The.xii. chapyter

The author inueheth agaynst the most pestylent secte of these Lutheranys / whych ascrybe our saluacion and dānacyon and all our dedys to desteny.

BUt now for to say as that heretyque sayd after all hys shyftys at last that all that shall be saued shall be saued only bycause that god frome ye begynnynge hath chosen theym / & bycause of that choyce all theyr dedys be good / or yf they be euyll yet god for cause of hys eternall choyce taketh thē well in wurth and imputeth no blame vnto theym / and that all other people whom god hath created shall be dampned onely bycawse he wolde not chose them / and that all theyr dedys eyther be nought or not wel accepted / bycause god lyst not in the begynnyng to chose theym / and that he worketh both in ye tone sorte & in the tother all theyr dedes hym selfe alone / and they do nothyng therin theym selfe / and so that god whose goodnes is īestymable doth dampne so hounge a nomber of people to intollerable and intermynable tormē tys only for hys pleasure / and for hys owne dedys wrought in theym onely by hym selfe / thys false opynyon is as the kyngys hyghnes moste vertuo[…]sly wryteth in hys epystle to Luther / the most abomynable heresye yt euer was. And surely it is so far agaynst all holy scrypture well vnderstanden / so farre agaynst all naturall reason / so vtterly subuertyng all vertue and all good order in the world / so hyghly blasphemīg the goodnes and maieste of almyghty god in heuen / that yt is more than wō der how eny man erthely that hath eyther one sparke of wyt in hys hed / or toward god or man one droppe of good wyll in his harte / shold not abhorre to here yt. For thys execrable heresye maketh god the cause of all euyl / and such cruell appetyte as neuer tyrannte and tormentour had / ascrybe they to the benygne nature of almyghty god. For where as our […]auyour Cryst toke vppō hym self all our syn / and of hys endles pytye bare the payne of theym for our sake / this dampnable heresye holdeth / that god shold be fyrst so vntrew that he sholde laye vnto vs the wyght and blame of hys owne fawtys / that ys to wyt the euyll workys whyche as they say be not wrought by vs but in vs by god / and therunto they make hym so dyspy[…]uouse & cruell / that for hys own dedꝭ so done he shold haue a perpetual delyte & plesure to tormēt vs. Now turne they y• trya[…]le of holy scripture quyte in to poysō. For this false errour onys takē for treuth / wherof sholde all scrypture serue? wherof shold serue ye exhortacyōs to good workis yf men neyther eny do / nor eny can do / neyther of thē self nor wyth helpe of grace? or yf eny be done by them whych be not chosen / theyr dedys be not accepted of god / bycause he hath not chosē theyr persons / wherof shall serue the prechyngys and exhortacyōs to the fayth / yf the herers haue no lyb[…]rtye of theyre owne wyll / by which they may together with goddys grace laboure to submytte and subdue the rebellyon of theyr reson to the obedyence of fayth and credence of the worde of god? wherof shall serue all ye dehortacyons and cōmynacyons and threttys in scrypture / by which god calleth men frō synne and euyll workys / yf the world were onys of mynde that they byleued after Luther / that no mā doth eny euyll dede hym selfe / but god doth theym all hym selfe. And that euery man ys eyther chosen or vnchosen. And yf we be of the chosen sorte / none euyll dede can dampne vs. And yf we be of the vnchosen sorte / no good dede can auayle vs. He that thus byleueth / what careth he what he doth / excepte for the fere of temporall lawys of this worlde. And yet yf hys false faythe he strong / he forceth lytell of theym also. For he shall thynke dyenge in hys bed or on the galows / cometh not after his deseruyng but hangethall vppon destenye. And therfore all lawys they set at nought. And they hold that no man ys bounden to obay[…] eny / but wold be at lybertye to byleue what they lyst / and do what they lyst / as they say that god doth with vs not what we deserue but what hymselfe ly[…]te.

