Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

þe awngelle of god, aperynge in þe eyre in þe tyme of doynge of þis wickid dede, saide þes wordis: "þis day is venym sched or helt in þe chirche of god;" as gorram saiþ up|on þe xij chapitre of þe apocalips. And þerfor saiþ [page 28] saynt Jerom, in vitis patrum: "Siþ þe chirche encresid in posses|syouns, it haþ decresid in vertues." And herfore criste þat was in lyke case wiþ þes two prestis, heliȝe & siluestre, in dampnynge of þis wickid dede þat haþ so myche harmyd & envenymyd his chirche, left þe way of siluestre, þat toke þis worldly lordeschip, and chese þe way of heliȝe þe prophete, þat forsoke þo ȝiftis þat naaman proferid hym, and fled boþ symony & heresy. And so, as heliye left þe grete richesse þat naaman wold haue ȝyue hym & tooke worþili þe pore ordenance & fyndynge þat a goode man & his wyfe proferid [4 Kings iv. [8.]] to hym; þat is to say, a lytille soler, a bedde, a borde, a chaire, & a kandilstek, þe whiche [page 28b] ben acordynge to a studier or a contemplatyfe man; So criste forsoke seculer lordeschipis, & held hym payde wiþ þe pore liflode þat deuoute peple ministred to hym to his nedeful sustenance in his labours. And þus didden also alle þe apostles, as a man may conceyue of þe gospelle & in many oþer placis of her lijfis. For aftir [Luke viii. [3.]] tyme þat god þe fadir had wrouȝte þis grete miracle bi criste his preste, in releuynge of fyve þousande & mo þat wern in mysese of hunger, he avoydid siche worldly rewarde þat schulde haue be ȝoue to hym by occasion of minystrynge of þis grace. Siþ þan þat criste & heliȝe acorden to-gydre in þis case, & siluestre reuersiþ hem boþe here; [page 29] and siche contrarius dedis in casis þat ben so lijke mow not be glosid to-gedre, þan we most nedis, ȝif we will go a sure way, magnifie in worde & dede þe doynge of heliȝe & of criste in þis case; siþ þat heliȝes dede is commendid in scripture, and crist is truþe and autor of scripture. þan we moten dampne þe doynge of gyezi & of siluestre, þus ferr strayynge away fro heliȝe & criste & his gospelle. And in þis writynge I blasfeme no more siluestre, & þes holy men and sayntis þat han ben siþ þis endowynge
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 380
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 June 19, 2025.
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