Part 1
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{Transcriber's note:
The spelling and word divisions are inconsistent throughout the original. No changes have been made, but some possible typographical errors are listed at the end of the etext.
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Several contractions are used in the original. - Vowels with a line over them, usually indicating an omitted m or n, are represented in this etext by ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. - The words "the" and "that" are often printed in the original as a y with a very small e or t over the top. These contractions are represented in this etext by "[the]" and "[that]". - The word "with" is sometimes printed in the original as a w followed by a superscript t. This contraction is represented in this etext by "[with]". - The word "thus" is once printed in the original as a y followed by a superscript s. This contraction is represented in this etext by "[thus]". }
¶ The prophete Ionas/ with an introducciō before teachinge to vnderstōde him and the right vse also of all the scripture/ and why it was written/ and what is therin to be sought/ and shewenge wherewith the scripture is locked vpp that he which readeth it/ can not vnderstōde it/ though he studie therin neuer so moch: and agayne with what keyes it is so opened/ that the reader can be stopped out with no sotilte or false doctrine of man/ from the true sense and vnderstondynge therof.
W. T. vn to the Christen reader.
As [the] ēvious Philistenes stopped [the] welles of Abraham ād filled them vpp with erth/ to put [the] memoriall out of mīde/ to [the] entent [that] they might chalenge [the] grounde: even so the fleshly mīded ypocrites stoppe vpp the vaynes of life which are in [the] scripture/ [with] the erth of theyr tradiciōs/ false similitudes & lienge allegories: & [that] of like zele/ to make [the] scripture theyr awne possessiō & marchaundice: and so shutt vpp the kingdome of heven which is Gods worde nether enterīge in thē selues nor soferinge them that wolde.
¶ The scripture hath a body with out/ ād within a soule/ sprite & life. It hath [with] out a barke/ a shell ād as it were an hard bone for [the] fleshly mynded to gnaw vppon. And within it hath pith/ cornell/ mary & all swetnesse for Gods electe which he hath chosen to geve them his spirite/ & to write his law & [the] faith of his sonne in their hertes.
¶ The scripture cōteyneth .iii. thīges in it first [the] law to cōdemne all flesh: secōdaryly [the] Gospell/ [that] is to saye/ promises of mercie for all [that] repent & knowlege their sinnes at the preachīge of [the] law & cōsent in their hertes that the law is good/ & submitte them selues to be scolers to lern to kepe the lawe & to lerne to beleue [the] mercie that is promised thē: & thridly the stories & liues of those scolars/ both what chaunces fortuned thē/ & also by what meanes their scolemaster taught thē and made them perfecte/ & how he tried the true from the false.
¶ When [the] ypocrites come to [the] lawe/ they put gloses to ād make no moare of it then of a worldly law which is satisfied with [the] outwarde worke and which a turke maye also fulfill. Whē yet Gods law never ceaseth to cōdemne a man vntill it be written in his herte and vntill he kepe it naturally without cōpulsion & all other respecte saue only of pure love to God and his neyboure/ as he naturally eateth whē he is an hongred/ without cōpulsiō & all other respecte/ saue to slake his hongre only.
¶ And whē they come to the Gospell/ there they mīgle their leuen & saye/ God now receaueth vs no moare to mercie/ but of mercie receaueth vs to penaunce/ that is to wete/ holy dedes [that] make them fatt belies & vs their captiues/ both in soule and body. And yet they fayne theyr Idole [the] Pope so mercifull/ [that] if thou make a litle money glister in his Balams eyes/ there is nether penaunce ner purgatory ner any fastīge at all but to fle to heven as swefte as a thought and at the twinkellynge of an eye.
