Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to the Holy Scriptures

FORASMUCH as we be come to signs, we will speak a wora or two of the signs which God hath ordained; that is to say, of the sacraments which Christ left among us for our comfort, that we may walk in light and in truth, and in feeling of the power of God. For " he that walketh in the day stumbletb^ not;" when contrariwise he that walketh in the night stumbleth, John xi. And " they that walk in darkness wot not whither they go."

This word, sacrament, is as much to say as an holy sign, f T and represented alway some promise of God: as in the old | Testament God ordained that the rainbow should represent and signify unto all men an oath, that God sware to Noe and to all men after him, that he would no more drown the world through water.

The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

So the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ hath a promise annexed, which the priest should declare in the English tongue. " This is my body, that is broken for you." " This is my blood, that is shed for many, unto the forgiveness of sins." " This do in remembrance of me," saith Christ, Th? promise, Luke xxu. and 1 Cor. xi. If when thou seest the sacramenO j.reSth, or eatest his body, or drinkest his blood, thou have this proonSiyfiew.T. mise fast m thine heart, that his body was slain and his blood

shed for thy sins, and belicvest it, so art thou saved and justified thereby. If not, so helpeth it theo not, though thou hearest a thousand masses in a day, or though thou doest nothing else all thy life long than eat his body or drink his blood: no more than it should help thee, in a dead thirst, to | behold a bush at a tavern^door, if thou knewest not thereby that there were wine within to be sold,

BAPTISM hath also his word and promise, which the priest] ought to teach the people, and christen them in the English tongue; and not to play the popinjay with ' Credo say ye,' ' Volo say ye,' and ' Baptismum say ye; ' for there ought to be no mumming in such j, matter. The priest, before hej baptizeth, asketh, saying: ' Believest thou in God the Father Almighty, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, and that the congregation of Christ is holy? ' And they say, * Yea.' Then the priest upon this faith baptizeth the child in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, for the forgiveness of sins, as Peter saith, Acts ii. Acts u.

The washing without the word helpeth not: but through f the word it purifieth and cleanseth us: as thou readest, Eph. v. how Christ cleanseth the congregation in the foun- EPh. v. tain of water through the word. The word is the promise/ that God hath made. Now as a preacher, in preaching the|Howthe word of God, saveth the hearers that believe; so doth the W^ywashing, in that it preacheth and representeth unto us the promise that God hath made unto us in Christ. The washing preacheth unto us, that we are cleansed with Christ's bloodshedding; which was an offering, and a satisfaction, for the sin of all that repent and believe, consenting and submitting themselves unto the will of God. The plunging into the water significth that we die, and are buried with Christ, as concerning the old life of sin, which is Adam. And the pulling out again signifieth that we rise again with Christ in a new life, full of the Holy Ghost, which shall teach us and guide us, and work the will of God in us, as thou seest, Rom. vi.

MATRIMONY, or wedlock, is a state or a degree ordained of God, and an office wherein the husband serveth the wife, and the wife the husband. It was ordained for a remedy, and to increase the world; and for the man to help the woman, and the woman the man, with all love and kindness; Matrimony an(j not to signify any promise, that ever I heard or read of I

SfSfyany ^n ^6 scrip^ure- Therefore ought it not to be called a!

promise. sacrament. It hath a promise, that we sin not in that state, if a man receive his wife as a gift given to him of God, and the wife her husband likewise: as all manner meats and drinks have a promise that we sin not, if we use them measurably with thanksgiving. If they call matrimony a sacrament, because the scripture useth the similitude of matri mony to express the marriage, or wedlock, that is between us and Christ; (for as a woman, though she be never so poor, yet when she is married, is as rich as her husband; even so we, when we repent and believe the promises of God in Christ, though we be never so poor sinners, yet are as rich as Christ; all his merits are ours, with all that he hath;) if for that cause they call it a sacrament, so will I mustard-seed, leaven, a net, keys, bread, water, and a thousand other things1, which Christ and the prophets and all the scripture use, to

!£ hof°Cwh exPress tne kingdom of heaven and God's word withal. They ievderh7ve Praise wedlock with their mouth, and say, ' It is an holy thing,' as ^ ig verily; but had lever be sanctified with a whore, than to come within the sanctuary.

