A PLAYNE Declaration made at Oxforde the 24. daye of Iuly, by Mayster Richarde Smyth, Doctor of diuinite, vpon hys Retractation made & published at Paules crosse in London, In the yeare of oure Lorde God, M. D. xlvij. the xv. daye of May.
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Londini, Anno Domini M. D. XLVII.
Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum.
A playne Declaration made at Oxforde the 24. daye of Iuly by Mayster Richard Smyth Doctor of diuinitye, vpon hys Retractation made & published at Paules crosse in London, y e xv. daye of Maye Anno Domini M. D. xlvij.
SAlomon saieth Dominus proteget gradiētes simpliciter: God wil defende them y t walke playnely At my fyrst retorne frō Lōdon immediatly after my Sermon whiche I made last at Pawles Crosse accordynge to my bounden deuty & promys, I sholde haue chiefely & moste princypally declared and set furth plainely and fully here in Oxforde all that my Retractation wyche I red and professed openly at Paules crosse. But in this behalf I vtterly deceaued [Page] my selfe: For I did omytt and let passe my moste weighte matter, bycause I intendid to set furth thre thinges at once. The one was too shewe that y e Declaration of al my doynges as towchyng my bokes, was but a Retractation and not a Recantation. The second was the earnest answering vnto suche (as I harde saye) had conceauid by mystakynge of my Retractation, that I shulde denie and condempne the sacrament of thalter (wherein ys present y e very body & blode of Christ) and the sacrament of Baptisme. The laboringe in theis two thingꝭ withdrewe and troubled me verye muche that I coulde not earnestly trauayle in settynge forth of my retractation accordyng to my dutye. For as touchyng the first where as I sayde I made a retractation and not a recantacion, it was but an excuse [Page] of my doynges. For as moche is commenly signified and ment by Retractation as by recantacion. And because that all men for y e most parte whiche herde me so say do gather and take hereof (as I am credibly infourmed) that I dyd sticke styll and stand to mine old doctrine in all thinges: And that the retractacion sent abrode in my name was either none of myne, or elles that I was cōpelled and forced to agre vnto it: I am verye sorye that they so dyd mistake me. But I am moste sorye of all that I for my parte thorough my darke vtteraunce shulde geue them occasion so to thinke. Wherfore at this tyme I purpose to rede vnto you my retraction whiche I declared at Paulis crosse, vnto the whiche I agreed and consented frely and wyllyngly without any maner of force or compulsion. [Page] And to thentent you shall well perceyue that this is my doctrine and my belefe, I shal to my power both now and at al tymes hereafter, whē occasion shal serue, set forth, mayntayne and defende the same. And here I shall moost ernestly requyre you, and in our sauiour Christ beseche you, nother to mistake me on the one syde, nother to be offended or greued w t me on the other syde. For in this my retractation I do not deny the holy sacrament of the aulter, nor the Sacrament of baptisme, nor finally any other thinge comprised in the body of holy scripture as necessarie matter of our belief. And where as syns the tyme y t I declared my retractatiō at Pawlis crosse I wrote and sente abrode sondry letters for myne excuse, and made also as it were a glose and an exposition of my sayd retractacion, whereby I myghte seme rather to [Page] trauayle for to preserue myne estimation, then clerely and syncerely to set furth the doctrine whiche I in my retractation wyllynglye dyd professe: In this and in al other my writinges, readynges and teachinges, what so euer I haue written, read or taught heretofore, this that I now teache I knowe to be true. For that I haue groundely tried & serched the same. We haue a saieng Amicus Socrates amicus Plato, magis amica VERITAS: He is my frende, and he is my frend, but the truth is moste my frende. Truthe is to be in braced, truth is to be defēded, truth is my profession. Nother my fame nor estimation of my selfe, nother frendshyp of my dere frendes, nor any other thinges shall make me ashamed of truth. I remembre what the Lord of truth doth say: He that is ashamed of me before men, I shal [Page] be ashamed of hym before my father which is in heauen. Nowe therfore I wyll reade vnto you my Retractation.
