The.xvii. Chapter. An ansvvere to the second obieccion

Vincent. SUrely vncle you haue shaken myne ensamples sore, and haue in your meting of your shoote remoued me these arrowes: me thinketh farther of fro the prycke then me thought they stacke when I shot them. And I shall therefore nowe be contente to take them vp againe. But yet me semeth surely that my seconde shalte maye stande. For of trueth if euery kynde of tribulacion be so profitable that it be good to haue it as you saye it is, I cannot see wherfore any mā shoulde eyther wyshe, or praye, or any maner of thyng dooe, to haue any kynde of tribulacion wythdrawen eyther from hymselfe, or any frende of his.

☞Anthony. I thinke in very deade tribulacion so good, and profytable, that I shoulde happely doubte as you doe: wherfore, a manne mighte laboure or praie to be deliuered of it, sauing that God, whyche teacheth vs […]he one, teacheth vs also the other. And as he bidde[…]h vs take oure payne paciently, and exhorte oure neighbours to dooe also the same: so byddeth he vs also not lette to dooe oure deuoure to remoue the payn from vs both. And then when it is god that teacheth both, I shall not nede to breake my brayne, in deuising wherfore he woulde bydde vs to dooe both, the tone seming to resiste the other. Yf he sende the scourge of scarcitie and of greate famine, he wyll we shall beare it pacientlye: but yet wyll he that we shall eate oure meate when we can happe to geat it. Yf he sende vs the plage of pestilence, he will we shall pacientlye take it, but yet will he that we lette vs blud, and laye plai[…]ters to drawe it, and ripe it, and launce it, and geat it away. Both these poyntes teacheth God in Scripture, in moe than many places. Fastynge is better than eating, and more thanke hath of God, and yet wyll God that we shall eate. Praying is better than drinkyng, and mu[…]he more pleasaunt to god, And yet will God that we shall drinke. Waking in good busynes is muche more acceptable to God thē sleping, & yet wil god that we shall slepe. God hath geuen vs oure bodyes here to kepe, and wyll that we may[…]tayne them to doe him seruice with, tyll he sende for vs hence. Nowe can we not tell surely howe muche tribulacyon maye marre it[…] or peraduenture hurte the soule also: wherefore the Apostle, after that he had commaunded the Corinthians to delyuer to the deuill the abhominable fornicator, that forbare not the bedde of hys owne fathers wyfe: yet after that he had been a whyle accursed and punished for hys sinne, the Apostle commaunded them charitablye to receiue him agayne, and geue hym consolacion. Vt non a magnitudine doloris absorbeatur that the greatnes of his sorowe shoulde not swalowe him vp. And therefore when God sendeth the tempeste, he wyll that the shyppe men shall geat them to their tackelyng, and dooe the beste they can for them selfe, that the seas eate them not vp: for helpe oure selfes as well as we can, he can make hys plage as sore and as long lastyng as hymselfe[…]lu[…]te. And as he wyll that we dooe for oure selfe, so wyll he that we dooe for oure neyghboure too. And that we shall be in thys world eche to other petious, for Sine affeccione whiche the Apostle rebuketh them that lacke tender affeccyons here[…] so that of charitie sorye shoulde we be for theyr payne too: vpon whom, for cause necessary, we be dryuen oure selfe to putte it. And whoso sayeth that for piety of his neighbours soule he wyll haue none of hys body, lette hym be sure, that as Saincte Iohn sayeth: He that loueth not hys neyghboure whom he seeth, loueth God but a litle whom he seeth not, So he that hath no pitie of the payne that he seeth hys[…] neyghboure fele afore hym, pytyeth litle (whatsoeuer he saye) the payne of his soule that he seeth not: yet God sendeth vs also suche tribulacion some tyme, because hys pleasure is, to haue vs praye vnto hym for helpe. And therefore, when Sayncte Peter was in prieson, the Scrypture sheweth, that the whole churche withoute intermyssyon prayed in[…]essauntlye for hym: and at their feruent prayer god by miracle deliuered hym. Whā the disciples in ye tempest stode in feare of drowning, they prayed vnto Christe and saied: Salua nos Domin[…] perimus. Saue vs Lorde we perishe. And than at theyr prayer he shortly ceased the tempest. And nowe see we proued often that in sore weather or sickenes by general processions god geueth gracious helpe. And many a man in his great payn and sickenes by callyng vpō god is meruelousli made whole. This is goddes goodnes that because in welth we remembre hym not, but forgeat to praye to him, sendeth vs sorowe, and syckenes, to force vs drawe towarde hym, and compelleth vs to call vpon hym and pray for release of our payn: wherby whē we learne to knowe hym and seke to him we take a good occasiō to fal after into farther grace.