man aftir he hath receyued the feith of thilk lawe dispute or argue with eny other man upon eny point, article, or conclusioun of thilk lawe: and bi this wrecchid and cursid maundement the peple of thilk secte ben so miche lockid up vndir boond, that manie mo of hem myȝten be conuertid into trewe feith than ȝit ben, if thilk so vnresonable maundement of the same lawe ne were. And if any Cristen men wolen locke hem silf so up in her feithis and othere opiniouns of Cristis lawe fro arguyng and disputing ther upon with othere men, as y haue knowe bi reporting of ful trewe persoones that thei so doon, certis ther in thei doon foul vilonie to Cristis lawe of feith and of lawe of kinde, making as thouȝ Cristis seid lawe were so feble chaffare and so countirfetid and so vntrewe, that it durst not saue his worschip if he were thriftili examyned. And thei doon also ful periloseli to hem silf for to make hem so sikir in a feith, eer it be sufficientli tried and proued forto be holde worthi a trewe feith or no. And therfore the thridde bifore sett opinioun in the first chapiter of this book is vnresonable.
Now forto answere to tho textis, whiche ben there bifore alleggid for grounding or ellis witnessing or prouyng of the iije. opinioun, it is liȝt forto an|swere. Forwhi to ech diligent considerer vpon the processis forth and aftir, bifore and behinde, where thilke textis ben writun, it schal be riȝt liȝtli and soone seen, that the first text there alleggid, Coloc. ije. capitulum., wole that in mater of Cristis Incarnacion, which is a mater of pure feith, no man schulde be bigilid bi philsophi; that is to seie, no man schulde be moved aȝens the feith ther of bi evidencis and bi argumentis mad oonli vpon evidencis of lawe of kinde and of pure resoun without evidencis takun vpon Goddis affermyng or Goddis reveling. Forwhi tho ben argumentis of pure philsophie, and thei ben
