Page:The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe Volume 3.djvu/95



Ergo, it is lawful for him so to do. The consequence is thus manifest; so much as the Spirit of God, moving the deacon or priest unto the preaching of the gospel, is of greater force than any prohibition of pope or bishop invented by man: ergo, according unto the rule of the apostles, they ought infallibly to be obedient unto the Spirit of Christ, which doth so move them thereunto, and rather to obey God than man: [Acts v.] Also, by like reason, as Eldad and Medad, upon whom the Spirit of God did rest, did lawfully prophesy without requiring any license at Moses' hands, as it is written Numb. xi.; for the same reason may the meek minister of Christ, upon whom the Spirit of God doth rest, without the requiring of any license either of the pope or bishop, lawfully preach the word of God unto the people. And would to God in this behalf all prelates had the spirit of Moses; for it is said, Numb, xi., that when Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the tents, a child ran unto Moses, and told him, saying; "Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the tents;" and by and by Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, whom he had chosen out amongst many, said, " My master Moses, forbid them:" and he said, " Why enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the people could prophesy, and that God the Lord would give them his Spirit!" O would to God the pope and bishops had the affections which this holy man, the friend of God, had! Then would he not prohibit the meek deacons and ministers of Jesus Christ to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The like affection had the blessed man Gregory, who, in his twenty-second book of Morals, writing upon these words of Job, "And I have not afflicted the soul of his husbandmen," saith thus: "The husbandmen of this earth are these, who, being set in small authority, with as fervent desire as they can, and with as great labour as they may, do work by the preaching of grace, to the erudition of the holy church, which husbandmen of this world not to afflict, is not to envy their labours and doings: neither ought the ruler of the church, albeit he do challenge unto himself alone the title of preaching, through envy gainsay others who do preach truly and uprightly. For the godly mind of the pastor, who seeketh not his own glory amongst men, desireth to be holpen; which thing also the faithful preacher doth wish, if it might by any means be brought to pass, that the truth, which he alone cannot sufficiently express, all men's mouths might declare. Wherefore, when Joshua would have resisted the two who were prophesying in the host, 'why dost thou envy,' saith he, ' for my sake?' for he did not envy that good in others which he himself had." Thus writeth St. Gregory.

Also the meek ministers of Christ have, by a special gift of God, knowledge and mind to preach the gospel; but it is lawful neither for the pope nor bishop, nor any other man, to let or hinder them, lest thereby they should hinder the word of God, that it have not its free course. Ergo, this article is true; for the king doth not so much rule over the goods of his subjects, no not of his own sons, but that they may give alms to whom they will: much more the bishop hath not so great authority over the knowledge of the meek minister, with his other gifts of God, but that he may now freely, under the title of spiritual alms, freely preach the gospel unto the people. Ergo, forasmuch as it should seem strange, that a bishop should forbid any man to give any corporal alms to the poor that are an-hungered; much more strange and marvellous would it be, if he should prohibit the spiritual minister of Christ to give spiritual alms, by the preaching of the gospel of the word of God.

Item, No catholic man ought to doubt, but that a man able for the purpose, is more bound to teach those who are ignorant, to counsel and comfort the weak in spirit, to correct such as are unruly, to forgive those that do them wrong, than to do any other work of mercy forasmuch then as he that hath sufficient is bound, under pain of damnation, to give corporal alms, as it appeareth in Matthew XXV., much more he who is able, is bound to do spiritual alms. And this alms St. Bernard, writing unto Eugenius in his third book, perceived to be very necessary for the bishop of Rome, where he saith thus: "I fear no greater poison, nor greater sword nor mischief, will happen unto thee, than this insatiable desire of dominion." With what face, then, can the faithful minister withdraw or keep back the spiritual alms for the pope and any other, even without the special license of the pope or of the bishop; which license, through the far distance from the pope, the ministers cannot so easily obtain or come by? For any prohibition of any prelate, being broken through necessity, is