William Tyndale other wise called William Hychins vnto the Reader.

GRace / peace and increase
of knowleage in oure
lorde Iesus Christ be
with ye Reader and with
all that call on ye name
of the lorde vnfaynedly
and with a pure co~science
Amen.
Lat it not make the dispeare nether yet discorage
ye o Reader / that it is forbeden the in
payne of lyfe and goodes or that it is made
breakinge of the kynges peace or treason
vnto his hynes to reade the worde of thy soules
health. But moch rather be bolde in
the lorde & co~forte thy soule. For as moch as
thou art sure and hast an evidente token thorow
soch persecucion that it is the true worde
of God. Which worde is ever hated of ye
worlde / nether was ever without persecucio~
as thou seist in all the stories of ye bible both
of the new testamente and also of the olde
nether can be / no moare then the sonne
can be without his lyghte. And for as
moch as contrary wise thou art sure that the
Popes doctrine is not of God which as thou
seist is so agreable vnto ye worlde / and is
so receaved of the worlde or which rather so

A. ij

receaveth the worlde and the pleasures of
the worlde / and seketh no thinge but the
possessions of the worlde / and auctorite in
the worlde / and to beare a rule in ye worlde /
and persecuteth ye worde of God / and with
all wilynes driveth the people from it / and
with false and sophisticall reasons maketh
the~ aferde of it: yee curseth them and excomunicateth
them / and bringeth them in
belefe that they be damned / if they loke on
it / and that it is but doctrine to deceave
men / and moveth the blynde powers of ye
worlde to sley with fyre / water & swerde all
that cleve vnto it. For the worlde loveth yt
which is his / and hateth that which is
chosen out of the worlde to sarve God in ye
sprite. As Christ sayeth to his disciples
Ioha~nis. xv. Yf ye were of the worlde / the
worlde wolde love his awne.
But I have
chosen you out of the worlde and therfore
the worlde hateth you. A nother confort
hast thou / that as the weake powers of the
worlde defende the doctrine of the worlde
so the myghty powere of God defendeth
the doctrine of God. Which thinge thou
shalt evide~tly perceave / yf thou call to mynde
ye wonderfull deades which God hath
ever wrought for his worde in extreme
necessite sens the worlde began beyounde
all mans reason. Which are written as
saith Paul Romanorum. xv. for oure lerninge a~d not for oure deceavinge that we thorow
pacience / and conforte of the scripture
myght have hope. The nature of Gods
worde is to fyght age~st ypocrites. It
began at Abell and hath euer sens co~tinued
and shall / I doute not / vntyll the last
daye. And the ypocrites have allwaye the
worlde on their sydes / as thou seist in tyme
of Christe. They had the elders / that is
to were the rulers of the Iewes / on their
syde. They had Pilate and the emperours
power on their syde. They had Herode also
on their syde. Moare over they brought
all their worldly wisdome to passe and all
yt they coulde thinke or imagen to serve for
their purpose. Fyrst to feare the people with
all / they excomunicated all that beleved
in him / and put them out of the temple / as
thou seist Iohn. ix. Secondly they founde
the meanes to haue him condemned by the
Emperours power and made it treason to
Ceser to beleve in him. Thridly they obteyned
to have him ha~ged as a thefe or a mortherer /
which after their bely wisdome
was a cause above all causes / that no man
shulde beleve in him. For the Iewes take it
for a sure token of everlastinge damnacion
yf a man be hanged. For it is written in their
lawe. Deuteromion. xxj. cursed is whosoever
hangeth on tree. Moyses also in ye
same place commaundeth / yf any man be

