Answer To Thomas More S Dialogue

IT was in 1528, that Sir Thomas More, being already regarded as the most accomplished scholar in England, and having before his eyes a near prospect of being invited to fill the chief place in his sovereign's council, was induced to accept bishop Tonstal's permission to read the works of the reformers, that he might be qualified to refute them; nor did he suffer the year to elapse before he had composed, as the first fruits of his consequent researches and zeal, an imaginary dialogue between himself and the confidential messenger of a friend desirous to know his opinions respecting the religious questions which were then forcing themselves into general notice. In the edition of Sir Thomas More's works, printed at London in 1557, and then dedicated to queen Mary, as "To that person to whom specially of all worldly creatures the editor [William Rastell, serjeant at law] trusted the book should be most acceptable," the title of this effort to write down Tyndale and his labours is as follows: "A dialogue of Sir Thomas More, knt. one of the council of our sovereign lord the king, and chancellor of his duchy of Lancaster. Wherein he treated divers matters, as of the veneration and worship of images and reliques, praying to saints, and going on pilgrimages, with many other things touching the pestilent sect of Luther and Tyndale, by the one begun in Saxony, and by the other labored to be brought into England. Made in the year of our Lord, 1528." The dialogue was divided by its author into four books; and occupies in that quarto edition a hundred and eighty-four closely printed pages.The date in the above title-page tells when More's Dialogue was composed; but Mr Anderson's researches have led him to conclude that it was not published till the summer of 1529. Tyndale's title-page in like manner tells us that he made his answer in 1530; but though Vaughan's dispatch to Henry VIII. of the date of Jan. 26, 1531, confirms this fact, it was not committed to the press till about the close of the spring of that year. By that time More had been promoted from the chancellorship of the duchy to the elevated post of lord high chancellor of England. But the laborious duties of that judicial and political office did not prevent his undertaking to write a "Confutacyon of Tyndall's Answer;" and on such a scale, that when he had not advanced beyond the first thirty pages of his opponent, he found he had written enough to fill a folio volume of above three hundred and sixty pages; which was printed for him by his brother-in-law, William Rastell, in 1532. It is divided into three books; and the most prominent feature in the first book is the continual recurrence of abusive mention of Luther's marriage with Katharine Boren. As she had been a nun, and Luther a priest, it was to be expected that More would consider their marriage as illegal and sinful; and would consequently think himself entitled to speak of her as of a harlot. But it is strange that he should not have perceived, that there was neither argument nor decency in twitting Tyndale with Luther's marriage, page after page, and in the coarsest terms, as More has here done. See especially, Conf. pp. vi-x.

The Parker Society was the London-based Anglican society that printed in fifty-four volumes the works of the leading English Reformers of the sixteenth century. It was formed in 1840 and disbanded in 1855 when its work was completed. Named after Matthew Parker -- the first Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury, who was known as a great collector of books -- the stimulus for the foundation of the society was provided by the Tractarian movement, led by John Henry Newman and Edward B. Pusey. Some members of this movement spoke disparagingly of the English Reformation, and so some members of the Church of England felt the need to make available in an attractive form the works of the leaders of that Reformation.

IT was in 1528, that Sir Thomas More, being already regarded as the most accomplished scholar in England, and having before his eyes a near prospect of being invited to fill the chief place in his sovereign's council, was induced to accept bishop Tonstal's permission to read the works of the reformers, that he might be qualified to refute them; nor did he suffer the year to elapse before he had composed, as the first fruits of his consequent researches and zeal, an imaginary dialogue between himself and the confidential messenger of a friend desirous to know his opinions respecting the religious questions which were then forcing themselves into general notice. The title of this effort to write down Tyndale and his labours is as follows: "A dialogue of Sir Thomas More, knt. one of the council of our sovereign lord the king, and chancellor of his duchy of Lancaster. Wherein he treated divers matters, as of the veneration and worship of images and reliques, praying to saints, and going on pilgrimages, with many other things touching the pestilent sect of Luther and Tyndale, by the one begun in Saxony, and by the other labored to be brought into England. Made in the year of our Lord, 1528." Tyndale responded and More wrote again. A work entitled a "Confutacyon of Tyndall's Answer;". Once more Tyndale responded. You have before you Tyndale's replies.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.