Of unwritten verities Cum privilegio,   

Of unwritten very ties.  
IN the day of Pentecost when the holy ghost descended upon the apostles & disciples of Chryst, they received such grace & ghostly knowledge, that they had forth with the gift of the understanding of scripture: and to speak in the tongues of all men. And also that upon whom soever they laid their hands, the holy ghost should descend upon them. And there upon they by their preaching & good doctrine converted in short time, great multitude of people unto the faith of Christ And after that divers blessed men in strength of the faith, wrote the life, miracles, doctrine, passion death, and resurrection of our master Chryst: but four of those writings were only received by all the hole church of Chryst. that is to say, of Matthew. Mark, Luke & Ihon. & they received them to be of such authority, that it should not be lawful to any man, that would confess Chryst, to deny them, & they were called the four gospels of Christ. And the epistles of Paul, the Acts of the apostles, the epistles that be called canonyke. And the apocalypse were received to be of like authority, as the gospels were. And thus by assent aswell of the people, as of the clergy, was the new testament affirmed to be of such authority, as it is now taken to be of, & as it is of in deed. so that it is not lawful to deny any thing that it affirmeth, ne to affirm any thing that it denieth, & it is no marvel though it be taken to be of such strength, for it was authorized when the people that were newly converted to the faith, were full of grace & of devotion, replenished with virtues, desiring alway the life to come, & the health of their own souls, & of their neighbours. Than also were blessed bishops, blessed priests, & other blessed persons of the clergy: and what could such men ask of god ryghtwisly, that should be denied them. And who may think, but that they & all the people, at the said auctorising of scripture, prayed devoutly for the assistance of the holy ghost that they might have grace to auctorise such thing as should be to his honour/ to the increase of his faith, & to the health of the souls of all his people. The time also that this auctorysing of the new testament, and the gathering of it together was made, was (as I suppose) the time of the most high & gracious shedding out of the mercy of god into the world, that ever was from the beginning of the world unto this day: & I mean the time that was from the incarnation of Christ unto the said auctorysing of the new testament was accomplished: for in part of the time our lord was here himself in bodily presence, preaching and teaching his laws/ gathering & chewsing his apostles & disciples/ the should teach & preach his laws when he was gone: which they did not only by word, but also by good examples, that yet remain unto this day: so that all the time may in manner be called the golden time. And not only the new testament was than received, but also the old testament. And by preaching & teaching of these testaments, was the faith of Christ marvelously increased in many countries. After all this, by a comen speaking among the people, the bishops, priests and other of the clergy, which were as lanterns unto the people, & the special maintainers of the christen faith, were called the church, or men of the church: and under the colour of the name church many of the clergy in process of time, pretended that they might make expositions of scripture, as the universal church of Christ, that is to say, as the hole congregation of christian people might, & thereupon when covetise & pride somewhat increased in many of the clergy, they expounded very favourably divers texts of scripture, that sounded to the maintenance of their honour, power, jurisdiction & riches. And over the took upon them to affirm, that they were the church that might not err/ and that Chryst & his apostles had spoken & taught many things, that were not expressly put in scripture, & that the people were as well bound to believe them, and that under like pain, as if they had been expressed in scripture, and called them unwritten verities, where of I shall, as for an example recite part. first the Christ after his maundy, and after he had washen the feet of his apostles, taught them to make holy cream, for ministration of the sacraments: and that they have as full authority to do the same, as if it had been contained in scriptuere, that christ had given them power to it. That it is a tradition of the apostles, that images ought to be set up. That the apostles ordained that all faithful people should resort to the church of Rome, as to the most high and principal church of all other: & yet it can not be proved by scripture, ne by any other sufficient authority, that they made any such ordinance. Also that the Crede, which is commonly & universally used to be said by the comen people, was made by the xii apostles: & though the articles thereof, are firmly & steadfastly to be believed of every christian man, as articles sufficiently proved by scripture yet that they were gathered together by the xii apostles: & specially that every one of the apostles made one article, as painters show that they did, can not be proved by scripture, ne is not necessari to be believed for our salvation, and though it were but a small offence in the people to believe that it were an article necessary to be believed for our salvation, because the clergy, which be the lanterns & leaders unto the people, do instruct them that it is so: And it is neither against the law of god, nor the law of reason, but that it may be so: yet it is a great offence to the clergy, to affirm for certain that thing, that is to themself uncertain, and therefore it would be reform, for eschewing of offences unto the clergy. Also that the people shall pray into the est is not proved by scripture: and yet they say, that by the tradition of the apostles it is to be believed. Also that our lady was not borne in original sin. That she was assumpt into heaven body & soul, All these & many other, divers of the clergy call unwritten verities, left in the world by the tradition & relation of the apostles, which as they say, the people are bound to believe aswell as scripture: For they say, that sith no man