Brief Confutation of Anabaptistical Opinion, A

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¶A brefe confutacion of this most detestable, and Anabaptistical opinion, that Christ dyd not take hys flesh of the blessed Uyrgyn Mary nor any corporal substaunce of her body. For the maintenaunce whereof Ihone_Bucher otherwise called Ihone_of_Kent most obstinately suffered and was burned in Smythfyelde, the .ii. day of May.

Anno domini M.D.L.

Cum privilegio ad Imprimendum solum.

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SO subtile is sathan, our Enemy Immortal

When he is transformed into an angell of light

He captiuates oure sences, so fond and phantastical

That we doubt not to deme the day to be night.

By Suche lieng spirites seduced is the sight. Histori. Ecclesi. Lib. iiii. ca. xiiii

And with pernicious opinions amased in a miste

Are al they that beleue not, the incarnation of Christ.

¶In the primatiue churche, within fortie yeres,

After Christes asencion, this darnell begonne,

To springe vp by Marcion, his complices and feers

Whom Policarpus called, the deuyls eldest sonne

The Anabaptistes hold herein, an erronius opinion

So did the wayward Uirago, that wold not repent

The deuils Eldest doughter, which lately was brent.

¶Beware of such errours, and reuerentlye reade

Gods worde with humilitie, and modestie of mynd,

Geue faith to the same, and sticke to thy Crede

For the deuyll nowe bestirs him, and doth but hys kind

To hinder the Gospell, many meanes doth he finde.

He rages and raunges, the wyde worlde ouer wyde] wyld 1550

He makes many lose with shorte, and some with ouer.

¶This the scripture is wrested, and all to be Rackte 'This' perhaps emend to 'Thus'; but see OED s.v. this, adv.

Of Such as with spirites of errour are ledde

Th'assistance of God, and his meke spirite is lacte

To teach them the true sence, whan his word is redde

It serues not to mayntayne fonde ioyes in their heade. sidenote illegible here

And where the proude spirite is halt, and voyde of goddes feare.

Non ibidem dominus. The Lorde is not There.

God promised to Eue, that the sead of a womanne Gen. i[ii]

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Shulde treade downe the head of the subtill serpente,

This Promise was fully accomplyshed than

When Christ became man and made the attonemente.

This seade was of his mother and not from heauen sente Math. i.

How can it be called the sede of a woman truly

Which taketh no substaunce, nor parte of her bodye.

To Abraham and Iacob, the same sead was promysed

The boke of Genesys, is playne and manifest:

In thy sede, shall all the people of the worlde be blessed

Not brought from aboue, but borne to performe the behest

Was Christ of his mother, and not from heauen sent

To this sence and meanyng thy wittes thou enclyne,

And marke well what is meant by thys pronoune thyne

How could it be their sead, whiche take not their substaunce

But came downe from heauen, and was not of their kind?

The scripture Conteineth no such repugnaunce

Who shalbe able by the same, to proue or to finde

To warrant Christes humanyty, or beleue it in his mynd?

If ye make it vncertayne, of whom he did take it

It appereth by thys opinion the deuyll is awaked.

God promised to rayse vp the same sede to Dauyd

Of the frute of his belly to sit on his seat.

In the second of Samuell and the seuenth ye may haue it

God is full Iust and did not forgette

To conquere the dyuel and his deuise to difeate,

To vanquish his iudgement and putt awaye synne,

Christ was this sede borne of his mother the virgyn.

Esaye the prophete confirmed the same

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A virgyn shall conceiue and brynge forth a chylde,

With this the Gospell of Mathewe doth frame

The fruite did growe in the wombe vndefilde

And the mother waxt greate, nature was begild

This came not by fortune or casuall chaunce

That Christe toke of his mother his corporall substance.

From the rote of Iesse procede shall a bud,

And a flower of this rote, for so the prophete saies.

This bud was Marye, of whose fleshe and bloud

Came Christe the flowre, my fayth shalbe alwayes

The fruite of her wombe whyche neuer decayes,

And not as water which runnes to a Condit,

And passes thorowe a pipe, as the Diuell nowe hath found it.

¶To conceyue and beare a chylde what other thinge is mente,

Than the mother to her child to geue and participate,

As the tree to the fruit? for euen so dyd this parent

Of her body with thys chylde communicate.

Nourished him in her wombe where he was incorporate

And not as rayne comes from heauen as Martian spoke.

Whyche is as true as an oringe springes of an oke.

Mathewe discribing the Lineall dessente

In his genealogye, thus he writtes of Marye

Of whome is borne Christ, learne what he meant

By this terme of, for he doth not saye by

Whom, or through whom: the holy ghost cannot lye.

