568
A FRUITFUL EXHORTATION OF THE BOHEMIANS
give you forgiveness of all your sins,[1] and great grace and pardon, to this end, that you should war upon us and destroy us: whereas their graces and pardons are none other than great lies, and a great seducing of the body and soul of all them that believe them, and put their trust in them. This we would prove unto them, and overcome them by the holy Scripture; and we would suffer, that whosoever is desirous to hear, the same should hear it. The pope seduceth the world with vain promises of things which he cannot give.For the pope and all his priests herein deal with you, as the devil would have done with our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Luke writeth [chap. iv.]. That he brought him upon a high hill, and showed unto him, in the twinkling of an eye, all the kingdoms that are in the compass of the earth, and said unto him, 'I will give thee,' &c. So the devil deceiveth the pope and all the priests, with the riches of the world, and worldly power; and they think they can give grace and pardon when they will; and they themselves shall never find favour before Almighty God, except they repent and make amends, because of their great deceiving of Christendom. And how can they give that to others, which they themselves have not? So did the devil, who was rich in promising, and poor in giving. The devil and the pope rich in promising, and poor in giving.And like as the devil is not ashamed to tell a lie, so all they are not ashamed to speak that which shall never be found true, nor be proved by the holy Scriptures; because for no cause they stir up kings, princes, lords, and cities, to make war against us, not to the end that christian faith should thereby be defended, but because they fear that their secret vices and heresies shall be disclosed and made manifest. For if they had a true cause, and a godly love to the christian faith, they would then take the books of the holy Scripture, and would come unto us, and overcome us with the weapons of God's word: and that is our chief desire. For so did the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to the Pagans and Jews, and brought them from their infidelity to the true faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this they did in the spirit of meekness, as the apostle Paul writeth in Galatians vi. 'Brethren, if any man be grieved,' &c. So ought they also to do, if they perceived that they were just and we unjust. And if we would not abide instruction, then they might take to them kings, princes, lords, and imperial cities, and resist us according to the commandments of the holy Scripture. False pretences of the papists. Huss and Jerome, by wrongful violence, put to death.But this is the subtle defence of all the bishops and priests, that they say that Master Huss and Jerome, who were burnt at Constance, were overcome by the holy father the pope, and by the whole council. For ye must understand that they were not overcome by the Holy Ghost, but unjustly, with wrongful violence, which God may yet hereafter grievously punish in all them that gave their counsel and aid thereto. And they say, it ought not to be suffered, that we should be heard in confessing our faith.[2] How may that be proved by the holy Scripture, since Christ heard the devil, as it is written in Matt. iv.? and they are not better than Christ, nor we worse than the devil. If they be just and have the truth with them (as they say they have), and we be unrighteous, why do they fear, since the truth ought not be afraid of falsehood, as Esdras writeth in his second book, chap. iii. Zerubabel declared that truth is of all things the most mighty, and overcometh all things. For Christ is the truth [John xiv.], 'I am the way, the truth,' &c.; and the devil is the father of lies, [John viii.]; 'He is a liar from the beginning, and never abode in the truth, and there is no truth in him.' Therefore, if the pope and his priests have the truth, let them overcome us with the word of God. But if they have lies, then they cannot long abide in all their presumption. A just and godly request of the Bohemians.Wherefore, we exhort and beseech all the imperial cities, all kings, princes, noble men, rich and poor, for God's sake and for his righteousness, that one of them write hereof to another, and that there may be some means made, how we may commune with you safely and friendly, at some such place as shall be fit both for you and us; and bring with you your bishops and teachers, and let them and our teachers fight together with the word of God, and let us hear them, and let not the one overcome the other by violence or false subtlety, but only by the word of God. And if your bishops and teachers have better proofs of their faith out of the holy Scripture, than we, and our faith be found untrue, we will receive penance and satisfaction, according to the gospel; but if your bishops and teachers be overcome of ours by the holy Scripture, then do ye repent and hearken to us, and hold with us. And if your bishops and teachers
