A declaration of Christ and of his office compiledA declaration of Christe and of his offyce compylyd

And saint concumbre, for the rode of Pauls: Balaam and his ass that for lucre attempted to curse the ⟨image 34⟩church of god, for Christ and his Ass that came to bliss and sanctify his church with his precious blood: it is the abuse and profanation of the temple to suffer them, and a great occasion for people to return to there accustomed ill. I would all men should indifferently ponder these reasons and judge whether they be to be suffered or not. First the most perfect churches of the prophets, Christ and his Apostles used no such mean to instruct the people. We ought to follow them and the word of god written by the prophets and Apostles. Also the Greek church never consented willingly to admit the use of images in the temples, the ill that hath happened unto the, people by the means of images is to plain and well known, god by Idolatry robbed of his glory and the Idolater disinherited of God's mercy except he repented ⟨image 34⟩in this lief, an image once brought into the church, liveth along time, grant that at the beginning there was a good preacher of the church, The preacher dieth, the idol the longer it liveth the younger it waxeth, as ye may see by the idol of walsingham. Canterbury and hails the flourished most a little before there desolation in the reign of the Kings majesty that dead is henry the viij. of Ablyssid memory. at there setting up I suppose the preachers were more diligent and zealous of God's glory then afterward. But was not the original damnable, against the word of god to give the people such a book to learn by, that should school them to the devil? The words of Gregorie ad Serenum Episcopum Massilien̄. part 10. Epistol. 4. should move No man though he say quod legentibus scriptura: Hoc ideotis pictura praestat cernentibus. And ⟨image 35⟩doth reprehend serenus for the breaking of images saying that the like was not seen done by any other Minister. This is but saint Gregory's opinion. Epiphanius, writeth in â certayne Epistole ad Johannem Hierosolimitanum Episcopum. Interpret D. Hieronymo hath this sentence: Audivi quosdam murmurare contra me, qui quando simul pergebamus ad sanctum locum, qui uocatur Bethel, & uenissem ad uillā quae uocatur Ana blatha, uidissemque preteriens Ardentē lucernam, et interrogassem quis locus esset?