this cause vnto others, & let this matter finde his Martyr worthy for the same: I for my synnes am not worthy to come to that honor.

Let other mē therfore thinke of these Romanistes what they lyst: Thus I thinke, that who so euer was the author of this Bul, he is a very Antichrist, and against Antichrist these thynges I write, to redeme the veritie of Christ so much as in me lyeth, which he laboureth to extinguishe. MarginaliaM. Luthers protestation.And first, that he shall obteyne no part of hys will in any thyng agaynst me, here I protest before God and our Lord Iesu Christ and hys holy Aungels and all the world, that I dissent with all my hart from the condemnation of thys Bull, which Bull I also do curse and execrate as an enemy, a Churche robber and blasphemy agaynst Christ the sonne of God our Lord. Amen.

Furthermore I hold, defend & imbrace with þ^e ful trust of my spirit, those Articles in þ^e said Bull cōdemned & excōmunicate, & affirme þ^e same ought to be holdē of all faithfull Christians vnder payne of eternall malediction, & that they are to be counted for Antichristes, who soeuer haue cōsented to þ^e sayd Bull, whō I also together with the spirite of all them which purely knowe and worship Christ, in these presentes do count for heathen and do vtterly shunne them, accordyng to the precept of our Lord Iesu Christ. Amen. MarginaliaMarke here how Luther recanteth.And let this stand for my reuocation, O Bulla verè Bullarum filia. i. O thou Bull which art the very daughter of all vayne Marginalia* Bulla in latin, signifieth as much in Englishe, as a bubble in the water.* bubbles.

This my confession and protestatiō made (for witnes wherof I take all thē that shall read these presentes) before I procede to defende and declare these foresayd Articles, I will first begin with certeine argumētes for the cōfutatiō of the sayd Bull: wherof the first I will take of the blynd ignoraūce of this blockishe Antichrist. For the Apostle Peter so cōmaundeth, that we should be ready to render a reason of that fayth & hope which is in vs. And the Apostle Paul willeth a Byshop to be mighty to exhorte in sounde doctrine and to refute the gaynesayers. MarginaliaTit. 1.And these thynges be they, whiche now three yeares ago I haue desired and looked for out of Rome or from them whiche take part with Rome. Whiche thynges also we do read to be obserued most diligently amongst the auncient fathers, when so euer they cōdemned heresies. Neither do we read that the Apostles dyd euer Decree any thyng in their Councels but they first alledged the holy Scripture. MarginaliaThe Papistes will not abyde the triall of the Scripture.So I also when I wayted that they should aunswere me with grapes and to enforme me with true testimonies of the Scripture, behold they bryng to me sower and wild grapes, condemnyng me with nothyng els but bare wordes, where as I haue fortifyed my matters with playne Scriptures.

I say vnto thee, O thou most vnlearned Antichrist, hast thou ioyned such braynsicke rashnes together with such barbarous ignoraunce, that thou wilt presume to thinke all men to be turned into stockes & blockes, & to thinke that thou with thy bare and naked wordes onely canst triumph agaynst the inuincible force & power of Gods holy word? Hast thou learned this maner of condēnyng, of the Magistralities of Colen and Louane?

If this bee the maner of thy Church to damne errours, onely to say, I lyke it not, I denye it, I will not: what foole, what patch, what asse, what blocke can not condemne after this maner? Is not thy whorish face ashamed in the publicke sight of the Church to dare once to set the triflyng vanities onely of thy naked and bare wordes agaynst the thunderboltes of Gods eternall word? O impudent cōdemnation, & right semely for Antichrist, which hath not one iote or title to bryng agaynst such euident Scriptures inferred agaynst hym, but onely with one word commeth and sayth, I condemne thee. And why then do we not beleue the Turke? Why do we not admitte the Iewes? Why do we not honor the heretickes, whiche also condemne our writynges as well as hee, if it bee enough onely to condemne? vnlesse we do not therefore peraduenture giue place vnto them, because they cōdemne vs not vtterly without some Scriptures and reasons: but these men after a new found fashion, vtterly without all Scriptures or reason do condemne vs. What then shall I thinke to be the cause why they proceded agaynst me with this their Bull condemnatorye, so vayne, so ridiculous, so triflyng, but onely their mere blockishnes, whereby they seyng my allegations to bee true and not hable to abyde nor yet to confute the same, thought to terrifye me with the vayne ratlyng of their rotten parchement. MarginaliaThe Popes vaine terrouos can not make M. Luther afrayde.But I tell thee Antichrist, that Luther beyng accustomed to warre, will not be terrifyed with these vayne Bulles, and hathlearned to put a difference betwene a peece of paper and the omnipotent worde of God.

