VOLUME 3

AN ANSWERE VNTO SIR THOMAS MORES DIALOGE

LOCATION
KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural

and I beshrew him sauinge my charyte / there we take it for pacyence. And when I saye a charitable man / it is taken for mercifull. And though mercifulnesse be a good loue or rather springe of a good loue / yet ys not euery good loue mercifulnesse. As when a woman loueth her husbonde godly or a man his wife or his frend that is in none aduersitie / it is not allwaye mercifulnesse. Also we saie not this man hath a greate charite to god / but a greate loue. Wherefore I must haue vsed this generall terme loue / in spite of mine herte often tymes. And agape and charitas were wordes vsed amonge the hethen yer chryste came / and signified therfore more then a godly loue. And we maye saye well ynough and haue hearde it spoken that the turkes be charitable one to a nother amonge them selues and some of them vnto the chrysten to. Besydes all thys agape ys comen vnto all loues.165

20/3–9 pacyence . . . loue. Cf. CWM 8/1.199/24–25.

And when Master More saith euery loue ys not charyte / no more is every appostle chrystes appostell ner every angell gods angell / ner euery hope chrysten hope nor euery faith or beleffe chrystes beleffe / and so by an hundred thousande wordes. So that yf I shulde all waye vse but a worde that were no moore generall then the worde I enterprete / I shulde interprete no thynge at all. But the mater yt selfe and the circumstaunces doo declare what loue / what hope and what fayth ys spoken of. And finally I saye not charite god or charite youre neyboure but loue God and loue youre neyboure ye and though we saye a man ought to loue hys neyboures wife and his doughter / a christen man doeth not vnderstonde / that he ys commaunded to defyle hys neyboures wife or hys doughter.

20/18 ner euery hope chrysten hope. Cf. CWM 8/1.200/19.

20/18–19 nor ... beleffe. Cf. CWM 8/1.200/12–13.

20/20–21 vse . . . at all. Cf. CWM 8/1.200/19–22.

20/23–24 finally . . . neyboure. CWM 8/1.202/17–18.

20/25–27 though . . . doughter. Cf. CWM 8/1.203/2–5.