Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

bileue to hym. and þer-for crist seiþ to þe iewis who of ȝou schal repreue me of synne, & he wold þat eche man hadde do so ȝif he myȝtt treuly. þerfore in tyme of his passion crist seide to þe bischopis seruaunt whanne he smote him in þe face: [page 23] ȝif I haue spoken euyl, bere þou witnesse of [John xviii. [23].] euyl. & siþ prelatis ben vikeris of crist, þei owen to suen to hym in þis obedience & axe no more of ony man. ¶ But here is þe sore in þis obedience; prelatis axen þat prestis & oþere sugetis schulden come for here souereyns whider euere hem likid, at þe ferþeste place of here diecise, þouȝ prelatis kunnyn not holy writt ne kepen it, but don opynly þer aȝenst many weies; & þis is wrong for many skillis. first, siþ crist god & man souȝte mannus soule lost þoruȝ synne bi þritti ȝeer and more wiþ grete traiuele, werynesse & many peynes, bi many þousand myles vpon his feet, in gret cold and stormes & tempestis, prelatis schulden not couche in castellis & suffre þe fende to deuoure cristene soulis, & þanne make a pore man to renne two or þre þousand myles & ȝeue hem þere ensaumple of pride & oþere synnes. siþ þei han so myche tresour & grete hors, & ben heiȝe vikeris of crist to seue his lif in mekenesse and pouerte and harde traueile to saue mennes soulis, and siþ þei ben holden to spende here catel and lese here bodily lif for sauynge of cristen soulis as did crist & his apostelis, myche more owe þei to spende a litil traueile and money to seke & visyte synful men & esen hem [omitted X.] in body & soule. And not maken hem nedlis to spende here litel catel and be inpacient & grucchynge aȝenst god & man & out of charite. for we reden not in al þe lawe of grace þat crist or ony of his disciplis vsede þis symonynge or axid þis obedience of ony synful man riche or pore. lord whi schulde a synful ydiot axe more obedience þan [þat X.] diden crist & his apostelis? & we rede not in þe lawe of grace þat crist apperid comunly bifore þe heiȝe prestis and pharisees fore here symonynge ne his apostelis after sendynge of þe holy goste, But ȝif þei weren constreyned
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 30
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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