THe holy Prophet Dauid (good christen audiēce) saith right truly: Omnis homo mendax. That is to wytt: Euery man is a Lyer of his owne corrupted nature: The which thing how trew it is, theldest & best Writers in the Christen Church, doo euidently declare, because they all haue erred in their bookes Wherfore the great Clerke saynt Austen, in an Epistle writen to Marcella writeth of himself: Vos qui me multum [Page] diligitis, si talem me asseritis, vtnunquam in scriptis errasse me dic [...]tis, frustra laboratis, nec bonam causam suscepistis; facile meipso iudice superamini, quoniā non placet mihi cum a chariss [...]is meis talis existimor, qualis non sum. That is to say: Yee that loue me muche, if ye said that I am such that ye affirme that I neuer erred in my writyngs or Bokes, ye labor in vayne, ye haue not taken in hand a good cause: ye are easely ouercome, I my selfe being Iudge: For it pleaseth not me whan I am estemed suche a man of my moast deare frendes as I am not. Here we se that this blessed father saynt Austen was not ashamed to confesse his error in writing: which thing he dyd not by woordes only, but also in a certayne Booke wherin he wrote very many things in which he confesseth that he was deceyued. This Booke is called in [Page] Latyn, Liber Retractationum: And in Englysh, a Booke of Retractations or Reuocations, of such thinges whiche he wrote amysse & erred in. Shall I now be ashamed to acknoledge my self to haue ben deceyued in my Booke of Traditions? Am I worthy to be resembled or compared to this noble aunciente Doctor of Christes church? Wyl ye not beleue S. Austen in other poyntes of our Religiō because he erred, & also confessed his error in dyuerse and sundry thynges of his bokes? To be short, who of all the Writers of bokes erred not? S, Ambros, S, Hierome, Chrisostome, Hilary, Ciprian, Origen, Tertulian, and all the other Doctors of y e church were deceyued in some poyntes of their Bookes, as learned men do well know. Why therfore may nott. I erre, or why shulde I be ashamed [Page] too confesse myne Error and too reuoke it? Ought not euery good mā and woman too be esory for my fall in this my Booke, and too reioyce with me acknowledging the trewth in this matier of mans Traditiōs, Preceptes, Ordinaunces, Rites, Ceremonies? Who seeth not that I haue a iust cause to excuse my wekenesse and fault and aske of you mercy? which I trust I haue outayned of the Kynges gracious highnesse, and his moost honorable Counsell: by whose goodnesse and elemency I am here admytted and suffered too shew myne Errors and Faultes in my booke of Traditions, which I made of late entituled thus: A brief Treatise, setting furth diuerse truthes, necessary both too be beleued of Christen people and kepte also, which ar not expressed in the Scripture, but lefte to the Churche by the [Page] Apostles Traditions, made and set furth by Richard Smyth, Doctor of Diuinite and Reder of it in Oxforde. Which Booke I do Reproue & Reuoke in dyuers Faultes in it, of the which I wyll a non recite certayne perticulerly, and then I shall geue vnto you a trew and Generall Doctrine of all those thynges of which I doo entrete in that my Boke, that therby you may well perceyue & see, after what sorte thei ought too be taken of Christen people that no man erre therin *
FYRST, Wheras I sp [...]kyng in my booke of Traditions, of the autorite of Bysshoppes in makyng lawes and ordenances, whyche the people ought to obey, I dyd say & teache in this wyse: That men ought to obey the Bysshoppes commaundement in all thynges leaful, vpon payne of euerlastyng damnacyon. And that these wordes of Mathew: Doo as they byd you, but not as they doo, be vnderstand not only of thinges conteined in Scripture, but also of the Churches ordenaūces besydes Scripture made by the Ministers of the Churche, although the said Ministers do abuse their auctorite for their owne benefite and profite. And further, where I taught that it is more conuenient that the people obey their Bisshops cōmaundementes & Decrees although it be but in a thinge [Page] indifferent of it selfe and not commaunded by God, then that seruaū tes shuld obey their maisters, or children their fathers and mothers. And finally, where I sayd concernyng the same matter: That as subiectes be bounde to obey and fulfyll their Princes Lawes, which ar not conteyned in Gods Lawes beyng not agaynst it, euen so be Christen people bounde too obey & doo that which their Bisshops byddeth them doo. All these sayinges I doo now Reuoke, Disanull and Condempne as erronious and false. And do professe and acknowledge fyrst that the auctorite aswell of the Bysshop of Rome, whose auctorite is iustly and lawfully abolyshed in this Realme as of other Bisshops & other called y e ministers of the church, consisteth in the dispensacion and ministratiō of Gods woorde, & not in makyng [Page] Lawes, Ordinaunces and Decrees ouer the people besyde Gods word without the consent and auctoritie of the Prince and people.
