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There is an Euangelicall Confes∣siō,* 1.1 as Christ sayth in Mat. yf thy bro∣ther trespace agaynst the. Go and tell hym hys faute betwene hym and the alone, yf he heare the, Thou hast won¦ne thy brother. But yf he heare the not, then take yet with the one
or two, that in the mouthe of two or thre witnesses, all thinges maye be sta¦blyshed. Yf he heare not them, tell it vnto the congregacion. Yf he heare not the congregacion, take hym as an heathen man, and as a publican. That was an open Confession.* 1.2 Thus sayth S. Paule, Agaynst an elder receyue none accusation, but vnder two or thre witnesses.
At that tyme were the open crymes and blasphemyes hearde and exami∣ned, with wetnesses and accusers, vn∣till the tyme, that suche as were giltie were knowen and reproued. And this Confessiō, hath ben kepte by the lawe of God, of the twelue Apostles, and of their successours and of this confes¦sion muste the fathers be vnderstan∣de, as Augustyne, Ambrose, Ierome, Gregory. But the confession whiche is done secretely in the eare, is not grounded in the scripture. I do not re∣iecte it, but it greueth me, that it is co∣me to suche abomination and compul¦sion, that men be dryuen and compel∣led there to agaynst their wille, & are
betrayed, where by they come in ha∣zarde of their lyues. Itē maketh euill entangled desperate consciences.
Matth. xviij.
i, Tim. v