understanding to obey holy church, without asking what they mean, or desiring to know; but only careth for the keeping, and looketh ever with a pair of narrow eyes, and with all his spectacles upon them, lest ought be left out. For if the priest should say mass, baptize, or hear confession without a stole about his neck, he would think all were marred, and doubt whether he had power to consecrate, and think that the virtue of the mass were lost, and the child not well baptized, or not baptized at all, and that his absolution were not worth a mite. He had lever that the bishop should wag two fingers over him, than that another man should say, God save him; and soforth. Wherefore, beloved The world reader, inasmuch as the Holy Ghost rebuketh the world for lack of judgment; and inasmuch also as their ignorance is without excuse before whose faces enough is set to judge by, if they would open their eyes to see, and not captivate their understanding to believe lies and inas much as the spiritual judgeth all thing, even the very bottom of God's secrets; that is to say, the causes of the things which God commandeth ; how much more ought we to judge our holy father's secrets, and not to be as an ox, or an ass, without understanding.

is to be rebuked for lack of. judgment.

Judge by these things whether

Judge, therefore, reader, whether the pope with his be the church; whether their authority be above the Scripture; whether all they teach have erred without Scripture be equal with the Scripture ; whether they have erred, and not only whether

the pope

or not.

what bag

Judge gage is pope's and of his making.

in the

doctrine,

they can. And against the mist of their sophistry take the ensamples that are past in the Old Testament, and authentic stories, and the present practice which thou seest before thine eyes. Judge whether it be possible that any good should come out of their dumb ceremonies and sacraments into thy soul. Judge their penance, pilgrimages, pardons, purgatory, praying to posts, dumb blessings, dumb absolutions, their dumb pattering and howling, their dumb strange holy gestures, with all their dumb disguisings, their satisfactions and justifyings. And because thou indest them false in so many things, trust them m nothing, but judge them in all things. Mark Note the at the last the practice of our fleshly spiritualty, and their ways by which they have walked above eight hundred years, how they stablish their lies; irst, with falsifying the Scripture; then through orrupting with their riches, whereof they have finite treasure in store; and last of all, with he sword. Have they not compelled the emerors of the earth, and the great lords and igh officers to be obedient unto them, to disute for them, and to be their tormentors, and he Samsumims themselves do but imagine mishief, and inspire them.

Mark whether it were ever truer than now, ne scribes, pharisees, Pilate, Herod, Caiphas nd Anna, are gathered together against God nd Christ. But yet I trust in vain, and he that rake the counsel of Achitophel, shall scatter eirs. Mark whether it be not true in the

practice of our fleshly spiritualty.

The papists

are gather

ed together Christ.

against

highest degree, that for the sin of the people hypocrites shall reign over them. What shows, what faces and contrary pretences are made, and all to stablish them in their theft, falsehood, and damnable lies, and to gather them together for to contrive subtilty to oppress the truth, and to stop the light, and to keep all still in darkWherefore it is time to awake, and to see every man with his own eyes, and to judge, if we will not be judged of Christ, when he cometh to judge. And remember that he which is warned hath none excuse, if he take no heed. Herewith, farewell in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Spirit be thy guide and doctrine, and the light to judge withall. Amen.

ness.

AN ANSWER

UNTO

SIR THOMAS MORE'S DIALOGUE,

MADE BY WILLIAM TYNDALE, 1530.

WHAT THE CHURCH IS.

THIS word church hath divers significations.

First Significa

tions of the

divers.

The minischurch are appointed

ters of the

it signifieth a place or house, whither Christian people vere wont in the old time to resort at times convenient, church are or to hear the word of doctrine, the law of God, and the aith of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and how and what to ray, and whence to ask power and strength to live godly. For the officers thereto appointed preached the pure word of God only, and prayed in a tongue that all men undertood. And the people hearkened unto his prayers, and aid thereto Amen; and prayed with him in their hearts, nd of him learned to pray at home, and every where; nd to instruct every man his household.

Where now we hear but voices without signification ; nd buzzings, howlings, and cryings, as it were the halloongs of foxes, or baitings of bears; and wonder at disuisings and toys whereof we know no meaning.

By reason whereof we be fallen into such ignorance, hat we know of the mercy and promises which are in Christ nothing at all.

And of the law of God we think as do the Turks, and s did the old heathen people, how that it is a thing which every man may do of his own power, and in doing hereof becometh good, and waxeth righteous, and deerveth heaven; yea, and are yet more mad than that. For we imagine the same of fantasies, and vain cerémoies of our own making; neither needful unto the taming f our own flesh, neither profitable unto our neighbour, either honour unto God.

to preach
to the peo-
ple surely
the word of

God, and to pray in a tongue

that all men understand.

The law

cannot be with works, be they ne ver so holy.

fulfilled

IENDALE.

ANSWER TO SIR

[TYNDALE.

And of prayer we think, that no man can pray but at church, and that it is nothing else but to say Pater noster unto a post. Wherewith yet, and with other observances of our own imagining, we believe we deserve to be sped of all that our blind hearts desire.

In another signification it is abused and mistaken for a multitude of shaven, shorn, and oiled, which we now call the spiritualty and clergy. As when we read in the chronicles, king William was a great tyrant, and a wicked man unto holy church, and took mnch lands from them. King John was also a perilous man, and a wicked unto holy church, and would have had them punished for theft, murder, and whatsoever mischief they did, as though they had not been people anointed, but even of the vile rascal and common lay people.

S

And Thomas Becket was a blessed and an holy man, for he died for the liberties (to do all mischief unpunished) and privileges of the church. Is he a layman, or a man

of the church? Such is the living of holy church. So men say of holy church. Ye must believe in holy church and do as they teach you. Will ye not obey holy church? Will ye not do the penance enjoined you by holy church? Will ye not forswear obedience unto holy church? Beware lest ye fall into the indignation of holy church, lest they curse you, and so forth. In which all we under- stand but the pope, cardinal, legates, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, chancellors, archdeacons, commissaries, officials, priests, monks, friars, black, white, pied, grey, and so forth, by (I trow) a thousand names of blasphemy, and of hypocrisies, and as many sundry fashions of disguisings.

It hath yet, or should have, another signification, little known among the common people now-a-days. That is to wit, it signifieth a congregation, a multitude or a company gathered together in one, of all degrees of people. As a man would say, the church of London, meaning not the spiritualty only (as they will be called for their diligent