And as for their waggynge of their fyngers over it, and sayenge syxe or seauē wordes in Latyn, helpeth them nothynge at all. For how can they beleue by the meanes of hys wordes, when they knowe not what he sayeth? And as towchynge the daylye and commō breade that I eate at my dynner, whether I haue a Preste or not, I blesse it with my harte (ād not with my fyngers) and hartely geue God thankes for it. For yf I haue an hundreth Prestes to blesse it, yet am not I excused therbye. For excepte I blesse yt my selfe, yt profyteth me no more then yf it were vnblessed. And I blesse yt my selfe, thā I care not what the Preste prate. For as longe as I vnderstonde hym not, yt profyteth me nothyng. But in good fayth I wene the Byshoppes and their proctoure wote not what a blessynge meaneth. Therfore deare bretherne harken to me. To blesse God, is to geue hym prayse ād thankes for hys benefyttes: |To blesse.| To blesse a Kynge or a Prynce, is to thanke hym for hys kyndenes, and to praye to God for hym, that he maye longe reygne to the laude of God and wealth of hys commons. To blesse a mās neyghboure, is to praye for hym and to do hym good. To blesse my breade or meate, is to geue God thankes for it. To blesse my selfe, is to geue God thākes for the greate benefyttes that I haue receyued of hym, and to praye God that of hys infynyte goodes he wyll increase those gyftes that he hath geuen me, and fynyshe hys worke which he hath begonne in me, vnto hys laude and prayse. And as towchynge thys fleshe, to fulfyll hys wyll in it, and not to spare yt, but scourge cutte ād burne it, onelye that it maye be to hys honoure & glorye. Thys is the forme of blessynge, and not to wagge two fyngers ouer them. But alacke, of this blessynge our Byshoppes be ignoraunte.
|More.| ❧ But as for those that are good & faythfull folke, and haue any grace or any sparcle of reason in their heades, wyll (I verely thynke) neuer be so farre overseane, as in thys artycle (the trouthe wherof God hath hym selfe testyfyed by as many opē myracles as euer he testyfyed any one) to beleue thys yonge man vpon hys baren reasons agaynste the faythe ād reasō both of all olde holy wryters ād all good Christen people thys xv.C. yeares.
|Fryth.| ¶ As for the myracles, I mervell not at them, neyther may they make me the sooner to beleue it. For Christe tolde vs before |Mat. 24.| that suche delusyons shulde come, that yf it were possyble, the very electe shulde be deceyued by them. |2. Tes, 2.| And S. Paule exorteth vs to be ware of such sygnes ād wōders. And therfore I do as Moses teacheth me |Deu. 13.| when I here of suche a wonder, then strayght I loke vpon the doctryne that is annexed wyth it. Yf it teache me to referre all the honoure to God and not to creatures, and teache me nothynge but that wyll stonde with Goddes worde, then wyll I saye, that it is of God. But yf it teache me suche thynges as wyll not stonde with hys worde, then wyll I determyne that it is done by the deuell, to delude the people with dampnable Idolatrye. When Paule and Barnabas preached at Lystra |Acte. 24.| and had done a myracle amonge them, the people ranne and wolde haue done sacryfyce vnto them. But the Apostles ranne amonge them and tare their clothes, cryenge vnto them, syrs what do you? We are euen corruptyble men as ye are, and preache vnto you, that you shulde leaue thys vayne superstycyon, ād worshyppe the leuynge God, which made heauē, earth, the see, and all that is in thē et c. Here the Apostles refused suche honour & worshyppe. And therfore I am sure they wolde not suffer their Images to haue it. Now when I see a myracle done at any Image, and perceyue that it bryngeth mē to the worshyppynge of it selfe, cōtrarye to the facte and doctryne of the Apostles, whiche wolde not receyue it them selues, I must neades conclude, that it is but a delusyon done by the deuell to deceyue vs, ād to brynge the wrath of God vpon vs. Euē so I saye of the sacramēt, syth the myracles that are don by it, do make mē thynke otherwyse thē scripture wyll, ād cause mē to worshyppe it: I doubte not but they are done by the deuell, to delude the peple. Thou wylt perauēture say, that god wyll hym to abuse the sacrament of hys bodye and bloode. Yes verelye, god wyll suffer yt, and doth suffer yt, to see whether we wyll be faythfull and abyde by hys worde or not. And mervell not therof, |Matt. 4.| for God suffered hym to take vppe the verye naturall bodye of his sonne Christ and set hym vpon a pynnacle of the temple. And after he toke hym vppe agayne, and ledde hym to ā exceadynge moūtayne. And therfore thynke not but that he hath more power over the sacramēt thē he had ouer christes owne bodye. And therfore when they tell me, lo here is Christ: lo there is Christ (as Christ prophecyed) lo, he is at thys aultre, lo, he is at that, I wyll not beleue them.