¶ And the liues stories and gestes of men which are cōtayned in the bible/ they reade as thīges no moare perteynīge vn to thē/ then a take of Robī hode/ & as thīges they wott not wherto they serue/ saue to fayne false discāt & iuglinge allegories/ to stablish their kingdome with all. And one [the] chefest & fleshliest studie they have/ is to magnifie [the] sayntes aboue measure & aboue [the] trueth & with their poetrie to make them greater then euer God make them. And if they finde any infirmite or synne asscribed vn to [the] saintes/ that they excuse with all diligēce/ diminushīge the glorie of [the] mercie of God & robbinge wretched sinners of all theyr cōforte/ & thinke therby to flater the sayntes and to obtayne their fauoure & to make speciall aduocates of thē: even as a man wold obtayne [the] fauoure of wordely tirantes: as they also fayne the saintes moch moare cruell then ever was any heathē man & moare wrekefull and vengeable then [the] poetes faine their godes or their furies [that] torment [the] soules in hell/ if theyr euēs be not fasted & their images visited & saluted wyth a Pater noster (whych prayer only oure lippes be accoynted with oure hertes vnderstōdinge none at all) and worsheped [with] a candell & [the] offerīge of oure deuociō/ in [the] place which thei haue chosen to heare [the] supplicaciōs & meke peticiōs of their clientes therin.
¶ But thou reader thīke of [the] law of God how [that] it is all to gether spirituall/ & so spirituall [that] it is neuer fulfilled [with] dedes or werkes/ vntill they flow out of thyne herte [with] as greate loue toward thy neyboure/ for no deseruīge of his ye though he be thine enimie/ as Christ loued [the] ād did for the/ for no deseruīge of thyne/ but evē whē thou wast his enimie. And in [the] meane time/ thoroute all our infancie & childhod in Christ/ tyll we be growen vpp in to perfecte men in the full knowlege of christ & full loue of christ agayne & of oure neyboures for his sake/ after [the] ensample of his loue to vs/ rembenbir that [the] fulfillynge of [the] law is/ a fast fayth in christes bloud coupled [with] our professiō & submyttīge our selues to lerne to doo better.
¶ And of [the] Gospell or promises which thou metest in [the] scripture/ beleue fast [that] God will fulfill them vn to [the]/ and that vn to [the] vttemost Iott/ at the repentaunce of thyne herte/ whē thou turnest to hym & forsakest euell/ even of his goodnesse & fatherly mercie vn to the/ ād not for thy flatterīge hym with ypocritish workes of thyne awne fayninge. So [that] a fast faith only with out respecte of all workes/ is the forgeuenesse both of the synne which we did in tyme of ignoraunce with luste ād cōsent to synne/ & also of all the synne which we doo by chaunce & of frailte/ after [that] we are come to knowlege ād have professed [the] law out of oure hertes. And all dedes serue only for to helpe oure neyboures & to tame oure flesh that we fall not to synne agayne/ & to exercice oure soules in vertue/ & not to make satisfaction to Godward for [the] synne [that] is once paste.
¶ And all other stories of [the] bible/ with out excepciō/ are [the] practisinge of [the] law & of the Gospell/ and are true and faitfull ensamples & sure erneste [that] God will euen so deale with vs/ as he did with thē/ in all infirmities/ in all temptaciōs/ & in all like cases & chaunces. Wherin ye se on [the] one syde/ how fatherly & tendirly & with all cōpassion god entreateth his electe which submitte them selues as scolers/ to lerne to walke in the wayes of his lawes/ & to kepe thē of loue. If they forgatt thē selues at a time & wēt astraye/ he sought thē out & sett thē agayne with all mercie. If they fell & hurte thē selues/ he healed thē agayne with all compassion & tendernesse of hert. He hath ofte brought greate tribulation & aduersite vppon his electe: but all of fatherly loue only/ to teach thē & to make them se their awne hertes & [the] sinne [that] there laye hid/ that they might aftirwarde feale his mercie. For his mercie wayted vppon thē/ to rid them out agayne/ assone as they ware lerned & come to [the] knowlege of their awne hertes: so that he neuer cast man awaye how depe so euer he had sinned/ saue thē ōly which had first cast [the] yocke of his lawes frō their neckes/ with vtter diffiaunce & malice of herte.
