The. xi. chapyter

LO thus good readers goeth mayster Masker forth.

The secunde argument of More.

After thys texte thus wysely proued to be vnderstan den in the lyfter all sense wyth the carnall Iewes, & not in the allegoryke or spyrytuall sense with Cryst and hys apostles: The whole somme of Morys cō […] of the yonge man, flandeth vppon this argument, a posse ad esse / that is to wytte, God maye do it, ergo it is done. God may make thys body in many or in all places at onys, ergo it is in many or in all places at onys. whyche maner of argumentacyon how false and naught it is, euery Sophyfter & euery man that hath wytte, perceyueth. A lyke argument. God may shew More the treuth and call hym to repentaūce as he dyd Paule for perse cutyng hys chyrche, ergo More is connerted to god. Or god maye lette hym runne of an indurate harte with Pharo, and at last take an open and sodayne vengeaunce vppon hym for persecufynge hys worde, & burnyng hys pore mēbres: ergo it is done allredy.

In all thys tale good reders you se, that mayster Masker is yet at the leste wyse constant & nothynge chaū geth his maners. For as falsely as he rehersed myne other argumente before (wherin what falshed he vsed you haue your selfe sene) as falsely now reherseth he this other. For rede good readers all my letter thorowe your selfe, and whan you fynde that fashyoned argument there, than byleue mayster masker in this mater / & in the meane whyle byleue but as the trouth is, that with his lyes he mocketh you. And sith he maketh vs first a lowde lye for his fundaciō, & buyldeth after his argumētes vppon the same, wher with he skoffeth so pleasaūtly at me, yt it as ꝓperly becometh the man to taunt, as it becometh a camell or a bere to daunce: I wyl not with hym argue, a posse ad esse / & say he can lye ergo he doth lye / but I wil turne the fashyon, & argue abesse ad posse / & saye that he doth lye, ergo he can lye, & so cōmende his wyt. Lo this forme of arguyng can he not denye. And thantecedent shall you fynd as trewe whan you rede ouer my letter as hym felf can not say nay, but that the consecucyon is formall.

But than goth mayster Masker forth on and sayth.

Mayster More muste fyrste proue if vs by expresse wordes of holy scrypture, and not by his owne vnwryten dremys, that Chrystes body is in many places or in all places at ones. And than though our reasyn can not reche it, yet our fayth measured and […] wyth the worde of fayth, wyll both reche if, receyue it, and holde it fosie to / not bycause it is possyble to god, & impossyble to reason, but bycause the wryten worde of our fayth sayth it. But whan we rede goddes wordes in mo than twenty places contrary, that hys body sholde be here: More must geue vs leue to byleue hys vnwryten vanitees, very tees I wolde say, at laysour.

Here ye se good reders how many thynge mayster masker hath tolde vs here, and how fresshely he florys sheth them forth.

The fyrst is that I muste proue it hym, that the body of Chryste is in many places at onys, or in all places at onys.

The secunde is, yt I muste proue it by expresse wordes of scrypture.

The thyrde is, that I maye not proue it by myne owne vnwryten dremys.

The fourth is, that yf I proue it so by expresse wordes of scrypture, than he wyll bothe reche it, and receyue it, and holde it fast to.

The fyfth is that he fyndeth. xx. places of scrypture and mo; to the contrary, prouynge that hys body is not here.

The syxth is, yt therfore I must geue hym leue to byleue myne vnwryten vanytees, verytees, he wold saye, at laysore.

Now for the fyrste good readers where mayster Masker sayth yt maister More muste fyrst proue it hym, that Chrystes bodye is in many places at once or in all places at ones: I saye that as for all places at ones, mayster More muste not proue at al. For (sith ye sacrament is not ta al places at ones) whyther his blessed bodye may be in al places at ones, is no poynte of our mater.

