The obedience of a Christian man by William Tyndale (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude the 'Preface to the reader'.
His arguments included the following points:
(i) Moses commanded children to be taught the word;
(ii) Christ commanded people to search the Scriptures;
(iii) the sermons of the apostles were in the mother tongue;
(iv) the word tells us whether someone's teaching is right or wrong;
(v) philosophy is not necessary to understand the Bible.
Such great arguments.
I particularly liked this argument against the need for theologians to tell us what Scripture means: 'Nay, say they, the Scripture is so hard, that thou couldst never understand it but by the doctors. That is, I must measure the meteyard by the cloth. Here be twenty cloths of divers lengths and of divers breadths ; how shall I be sure of the length of the meteyard by them ? I suppose rather, I must be first sure of the length of the meteyard and thereby measure and judge the clothes. If I must first believe the doctor, then is the doctor first true, and the truth of the Scripture dependeth of his truth ; and so the truth of God springeth of the truth of man. Thus Antichrist turneth the roots of the trees upward. What is the cause that we damn some of Origen's works, and allow some? How know we that some is heresy and some not? By the Scripture, I trow. How know we that St, Augustine (which is the best, or one of the best that ever wrote upon the Scripture) wrote many things amiss at the beginning, as many other doctors do? Verily, by the Scriptures; as he himself well perceived afterward, when he looked more diligently upon them, and revoked many things again. He wrote of many things which he understood not when he was newly converted, yet he had thoroughly seen the Scriptures ; and followed the opinions of Plato, and the common persuasions of man's wisdom that were then famous.'
Scripture measures the doctors - not the doctors measure Scripture.
Next week's reading
Read the 'Prologue...', 'The Obedience of all Degrees...', 'The Obedience of Wives...' and 'The Obedience of Servants...'
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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