down, I con-
great traitor, gjjgj. jjjg^^y thlugs : first, that I uovcr heard or read that
any man, being so great a traitor, was so easily put to death:
then the natural disposition and Inclination of the man, how
that his chief study, yea, and aU his felicity and mward joy,
hath ever been to exercise that 'angel's wit of his' (as my lord
_ of Lincoln was wont to praise him) in driving of such drifts to
[1 Christiem II., kmg of Denmark and Norway, and at the beginning
of his reign king of Sweden also, had lost all his kingdoms by disgusting
his subjects with his cruelty and treachery. He reigned over Denmark
from 1513 to 1523; when he was flnally expelled, and superseded by
his uncle, Frederic duke of Sleswick.]
[2 Day's edition resumes the Marburg text again with the words,
concerning the cardinal's putting down.]

PUTTING DOWN THE CARDINAL. 335
beguile aU men, and to bind the whole world withal. Where
fore I can none otherwise judge by an hundred tokens, evident
unto whomsoever hath a natural wit, but that this is also
nothing save a cast* of his old practice ; so that when God
had wrapped him in his own wiles, that he wist not which
way out, (for the emperor prevailed for all the cardinal's
treason, and the French children might not come home,) and
he had learned also of his necromancy, this would be a jeo-
pardous year for him, what for the treason that he had wrought
against the emperor, and what for the money which he had
borrowed of the commons, lest any rising should be against
him, then he thought to undo his destiny with his poUcies, and cardinal
went and put down himself under a colour (which the process niitteth trea-
* ^..¦*- son against
of the tragedy weU declareth), and set up m his room, to '•" emperor.
minister forth, and to fight against God as he had begun, the
chiefest of aU his secretaries, one nothing inferior unto his
master in lying, feigning, and bearing two faces in one hood ;
a whelp that goeth not out of kind from his sire ; the chiefest
tasle wherewith the cardinal caught the king's grace, whom
he caUed unto the confirmation of all that he Intended to per
suade, saying, ' If it like your grace. More Is a learned man, cardinal
and knoweth it, and is also a layman, wherefore he will not SSed^ire
say otherwise than It is, for any partiality to us-ward :' which ceiior.
secretary yet must first deserve it with writing against Martin*,
and against ' The Obedience,' and ' Mammon,' and become the
proctor of purgatory, to write against ' The suppUcation of
beggars*.' And then, to blind the world withal, many quarrels were
picked : the cardinal might not speak with the king's grace ;
the broad seal was fetched away; high treason was laid to Treason laid
his charge : first, that he had breathed (heard I say) in the dmars
king's face, when he had the French pox : (0 hypocrites !)
but the very treason that he had wrought was not spoken
of at all, nor ought worthy of a traitor done to him at all®.
[3 A calculated contrivance.]
[* Martin Luther.]
[* A sarcastic attack on the mendicant friars, composed by Simon
Fish. It may be seen in Foxe's Acts and Mon.]
[8 The disgusting charge noticed in this paragraph was the subject
of Art. 6 in the 44 charges preferred against Wolsey in parliament. —
Piddes' Life of Wolsey, App. of documents, pp. 215 — 23.]

