AN ANSWERE VNTO SIR THOMAS MORES DIALOGE

VOLUME 3

The Independent Works

LOCATION

KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural

contrary vnto the mynde of paul / set vp ceremonies in the new testamente / partely borowynge them of Moses and partely imageninge like / as ye now se / and called them sacramentes: that is to saye / sygnes (as yt ys playne in the storyes) the sacrament of holy water / of holy fyre / holy bred / holy salt and so forth. And they gaue them significacions. As holy water signifyed the sprinclinge of christes bloude for our redempcyon. Which sacrament or sygne (though yt seme superfluous / in as moch as the sacrament of christes body and bloud signifieth the same dayly) yet as longe as the significacion bode / it hurted not. And the kyssynge of the pax was sett vpp to signifie / that the peace of christ shuld be euer amonge vs one to loue an other after hys ensample as the word yt selfe well declareth. For pax ys as moch to saye as peace.

went and . . . paul /] went . . . Paul, and [1573]

Ceremonies set vp in the newe testament.[1573]

because . . . Moses. Cf. CWM 8/1.194/17–19.

holy bred /] ed., holy bred [1531], holy bread, [1573]

holy water . . . holy salt. Background on the liturgical and devotional use of such blessed objects is given in the respective entries, "Wasser," "Feuer," "Brot. Religiose Volkskunde," "Brotschutzen," and "Salz," in LThK. Delumeau treats them among the rites rassurants (37–50). Authors dealing with this theme draw heavily on Adolph Franz, Die kirchlichen Benediktionen im Mittelalter, 2 vol. (Freiburg: Herder, 1909). For other references to sacramentals, cf. [commentary notes on A3, “holysalt . . . oyle”; B1, “baptim”; F5v, “salt”; I3, “Fire / salt / water / bred / oyle”].

What holy water sygnyfyeth [1531]

Matt. 26.26–28, Mark 14.22–24, Luke 22.19–20, 1Cor. 11.23— 26

kyssynge of the pax. The ceremony may have been a substitute for the Eucharist (Duffy 125) or for the kiss of peace (OED 3.). Agreeing with the latter, Tyndale explains how kissing the pax symbolizes forgiveness and love (Obedience O5v). Yet, trusting in ritual can lead to the neglect of true Christian love (1 John F1v). For the use of the pax at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, cf. [H8v, “trucebreakynge” and commentary note].

The pax [1531]

loue . . . ensample. Cf. John 13.15.

] John

And as for confirmacion / it is no doute / but that it came this wise vp and that thys was the vse / which the word it selfe well declareth. We reade in the stories / that they wich were conuerted vnto the faith of the age of discrecion / were ful taught in the law of god (as right is) and in the fayth of oure sauiour Iesus / yer they were baptised / and vppon the profession or promisinge to kepe that law and fayth / were baptised. And then for the socure and helpe of younge childern / baptised before the age of discrecion / to know the law of god and faith of christe / was confirmacion institute that they shuld not be all waye ignoraunt and faithlesse / but be taught the professyon of theyr baptim. And thys / no doute / was the maner / as we maye wel gather by probable coniectures and euident tokens. When the childern were of

confirmacion. Confirmation had evolved as a distinct rite in the early medieval West through the gradual dismemberment of the ancient church's complex rite of baptismal initiation. Theologically , it is the imparting of the Holy Spirit to strengthen a maturing Christian as he or she advances to active membership in the church. Luther saw Confirmation as an ecclesiastical rite of blessing, but that it was a sacrament based on a sure promise of grace he denied in Babylonian Captivity, 1520 (WA 6.549–50; LW 36.91–92). Erasmus may have influenced Tyndale's view [F4, “Which maner . . . this daye”] of the desirability of climaxing the catechizing of youth with a rite of public profession of the signification of one's baptism. Cf. Pio lectori, Preface to Paraphrase of Matthew, 1522 (LB 7.**3v). Tyndale's protest at the loss of the original didactic purpose of Confirmation (Obedience O1—O3) anticipates his criticisms in Answer. At the same time, Martin Bucer spoke of the need of such a rite, which he then introduced in the churches of Hesse and Strasbourg, René Bornert, La réforme protestante du culte à Strasbourg (Leiden: Brill, 1981) 362–66. The best brief overview on Confirmation is Georg Kretschmar's entry "Firmung" (TRE 11.192–204).

Confirmacyon [1531]

to] to to [1573]

Confirmation how it came first vnto the church.[1573]

institute] instituted [1573]