N20568:9771
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
ALTHOUGH the cause of the true man slain of the thief, helping his neighbour to recover his goods again, and the cause for which I am put to death, in a generality is both one (as I said before); yet know ye that there is no small difference. These thieves against whom I do stand, are much worse than the robbers and thieves of the borders. The goods which they steal are much more precious, and their kinds of fight are far different. These thieves are worse (I say) for they are cruel, more wicked, more false, more deceitful, and crafty: for those will but kill the body, but these will kill both body and soul. Those, for the general theft and robbery, be called, and are indeed, thieves and robbers; but these for their spiritual kind of robbery, are called Sacralegi, as you would say, Church-robbers. They are more wicked: for those go about to spoil men of worldly things, worldly riches, gold and silver, and worldly substance; these go about in the ways of the devil their spiritual father, to steal from the universal church, and particularly from every man, all heavenly treasure, true faith, true charity, and hope of salvation in the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, yea, to spoil us of our Saviour Jesus Christ, of his gospel, of his heavenly Spirit, and of the heavenly heritage of the kingdom of heaven, so dearly purchased unto us, with the death of our Master and Saviour Christ. These are the goods and godly substance whereupon the christian before God must live, and without which he cannot live: these goods, I say, these thieves, these church robbers go about to spoil us of. Which goods, as to the man of God, they excel and surpass all worldly treasure; so to withstand, even unto death, such thieves as go about to spoil both us and the whole church of such goods, is most high and honourable service done to God.
THESE church-robbers be also much more false, crafty, and deceitful, than the thieves upon the borders; for th•se have not the craft so to commend their theft, that they dare avouch i•, and therefore as acknowledging themselves to be evil, they steal commonly in the night, they dare not appear in judgments and sessions, where justice is executed, and when they are taken and brought thither, they never hang any man, but they be oftentimes hanged for their faults. But these church-robbers can so cloak and colour their spiritual robbery, that they can make people to believe falsehood to be truth, and truth falsehood; good to be evil, and evil good; light to be darkness, and darkness light; superstition to be true religion, and idolatry to be the true worship of God, and that which is in substance the creature of bread and wine, to be no other substance, but only the substance of Christ the living Lord, both God and man. And with this their falsehood and craft, they can so juggle and bewitch the understanding of the simple, that they dare avouch it openly in court and in town, and fear neither hanging nor heading, as the poor thieves of the borders do; but stout and strong like Nembroth, dare condemn to be burned in flaming fire, quick and alive, whosoever will go about to bewray their falsehood.