336 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES,
Then they called a parliament (as though the goldeii
world should come again), wherein the hypocrites, to blear
Mortuaries, meu's cyos wltbal, made a reformation of mortuaries, and
prohate oi d '
tesuments. probatos of tostamcuts ; the root yet left behind, whence aU
that they have for a time weeded out wUl spring again by
little and little as before. If they, as their hope is, may stop
Pluralities of this Ught of God's word that is now abroad. They made
also a reformation of pluralities of benefices, ordaining that
henceforth no man may come by plurality of benefices with
virtue and cunning, but with serving for them in the court'.
Which what other thing is it save plain simony ? 0 blind
buzzards and shameless hypocrites! what care they to do,
whether against God or their own laws, to flatter great men
Tithes. withal and to blind them ! But hark here : the tithes were
Thechurch- ordalncd, at the beginning, to find the preachers and the
WArdBTlS hflV6
been accus- poor peoplo, whIch UOW go a begging; so that the church-
imef and wardcus ought to take the benefices into their hands In the
parlon ws° name of the parishens, and to deliver the preachers of God's
sfipend^and word their dwelling and present a sufficient Uving, and divide
rest tcfthe' the rest among the poor people. And the king is bound to
*""'' maintain that order, and not to resist them, except he will be
an open tyrant. Now I appeal to the consciences of the
king's grace and of bis lords. What answer wUl they give,
when they come before Christ in the last judgment, for their
robbing of so many souls In so many parishes of God's
word, with holding every man so many chaplains in their
Princes have bouscs wlth pluralities of benefices, and for the robbing of so
here much to -^ , ^ o
answer. many poor and needy of their due and daUy food ; whose
need, for lack of succour, crieth to God continually for ven
geance against them, which we see daily, by a thousand mis
fortunes, fall on them and on their wives and children? Let
them read Exodus and Deuteronomy, and see what they find
there. Tea, and what shall so many chaplains do? First
[1 Cunning is here used for learning. Tyndale alludes to the
statute 21 Henry VIII. c. 13, which had just been enacted, to abridge
'Spiritual persons from having pluralities of livings;' but its seeming
stringency was rendered nugatory by the proviso in $ 28, which said,
' Provided alway that this act shall not in any way extend, ne be pre
judicial to any such chaplains as shall be daily or quarterly attending
and abiding in the king's or queen's most honorable housholds'  'and
so for chaplains of nobles, &c.']

PUTTING DOWN THE CARDINAL. 337
slay their souls, and then defile their wives, their daughters,
and their maidens, and last of all betray them.
When this reformation, the colour and cloak of their The loan first
1 ' 1 1 1 ¦ • 1 1 ¦. forgiven by
hypocrisy, was made, then the spiritualty came ducking *e ciergy.
before the king's grace, and forgave him the money which
they had lent their pope to bring in the temporalty ; and to
make them after their example to do likewise, as loving sub
jects, and no less kind unto their prince than the spiritualty^.
Whereupon the temporalty forgave their part also, in hope of The loan for-
that they obtained not : for as soon as the loan was for- temporally.
given, the parliament broke up; because our prelates, and
their confederate friends, had found that they sought, and
caught the fish for which they laid the bait of all those faces
of reformations ; and for which the cardinal, to bring the
world Into a fool's paradise, was compelled even with his own
good wIU to resign bis chancellorship, and that to whom he
listed himself. And as for the bishoprick of Durham, to say Thebuhop-
the very truth, he could not of good congruity but reward Durham.
his old chaplain, and one of the chief of all his secretaries
withal, stUl Saturn, that so seldom speaketh, but walketh
up and down all day musing and imagining mischief, a duck
ing hypocrite, made to dissemble^ : which, for what service
done in Christ's gospel came he to the bishoprick of London ;
or what such service did he therein ? He burnt the new jonstai
Testament, calling it Doctrinam peregrinam, ' strange learn- Durham'
ing*.' Tea, verily, look how strange his Uving, in whose Sew Teste-
blood that testament was made, was from the living of the
pope ; even so strange Is that doctrine from the pope's law,
in which only, and in the practice thereof, is Tunstal learned.
Which also, for what cause left he the bishoprick of London ?
Even for the same cause he took it, after that he had long
served for It, covetousness and ambition. Neither is It pos
sible naturaUy, that there should be any good bishop, so long
[2 A coarse expression is here omitted.]
[^ Wolsey held the bishoprick of Durham in commendam with the
archbishopriek of York from 1523 to 1529, when he resigned Durham in
favour of Tonstal, but took possession of the see of Winchester. He
also held the rich abbey of St Alban's in commendam; and the bishop
rics of Bath, Worcester, and Hereford in farm, because the incumbents
were foreigners. — Cavendish's Wolsey, Vol. i. p. 32. Singer's ed. Also
Lord Herbert's Hen. VIII. p. 57.]
[} See Life of Tyndale, p. xxxviii.]
22
[tyndale, II.J

