The.xx. chapiter

The messenger alleggythe that ye perpetuall beynge and assystence of chryste wyth hys chyrch to kepe yt owte of all damnable errours / ys nothyng ellys but hys being wyth his churche in holy scrypture. wherof the authore declareth the cōtrary.

HOw thynke you quod I ys there any thyng in thys mater amysse. I can not well tell q he what I myght answere thereto. But yet me thynkyth that I come to thys poynte by some ouersyght in grauntyng. well quod I menne say sumtyme when they wolde say or doo a thyng and cannot well come theron but mysse and ouer se them selfe in the assay / yt makyth no matter they saye ye may begyn agayn and mend yt for it is nother masse nor mattins. And al be yt in thys matter ye haue nothyng graunted but that ys in my mynde as trew as the matein[…] or y• masse eyther / yet yf ye reken your selfe ouer swyfte ī graunting / I geue you leue to go bak and call agayn what ye wyll. In good fayth quod he full hard wer it in myne own mynd otherwyse to thynk / but ye god shall allway kepe the ryght byleue in hys churche. But yet sythe we come to thys conclusyon by the grauntyng therof / let vs loke onys agayne thereuppon. And what yf m[…] wold saye as I hard onys owne saye my self / ye god doth peraduenture not kepe alwaye fayth in hys churche / to gyue thē warnyng wyth when they doo well & whē the contrary / But syth he hath geuen the[…]m and lefte wyth theym the scrypture ī whyche they may suffycyētly see / both what they shuld byleue and what they shuld doo / he letteth theym alone therwyth wythoute any other specyall cure of hys vppon theyre fayth and by lefe. For therein they may see all yt thē nedyth if they wyll loke & labour therī. And if they wyll not / ye faulte is theyr owne slouth and foly. And who so bee wyllyng to mend and be better / maye alway haue light to se how / by recours to the redyng of holy scrypture / whych shall stande hym ī lyke stede as ye sayd byfore ye god kepte the fayth for / by hys specyall menys in hys chyrch. yf this q I were thus / wherof shuld chrystes promyse serue? Ego vobiscū sum ōnibus diebus vsque ad finem secult. I ā wyth you all the dayes tyll thende of y• worlde? wherefore shold he be here wt hys churche / yf hys beyng here shulde not kepe his ryght fayth and byleue in hys churche? Mary q he these wordys well agreeth wyth all. for god ys & shal be vntyll the worldes ende wythe hys churche in his holy scripture. As Abraham answerd the ryche man in hell seyeng they haue Moyses and the prophites / not meanyng that they had thē all at that tyme present wyth thē but only yt they had theyr boyks. And so chryst for asmoche as the scrypture hath hys fayth comprehendyd therin according to his own wordes / Scrutamini scripturas / quia scripture sunt qtestimonium perhibent de me / Serche you the scryptures for they bere witnes of me. therfore he sayd / Ego vobiscum sum vsque ad finem seculi / I am wyth you to thend of the world / because his holy scrypture shall neuer fayle as long as the worlde endureth. Heuyn and yerth sayth he shall passe away but my wordes shall neuer passe away. And therfore ī his holy wrytīg is he wt vs styll / and therī he kepyth and techeth vs his ryght fayth yf we lyste to loke for yt / & ellys as I sayde our owne fawte and foly yt ys. yf god quod I be none otherwyse wyth vs but ī holy scripture / then be those wordys of chryste / I am wythe you to y• worldes ende / sūwhat straungely spoken / and vnlyke ye wordes of Abraham whereunto ye resemble thē. For chryst left neuer a boke behynde hym of hys owne makynge as Moyses did and the profytis. And in theyr bokys was he spokī of as he was in the gospell. wherfore if he had spokē and ment of scrypture / he wold haue sayd that they shuld haue wyth them styll hys euangelystes and wryters of his gospels as Abrahā sayd they haue moyses and the prophetis / whych were the writers of the bok[…]s that the ie[…]es had. Chryst also sayd / I am wyth you tyll thend of the worlde / not I shalbe / but am. whyche ys the word apꝓp[…]yed to hys godhed. And therfor that word am / is ye name by whych our lord […]d […]s he tolde Moyses / be named vnto pharao / as a name whyche from all cretures (syth they be all subget to tyme) clerly dyscernyth hys godhed / whyche ys euer beyng and present wythowte dyfference of tyme paste or to come. In whych wyse he was not in his holy scrypture / for yt had begynnyng. And at those wordys spoken / was not yet all wryten. For of the chefe part which ys the new testament / ther was yet at that time neuer on word wreten. And also we be not sure bi any ꝓmis made that the scrypture shall enoure to the worldes ende / albeit I thynk verely ye substaunce shall. But yet as I saye / ꝓmise haue we none thereof. For where our lorde sayth yt hys wordes shall not passe away / nor one […]ote therof be lost / he spake of his promyses made in de[…]e as hys faythe and doctryne taught by mouth and inspyracion / Not that the wrytyng shuld neuer be lost / o[…] whyth sum partyes be all redy loste / more per aduenture then we can tell of. And of that we haue / the bokys in sum part[…] corrupted wyth mysse wrytynge. And yet the substance of those wordys that he ment ben knowen / wher sum parte of the wrytyng ys vnknown. He sayth also that hys father and he shulde send the holye goste / and also that he w[…]lde cō hym selfe. wherto all thys yf he mēt no more but to leue the bokys b[…]hynd them and go theyre way? Chryste is al so present am[…]ng vs bodyly ī the holy sacramente / And ys he there presente wyth vs for nothyng? The holy goste taught many thyngꝭ / I thynk vnwryten / and wherof sum parte was neuer comprysyd ī ye scrypture yet vnto thys daye / as the artycle whyche no goode chrysten man wyll doute […]f / that oure blessyd lady was a perp[…]tuall vyrgyn aswell after the byrthe of chryste as afore. Owre sauiour […]lso s[…]y[…] vnto his Apposteles / that whē they shuld be accused and brought in Iugement / they shuld not nede to care for answere / yt shulde euen thē he put ī ther myndes. And that he mente not only the remē braunce of holy scripture / which before the paynym iugꝭ were but a colde and bare allegyng / but suche wordes newe geuen them by god inspyred in theyre hertꝭ so effectuall / and cōfermid wyth myracles / yt theyr aduersaries though they were angry therat / yet shuld not bee able to resyste yt. And thus wythe secret helpe and inspiracion ys chryste wyth hys churche / and wylbe to ye worldes ende present and assystent. Not ō ly spoken of in wrytyng.