The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
About this Item
Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by Trübner & co.,
1880.
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"The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/AEH6713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 25, 2024.
Pages
Capitulum 3m.
As to lawe, trewe men seyn þat þei willen mekely & wilfully drede & kepe goddis lawe vp here kunnynge & myȝt, & eche lawe of mannes makynge in as myche as þei witen þat it acordiþ wiþ goddis lawe & reson & good con|science & to þe riȝtful execucion þer-of; & god him self may bynde man no more to his owen lawe for his endeles riȝtwis|nesse & charite þat he haþ to mannes soule. lord, where synful men þat ben anticristis, & in caas deuelis in flesch & blood, may bynde men more to here wickid lawis & wrong execucions of hem þanne god wille bynde hem to his most riȝtful lawe & profitable. cristen men knowen wel of feiþ þat neiþer petir ne poul ne ony creature may do ouȝt lawe|fully aȝenst þe trewþe of holi writt ne aȝenst þe edificacion of holy chirche, þat is good techynge & gouernynge & amend|ynge of cristene soulis. what power han þan worldly prelatis to make so many wickid lawes? siþ god curseþ hem þat maken wickid lawes, & comaundiþ þat no man schal adde to his wordis ne drawe fro hem vp peyne of grete cursynge of god & dampnynge in helle. þat is to seie þat no man adde false sentence ne false glose to holy writt, for þan, as ierom seiþ, he is an heretik; and þat no man drawe ony treuþe fro goddis wordis, for þei enclosen alle nedeful treuþe & profitable for mannys soule. & to þis entente siþ poul in his pistel þat ȝif ony man, ȝee apostil or angel of heuene, preche oþer þing þan is tauȝte of crist & his apostelis 1he is cursid. And Seint Jon seiþe,1 in þe ende of þe apocalips, þat ȝif ony man adde þus to goddis wordis, god schal brynge vpon hym alle þe vengaunces wryten in þe
apocalips, & ȝif ony man wiþdrawe þus fro goddis wordis, [page 29] god schal don hym out of þe bok of lif. ¶ Lord, siþ goddis lawe is so myche & so hard to vndirstonde, as austyn & oþere seyntis techen, þat þouȝ eche man hadde neuere so gret witt & myȝtte lyue hool & sond in bodi & wittis til þe day of dome, he schulde euere haue ynowȝ to lerne and ocupie him þerine at þe fulle, whi schulle wordly curatis & prelatis make so many bokis of here newe lawis for to meyntene here pride & coueitise & worldly array? siþ men be nowe of lesse wittis & schortere tyme & feblere of com|plexion. certis þe chargen men ouer myȝt & maken hem bysy to kunne wrongful tradiciouns of synful folis makynge & to leue holy writt vnstudied, vnknoud & vnkept; & þis is a sotil cautel of þe fend to for-do goddis lawe & knowynge & loue of oure goode god. And þerfore crist pleyneþ of þis peple, bi þe prophete ysaie, & in þe gospel also, þat is peple worschipiþ him in lippis but here herte is fer fro god, & þei worschipen hym with-outen cause, for þei techen þe loris of men & here maundementis. & ȝit seyntis in þe popis lawe reprouen euyle lawis vngroundid in holy writt & reson, & hem þat maken hem also, & seyn þat we owen to take hede what crist seiþ, & to no man ellis but in alse myche as he acordiþ wiþ crist, & he his false þat seiþ or techeþ ony þing þat is not euydently groundid in goddis lawe. & þerfore seynt petyr comaundiþ ȝif ony speke, loke he speke as goddis wordis. þus þes worldly prelatis drawen cristen men fro holy writt þat is þe beste lawe & constreyne men to here owne lawis ful of errour, maad to coloure here cursed pride & coueitise; for þei ponysche men sorere for breken of here owen lawis þan for brekynge of goddis lawe, & louen & chirischen men of here lawe and dispisen & putten abac men of goddis lawe. Late wordly prelatis ceesse to schlaundre pore men, seynge þat þei wolen not obesche to here souereyns & dreden not curs but dispise lawe. for in alle þes þre þei ben clere bifore god & man ȝif riȝt & reson & charite be wel souȝt.
