A covetous minister is a base thing; a pillar more symbolizing Lot’s wife, than a holy apostle of Jesus Christ.

The unbelieving world slight the Scriptures because carnal priests tickle the ears of their hearers with vain philosophy and deceit, and thereby harden their hearts against the simplicity of the gospel and word of God; which things the apostle admonished those that have a mind to close in with Christ, to avoid, saying, “Beware lest any man,” be he what he will, “spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men and rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

And you who muzzle up your people in ignorance, with Aristotle, Plato, and the rest of the heathenish philosophers, and preach little if any thing of Christ rightly—­I say unto you, that you will find you have sinned against God and beguiled your hearers, when God shall in the judgment-day lay the cause of the damnation of many thousands of souls to your charge, and say, “I will require their blood at your hands.”

The minister at the day of judgment.

Some men, it is to be feared, at the day of judgment, will be found to be the authors of destroying whole nations.  How many souls, do you think, Balaam with his deceit will have to answer for?  How many Mahomet?  How many the Pharisees that hired the soldiers to say the disciples stole away Jesus, and by that means stumbled their brethren to this day?

How many poor souls hath Bonner to answer for, think you; and several filthy, blind priests?  How many souls have they been the means of destroying by their ignorance and corrupt doctrine? preaching that which was no better for their souls than ratsbane to the body, for filthy lucre’s sake.  They shall see that they, many of them it is to be feared, will have whole towns to answer for, whole cities to answer for.  Ah, friend, I tell thee, thou that hast taken in hand to preach to the people, it may be thou hast taken in hand thou canst not tell what.  Will it not grieve thee to see thy whole parish come bellowing after thee to hell, crying out, This we may thank thee for; thou didst not teach us the truth; thou didst lead us away with fables; thou wast afraid to tell us of our sins, lest we should not put meat fast enough into thy mouth.  O cursed wretch, that ever thou shouldst beguile us thus, deceive us thus, flatter us thus.  We would have gone out to hear the word abroad, but that thou didst reprove us, and also tell us that that which we see now is the way of God was heresy and a deceivable doctrine, and wast not contented, blind guide as thou wert, to fall into the ditch thyself, but hast also led us thither with thee.

I say, look to thyself, lest thou cry out when it is too late, Send Lazarus to my people, my friends, my children, my congregation to whom I preached, and whom I beguiled through my folly.  Send him to the town in which I did preach last, lest I be the cause of their damnation.