Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

but if it be þat sect which Crist himsilf made, þat Goddis lawe clepiþ secte of Cristene men, for we shal bileve þat Crist may not do synne in ȝyvynge of his reule to lede Cristene men. And so þis secte is þe beste þat ony man may have, siþ Crist, almygty, alwitty, and alwilful, ordeyne þis sect covenable for eche man; but oþir newe sectis founden bi mannis witt mut nedis smatche synne for errour of þe fynder. And riȝt as þer weren þre suche sectis in Cristis tyme, so þer ben now monkes, chanouns, and freris; and dyvysyons in þes þree seien dyvy|siouns in mennis wille. Al þes þree sectis mote nedis smatche errour, siþ þei grounden a perpetuel reule to all men of þes ordres þat þe gospel lefte by wisdom of Crist; and it were woundirful þat þes synful foolis shulde fynde a betere reule þan Crist himsilf fond. For who shulde make a reule to men þat he knoweþ not, ne haþ no maistrie of hem, ne techyng to kepen it? but o complexion and oon elde axiþ o manere of lyvynge and anoþir anoþir, þat þes patrons knewe not. And so oonly oure patron Crist, þat is boþe God and man, calengiþ as propre to himsilf to grounde siche ordres, and herfore seint Poul and Petre, wiþ oþir apostolis, fledden to grounde siche ordris for drede of blasfemye. And it were more suffrable to dwelle amonge Sarazynes or oþir paynym sectis as doen many Criste men þan to dwellen among sectis of þese newe religiouse. And þat þei seien, þat þei ben erberis betir þan comoun pasture, for erbis of vertue þat growen in hem, certis makinge of erberis in a comoun pasture wolde distrie þis pasture and lyf of þe comouns, boþe for dichyng and hegging and delvynge of tounes. And ȝif we marke alle siche erberis in Engelond, þat ben plantid of newe in comoun Cristis religioun, as þei spuylen þe reme|naunt of temporal goodis, so, þat is more deel, þei spuyle hem of vertues, for alle Cristene men shulden be of oo wille, and variaunce in siche sectis makiþ variaunce in wille, and gendriþ discencioun and envye among men. And herfore ordeynede Crist but þree partis of þe Churche, ech to have nede and helpyng of oþir; but certis it is not þus of þese new religions. Of þis treuþe may be maad such a good resoun. It is a greet synne of two þingis to chese þe worse, whan a man may as freely have þe betere as þe worse; but þese new ordris ben
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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 28
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 14, 2025.
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