Which ensamples how cōfortable are they for vs/ whē we be fallen in to sinne & God is come vppō vs with a scorge/ [that] we dispeare not/ but repēt with full hope of mercie after [the] ensamples of mercie [that] are gone before: And therfore they were written for our lernīge/ as testifieth Paul Ro. xv. to cōforte vs/ [that] we might [the] better put oure hope & trust in God/ whē we se/ how mercifull he hath bene in tymes past vn to our weake brethern [that] are gone before/ in all theyr aduersities/ neade/ temptaciōs/ ye & horrible synnes in to which they now & then fell.
¶ And on [the] other side ye se how they [that] hardened their hertes & synned of malice & refused mercie [that] was offered thē & had no power to repēt/ perished at [the] later ende with all confusion & shame mercilessely. Which ensamples are very good & necessary/ to kepe vs in awe & dreade in tyme of prosperite as thou maist se by Paul. j. Cor. x. that we abyde in the feare of God/ & wax not wild and fall to vanities ād so synne ād prouoke God and bringe wrath vppon vs.
¶ And thridly ye se in that practise/ how as god is mercifull & longesoferynge/ euen so were all his true prophetes & prechers/ beringe the infirmities of their weake brethern & their awne wrōges & iniuries with all paciēce & longesoferinge/ neuer castinge any of thē of their backes/ vn tyll they synned agenst [the] holygost/ maliciously persecutinge [the] open & manifest trouth: cōtrary vn to the ensample of [the] Pope/ which in sinninge agenst God & to quench [the] trueth of his holy spirite/ is euer chefe captayne and trōpetblower/ to sett other awerke/ ād seketh only his awne fredome/ liberte/ priuilege/ welth/ prosperite/ profite/ pleasure/ pastyme/ honoure & glorie/ with [the] bondage/ thraldome/ captiuite/ miserie/ wretchednesse & vile subiectiō of his brethern: & in his awne cause is so feruent/ so steffe & cruell/ that he will not sofre one word spoken agenst his false magiste/ wily inuenciōs ād iuglynge ypocrisie to be vnaduēged/ thongh all christendome shuld be sett to gether by the eares/ and shuld cost he cared not how many hundred thousande their lives.
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Now [that] thou mayst reade Ionas frutefully & not as a poetis fable/ but as an obligacō betwene God and thy soule/ as an ernist peny geuen [the] of God/ [that] he wil helpe [the] in time of nede/ if thou turne to him ād as the word of god [the] only fode ād life of thy soule/ this marke & note. First count Ionas the frend of god ād a man chosen of god to testifie his name vn to [the] worlde: but yet a younge scolar/ weake & rude/ after [the] faciō of [the] appostles/ while Christ was yet with them bodyly. Which though Christ taught thē euer to be meke & to vmble thē selues/ yet oft stroue amonge them selues who shuld be greatest. The sonnes of Zebede wold sitt/ the one on the right hōde of Christ ād the other on [the] lifte. They wold praye/ that fire might descēde from heuen/ and consume the Samaritanes.
¶ Whē Christ axed who saye men that I am/ Peter answered/ thou arte the sonne of the lyuinge God/ as though Peter had bene as perfecte as an angell. But immediatly after/ when Christ preached vn to thē of his deeth & passiō/ Peter was angre & rebuked Christe & thought ernestly [that] he had raued & not wist what he sayde: as at a nother time/ when Christ was so feruētly busied in healinge [the] people/ [that] he had not leyser to eate/ they went out to holde him/ supposinge that he had bene besyde him selfe. Ande one [that] cast out deuels in Christes name/ they forbade/ because he wayted not on them/ so glorious were they yet.
