The.vi. chapyter

The author sheweth howe y• Luther hath be fayne for the defence of hys vndefēcyble errours / to go back and forsake all the maner of profe & tryall / whyche he fyrst promysed to stand to. And now lyke a man shamfull and shamelesse / hath no profe in the world but hys owne word / and calleth that the word of god.

HIs inconstaunte wyt and very deuylyshe entent specyally shewed yt self / by thys also whych I shal now reherse you. In the begynnyng ye man had the mynde that comenly such foles haue / he rekened all the worlde wylde gese saue hym selfe / and all the wyt and lernyng to stand in hys own hed. And than wenynge that he sholde fynde no matche / but that he sholde as he lyst be able to proue ye mo[…]e made of grene chese / he ꝓfessed in his bokis yt he wold for ye profe or reproue of hys opynyons / stand to naturall reason / to the authoryte of the olde holy fathers / the lawes and canons of Crystys chyrche / and to the holy scrypture of god wyth thinterptacyōs of ye old holy doctours. But so[…]e after whā he[…] perceyued hym self in hys opynyon deceyued / and that he saw hym selfe confuted and concluded euydently both by scrypture / naturall reason / the lawys and determynacyons of the chyrche / and the hole consent of the holy fathers interpretours of holy scrypture / than bygā he to syng a nother songe. For than as for reason he refused to stand to / saynge that the maters of our fayth be thyngys aboue reason / and that reason hyndereth vs in our fayth / & is vnto fayth an enmy. And as for the lawes of ye chyrche / he wyth other blasphemouse heretyques burned vp openly at […]yttēberge / syn […]nge in derysyon a dyryge about the fyre for ye lawys soule. And thā wolde he stād […]nothyng but only scrypture[…] not to that neyther but yf yt were very playne & euydent. But now yf yt were in questyō whyther the scrypture were euydent[…] for hym or agaynst hym / ther in wold he stand to no mannys iudgement but hys owne. For as for the hole fayth of Cryrstys chyrch contynued by so many hundred yerys / he set vtterly at naught / callyng yt mennys deuyeꝭ. And in scrypture the interpretacion of saynt Hierome / saynt Austayne / saynt Ambrose / and all the old holy fathers of so many yerys passed / he no thynge wolde esteme / […]ut with blasphemouse wordis letted not to wryte / I care not for Austayn / I care not for an hūdred cypryanes / I care not for a thousand Hieromis / I care not but for scrypture alone / and that ys playn on my parte. As though none of these olde holy cū nynge men had vnderstand eny scrypture tyll he came. Now was he by this vnreasonable maner dreuē to a nother deuylysh deuyce agaynst sayntys. For to thentent that theyr authoryte shold no by the deuocyon and reuerence that all good men bere theym mynysh hys credēce / he was forced to labor to brīg men in ye heresye that they shold praye to no sayntys / but wolde haue theyre ymagys drawen downe all / theyr pylgrymagys left vp / all theyre relyques cast out / all theyr honour and mennys deuocyon toward theym wythdrawē / so ferforth that he could neyther abyde the honoure of our blessed lady / nor the holy crosse / nor Crystys blyssed body / as playnly declareth hys abomynable bokys.