¶ Secondly, I say & affirme that no Bysshop nor none of the Clergy assembled togither haue auctoritie to make any Lawes or Decrees besydes Gods Law ouer the people without the consent of the Princes and the people: and if they do make anye suche, no man is bounde to obey theym.
¶ Thirdly, I say that in those coū tryes, where by the auctorite of the Prince they haue made any suche Lawes, thauctorite of those Lawes doth not appende and hang of the Bisshops and the Clergy, but of the princes & cheif heds in euery coūtry
¶ Fourthly, I say & affirme that within this Realme of England & other the kinges Dominions, there [Page] is no [...] Constitution [...] and auaileable [...], but only by the kynges ma [...] styes au [...]ority or of his [...].
And where in my foresaid booke of Traditiōs, I sayd that Tenthes of Benefices be [...] only to theym that do preche and teche the Scripture, and also that he that serueth not the Aulter nor precheth not the Gospell can nott iustly lyue by the Tenthes, but is in conscience boūd to restore the profites and frutes taken therby: Which my sayenges as it lieth in woordes & sentences is s [...]itious and sclaunderous to the Kynges maiesties procedinges and the Lawes and Ordres of this Realme, which haue graunted Tenthes and Tythes to many Ley persones: Therfore this my sayeng as it may be taken, & iustly by the wordes [Page] [...] they be put, [...] to defende nor [...]: but I requyre that I may [...] theym and declare theim gently, that I ment not in these my sayinges of any. Lay men, to the derogation of the Lawes and Statutes of this Realme: but I ment only of Curates and Preestes which receyuing their Tythes, do not their dutyes accordingly,
And where also in my sayd booke of Traditions, and lykewyse in my boke of the Sacrifice of the Masse, I followyng Pamascene and other Auncient Authors, wrote, that the Disciples of Christ dyd make certayne Canons, which saint Clement dyd gether togither and put in writyng, and that these same Canons must be taken for the Appostles doctrine and techyng, and their woordes without doubt to be beleued & kepte as that which is cōteyned expressely [Page] in scripture. Now hauynge red many thynges, whiche at that tyme I had not diligently marked & wayed: I doo thinke, affirme, and cōfesse that doctrine to be not trew, but a vayne, vnlawfull, vniust, and vnportable burdein to Christen consciences: And that those Canons pretended to be of thappostles making and gatherd of saint Clement, not to be made of thappostles: or if they were, not to be made otherwise than but for an order in the Church for that tyme, not euer for to endure wherof many at this tyme in no wyse be too be obserued: And those which do remayne, not to be of that force as Gods lawe to charge mens consciēces otherwise, then as mans Ordinaunces and Policie whiche may be taken away by Superior powers aswel & with so lytle scruple of cōscience as other of them which [Page] many yeres a go were taken away, & to sum clene contrary lawes made
In the said boke of Traditions also I sayd & affirmed, that Christ and his Appostles taught and lefte to the church many thingꝭ without writyng which we must both beleue stedfastly & also fulfyll obediently vnder payne of dampnation euer to endure. Amongest the which I rehersed by name a greate nomber to be obeyed, kepte & folowed: as the obseruation of Lent from flesh or wyne, the kepyng of the Sacramēt in the Pyx, the receyuing of it at the preestes handes, the hallowyng of the water in the Font, the thrise dippyng of the Chylde in the water at the Christenyng, the puttyng, on of the Chrisome, the Consecration of the Oyle, & Anoyntyng of the christened chylde, the hallowyng of the Aulters, the prayeng towardes the [Page] Tast, the Sensyng of the aultare, the Wasshyng of the handes, & sayeng Confiteor, and li [...]ting vp of the Sacrament at the Masse, the makyng or Holy Water, That the .xii Appostles (euery man a peece for his portiō) made the Crede, & many mo besydes these. And after lyke sorte I spake of Canons, Decrees, and Ordinaunces of bysshops and generall counsels.
