VOLUME 3

AN ANSWERE VNTO SIR THOMAS MORES DIALOGE

LOCATION
KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural

postles and prophetes and all the scripture / with signes and miracles / and al the bloud of marters. And who soever goeth vnto God and vnto forgeuenesse of synnes or saluacion / by any other waye then thys / the same is an heretike out of the rightwaye and not of Christes church.

For this knowlege maketh a man of the church. And the church is christes body Collossen. j. and every person of the church is a member of christ. Ephe. 5. Now it is no member of christ that hath not christes spirite in it. Roma. viij. as it is no parte of me or member of my body wherin my soule is not present and quikeneth it. And then iff a man be none of christes / he is not of his church.

¶How a true member of christes church synneth not / and how he is yet a synner

Furthermoare / he that hath this faith can not sinne / and therfore can not be disceaved with damnable erroures. For by this faith we be (as I saide) borne of God. Now he that is born of god can not synne / for his seed dwelleth in him / and he can not therfore synne / because he is born of God .j. Ihon .iij. which seed is the holygost that kepith a mans hert from consentinge vnto sinne. And therfore it is a false conclusion that master More holdeth / how that a man maye haue a righte faith ioyned with all kyndes of abhominacion and synne.

79/5 a letter sent from no man. "The letter of credence" (CWM 6/1.24/4–26/7) was supposedly sent from More's "ryght worshypfull frende" (CWM 6/1.21/7) to introduce the Messenger. As More once fashioned "Utopia" or "no place," he now creates "no man." Ch. 1 also contains "The letter of the author sent with the boke" (CWM 6/1.26/8–27/27). More as Author sends his fictional friend a transcription of the four sessions between himself as Mentor and the Messenger. So in Tusculan Disputations (45–44 BC), Cicero sent Brutus a transcription of five days of supposed dialogue between "M." and "A.": "Magister" and "Adolescens" or "Marcus" and "Auditor." These speakers offer a model for Anthony and his nephew Vincent in More's Dialogue of Comfort (1534–35). See O'Donnell, "Three Dialogues of Comfort."

79/9 worshepinge . . . images. In the second edition of Dialogue (May 1531), More added a long passage to Bk. 1, Ch. 2 defending religious images (CWM 6/1.39/26–47/22, 6/2.556–57). For other long additions to Dialogue, cf. 184/2n on images and 201/29n on faith.

79/11 in comune. Cf. 70/1n, and "the comen fayth" (CWM 6/1.37/34, 38/1), "comen report" (CWM 6/1.38/4), "commonly condempned" (CWM 6/1.38/9).

And yet every membir of Christes congregacion is a synner and sinneth dayly / some moare and some lesse. For it is written .j. Ihon .j. if we saye we haue no synne / we disceaue oure selues and the trueth is not in vs. And agayne iff we saye / we haue not sinned / we make him a liar