SUBDEACON, deacon, priest, bishop, cardinal, patriarch, and pope, be names of offices and service, or should be, and not sacraments. There is no promise coupled therewith. If they f minister their offices truly, it is a sign that Christ's Spirit is in them; if not, that the devil is in them. Are these all sacraments, or which one of them? Or what thing in them is that holy sign or sacrament? The shaving, or the anoint ing? What also is the promise that is signified thereby? But what word printeth in them that character, that spiritual °Jia™cterseal? 0 dreamers and natural beasts, without the seal of the Spirit of God; but sealed with the mark of the beast and with cankered consciences!

There is a word called in Latin sacerdos, in Greek hiereu-s, in Hebrew cohan, that is, a minister, an officer2, a sacrificer or a priest; as Aaron was a priest, and sacrificed for the people, and was a mediator between God and them. And in the English should it have had.some other name than priest3. But Antichrist hath deceived us with unknown and strange terms, to bring us into confusion and superstitious blindness. Of that manner is Christ a priest for ever; and all we priests through him, and need no more of any suchj priest on earth, to be a mean for us unto God4. For Christ!

senior, in English an elder, and is nothing but an officer to teach, and not to be a mediator between God and us. This/ needeth no anointing of man. They of the old Testament were anointed with oil, to signify the anointing of Christ, priests now and of us through Christ, with the Holy Ghost. Thiswise be anointed is no man priest, but he that is chosen; save as in time 01 W-T- necessity every person christeneth, so may every man teach his wife and household* and the wife her children. So in time of need, if I see my brother sin, I may between him and me rebuke him, and damn his deed by the law of God; and may also comfort them that are in despair, with the promises of God; and save them if they believe. The office of T^y & priest then, in the new Testament, understand w.rT.s ' nothing but an elder to teach the younger, and to bring them unto the full knowledge and understanding of Christ, and to minister the sacraments which Christ ordained2, which is also=j nothing but to preach Christ's promises./ And by them that give all their study to quench the lighFof truth, and to hold the people in darkness, understand the disciples of Satan and messengers of antichrist, whatsoever names they have, or whatsoever they call themselves. And as concerning that our spiritualty (as they will be called) make themselves holier than the lay-people, and take so great lands and goods to at a11- w- Tpray for them, and promise them pardons and forgiveness of sins, or absolution, without preaching of Christ's promises, [it] is falsehood, and the working of antichrist; and (as I have said) the ravening of those wolves which Paul (Acts xx.) prophesied should come after his departing, not sparing the flock. Their doctrine is that merchandise whereof Peter speaketh, saying: " Through covetousness shall they with feigned words 2 Pet H. make merchandise of you." 2 Pet. ii. And their reasons, wherewith they prove their doctrine, are (as saith Paul 1 Tim. vi.) " Superfluous disputings, arguings or brawlings of men with JJyj corrupt minds, and destitute of truth, which think that lucre w!ir?uit8' is godliness." But Christ saith, Matt. vii. " By their fruits Matt Vu. shalt thou know them;" that is, by their filthy covetousness, and shameless ambition, and drunken desire of honour, con trary unto the ensample and doctrine of Christ and of his apostles. Christ said to Peter, the last chapter of John: "Feed my sheep:" and not, ' Shear thy flock.' And Peter joim xxi. saith, (1 Pet. v.) " Not being lords over the parishens3." But i Pet. v. these shear, and are become lords. Paul saith, 2 Cor. ii. " Not that we be lords over your faith:" but these will be2Cor. i. lords; and compel us to believe whatsoever they lust, without any witness of scripture, yea, clean contrary to the scripture; when the open text rebuketh it. Paul saith, " It is better to give, than to receive," Acts xx.; but these do nothing in the world but lay snares to catch and receive whatsoever cometh, as it were the gaping mouth of hell. And 2 Cor. xii., " I seek not yours, but you:" but these seek not you to Christ, but yours to themselves; and therefore, lest their deeds should be rebuked, will not come at the light.