Now I do confesse the saide doctrine as concernyng thobseruyng of the sayd Traditions vnder that payne, to be false and Tirannicall, an vniust, vnlawfull, and vntrew burdein of mens consciences, not fit to be taught, preched, or defended,
Lykewyse of the beleuynge of thinges where I dyd say, that there are dyuerse thynges not expressed in the scripture which we are boūde to beleue egally with those thynges [Page] which arr written in Scripture, in the nomber o [...] which I dyd cōfusely & indiscretely for an example bring some of the afore rehersed and other many. As cōcernyng many things in my booke put, and the more nomber there by me reconed and named, I affirme and say to be false, and in no wyse trew, but very daungerous and vniust, onerous to the consciences of christen men: and too be trew only in those Doctrines which necessaryly may be gathered, & consequently doo folow too the wordes and sentences in Scripture, so that in effect they may be iustly counted to be in scripture, though the very fourme of woordes be not there: Of the which in my Booke is very few, yet some I dyd reherse: as Baptismus puerorū, Descensus Christi ad inseros, Virginitas Marie, Trinitas personarum, Processio Spiritus sancti, and a [Page] few other.
And bicause I wold declare the trew acception, dignitie and auctoritie of scripture too be distincte, diuerse, & of higher, surer, more stable and firme order and credence, then the other vnwritten Tradicions & Assertions, wandring in thobseruation of many yeres, & the churches canons and Decrees, ordinaunces and traditions left by succession.
Here I do declare, set furth, confesse, affirme, and asserte my trew & stedfast opinion, belefe and fayth in these thynges propounded & vttred vnto me as concernyng scripture written, and other Traditions vnwritten and not declared in the said holy Scripture. 1 Thaucto [...]ite of scri [...]ture.
The scripture of tholde and new Testament written by thinspiratiō of the Holy ghost concernyng our belefe, is too be beleued, accepted & [Page] taken as an vndoubted truthe, not to be altered, refourmed or chaunged by any man, nor to be minished nor abrogate by any custome, but vnder perell of dampnation to be beleued, and vnder the same daunger to be followed, hauyng auctoritie geuē vnto it by almightie god, taught & enspired by the holy ghost dependyng of no mans auctoritie, nor violable or defesible by any power, otherwise then vnder the perell & daūger of eternall damnatiō.
Suche thynges as in the Actes 2 Thinges ī scr [...]ptur [...] for a tim [...] commau [...] ded. of the Apostles or any other place of Scripture, as for a tyme was taught and setfurthe for an introduction of the weake in the fayth, not to remayne for euer, as fayth incresed was abrogate, none otherwise than it was thauctors mynde and intente they shuld: those that concerned eatyng, drinkyng, coueryng [Page] or discoueryng of heades, or such other externe rites and ceremonyes, rather concernyng an ordre among men outwardly to be for a tyme obserued, than an eternall law to rule and gouerne the soule.
Suche thynges as sometyme be 3 Thinges [...]ecessary [...]y gatheed of scri [...]ture. called traditions not expressely and by wordes found in holy scripture, but which may necessarily and well be gathered of holy scripture, are to be beleued and followed, in somuche & as farr as they may truly be gathered of the scripture, or consequently doo follow the wourdes and intentes of the same.
Traditiōs pretended to be made 4 Thynges [...] beleife [...]ot neces [...]arily ga [...]hered of [...]cripture. of thappostles, & by some authors ascribed to theym as concernyng thinges to be beleued not found in scripture directly nor necessarily, & directly consecutyng & followyng to scripture, laufully & w t out perell of [Page] dampnation may be doubted of, & also denyed and refused by the superior powers; & suche as haue Auctoritie in the church.