A. iij.

hanged / to take him downe the same daye
and bury hym / for feare of pollutinge or
defylinge the contrey / that is / lest they shulde
bringe the wrath and curse of God apon
them. And therfore the weked Iewes them
selves / which with so venoumous hate persecuted
the doctrine of Christ and did all the
shame that they coulde doo vnto him though
they wolde fayne have had Christe to hange
still on the crosse and there to rotte / as
he shulde have done by the Emperours lawe /
yet for feare of defylinge their sabboth
and of bringinge the wrath and curse of god
apon them bedgett of Pylate to take hym
downe. Iohn. xix. Which was agenst them
selves. Fynally when they had done all they
coulde and that they thought sufficiente /
and when Christ was in the herte of the
erth and so many bylles and pollaxes aboute
hym / to kepe hym downe / a~d when it was
past ma~s helpe: then holpe God. When ma~
coulde not bri~ge him agayne / Gods trueth
fette hym agayne. The othe yt God had sworne
to Abraham / to David and to other holy
fathers and prophetes reysed hym vppe
agayn / to blesse a~d to save all that beleve in
hym. Thus became the wisdome of the ypocrites
folishnes. Loo this was writte~ for thy
lerninge and comforte.
How wonderfully ware the chylderne of
Israel locked in Egipte? In what tribulacion /
combraunce and aduersite were they in?
The lo~de also that was promised the~ / was
ferre of and full of greate cities walled with
hie walles vppe to the skye and enhabited
with greate geauntes. Yet Gods trueth brought
the~ out of Egipte & pla~ted the~ in the la~de
of the geauntes. This was also writte~ for
oure lerninge / For their is no power age~st
Gods nether any wisdom age~st gods wisdo~ /
he is stro~ger & wiser the~ all his enimyes
What holpe it Pharao to drou~de ye me~ childerne ?
So litle / I feare not / shal it at ye last helpe
ye Pope & his bisshappes to burne oure
men childerne which manfully confesse that
Iesus is ye lorde and that there is no nother
name geven vnto men to be saved by /
as Peter testifieth Actes in the. iiij. chapter.
Who dryed vp the redd see? Who slew Golias?
Who did all those wonderfull deades
which thou readest in the byble? Who delyuered
the Israelites evermore from thraldome
and bondage / as sone as they repented
and turned to God? fayth veryly and Gods
trueth and the trust in the promyses which
he had made. Reade the. xj chapter to the
Hebrues for thy consolacion.
When the childerne of Israell were ready
to dispeare for the greatnes and ye multitude
of the Geauntes / Moyses conforted
them ever sayenge. Remembre what youre lorde God hath done for you in
Egipte / his wo~derfull plages / his miracles
his wo~ders / his myghty ha~de / his stretched
out arme / and what he hath done for
you hitherto. He shall distroye them / he
shall take their hertes from them and make
them feare and flee before you. He shall
storme them and stere vppe a tempest amonge
them and scater them and bringe
the~ to noughte. He hath sworne / he is true /
he will fulfill the promyses that he hath
made vnto Abraham / Isaac and Iacob
This is written for oure lerninge. For verely
he is a true God / and is oure God as
well as theirs / and his promyses are with
vs as well as with them / and he presente
with vs as well as he was with them. Iff
we aske we shall opteyne / yf we knocke he
will open / yf we seke we shall fynde / yf we
thurst / his trueth shall fulfill oure luste.
Christe is with vs vntyll the worldes ende
Matthew the last. Lat litleflocke beholde
therfore. For if God be on oure side: what
mater maketh it who be agenst vs / be they
bisshoppes / cardenals / popes or what so
ever names they will.
Marke this also / yf God sende the to
the see & promise to goo with ye and to bringe
the saffe to londe / he will reyse vp a te~pest
agenst the / to prove whether thou wilt
abyde by his worde / & that thou maist feale
thy faith and perceave his goodnes / For
if it were all wayes fayre wether and thou
never brought in to soch ieoperdy whence
his mercy only delyvered the / thy fayth
shulde be but a presompcio~ and thou shuldest
be ever vnthankefull to God and mercylesse
vnto thy neyboure.
Iff God promyse riches / ye waye therto
is pouerte. Whom he loueth him he chasteneth /
whom he exalteth / he casteth
downe / whom he saveth he da~neth fyrst.
He bringeth no man to heuen excepte he
sende him to hell fyrst. Iff he promise lyfe
he sleyeth fyrst / whe~ he byldeth / he casteth
all downe fyrst. He is no patcher / he can
not bylde on a nother mans foundacion.
He will not worke vntyll all be past remedy
and brought vnto soch a case / that men
may se how that his hande / his power / his
mercy / his goodnes and trueth hath wrought
all to gether. He will let no man be
partetaker with him of his prayse and glorie.
His workes are wonderfull and contrary
vnto ma~s workes. Who ever save he
delyvered his awne sonne / his only sonne /
his dere sonne vnto the deeth and that for
his enimies sake / to winne his enimie / to overcome
him with love / that he myght se love
and loue agayne and of love to doo lyke
wise to other men / and to overcome the~ with
well doinge:
Ioseph sawe ye sonne and the mone and

