The vvhole workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn Frith, and Doct. Barnes, three worthy martyrs, and principall teachers of this Churche of England collected and compiled in one tome togither, beyng before scattered, [and] now in print here exhibited to the Church. To the prayse of God, and profite of all good Christian readers.

The second Chapter.

* 1.1In the second chapter, besides that it is vntrue this vse to haue bene euer since the tyme of the Apostles, he ma∣keth many sophisticall reasons about worshipping of saintes, reliques, and Images, & yet declareth not w^t what maner worship, but iuggleth with the terme in comune, as he doth with this worde church, and this worde fayth, when the wordes haue diuers signifi∣cations: for all faithes are not one ma∣ner fayth and so forth, and therefore he beguileth a mans vnderstanding. As if a man sayd, the boyes will was good * 1.2 to haue geuen his father a blow, and an other woulde inferre, that a good

will coulde be no sinne, and conclude that a man might lawfully smite hys father. Now is good will taken in one sence in the maior and in an other in y^• minor, to vse schollers termes, & ther∣fore the conclusion doth mocke a mās wit. Then disputeth he, the seruaunt is honoured for the masters sake, and what is done to the poore is done to Christ (as the popishe shall once feele for their so robbing them). And the xii. Apostles shall haue their seates & sitte and iudge with Christ (as shal all that here preach hym truely as they dyd) and Mary that powred the ointment on Christes head before hys passion, hath her memoriall, and therefore we ought to set candles before Images. First I aske hym by what rule hys ar∣gument holdeth. And secondarily I answere that the true worshipping of * 1.3 Saintes is their memoriall: to follow them as they did Christ. And that ho∣nour we geue them, and so do not ye papists, but folow the steppes of your father the Pope, as he doth the steppes of his father the deuill. And as for stic∣king vp of candles, I aunswere that God is a spirite, and in the spirit must be worshipped only. Faith to his pro∣mises, * 1.4 and loue to his lawes, and lon∣ging for the life that is in his sonne, are his due honour and seruice. All bodyly seruice must be referred vnto our sel∣ues, and not vnto the person of God immediatly. All outwarde thynges which we receaue of God are geuē vs. to take our partes with thankes, and to bestow the rest vppon our neygh∣bours. For God vseth no such thyn∣ges in his owne person, but created thē for to gene thē vs, that we shoulde thanke hym, and not to receaue them of vs, to thanke vs: for that were our praise and not his. Fasting, watching, * 1.5 wolward goyng, pilgrimage, and all bodely exercise must be referred vnto y^t taming of the fleshe onely. For as god deliteth not in y^• tast of meat, drinke, or in the sight of golde or siluer, no more doth he in my fast and such like, that I should referre them vnto hys person, to do him a pleasure withall. For God in himselfe is as good as he can be, & hath all the delectation that he cā haue. And the refore to wish that God were better then be is, or had more pleasure then he hath, is of a worldly imagina∣tion.

And all the spirites that be in heauē are in as good case as they can be, and haue all the delectation they can haue, and therefore to wishe them in better case or to studie to do them more plea∣sure then they haue, is fleshly mynded popishnes. The pleasure of them that be in heauen is, that we harken to god and keepe his commaundementes, * 1.6 which when we do, they haue all the pleasure that they can haue in vs. If in this life I suffer hell gladly, to win my brother to folow God, how much more if I were in heauen should I re∣ioyce that he so did? If in thys worlde when I haue neede of my neighbour, by the reason of myne infirmities, yet I seke nought of him, saue his wealth onely, what other thing should I seke of hym, if I were in heauen, where he can do me no seruice, nor I vse any pleasure that he can do me?

THe deuill desired to haue his ima∣ginations worshipped as God, & his popishe children desire the same, & compell men so to honour them, and of their deuelishe nature describe they both God and his Saintes. And ther∣fore * 1.7 I say, all such fleshly imaginati∣ons, as to fast the wensday in the wor∣ship of S. Iohn or of S. Katerine, or what Saint it be, or to fast Sayntes eues, or to go a pilgrimage vnto their images or to offer to them, to do them pleasure, thinkyng therby to obteyne their fauour and to make special adno∣cates of them, as a man would winne the fauour of an other with presentes and giftes, and thinking that if we did it not, they would be angry, are playne Idolatry & image seruice, for the saint deliteth in no such. And when thou stic¦kest vp a candle before the image, thou * 1.8 mightest with as good reason make an holow bely in the image and powre in meate and drincke. For as the Saint neither eateth nor drinketh, so hath he no bodyly eyes to delyte in the light of a candle.