There be many thinges ascribed 5 [...]ed f [...]ed dic [...]ous. doc [...]r [...]n [...]. to thappostles, & called traditions deduced from the tyme of thappostles & read in the name of olde Authors, and set furth vnder the pretensed title of their name, which be feyned, forged & nothing trew, full of superstition and vntrewth, feyned by theym which wold magnify their owne power and auctoritie, as is the Epistles of Clemens, Anacletus, Euaristus and Fabianus, & other which arr set furth by the bysshop of Rome and his complices, which be forged, feyned and of none auctoritie nor to be beleued, but coū terfeyted by theym: who with the color of a [...]tiquitie, wolde magnify that v [...]ped power of the bysshop of Rome.
Traditions of [...] [...] ther Thinges [...]ncernīg [...]aners [...]ot neces [...]rely ga [...]hered or [...]cripture. they be in deed or [...] so aunciēt that they [...] [...] sed frō the begyn [...] [...] & the tyme of [...] haue ben appoynted [...] of later dayes by [...] bysshop of Rome [...] by generall [...] superioritie of one [...] [...] ther: Watching, [...] Sensynges, [...] and all other suche Rites, Ceremonyes and comen Orders to be vsed in the church of God, doth not [...]ynd but where they be receyued, and by disuse maye be abrogate, or by contrary law made in any countrey by thauctority of the superior powers may be clene taken away, & other Rites, Canons, Traditions & Ceremonyes brought in for them with out any daūger of synne or grudge [Page] [...]. And with any suche [...], the kynges [...] may either [...] cause, or of his [...] any cause [...] man frō be [...] [...].
[...] with whom [...] haue dispensed [...] all, [...] free from them, [...] vse his said lybertie with [...] synne or scruple of [...], either to the kynges maiestie which gaue lybertie, or to him whiche hath obteyned the [...] [...]pensacion. None otherwyse than in any other acte, statute or proclamation made by humane polycie, the kynges maiestye and the hygh powers may. Whan contrary wyse that that is Goddes law and commaunded by scripture alwaies to be obserued, no man can [Page] dispence with if, nor gyue any man libertie to breake it, vnder daunger of synne & corruption of conscience.
This is my full, firme, and stable bele [...]e as touchynge the scripture written, & Traditions vnwritten, & what thyng soeuer I or any other heretofore haue preached, taught, written or endyted to the contrary of these my assertions & belefe now declared vnto you: or if any man hereafter (which God forbyd) shuld preach, teach or set furth any thing which is not consonaunt & agreyng to these aforesayd articles and assercions, beleue good hearers, and know you iurely, that it is a false, vntrew & deuellysh doctrine and vngodlye vsurpation vpon the holly Scripture, contrary too the trew, pure, and Catholicall doctrine of Christes churche. In the which [...]aythe and beleef conteyned in the [Page] sayd. vi. Assertions, I doo entende good hearers with the grace of almighty God to lyue by Christ, and all my hope is also too dye therin if need shalbe. And whensoeuer God shall call me therunto (his grace assistyng) I shalbe redy.
AND now concernyng another booke whiche I made of the Sacrifice of the Masse, where the moast chief and principall article of our fayth, and moast directly perteynyng too the redemption of our synnes and to our saluation is: That our sauyor Christ Iesu by his moast precious death and effusion of his moast precious blood vpon the crosse dyd redeme man kynde, taking away our synnes, pacifying the indignation of his father, and cancellyng thobligation that was agaynst vs: In which Sacrifice [Page] makyng vnto his father, our sayde Sauyoure Ihesus Christ as saynt Paule sayth playnly to the Hebrewes, was not a preest after the order of Aaron, forasmuch as he was of another Trybe: and also, that preesthod was impertite and vnprofitable bringyng nothyng too perfection: But our Sauyour Christ made his sacrifice vpon the Crosse parfectly, absolutely, and with the most hyghest perfection that could be, somuch, that after that one oblation and sacrifice for syn made by hym but once only, nother he nor any other creature shuld at any tyme after, make any mo oblacions for the same. And for as that saynt Paule sayth, he was called an eternall preest of the order of Melchysedech, and not of Aaron.