Beleue than gods worde though the deuel be neuer so loth

And let thy wyl and thy wyt gaue place to the troth

As touchyng the flesh Christ was borne of Dauids sede

And whan the tyme was perfourmed, God than did send

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His sonne borne of a woman, let this be the Crede,

And forget not the Aue, with what wordes it doth ende 'Aue': i.e. the prayer 'Ave Maria' (Hail Mary)

Blessed is the fruyte of thy wombe, pray to god he may defende

The, from this errour, and so from al other,

That thou may beleue, Christe toke fleshe of hys mother.

But if froward fondnes, haue so wedded the to thy wyl,

Both piuyshe and peruerse, that these will not perswade

The fourth of the Galathians I wyl write in my bille

The place is pithy, to tourne the from that trade.

But when the ful tyme was come, God sent his sonne made

Of a woman, the greke hath it made, written by Poulle,

And not bourne: beleue this scripture, and dampne not thy soule.

Tyme wil not serue to vtter the store

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Of sundry textes, which scripture contaynes

Agaynst this opinion, and most dyuelish erroure,

Lately maintayned by a sort of Idle braines.

And all to seme singuler but marke well their gaynes

They are so sturdy and stoute, they wyll be take for no starters

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Thei had rather goo to the Dyuel, like stinking marters.

Scripture disdaynes not, to cal Christ the sonne

Of Marye his mother, in Luke and in Mathewe , [Ma]the. i [Luk]e. ii.

But their hartes are so hardened they will not be wonne

They make a tush at a text, be it neuer so true.

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They wyl beleue Paule no more, than a turcke or a Iewe,

To aledge them scriptures, it greately skylleth not

Ther is none so blind as they that can se, and will not.

Thys doubt were discussed if they vnderstode

And wold rede and beleue, the second to the Ebrues,

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Forasmuch as the chyldren were pertakers of flesh and bloude,

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He also him-selfe likewise did not Refuse

But toke part with them, wherby he subduse

Through death the deuyll, our mortall aduersary

Where had Christe his fleshe, but of his mother Mary?

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Christ toke the sede of Abraham , he toke it not of Aungelles

So that he became like to his brethren in al thinges

Synne only excepte, thus playnly Paule telles,

Where came he by thys flesh, which amongst vs he brings?

Had he fethers as well as flesh and came downe with winges?

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Christ came to be a mediatoure, it was requisite that he

Shuld be partaker of the godhede, and of our humanitye.

Christe preached the worde, and sowed forth good sedes,

The Apostles trauayled, and toke greate paynes,

But Belsebub besturred him, and vp came the wedes

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Whiche shortly sprong vp in fantasticall braynes.

Such Deuilishe deceyuers, the Deuyll intertaynes.

Many entred in Iohns tyme whyche woulde not confesse:

That oure Sauioure Iesus_Christe was come in the fleshe.

It semed most mete to gods hyghe prouidence

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And also most necessarye for our redemcion,

That wher the fyrst man in our nature committed disobedience.

The second Man Christe shoulde make satisfaccion.

Repayre and recompence in the same nature and parson

And paye the payne of synne this was not omitted

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In the fleshe of man wherein it was committed.

Howe standeth to the Corinthyans Paules dysputacion

If Christ had not his nature common wyth vs?

In whom now rysen Paule proueth an vniuersal resurreccion

It were easy to reply agaynst the same thus:

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If it myght be alledged (as it cannot) that Iesus

Broughte downe from heauen an heauenly body

In-to the wombe of the Uyrgyn Mary.

What maruell is it, if an heauenly substaunce

Be vtterly voyde and exempte from corrupcion

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It cannot well folowe ther must be variaunce,

That our bodies subiecte to putrefaccion,

Shoulde ryse vp agayne wythout corr[up]cion corrupcion] corrpucion 1550

That we doute not hereof let vs beleue sure

That Christe toke parte wyth vs in our nature.

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Esay the Prophet sayd he was made Emanuell

The worde soundes and signifieth God is wyth vs,

Howe it should be other-wyse, I cannot tell.

But I am assured that Dauyd in the parson of Iesus

Reade the .xxii. Psal. where he this doute doeth dyscus [Ps]alme. [xxii]

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Thou toke me from my mothers wombe to performe the behestes

Thou wast my hope when I h[an]ged vpon my mothers breastes. hanged] hnaged 1550

Let vs praye vnto god longe to mayntayne and defende

The state of this realme and goddes true religion,

Let vs also geue thankes to god whiche hath sende

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Us a kynge to al princes a president and patron

A counsell most catholike for a christian congregacion

To surceasse al sedicion to punyshe false teachers

And to stablishe true doctrine god sende vs good preachers.

By me Edmon_Becke.

Imprinted at London by Iohn_day dwellynge ouer Aldersgate, and Wylliam_Seres dwellynge in Perse_Colledge.