Wherof shall reason serue yf mā had no power of hym selfe toward the dyreccyon of hys owne workys / but that all our workys were brought forth of vs wythout oure wyll / worse than the workys be in dede out of a brute best / by the appetyte of his sensuall macyō / For oures sholde be by thys opynyon brought forth / as the leues come out of y• tre / or as a stone falleth downward / and the smoke vpwarde by the power of nature / so sholde I say all our dedys good or bad ascende or descende by the vyolent hand of god magre our myndys and thus ye bestys be not ashamed to say / whā they preue howrly by theyr owne experyence in theym selfe / that whan they wyll do a thyng they do yt. And wh[…]n they lyst they leue yt. I say not by theym selfe alone wythout god. But hys assystence ys alway at hand / yf we be wyllyng to worke therwyth / As the lyght is present with ye sonne / yf we lyst not wylfully to set our eyen and wynke.

Wherof shold serue all lawys? And where were bycome all good order among men / yf euery mysordered wretche myghte alledge that hys myscheuous dede was he destyny.

Yf fre wyll serue for nought / & euery mannys dede ys hys desteny / why do these men complayn vpon eny mā? Except they wyll say they do it bycause yt ys theyr desteny to do so? And why wyll they be angry wyth them that punysh heretyques / except they wyll saye bycawse yt ys theyre desteny to be so[…] For yf they wyll hold theym to theyre own secte / and say men do thē wrong to burne theym for theyre heresyes bycawse yt was theyr desteny to be heretyques / they may be then well answered wyth theyr owne wordys / as one of theyr sect was serued ī a good town in Almayne whyche when he had robbed a man and was brought byfore ye iudges he coulde not denye the dedde / but he sayd yt was hys desteny to do yt and therfore they myghte not blame hī / they answered hym after hys own doctryne that yf yt were hys destenye to stele / and that therfore they muste holde hym excused / than yt was also theyr desteny to hange hym / and therfore he must as well holde theym excused agayne. And vndowtedly amonge men these takers awaye of fre wyll maye neuer auoyde that answer by reason. But than fall the wretches to the desperate wayes of deuyls and dampned sowlys. Thā fall they to raylyng and reprouyng the iustyce of god & say that hym selfe he wrought theyr euyll workys / and wrongfully punysshed theym / and cruelly created theym to wrechednes. Our mother Eue layd the wyght of her synne to the serpent / and god was offēded that she toke not her owne parte to her selfe. But these wreches excuse them selfe and ye deuyll and all / and lay both theyr own fautꝭ and the deuyls to / to the blame of almyghty god. But sythe what so they say / they lytell care in dede of hell or of heuen / but wold in thys world lyue in leud lybertye / and haue all runne to ryot. And syth they se that they can not so be suffred / nor theyre secte allowed in iudgement / they deuyse by all the wayes they can to gete so many to fal in to theyr sorte / that they may be able to turne the worlde vp so downe / and defende theyr foly and false heresye by force. And thys they call the lybertye of the gospell / to be dyscharged of all order & of al lawys / and do what they lyst / whych be yt good / be it bad / ys as they saye nothynge but the workys of god wrought in theym. But they hope yt by thys mene god shall for the whyle worke in theym many mery pastymes. Wherin yf theyre heresye were onys […] neuer bygon wyth vyolence / thoughe they had vsed all the wayes they coud to allecte ye peple by prechyng / though they had therwt done as Luther dothe now / and as Machomete dyd byfore / brynge vp opynyons pleasaunte to the peple / gyuyng theym lybertye to lewdnes / yet yf they had set vyo[…] asyde / good crysten people had peraduenture yet vnto thys day / vsed le[…] vyolence toward theym than they do now. And yet were heresye well worthy to be as […]ore as eny other f[…]ut / syth there ys n[…] fawt that more […]endeth god. Howe be it whyle they forbare vyolēce / there was lytell vyolēce done to them. And […]ely thoughe