Of the lyke ignoraunce procedeth this also, that they agaynst their owne conscience, durst not particularly digest all and singular the Articles in their orders: for they feared lest they should note hym for an hereticke, whom they were not hable perhaps to conuince either to be erroneous or offensiue, MarginaliaRespectiuely.and therfore they haue founde out this aduerbe respectiuè: and after the numbryng of the Articles, then come they and say that some be respectiuely hereticall, some erroneous, and some offensiue, whiche is as much to say, as we suppose some to be herticall, some erroneous, and some sclaunderous, but we can not tell qui, quales, quanti. i. Which, what maner, & how great they are. O dastardly ignoraūce, how slyppery and cowardly art thou? how art thou afrayed of the light? how doest thou turne and returne all thynges, lest thou shouldest be taken like a Proteus: MarginaliaProteus is a certain monster among the Poetes, which turneth him self into all colours.and yet for all that thou shalt not so escape, yea in thy wylynes thou shalt the rather be ouertaken and subuerted.

Come out therfore O thou asseheaded Antichrist, and shew forth thy wisedome, and dispose thy matters in order. Tell vs if thou canst, what sayst thou or meanest thou when thou sayst this article is hereticall, this is erroneous, this is offensiue. For it becōmeth such a worshypfull condēner to know what he condemneth. And to shameful it is to condēne an Article for heretical, & yet cā not name þ^e same. Neither will I be aūswered here with respectiuely, but I loke to be taught simply and plainly, for I am one of Occams faction whiche contemneth these respectiues, and loue to haue all things simple and absolute.

MarginaliaThe dotage of Antichrist.Thou seest therefore (good reader) the ignoraunt dotage of this Antichrist, how craftely, and yet grossely he thynketh to walke in a nette vnder hys aduerbe, respectiuely. Who not onely doth not teach the truth, and cause of his cōdemnyng, but neither also dare proue any errour, nor shew forth what it is that he condemneth, and yet must he nedes condemne. Is not this, trow you, a proper kynde of damnyng, to damne, & can not tell what he damneth? Is not this a fyne maner of loquition, passyng all rethorike, to speake, and yet not to know what he speaketh? What purgations might we wishe sufficient to purge the doltishe braynes of these Bull braggyng bedlems? With such blindnes and doltishnes are all the aduersaries of Gods truth worthy to be plagued.

MarginaliaEccius.But I know wherupon all this grief riseth. The origine whereof is this: Eccius myne olde aduersarye remembryng how hee was put to shame enough at Lypsia, when he rousyng hym selfe vpon his stage, and frothyng at the mouth lyke a boare, with a furious voyce called me iij. hundreth tymes hereticke for the Articles of Husse, and yet afterward was not able to proue the same, where as the sentence condemnatorie of the Councell of Constance alledged by me otherwise then Eccius looked for, noted there no certeine Article for hereticall: and also the same condemnation much lyke to this of ours, with the lyke foolishnes called some of his Articles hereticall, some erroneous, and some offensiue, MarginaliaEccius taken with a lye.and Eccius hearyng this, beyng confounded in hym selfe for his impudent rashenes, perceiued that he had called me hereticke falsely & vntruly: he thought then to heale this his wounde agayne at Rome, and there to stablishe hys false and impudent lying. But the lying sophister shall not preuayle, by the helpe (I trust) of Christ. For I aske & require yet still that they, absolutely and not respectiuely, distinctly and not cōfusedly, simply and not dissemblingly, plainly & not obscurely, particularly & not in general, do shew what is & what is not heretical. But whē will they so do? When Christ and Beliall, or when lyght and darkenes shall agree together.

And what shall I do then in the meane tyme? First I will contemne these dastardly dotipoles and vnlearned Papistes and Apostles of Antichrist, and I will scorne thē as Helias dyd, and say: If Baal be God, let hym aunsvvere. Peraduenture he is drunke or busie in his iourney: Crye out hygher, for he is a God and peraduenture heareth. Marginalia3. Reg. 18.For what other thyng do these Bull braggyng asses deserue els, which condemne that they knowe not, and confesse also theyr owne ignoraunce?

Secondly, I will not be troubled nor disquieted for the matter, neither am I to be counted hereticke, erroneous, or offensiue, so long as I shall not be proued and playnly conuicted with simple and manifest wordes in what Article I am so iudged. Neither do I here charge