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LEt no man (saith the Apostle) trouble your conscience about meate & drink, or, in respect of an holy-day, or of the new Moone, or of the Sabboth dayes: vvhich are but shadowes of thinges to come: but the body is in Christ.
It is a good thing that the hart be stabli∣shed with grace, & not with meates, which
haue not profited them that haue been oc∣cupied therein.
For, the kingdome of God, is not meate nor drinke; but righteousnesse, and peace, and ioy in the holy Ghost.
For, whosoeuer in these thinges serueth Christ, is acceptable vnto God, & is com∣mended of men.
One beleeueth that he may eate al things, and another that is weake, eateth hearbs.
This man esteemeth one day aboue an∣other day, and another man counteth eue∣rie day alike.
Let not him that eateth, despise him that eateth not: and let not him vvhich eateth not, iudge him that eateth: for, God hath receiued him.
Let euery man [also] be fully perswaded in his minde, that hee which obserueth the day, obserueth it to the Lord: and hee that obserueth not the day, obserueth it not to the Lord. He that eateth, eateth to the lord, for he giueth God thanks: and he that ea∣teth not, eateth not to the lord, and giueth God thanks.
Meate maketh not vs acceptable to God. For, neither if we eate, are wee the better;
neither if we eate not, are we the worse.
VVhat-soeuer is solde in the Shambles, eate ye, & aske no question for conscience sake. For, the earth is the Lords, and all that therein is.
And, seeing that GOD hath created all things for the vse of man, & requireth no∣thing of vs but holinesse, what forceth hee whether vvee eate flesh of foure-footed beastes, or of fishes, or of Birds that flie? There is none of all these that eyther ma∣keth or marreth holinesse: neither putteth any thing to it, or taketh any thing from it.
The choyse of these things, and the put∣ting of difference betweene one and ano∣ther, may make a man superstitious, & to haue vaine religion in himselfe, but it can∣not make him holie. Christ taught no difference heerein: therefore it may bee counted great rashnes, if a wretched man, should goe about to burthen & charge any man with such ordinances. Let euery man eate what hee liketh, as his body requireth, so it be doone soberlie, & measurably; and for all thinges, let him giue thankes vnto God.
For, to beleeue that meates are euill, or causeth euill, or sinne to them that receiue them; it is the propertie, not of Christian men, but peculiarly of the Hierarchies, & Maniches, which were heretiques.
VVherefore, if yee be dead with Christ from the ordinaunces of the world, vvhy, as though yee liued in the world, are yee burdened with traditions? As, Touch not, Taste not, Handle not. Which all perrish with the vsing, & are after the commaun∣dements and doctrines of men.
VVhich things haue indeed a shewe of wisedome, in voluntarie religion & hum∣blenesse of minde, and in not sparing the body: neither haue they it in any estimati∣on to satisfie the flesh.
But] I know, & am perswaded through the Lord Iesus, that there is nothing vn∣cleane of it selfe: but vnto him that iudg∣eth any thing to be vncleane, to him it is vncleane.
Vnto the pure, all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing, is nothing pure: but euen theyr mindes and consciences are defiled.
Nowe the Spirit speaketh euidently, that in the latter times some shall depart from the fayth, and shall giue heede vnto spirits of errour, and doctrines of deuils: vvhich speake lyes through hypocrisie, and haue theyr consciences burned with an hote y∣ron; forbidding to marry, and commaun∣ding to abstaine from meates, which God hath created to be receiued vvith giuing thanks, of them which beleeue and knowe the truth.
For, euery creature of God is good, and nothing ought to be refused, if it be recei∣ued with thanksgiuing. For, it is sanctified by the word of God, and prayer.
Yee therefore beloued, seeing yee know these things before, beware; least ye be al∣so plucked away vvith the errour of the wicked, and fall from your owne stedfast∣nesse.
For, of this sort are they vvhich creepe into houses, and leade captiue simple wo∣men laden with sinnes, and led with diuers lusts. VVhich vvomen are euer learning, and are neuer able to come to the know∣ledge of the truth.
Colos. 2, 16, 17.
Heb, 13, 9,
Rom, 14, 17
verse, 18.
Rom, 14, 2,
Rom. 14, 5,
Rom, 14, 3,
Rom. 14, 5. 6.
1, Cor, 8, 8,
1, Cor, 10, 25, 26,
Erasmus.
Erasmus.
Augustine.
Colos. 2. 20. 21. 22,
Colos. 2. 23,
Rom. 14, 14
Titus. 1. 15.
1, Tim, 4, 1, 2. 3.
verse, 4, 5,
2. Pet. 3. 17,
2. Tim. 3. 6. 7.