338 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.
|^^>|hopriek as the bishopricks be nothing save worldly pomp and honour,
honour, and supcrfluous abundauco of all manner riches, and liberty to do
Stert^. what a man Usteth unpunished ; things which only the evU
desire, and all good men abhor.
The cardinal And as SOOU as the parliament was ended, the cardinal
charged."^' had hIs charter, and gat him home ; and all bishops gat them
every fox to bis hole ; leaving yet their attornies behind
them, to come again themselves as soon as the constellation is
somewhat overrun, whereof they be afraid.
What the cause of all this mischief is.
Whence cometh all this mischief? Verily it is the hand
of God to avenge the wantonness of great men, which wUl
walk without the fear of God, following the steps of the high
prelates, contrary unto their profession ; and to avenge also
tbe wrongs, the blasphemies, and subtle persecuting of his
word. For when Martin Luther had uttered the abominations of
the pope and his clergy with God's word, and divers books
were come Into England, our cardinal thought to find a
remedy against that well enough, and sent to Kome for this
Defender of valu tltlo, ' Defender of the faith;' which the vicar of Croydon
the faith. "
w. T. ¦ preached that the king's grace would not lose for all London,
and twenty miles round about It. Neither is it marvel : for It
had cost more than London and forty miles about It Is able
to make (I think) at this hour ; beside the effusion of Innocent
blood tbat was offered unto the idol, and daily is offered
SeVefender thereto. When this glorious name was come from our holy
rame^rom father, the cardinal brought it unto the king's grace at Green-
^""°' wich. And though the king had It already, and had read It,
yet against the morning were all the lords and gentlemen
that could in so short space be gathered together, sent for,
to come and receive it in with honour. And in the morning
after the cardinal gat him, through the back side, into the
The popish friars Observants. And part of the gentles went round about.
and vain- iiii*/.-t-.
manner of ^^^ wolcomcd him irom Rome, as representing the pope's
wolSy!, person ; part met him half way, part at the court gate, and
last of all the king's grace himself met him in the haU, and
brought him up Into a great chamber, where was a seat pre
pared on high for the king's grace and the cardinal, whUe
the bull was read ; Insomuch that not the wise only, but

THE CAUSE OF MISCHIEF. 339
men of mean understanding, laughed the vain pomp to scorn,
not far unlike to the receiving of the cardinal's hat : which ihecar-
dinal'shat.
when a ruttian had brought unto him to Westminster under w- ^•
his cloak, he clothed the messenger in rich array, and sent
him back to Dover again ; and appointed the bishop of Can
terbury to meet him, and then another company of lords and
gentles, I wot not how oft, ere It came to Westminster; where ^l^line't
It was set on a cupboard, and tapers about, so that the efe? was.""^'
greatest duke in the land must make courtesy thereto, yea,
and to his empty seat, he being away.
And shortly, for lack of authority of God's word, Martin
must be condemned by the authority of the king. And the
king's grace, to claw the pope again, must make a book ; In
which, to prove all that they would have stahlished, for lack
of scripture, yea, and contrary to the open scripture, is made
this mighty reason : Such prelates are the church ; and the J^et^'if'the
church cannot err ; and therefore, all that they do is right ; gX|?be
and we ought to believe them without any scripture', yea, w! t.""^'''
and though the scripture be contrary. Wherefore God (of
fended with such blasphemy, to make his enemies feel that
they would not see in the open scripture, nor in the practice
of their livings and doings, clean contrary unto the scripture
and unto the living of Christ and his apostles, this eight
hundred years,) hath poured this wrath upon us, and hath
snared the wise of the world with the subtilty of their own
wits. For either the pope and cardinals, with other prelates,
that made this first marriage, or they that would break it,
err; to speak no more grievously^.
[1 Such is the gist of the king's arguments, where the royal printer,
Pynson, has placed in the margin, Luthe-rus prostratus ; and further on
(sign, m.) where the king says, 'Si nihil omnino recipiat [Lutherus]
quod non tam aperte legat in evangelio ut tergiversandi non sit locus,
quomodo credit (si modo credit, qui nihil fere credit,) perpetuam Mariae
virginitatem? De qua adeo nihil invenit in scripturis, ut Helvidius non
aliunde quam ex scripturarum verbis corripuerit ansam decernendi
contrarium. Is ec aliud opponitur illi quam totius ecclesise fides,' etc :
the margin has, ' Efflcax ratio adversus Lutherum, quod recipi oporteat
etiam quse nusquam sunt scripta.' And, 'Hic locus fortiter premit
Lutherum, ut veneretur ecclesise traditiones non scriptas.' — From
'Henrici Octavi Opera,' a quarto volume in the library of St John's
College, Cambridge.]
[2 The last sentence is omitted in Day's ed.]

