Marginalia1555. August.vnto me: and if thou wilt not suffer thē to be baptised after the laudable order, thou lettest them to come vnto CHRIST.

Smith. Where ye alledge S. Iohn, Except a mā. &c. and will therby proue the water to saue, & so the deede or worke to saue and put away sinnes, I will send you to S. Paul, which asketh of þ^e Galathians: Whether they receiued the spirite by the deedes of the law, or by the preaching of fayth? and there concludeth that the holy Ghost accompanieth the preachyng of fayth, & with the word of fayth entreth into the hart. So now if Baptisme preach me the washyng in CHRISTES bloud, so doth the holy Ghost accompany it, and it is vnto me as a preacher, & not as a Sauiour.MarginaliaThe water of Baptisme a preacher, and not a Sauiour. And where ye say, I let the children to come vnto CHRIST, it is manifest by our Sauiours wordes that ye let them to come, that will not suffer thē to come to him without the necessitie of water. For he sayth, suffer them to come vnto me, and not vnto water: and therfore if ye condemne them, ye condemne both the merites and wordes of CHRIST. For our Sauiour sayth: Except ye turne and become as children, ye cā not enter into the kingdome of God: and so brought I out many other ensamples, to make manifest, that CHRIST hath clensed Originall sinne, bryngyng in ensamples out of Scriptures, for the same.

Boner. Then thou makest the water of none effect, and then put away water.

MarginaliaThe element of water in Baptisme bringeth not the holy ghost.Smith. It is not (saith S. Peter) the washing away of the fylth of the flesh, but in that a good conscience consenteth vnto God: And for to proue that water onely bringeth not þ^e holy ghost, it is written in the 8. of the Actes, that Simon receiued water, but would haue receyued the holy ghost for money. Also that þ^e holy ghost hath come before Baptisme, it is written that Iohn had the holy ghost in his mothers wombe. Cornelius, Paule, and the Queene of Candace seruaunt, with many other receyued the holy ghost before Baptisme.MarginaliaThe holy ghost receiued of some before Baptisme. Yea, and although your generation haue set at nought the worde of God, & like swine turned his wordes vpsyde down, yet must his church kepe the same in order that he left them, which his Church dare not breake: and to iudge children damned that are not baptised, it is wicked.

Mord. By our Lady sir, but I beleue that if my child dye without water, he is damned.

Boner. Yea, and so do I, and all Catholyke men, good Master Mordant.

Smith. Well my Lord, such Catholycke, such saluation.

Boner. Well sir, what say you to the Sacrament of orders?

MarginaliaThe Sacrament of orders.Smith. Ye may call it the Sacrament of misorders: for all orders are appoynted of God. But as for your shauyng, annoynting, greasing, poling, and rounding, there are no such things appointed in Gods booke, and therefore I haue nothing to do to beleue your orders. And as for you my Lord, if ye had grace or intelligence, ye would not so disfigure your selfe as ye doe.

MarginaliaBoner shaueth himselfe in anger of Robert Smith.Boner. Saiest thou so? now by my trouth and I wil go shaue my self to anger thee withall, & so sent for his Barber, which immediatly came. And before my face at the dore of the next chamber he shaued him selfe, desyring me before hee went, to aunswere to these Articles.

MarginaliaHoly bread, Holy water, Annoynting.Boner. What say you to the holy bread, and holy water, to the Sacrament of annointing, and to all the rest of such ceremonies in the Church?

Smith. I say they be bables for fooles to play withall, and not for the children of God to exercyse themselues in: and therefore they may goe amonges the refuse. Then went away Master Mordant, and my Lorde went to shauing, leauing there certayne Doctors, as he called thē, to assay what they could do, of whom I was baited for halfe an houre: of whō I also asked this que-

MarginaliaTalke betwen Rob. Smith and the Doctours.stion: where were all you in the dayes of King Edward, that ye spake not that which ye speake now?

Doct. We were in England.

Smith. Yea, but then ye had the faces of men, but now ye haue put on Lyons faces againe, as saith saint Iohn: ye shew your selues now as full of malice as ye may be. For ye haue for euery tyme a viser: yea and if an other K. Rdward should aryse, yee woulde then say downe with the Pope, for hee is Antichrist, and so are all hys Angels.

Then was I all to reuyled, and so sent away and brought in agayne to come before these men: and one of them that bayted me before, asked me if I disobeyed confession.

Smith. To whom I answered: loke in myne articles and they shall shew you what I allow.

Doct. Your articles confesse that you allow not Auricular confession.

Smith. I allow it not because the worde alloweth it not, nor commaundeth it.MarginaliaAgaynst Auricular confession.

Doct. Why? it is writtē, thou shalt not hyde thy sinnes and offenses.

Smith. No more doe I when I confesse them to Almighty God.

Doct. Why? ye can not say that yee can hyde them from God, & therefore ye must vnderstand the wordes are spoken to be vttered to thē that do not know them.

Smith. Ye haue made a good aunswere: then must the Priest confesse him selfe to me, as I to hym. For I know his faultes & secretes no more, then he knoweth myne. But if ye cōfesse you to the Priest, and not vnto God, ye shall haue the reward that Iudas had: for hee cōfessed him selfe to the Priest, and yet went and hanged him selfe by & by:  

Commentary     Close

Smith is basing this claim on Matthew 27:3-5. It is, however, quite a stretch (and an anachronism) to maintain that Judas confessed to the priests.

Doct. What dyd they that came to Iohn to bee Baptised?

Smith. They came and confessed theyr sinnes vnto almightie God.

Doct. And not vnto Iohn?

Smith. If it were vnto Iohn, as ye are not able to proue, yet was it to God before Iohn, and the whole congregation.

Doct. Why, Iohn was alone in the wildernes.

MarginaliaConfessing vnto Iohn in the wildernes, was not to him, but before him to God.Smith. Why, and yet the Scriptures say he had many Disciples, and that many Phariseis and Saduces came to his baptisme. Here the Scriptures and you agree not. And if they confessed them selues to Iohn, as ye say, it was to all the Congregation, as S. Paul doth to Timothie, & to all that read his Epistle, in openyng to all the hearers, that he was not worthy to be called an Apostle, because he had bene a Tyraunt: but as for eare confession, ye neuer heard it allowed by the word. For the Prophet Dauid maketh his confession vnto God, and sayth: I will confeße my sinnes vnto the Lorde. Daniell maketh his confession vnto the Lord: Iudith, Toby, Ieremy, Manasses, with all the forefathers dyd euen so. For the Lord hath sayd: Call vpō me in the tyme of trouble, and I will deliuer thee. Knocke, aske, seeke, with such lyke, & this is the word of God. Now bryng somewhat of the word to helpe your selfe withall. Thē they raged and called me dogge, and sayd I was damned.

Smith. Nay ye are dogges, that for because holy thinges are offered, you will slay your frendes. For I may say with S. Paul: I haue fought with beastes in the likenes of men. For here I haue bene bayted these two dayes, of my Lord and his great Bulles of Basan, and in his Hall beneath haue I bene baited of the rest of his band. With this came my Lord from shauyng, and asked me how I liked hym?

Smith. Forsooth, ye are euen as wise as ye were before ye were shauen.

Boner. How standeth it Master Doctors? haue ye done any good?

Doct. No by my trouth my Lord, we cā do no good.