lawe of God men shulden speke her wordis as Goddis lawe spekiþ, and strange not in speche from undirstondinge of þe puple, and algatis beware þat þe puple undirstonde wel, and so use comoun speche in þer owne persone; and ȝif þei speken in Cristis persone wordis of his lawe, loke þat þei declare hem, for drede of privy errours.
And scorne we þe argumentis þat foolis maken here, þat bi þe same skile shulde we speken þus, for God spekiþ þus in wordis of his lawe. Sich apes lickenes [apis licnessis, B and C.] passen beestis foly, for þei wolden brynge bi þis þat ech man were God. And so ȝyve we God leve to speke as him likeþ, al if we speken not ay so bi þe same autorite; þes wordis þat God spekiþ shulde we algatis graunt, and declare hem to trewe undirstondinge. And rekke we not of argumentis þat sophistis maken, þat we ben redargued, grantynge þat we denyen, for we granten þe sentence and not oonli þe wordis, for þe wordis passen awey anoon whan we have spoken hem. And as Aristotle seiþ [Analyt. Prior. ii. 15.] , contradicioun is not oonly in wordis but boþe in wordis and sentence of wordis. And bi þis we seien þat Crist in speche is not contrarie to him silfe, ne o part of his lawe contrarie to anoþir. And þus ȝif we graunten þat Crist is al þingis, it sueþ not hereof þat Crist is an asse, ne þat Crist is ech þing, or what þat we wolen nempnen. For God seiþ þe tone and he seiþ nouȝt þe toþir. But we graunten þat Crist is boþe lombe and sheepe, for Goddis lawe grauntiþ boþe þes two of him; and so Crist is a lioun and a worm; and þus of many þingis þat holy writt telliþ. And it is ynow to seie for dyversite, þat God haþ special sentence of on and not so of anoþer. And þus þe comyn undirstondinge shulden we algatis holden, but ȝif Goddis wordis tauȝten us his propre sense. And siche stryfe in wordis is of noo profite, ne proveþ not þat Goddis word is ony wey fals. In þis mater we have ynow stryfen in Latyn [Wyclif probably refers here to the treatise De Veritate Scripturae.] wiþ adversaries of Goddis lawe, þat seyen þat it is falsest of alle lawes in þis world þat ever God suffride.
