The. xii. chapyter

BUt now goth he ferther against me with a specyall goodly piece wherin thus he sayth.

Here mayst thou se chrysten reader wherfore More wolde so fayne make the byleue that […] lest aught vnwryten of necessyte to be byleued, euyn to stablysshe the popes kyngdome, whych standeth of Morys vnwryten vanytees / as of the presence of Chrystes body, and makynge therof in the brede, of putgatory, of inuocacyon of sayntes, wurshyppyng of stonys and flockys, pylgrymages, halowynge of vowes and […], and crepynge to the crosse &c.

If ye wyll byleue what so euer More can fayne wythout the scryptures: than can thys poete fayne ye another chyrch then Chrystes, and that ye muste byleue it what so euer it teach you / for he hath fayned to that it can not […], though ye se it erre and fyght agaynst it selfe a thowsand tymes / ye yf it tell you blacke is whyte, and good is badde, and the […] is god, yet muste ye byleue it or ellye be burned as heretykes.

Styll ye se the wisdome good reders, & the trouth of maister masker, in euery piece of his mater. For here you se that all these thynges / that he speketh of, as that the chyrch can not erre, and the crepynge to the crosse, wyth all other ceremonyes of the chyrche, inuocacyon of sayntes, goynge on pylgrymage, wurshyppyng of images, byleuynge of purgatory, byleuynge the body of our sauyour present in the blessed sacrament: all these thynge he calleth myne vnwryten vanitees, and maketh as though these thynges were all of my faynynge. Is not this wene you wysely fayned of hym, that the thynges comenly vsed this. xiiii. C. yere by fore I was borne, sholde now be fayned and imagyned by me. But yet shall it be as long after my dayes and his to, ere mayster Masker and all the mayny of them shall amonge theym all, be able to confute the thynges ye my selfe haue in the maters wryten. And yet hange not the maters vpon my wrytynge, but vppon the treuth it selfe, reueled vnto Christe knowē catholyke chyrche, bothe by Chryste hym self and his apostles after him, by tradycyon and by wrytynge both, and by many myracles confyrmed, & wyth the secrete instyncte and inspyracyō of his holy spyryte, wrought & brought into a full & whole catholike agrement and consent, as necessary poyntes of the trewe we chrysten fayth.

This is also by mayster masker wonderfull wysely fayned, yt More hath fayned all these thynges, euyn to the entent to stably sshe the popes kyngdome. But now what greate cause sholde moue me, to bere that greate affeccyon to the pope, as to fayne all these thynge for stably shement of his kyngdome: that thynge mayster masker telleth you not, as ye thynge that is so playne and euydent that he nedeth not. For he thynketh ye euery man knoweth all redy, that the pope is my godfather, & goeth aboute to make me a cardynall.

But now good chrysten readers, they that wolde at the counsayle of this euyll chrysten caytyfe, cast of all suche maner thynge as all good chry sten peple haue euer taken for good, and now neyther crepe to the crosse, nor set by any halowed thynge, dyspute pylgrymags, and set holy sayntes at nought, no more reuerēce theyr images thā an horse of wax, nor rekē theyr relykes any better than shepys bonys, scrape clene the letany out of euery boke, with our lady motens & the dyryge to, and away with our […] plaster, & cast the bedys in ye fyre & beware also yt we wurshyp not the sacrament, nor take it for no better thyng than vnblessed brede, & byleue that the chyrch erreth in euery thyng ye it teacheth, and all that holy sayntes haue taught therin this. xiiii. C. […] (for all they haue taughte all these thynges yt this man nowe dispyseth) than wolde there wax a mery world, ye very kyngdom of ye deuyl him self.

And veryly it semeth yt they wold set the people vppon […]. For penaunce they shake of as a thynge not necessary. Satisfacciō they call […] synne / & cōfessyon they call ye deuils dryft. And of purgatory by two meaues they put mē out of drede. Some by slepyng tyll domys daye, & some by sendyng all strayt to heuyn, euery soule that dyeth & is not dampned for euer. And yet some good comforte geue they to the dampned to. For tyll they se somtyme to deny hell all vtterly, they goo aboute in the meane season to putte oute the fyre.

And some yet boldely forthwith to say there is none there, that they dred a lytell / and therfore for the season they brynge the mater in questyon, & dyspute it abrode & say they wyll not vtterly afferme and say the cōtrary / but the thynge is they say but as problema neutrū, wherin they wold not force whyther parte they shold take / & yet yf they sholde chose, they wold rather holde nay than ye / or though there be fyre in eyther place, that yet it neyther burneth so wle in helle, nor payneth so wle in purgatory.

But Chryst I wote well in many places sayth there is fyre there / & his¹ holy sayntes after hym afferme and saye the same / and with that fyre he frayed his owne dyseyples, byddyng them fere that fyre, that they fell not therin.

Now though that clerkes […] in scolys hold problems vppon euery thynge: yet can I not perceyue what profyte there can come, to call it but a probleme amonge vnlerned folke, and dyspute it out abrode; and brynge the people in dowte, & make them rather thynke that there is none than any / and that this worde fyre is spoken but by parable, as these men make the eatynge of Chrystes blessed body. Thus shal they make men take bothe paradyse, and heuyn, and god, and all togyther, but for parables at laste.

Though fere of hell alone be but a seruyle drede: yet are there all redy to meny that fere hell to lytell, euyn of theym that byleue the truthe, and thynke that in hell there is very fyre in dede. Now many wyll there than be that wyll fere it lesse, yf such wordes onys maye make theym wene, that there were in hell no very fyre at all, but that the payne that they shall fele in hell, were but after the maner of some beuy mynde, or of a troublous dreme.

If a man byleue Chrystes word, that in hell is fyre in dede, and make the feare of that fyre, one meane to kepe hym thense: than though there were no fyre there, yet hath he nothynge loste / syth good he can gete none there, though the fyre were thense. But yf he byleue suche wordes on the tother syde, and catche therby suche boldenesse that he sette hell at lyght, and by the meanes ther of fall bosdely to synne, and theruppon fynally fall downe vnto the deuyll: yf he than fynde fyre there as I am sure he shall, than shall he lye there and curse them that tolde hym those false talys, as longe as god with hys good folke sytteth in the ioye of heuyn.

And therfore good chrysten readers, wysedome wyll we byleue Chrystes owne wordes, and let such vnwyse wordes and deuelyshe deuyces passe.

Footnotes

1. Math. 13. 18. &. 25. ↩