A. v.

xi. sterres worshepinge him. Neverthelesse
yer that came to passe / God layed him where
he coulde nether se sonne ner mone nether
any starre of the skye / and that many yeres
and also vndeserved / to nurtoure him / to
humble / to meke and to teach him Gods
wayes / and to make him apte and mete for
the rowine and honoure agenst he came to it
that he might perceave and feale that it came
of God / and that he myghte be stronge
in the sprite to mynister it Godly.
He promysed the childerne of Israell a
londe with rivers of mylke and hony. But
brought them for the space of fourty yeres
in to a londe where not only ryvers of mylke
and hony were not / but where so moch as
a droppe of water was not / to nurtoure them
and to teach them as a father doeth his
sonne / and to doo them good at the later ende /
and that they myght be stronge in there
sprite and soules to vse his giftes and benefites
Godly and after his will.
He promysed David a kyngdome and
immediatly stered vp kynge Saul agenst
hym / to persecute him / to hunt hym as me~
doo hares with grehoundes & to feret hi~
out of every hole & yt for ye space of many yeres
to tame him / to meke hi~ / to kyll his lustes
to make hym feale other mens diseases / to
make hym mercyfull / to make hym vnderstonde
that he was made kynge to mynister
and to serve his bretherne and that he shuld
not thinke that his subiectes were made
to mynister vnto his lustes / and that it were
lawfull for hym to take awaye from them
lyfe and goodes at his pleasure.
O that our kynges were so nurtered now
adayes / which oure holy bysshopes teach
of a ferre other maner sayenge / your grace
shal take his pleasure: ye take what pleasure
ye lust / spare nothinge. We shal dispe~ce
with you: we have power / we ar gods vicars.
And lat vs alone with the realme. We
shal take payne for you & se yt nothinge be
well. your grace shal but defe~de ye fayth o~ly
Lat vs therfore loke dilligently where vnto
we are called / that we disceave not oure
selves. We are called / not to dispute
as the Popes disciples doo / but to dye
with Christe that we maye lyve with hym /
and to sofre with hym that we maye regne
with hym. We be called vnto a ki~gdome
that must be wonne with sofringe
only / as a seke ma~ winneth health. God
is he that doeth all thinge for vs & fyghteth
for vs & we doo but sofre o~ly. Christ sayth
Ioh. xx. As my father sent me / so sende
I you. & Ioh. xv. Yf they persecute me
then shall they persecute you. And Mat.
x. saith Christe. I sende you forth as shepe
amonge wolves. The shepe fyght not:
but the sheparde fyghteth for the~ and careth
for them. Be harmeles as doves therfore
/ saith Christ / and wise as serpentes.
The doves imagen no defence ner seke to
avenge them selves. The serpentes wisdome
is to kepe hys heed and those partes
wherin his lyfe resteth. Christ is oure heed
& Gods worde is that wheri~ oure life resteth
To cleve therfore fast vnto Christ and vnto
those promyses which God hath made
vs for his sake is oure wisdome. Beware
of men saith he for they shall delyver you
vp vnto their councels and shall scourge
you. And ye shall be brought before rulars
and kynges for my sake. The brother shall
betraye or delyver the brother to deeth and
the father the sonne. And ye childerne shall
rise agenst father and mother / and put
them to deeth. Here what Christ saith moare.
The disciple is not greater the~ his master
nether the servaunte greater or better
the~ his lorde.
Yf they have called the goodman
of the house Beelzebub / how moch
rather shall they call his housholde sarvauntes
so? And Luke. xiiij. saith Christ. Which
of you desposed to bylde a toure / sitteth
not downe fyrst and counteth the cost
whether he have sufficie~te to performe it?
lest when he hath layed the fundacion and
then not able to performe it / all that beholde
beginne to mocke him saye~ge / this ma~
began to bylde and was not able to make

