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my ladis grace.
Cf. Thomas W. Ross, Chaucer's
Bawdy (New York: Dutton, 1972) 96–98.
Variations on the phrase, "to stand in his lady's grace," occur in Troilus and Criseyde (cf. 3.472, 5.171), as well
as in The Canterbury Tales: the description of
the Squire ("General Prologue," I [A] 88) and "Merchant's Tale" (IV [E]
2018).
21/3
vniuersities . . .
graces. More studied only two years at Oxford
c1492–94 (Marius 25–28), while Tyndale spent a dozen years there,
earning his BA in 1512 and his MA in 1515 (Mozley 12,17). 21/4–5 knowlege and not confessyon / repentaunce and not
penaunce . Cf. CWM 6/1.19–20. From the 2c to the
mid-5c, public penance after private confession was performed for major
sins: unchastity , murder, and apostasy. After Leo I (pope,
440–61) decreed in 459 that private confession was sufficent for secret
sins, public penance began to decline. Cf. Ep. 168, To the Bishops of
Campania , Samnium and Picenum, Ch. 2 (PL 54.1211; synopsis at
2NPNF 12.112). Lateran IV (1215), in the decree Omnis
utriusque sexus, required all Christians, upon reaching the age
of discretion, to confess their serious sins privately at least once a
year to their parish priest. Aquinas taught that confession, contrition
and satisfaction were the material of the sacrament of
Penance (Summa III, Q. 84, Art. 2, Sed contra), and absolution by the priest was the
form (Summa III, Q. 84, Art. 3). In 1439 the
Council of Florence formally declared that God forgives
mortal sin through the absolution of the priest. The Council of Trent,
Session 14, 25 November 1551, On Penance, canon
6, declared that sacramental confession is prescribed by
divine law; those who deny this are anathema. Cf. Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, tr. H.J. Schroeder
OP (St. Louis: Herder, 1941) 102–3. During the Middle Ages, the penitent
knelt before or at the side of the priest under the safety of public
observation (Duffy, Plates 19–20). For greater
privacy, the confessional box began to be used c1565.
The classic study of the sacrament of Penance is by Henry C. Lea, History of Auricular
Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church, 3 vols. (1896;
New York: Greenwood, 1968), supplemented
by Watkins (1920), and updated by Thomas N.
Tender, Sin and Confession on
the Eve of the Reformation (Princeton UP, 1977).
Eramus noted the change from public to private confession in an
annotation on Acts 19.18; 1516, 1519 NT (Reeve 2.315). His Ratio verae theologiae (1518) affirmed that one
should certainly practice the developed form of individual confession as
required by the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But a
theologian should not make it an article of faith that Jesus himself
instituted the practice, cf. Holborn 205f,
210. In the 1520s after Edward Lee and Jacobus Stunica attacked Erasmus
on this point, he defended his view, with nuances, in lengthy apologetic
works. Cf. Payne 181–91, 319–22; Erika Rummel,
Erasmus' Annotations on the New Testament (U
of Toronto P, 1986) 152–56. (JW)
See Erasmus on Jas. 5.16, the clearest NT reference to confessing one's
sins, not only to God, but to another human. Peccata
uestra.) . . . 1516 NT, Sentit enim de
quotidianis offensis Christianorum inter ipsos , quos
continuo uult reconciliari. Alioqui si de confessione sensisset,
quam dicimus partem sacramenti poenitentiae, non addidisset
"allelois," id est, uobis inuicem, sed sacerdotibus (Reeve
3.744)."Your sins.) . . . For he is thinking about the daily offenses of
Christians among themselves , whom he wishes to be reconciled
immediately. If he were thinking about confession, which we call a part
of the sacrament of Penance, he would not have added allelois that is, 'to you reciprocally ,' but 'to
the priests.'"
See also Erasmus' long note on Matt. 3.2, Poenitentiam
agite.). Two sidenotes crystallize his position (Reeve 1.18):
1519 NT, "metanoein " mutatam mentem sonat,
non afflictionem corporis, "metanoein means 'changing the mind'
not 'afflicting the body'"; 1516 NT, Resipiscere , pro poenitentiam agere, "'To look back' for 'to do
penance.'"
Referring to Tertullian, Erasmus asserts that this verse does not allude
to the sacrament of Penance, 1527 NT, Nam & in Graeco, inquit, sono poenitentiae nomen non
ex delicti confessione, sed ex animi de-
mutatione compositum est (Reeve 1.18)."He also
says that the name for penance in the Greek language is constructed
[from meta and noeia], not
with respect to the confession of a fault, but to the alteration of the soul." Thanks to Germain Marc'hadour for help with the
translation. KJV uses "repentance" but never "penance." Tyndale
discusses the same crux, metanoein for "repente"
or "forthynke " instead of "do penance" (22/3) in Obedience M6v. Wyclif frequently translated metanoein as "forthink," as in Luke 17.4 (cf. PS
1.260n2).
Tyndale shows little affinity with Luther's defense of himself on the
issue of contrition as he responded to papal censure in Exsurge Domine, Art. 6 (DS 1456; Neuner-Dupuis
1614/6), e.g., in Defense and Explanation of All the
Articles, December 1520 (WA 7.114–16; LW 32.34–38). On
penitential satisfaction, Luther's responses were more developed (ibid.,
WA 7.112–13; LW 32.32–35), but he too said that God's visitation in
grace leads spontaneously to love of righteousness and good works
(ibid., WA 7.116–17; LW 32.38–42). However, Tyndale does not follow
Luther's emphatic teaching on faith in the absolution that is given in
virtue of Christ's mandate of binding and loosing (cf. Matt. 16.19).
This we find in the response to Exsurge's censure of Arts. 10–12 (ibid., WA 7.119–20; LW
32.45–50). (JW)
In 1528 Tyndale gives an extended discussion of penance, confession,
contrition, satisfaction, and absolution in Obedience (M6v—O1). He deplores the burden to scrupulous
consciences (L3), and asserts that the seal of confession is frequently
broken for political advantage (V3v—V4). In Prelates (G2v) Tyndale condemns the Observant Franciscans of
Greenwich, along with the Carthusians and Bridgittines, for passing
political information learned from auricular confession
through Cardinal Morton and Bishop Fox of Winchester to Henry
VII. Tyndale might have known the case of the third Duke of Buckingham
(1478–1521), a descendant of Edward III, who listened approvingly to
prophecies that he would become king. His confessor John Delacourt
testified against him at his treason trial despite being sworn to "keep
it secret under the seal of confession" (LP 3/1, no. 1284). See Barbara J. Harris, Edward
Stafford: Third Duke of Buckingham, 1478–1521 (Stanford UP,
1986).
Tyndale approves the public penances enjoined in the early church as a
means to tame the flesh (1 John H3v), but he
decries the teachings on good works, purgatory, and indulgences as
abuses of episcopal power (C2—C3v). He could accept auricular confession
restored to right use (B3v).
20/29–21/3
And wyth . . .
goten. Cf. CWM 8/1.203/22–27.