The fyfte reason

Tyndale. And Paule chargeth. 1. Co[…]. 5. If he that is a brother be an whore keper, a dro[…]kerd, couetous, an extorcioner, or a rays[…], and so forth / that we haue no felowshyppe with hym, no not so myche as to […]ate in his company. But the pope with violence compelleth vs to haue suche in honour, to receyue the sacramentes of them, to heare theyr masses, and to byleue all they saye / and yet they wyl not let vs se whether the say trouth or no. And be cōpelleth.x. paryshes to paye theyr tythes and offerynges vnto one such, to go and runne at ryot at theyr cost, and to do nought therfore. And a thowsande suche lyke doth the pope contrary vnto Chrystes doctryne.

More. To begynne here at the last poynt / the pope, though the partie somtyme that hathe dyuers benefyces dothe abuse the frutes, the pope gaue hym neyther libertie nor lycence that he shulde so do / but gaue him leaue to take the cure of them, trustynge vpon certayne suggestyon that the man were suche one as shulde and wolde vse them well. And no doubte is there, but that some man may ryghte well haue the cure of dyuers parisshes, and good causes why he so shulde / and do more good in them bothe tha[…] some other shulde in one. But as for this poynte Tyndale meaneth moche farther than he speketh / and entendeth hereafter if it be well alowed concernynge popes and pr[…]estes, than to drawe that lyne a lytle longer / and loke whether he may make the reason stretche a lytle farther, as he hathe done a lytle in some parte of h[…]s wryting all redy, whiche we shall answere I truste well ynoughe whan we come ones to the propre places.

Nowe where he sayeth that whore kepers and suche other as saynt Poule forbyddeth vs the company, the pope with vyolence compell[…]th vs to haue in honoure, and to receyue the sacramentes of them, and to here their masses, and to beleue all that that they say: This is a very lowdelye. For the pope letteth you nat to complayne vpon them / and the lawes of the churche be, that for their crymes they shalbe suspended from the medelynge and adminystracion of suche thynges / and somtyme deposed of theyr offyces, depriued of theyr benefyces, and degraded of their orders to. And therfore the pope comp[…]lleth hym nat with vyolence to do them honoure in their vyces. And if there were any that dyd / he were in the doynge an euyll pope as he were an euyll man. But what were the faute of an euyll pope to the offyce of the papacy / excepte that Tyndale wyl reproue and rebuke euery kynge and prynce, and wolde haue none at all, bycause that some of theym somtyme do not alway theyr dewtye / or wyll lay to the prynces charge yf any offycer vnder hym do not euery man such ryght as the prynce wolde he sholde, and trusteth also that he dothe. Now where he sayth that the pope compelleth hym to byleue all that euery suche preste sayth: y• is yet another lye ones agayne. For yf the preste say salse, & preche heresyes / as yf he wold say that all the seuen sacramētes be but bare sygnes & tokens, & that freres may lawfully wedde nūnes: the pope compelleth no man with violence to byleue that preste / nor compelled not Tyndale neyther agaynste the playne scrypture of god, in suche frantyke heresyes to byleue y• lewd lernyng of Luther, frere Huyskyn, & Denckiꝰ, Baltasar, Lambert, and Suinglius / of all whyche neuer one byleueth other. But the pope is well content & so wold it sholde be, that yf the preste preche suche heresyes, folke shall not byleue hym but accuse hym, and haue hym reformed, & reuoke them, and abiure them / or ellys let degrade hym and delyuer hym, and let the prynces kepe hym from the people. wherof to be sure and for auoydynge of such he resyes by the terrour of that ensample / good chrysten prynces cause faythfull people to burne hym.

Buf then is there one thyng wherwyth Tyndale is sore dyspleased, that the pope wyll not as he sayth let hym and hys felowes se whyther the preste say well or no.

If the preste be accused of hys doctryne / he is as I saye broughte vnto examynacyon, to wytte whyther he sayed trewth or no. what other way wolde Tyndale haue? It is playne inough what he meneth in thys mater. He meneth therin nothynge ellys, but that he wolde haue all thyng so ferforth sette at large, that he myght brynge fyrst in dowte and questyon, and after in errours and heresyes vpon the questyon, euery poynt of Crystes catholike fayth, that god hath by hys holy blessed spyryte in.xv.C. yere taught hys catholyke chyrche. And then all thynges ones brought in that euangelycall liberty, that euery man may byleue euen as hym lyst, and after that lyue euyn as hym lyste to, with out any lorde or any lawe to lette hym / then lo to make the gospell truely taught, take awaye in any wyse all the clergye clene, and let Tyndall sende his women prestes about the worlde to preche.

And nowe good christen reders here haue ye harde all his fyue reasons / by whiche in stede of that he shulde haue proued, that is to wytte that the knowen catholike church of all chrysten people is nat the churche of Christ in […]rthe, he hathe taken vpon hym to proue (all besyde the purpose) fyrst that the pope and his secte, and after yet farther fro the purpose, that the pope and the spirytualtie be nat the churche. And of that whiche shulde be his purpose, that is to wytte that the knowen catholike church is nat the churche, he hathe nat spoken one worde. And yet fynally concernynge that he hathe goone about to proue / touchynge the pope and the spiritualtie / he commeth forthe as ye se nowe with his fyue reasons that ye haue redde / in the makynge of which fyue reasons, a man may meruayle where were vanysshed a way all his fyue wyttes, for any pece of his purpose that appereth proued in them all / but if we r[…] ken raylynge for reason and shameles open lyes for good and sufficient proues. And therfore here ende I this boke / in whiche if Tyndale haue sayd any thinge to the purpose at all, I am content to graunt hym that he hath sayd well in all, and fully proued all to gether.