10

an ende. So lyke wise none of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath can be my disciple.
Whosoever therfore casteth not this afore
hande. I must ieoperde lyfe / goodes honoure /
worshepe and all that ther is for Christes
sake / disceaveth him selfe and maketh a
mocke of him selfe vnto the godlesse ypocrites
and infidels. No man can serve two masters
God and ma~mon / that is to saye / weked
riches also Mathe. vj. Thou must love
christ above all thinge. But that doest thou
not yf thou be not ready to forsake all for his
sake / yf thou have forsake all for his sake /
the~ art thou suer that thou lovest him. Tribulacion
is oure righte baptim and is signified
by plunginge in to the water / we that
are baptised in the name of Christe saith
Paul Ro. vj. are baptised to dye with hym

Christ saith that there shall come false
prophetes in his name and saye that they
them selves are Christe / that ys / they shall so
preach Christe that men must beleve in them
in their holines and thinges of their imaginacion
without Gods worde: yee
and that agenst Christ or Antichriste that
shall come is no thinge but soch false prophetes
that shall iuggle / with the scripture
and begile the people with false interpretacions
as all the false prophetes / scribes a~d
pharises did in ye old testame~te. How shal
I knowe whether ye are that agenste christe
or false prophetes or no / seinge ye will not
let me se how ye allege the scriptures? Christ
saith: By their deades ye shall know them.
Now when we loke on youre deades / we se
that ye are all sworne to gether and have separated
youre selves from the laye people / &
have a severall ki~gdome amo~ge youre selves
and severall lawes of youre awne makynge /
where with ye violently bynde the laye
people that never co~fented vnto the makynge
of the~. A thowsande thynges forbydde
ye which christ made free / and dispe~se with
them agayne for money. Nether is there any
excepcio~ at all / but lacke of money. Ye have
a secret councell by youre selves. All other
me~s councels and secretes knowe ye and no
ma~ yours. ye seke but honoure / ryches / promocio~ /
auctorite and to regne over all / and
will obeye no ma~. Yf the father geve you ought
of curtesie / ye will compell the sonne to
geve it viole~tly whether he will or not by craft
of youre awne lawes. These deades are
agenst Christ. When an hole parysh of vs
hyre a scolemaster to teach oure childerne /
what reason is it that we shulde be compelled
to paye this scolemaster his wages / a~d
he shulde have lycens to goo where he wyll
and to dwell in a nother contre and to leve
oure childerne on taught? Doeth not ye Pope
so? Have we not geven vp oure tythes of
curtesy vnto one for to teach vs Gods worde?
And cometh not the Pope and compelleth
vs to paye it violently to them that
never teach? Maketh he not one person
which cometh never at vs? yee one shall have
.v. or .vj. or as many as he can get and
wotteth oftentymes where never one of them
stondeth. A nother is made vicare / to
whome he geveth a dispensacion to goo
where he will and to set in a parish preste
which can but mynister a sorte of dome
cerimonies. And he because he hath most
laboure and leest profit polleth on his parte
and fetteth here a masse peny there a trentall /
yonder dirige money and for his beyderoule
with a confession peny and soch lyke.
And thus are we never taughte and are
yet neverthelesse compelled: ye compolde to
hyre many costly scolemasters. Thes deades
are veryly agenst Christ. Shall we therfore
iudge you by youre deades / as Christe
co~mau~deth? So are ye false prophetes a~d ye
disciples of Antichriste or of age~st Christe.
The sermons which thou readist in the
Actes of ye apostles & all yt the apostles preached
were no doute preached in the mother
to~ge. Why the~ mighte they not be writte~ in
the mother tonge? As yf one of vs preach a
good sermon why maye it not be written?
Saynt hierom also tra~slated the bible in to
his mother tonge. Why maye not we also?
They will saye it can not be translated in to
oure tonge it is so rude. It is not so rude as
they are false lyers. For the greke tonge agreeth
moare with the english then with the
latyne. And the propirties of the hebrue
tonge agreth a thousande tymes moare with
the english then with the latyne. The maner
of speakynge is both one so yt in a thousande
places thou neadest not but to tra~slate
it in to ye english worde for worde whe~
thou must seke a compasse in the latyne / and
yet shalt have moch worke to tra~slate it welfaveredly /
so that it have the same grace a~d
swetnesse / sence and pure vnderstandinge
with it in the latyne / as it hath in the hebrue.
A thousande partes better maye it be
translated in to the english then in to the
latyne. Yee and excepte my memory fayle
me and that I have forgotten what I rede
when I was a childe thou shalt fynd in
the englesh cronycle how that kynge Adelstone
caused the holy scripture to be tra~slated
in to the to~ge that then was in Englo~de
and how the prelates exhorted him there
vnto.