An other is this, God geueth not the promises that are in Christ for bo∣dyly * 1.9 seruice, but of his mercy onely, vn to his owne glorie. Yea and of the fa∣thers goodnesse do all naturall childrē receaue. Aske a litle boy, who gaue him his gay coate, he aūswereth, his father. Aske him why, and he annswereth, be∣cause he is his father and loueth hym, and because he is his sonne. Aske hym whether his father loue hym, and he sayth yea. Aske him how he knoweth it and he sayth, because he geueth me this or that. Aske him whether he loue his father, he sayth yea. Aske him why,

he sayth, for his father loueth hym and geueth him all thing. Aske him why he worketh, he aunswereth, his father wil so haue it. Aske him why his father ge∣neth not such and such boyes coates to. Nay saith he, they be not his sonnes their fathers must geue them as mynt doth me. Go now ye Popish bond ser¦uauntes and receaue your reward for your false workes and robbe your bre∣thren and raigne ouer them with vio∣lence and cruell tyranny and make thē worship your pillars, polaxes images and hattes. And we will receaue of the * 1.10 mercyfull kyndnesse of our father and will serue our brethren freely, of very loue and wilbe their seruauntes & suf∣fer for their sakes. And there to our good deedes whiche we do vnto our neighbours neede, spryng out of our righteousnesse or iustifying, which is y^• forgeuenesse of our sinnes in Christes bloud, & of other righteousnesse know we not before God. And contrarywise your righteousnes or iustifying which standeth, as your fayth doth, with all wickednesse, springeth out of your ho∣ly workes which ye do to no man sre∣ly saue vnto paynted postes.

And when he alledgeth the sacrifices * 1.11 of the old law, I say they were Sacra∣mentes and preached vnto the people (as no doubt, our candels once were) and were no holy workes to be refer∣red vnto Gods person to obtaine hys fauour, and to iustifie the people, and that the people should do them for the workes selues. And when the people had lost the significations and looked on the holynesse of the dedes, to be iu∣stified thereby, they were image seruice and hateful to God and rebuked of the Prophetes, as it is to see throughout all the old Testament.

Then he iuggleth with a text of S. Paule Rom. xiiij. let euery man for his * 1.12 part abounde, one in this Idolatrie & an other in that: when the sense of the text is, let euery mā be sure of his own conscience, that he do nothyng, except he know well and his conscience serue him that it may be lawfully doue. But what care they to abuse Gods word & to wrest it vnto the contrary.

And in the last end, to vtter his excel lent blindnesse, he sayth, the wiseman Luther thinketh that if the gold were takē from the reliques, it would be ge∣uen vnto the poore immediatly, when he seeth the contrary, that they which haue their purses full wil geue y^• poore (if they geue ought) either an halfe pe∣ny or in his countrey the iiij. part of a farthyng. Now I aske M. Mores con∣science, * 1.13 seyng they haue no deuotion vnto the poore which are as Christes own person and for whom Christ hath suffered his passion that we should be kynd to them and whom to visite with our almes is Gods commaundement, with what minde do they offer so great treasure, to the garnishyng of shrines images & reliques? It is manifest that they which loue not Gods cōmaunde∣ment, can do nothing godly. Wherfore such offrynges come of a false fayth, so that they thinke thē better thē workes commauaded by God and beleue to be iustified therby. And therfore are they but image seruice.

And when he sayth, we might as well rebuke the powryng of the an∣noyntment * 1.14 on Christes head. Nay, Christ was thē mortall as well as we, and vsed such thynges as we do, and it refreshed his body. But and if thou woldest now poure such on his image to do him pleasure, I would rebuke it.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Worship∣ping.
• * 1.2

  Subtile suggling 〈◊〉〈◊〉 wordes.
• * 1.3

  True wor¦shipping of Saintes.
• * 1.4

  True wor∣shipping of God.
• * 1.5

  Bodely exercise.
• * 1.6

  They that are in hea∣uē do chief∣ly desire that we harken to God & do hys wyll.
• * 1.7

  All popishe imaginati∣ons are I dolatry.
• * 1.8

  Candle.
• * 1.9

  we receaue all thinges of God out father for Iesus Christes ••ake hys sonne and our onely Sauiour.
• * 1.10

  We must dot all thyuges of loue.
• * 1.11

  Sacrifices
• * 1.12

  Rom. 14.
• * 1.13

  A sure •…•…∣ken of a selfe fayth and •…•…¦seruice.
• * 1.14

  A disserēce betwene Christes naturall bo¦dy, and a paynted I∣mage.