god be able agaynst all persecucyō to pserue and encreace his fayth amonge the people / as he dyd in the begynnyng for all the persecucyon of the Paynyms and the Iewys / yet is yt no reson to loke that crysten pryncys shold suffer the catholyke crysten peple to be oppressed by Turkys / or by heretyques worse then Turkys. By my soule quod your frende I wold all the worlde were all agreed to take all vyolence and compulsyon away vppon all sydys crysten and hethen / and that no man were cōstrayned to bylyue but as he coulde be by grace wysedom and good wordys enduced / and then he y• wold go to god go on a goddys […]/and he that wyll go to the d[…]uyll the deuyll go wyth hym. Forsoth quod I and yf yt so were / yet wold I lytell dowt but y• the good seed beyng sowē amonge ye peple / shold as wel come vp and be as stronge to saue yt selfe as y• […]o[…]le / and god shold alway be stronger then the de[…]yll. But yet be heretyques and hethen men in two dyuers[…] cases. For in […] the Turkys […] and Paynyms wolde suffer ye fayth of Cryste to be pesybly preched amōg thē / and that we cryst[…]n mē shold therfore suffer in lyke wyse all theyre sectys to be preched amonge vs / and vyolence taken awaye by a[…]ent on both the sydys / I nothyng mystrust that ye fayth of Cryst shold mych more encreace th[…] ̄ decay. And albe yt that we sholde fynd among vs / that wold for the lewd lybertye of these sectys drawe to the deuyll / yet so shold we fynde I dowt not amōge theym also many a thousande / that shold be content to le[…]e that bestely plesure & come to the fayth of Cryst / as came in the begynnynge to crystendom […]e of the Paynysmes / that lyued as volup[…]uousely as the Tu[…]kys do […]. But syth vyolence ys vsed on that p[…]e[…]/and Crystys fayth not ther suffered to be preched and taken / he y• wolde nowe suffer that secte to be preched or taught amōge crysten men and not punysh & destroy the doers / were a playn enemye to Cryst / as he ye were cōtent to suffer Cryst lese hys worshyp in many so[…]lys on this syde / wythout eny one w[…]nne in theyr s[…]ede on the tother […]de. But nowe yf vyolence were wyth[…] wen on that syde then thys way that ye speke of were peraduēture bytwene crystendom and Tu[…]kaye o[…] […]ganys yf the worlde were a[…]ented thervnto and could hold yt / none […]yll ways. For sythe we sholde nothyng so myche regard as the honoure of god / & […] of the cry[…]en […]ayth / & wynn[…]ge of mennys soules to heuen / we shold […] to dy[…]h[…]nourg[…]d yf we mystrus[…]ed that hys fayth preched among other […]ētly wythout dy[…]urbaū ce shold not be able to prosper. And by […]yng that yt were / we shold hynd[…] […] […] them punished by deth. w[…]ll may yt be th[…]t as we be all men[…] and not angellys / som of them may […] some tyme eyther ouer fer[…]t mynd or vndyscre[…]e zele / or per[…]as an […]ngry and a cruell ha[…]te / by whych they m[…]y […]end god in y• selfe same dede / wherof they shold ellys gretely me[…]yt. But surely ye ordre of the spyrytuall law therin is doth good / reasonable / […]/& charytabl[…]/and nothyng desyryng ye deth of eny man therin. For […] ye fyrst fawte he ys […] forswereth all heresies / doth suche […]enaūce for his fawte as ye byshoppe assygneth him. And ys in such wyse gracyously receyued ag[…]yne in to the fauour & suffragis of Cristꝭ chyrch. But & yf he be takē […]ftesonys wyth the […]me cryme agayne / than ys he put out of ye chrysten […]okke by excōm[…]nycatiō. And by cause that being such / his conuersacyon were pe[…]ylou[…]e among chrysten men / the chrych refuseth hym / and therof the clergy geueth […]nowledge to the tēporal[…]y[…]/no[…] exha[…]tyng ye prync[…] or eny man […]llys eyther to kyll hym or punysh hym / but onely in the pr[…]sence of the temporal offycer / ye spyrytu[…]lty[…] not delyuereth hym but leueth hym to the secular hand / and forsaketh him as one excōmunycate and remoued ou[…] of the chrystē […]okke. And though ye chyrch be not lyght and sodayne in re[…]eyuyng hym agayn[…]/yet at ye tyme of his deth vppon his request wt tokens of […]ta […]ce / he is absolued & receyued agayne.