Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

And þei seien, first, þat bi þis dowyng þei ben in quiet and in pees, and so þei serven God betere, as þei bi resoun ben more holden. And þus þei ben holden in scole to lerne philosophris lore, oþer weie þan þei shulden be, ȝif þis dowing wantide hem. Here Cristen men shulden wite þat þe fend medliþ soþfastnes wiþ falshede to bigile þe folk, and turne hem fro Cristis lore. Soþeli men lernen of gentil craft [gentil craft appears to mean what we call secular knowledge.] bi occasioun of dowing, but not so muche as done þese beggers; for fadir of lesingis mai more in hem. Cristene men shulde lerne Goddis lawe, and holden hem paied þerof; and in þis mesure, and in þis nombre, and in þis weiȝte, shulden þei lyven here, and abiden lore in hevene þat men shulden have over þis. For þis lore þat Crist tauȝte ys ynowȝ for þis liif. And ȝif men lyven after him, þei shal have lore as þei have nede; and þus þis dowing makiþ lore þat doiþ harm to Cristis Chirche, boþe lore of vanite, and þerto lore of mennis lawis. Crist ȝaf lore, þe which he lovede, þat he wolde teche Cristen men; and oþer lore, and more, over þis, wolde Crist þat were suspendid. But ȝit men replien, and seien, þat bi þis dowyng prestis ben many; and so, in multitude of clerkis, doiþ þis dowing muche profit; for clerkes wolden not be so many but ȝif þis dowyng were here. God techiþ trewe men to graunte þat dowyng and feyned begging makiþ to multiplie prestis more þan God himsilf haþ ordeyned; for God coude ordeyne noo kyn þing, but in mesure, noumbre and weiȝte. God wolde not þat alle weren preestis, ne alle knyȝtis, ne alle laboreris; but of alle þes þree partis, God wolde make his Chirche in mesure. And ȝif þou seist þat men faylen witt to ateyne [atteyne, E.] to Goddis noumbre, lyve men wel, and God wole teche how muchel shulde be noumbre of preestis. For defaute of Goddis lawe makiþ defaute in þis noumbre. Lerne men wel Goddis lawe, and it shal teche mesure in þis, if men prechen wel þis lawe, and hiden it not fro þe peple. Wel I rede in Goddis lawe, whanne God wolde have myche travaile in beryng of þe taber|nacle and sacrificis of many beestis, he wolde have, of twelve kynredis, but o kynrede of Levy, to serve his folk for preestis
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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 310
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 June 12, 2025.
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