The.xxx. chapyter

where as ye messēger had thought byfore / that yt were herde to bylyue any thyng certeynly saue holy scrypture though the chyrche dyd agre therin and commaunde yt / the Authore sheweth that sauing for thauthoryte of the chyrch / men coud not knowe what scrypture they sholde byleue. And here ys hyt shewed yt god wyll not suffre the chyrch to be deceyued in ye choyce of ye very scrypture of god from eny counterfete.

NOw ys yt I suppose well & clerely proued by scrypture the thyng that I promysed / that ys to wytt that the chyrche cā not erre in any suche substauncyall artycle as god wyl haue vs boūden to byleue. But yet for as myche as ye regarde nothynge but scrypture onely / thys wolde I fayne wytte of you whyther ye byleue that chryste was borne of a vyrgyn. what els quod he. why byleue you yt quod I? The gospell sheweth me so quod he. what yf yt dyd not quod I / were thā your crede oute of credence but yf he brynge wytnesse wyth hym? The crede quod he ys a thynge by yt selfe. yet ys yt quod I no parte of ye gospell as ye pater noster ys. And yet I thynke yf gospell had neuer bene wryten / ye wolde haue byleued your crede. So thynke I to q he. And wherfore q I / but for bycause ye chyrch shuld haue shewed you so? But let our crede alone a whyle and go we to the gospel selfe. whych gospel telleth you yt cryste was borne of a vyrgyn? The gospel of seynt luke quod he. How knowe you yt q I? For I rede yt so quod he in the booke. ye rede q I suche a boke. But how know yow that saynt Luke made yt? How knowe I quod he other bokꝭ / but by yt they bere the namys of theyre authors wrytē vppō them? Know you yt wel therby quod I? Many bookes be there that haue false inscrypcyons / and are not the bookes of theym yt they be named by. That ys trouth q he. But yet though men dyd peraduēture erre and fayle ī the name / as if he shulde repute a boke of Stories to be made by Titus Liuius whych he neuere made but sū other honest cūnīg mā / yet were the boke nether lesse elygaunt nor lesse trewe therfore. Nor in lyke wyse if the chyrche dyd mysse take the very name of sum euaūgelyste & gospell / yet were the gospell neuer ye lesse trew. That ys quod I well sayde. But how be ye sure that the mater of ye boke ys trew? Mary quod he for I am. That ys quod I the reasō yt a mayde layeth for her owne knowlege of her maydēhed. But she coulde tell a nothere how she knoweth she hath yt / sauynge that she ys lothe to cū so nere as to be a knowen that she coulde tell how she myghte lese yt. But here ys no such fere. Tell me therfore whereby wot ye that ye mater of that booke ys trew? I thynke quod he yt god sheweth me so. That ys well thought quod I. But he tolde yt you not mouthe to mouth. No q he. But he hath tolde yt to other in the bygynnynge or els yt was well knowen in the bygynnynge whan he wrote yt. And he was knowen and byleuyde by hys liuynge / and the myracles that god dyd for hī. And after that yt was onis knowē / the knowlege went forth fro mā to mā. And god hath so wroght wyth vs that we byleue yt bycause the hole chyrch hath alway done so byfore our dayes. Now cum you quod I to the very poynte. for many thyngys hath bene trew y• in procys after hathe lefte to be byleuyd. And many a thing hath in the bygynnynge bene knowen for false / and yet hath after happed to be byleuyd. But the gospels and holy scrypture / god prouydeth that though percase sum of it may perishe & be loste whereby they myghte haue harme but not fall in errour (for the fayth shulde stande though the scrypturys were all gon) yet shall he neuer suffer his chirch to be deceyued in that poynt / that they shall take for holy scripture eny boke yt ys not. And therfore sayeth holy saynt Austē / I shuld not byleue the gospell / but yf yt were for the chyrche. And he sayeth good reasone. For were yt not for the spyryte of god keping ye trouth therof in hys chyrch / who could be sure whych were the very gospels? There were many that wrot the gospell. And yet hathe the chyrch by secrete instinct of god / reiectyde the remenaunte and chosen oute these foure for the sure vndowted trew. That ys quod he sure so. Thys ys quod I so sure so / yt Luther hym selfe ys dryuyn of necessytye to graunte thys / or els he perceyuyth yt there were none holde nor surtie ī scripture yt selfe / yf the chyrch myght be suffrede by god to be deceyued in yt poynt & to take for holy scrypture yt wryting that in dede were not. And therfore he confessyth that thys muste nedys be a sure infallyble grounde / that god hath geuyn thys gifte vnto hys chyrch / that hys chyrche cā alway dyscerne ye word of god frō the worde of mē. In good faythe quod he that muste nedys be so / or els all wolde fayle. Quod I than ye that wolde byleue the chyrche in nothinge / nor giue sure credence to ye tr[…] dycyon of the chyrch but yf yt were p[…]ued by scrypture / now se yt prouyd to you / that ye coulde not byleue ye scrypture but yf yt were proued to be scrypture by the iudgemente and tradycyō of the chyrch. No quod he but when I haue lerned onys of the chyrch / that yt ys holy scrypture and the worde of god / than I bileue it better than I byleue al the chyrche. I myght by a lyght persone sumtyme know a mych more substancyall mā. And yet whā I know hym I wyll byleue hym mych beter thā hym by whome I know hym if they varied ī a tale and were cō […]rary. Good reason quod I. But the chyrch b[…]ddith you not byleue the cōtrary of that the scrypture sayeth. But he tellythe you yt in such placys as ye wold better bileue the scrypture than the chyrche / there ye vnderstand not ye scrypture. For what so euer wordys yt spekyth / yet yt meanyth not the contrary of that ye chirch techeth you. And the chirch can not be deceyued in any such weghtye poynt. whereby shall I knowe q he? why be we at ye poynt yet quod I? haue we so sone forgotten the perpetuall assystence of the trynyte in hys chyrch / and the prayoure of Chryste to kepe ye fayth of hys chyrche fro faylīge / and the holy gost sen[…]e of purpose to kepe ī ye chirch the rememberaunce of Chrystꝭ wordꝭ and to lede them in to all trouth? what wold yt haue profited to haue put you ī […]he rememberaunce of the assystense of god wt the chylderne of Israell walkyng wyth thē in the cloude by day / & ī the pyler of fyer by nyght in theyr erthly viage / and therby to haue prouyde you the mych more specyall assystence of god wyth hys christē chyrch in theyr spyrytuall vyage / wherein hys especyall goodnes well declarith his tender delygence / by that he dothe vouchsafe to assyste and comforte vs wyth the cō tynuall presence of hys preciouse body in the holy sacremente? All this wolde not helpe / yf manyfeste reasone that I made you / and euydent scripture that I rehersyd you / can not yet prynte in your harte a perceyuyng that thassystence of god in hys chirche must nedis preserue hys chyrche frō all damnadle errours in ye fayth / and giue his chyrch so ferforth the vnderstandynge of scripture / that they may well perceyue y• no parte therof well vnderstande / stādith agaynste eny artycle that the chyrche bileuith / as ꝑcell of theyr christē fayth. Naye q he I perceyue yt well whan I remember it / but it was not redy in remēbraunce.