Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold.

forþ good fruyt, but þe fend had envye þat þis seed growide þus; and þis man þat is enemye to Crist and his Chirche cam and sew tares whan men weren aslepe. For bi dowynge of þe Chirche and necligence of prelatis is mannis lawe medlid wiþ Goddis lawe. And þes double mannis lawes, þe popis and þe emperours [The canon law and the civil law.] , letten Goddis lawe to growe, and gnaren þe Chirche, as tares gnaren corn, and letten it to þryve. And þe fend went awey, and ceesside sum what to tempte men, for he was sikir of þis tare þat it shulde myche lette þe Chirche. And þis is þe cautil of þe fend, to wiþdrawe his malice and shewe signes, as myraclis, whan he haþ sowen yvel seed, as if God were wel paied wiþ sowyng of siche seed. And as wete somers nurishen siche tares, so lustful lyf of men þat shulden florishe in vertues bryngiþ in siche lawes biside wordis of bileve. And þis lettiþ trewe men to telle Goddis lawe, and lettiþ þe Chirche to growe in feiþ and oþer vertues. And first, whan þe Chirche growid wiþ þis tare, ȝit it was hidd long after þe dowynge [The supposed endowment of the Church by Constantine under Pope Sylvester.] , but siþ was þis tare shewid, and Goddis lawe hidde. For many wete someres ben comen to þe Chirche, and so mannis lawe growiþ and Goddis lawe is lettid, and speciali bi lawes of þes newe ordres. But whan malice of þes lawes was knowun to trewe men, þanne þei and aungels spoken [So in B; spaken, C; speken, A.] to God and preyd Him þat þei myȝt gedre awey þes tares, so þat Goddis lawe myȝte renne freely as it first dide. But Crist denyeþ þis to hem, for harm þat myȝt come, for good corn myȝte be drawun up bifore þat it were rype, as trewe men in God myȝte be sone kild, ȝif þei shewiden to myche þis cause, of clennesse of Goddis lawe. But God haþ ordeyned his seed to growe til it be rype, as God haþ ordeyned his membris to helpe aȝens þe fendis lymes, as longe as it is good þat þe Chirche profite here bi hem. And þus ȝif sowynge of þe fend tarieþ here Cristis Chirche, and makiþ here Cristis corn ful þinne, and makiþ þicke þe fendis lymes, neþeles þis good corn groweþ more medefulli to þe Chirche, for þei have more lettinge, but wel is him þat may stonde. And herfor biddiþ Crist, þat men shal suffre boþe þes
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Title
Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 96
Publication
Oxford,: Clarendon Press,
1869-71.

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"Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afb3713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 7, 2025.
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