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KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural
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¶What the church is
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Thys worde church hath dyuerse significacions. First it
signifyeth a place or housse / whether christen people were wont
in the olde time to resorte at tymes conuenient / for to heare
the worde of doctryne / the lawe of God and the faith of oure
sauioure Ihesus christ / and how and what to praye and whence to
axe power and strength to
lyue goodly. For the officers therto appoynted
preached the pure worde of god onlye and prayed in a tonge that
all men vnderstode. And the people herkened vnto his prayers /
and said therto Amen and prayed with him in their hertes / and
of him lerned to praye at home and every where / and to
instructe euery man hys howsholde.
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Where now we heare but voyces with out significacion and
buzsinges / howlinges and crienges / as it were the halowenges
of foxes or baytinges of beres / and wonder at disguisinges and
toyes wheroff we know no meaninge.
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By reason wherof we be fallen in to soch ignorauncye / that we
know of the mercie and promyses which are in christe
nothynge at all.
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And of the lawe of god we thinke as do the turkes / and as did
the olde hethen people / how that it is a thinge which euery
man maye doo of his awne power / and in doynge therof becometh
good and waxeth rightuouse and deserueth heven: ye and are yet
more mad then that. For we ymagen the same of phantasyes and
vayne ceremonies of oure awne makynge / neyther nedefull vn to
the tamynge of oure awne flesh / neyther profytable vn to oure
neyboure / neyther honoure vnto god.
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