By this meanes then / thou wilt that no
man teach a nother / but that every man take
the scripture & lerne by hym selfe. Naye verely /
so saye I not. Never ye lesse / seinge that
ye will not teach / yf any man thyrste for the
trueth / & reade the scripture by hym selfe desyringe
God to open ye dore of knowlege vnto
hi~ / God for his truethes sake will & must
teach hym. How be it my meani~ge is yt as
a master teacheth his pre~tyse to knowe all ye
poyntes of the mete yarde / first how many
enches / how many fote & the halfe yarde / ye
quarter & the naile / & the~ teacheth hi~ to mete
other thinges therby: eve~ so will I that ye
teach the people Gods lawe / & what obedience
God requyreth of vs vnto father and
mother / master / lorde / ki~ge & all superiours /
and with what frendly love he co~maundeth
one to love a nother. And teach the~ to know
that naturall venome & byrth poyson which
moveth the very hertes of vs to rebelle agenste
the ordinaunces and will of God / and
prove that no man is righteous in the sight
of God / but that we are all damned by the
lawe. And then when thou hast meked them
and feared them with the lawe teach
them the testamente and promises which
God hath made vnto vs in Christe / & how
mercyfull and kynde he is / and how moch
he loveth vs in Christe. And teach them
the principles and the grounde of the fayth
and what the sacramentes signifye and then
shall the sprite worke with thy preachinge
and make them feale. So wolde it come
to passe / that as we know by naturall witte
what foloweth of a true principle of naturall
reason: even so by the principles of the
fayth and by the playne scriptures and by
the texte / shulde we iudge all mens exposicion
and all mens doctrine / and shulde receave
the best and refuse the worst. I wolde
have you to teach them also the propirties
and maner of speakinges of the scripture /
and how to expounde proverbes and
similitudes. And then if they goo abroade
and walke by the feldes and medowes
of all maner doctours and philosophers
they coulde catch no harme. They shulde
dyscerne the poyson from the hony a~d
bringe whome no thinge but that which is
holsome.

C. ij.

But now do ye clene contrary. Ye dryve
them from Gods worde and will let no
man come there to / vntyll he have byn two
yeres master of arte. First they nosell them
in sophistry and in benefundatu~. And there
corrupte thei their iudgeme~tes with apparente
argume~tes and with alleginge vnto
them textes of logycke / of naturall philautia /
of methaphisick and morall philosophy
and of all maner bokes of Aristotle a~d
of all maner doctours which they yet never
sawe. Moare over one holdeth this a nother
that. One is a reall / a nother a nominall.
What wonderfull dreames have they of
their predicamentes / vniversales / seconde
intencions / quidities hecseities & relatives.
And whether species fundata in chimera be
vera~ species. And whether this proposicio~
be true non ens est aliquid. Whether ens be
equivo cum or vnivocu~. Ens is a voyce only
saye some. Ens is
vnivocum
saith a nother
and descendeth in to ens creatum and in to
ens increatum per modos intrinsecos. whe~
they have this wise brauled viij x. or. xij. or
moo yeres and after that their iudgementes
are vtterly corrupte: then they beginne their
Devinite. Not at the scripture: but every
man taketh a sondry doctoure / which doctours
are as sondry and as dyvers / the one
contrary vnto the other / as there are divers
facions and monstrous shappes /none lyke
a nother / amo~ge oure sectes of religio~. Every
religion / every vniversite & all most every
man hath asondry dyvinite. Now what
so ever opinio~s every ma~ fyndeth with his
doctoure / that is his Gospell and that only
is true with him and that holdeth he all his
lyfe longe / and every man to mayntene his
doctoure with all / corrupteth the scripture &
facioneth it after his awne imaginacion as
a Potter doeth his claye. Of what texte thou
provest hell / will a nother prove purgatory /
a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the
assumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother shall
prove of the same texte that an Ape hath a
tayle. And of what texte the graye frere proveth
yt oure lady was without originall sinne /
of the same shall the blacke frere prove yt
she was conceyved in originall synne. And
all this doo they with apare~te reasons with
false similitudes and likenesses / and with
argumentes and persuasions of mans wisdome.
Now there is no other divisio~ or heresy
in the worlde save mans wisdome and
when mans folish wisdome interpreteth ye
scripture. Mans wisdome scatereth / divideth
and maketh sectes / while the wisdome
of one is that a white Cote is best to sarve
God in / and a nother saith a blacke / a nother
a grey / nother a blew: And while one saith
that Gold will heare youre prayer in this
place / a nother saith in yt place: And while

