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How sone myght a pore symple soule be ledde to thynke, that all those that beleue not as Tyndall doth, were in a wronge way and in a false belyeff / when he heryth Tyndall here lay agaynst them the wordes of our sauyour hym selfe spoken vnto his dysciples in his laste soupper.

But nowe they that be lerned and know the place in the gospell, ꝑceyue very well yt Tyndall here synfully doth abuse the holy wordes of Chryste, and manyfestly mystorneth the mynde and sentence of our sauyour, folowynge thexample of the deuyll that alleged the scrypture vnto Chryste in deserte.

For as the dyuell there falsely wrested ye scrypture of god and leyd yt agaynste god: so dothe Tyndall here wreste the worde of our sauyour agaynst hym self and his hole chyrch, I say his hole chyrche not the clergye onely, but the hole cō gregacyon of all crysten people.

For yt is well knowen that Chryste spake those wordes agaynst the Iewes and Paynyms that refused him and his true fayth / shewynge that ye holy goost at his comyng shold reproue theyr false iudgemēt and theyr vnsauery taste, that iudged swete sowre & sowre swete, and that he shold teache his chyrche and his congregacyon the very truthe and lede them in to all trueth that sholde be necessarye for theyre saluacyon.

And this promyse hathe oure sauiour bothe made in the gospell and also fulfylled in dede. For the holy goost hathe not fayled to teache his chyrch all such kinde of truthe from the begynnynge hytherto, nor neuer shall ceace so to do, as well by his owne holy secrete worde vnwrytten in the scrypture, and yet by hym selfe wrytten in chrysten mennys hartys / as by his holy scripture eyther wrytē in tables of stone or in bestes skynnes / accordynge to his owne wordes spokē as well by ye mouth of ye prophete Ezechiel,¹ as of the blessyd apostle saynt Paule.

These truthes had the apostles, the martyrs, the confessours, the holy doctours of Crystis chyrche, and the comen crysten people of euery age from Chrystes dethe hytherto. And in this comen knowē chyrche of christendome / excepte suche as at sondry tymes haue fallen there from as Arrius Pelagius, Donatus, wyclyff, and Husse, & such other / and now Luther, and Tyndall, and frere Huskyn, and theyr felowes) hath euer the true iudgement remayned & the ryght sauored taste / and neuer loste any of those heretyques these necessarye truthes, tyll the dyuell hadde thorow pryde, enuye, and malyce, made them set naught by the chyrche. And then dyd he caste them forthe wyth in suche a feuer that they clene loste theyr taste / and then dyd they as Tyndall dothe nowe, iudge swete that all chrystendome iudged sowre.

And by those truthes and thys fayth alwaye from the begynnynge kept in Chrystes chyrche / be we now very sure yt thys newe fayth of Luther, Tyndall, and frere Huskyn is very fonde and false, and that theyr mouthes are all out of taaste / syth that from Chrystes dethe hytherto all holy men, all good people, all true chrysten nacyons, haue sauored alwaye those meatys to be good and holsome, whyche these fonde felowes affyrme now to be bytter & peryllous meate / and haue alwayes affyrmed for vnsauery meate and euyll, suche as now these mad men affyrme to be well seasoned & good / & haue alwayes hytherto reputed for shamefull and fylthy lechery, the flesshly cowplyng to gether of freres and nonnes, that these losels now do boldely put forth & auowe for good and lawfull matrymonye.

If Tyndall graunte that I say trewe in this / then shall he be fayne to graunte that the wordes whyche he allegeth agaynst vs spoken by the mouthe of our sauyoure be not spoken agayst vs that byleue as all Chrystes chyrche hath byleued euer hytherto / but that they be spokē agaynst hym selfe and his felowys yt byleue ye contrary. And on the other syde yf Tyndall deny me thys, and wyll saye that all good men and goddes electes haue alwaye byleued as he & hys felowes do teache / and that they haue alwaye taught and done ye same: let Tyndall then tell vs one good honest mā, what speke we of honest man? let hym tell vs of ony one so very a starke rybawlde in all this.xv.C. yere afore Luthers dayes and hys, that euer taught that it was lawfull for a frere to wedde a nunne. If Tyndall shewe you not thys as I wotte well he can not:² than be ye very sure that sythe euery holy man before hys dayes hathe taught the contrary, and hath had yt in detestacyō, & he now defendeth yt for good agaynst all good men yt hath bene euer synnys Crystes dayes to hys owne / how holy a tale so euer he tell you besyde, & how so euer he paynt yt wyth scrypture, wrythen and wrested owte of all good course, ye may be sure ynoughe that hys doctryne ys for all yt very starke noughte in dede, and that he meanyth no good / and that yf he beleue as he teacheth, as I verely beleue he doth not / hys fayth ys very false

Footnotes

1. Ezech. 11. ↩

2. […] Tyndale taketh here saīt Poule at his pleasure For saīt Po[…]le speketh not there of b[…]rne agayne nor new created wyth y• spyryt / but that sen[…]uall mē as those that be carnal[…] & cōtenciouse be not mete for the perfit doctrine of spyrituall ieuelaciōs. and the[…] by that place Tyndales spirytual[…] s[…]rte be not spirytuall nor mete ve[…]els to receyue & gyue […]ut the doct[…]ine of y• spyrite / for there be no people so carnall & so […]t[…]cic[…]se as they ↩