Of vnwrytten very tyes.
IN the day of Pētecost whā the holy goost descēded vpō the apostles & discyples of Chryst, they receyued suche grace & goostly knowlege, that they hade forth w t the gyfte of the vnderstandynge of scrypture: and to speake in the tonges of all men. And also that vpon whome soeuer they layde theyr handes, the holye ghoste shoulde descende vpon them. And ther vpon they by theyr prechyng & good doctryn cōuerted ī short tyme, great multitude of people vnto the fayth of Christ And after that dyuers blessed mē ī strength of the fayth, wrote the lyfe, miracles, doctryne, passion deth, and resurrectiō of our mayster Chryst: but foure of those writinges were only receyued by al the hole chyrche of Chryst. that is to say, of [Page] Matthewe. Marke, Luke & Ihon. & they receyued them to be of such auctorytye, y t it should not be lawfull to any man, that wold cōfesse Chryst, to denye thē, & they were called y e foure gospels of Christ. And y e epystles of Paule, the Actes of y e apostles, the epistles that be called canonyke. And y e apocalips were receyued to be of lyke auctorytye, as y e gospels were. And thus by assent aswel of the people, as of the clergye, was the newe testament affyrmed to be of suche auctorytye, as it is now takē to be of, & as it is of in dede. so y t it is not lawfull to denye any thing that it affermeth, ne to afferme any thyng that it denyeth, & it is no meruayle though it be takē to be of such strengthe, for it was auctorysed whan the people that were newelye cōuerted to y e fayth, were ful of grace & of deuocion, replenished with vertues, desyryng alwaye the lyfe to come, & the helthe of theyr owne soules, & of theyr [Page] neyghbours. Thā also were blessed bisshops, blessed preestes, & other blessed persons of the clargy: and what could suche men aske of god ryghtwisly, that sholde be denyed them. And who maye thinke, but that they & al the people, at y e sayd auctorisyng of scripture, praied deuoutly for y e assistaūce of y e holy gost that they might haue grace to auctorise suche thyng as shold be to his honour / to the encrease of his fayth, & to y e helth of the soules of al his people. The tyme also that this auctorysynge of the new testament, and y e gatherynge of it togyder was made, was (as I suppose) the tyme of the moost hygh & gracyous shedynge out of the mercy of god into the world, that euer was frō y e begynnyng of the world vnto thys daye: & I meane the tyme that was frō the incarnaciō of Christ vnto the sayd auctorysyng of the newe testament was accomplished: for in part of y e tyme our lord was here [Page] himselfe in bodyly presence, preachyng and teachyng his lawes / gatherynge & chewsynge hys apostles & disciples / y e sholde teache & preache his lawes whā he was gone: which they dyd not onely by word, but also by good exāples, that yet remayne vnto thys day: so that al y e tyme may in maner be called the goldē tyme. And not onely the newe testament was thā receyued, but also y e olde testament. And by preachyng & teachyng of these testamētes, was y e fayth of Christ meruaylously encreased in many countrees. After all this, by a cōmē speking among y e people, the byshops, preestes and other of the clergye, which were as lanternes vnto the people, & y e specyall maynteyners of the chrystē fayth, were called the chyrche, or men of the chyrch: and vnder y e colour of y e name chyrche many of y e clergy in proces of tyme, pretended y t they might make exposicions of scripture, as the vniuersal chyrch of [Page] Christ, y t is to say, as y e hole congregacion of christen people myghte, & thervpon whan couetyse & pryde somwhat encresed in many of the clargie, they expounded very fauourably dyuers textes of scripture, y t sounded to y e mayntenaunce of theyr honour, power, iurisdiction & ryches. And ouer y e toke vpon them to afferme, y t they were y e chyrche that myght not erre / and that Chryst & his aposteles had spokē & taught many thynges, that were not expresly put in scripture, & that the people were as wel boūde to beleue them, and that vnder lyke payne, as yf they had ben expressed in scripture, and called them vnwryten veryties, where of I shal, as for an exā ple