Neuerthelesse yf I shulde graunte that all the myracles whiche were done and ascrybed vnto the sacramente, were very true myracles and done of God hym selfe (as I doubt not but some of thē be true) yet there vpon yt doth not folowe that the Sacrament shulde be the verye naturall bodye of Christe. For we haue evydent storyes that certayne persones haue bene delyvered from bodelye dyseases through the sacrament of Baptyme. And yet the water is not the holye Gost nor the very thynge yt selfe wherof it is a sacramente. |Actes. 5.| The shadowe of Peter healed many. And yet was not that shadowe Peters owne parson. |Actu. 19.| We reade also that napkyns and hande kerchers were caryed from Paule vnto them that were sycke and possessed with vncleane spiretes and they receyued their health. And yet it were neuerthelesse madnes, to thynke that Paules bodye had bene actuallye or naturallye in those thynges. And therfore thys is but a verye weake reason, to Iudge by the myracles the presence of Christes bodye. And surelye you myght be ashamed to make so slender reasons. For God maye worke myracles through manye thynges which are not hys naturall bodye. And as towchynge the olde doctoures whome you fayne to make wyth you, & the trouth of your opynyon which you saye hath bene beleued of all good Christen people this xv. C. yeares, is suffycyently declared before, and proued to be but a poynte of your olde poetrye.
¶ Doctoure Barnes ded gracyouslye escape Master Mores handes.
|More.| And also Fryre Barnes, albeit that as ye wote well he is in many other thynges a brother of thys yonge mās secte: yet in this heresye he sore abhorreth hys heresye, or els he lyeth hym selfe. For at hys laste beynge here he wrote a letter to me. Wherin he wryteth that I laye that heresye wrōgfullye to hys charge. And sheweth hym selfe so sore greved therwith that he sayeth, he wyll in my reproche make a boke a gaynst me. Wherin he wyll professe and proteste hys faythe concernynge this blessed sacramente. But in the meane season it well contenteth me, that fryre Barnes beynge a man of more age, and more rype dyscrecyon, and a doctoure of dyuynyte, and in those thynges better learned then thys yonge man is, abhorreth thys yōge mannes heresye in thys poynte, as well as he lyketh hym in many other.
|Fryth.| ¶ The more your mastershyppe prayseth Doctoure Barnes, the worse men maye lyke your matter. For in many poyntes he doth condempne your dampnable doctryne, as in hys boke appeareth. And therfore yf suche credence must be geuē to hym, then moche the lesse wyll be geuen to you. But peraduenture you wyll saye, that he is to be beleued in this poynte, although he erre in other. Wherevnto I answere, that yf you wyll consent vnto hym, I wolde be well apayed and wyll promyse you to wryte no more in that matter. For in this we both agre, that it ought not to be worshypped, yea and (blessed be God) all the other whome you call heretyckes. And so both of vs do avoyde the Idolatrye which you with so greate daunger do daylye cōmytte. And therfor yf you folowe hys learnynge, then am I content that you dyssent from me. For lette it not be worshypped, ād thynke as yow wyll, for then is the parell paste. And syth we agre in thys poynte, doubte not but we shall soone agre in the resydue, ād admytte eche other for faythfull brothers. And where your mastershyppe sayeth, that he wrote you a letter protestynge that you laye that heresye wrongfully to hys charge, I thynke it was more wysdome for hym twyse to haue wryten to you, then ones to haue come hym selfe ād tell you of it. For it was playnelye tolde hym, that you had conspyred hys death, ād that notwithstondynge hys saue conduyte, you were mynded to haue murthered hym. And for that cause he was compelled both beynge here, to kepe hym selfe secretelye, and also preuylye to departe the realme.