¶ And though christ taughte all waye to forgeue/ yet peter after longe goenge to scole/ axed wether men shuld forgeue .vij. tymes/ thynkinge [that] .viij. tymes had bene to moch. And at [the] last soper Peter wold have died with christe/ but yet within fewe howres after/ he denied hym/ both cowardly & shamefully. And after [the] same maner/ though he had so lōge herd that nomā might auenge him selfe/ but rather turne [the] other cheke to/ then to smyte agayne/ yet when Christ was in takīge/ peter axed whether it were lawfull to smyte with [the] swerde/ ād taried none answere/ but layed on rashly. So that though when we come first vn to [the] knowlege of the trueth/ and the peace is made betwene God & vs/ & we loue his lawes & beleue & trust in hym/ as in oure father & haue good hertes vn to him & be born anew in [the] sprite: yet we are but childern ād younge scolars weake & foble & must have leysar to grow in [the] spirite/ in knowlege/ loue & in [the] dedes therof/ as younge childern must have tyme to grow in their bodies.
¶ And God oure father & scolemaster fedeth vs & teached vs accordinge vn to the capacite of oure stomakes/ & maketh vs to grow & waxe perfecte/ & fineth vs & trieth vs as gold/ in [the] fire of temptaciōs & tribulations. As Moses wittneseth Deutero. viij. sayēge: Remēber all [the] waye by which [the] lord thy God caried [the] this .xl. yeres in [the] wildernesse/ to vmble the & to tēpte or proue the/ [that] it might be knowen what were in thine hert. He brougt the in to aduersite & made [the] an hongred/ & then feed [the] with mā which nether thou ner yet thi fathers euer knew of/ to teach [the] that a mā liueth not by bred only/ but by all that proceadeth out of the mouth of God. For [the] promises of god are life vn to all [that] cleaue vn to thē/ moch moare thē is bred & bodyly sustinaunce: as [the] iourney of [the] childern of Israel out of egypte in to [the] londe promised them/ ministreth the notable ensamples & [that] aboundātly/ as doeth all [the] rest of the bible also. How be it/ it is impossible for flesh to beleue & to trust in [the] trueth of gods promises/ vntyll he haue lerned it in moch tribulacion/ after that God hath deliuered hī out therof agayne.
¶ God therfore to teach Ionas & to shew him his awne hert & to make him perfecte & to enstructe vs also bi his ensample/ sent him out of [the] lande of Israel where he was a prophete/ to goo amonge [the] heathē people & to [the] greatest & mightiest citie of [the] world thē/ called Niniue: to preache [that] within .xl. dayes they shuld all perish for their sinnes & that [the] citie shuld be ouerthrowē. Which message [the] frewil of Ionas had as moch power to doo/ as the weakest herted womā in the world hath power/ if she were cōmaunded/ to leppe in to a tobbe of lyuinge snakes & edders: as happely if God had cōmaunded Sara to haue sacrificed hir sonne Isaac/ as he did Abrahā/ she wold haue disputed with hī yer she had done it/ or though she were strōge ynough/ yet many an holy seint coud not haue found in their hertes/ but wold haue disobeyed ād haue runne awaye frō [the] presens of [the] cōmaūdemēt of god [with] Ionas if thei had bene so strōgly tēpted.
¶ For Ionas thought of this maner: loo/ I am here a prophete vn to Gods people the Israelites. Which though they haue gods word testified vn to them dayly/ yet dispice it & worshepe God vnder [the] likenesse of calues & after all maner facions saue after his awne worde/ & therfore are of all naciōs [the] worst & most worthy of punishment. And yet god for loue of few [that] are amonge them & for his names sake spareth them & defendeth them. How thē shuld god take so cruell vengeaunce on so greate a multitude of them to whome his name was neuer preached to ād therfore are not [the] tenth parte so euel as these? If I shal therfore goo preach so shall I lye & shame my selfe & God therto and make them the moare to dispice god and sett the lesse by him ād to be the moare cruell vn to his people.
