A pistle to the Christen reader The revelation of Antichrist. Antithesis

Have we not now many years suffered false teachers / which suppressing the gospel have taught us their own traditions and learnings? All Bishops / Shepherds and Divines / are here noted which all are run in to one madness / to exalt the Decrees of the Pope and to teach them unto men / with what a full and notable signification doth he speak these words / which privily shall bring in damnable sects / ¹the Greek word hath a great mystery / for it signifieth that under the doctrine of godliness (which they shall feign) they shall being in ungodliness / mingling by their secret deceits their own traditions with the gospel / for they shall not deny the gospel but they shall so wrest it by their inventions glosses and additions / and bring up such statutes / and constitutions / by a little and a little that it be not perceived / that they shall clean lead the people out of the high way of faith / in to sects of works with the which they shall destroy and corrupt the gospel / that at the length it shall be clean unprofitable to teach the faith. So in time past the false Prophets did not deny the name of the lord / but rather did come in his name / whom Christ painteth in the. xxiiij of Matthew on this manner.² There shall rise false Prophets and false Christs / and shall deceive many. Many shall come in ⟨image 18⟩my name saying. I am Christ. And again / if they say behold here is Christ or there believe them not. What signifieth here & there but sects of perdition? What is this perdition / […] the destruction of the faith and the gospel?³ So also Paul in the .iiij. to the Ephesians doth call these sects and doctrine of works where by they lay a wait for us to deceive us / as it were a deceitful coming to deceive / because that the wicked which go about to deceive come unto the people with crafty and sotle sermones / by the word of god other wrested into their purpose / or else darkened by their own doctrines and slanders which are set in the way / such as the woman in the .ix. of the Proverbs doth figure sitting in the high place of the city.⁴

Have we not now many yeares suffered false teachers / which suppressinge the gospell have thaught vs their awne traditions and learninges? All Bisshopes / Shepardes and Devines / are here noted which all are runne in to one madnes / to exalt the Decrees of the Pope and to teach them vn to men / with what a full and notable signification doth he speake these wordes / which prevely shall bringe in damnable sectes /