were bound to believe scripture, but because the church saith, this is scripture: so they say that in the things before rehearsed, the church witnesseth them to be true, and that the people have assented to them many years: wherefore it is not lawful to doubt at them, ne to deny them: To this reason it may be answered: that if it can be proved by as good & as high authority, that these things were left in the world by the tradition & relation of the apostles, as the auctorysing of scripture was: that than they are to be believed as verily as scripture: But if they be witnessed to be so by some bishops and priests, and some other of the clergy only: or that they be witnessed to be so by decrees & laws made by bishops of Rome, & by the clergy of Rome or by opinion of doctors only: than no man is bound to accept them, ne believe them, as they are bound to believe scripture. For scripture, as it is said before, was authorized by the hole church of god and in the most elect & most gracious time, that of likelihood hath been sith the beginning of Christ's church. And if it be said, that many of the said opinions have been affirmed & approved by general counsels, in whom no error may be presumed: it may be answered: that though the church gathered together in the holy ghost, may not err in things pertaining to the faith: that yet for as much as some general counsels have been gathered, & not by the power of kings and princes, that be heads of the church And that laws have been also made at such general counsels, of divers things which have not pertained to the faith but to the maintenance of the authority or profit of the clergy, or of such articles as are before rehearsed, that they call unwritten verities, which undoubtedly pertain not merely to the faith. That it may therefore be lawfully doubted, whether such counsels were gathered in the holy ghost or not, & whether they erred in their judgements or not, and it is no doubt, but the in some general counsels they have done so in deed. And I suppose that there be but few matters more necessary, ne more expedient for kings & princes to look upon, than upon these unwritten verities, & of making of laws by the clergy. For if they be suffered to maintain that there be any verities, which the people are bound to believe upon pain of damnation, beside scripture, it will persuade partly an insufficiency in scripture, & there upon might follow great dangers many ways. And if it were admitted, that the clergy might be received to affirm that there be such verities, beside scripture, yet they could not prove them. For if they would in proof thereof say, that the apostles first taught those verities, & that they have so continued from one to another unto this day, & show none other authority thereof but that: than all the saying may as lightly be denied, as it was affirmed, and with as high authority. And if they will ferther attempt to approve it by laws made by the bishops of Rome, & by the clergy at Rome: yea or by laws & decrees made at general counsels: yet these laws & decrees may be lawfully doubted at, as before appeareth: so that they cannot by reason thereof drive any necessity of belief into any person. Wherefore kings and princes that have received of god the high power and charge over the people, are bound to prohibit such sayings upon great pains: and not to suffer a belief to be grounded upon things uncertain. But yet if some of the said articlies that be called unwritten verities were suffered to continued as things that be more like to be true, than otherwise: and no necessity of belief to be derived there upon. I suppose verily it might well be suffered that they should stand still not prohabyte, as it is of that article that the xii apostles made the Crede: that it is good to pray into the est: that our lady was not borne in original sin: that she was assumpted body & soul, And therefore if it were ordained by kings & princes that no man upon pain, to be taken as a breaker of the quietness of the people, should deny any of the said articles: it were well done to keep unity among the people: but divers realms may order soch things diversly, as they shall seem convenient, after the disposition of the people ther. For they be but things indifferent, to be believed, or not believed and are nothing like to scripture, to the articles of the faith, the ten commandments, ne to such other moral learnings as are merely derived out of scripture. For they must of necessity be believed & obeyed of every christian man. For after saint Paul ad Ephe. iiii. There must be one God, one faith, & one Baptism But to suffer them to stand as unwritten verities, that may not be denied: & to have their authority only by laws made by the clergy, it seemeth dangerous For it might cause many of the clergy to esteem more power in the clergy than there is in deed: and that might lift many of them into a higher estimation of themself, than they ought to have: whereby might follow great danger unto the people. For as long as there be disorders in the clergy, it will be heard to bring the people to good order. And all this that I have touched before, may be reform, without any rebuke to the clergy that now is. For the pretence of such unwritten verities, ne yet of making of laws, to bind kings & princes and their people: ne yet that both powers, that is to say, spiritual & temporal, were in the clergy, began not in the clergy that now is, but in their predecessors. And as to the said other pretenced unwritten verities, that is to say, that almen should resort to Rome, as to the most high & principal church. And that it is a tradition & an unwritten verity, the images ought to be set up, it were well done, that they & such other opinions, whereby prdie covetise or vain glory might springe her after, were prohabyte by authority of the parliament upon great pains. And as to the said unwritten verity, that holy cream should be made after the maundy, it pertaineth only to them that have authority to judge whether it be an unwritten verity, or not, and to judge also what is the very authority of making of that cream. And therefore I will no ferther speak of the matter at this time.   

¶ Imprinted at London in saint Andrew's Paryshe, in the Waredrop By Thomas Raynalde M.D.XLVIII.