¶ And vppon that imaginaciō he fled frō the face or presens of God: that is/ out of [the] contre where God was worsheped in & frō prosecutynge of Gods cōmaundemēt/ and thought/ I wyll gett me a nother waye amonge [the] hethen people & be no moare a prophete/ but lyue at rest & out of all cōbraunce. Neuer [the] lesse the god of all mercie which careth for his electe childern & turneth all vn to good to them & smiteth thē to heale them agayne & killeth thē to make thē aliue agayne/ & playeth with thē (as a father doth some tyme with his yoūge ignoraunt childern) & tempteth them & proueth them to make them se theyr awne hertes/ prouided for Ionas/ how all thinge shuld be.
¶ When Ionas was entered in to the sheppe/ he layed him downe to slepe ād to take his rest: that is/ his cōscience was tossed betwene the cōmaudemēt of God which sent him to Niniue/ & his fleshly wisdome that dissuaded & counseled hym [the] cōtrary & at [the] last preualed agēst [the] cōmaundemēt & caried hym a nother waye/ as a sheppe caught betwene .ii. streames/ & as poetes faine the mother of Meliager to be betwene diuers affectiōs/ while to aduēge hir brothers deeth/ she sought to sle hir awne sonne. Where vppon for very payne & tediousnesse/ he laye downe to slepe/ for to put [the] cōmaundement which so gnew & freate his cōscience/ out of minde/ as [the] nature of all weked is/ whē they haue sinned a good/ to seke al meanes with riot/ reuell & pastyme/ to driue [the] remenbraunce of synne out of their thoughtes or as Adā did/ to couer their nakednesse with aporns of pope holy workes. But God awoke hym out of his dreame/ and sett his synnes before his face.
¶ For when [the] Lott had caught Ionas/ thē be sure [that] his synnes came to remēbraunce agayne & that his conscience raged no lesse thē [the] waues of the se. And thē he thought that he only was a sinner & [the] hethen that ware in [the] shepp none in respecte of him/ ad thought also/ as veryly as he was fled frō god/ that as verily god had cast hī awaye: for [the] sight of [the] rod maketh [the] natural child not ōly to se & to knowlege his faulte/ but also to forgett all his fathers olde mercie & kindnesse. And then he cōfessed his synne openly & had yet leuer perish alone thē [that] [the] other shuld haue perished with him for his sake: and so of very desperacion to haue liued any lenger/ bad cast him in to [the] see betymes/ excepte they wold be lost also.
¶ To speake of lottes/ how ferforth they are lawfull/ is a light questiō. First to vse thē for the breakinge of strife/ as when partenars/ their goodes as equally diuided as they cā/ take euery mā his parte by lott/ to auoyde all suspiciō of disceytfulnesse: & as [the] appostles in [the] first of [the] Actes/ whē they sought a nother to succede Iudas the traytoure/ & .ii. persones were presentes/ thē to breake strife & to satisfie al parties/ did cast lotttes/ wheter shuld be admitted/ desirynge god to teper thē & to take whō he knew most mete/ seynge they wist not wheter to preferre/ or haply coude not all agre on ether/ is lawfull ad in all like cases. But to abuse them vn to [the] temptinge of God & to cōpell him therwith to vtter thinges wherof we stōd in doute/ when we haue no commaundemēt of him so to do/ as these hethē here dyd/ though God turned it vn to his glorie/ can not be but euell.
¶ The hethen scepmē asstonied at [the] sight of [the] miracle/ feared God/ prayed to him/ offered sacrifice & vowed vowes. And I doute not/ but that some of thē or haply all came therby vn to the true knowlege & true worshepinge of God & ware wōne to God in theyr soules. And [thus] God which is infinite mercifull in all his wayes/ wrought their soules health out of [the] infirmite of Ionas/ euen of his good will & purpose & loue wherewith he loued them before the world was made/ & not of chaunce/ as it appereth vn to the eyes of the ignoraunt.
