A14136:223
The Obedience of a Christian Man
The obedie[n]ce of a Christen man and how Christ[n] rulers ought to govern, where in also (if thou mark diligently) thou shalt find eyes to perceive the crafty conveyance of all jugglers.The obedie[n]ce of a Christen man and how Christe[n] rulers ought to governe, where in also (if thou marke diligently) thou shalt fynde eyes to perceave the crafty conveyance of all iugglers.
At Marlborow in the lande of Hesse i.e. Antwerp : the second day of October. Anno. M.CCCCC.xxviii, by me Hans luft i.e. J. Hoochstraten, 1528At Marlborow in the lande of Hesse i.e. Antwerp : the seconde daye of October. Anno. M.CCCCC.xxviii, by me Hans luft i.e. J. Hoochstraten, 1528
Title page typeset from the transcription.
¶Of the sacraments. › ¶Of wedlock.¶Of the sacramentes. › ¶Of wedlocke.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
¶Of wedlock.
¶Of wedlocke.
Matrimony or wedlock is a state or a degree ordained of god & an office where in the husband serveth the wife & the wife the husband. It was ordained for a remedy & to increase the world / and for the man to help the woman and the woman the man with all love and kinds / and not to signify any promise ⟨image 91⟩that ever I heard or read of in the scripture.1 Therefore ought it not to be called a sacrament. It hath a promise that we sin not in that state / if a man receive his wife as a gift given to him of God / and the wife her husband like wise: as all manner meats and drinks have a promise that we sin not / if we use them measurably with thanks giving. If they call matrimony a sacrament because the scripture useth the similitude of matrimony to express the marriage or wedlock that is between us and christ (For as a woman though she be never so pore / yet when she is married / is as rich as her husband: even so we when we repent and believe the promises of God in Christ / though we be never so pore sinners / yet are as rich as Christ / all his merits are ours with all that he hath) If for that cause they call it a sacrament: so will I mustard seed / leaven / a net / keys / bred / water and a thousand other things which Christ and the prophets and all the scripture use / to express the kingdom of heaven and Gods word with all. They praise wedlock with their mouth / and say it is an holy 2thing / as it is verily: but had lever be sanctified with an whore / than to come with in the sanctuary