This fayth ought euery man and woman vndoubtedly to beleue and [Page] openly to professe vpon payne of euerlastyng dampnation, and also too dye in this professyon if case shall so requyre: The which moast holsome & moast necessary doctrine of our fayth I not dilygently consideryng, as many tymes too right great clerkes & lerned men in much writynge in lyke mattiers it hath chaunced to say too far. The infirmite and weakenesse of men beyng suche, that seldome in many words error hath escaped. So in my boke of the Sacrifice of the masse, I dyd incircumspectly & rashly write and set furth too the people, that Christ was not a preest after the order of Melchisedech, whan he offred him selfe vpon the Crosse too his father for our synnes, but was a preest after the order of Aaron. And that when Christ dyd offer his owne body too his father after thorder of [Page] Melchisedech [...] his [...], it may not be vnderstand of the sacrifice of the crosse, but of the sacrifice that Christ made at his Maundy in forme of bread and wyne. To the which in dede saynt Paules doctrine is contrary, both in other places, and in thepistle ad Hebreos very manifestlye, agaynst whom (who without doubt had the very spirite of God) Neither it becommeth, nor I wyl not willingly teach or defend any thinge. Wherfore you shall impute that, good Audience, too the frailtye of mans nature, and too my negligent marking, hauing at th [...] tyme rather a respecte too a fantasy that then I had in my mynde, than too the trew and infallible doctrine of scripture. And moreouer in the same my booke, I sayd not only that the Sacrifice of the masse is the selfe same substaunce of christe, [Page] but also the selfe same oblacion or offeryng of our sauyoure Christes very flesh and blood which him self once offrid to his father on the crosse to appease his wrath. And that the preestes do continually and daily in the masse offre not onely the selfe same body of Christ, but also to the same effecte, that Christ dyd offre himselfe to his father at his Maundy. Of the which wordes and doctrine, if they be not very warely & circumspectly reade, and more fauorably taken then the wordes as they lye, may well bere, it might be gatherd, that preestes herein be egall with Christ. Preestes of thorder of Melchisedech, appeasing the wrath & indignation of the father of heauen, crucifying or offeryng Christ to the same effecte that Christ in his owne persone dyd vpon the crosse, which is a blasphemy intolerable [Page] to be herd of christen eares. For Christ as saynt Paule sayth, was but once offered, once gaue vp himselfe for the redemption of our synnes on good friday on the crosse, nor neuer before nor after was offered for vs, but in a sacrament and as a commemoration of the same. And so of the Maundy or Supper of our Lorde, Christ himself sayth Hec quotiescū (que) feceritis, in meam commemorationem sacietis. Ones he dyed for our synnes, and once agayne he rose for our iustification. He dyeth no more, & his sacrifice was so good so ful, so pleasant, so precious to god, that there needed no more oblatiōs to appease god, nor only for the synnes past, but also for all the synnes to the day of Doome.
There neede no more sacrifices, no more offerers, but as hauyng a respect and a remembraunce of that [Page] most holy, most perfyte, and most entier Lambe, then & for euer offred vp for vs. But these before sayd I can not deny but spoken of me and written, And as I do not now lyke theym, so at thexample of saint Austen and other good doctors, I am not ashamed to retracte theym, call theim agayne, & condempne theim. For when I folowed myne own inuention not directed by Scripture, I began as the nature of man is to wander, and at the last went cleane contrary too Gods woord.
Wherfore, I hertely exhort euery man as touchyng matiers of faith to founde the same vpon Gods certeyn, trew, and infallyble woorde: lest by doyng the contrary, they fall into superstition, idolatry, & other manyfold errers as I my self sometyme, and many other (although I doo not come hyther too accuse any [Page] man) yet I perceyue of [...] tyme haue doone. Wherfore, these my two bookes, the one of the Sacrifice of the masse, and thother of the Traditiōs vnwritten, in those poyntes before rehersed, & all other wherin they be not full cōsonent to scripture, I forsake & renounce [...] erroneous, and agaynst the trew woord of God. Requiring the good christen reder whosoeuer shall rede theym, to geue no further [...] vnto theym then I wold my false: That is, not to take as vndoubted truth all that is therin written; but as written of a man [...] falleth: to be so [...] be consonaunt to scripture, [...] they be not agaynst scripture, [...] humane persuasion, which may either be so [...] not [...], [...] sone shall [...] consonaunt to scripture [...] [Page] [...] that I muche [...] & [...] that I wrote them in th [...]se pointes, And I desyre euery man that hath any of the sayd bokes [...]s [...] of theym, and to gyue no [...] to th [...]m in all such thinges in them written, as be not consonant to the scripture, as they auoyde occasion [...], and tendre the truthe [...] and his glory [...] Amen.
