Almighty God lighten our hartes with the knowlage of his worde / and geue vs grace to expresse our dueties in our dedes

THough I well knowe not what
ye be that wrote vnto me / yet it
semeth / that the reuere~t feare of God
resteth in your harte / a~d that ye haue
a good opinio~ of me. And forasmuch
as ye so earnestly require mi iudgeme~t
whether ye maye laufully i~ outwarde
dedes and words resemble the papists
in com~itting Idolatrie at the prese~ce
of the Masse and other supersticious
churche seruice / so that ye reteyne the
true profession of Christ inwardly in
your harte: albeit this mater hathe be~
a~d is already sufficie~tly a~swered and
plainly determined of late by S. Petre
martyr in the treatise of Cohabitacio~ /
a~d in an other worke as I heare saie
of S. Ponet late Bishop of wynchestre/ wheri~
he reproueth Hill and Perresone with other
such like disse~blers a~d halti~g heretiks
of thes later dais / proui~g that no

A ij

christe~ ma~ maie or can at all one tyme
serue God truly with the harte / a~d the
deuil with to~gue and body / seing ther
is no drawing of cuttes nor parting
of stakes betwene Christe and Belial:
yet will I at your earnest request
ope~ vnto you also my faithe and minde
therin. For nature willeth / that a
man should gently shewe hym the right
waye that is out of it: and Goddes
worde commaundeth euery man
to loue his neighbour / and as muche
as in him lieth to procure and further
his wealthe a~d saluacion. And in
dede for myne owne parte I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ /
which I professe. For as S. Paule sayeth
it is the power of God vnto saluacio~
to euery one that beleueth. And
to thintent ye shall perceaue my iudgeme~t
herein not to be rashe / I bring
with me for a champion the most excelle~t
doctour S. Auste~ / who if he made
as muche against vs / as he dothe
for vs / should be rolled vp / that all
pulpittes /scholes / barbours shoppes
tauernes a~d warehouses should ryng
of him. Such is the practice of the Deuil
a~d his wordlings / to dissemble a~d
hyde all thinges that make against
the~ / a~d falsly to allege a~d racke pieces
of scripture and good me~nes myndes /
to seme as though they hade som shewe
of truthe for the~. This erroneous
opinio~ a~d very heresie of dissimulacio~
is not newe / nor yester daie spro~ge~ out
of the Hill and stone: but the papistes
haue of lo~g tyme e~braced it / a~d in ki~g
Edwardes daies practiced it / hauing
this general rule / which I wolde not
that ye or any honest ma~ should folowe.
Iura periura / secretu~ pa~dere noli.
That is in Englishe thus.
So thou doest not thy secretes vtter,
Sweare, and forsweare, it maketh no mater.
But this is an olde heresie newe scoured
at least of a thousaunt yeare olde
brought in / in. S. Austens tyme by a
certayn sorte of heretikes called Priscillianistes /
who taught that it was
no sin~e to ly with the lippes to on that
was not of their owne religio~ / so they
kept the truthe in their harte / alledgeing

A iij

this saye~g of Dauid in the psal.
lorde who shal dwel in thi tabernacle
&c. He that speaketh truth in his harte:
as though it were ynough u~to saluacio~
to speake the truthe in the hart /
though he lied neuer so ofte with the
lippes before him that were not / or at
least he toke not for his neighbour / a~d
therfore thi~ke these heretiks: wha~ S.
Paule saied / Laie~g aparte lye~g / speake
the truthe / he added these wordes:
euery one with his neighbour / to this
purpose / that it might be laufull to
speake a lye to any other that is not
our neighbour / that is / which dothe
not professe that religio~ that we doo.
S. Auste~ briefly answereth to these
and all suche like obiectiones what so
euer maye be made. If this opinio~ a~d
doctrine saieth S. Auste~ were fou~de
catholike and to be allowed / it disgraceth
and dishonoureth all the martyres /
and wipeth awaie all persecucion
and martirdome. For by their opinio~
the martirs hade done more godly
and more wisely / if they had not confessed
them selues to be christianes before
the tyrannes and persecutours /
neither hade they made them to be
murtherours / but with lieng and denyeng
the truthe / they should haue
saued their owne bodies / and not haue
suffred them to haue executed the
mischief thei had co~ceaued in their mi~ds.
For the tyra~nes and persecutours
were not the martyrs neighbours by
profession of Christes faithe / so that
they were not bounden to speake to
them the truthe with their lippes /
which they spake with the hart: but
they were the verre enemies of God
a~d the truth. If this wer tolerable a~d
good doctrine saieth S. Auste~ what
neded Petre to lament his si~ne so bitterly
after he hade denied Christ with
his mouthe? Thinke ye he did before
denie him with his harte: No / no sayeth
S. Auste~ he denyed not his maister
Christ with his hart but he lame~ted
for the punisheme~t that was towarde
him / that he had not professed
with his mouthe to saluacio~ / that he
beleued with the hart to iustificacio~.

