And many of the Samarisaying of the woman, how ever she did, and went out and said, Come, and see a man that hath told me all that ever I did, is not he Christ? tans believed, because of the that he had told her all that unto him, and desired him to come in. Which faith was but an opinion, and no faith that could have lasted, or have brought out fruit; but when they had heard Christ, the Spirit wrought, and made them feel. Whereupon they came unto the woman, and said: We believe, not now because of thy saying, but because we have heard ourselves, and know that he is Christ, the Saviour of the world. For Christ's preaching was with power and spirit, The feeling that maketh a man feel and know and work too; and not as the scribes and pharisees preached, and as ours make a the historiman ready to cast his gorge to hear them rave and rage as mad men. And, therefore, saith the Scripture, Cursed is he that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm; that is to say, his strength. And even so, Cursed is he that hath none other belief but because men so say. Cursed were he Cursed is that had none other why to believe than that I say. And even so cursed is he that believeth only because the pope so saith, and so forth throughout all the men in the world. faith doth far excel cal faith. he that trusteth in man. THE FAITH THAT DEPENDETH OF ANOTHER IF I have none other feeling in my faith than because a man so saith, then is my faith faithless and fruitless. For if I have none other feeling that lechery is sin than that the pope so preacheth, whom I see before my face set up in Rome a stews of twenty or thirty thousand whores, taking of every piece tribute yearly; and his bishops with all other his disciples following the ensample mightily; and Lechery. nation of the Romish church. Marriage forbidden and whordom allowed. The abomi- the pope therewith not content, but to set up thereto a stews of young boys, against nature, the committers of which sin be burnt at a stake among the Turks, as Moses also commandeth in his law. And the pope also to forbid all the spiritualty, a multitude of forty or fifty hundred thousand, to marry, and to give them license to keep every man his whore who so will. If, I say, I have none other feeling in my faith that lechery is sin than this man's preaching, I think my faith should be too weak to bear much fruit. How could I believe a man that would say he loved me, if all his deeds were contrary? I could not believe God himself that he loved me, if in all my tribulations I had of him none other comfort than those bare words. Covetous ness. quots. And in like manner if I had none other feeling in my faith that covetousness were sin, than that the spiritualty so saith, my faith could be but weak and fainty when I see how the pope with wiles hath thrust down the emperor, and how the bishops and prelates be crept up an high in in all regions above their kings, and have made them a several kingdom, and have gotten into their hands almost the one half of every realm, which they divide among themselves, giving no layman any part with them; and heaping bishopric upon bishopric, promotion upon promotion, Unions, tot benefice upon benefice, with unions and tot quots, robbing in every parish the souls of their food, and the poor of their due sustenance; yea, and some preaching that it were less sin to have two wives than two benefices, but while they be yet young and hot, and therefore think covetousness greater sin than lechery: which same, when they be waxed elder, and their complexion somewhat altered, think that covetousness is as small a sin as lechery and therefore take all that cometh. And if any man cast their preaching in their teeth, they answer that they be better learned and have seen further. If I say I have no other feeling that covetousness is sin, than the preaching of these holy fathers, my faith were built but upon a weak rock, or rather on the soft sand. And The papists think lechery nor covetousness to be any sin. pope teacheth with the mouth only, so the Pa therefore our defenders do right well to foam out their own shame, and to utter the secret thoughts of their hearts. For as they write so they believe. Other feeling of the As the pope laws of God and faith of Christ have they none, than that their God the pope so saith. And therefore as the preacheth with his mouth only, even so believe they with theirmouth only whatsoever he preacheth without more ado, be it never so abominable, and in their hearts consent unto all their father's wickedness, and follow him in their deeds as fast as they can run, pists be their mouth lieve with only. Jews. The Turks and Jews they cannot believe that The Turks being in number five times more than we are, Turks. knowledge one God, and believe many things of God, moved only by the authority of the elders, and presume that God will not let so great a multitude err so long time. And