The co[n]futacyon of Tyndales answere made by syr Thomas More knyght lorde chau[n]cellour of Englonde

More.

Here is but one argument, and that but shorte / but here be two lyes longe & lowde inough. For fyrst where he groū∣deth hym selfe vppon thys, That goddes holynesses stryue not one agaynst another, nor defyle one another: he sayeth playne false and agaynst holy scrypture quyte. For the be∣ryenge of dede men, euer was and is an holy dede and well alowed wyth god / and yet wolde he not suffer the bys••hoppe to bery any man, and though it were hys father. And also yf Tyndale wyll abyde by thys: eyther he muste say that per∣petuall vyrgynyte is nought and not holy, cōtrary to saynt Poule and our sauyour hym selfe, who take it and teche it for holy and preferre it before wedloke wyth hys w••rke / or

[ A] ellys he must say that wedlokke with hys worke is nought and not holy, whyche god hym selfe bothe blessed and com∣maunded in paradyse / and whyche holy scrypture commen¦deth, where it sayth that wedlokke is honorable where the bedde is vndefyled wyth auowtry. And then must he cōfesse also that hys owne mayster Marten Luther (yf the worke of wedlokke be fowle and synfull) hath synfully double de∣fyled hym selfe wyth weddynge of his nonne. Or elles fy∣nally muste he confesse hym selfe for a fole, in sayenge that goddys holynesse stryue not one agaynst another / but yf he saue hym selfe and saye, that perpetuall vyrgynite and the worke of wedlokke, be not repugnaunt the tone to y^• tother / and then he shall not nede to confesse hym sel••e a fole, for the hole worlde wyll confesse it for hym.

[ B] Now maketh he another ly / where he sayth that wedlok defyleth prestehed more then horedome, thefte, murder, or any synne agaynst nature. For yf he say this as of hym self / it is a folysshe lye. But yf he saye it as he doeth in the person of the catholyke chyrche, to make men byleue that y^e chyrche techeth so: then is it a very malycyouselye. For it is not trew, nor the chyrche techeth not so. For the chyrche playnly techeth that horedome, thefte, murder, and synne agaynste nature, coude neuer be lawfull neyther to preste nor lay mā. But the chyrche bothe knoweth and confesseth, that wedlok and prestehed be not repugnaunt but compatyble of theyr nature / and that wedded men haue ben made prestes and kepte styll theyr wyues. But syth perpetuall chastyte and y^• forberynge of the worke of wedlokke, is more acceptable to [ C] god then the worke of wedlokke in matrymony: therfore y^• chyrche taketh none to be prestes but suche as promyse and professe neuer to be maryed, but kepe perpetuall chastyte. And then doth maryage after y^• promyse made, not by reasō of the presthed taken vppon them, but by reason of the pro∣myse made vnto god and broken: defyle the preste, I wyll not dyspute whyther as mych as thefte, murder, or y^• synne agaynst nature / but I am sure as mych as horedome doth. For syth the maryage is no maryage / it is but horedome it selfe. And I am sure also that it defyleth the preste more then dowble and treble horedome / syth that hys maryage ••eynge as it is vnlawfull, and therby none other but hore∣dome, doth openly rebuke and shame two sacramētes there at ones, y^t is both presthed & matrimony / & besydes that not

onely commytteth horedom, but also sayth openly that he [ A] wyl lcommytte horedome / and as a bolde beste and a sha∣melesse whoremaster, playnely professeth afore the face of god and all crysten people, that in stede and dyspyght of his professed chastite, he cōmeth there to bynde hym self to sha∣melesse perpetuall horedom. And thus good crysten reders ye se, how well this wyse argument serueth hym.

And now putteth he after yt his great solemne questyon, where he fyndeth in scrypture that women may crysten chyl¦dren / whyche ioyneth to his wordes byfore, nere inough in the boke, but in reason as farre of as the scrypture that he layeth therfore, is farre of from y^e mater / as I haue touched before.

And surely thorow all his boke and almoste euery thyng that he maketh, sometyme the chapyters, sometyme the [ B] paragraphes and reasonynges wythin the chapyter, haue so euyll dependence one towarde a nother / that yt semeth y^• mater to be gathered by dyuerse folke / and as they come to hym in dyuerse papers, so he wythout order and at auēture patcheth in hys peces nothynge lyke to gether, wyth great sakke semys, and some seme rent bytwene. And in lykewise ioyneth he now the fynall clause of thys chapyter vnto the remanaunte / so that who so consyder what and how many thynges go betwene yt, and the thynge wheruppon he con¦cludeth yt / shall surely wene yt were a poysened stynkynge tayle of some stynkynge serpent that were quyte cutte of, & after layed a syde farte from the poysened body. For this is hys fynall clause and hys hole conclusyon.