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No man can desyre better knowledge of hym then he sheweth of hym selfe in these wordes. For here he sheweth playnly that though to blere our yies wythall he calleth it the sacrament of Crystes body and blood, and his new and euerlasty••ge testament in hys bloode / and sayth that we be commaunded by saynt Poule therby to preche the lordes dethe: yet he wyl•• not in any wyse y• men shall praye therto
nor put any fayth therin. And it is no dowte but he y• hath [ A] that mynde, byleueth nothyng at all that it is the very body of Cryste, wherwyth hys holy soule is coupled, and hys al∣myghty godhed ioyned / from whyche fro ye fyrst assumpcyō therof it was neuer seueryd.
And therfore vnto all hys other gaye gloryouse wordes he hath a false glose / by whyche he meaneth that the blessed sacrament is nothynge els but a token & a fygure ordayned for a remembrauns of Cryste, and not the very body and bloode of hym selfe.
It is also to be noted whereuppon he groūdeth this holy precepte of hys, that men sholde not praye to the sacrament nor put any fayth therin. He sayth bycause that ye scrypture doth not commaunde it / therfore it is dyshonoure to the sa∣crament to do it. Doth not these wordes alone teche vs suf∣fycyently, [ B] to knowe the myscheyfe of that heresye / by whych they say that there is nothyng to be byleued without playn and euydent scrypture / when we se now y• Tyndale vppon that doctryne of hys, forbedeth vs to honour the holy sacra∣ment of the autre.
ye may se now yt Tyndale vttered not all his false ware at onys. For fyrst he bygan wyth ymages / then wyth rely∣ques, then wyth sayntes, that we maye wurshyppe none of all these. And now at laste he techeth vs that we maye not worshyppe Crystes owne body in the blessed sacrament of the autre, nor put any fayth therin. Put ye no dowte but he wyll saye the same by hys soule within a whyle, & sone after that by hys godhed to / and at the laste by the godhed of the father and the holy ghoste bothe, and vttrely deny all thre. [ C]
God is good lorde whyche maketh thys blasphemouse fole speke in the ende of hys blasphemy a few trew wordes, wyth whyche hym selfe destroyeth all hys whole abomyna∣ble doctryne. For he cōfesseth as ye haue herd / that though he maye not byleue in Crystes chyrche, as though ye chyrche were hys sauyour: yet he muste byleue Crystes chyrch / that the doctryne which they preche of Cryste is trew. And with these wordes of hys owne, will I strayne hym faste & sure. For I aske no more but these few wordes of his owne, to ye confoundyng of all that euer he techeth agaynst our fayth. For now hath he wyth these wordes destroyed theffecte of hys heresye / wherwyth he wolde draw all to an vnknowen chyrche of electes. For syth we muste byleue the doctryne &
[ A] the prechyng of ye chyrche of Cryste, as Tyndale sayth hym selfe, and that can we neuer do but yf we know them whom we byleue / and who be electys we can not knowe: farewell the force of all that heresye by Tyndales owne tale.
And now syth he hath bounden hym selfe to confesse that the chyrche of Cryst is & muste nedys be a chyrche knowen here to men, and none suche can he name but onely the ca∣tholyke knowen chyrche of all Crysten nacyons, frō whych he hath and doth labour to flyt and fle vnto a darke unkno¦wen chyrche of electes / the strength of whyche heresye hys owne wordes here haue cōfounded: he must nedys confesse that Crystes chyrche is the chyrche that we be of, and out of whyche hym selfe is downe fallen by vnfaythfulnes in to ye depe dongeon of the deuyll. And now syth of hys owne con∣fessyon [ B] he must byleue the doctryne of the chyrch of Cryste / and of the same confessyon of hys owne it foloweth that the chyrche of Cryste is thys comon knowen chyrche, that hath from Crystes dayes hytherto contynued / and that it is euy∣dent also that by the doctryne of that chyrche the doctryne of Tyndale concernynge the blessed sacrament is false / for euer hath it ben by that chyrche of Cryste taught that the blessed sacrament shold be worshypped, and fayth to be put therin wherof Tyndale techeth ye contrary: it is ineuytably concluded vppon Tyndales owne wordes, that Tindale is agaynste Crystes owne blessed person, a dedly deuel••she heretyke.
Now syth ye playnely perceyue good crystē reders, that thys malycyouse man entendeth to tourne pore symple sou∣lys [ C] out of the very fayth / and of the .vii. holy sacramentes wolde take fyue awaye / and the other twayne that he wolde seme to leue, he handeleth yet in such wyse as men may well se that he leueth them as frutelesse as the other / and fynally in effecte beleueth neyther nother: there wyll no good man loke that we sholde now nede to proue these holy sacramen∣tes to be trew, which all crystē peple haue this .xv.C. yere be¦leued / bycause that now a fonde felow and a folyshe here∣tyque denyeth them / excepte that any man were so madde to dowte whyther there were any god at all, yf he happed to here any man so madde to say nay.
And surely there was neuer secte of heretyques yet, that there was so great madnes to beleue as these. For of other heretyques that haue bene of olde / euery secte had some one
heresye or ellys very few. Now these heretyques come in [ A] wyth almoste all that euer all they held and yet mo to. All the other heretyques hadde some pretexte of holynes in theyr lyuyng: these shamelesse heretiques lyue in opē sham¦full incestuouse lechery and call yt matrymony.
The olde heretyques dyd stykke vppon scrypture whē yt was yet in a manner new receyued / and they contended vp¦pon the vnderstandynge at such tyme as there had few crys¦ten wryters expowned the scrypture byfore them, so as they myght the better say to the catolyque chyrch, why may not we perceyue ye scrypture as well as you: but these new here¦tyques be so farre fro shame / that in the vnderstandynge of scrypture, and in the affyrmynge of all theyr heresyes / they wolde be byleued by theyr onely worde, agaynste all the old holy doctours that haue bene synnys the deth of Criste vn¦to [ B] this daye / and that in those roten heresyes to, whych they fynde condemned to the deuyll by the generall counsayles of all crystendome a thousande yere afore theyr dayes / and moost madde of all in denyeng the sacramentes whych they fynde receyued & byleued, vsed & honoured so clerely from the begynnynge / that neuer was there heretyque that durst for very shame so boldely barke agaynst them, tyll that now in these latter dayes the deuyll hath broke his chaynes, and of all extreme abomynacyon hathe set his poysoned barell a broche / frō ye dreggy draught wherof god kepe euery good crysten man, and such as hath dronkē therof geue thē grace to vomyte yt out agayne by tyme.
This longe dygressyon haue I made you / to lette you playnly se the sommary purpose and effecte of Tyndales do¦ctryne [ C] touchynge the holy sacramentes / whych knowen vn¦to good mēne suffyseth to make theyr hertes abhor••e his dy¦uelyshe doctryne wythout any ferther argumēt. And as for them that at the bare herynge therof abhorre yt not / they be surely so sore infected, that excepte the meruelouse mercy of god, neuer shall there eyther reason or authorite make them sauour the trouth.
But nowe that Tyndale hath commended vnto you the hygh spirytuall wysedome of vnfaythfull heretiques / he be¦gynneth on the tother syde to rebuke and reproue the trew fayth of all good faythfull people.