The B. of Sarisburie.
For as mutche as ye saie, parte hereof is true, and parte false, I truste, ye wil géeue us leaue fréely to vse the Truthe, vntil ye shal finde your selfe better hable to proue the Falshedde. It séemeth not greatly to mislike you, that the people haue somme little libertie, to reade somme sutche parte of the Scriptures, as you maie beste spare them, for the orderinge of their liues. Whereby it appeareth, that for quietinge of their Consciences in maters of Religion, and causes of Truthe, yée thinke it beste, they reade nothinge. And this, ye saie, ye are hable to answeare before the dreadful seate of Goddes Iudgemente. Touchinge the Truthe hereof, to saie so mutche, as might be saide, it woulde require greate waste of time. S. Augustine saithe, Si desit,* 1.1 aut ignoretur, quà eundum fit, quid prodest nosse, quò eundum fit? If ye haue not, or know not, what waie to goe,* 1.2 what shal it profite you to knowe, whither to goe? S. Hierome saithe, Vt maius est, voluntatem Domini facere, quàm nosse, ita prius est nosse, quàm facere. Illud Merito praecedit: Hoc ordine: As it is more, to doo the wil of our Lorde, then to knowe it: so the Knowlege of the same goeth before the Doo∣inge. In goodnesse, Dooinge goeth before: in order, Knowinge. Againe S. Augustine saithe, Si Scripturas Diuinas aut non legimus ipsi, aut legentes alios non libenter au∣dimus, ipsa nobis medicamenta conuertuntur in vulnera: & inde habebimus Iudicium, vnde potuimus habere remedium: If we either reade not the Scriptures our selues, or be not desirous to heare others reade them, then are our Medicines turned into vvoundes: and then, vvhere vvee mighte haue had remedie, vvee shal haue Iudgemente. Sutche saieinges are common, and ordinarie in S. Chry∣sostome. Thus he saithe,* 1.3 Librum Diuinum accipiat aliquis in manum: conuoca∣tis{que} proxìmìs, per Diuina eloquia riget & suam mentem, & conuenientium: vt sic Diabolicas insidias effugere valeamus: Let one of you take in hande the Holy Booke: and let him cal his Neighbours aboute him: and by the Heauenly vvoordes let him water, and refreashe bothe theire mindes,* 1.4 and also his owne. Againe he saithe, Poterimus & domi versantes, ante, & post Conuiuium, acceptis in manus Diuinis Libris, vtili∣tatem inde capere, & Spiritualem Cibum animae praebere. Beinge at home, we maie bothe before, and after Meate, take the Holy Bookes in hande, and thereof receiue greate profite,* 1.5 and Minister spiritual foode vnto our soule. And againe, Etiam domi va∣cemus Diuinarum Scripturarum Lectioni: Euen when wee be at home, let vs be∣stowe our time in readinge the Scriptures.