yet they have erred and been faithless these eight hundred years. And the Jews believe this day, as much as the carnal sort of them ever believed; moved also by the authority of their elders only, and think that it is impossible for them to err, being Abraham's seed, and the children of them to whom the promises of all that we believe were made. And yet they have erred and been faithless these fifteen hundred years. And we of like blindness believe only by the authority of our elders, and of like pride think that we cannot err being such a multitude. And yet we see how God in the Old Testament did let the great multitude err, reserving alway a little flock to call the other back again and to testify unto them the right way. err, because be they be lieve as their elders did. God relittle flock.. served a HOW THIS WORD CHURCH HATH A DOUBLE Rom. ix. Who they be that are of God's THIS is therefore a sure conclusion as Paul saith, (Rom. ix.) that not all they that are of Israel are Israelites ; neither because they be Abraham's seed are they all Abraham's children, but they only that follow the faith of Abraham. Even so now none of them that believe with their mouths, moved with the authority of their elders only, that is, none of them that believe with M. More's faith, the pope's faith, and the devil's faith, which may stand (as M. More confesseth) with all manner [of] abominations, have the right faith of Christ or are of his church. But they only that repent and feel that the law is good, and have the true church. law of God written in their hearts, and the faith of our Saviour Jesus, even with the Spirit of God. There is a carnal Israel and a spiritual. There is Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau. And Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and Esau Jacob, and the fleshly the spiritual. Whereof Paul complained in his time, persecuted of his carnal brethren, as we do in our time, and as the elect ever did and shall do till the world's end. What a multitude came out of Egypt under Moses, of which the Scripture testifieth that they believed, moved by the miracles of Moses, as Simon Magus believed by the reason of Philip's miracles. (Acts viii.) Nevertheless the Scripture testifieth that six hundred thousand of those believers perished through unbelief, and left their carcases in the wilderness and never entered into the land that was promised them. And even so shall the children of M. More's faithless faith, made by the perdren of this suasion of man, leap short of the rest which our Saviour world are Jesus Christ is risen unto. And therefore let them embrace this present world as they do, whose children they are though they hate so to be called. The fleshly persecute the spiritual. Acts viii. The chil the papists. And hereby ye see that it is a plain and an evident conclusion as bright as the sun's shining, that the truth of God's word dependeth not of the truth of the congregation. And therefore when thou art asked why thou believest that Questions. thou shalt be saved through Christ? and of such like prin And if Answers to captious be made to papists. ciples of our faith? answer, thou wottest and feelest that Answers. it is true. And when he asketh how thou knowest that it is true? answer, because it is written in thine heart. he ask who wrote it? answer, the Spirit of God. And if he ask how thou camest first by it? tell him whether by reading in books or hearing it preached, as by an outward instrument, but that inwardly thou wast taught by the Spirit of God. And if he ask whether thou believest it not because it is written in books or because the priests so preach? answer no, not now, but only because it is written in thine heart, and because the Spirit of God so preacheth and so testifieth unto thy soul. And say, though at the be ginning thou wast moved by reading or preaching, as the Samaritans were by the words of the woman, yet now thou John iv. believest it not any longer but only because thou hast heard it of the Spirit of God, and read it written in thine heart. And concerning outward teaching, we allege for us Scripture older than any church that was this fourteen hundred years, and old authentic stories which they had brought asleep, wherewith we confound their lies. Remember ye not how in our own time of all that taught grammar in England, not one understood the Latin tongue? How came we then by the Latin tongue again? not by them, though we learned certain rules and principles of them, by which we were moved and had an occasion to seek further, but out of the old authors. Even so we seek up old antiquities out of which we learn, and not of our church, though we received many principles of our church at the beginning, but more falsehood than truth. It hath pleased God of his exceeding love wherewith he loved us in Christ (as Paul saith) before the world was Teachers of understood not the La grammar tin tongue. |