VOLUME 3

AN ANSWERE VNTO SIR THOMAS MORES DIALOGE

LOCATION
KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural

thorowe and seme moare like to be made of paper or fine parchement then of wheten floure. Aboute which was no smal question in oxforde of late dayes / whether it were bred or none: some affirminge that the floure with longe lyenge in water was turned to starch & had lost his nature. M. Item that the sacrament shuld not be worsheped. T. It is the sacrament of Christes body & bloud. And Christ calleth it the new & euer lastynge testament in his bloude & commaunded that we shuld so doo in the remembraunce of him / that his body was broken & his bloud shed for our synnes. And Paule commaundeth therby to shew or preach the lordes deeth. They saye not praye to it / nether put any fayth therin. For I maye not beleue in the sacrament / but I must beleue the sacrament / that it is a true signe and it true that is signified therby (which is the onlye worshuppynge of the sacrament / if ye geue it other worshuppe ye playnlye dishonoure it). As I maye not beleue in Christes church / but beleue christes church / that the doctrine which they preach of christe is true. If ye haue any other doctrine / teach vs a reason and lead vs in light / and we wyll folow.

wheten] wheate [1573]

Aboute . . . starch. Cf. CWM 8/1.117/14–16. In pondering how long flour preserves its nature, Aquinas takes no firm stand: "And because starch comes of corrupted wheat, it does not seem as if the body of Christ could be made of the bread therefrom , although some hold the contrary" (Summa III, Q. 74, Art. 3, Reply to Obj. 4). According to Tyndale, Oxford theologians were still debating the topic.

More [1531]

worsheped] ed., worspeped [1531], worshipped [1573]

sacrament shuld not be worsheped. Cf. CWM 6/1.354/ 23–25.

Worshepe [1531]

Tindale [1531]

They saye . . . fayth therin. Cf. CWM 8/1.367/22–24.

worshuppynge] ed., worshuppnge [1531], worshippyng [1573]

the onlye worshuppynge of the sacrament. Luther actually taught that adoration of the Eucharist, although not commanded, cannot in fact be withheld. Cf. The Adoration of the Sacrament, 1523 (WA 11.432–56, esp. 445–49; LW 36.275–305, esp. 293–96). Tyndale argues against such adoration, from biblical arguments (180/32–181/4) and by analyzing belief (181/5—10n). (JW)

181/5–10 The true worshipping of the Sacrament, is to beleue that it is a true signe that Christ suffered death for vs.[1573]

For ... is true. Tyndale applies to the relation of faith and the sacrament the medieval commonplace of faith's different relations to its object. Based on Augustine (see below), it was held that credere Deo means accepting what God says, and credere Deum is believing that God exists, while credere in Deum is to give oneself over lovingly to God. Peter Lombard cited Augustine on this distinction (Sentences, Bk. 3, Dist. 23, Ch. 4), and thereby transmitted a textbook theme to later medieval theologians, e.g. Aquinas (Summa II—II, Q. 2, Art. 2). For Tyndale, the sacrament is believed as valid testimony (credere sacramento), but one does not give oneself in loving trust to the sacrament itself (not credere in sacramentum ), which is analogous to what Augustine had said about believing Paul and Peter, but not believing in them. Cf. Tractates on the Gospel of John (AD 406–7, 419–24) Tr. 29, Par. 6 (CCL 36.287; 1NPNF 7.185). Tyndale goes on, as above at 173/16–24, to apply this distinction to the church by admitting that one believes the church, but not in the church, which agrees with the Nicene Creed's distinction in wording between Credo in Deum Patrem . . . in unum Dominum ... in Spiritum Sanctum and Credo unam, sanctam , . . . ecclesiam. The Creed thus expresses self-donation in faith to the triune God but only ascertains in faith the existence of the one, holy church. (JW)

It is . . . wyll folow. Cf. CWM 8/1.117/27–118/3.

M. Item that a christen is not bounde to kepe any lawe made by man or any at all. T. you saye vntrulye: a Christen man is bounde to obey tiranny / if it be not agenst his faith ner the lawe of god / vntyll god delyuer him therof. But he is no christen man that byndeth hym to any thynge saue that whych loue and his neyboures necessite requireth of them.

More [1531]

a christen ... any at all. Cf. CWM 6/1.354/29–31. More cites Luther's declaration of Christian freedom from human laws, especially in the church, probably taken from the chapter on Baptism in Babylonian Captivity, 1520 (WA 5.535/27–538/3; LW 36.70–73), which the Sorbonne had censured as subversive and erroneous in 1521. Cf. C.E. Du Boulay, Historia Universitatis Parisiensis 6 (Paris, 1683; Frankfurt/M.: Minerva, 1966) 120. Tyndale affirms the duty of civil obedience in a response akin to Luther's treatise, Temporal Authority, To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed, 1523, which both grounded Christian observance of civil rulers and delineated a sphere of faith that such rulers may not enter (WA 11.245–80; LW 45.81–129). Tyndale, however, is more outspoken on present-day "wily tiranny" (181/22). (JW)

Tindale [1531]

Lev. 19.18, Matt. 19.19, Matt. 22.39, Mark 12.31, Luke 10.27, Rom. 13.9, Gal. 5.14, Jas. 2.8

And when a law made / is no lenger profitable / christen rulars ought to breake it. But now adayes when tyrantes haue gotten the