A iiij

therfore the wordes of the prophet
Dauid are not so to be take~ / that a ma~
maie laufully lye with the mouthe / keping
the truthe in his harte. But it is
therfore spoke~ / bicause it maie be / that
a man maye speake that truthe with
the mouthe / which ca~ doo hi~ no good /
onles it procede fro~ the botome of the
harte: that is / if he beleue not that he
speaketh: as the auncient heretiks the
priscillianists a~d papists did for they
spake the truthe with the mouthe / as
others did / but thei beleued it not / nor
professed it in harte and as our hillistes /
petreson~istes a~d other newe heretikes
do at this present dissemble / lie~g
with lippes / a~d professing outwardly
that which i~ their hartes thei knowe to
be false and cleane co~trary to goddes
worde / bicause they wolde preserue
their substa~ce. And therfore neither
of them maye be accompted of the no~bre
of those that the prophet sayeth /
speake the truthe in their harte. A
true christen man as he professeth the
truthe in his harte / bicause he so beleueth /
so wil he do with the mouth speake
it to declare it. Agai~st this truthe
ther maye be no deceipt in mouth nor
hart / but he must beleue with the hart
to iustificacio~ / a~d make co~fessio~ with
the mouthe to saluacio~. For i~ the same
Psal. after these words / He that speaketh
the truthe with his harte / immediately
it foloweth. He that hathe not
done deceat i~ or with his to~gue. These
words the heretikes bicause thei mak
agai~st the~ vtterly leaue out. And the
other wordes of thapostle / layeng aparte
lie~g / speake the truthe euery ma~
with his neighbour they expou~de as
the Iewes doo their lawe / wher bicause
they be commaunded only to deale
plainly / a~d vse mercy with their brethren
and neighbours / they not only
thi~ke they maie / but also doo vse with
the christianes al subtiltie / deceat / gile /
and crueltie. But those wordes are
not so to be take~ /as though ther were
non other our neighbours / but suche
as be presently me~bres of the body of
Christ / and professe one religion and
faith with vs: but that we shoulde take