[...] vnderstand [...] [...] with [...] of my doc [...] which I preached here in [...] [...]eportinge [...] that th [...]se .iiii. thin [...] to [...]: y • [...] the [...]rites of christ: [...] persone and the [Page] worthines of the worke The truth is they dyd mistake me, applieng those wordes to our iustification, whiche I spake of the workes of a man that is alredy iustified. But to thintente that no man hereafter shal wauer or doute of my faith and conscience, in the matter of iustification: This is my certaine & true doctrine therein, wherein I am fully resolued and persuaded, whiche I haue euer taughte syns I haue ben a teacher of the scripture, purposing (god willing) euer to remaine in the same. This I saye and affirme good audience, that this saienge; that we be iustified by onely fayth in Christ, is no newe inuented saieng or proposition, but many tymes vsed of y e best and moste auncient doctours: as Origen, saint Basyl, saint Chrysostome, Ambrose, S. Barnarde, and diuers other m [...]and is a sure and vndoubtfull truthe spoken [Page] of them in this meaninge and sence, to seclude and put awaye the merites of al mens dedes, how good so euer they semed to be, and onelye to ascribe the glorye and merite of our iustification to Christ and to his holy bloud and passion, by which we are sanctified, redemed & made good So that it was of thē vsed to abate our pryde, and to take away our glory, y t we shuld truely acknowledge in vs the benefite of god, the weaknes, imbecillitie, and insufficiencie of our selues, not that a Christian mā may contemne or dispise good workes, or that we shulde thinke a christē mās lyfe to be an ydle & a sluggishe lyfe, destitute of the feare of god, hope, repentaunce, charitie, prayer, fastyng, almes dedes, and all good workes, and obedience to the commaundementes of god. But that we shulde acknowledge, that when we haue [Page] done al that euer we can do, that we are but vnprofitable seruauntes, & haue deserued no thankes for oure workes or merites, but by the mere grace and goodnes of god through the merites only of his dereste beloued sonne Christ Iesus. Which doctrine that onely fayth in Christ doth thus iustifie, is true, catholyke, and a necessarye doctrine to be taught to christen men in this maner: The whiche doctrine the moste parte of all which I haue redde of the auncient doctors do confesse and teache. And therfore it may after this sort iustly and truly be set forth publyshed and taught also among vs christen men, although this sayeng hath ben euyl taken and depraued of some as false and erronious. And if a man in dede shulde thynke thus, that beleuinge well (yf a man myght do so) and doynge euyll or doinge nothinge at all accordinge [Page] to his belefe and profession hauynge tyme and space therto, yet he shold be saued, he surely thinketh folyshly and madly and so as neuer lerned man wrote or thoughte that was a christen man and in his right wyttes. For scripture is playne: He that loueth God kepeth his commā demētes: And they that be Christes shepe, heare his voice: and do therafter. wherfore they that take prechers teachinge that we be iustified by onlye faith as though they wold haue them do no good workes, they take thē wrongfully, folyshly, & contrary to their true meaninge, and vnderstande them not: whose meaninge is (as I suppose) to shew the wekenes of man, and the goodnes of god: the infirmite of vs, the benefyt of christ: the imperfectnes of our workes, tha boundaunt grace of our sauiour: tha batynge of our pride, the glory of the [Page] crosse of Christ: mans weakenes and gods power. And in veray deede all our workes fastynge, praiers, almes deades, paines, tormentes, pouertie, abstinence, and all kynde of suffring, which a man is able to do or abyde, is not able to deserue or to get remission of sinne, For it is only the mere mercy and great liberalite of almightye god, thorowe onely deathe of his sonne Iesus Christ, that frely pardoneth our offences, and maketh vs acceptable to him. In whom we beleuynge faythfully, and puttynge al oure confidence and truste in him, and fully and firmely cleauynge to him, can not be deceaued, but on his backe and with him we shalbe caried into the house of his father in heauen