The Answer of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Against the False Calumniations of Doctor Richard Smith, Who Hath Taken upon Him to Confute the Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Body and Blood of Our Saviour Christ
- I mAVE now obtained, gentle reader, that thing which I have much desired, which was, that if all men would not embrace the truth lately set forth by me, concerning the sacrament of the body and blood of our Saviour Christ, at the least some man would vouchsafe to take pen in hand and write against my book, because that thereby the truth might both better be searched out, and also more certainly known to the world. And herein I heartily thank the late bishop of Winchester, and doctor Smith, who partly have satisfied my long desire; saving that I would have wished adversaries more substantially learned in holy scriptures, more exercised in the old ancient ecclesiastical authors, and having a more godly zeal to the trial out of the truth, than are these two, both being crafty sophisters, the one by art, and the other by nature; both also being drowned in the dregs of papistry, brought up and confirmed in the same; the one by Duns and Dorbell, and such like sophisters; the other by the popish canon law, whereof by his degree, taken in the university, he is a professor. And as concerning the late bishop of Winchester, I will declare his crafty sophistications in mine answer unto his book.
But doctor Smith, as it appeareth:by the title of his preface, hath craftily devised an easy way to obtain his purpose, that the people, being barred from the searching of the truth, might be still kept in blindness and error, as well in this as in all other matters, wherein they have been in times past deceived.
He seeth full well that the more diligently matters be searched out and discussed, the more clearly the craft and falsehood of the subtile papists will appear. And therefore in the preface to the reader he exhorteth all men to leave disputing and reasoning of the same by learning, and to give firm credit unto the church, as the title of the said preface declareth manifestly: as who should say, the truth of any matter that is in question might be tried out, without debating and reasoning by the word of God, whereby, as by the true touchstone, all men’s doctrines are to be tried and examined. But the truth is not ashamed to come to the light, and to be tried to the uttermost. For as pure gold, the more it is tried the more pure it appeareth, so is all manner of truth: whereas, on the other side, all maskers, counterfeiters, and false deceivers abhor the light, and refuse the trial. If all men, without right or reason, would give credit unto this papist and his Romish church, against the most certain word of God and the old holy and catholic church of Christ, the matter should be soon at an end, and out of all controversy. But forasmuch as the pure word of God and the first church of Christ from the beginning taught the true catholic faith, and Smith with his church of Rome do now teach the clean contrary, the chaff cannot be tried out from the pure corn (that is to say, the untruth discerned from the very truth) without threshing, windowing, and fanning, searching, debating, and reasoning.
As for me, I ground my belief upon God’s word, wherein can be no error, having also the consent of the primitive church, requiring no man to believe me further than I have God’s word for me. But these papists speak at their pleasure what they list, and would be believed without God’s word, because they bear men in hand that they be the
[themselves. -]
ἡ dE THE ANSWER TO SMITH’S PREFACE. 369 church. The church of Christ is not founded upon itself, but upon Christ and his word: but the papists build their church upon themselves, devising new articles of the faith from time to time, without any scripture, and founding the same upon the pope and his clergy, monks and friars; and by that means they be both the makers and judges of their faith themselves. Wherefore this papist, like a politic man, doth right wisely provide for himself and his church in the first entry of his book, that all men should leave searching for the truth, and stick hard and fast to the church, meaning himself and the church of Rome. For from the true catholic church the Romish church, which he accounteth catholic, hath varied and dissented many years past, as the blindest that this day do live may well see and perceive, if they will not purposely wink and shut up their eyes. This I have written to answer the title of his preface.