Now as touchynge the beynge of hys blessed body in many places at ones, where mayster Maskar sayth that ere he be bounde to byleue yt, I muste proue yt: he is very farre out of reason and oute of the ryght way. For is mayster Maskar nor father Frith byfore hym, bounden to byleue no more, than mayster More were able to proue them? I saye agayn to father fryth and mayster Maskar bothe, that yf eyther of theym bothe, or any suche other fonde felowe as they be, begynne to denye nowe any such playn artycle of ye fayth, as all good chrysten nacyons, are & long haue be full agreed vppon, so longe and so full as they haue bene vppon this, and so longe rekened the contra rye byleues for heretyques: eyther mayster More or any man els, might well with reason reproue them therof, and rebuke theym therfore, and onely answere the folysh argumētes that they make agaynste the trouth, and shold not ones nede to go aboute the profe of the ful receiued & vndon ted trouth, as though it were become douteful vpō euery proud heretikes blasphemouse folyshe argument.

For if master maskar wold nowe brxng vppe the Arrianes heresre agayne, agaynst the godhed of Christ, which he might as wel as this frātike heresye of frere Huskyn & wycleffe agaynst the blessed sacrament / or yf he wold now begyn the tother folysh herely, wher of the prophete speketh in the psalter. Dixit insipiens in corde¹ suo nō est deus. The fole sayd in his harte there is no god, which he might as well begynne as any of the tother twayne: yf he wold now for the furnyshynge of this heresye, come forth with suche vnreasonale reasons, as some folysh folosophers broughte in therfore of olde, were yt not ynough for me to confute those folyshe argumētes wherwyth he wold […] sym ple soulis? Must I nede besyde yt go make myche a do, & ꝓue yt there were a god, or els graūt thys gose yt there were no god at all, bycause hym self wold say so styll, when his found rea sons were soyled? Now to his seconde poynt, where it is not inough for him to say that I muste proue it (wherin as ye se I haue proued hym a very fole) but he assygneth me also what maner of ꝓse I must make / and none maye serue hym, but suche as hym selfe lyst assygne / & that ther fore I must proue it hym by expresse wordes of holy scrypture: I aske hym than whyther he wylbe content yf I proue yt hym by expresse worde of Chryste wryten in all the foure euangelystes, saynt Mathew, saynt Marke, saynt Luke, and sait Iohū? yf he saye ye as I suppose he wyll, than aske I hym farther wherfore he wyll byleue the wrytyng of them foure. wherto what will he answere, but bycause yt those gospell of theyrs are holy scrypture. But than shall I farther desyre hym to she we me, howe he knoweth that those foure bo kes or any one of all four, is the boke of hym, whose name yt bereth, or ys the holy scrypture of god at all. To this questyon lo (but yf he can go far ther than holy saint Austayne could, or the mayster captayne of his owne heresyes Martyne Luther eyther) he muste saye that he knoweth those bokes for holy scrypture, bycause the cōmen knowen catholique chyrch hath so told hym. Now whan he shal haue ones answered me thus: euery chyld may sone se what I shall aske hym agayne. For than shall I saye, tell me than mayster Maskar I beseche you, syth you byleue this commen knowen catholyque chyrche in that one great verytie, wherupon by your owne saynge all the other wryters depende: why sholde you not as well byleue yt in thys other artycle, whyche yt as playnely telleth you, and yet you do denye yt? why sholde you not I saye mayster Maskar byleue the chyrche as wel, whan yt telleth you god hath taught his chyrche that this is his very body, as you byleue the same chyrch when yt telleth you, god hath taught his chyrch that this is his very scriture, namely syth there are wryten in ye same scrypture other thynges, to mannes reason as harde to conceyue and as incredyble to byleue as that.

Here you se good readers, to what poynte I haue brought master Maskar. I haue set hym here so fast in the myre, that therin shall he stycke and neuer clene wade oute whyle he lyueth.

Moreouer mayster maskar can not denye me this, but that the ryght bylyef in ye sacramēt / & dyuers other thynges mo, were ones taughte and byleued, and christen men bounden to byleue them to, without expresse wor des of holy scripture layed forth for the profe, before any word of ye new testament was wryten and after per aduenture to / where tharticles were preached, and wryten gospelles not there. Now yf suche thynges were at one tyme not onely byleued, but men also bounden to the belief therof without expresse wordes of scripture for the profe: mayster Maskar must than, though there be come wrytynge synnes, yet either profe vs by exp̄sse wordes of scrypture, that of all that god wyl we shall byleue, there is nothynge left out / but euery such thyng there writen in with expresse wordes, or els may he neuer make him self so sure, & face in out a this fashion with expresse worde, that sauyng the very playne expresse wordes of scripture, we be no man of vs bounden to byleue nothynge ellys.