recyte part. Fyrst y e Christ after his maundye, and after he had wasshen the fete of his apostles, taught them to make holy creame, for mynistraciō of y e sacramētes: and y t they haue as ful auctorytye to do y e same, as yf it had bene cō teyned [Page] in scriptuere, that christ had gyuen thē power to it. That it is a tradiciō of y e apostels, that ymages ought to be set vp. That y e apostels ordeyned that al faythful people should resort to the chyrch of Rome, as to y e moost hygh and principal chyrche of al other: & yet it can not be proued by scripture, ne by any other sufficiente auctoritye, y t they made any such ordynaunce. Also that y e Crede, which is cōmenly & vniuersally vsed to be said by the cōmē people, was made by the .xii. apostels: & though y e artycles therof, ar fermely & stedfastly to be beleued of euery chrysten man, as artycles sufficiētly proued by scripture yet that they were gathered togyder by the .xii. apostels: & specially that euery one of the apostels made one article, as paynters shewe y t they dyd, can not be ꝓued by scripture, ne is not necessari to be beleued for our saluaciō, and though it were but a smal offence in the people [Page] to beleue y t it were an article necessarye to be beleued for our saluacyō, because the clergie, which be the lanternes & leders vnto the people, do instruct them that it is so: And it is nether agaynst y e lawe of god, nor the lawe of reason, but that it may be so: yet it is a great offēce to the clergye, to afferme for certayne y t thyng, that is to them selfe vncertayne, and therfore it wold be reformed, for eschewyng of offences vnto the clergye. Also y t the people shal praye into the est is not proued by scripture: and yet they saye, that by the tradiciō of the apostles it is to be beleued. Also y t our lady was not borne in orygynal synne. That she was assumpte into heuen body & soule, Al these & many other, diuers of y e clergie cal vnwrytten veryties, lefte in the worlde by the tradicion & relaciō of the apostles, which as they saye, the people are boūde to beleue aswel as scripture: For they say, y t syth no man were boūde [Page] to beleue scripture, but bycause y e chyrche sayth, this is scripture: so they saye that in the thinges before rehersed, the chyrche wytnessethe thē to be true, and that y e people haue assented to them many yeres: wherfore it is not lawfull to doubte at them, ne to denye them: To thys reason it may be answered: that yf it can be proued by as good & as hygh auctoryte, that these thynges were left in the world by the tradicion & relacyō of the apostles, as the auctorysynge of scripture was: that than they are to be beleued as verely as scripture: But yf they be wytnessed to be so by some bysshops and priestes, and some other of y e clergye onely: or that they be witnessed to be so by decrees & lawes made by bisshops of Rome, & by y e clergye of Rome or by opinion of doctours only: thā no man is boūde to accept them, ne beleue them, as they ar bounde to beleue scripture. For scripture, as it is sayd before, [Page] was auctorysed by y e hole church of god and in the most electe & moost gracious tyme, y t of lykelyhode hath ben syth the begynninge of christes chyrche. And yf it be sayd, that many of y e sayd opyniōs haue ben affermed & approued by general coūselles, in whom no errour maye be presumed: it maye be answered: that though y e chyrche gathered together in the holy ghost, may not erre in thinges perteyning to the fayth: that yet for as moch as som general coūsels haue ben gathered, & not by y e power of kynges and princes, that be heades of y e chyrch And that lawes haue ben also made at such general cōsels, of dyuers thinges whych haue not perteyned to the fayth but to y e mayntenaūce of the auctoritye or profyt of the clergye, or of soch artycles as ar before rehersed, that they cal vnwrytē veryties, which vndoubtedly perteyn not merely to the faith. That it may therfore be lawfully doubted, whether [Page] soche coūsels were gathered in the holy goost or not, & whether they erred in theyr iudgemētes or not, and it is no doubte, but y e in some general counsels they haue done so in dede. And I suppose y t there be but