C. iij.

one saith this place is holier / and a nother
that place is holier / and this religion
is holyer then that / and this saynte is greater
with God then that and an hundred
thousande lyke thinges. Mans wisdome
is playne ydolatry / nether is there any
other ydolatry then to imagine of God after
mans wisdome. God is not mans imaginacion /
but that only which he saith of
hym selfe. God is no thinge but his law
and his promyses / that is to saye / that which
he biddeth the doo and that which he
biddeth the beleve and hope. God is but
his worde: as Christ saith Iohn .viij. I am
that I saye vnto / that is to saye / that
which I preach am I. My wordes are spirite
and lyfe. God is that only which he testifieth
of hym selfe and to imagen any other
thinge of God then that / is damnable
ydolatry. Therfore saith the. cxviij. Psalme
happy are they which search ye testimonies
of the lorde / that is to saye / that which God
testifieth and witteneseth vnto vs. But how
shall I that doo when ye will not let me have
his testimonies or wittenesses in a tonge
which I vnderstonde? Will ye resist god
Will ye forbidde hym to geve his spirite
vnto the laye as well as vnto you? Hath he
not made the english tonge? Why forbidde
ye hym to speake in the english tonge then /
as well as in the latyne?
Fynally that this thretenynge and forbiddynge
the laye people to reade the scripture
is not for love of youre soules which
they care for as ye foxe doeth for ye gysse is
evide~te & clerer the~ the sonne / in as moch as
they permitte & sofre you to reade Robyn
hode & bevise of ha~pto~ / hercules / hector a~d
troylus with a tousande histories & fables
of love & wa~tones & of rybaudry as fylthy
as herte ca~ thinke / to corrupte ye myndes of
youth with all / clene co~trary to the doctrine
of christ & of his apostles. For Paul Ephes.
v. sayeth: Se that fornicacion and all vncleanness
or covetousnes be not once named amo~ge
you / as it becometh sayntes: nether fylthines /
nether folysh talkynge / nor gestinge
which are not comly.
For this ye know that
no whoremonger other vnclene person
or covetous persone which is the worsheper
of images hath any enheritance in the
kyngdome of Christ & of God. And after /
sayeth he / thorow soch thinges cometh the
wrath of God apon the childerne of vnbelefe.
Now seinge they permitte you frely to
reade those thinges which corrupte youre
mi~des & robbe you of ye kyngdome of god &
christe & brynge ye wrath of god apo~ you how
is this forbyddi~ge for love of youre soules?
A thousande reasons moo myght be made
as thou maist se in paraclesis Erasmi &
in his preface to ye paraphrasis of Mathew

C iiij.

onto which they shulde be compelled to
holde their peace or to geve shamfull
answares. But I hope that these
are sufficient vnto them
that thirst the trueth.
God for his mercy
and trouth
shall
well
open the~
moo: ye and
other secretes of his
Godly wisdome / yf they be
diligent to crye vnto him / which
grace graunte God. AMEN.