Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

Blessid be pore men in spirit, for ȝe, þat þus be pore men, han þus certeinli þe kyngdome of hevene. Þis poverte is a virtue þat men shulden first sue Crist inne, and it is hard for to use, and þerfore telleþ Crist þus þe meede. And þese men þat hav þis virtue, as weren Cristis apostlis, hadden here þe rewme of hevene, for þei hadden here Crist; and Crist, heed of þis rewme, is ofte tymes clepid þis rewme; for he is þe moste jewel of al þis rewme, in which ech part of þis rewme is many weies con|teyned. And þus he mai by many causis be clepid al þis rewme. In þat he is God, he is ende of al þing, and in him we lyven, we moven, and we ben; and for him, as ende, we done alle our dedis. For in virtue of him al his Chirche worcheþ, and by þis moun men se wher men ben lymes of Holy Churche; for þanne þei ben groundid in his lyf, and his worchinge. And if þei ben in stait or werkes ungroundid [þat ben not groundid, E.] in Cristis lyf, it is licly to men þat þei ben Antichristis disciplis; for Crist seiþ and mai not lye, þat, Who is not wiþ me, he is aȝens me; and so he is wiþ Anticrist. And so if stait of þese freris be not groundid in Crist, and þei gabben many maneres upon þe lyf of Crist, as in begginge, and asoilinge, and oþer feyned lesyngis; þanne it is a tokene þat þei ben not of holy Chirche, but Saþanas children whos dedis þei done. For if þei ben more bisie aboute worldeli goodis, þan þei ben of dedis þat vertu techiþ to do, þanne þei ben wiþ Mammon, and he lediþ hem. For worldeli goodis, þe which Crist clepid Mammona of wickidnesse, ben moost souȝt of sich men. And so þis fend lediþ hem, and siþ uneven departinge of suche worldeli goodis makiþ dissencioun, ȝhe, þe mooste þat here is, it semeþ þat sich freris ben cause of þis dissencioun. But þei have goodis in comun unevenly departid; ȝhe, more þan hem nedide ech man to have ynowȝ; and þus þis nest of Mammon genderiþ many strives, and ȝit þe fend techiþ hem to seie þat þei have nouȝt, but ben more pore in spirit þan weren Crist and hise apostlis. But certis þis is not poverte of which Crist spekiþ here, siþ Crist spekeþ here of poverte in spirit, to mekeli holde men in havynge of wordli goodis, as moche as nediþ to sus|teyne
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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 202
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 April 29, 2025.
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