A v

euery man to be our neighbour /
whom we wolde haue hereafter to be
our neighbour / albeit he be not presently
our neighbour: as Christ did
declare the Samaritane to be neighbour
to the straunger with whom he
vsed mercy / and the straunger to the
Samaritane.
And therfore he ought to be taken
for our neigbour and no straunger /
whom we desire as we ought to
desire all men to professe Christ as
we do. And if bicause he is not yet of
our faithe / some misteries ought to
be kept from such a straunger / yet
we ought not therfore to speake vnto
him that which is false. For ther were
in thapostles tyme / that preached
Christ and the truthe not truly: that
is / not with a true minde and sincere
conscience / but of enuie / co~te~cion / and
with a corrupt mi~de: a~d yet they wer
suffred a~d allowed / but non co~me~ded
for speaki~g of an vntruthe with a safe
conscience. And thapostle saieth: Let
Christ be preached / whether it be by
occasio~ / or by truthe: but he saied not
let Christ be first denied / that after he
maye be preached. We maie not doo
euil / that good maie folowe: for if we
doo / our damnacion is iuste and certain.
But let vs turne the wordes / bicause
we haue folowed euil / let vs repent
and doo good / that we maye come
to saluacion. These heretikes allege
for them examples out of scripture.
As of the mydwyues of the Egipcianes /
who made a lye to Pharao
to saue the male children of the
Hebrewes / and therfore God blessed
them. Of Rahab / that made a
lye / to saue the two Israelites. If
Iehu / who fayned him selfe the Seruaunt
of Baal / bicause he wolde
destroie the priestes of Baal. And
of Naaman / that sayed to Eliseus
the Prophet. But herein the lorde
be mercifull to thy seruaunt.
For whan my maister goeth in to
the house of Remmon to worship
ther / he layneth on my hande / and
I must bowe wha~ he boweth. And so
many others. But these heretikes are
like Spyders / that sucke poyso~ out of
swete flowres / not like bees / that sucke
out the swete and profitable honye.
For the midwiues and Rahab were
not rewarded of God for their lieng /
but for the mercie they vsed towarde
the people of God. As for Iehu / he is
not in all scripture co~me~ded: no / scripture
saieth of him / that his harte was
not right before the Lorde. And the
scripture saieth not / that Naama~ hade
a dispensacio~ of the prophet. For if
the prophet wolde haue consented to
his request / he hade had no~ autoritie
to dispense with Goddes worde. The
dedes of au~cient fathers a~d others in
scripture are not writte~ / to thinte~t we
shoulde folowe the~ in euery thi~g / but
many euil thi~ges be declared of them /
to let vs knowe / that were they neuer
so holy / yet they were men / and might
a~d did fall: that knowi~g their a~d our
weakenesse / we should not trust i~ our
owne selues / or i~ our owne works / but
confessing our selues to be sinners / we
should call to God for mercie. To be
short / S. Auste~ concludeth / that for
no cause men maie lye or dissemble: a~d
specially i~ maters of religio~ they may
in no wise doo it. And that that is
thus spoken against liers and dissemblers /
maketh asmuche agai~st Idolatrie
and wicked doers. For in bothe of
the~ the hart and the outwarde senses
doo not agree. And this is a general
sentence in scripture without exception:
Thou hatest O God all those
that worke iniquitie / a~d shalt destroie
al those that speake lies. And Christ
also saieth: He that confesseth me before
me~ / I will confesse him before my
father which is in heaue~: and he that
denieth me before me~ / I wil denie him
before my father in heaue~. And agai~.
Wo be to hi~ by who~ slau~dre cometh.
And again. who so euer offendeth one
of these litle ones which beleue in me /
it were better for him / that a milstone
were hanged about his necke / a~d that
he were drowned in the depthe of the
sea.
Thus ye haue the iudgement of
Saint Austen in your question that
ye moued: with whom I agree and
consent / bicause I am sure / that this
doctrine dothe agree in euery parte
with the worde of God.
And therfore onles ye thinke your
selfe so sure / that ye are hable to abyde
what so euer crosse shalbe layed
vpon you for Christes sake / tempte
not God in lyngryng in that lande
of the lordes wrathe / but in tyme
come out of Egipte / least with your
ouerlong lyngryng and tempting
of God / he pull awaye his grace from
you / as a vssel not mete to kepe it /
and so leaue you to your self to your
final destrucion and eternal vndoyng.
Be not carefull for to morowe /
make not your good your God / as
they saye: let your worldly substaunce
be your seruaunt and not your
maister / and put your hole trust
in God.
I haue not sene the iuste forsaken
saieth the Prophet nor his sede
lacke sustenaunce.
Doo ye not see the foules of the
ayer saieth Christ who albeit they
sowe not / nor reape / neither carie in
to Barnes / yet lacke they not: for
your heauenly father fedeth them:
how muche more shall he prouyde
for you / O ye of litle faithe? Remembre
also that comfortable sayeng of
Christ: Who so euer shall forsake
houses or brethren or sisters / or father
or mother / or wife or children /
or landes for my names sake / the same
shall receaue an hundred folde in
this life / and after this life / life euer
lasting. God is no lyer / ne yet dissembler.
Of his mercie we haue the promyse:
of his veritie / the hope of enheritaunce:
of his iustice / the assuraunce:
and of his power / the full performau~ce.
We haue a playne experie~ced
exa~ple of the holy ma~ Iob / to whom
albeit God suffred Sata~ to plage hi~ /
yet did he make a ful restitucion and
recompe~ce for all. And therfore leaue
those fleshe pottes / come out of Egipte /
and serue God bothe with tongue
and harte / with saie~g a~d doing / with
the outwarde ma~ and inwarde man /
that your spirite and your soule and
your body maie be in euery parte perfitly
sounde as thapostle sayeth and
that ye maie with ioie loke for thappearing
of the great God and our saueour
Iesus Christ. For he haui~g made
the hole man / body and soule / to serue
him / wil not be conte~t to be serued
with the one parte / a~d the Deuil with
the other. Thou shalt worship the lorde
thy God / and serue him alone / saieth
Christ. He will haue all or none.
Therfore seing all co~moditie must be
hade at his ha~des bothe for body and
soule / let him haue all the vse of bothe
as his owne / and despere not of his
prouidence / which is the almighty
eternal God / blessed for euermore:
In who~ fare ye as hartily
wel / as I wolde
my selfe.