fewe maters more necessary, ne more expedient for kynges & princes to loke vpō, thā vpon these vnwryttē verytyes, & of making of lawes by the clergie. For yf they be suffered to mayntayne that ther be any verytyes, whych the people are bounde to beleue vpon payne of dampnaciō, besyde scripture, it wyl perswade partly an insufficiencye in scripture, & ther vpō myght folowe greate daungers many wayes. And yf it were admytted, that y e clergie myght be receaued to afferme that ther be soche veryties, besyde scripture, yet they could not proue them. For yf they wold in profe therof say, y t the apostles fyrst taught those verities, & that they haue so cōtinued frō one to another vnto [Page] thys daye, & shewe none other auctorytye therof but that: than al y e sayinge may as lyghtly be denyed, as it was affermed, and with as hygh auctorytye. And yf they wyl ferther attempte to approue it by lawes made by the bishops of Rome, & by the clergye at Rome: yea or by lawes & decrees made at general coūsels: yet these lawes & decrees may be lawfully doubted at, as before appereth: so that they cannot by reason therof dryue any necessitye of belefe īto any person. Wherfore kynges and prynces y t haue receaued of god the high power and charge ouer the people, ar boūd to prohybyte soch sayinges vpon greate paynes: and not to suffre a belefe to be groūded vpō thynges vncerteyn. But yet yf some of the sayd articlys that be called vnwryttē verities were suffered to cōtinue as thinges that be more like to be true, thā otherwyse: and no necessitie of belefe to be deryued ther vpon. [Page] I suppose verely it myght wel be suffered that they shuld stand styll not prohabyte, as it is of that article y t the .xii. apostles made y e Crede: that it is good to praye into the est: that our lady was not borne in original synne: y t she was assumpted bodye & soule, And therfore yf it were ordeyned by kynges & prīces that no man vpō payne, to be taken as a breaker of the quietnes of the people, shuld denye any of the sayd articles: it were well done to kepe vnytie amonge the people: but diuers realmes may ordre soch thynges diuersly, as they shall seme cōuenyent, after the dysposiciō of the people ther. For they be but thīges indifferēt, to be beleued, or not beleued and ar nothing lyke to scripture, to the articles of the fayth, the .x. cōmaundemētes, ne to soch other morall lernīges as ar merely deryued out of scripture. For they must of necessitie be beleued & obeyed of euery christē man. For after [Page] saynt Paul ad Ephe. iiii. There muste be one God, one fayth, & one Baptisme But to suffre them to stande as vnwryten veryties, that may not be denyed: & to haue theyr auctorytie onely by lawes made by y e clergie, it semeth daūgerous For it might cause many of the clergye to esteme more power in the clergie thā there is in dede: and that myghte lyfte many of them into a hygher estimacion of them selfe, than they ought to haue: wherby myght folowe greate daunger vnto the people. For as long as ther be disorders in the clergye, it wyl be heard to bryng the people to good ordre. And all this y t I haue touched before, maye be reformed, without any rebuke to the clergye that now is. For the pretence of soch vnwryten verytyes, ne yet of makyng of lawes, to bynde kynges & princes and theyr people: ne yet that bothe powers, that is to saye, spiritual & temporal, were in the clergye, began not in [Page] the clergye y t now is, but in theyr predecessours. And as to y e sayd other pretē ced vnwrytē verities, y t is to say, y t almē shuld resort to Rome, as to y e most high & principal chyrche. And y t it is a tradicion & an vnwryten verytie, y e ymages oughte to be set vp, it were wel done, y t they & soch other opiniōs, wherby prdie couetyse or vayne glory myght springe her after, were prohabyte by auctoritie of the parlyamēte vpon great paynes. And as to y e sayd vnwrytē verytie, that holy creame shuld be made after y e maū dye, it perteyneth only to thē that haue auctoritie to iudge whether it be an vnwryten veritie, or not, and to iudge also what is the very auctoritye of making of that creame. And therfore I wyll no ferther speke of y e matter at thys tyme.