¶ And blessed be God you haue suffycyentlye publyshed your purpose in your answere agaynste Wyllyan Tyndall, where you saye, that you myght laufullye haue burnte hym. Here men maye see how percyallye you are addycte to our prelates. And how prone ye were to fulfyll their pleasures contrarye to our Prynces prerogatyue royall. And thākes be to God which gaue you suche grace in the syght of our soveraygne, that he shortelye withdrewe your power. For els it is to be feared that you wolde further haue proceded agaynste hys graces prerogatyue, which thynge whether yt be treason or not, let other men defyne. But thys I dare saye, that it is prynted and publyshed to our Prynces greate dyshonoure. For what learned man maye in tyme to come truste to hys graces saue conduyte or come at hys graces instaunce or requeste, syth not onelye the spirytualte (which of their professyon resyste hys prerogatiue) but also a laye man promoted to suche preemynence by hys graces goodnes, dare presume so to depresse hys prerogatyue and not onelye to saye, but also to publyshe it in prente: that notwithstondynge hys graces saue conduyte, they myght laufullye haue burnte hym.
But here he wolde saye vnto me as he dothe in hys boke, that he had forfayted hys salue conduyte, ād therbye was fallē in to hys enemyes handes. Where vnto I answere, that thys your sayenge is but a vayne glose. For I my selfe ded reade the salue conduyte that came vnto him, which had but onelye thys one condycyon annexed vnto it, that if he came before the feaste of Christmas then nexte ensuynge, he shulde haue free lyberte to departe at hys pleasure. And thys condycyon I knowe was fulfylled. How shulde he than forfayte hys salue cōduyte? But master More hath learned of hys masters our Prelates (whose proctoure he is) to depresse our Prynces prerogatyue, that mē ought not to keape any promyse with heretyckes. And so hys salue cōduyte coulde not saue hym. As though the Kynges grace myght not admytte any man to go and come frelye into hys graces realme, but that he muste haue leaue of our prelates. For els they myght laye heresye agaynst the parson, and so sleye hym cōtrarye to the Kynges salue cōduyte, which thynge all wyse men do knowe to be preiudycyall to hys graces prerogatyue royall. And yet I am sure that of all the tyme of hys beynge here, you can not accuse hym of one cryme, albeit (vnto your shame) you saye that he had forfayted hys salue conduyte. These wordes had be verye extreame and worthy to haue bene loked vpon, although they had bene wryten by some presumptuous Prelate. But that a laye man so hyghlye promoted by hys Prynce, shulde speake them and also cause them openlye to be publyshed amonge hys graces comons, to deyecte the estymacyon of hys royall power, doth in my mynde, deserue correccyon. Notwithstondynge I leaue the iudgement and determynacyon, vnto the dyscrecyō of hys graces honourable counsell.
|More.| ❧ And as for that holy prayer that this devoute yōge man (as a newe Christe teacheth all hys congregacyon to make at the receyuynge of thys blessed sacrament) I wyll not geue the parynge of a peare, though it were moche better thē it is, pullynge away the true fayth (as he doth) frō the Sacrament. Howbeit hys prayer there is so devysed, penned, and paynted with laysure and studye, that I truste euery good Christen woman maketh a moche better prayer, at the tyme of her howsell, by faythfull affectyō & by Gods good inspyracyō sodēlye. Fryth is an vnmete master to teache vs what we shulde praye at the receyuynge of the blessed sacrament, whē he wyll not knowlege it as it is, but take Christes blessed body for no thynge but bare breade, & so lytle esteame the receyuyng of the blessed sacramēt, that he forsyth lytle whether it be blessed or not.