Now this am I sure inough, that suche expresse wordes shall he neuer fynde in scrypture, that tell hym expressely that all is wrytē in. And than syth be can not proue vs this poynte by scrypturer, but that at the leste wyse we maye be bounden to byleue some suche thynges as in holy scryp pture is not expressely writen / which thynges those may be and which not, of whome wyll god we shall lerne, but of his knowen cathylyque chyrch by whiche he teacheth vs whiche be the very scripture?

Nowe as for the thyrde poynte, mayster maskar toucheth, in whiche he wyl allowe for no suffycient ꝓfe myne owne vnwryten dremys, he ge ueth my dremys I thanke hym of his courtesye, myche more authoryte than euer I loked for. For whyle he reiecteth none of theym, but suche as are vnwryten, he she weth hym selfe redy to byleue them, yf I wold vouchesaufe to wryte them.

In the fonrth point he promiseth, yt yf I do by expresse wordes of scrypture proue that it is so: thā (though yt be aboue the reche of his reason) yet wyl he by belyefe, both reche yt, and receyue yt, & hold it fast to. Wold god mayster Maskar wolde abyd by this worde. For now I aske hym agayn, whyther he wyl be content, yf I proue it him by expresse wordes of some one of the foure euangelystes. And if he be cōtent with expresse wordes of any one, than will I do more for hym, proue yt by all foure.

For saynte Iohn̄ reherseth, that our sauyour sayd hym selfe he wold geue theym his fleshe to eate. And that he ment of the sacramente, you se all redy proued here byfore.

And the tother thre reherse, that Chryste sayde hym selfe whan he gaue theym the sacrament, thys is my body that shal be broken for you. What wordes cā there be more playn and expresse than these?

But here sayth mayster Maskar that these be not expresse wordes. For he sayth that these wordes be spoken but by way of allegory. And he proueth it as Frith doth, by yt our sauiour sayd of hym self, I am the dore, and I am the vyne.

Nowe remember good readers, that master Maskar bylyed me right nowe, and sayd that all my second argumēt was, a posse ad esse, it may be so, ergo yt is so. But now consyder good christen reders your selfe, why ther this argumēt of his be not a posse ad esse in dede. For by those placꝭ, I am the dore, and I am the vyne, and suche other: he concludeth that these other places of eatynge hys fleshe and geuynge of hys bodye, was spoken by an allegorye to.

And howe concludeth he that yt ys so? but bycause yt maye be so.

And thus ye se good readers, that the selfe same kynde of arguynge which mayster Maskar fayneth hym selfe to fynd with me, & falsely belyeth me therin (for I neded there none other thynge to do, but answere the thynges that Fryth layed forthe agaynst the catholyque fayth) the selfe same kynde of arguynge I saye mayster Maskar vseth hym selfe / and so dothe yonge father Fryth hys felow in folye to.

But than agayne whan they argue thus, These places maye be so vnderstanden by an allegorye onely, as those other places be, ergo they be to be so vnderstāden in dede: I haue proued alredy that his entēt is false, and that they maye not be vnderstanden in an allegory onely as the tother be / but the playne and open diffe rence betwene the places appere vp pon the cyrcumstaunces of the texte. This haue I proued agaynst Frith alredye / and that in suche wyse, as your selfe hath sene here, that mayster Maskar can not auoyde yt / but in goynge about to defende Frythes foly, hathe wyth his two solucyons of myne one argument, ofter than twyse ouer throwen him self, & made myne argument more than twyse so stronge.

But yet good readers, bycause I say that those wordes of Crist, The brede yt I shal geue you is my flesh,² which I shal geue for the lyfe of the world / and my flesh is verily meat, and my blood veryly drynke / and, But if you eate the fleshe of the son of man, and drynke hys bloode, you shal not haue life in you / and so forth al such wordis as our sauyour spake hym selfe, mencyoned in the syxte chapyter of saynte Iohn / and those wordes of our sauyour at hys maun dye wryten wyth all the tother thre euangelystes. Thys is my bodye that shall be broken for you, be playn and expresse wordes for the catholyque fayth / and mayster maskar sayth that the be not wordes playne and expresse, but expowneth them all another waye: therfore to breke the stryfe therin betwene him and me, I haue brought you forth for my parte in myne exposycyon, the playne expresse wordes of dyuerse olde holy sayntes, by whych you may playne & expressely se, that they al sayd as I saye.