¶ And that Ionas was .iii. dayes & .iii. nightes in the bely of his fish: we cā not therby proue vn to te Iewes & īfideles or vn to any man/ [that] Christ must therfore dye ād be buried & rise agayne. But we vse [the] ensample ād likenesse to strength the faith of the weake. For he that beleaueth the one can not doute in [the] other: in as moch as the hād of God was no lesse mightie in preseruīge Ionas aliue agenst all naturall possibilite & in deliuerynge hī safe out of his fish/ thē in reysynge vpp Christe agayne out of his sepulchre. And we maye describe [the] power & vertue of [the] resurrecciō therby/ as Christ hī selfe boroweth [the] similitude therto Mat. xij. sayēge vn to [the] Iewes that came aboute him & desyred a signe or a wōder frō heuen to certifye thē that he was christ: this euell & wedlockebreakīge naciō (which breake [the] wedlocke of faith wherwith they be maried vn to God/ ād beleue in their false workes) seke a signe/ but there shal no signe be geuen thē saue [the] signe of the Prophete Ionas. For as Ionas was .iij. dayes ād iij. nightes in the bely of the whale/ euē so shall the sonne of man be .iij. dayes & .iij. nyghtes in the herte of the erth. Which was a watch word/ as we saye/ & a sharpe threateninge vn to [the] Iewes & as moch to saye as thus/ ye harde herted Iewes seke a signe: loo/ thys shalbe youre sygne/ as Ionas was reysed out of the sepulchre of his fishe & then sent vn to the Niniuites to preach [that] they shuld perish/ euen so shall I ryse agayne out of my sepulchre & come & preach repentaunce vn to you. Se therfore when ye se [the] signe that ye repēt or else ye shal suerly perish & not escape. For though the infirmities which ye now se ī my flesh be a lett vn to youre faythes/ ye shall yet then be with out excuse/ when ye se so greate a miracle & so greate power of god shed out vppō you. And so Christe came agayne after [the] resurrecciō/ in his spirite & preached repētaunce vn to them/ by the mouth of his appostles & disciples/ & with miracles of [the] holy gost. And all that repented not perished shortly after ād were for [the] most parte slayne with swerde ād [the] rest caried awaye captiue in to all quarters of the world for an ensample/ as ye se vn to this daye.
¶ And in lyke maner sens the world beganne/ where soeuer repentaunce was offered and not receaued/ there God toke cruell vengeaunce immediatly: as ye se in [the] floud of Noe/ in the ouerthrowēge of Sodō & Gomor & all the contre aboute: & as ye se of Egipte/ of the Amorites/ Cananites & afterwarde of the very Israelites/ & then at the last of the Iewes to/ ād of the Assyriens and Babyloniens and so thorout all the imperes of the world.
¶ Gyldas preached repētaunce vn to [the] olde Britaynes that inhabited englōd: they repented not/ & therfore God sent in theyr enimies vppō thē on euery side & destroyed thē vpp & gaue the lōd vn to other naciōs. And greate vengeaunce hath bene takē in that lande for synne sens that tyme.
¶ Wicleffe preached repētaunce vn to oure fathers not longe sens: they repēted not for their hertes were indurat & theyr eyes blinded with their awne Pope holy rightwesnesse wherwith they had made theyr soules gaye agenst the receauinge agayne of [the] weked spirite that bringeth .vii. worse then hym selfe with him & maketh [the] later ende worse then the beginninge: for in open sinnes there is hope of repentaunce/ but in holy ypocrisie none at all. But what folowed? they slew their true & right kinge ād sett vpp .iii. wrōge kīges arow/ vnder which all the noble bloud was slayne vpp ād halfe the comēs therto/ what in fraunce & what with their awne swerde/ in fightīge amonge thē selues for [the] crowne/ & [the] cities and townes decayed and the land brought halfe in to a wyldernesse in respecte of that it was before.