340

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

More Is
firoved a
lar.

Sir Thomas
Hltton.

Martin Morcover, when Martin Luther had submitted himself In
mutedwrn- an epistle, let his grace consider what answer he gave again.
Henl^vifL Where is the glory of that great praise become, that his
grace gave the cardinal for his goodly acts and benefits,
which aU the commonwealth of the whole realm should feel' ?
And let his grace remember, how he inveigheth against Martin's
wedlock, and fear lest God, to avenge wilful blindness, tangle
his grace with matrimony (beside the destruction of the realm
that Is like to follow) much more dishonourable than his grace
thinketh Martin shameful. His grace promised to keep his
wedlock, as well as Martin did his chastity : and his grace's
vow hath authority of God, and Martin's not, but Is damned
by the word of God as he did vow, and as the hypocrites do
yet teach to vow.
And More, among his other blasphemies in his dialogue,
saith, that none of us dare abide by our faith unto the death.
But shortly thereafter God, to prove More that he hath ever
been a false Uar, gave strength unto his servant, Sir Thomas
Hltton, to confess, and that unto the death, the faith of his
holy Son Jesus ; which Thomas the bishops of Canterbury
and Rochester, after they had dieted and tormented him
secretly, murdered at Maidstone most cruelly 2.
I beseech the king's most noble grace, therefore, to con
sider all the ways by which the cardinal and our boly bishops
have led him, since he was first king ; and to see whereunto
all the pride, pomp, and vain boast of the cardinal is come,
and how God hath resisted him and our prelates in all their
/^wiles. We, having nothing to do at all, have meddled yet in
/ all matters, and have spent for our prelates' causes more than
/ all Christendom, even unto the utter beggaring of ourselves,
I and have gotten nothing but rebuke and shame and hate
V among all nations, and a mock, and a scorn thereto, of them
^whom we have most holpen.
For the Frenchmen (as the saying Is) of late days made
a play, or a disguising, at Paris, In which the emperor danced
[I Day omits the remainder of this paragraph.]
P This sufferer is here called Sir Thomas, after the usual manner
of styling priests in Tyndale's time ; but Foxe only calls Hitton ' an
honest poor man and religious.' The Archbishop of Canterbury was
Warham; and the bishop of Eochester was Fisher. The date of
Hitton's marytrdom is said by Foxe to have been Feb. 20, 1529.]

A dance in
Paris.