Nevertheless the truth is, that we are all equally beloved in Christ, and God hath sworn to all indifferently. According, therefore, as every man believeth God's promises, longeth for them, and is diligent to pray unto God to fulfil them, so is his prayer heard; and as good is the prayer of a cobbler as of a cardinal, and of a butcher as of a bishop; and the blessing of a baker that knoweth the truth is as good as the what biess- blessing of our most holy father the pope. And by blessing un(jerstand no£ faQ waggjng of the pope's or bishop's hand over thine head, but prayer; as when we say, ' God make thee a good man,' ' Christ put his Spirit in thee,' or ' Give thee grace and power to walk in the truth, and to follow his commandments,' &c.: as Rebecca's friends blessed her when

Gen. xxiv. she departed, (Gen. xxiv.) saying, " Thou art our sister: grow unto thousand thousands, and thy seed possess the gates of their enemies:" and as Isaac blessed Jacob, (Gen. xxvii.)

Gen. xxvii. saying, " God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fat ness of the earth, abundance of corn, wine and oil," &c.: and, (Gen. xxviii.) " Almighty God bless thee, and make thee grow, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a great multitude of people, and give to thee and to thy seed after thee the blessings of Abraham; that thou mayest possess the land wherein thou art a stranger, which he promised to thy grandfather:" and such like.

Last of all, one singular doubt they have: what maketh the priest; the anointing, or putting on of the hands, or what other ceremony, or what words? About which they brawl and scold, one ready to tear out another's throat. One saith this, and another that; but they cannot agree. Neither can any of them make so strong a reason which another cannot improve1: for they are all out of the way, and without the Spirit of God, to judge spiritual things. Howbeit to this I answer, that when Christ called twelve up into the mountain, and chose them, then immediately, without any anointing or ceremony, were they his apostles; that is to wit, ministers chosen to be sent to preach his testament unto all the whole world. And after the resurrection, when he had opened their wits, and given them knowledge, to understand the secrets of his testament, and how to bind and loose, and what he would have them to do in all things; then he sent them forth with t1 Disprove, or find fault with.]

a commandment to preach, and bind the unbelieving that continue in sin, and to loose the believing that repent. And The com- that commandment, or charge, made them bishops, priests, maketh, popes, and all thing. If they say that Christ made them w. T. priests at his maundy, or last supper, when he said, "Do this in the remembrance of me;" I answer, Though the apostles wist not then what he meant, yet I will not strive nor say thereagainst. Neverthelater the commandment and the charge, which he gave them, made them priests.

And, Acts the first, when Matthias was chosen by lot, it Acts L is not to be doubted but that the apostles, after their common manner, prayed for him, that God would give him grace to minister his office truly; and put their hands on him, and exhorted him, and gave him charge to be diligent and faith ful; and then was he as great as the best. And, Acts vi. when the disciples that believed had chosen six deacons to Acts vi. minister to the widows, the apostles prayed and put their hands on them, and admitted them without more ado. Their Putting on putting on of hands was not after the manner of the dumb w. T" s' blessing of our holy bishops, with two fingers; but they spake unto them, and told them their duty, and gave them a charge, and warned them to be faithful in the Lord's business: as we choose temporal officers, and read their duty to them, and they promise to be faithful ministers, and then are admitted. Neither is there any other manner or ceremony at all re quired in making of our spiritual officers, than to choose an able person, and then to rehearse him his duty, and give him his charge, and so to put him in his room2. And as for that other solemn doubt, as they call it, Whether Judas was a priest or no? I care not what he then was; but of this I whatiudas am sure, that he is now not only priest, but also bishop, car dinal, and pope.

PENANCE is a word of their own forging, to deceive us withal1, as many others are. In the scripture we find pcenitentia, "repentance:" ayite poenitentiam, "do repent;'7 poeniteat vos, " let it repent you:" tnetanoyte, in Greek, "for- A point of, think ye," or "let it forthink you2." Of repentance they have made penance, to blind the people, and to make them think that they must take pains, and do some holy deeds, to make satisfaction for their sins; namely such as they enjoin them. As thou mayest see in the chronicles, when greaF kings and tyrants (which with violence of sword conquered other kings'" lands, and slew all that came to hand) came to themselves, and had conscience of their wicked deeds; then the bishops coupled them, not to Christ, but unto the pope, and preached the pope unto them; and made them to submit themselves, and also their realms, unto the holy father the pope, and to take penance, as they call it; that is to say, such injunctions as the pope and bishops would command them to do, to build abbeys, to endote them with livelihood, to be prayed for for ever; and to give them exemptions and privilege and licence to do what they lust unpunished. x