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TIndall here begynneth wyth an holy salutacyon, and so doth Luther to and so doth fre[…]e huskyne to / and id doth euery fonde felow of any of theyr sectys. They begynne theyr pystles in suche apostolycall fashyon / that a man wold wene yt were wryten from saynt Paule hym self. But wolde god they wolde onys rather folow hym truly in fayth and good workes, then in symulacion of lyke sancryte wyth theyr holy salutacyons.

For yf men cōsyder yt where Tyndal here prayeth holy.+ly for the lyghte of the spyryt to see trew repentaūce / he then techeth hym selfe a sodayne sleyghte repentaūce / forbedyng both confessyō & all doynge of penaūce: they shall yf they be good men sett lytle by hys holy salutacyon. And when they cōsyder that where he prayeth god sende theym a fast fayth / hym selfe techeth a false fayth agaynst ye sacramētys, and meneth that they shulde be fast in the same: there wyll no good crysten man can hym thank for that holy prayour. And where he prayeth here […]o holyly for the loue of y• neygh.+bour / yf men loke on the loue that ys vsed amonge all the maysters of that hole holy secte, & cōsyder theyre lyuyngys, and loke vppon frere Luther the very father of theyr hole secte, and se hym ronne out of relygyon, & fallen to flesshe and caryn and lyue in lechery wyth a nūne vnder name of wedloke, and all the cheyfe heddys of then late monkys & freres, and now apostatas & lyuynge wyth harlotes vnder the name of wyues: he that lokyth on thys and then secth theym and theyr scolers, as Tyndale here and suche other come forth and speke so holyly / wolde he not wene that yt were a sorte of freres folowynge an abbote of mysrule in a Christemas game that were prykked in blankettes, and thē sholde stande vp and preche vppon a stole and make a mowynge sermon.

And as lewd sermōs as they make in such noughty games, wold god yt these mēnys ernyst sermons were not yet mych wurse. But surely as euyll as ye tother be / yet is there more harme & more dedely poyson to in this one sermone of Tyndalys, as ye shall here or yt come at ye ende: then in an hundred sermons of frere Frappe, that fyrste gapeth and then blessyth, and loketh holyly and precheth rybauldrye to the peopell that stande aboute.

For there is not the worste thynge that frere Frappe precheth in a lewde sporte: but fader Tyndall here wryteth mych worse in very great ernest, & mych worse then doth the tother abusyth the scrypture vnto yt.

The tother when he precheth that men may lawfully go to lcchery / he maketh commenly some fonde textes of his owne hed, and dare not in such madde matters medle wyth ye very scrypture yt selfe. But Tyndall teacheth vs in good ernest that freres may walke out and wedde nunnes / and is neyther aferd nor ashamed to draw ye holy scripture of god vnto the mayntenaūce of abhominabyll synne and seruyce of the deuyll.

The tother rybawde in hys fonde sermon medleth but with fleshly vyces and worldly wantonnes. But Tyndall here with an ernest hyghe professyon of godly spyrytuall doctryne teacheth vs a fals fayth & many mortall heresyes, and wolde with scrypture destroye the scrypture / and amyd dys hys ernest holynes falleth in to mokkes and mowes, & maketh madde apysshe iestynge agaynste the holy cerimonyes and blessyd sacramētys of[…] our sauyour Chryste / & the thynges sanctyfyed wyth the blessyd blode of oure sauyour Tyndall turneth in to scorne. Neuer was there any scoffynge frere Frappe prechyng vpon a stole, that durste play the knauyshe foole on suche a fasshyon as ye shall se Tyndall do here. For yf any sholde / his audyēce (were they neuer so wanton) wold yet at suche wordes (yf any sparke of christen […]e remayned in theyr hartys) pull downe the rybawld by th[…] […]rte, and breke the stole vppon his hed.

And […]ow where as he saluteth vs wyth the lyght of the spyryte, and entendeth to brynge vs in darkenes of the deuyll / where he speketh of trewe repentaunce, and then wolde put awaye two partes thereof, that is to wyt bothe confessyon and satysfacyon / and where he speketh of faste fayth, and thē teacheth a false presumptuouse faythe wy[…]h such truste put in fayth alone that he rekeneth all good workes fruteles and vnprofytable, and that fayth alone suffyseth to saluacyon, how dyuelyshely that any man lyue besyde: we may well ꝑceyue that these tha[…] so teache, be wyth theyr holly salutacyons the false ydle prophetes of whome the blessyd apostle Pawle wryteth vnto the Romayns,¹ that by theyr swete blessynges waste oute and emptye the poore wydowes houses. For by such holy salutacyon, as by swete blessynge praynge for them so good thynges as they seme to do: they wynne theyr hartys to assent after to theyr heresyes, and so expell and kyll trew fayth in theyr hartes / and god so taken from them they make thē wydows, & so waste and emptye oute the substancyall vertues of theyr soules.

But nowe when he speketh of feruēt loue after the ensample of Cryste and his saintes / as ernest as the matter is, who can forbere laughynge when he seeth ye lecherouse fleshly loue of those freres and theyr nunnes / wherof tyll Tyndall can tell vs some lyke ensamples of Chryste and his sayntis, that any of them were wonte to breke theyr vowes of chastyte and fall to suche fylthy lechery / tyll he can tell vs that, we may well tell hym that hys holy prayer of feruent loue here in his prologe / goeth quyte agaynste his purpose and shameth all his hole boke after.

wherfore good Cristen reders who so shall happē to rede his pernycyous boke, take wysdome wyth you as I dowte not but ye wyll / and be not so ledde wyth a few paynted holy wordes as yt were wyth the beholdynge of a pekokkes tayle but that ye regarde therwyth his fowle fete also / and loke well whyther he walketh and to what ende he speketh, and consyder hym by the hed maysters, and archherityques of hys vngracyous secte / whych when they haue spoken as relygiousely as he, yet haue as ye see well shamefully shewed them selues open incestuouse harlottes, and that of the moste abhominable sorte deflowrynge relygyous women.

And Tyndall hym selfe (which thynge is worse then the dede doynge) maynteyneth in hys boke theyr dede for well done.

Footnotes

1. Rom. 16 ↩