And mayster maskar also can not hym selfe say naye / but that agaynst other heretyques before his dayes and myne, dyuerse whole generall counsayles of chrystendome, haue playnely and expressely determyned the same to be trew that I saye.

And all the countreys chrystened can also testyfye, that god hathe hym self by manyfold opē miracles, playn & expressely declared for the blessid sa crament, that this is the trewe fayth which mayster Maskar here oppugneth / and that god hath by those myra cles expowned his own wordes hym self, to be playne & expressely spoken for our part. And therfore nowe good christen reders, yf mayster mas kar wil make any more stickyng with vs, & not graūt Christes wordes for playn & expresse / & accordynge to hys promyse, reche & receyue ye trew faith & hold it faste to: ye may playne & ex pressely tel him, there shal neuer trew man, trust his false promyse after.

Now touchyng the fyfth poynte, where he saith that he findeth. xx. pla ces in scripture & mo to, prouyng that Christes body is not here in erth: remember this wel good reder agaynst he bryna them forth. For in his second part whē we come to the tale, ye shal fynd his mo than twēty, farre fewer than fyftene, & of al yt shal wel serue hym, ye shall fynd fewer than one.

Then where he concludeth in the laste poynt vpon these fyue poyntes afore (whyche fyue howe well they proue good chrysten readers you se) that I must geue hym leue to byleue myne vn wryten vanyties (veryties he wold saye) at seysour: yf the thyn ges that he calleth vn wrytē verities were ī dede vn writē & inuēted also by me, thā he might be ye bolder to cast hē myne vn writen vanities, & (as he cal leth thē before) myn vn writē dremis to, But on ye tother syde syth you se your selfe, that I haue shewed you theym writem in holy saintes bokes, and that a thousand yere before that I was borne / & your self seeth it wri ten in the playne scrypture to, proued playn & expresse for our part against hym, by tholde exposycyon of all the holy doctours and sayntes, and by ye determinacyons of dyuerse generall counsayles of Christes whole catho lyque chyrche / and proued playn for our parte also, by so many playn opē myracles: mayster maskar must nedes be more then madde to cal nowe suche wryten vetyties myne vn wry ten vanytes, or myne vn wryten dremys either / except he proue both all those thynges to be but an inuencyon of myne / and ouer that all those wri tynges to be yet vn writen / and that holy doctrine both of holy saintes and of holy scripture vanities, & also that all the whyle that al those holy folke […] awurke ther with, they neyther wrote nor studyed nor dyd nothynge but dreme.

Now whyle mayster More must therfore vppon suche consyderaciōs, geue maister Masker seue to byleue thys vnwryten vanyte, whiche is in all the. iiii. euangesystes an expresse wryten verite: whyle I must I say therfore vppon suche folysh false cō […], geue hym seue to byleue the tre we fayth at leysour / yf he had put it in my choyce, I wold haue ben soth to geue hym any senger seysour therin, for he hath ben to longe out of ryght bylyefe all redy. But syth he sayeth I muste, I maye not choyse. wherof I am as helpe me god very sory. For excepte he take hym selfe that leysour bytyme, seuynge the busynesse that be dayly taketh in wrytyng of pestylēt bokes to the cōtrary: he shal eis not faile to byleue ye trew fayth at a longe leysour ouer late, yt is to wytte whan he lyeth wrechedly in hell / where he shall not wryte for lacke of lyght and burnynge vp of his paper, but shall haue euerlastyng laysour from all other worke to byleue there that he wolde not byleue here, and lye styll & euer burne there, in euerlastynge fyre, for his formar vngracyouse obstinate infydelyte / out of whyche […] I be […] god geue hym the grace to crepe and gete out by tyme.

And thus you se good readers what a goodly piece mayster masker hath made you / which pleased him I warraunt you very well, whan he wrote it. But it wyl not I wene please him now very well, whan he shall after this myne answere rede it.

Footnotes

1. Psal. […]. ↩

2. […], 6. ↩