THE KING AND NOBLES WARNED. 341
With the pope and the French king, and wearied them ; the ^ ,
king of England sitting on a high bench, and looking onj"^
And when it was asked, why he danced not. It was answereUi *
that he sat there but to pay the minstrels their wages only. / -
As who should sayd^wS paid for all men's dancing. WeV//
monied the emperor trpehly, and gave the Frenchmen doubly' (
and treble secretly, and to the pope also. Tea, and thougli, ,^;
Ferdlnandus^ had money sent him openly, to bUnd the world
withal, yet the saying is throughout all Dutchland, that 5ta_ifr
sent money to the king of Pole, and to the Turk also ; and i'
that by help of our money Ferdlnandus was driven out of
Hungary. Which thing, though It were not true, yet It will
breed us a scab at the last, and get us, with our meddling, I
more hate than we shall be able to bear, if a chance come,
unless that we wax wiser betime.
And I beseech his grace also to have mercy of his own HereTyndaie
soul, and not to suffer Christ and his holy testament to be the le'iingrf
persecuted under his name any longer ; that the sword of the •'^'^"" "'°'
wrath of God may be put up again, which for that cause, no
doubt, is most chiefly drawn.
And I beseech his grace to have compassion on his poor
subjects, which have ever been unto his grace both obedient,
loving, and kind ; that the realm utterly perish not, with the
wicked counsel of our pestUent prelates. For if his grace,
which is but a man, should die, the lords and commons not
knowing who hath most right to enjoy the crown, the realm
could not but stand in great danger.
And I exhort the lords temporal of the realm, that they Tyndaie
come and fall before the king's grace, and humbly desire his Snderstand-
/v • • r r I. • 1 1 ing of such
mai esty to suffer it to be tried, who of right ought to succeed ; aj of nght
d d ^ ' o o ^ ' should sue-
and if he or she fail, who next, yea, and who third. And let f^^J^ **
it be proclaimed openly : and let all the lords temporal
be sworn thereto, and all the knights, and squires, and gentle
men, and the commons, above eighteen years old, that there
be no strife for the succession. For if they try it by the
sword, I promise them, I see none other likelihood but
that, as the cardinal hath prophesied, It will cost the realm of
England. And all that be sworn unto the cardinal, I warn them yet
[3 Ferdinand king of Hungary, who eventually succeeded his bro
ther Charles V. as emperor of Germany.]

342

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES.

Tyndalewarneth all
the cardinal's
secretaries to
repent, and
tum to God.

A general
exhortationto all kinds
of people.

Popishbishops make
no account
of perjury.

The spiri
tualty are
neither of
the one
side nor of
the other
for there is
no truth in
them, more
than shall
serve their
tum.

once again to break their oaths, as I did in 'The Obedience."
And aU my lord cardinal's privy secretaries and spies, by
whom he worketh, yet I warn them to beware betime. My
lord cardinal, though he have the name of all, yet he wrought
not all of his own brain : but of aU wily and exercised In
mischief he caUed unto him the most expert, and of their
council and practice gathered that most seemed to serve his
wicked purpose. Let them remember Emson and Dudley,
and such like in all chronicles'.
And aU that be confederate with the cardinal and with
the bishops upon any secret appointment, be they never so
great, I rede^ them to break their bonds, and to foUow right
by the plain and open way, and to be content, and not too
ambitious : for it is now evil chmbing ; the boughs be brittle.
And let them look well on the practice of bishops, how they
have served all other men in times past, and into what troubles
they have brought them that were quiet. Many a man, both
great and small, have they brought to death in England, even
In my days, (beside In times past,) whose blood God will seek
once. Let tbem learn at the last, that it is but the cast of the
bishops to receive the sacrament with one man secretly upon
one purpose, and with another man as secretly upon the con
trary, to deceive all parties. For of perjury they make as
much conscience as a dog of a bone; for they have power to
dispense with all things, think they.
At the beginning of the war between the French king
and the emperor tbe prognostication said, year by year, that
there should be great labour for peace : but it shall not come
to pass ; for there is Bicorpereum, or Corpus neutrum^, that
cometh between and letteth It ; that is to say, a body that is
neither-nother*, or holdeth on neither part: and that body is
the spiritualty, which hold but of themselves only. For when
any ambassadors go between, to entreat of peace, the bishops
are ever the chief ; which, though they make a goodly oration
for the peace openly, to deceive the laymen, yet secretly, by
the bishops of the same country, they cast a bone in the way :
and there can be no peace, until tbe peace be for their profit,
let It cost In the mean season what blood It will.

[1 So Marb. ed. but this last sentence is wanting in the later eds.]
[2 Advise.] [3 Ofthe nature oftwo bodies, or a neutral body.]
[* That is, neither the one nor the other.]

