William Tyndale

“ So that though when we come first vn to ye 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 ye sprite: yet we are but childern ād younge scolars weake & foble & must have leysar to grow in ye spirite / in knowlege / loue & in ye dedes therof / as younge childern must have tyme to grow in their bodies. ”

“ For as ferre as we be blynd in Adam / we can not but seke & will oure awne profitt / pleasure & glorie. And as ferre as we be taughte in the sprite / we can not but seke & wyll the pleasure and glorie of God only.
¶ And as for the .iij. dayes iourney of Niniue / whether it were in length or to goo rounde aboute it or thorow all the stretes / I cōmitte vn to the discreciō of other men. But I thinke that it was then the greatest citie of the world. ”

“ So yt 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 yt we are come to knowlege ād have professed ye 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 ye synne yt is once paste. ”

“ Which ensample oure sauioure Christ also casteth in the teeth of the indurat Iewes sayenge: the Niniuites shall rise in iudgemēt with this nation and condemne them / for they repented at the preachynge of Ionas / and beholde a greater thē Ionas here / meanynge of hym selfe. At whose preachinge yet / though it were neuer so mightie to perce the herte / & for all his miracles therto / the hard herted Iewes coude not repent: when the heathen Niniuites repented at the bare preachynge of Ionas rebukinge theyr synnes with out any miracle at all. ”

“ By the reason of which false rightwesnesse they were dysobedient vn to the rightwesnesse of God / which is the forgeuenesse of synne in Christes bloude and coude not beleue it. And so thorow fleshly interpretynge the law ād false imagined rightwesnesse / their hertes were hardened ād made as stony as clay in an hote furnace of fire / that they coude receaue nether repentaunce ner faith or any moyster of grace at all. ”

“ And ys God which is infinite mercifull in all his wayes / wrought their soules health out of ye 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 / yt Christ must therfore dye ād be buried & rise agayne. But we vse ye ensample ād likenesse to strength the faith of the weake. ”

“ How moch moare then shuld greue myne herte / the losse of so greate a multitude of innocētes as are in Niniue / which are all myne handes werke. Nay Ionas / I am God ouer all / and father as well vn to the hethen as vn to the Iewes ād mercifull to all and warne yer I smyte: nether threte I so cruelly by any prophete / but that I wyll forgeue yf they repent ād ax mercie: nether on the other syde / what soeuer I promyse / wyll I fulfyll it / saue for theyr sakes only whych trust in me and submitte them selues to kepe my lawes of very loue / as naturall chyldern. ”

“ And in ye 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 ye ensample of his loue to vs / rembenbir that ye fulfillynge of ye law is / a fast fayth in christes bloud coupled wt our professiō & submyttīge our selues to lerne to doo better. ”

“ For verely to cōfesse out of the herte / that all benefites come of God / euen out of the goodnesse of his mercie and not deseruinge of oure dedes / is the only sacrifice that pleaseth God. And to beleue that god only is the sauer / is the thynge that all the Iewes vowed in theyr circumcision / as we in oure baptim. Which vowe Ionas now tawght with experiēce / promiseth to paye. ”

“ And Ionas was exceadynge glad of the wild vine.
¶ And the lorde ordeyned a worme agenst the springe of ye morow mornīge which smote the wild vine / that it wethered awaye. And assone as the sonne was vpp / God prepared a feruent eest winde: so that ye sonne bete ouer the heed of Ionas / that he fainted agayne ād wished vn to hys soule that he might dye / and sayd / it is better for me to dye then to liue. ”

“ For he that beleaueth the one can not doute in ye 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 though when we synne of frailtie after oure baptym we receaue the sygne no moare / yet we be renewed agayne thorow repentaunce and faith in Christes bloude / whych twayne / the sygne of baptym ever contynved amonge vs in baptisynge oure younge childern doeth euer kepe in mynde and call vs backe agayne vn to oure profession if we be gonne astraye / & promiseth vs forgeuenesse. Nether can actuall synne be washed awaye with oure werkes / but with Christes bloude: nether can there be any other sacrifice or satisfaccion to Godward for them / saue Christes bloude. ”

“ And whē they saye oure dedes with grace deserue heuen / saye thou wt Paule Ro. vj. yt euerlastīge life is the gifte of god thorow Iesus Christ oure lorde / & yt we be made sonnes by faith Ihon. j. & therfore heyres of god with christ Ro. viij. And saye that we receaue al of god thorow faith that foloweth repentaunce / & yt we doo not oure werkes vn to god / but ether vn to oure selues / to sley ye sinne that remayneth in ye flesh & to waxe perfecte / ether vn to oure neyboures which doo as moch for vs agayne in some other thīges. ”

“ 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 ye weked spirite that bringeth .vii. worse then hym selfe with him & maketh ye later ende worse then the beginninge: for in open sinnes there is hope of repentaunce / but in holy ypocrisie none at all. ”

“ And yet sayth Christ / that ryghtwesnesse ād faith in kepynge promise / mercie and indyfferent iudgement were vtturly troden vnder fote and cleane dispysed of those blessed fathers / whych so mightely mayntened Arons patrimony ād had mad it so prosperous ād enuironed it and walled it aboute on euery syde with ye feare of god / that noman durst twech it. ”