Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.

symonyentis wolen come in bi anoþer weie of falsnesse, as ȝif þei wolden putte awey ihū crist, & be more maistris & more witty þan he. Also symonyentis as [page 75] myche as in hem is sellen þe holy gost, & maken him þral or bounden to synful men & fendis, whanne þei sillen & biggen þus his ȝiftis; & þerfore þei ben worse heretikis þan þe cursed heretik arrian & his secte þat made þe holy gost lesse in myȝt þan þe fadir & þe sone, & seruant to hem boþe as þe lawe seiþ. For as þe synne of sodom was moost aȝenst kynde & so most synne in þo olde lawe, so is symonye as doctours seyn most aȝenst grace & most synne in þe lawe of grace. And þer-fore in þe popis lawe decrees & decretals symony is generaly clepid heresie, & orible peynes ordeyned aȝenst men þat don symonye on ony manere bi hem self or oþere mene persones, bi here wille & consent, & in sum cas hem vnwyttynge. ¶ Also generaly prelatis regnen in symonye, as bischopis, munkis, chanons, & freris, & lesse curatis; for bischopis, munkis & chanons sillen þe perfeccion of cristis pouert & his apostlis, & also trewe prechynge for a litil stynkyng muk or drit, & worldli lordschipe, & wombe ioie and idelnesse, & freris forsaken þe perfit pouert of crist and his apostlis for pride of þe worldly staatis & flaterynge þer-to and ypocrisie & beggynge to geten esely & plen|teuously catel of lordis & ladies & comunes, & to geten ȝonge childre to here feyned ordre by symonye, as aplis, purses & oþere iapes & false bihestis, & bi false stelynge aȝenst here frendis wille, and aȝenst goddis comaundement. And lesse curatis forsaken holy lif & trewe prechynge of crist & his apostlis for bisynesse & worschipe of þe world & for glotonye & drunkenesse & lecherie; & ofte bi open symonye comen to here benefices, & dwellen stille in hem whanne þei ben vnable to teche goddis lawe in word & dede; & þus symonye regneþ in alle staatis of þe chirche, boþe in statis groundid of crist & in oþere groundid of foolis as ȝif þei weren statis of holy chirche, but þei ben statis of þe wicked chirche brouȝte in by lesyngis & ypocrisie.
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 68
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 7, 2025.
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