A GENERAL WARNING. 343
And as for them which for lucre, as Judas, betray the
truth, and write against their consciences ; and which for
honour, as Balaam, enforce to curse the people of God; I
would fain (if their hearts were not too hard) that they did
repent. And as fain I would, that our prelates did repent, if
it were possible for them to prefer God's bonour before their
own*. And let them remember what wrong they have done
to the queen, and what fruit they have lost her, that never
could come unto the right birth, for sorrow which she suffered
through their false mSans ; than which what greater treason
could they work unto the realm of England?
And unto all subjects I say, that they repent. For the An ag
cause of evil rulers is the sin of the subjects, testifieth the su^iT^
scripture. And the cause of false preachers Is, that the ff]/^
people have no love unto the truth, saith Paul In the second "y^
chapter of the second epistle to the Thessalonians. We be all 2 Thess. li.
sinners, an hundred times greater than all that we suffer.
Let us therefore each forgive other, remembering, the greater
sinners the more welcome, If we repent ; according to the
similitude of the riotous son (Luke xv.) For Christ died for Luke xv.
sinners, and Is their Saviour, and his blood their treasure, to
pay for their sins. He is that fatted calf which Is slain to
make them good cheer withal. If they will repent, and come to
their father again; and his merits Is that goodly raiment,
to cover the naked deformities of our sins.
These ^ be sufficient at this time, although I could say
more, and though other have deserved that I more said : yea,
and I could more deeply have entered into the practice of our
cardinal, but I spare for divers considerations ; and namely
for his sake, which never spared me, nor any faithful friend of
his own, nor any that told him truth ; nor spareth to persecute
-the blood of Christ, In as clear hght as ever was, and under
as subtle colour of hypocrisy as ever was any persecution
since the creation of the world. Neither have I said for hate Here lyn-
of any person or persons, (God I take to record,) but oftheir ^imseifto
wickedness only, and to call them to repentance, knowledging ™"J^i^°jg
that I am a sinner also, and that a grievous. Howbeit, it is p"'°°-
a devilish thing, and a merciless, to defend wickedness against
[5 The remainder ofthe paragraph is omitted in Day's ed.]
[6 S. and S. edition does not resume Tyndale's text, till it comes
to the words, ' These be sufficient.']

344 THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES,
the open trutb, and not to have power to repent. And
therefore, I doubt not. If men will not be warned hereby, but
that God will utter more practice by whom he will, and not
cease until he have broken the bond of wily hypocrites which
persecute so subtilly.
God is merci- Aud', finally, if the persecution of the king's grace, and
f^oramlbut of other temporal persons conspiring with the spiritualty, be
SiVmScious of ignorance, I doubt not but that their eyes shall be opened
teadei. " ° " shortly, and they shall see and repent, and God shall shew
them mercy. But and if it be of a •set malice against the
truth, and of a grounded hate against the law of God by the
reason of a full consent they have to sin, and to walk in their
old ways of ignorance, whereunto (being now past all repent
ance) they have utterly yielded themselves, to follow with full
lust, without bridle or snaffle, which is the sin against the
Holy Ghost ; then ye shall see, even shortly, that God shall
turn the point of the sword, wherewith they now shed Christ's
blood, homeward to shed their own again, after aU the ex
amples of the bible.
Theobedi- -^"^ 1®* them remember that I, well toward three years
christi'an agone ^, to prevent all occasions and all carnal beasts that seek
three "eara™ fleshly liberty, sent forth 'The true Obedience ofa ChristliS"
bookf " Man,' which yet they condemned, but after they had con
demned the new Testament, as right was, whence 'The
Obedience' had his authority. Now then, i^when the Ught
is come abroad. In which their wickedness cannot be hid, they
find no such obedience in the people unto their old tyranny,
whose fault is it ? This is a sure conclusion : none obedience,
that Is not of love, can long endure ; and in your deeds can
no man see any cause of love : and the knowledge of Christ,
for whose sake only a man would love you, though ye were
never so evU, ye persecute. Now then, if any disobedience
rise, are ye not the cause of it yourselves^?
Say not but that ye be warned !
[' S. and S. ed. omits all this paragraph except the first two words,
which it connects with, ' And let them remember,' &c.]
[2 S. and S. ed. omits this clause.]
[8 So the two old editions ; but Day has, ye are the cause of it
yourselves.]

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